Book Beat Babes

Book Beat Babes

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Rejection Game! by DL Larson

We've all  done it ~ dreamed of telling the uncaring publisher who once rejected our manuscript that is now at the top of the Best Sellers list, "See, I told you I could write!"

Writer's Digest offers a fun twist to the rejection game. They encourage writers to send them their version of an imaginary rejection letter to a famous writer with a famous book. Some letters have been quite clever. This month's spoof was a rejection letter to Charles Dickens, regarding his boring and unrealistic story titled, Our Mutual Friend. The publisher expounded on Dickens' lack of skill and odd use of names and his lack of vocabulary. Oh, and the publisher mentioned he was going out of business! If you are interested in participating in this game, submit your letter via email to: wdsubmissions@fwmedia.com   "Reject a Hit" should be in the subject line.

I remember in a writing class I took years ago, the professor copied excerpts of famous writers and we critiqued the work. The class as a whole did not think too highly of most of the passages. Then we found out the writers were Hemingway, Steinbeck and a few others I don't recall. We were shocked that these legends had been allowed to get away with sloppy and lazy writing.

If you were to write your own rejection letter regarding your manuscript, what would you write? Would it be the mundane, no thank you at this time, note? Or would you go into detail why you rejected it?

I tried this with my last manuscript. It's hard to self-diagnose why someone does not want your book. The number of pages a publisher wants to examine continues to shrink. It feels like a horse race - something exciting must happen right from the beginning. That something must draw the reader in quickly ... or the rejection hammer comes down. Boom.

Most writers receive more rejection letters than acceptance letters. What can we learn from this? If you wrote a rejection letter about your manuscript ... why would you reject it? What would you tell yourself?
Is it the pace? The characters? Not enough action?

Maybe this exercise will unlock the secret everyone knows but you.

Til next time ~

DL Larson
www.DLLARSON.com



Wednesday, January 21, 2015

What I've Learned

Despite my good intentions, I've learned I can't get everything done that I thought I could. That said, I'm late posting here today.

Anyway, what I did get done:

Had breakfast, gave Rascal, our dog, hers, and walked her, but not as far as I' would have liked, since she wasn't too thrilled about wet paws from the thawing snow. 

I finished Debra St. John's new romance, One Great Night, and gave it 5 stars, calling it a sweet, yet sexy romance. 

I deleted tons of emails I never read and never will, then answered those that were important.

Ate lunch, fed Rascal again.

I approved members for my two largest Facebook groups, Book Place and Books Gone Viral, and commented on timelines for those who had liked my comments. Also, posted on FB about two free cookbooks. 

I cleaned a pot and other items left from yesterday in the sink. 

Washed and dried the sheets, which is always a project. They're so hard to get back on the queen size bed! Well, at least it's good exercise!

Washed some three large towels, which are now in the dryer. I alternate which ones I use on Rascal's doggie bed.   

Cleaned the room humidifier and got it started again. It still works fine! This project should have already been done, but I'd not gotten around to it before.

In between, I let Rascal out in the fenced yard and back inside a few times, then went to the Dollar Tree store, and did other stuff around the house. 

Now, the day is done. Again, no writing accomplished, except for the review and this. My goal is to finish Always Young in the next few months. I might figure out a cover and post it, because then I'll have to get the book done!

Time for dinner and TV! Hope to have better luck writing tomorrow!


Find Morgan Mandel's romances & thrillers at:


Twitter: @MorganMandel






Thursday, January 15, 2015

A Few Good Writing Tips! by DL Larson

Last week I watched American Idol as many did. After one contestant sang, Harry C. asked her if he could hear a song in "her own voice." I've never much thought singing had the same problems/issues as writers. But it made me think a bit more on finding one's true voice. After the contestant sang with her true voice, all three judges were smiling, happy to hear the real thing.

We've been taught to read, read, read in order to become better writers. And that is true. But we must be careful not to copy other authors' voices. Sometimes a writer falls victim to mimicking another writer and doesn't realize it, again because so many editors/agents want a quick blurb on what or who our work resembles ... at the same time searching for a fresh voice. It's a bit like balancing on the tip of a razor.

The only way to find your own voice is to write, write, write. And I would advice not to read too much when you are writing. When I first started out, I found my writing resembled whoever I happen to be reading at the time. I learned not to read while I write. Maybe that will help you too in finding your own unique voice.

Another way to find your own voice is to take something you have already written and rewrite it with a different point of view. Your thought process changes and your true voice emerges on the pages. Another experiment to try is if your work is written in past tense, rewrite it into present tense. Flipping tense and POV are simple exercises to bend your ideas until they are your own. Do this with a few paragraphs at a time. Compare the two and decide what you like or do not like about each. Is the cadence different? Is the thrum of the words work better in one?

This exercise may seem too simple or mundane to some, but it is also an exercise in editing. So you get two for one by working out the kinks in your writing voice as well as deciding what really works for each particular paragraph. Editing is a big part of writing and improves with practice, practice, practice.

If you belong to a writers group where folks are struggling with editing, or voice, etc., choose a few paragraphs to work on individually and then bring them together to see the many differences each person has made to the same paragraph. They will be delighted to see their work transformed in so many ways. It's a fun way for a new writer to create their own voice.

Til next time ~

DL Larson
www.DLLARSON.com


Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Memes

Lately, one of the writers' groups I belong to has concentrated on doing memes on Mondays, where we post them on Facebook.

There are certainly enough memes there already, but I have to admit I usually read them. Apparently, they must be popular.

The ones with long messages I usually skip over. After all, they're not a book. They're just supposed to be a saying, not an elaboration.

You can use your own pictures, quotes from your books, or tried and true sayings. It's up to you. However, if you use a picture not yours, make sure it's legal to share it, or you could run into all sorts of trouble.

Picmonkey.com is a free program, which can start you off with some basic tools to put a meme together. Lots of different fonts, backgrounds, and colors to choose from.
There's also a $33 charge for one year of more elaborate stuff. I found their site handy to put together my recent Facebook cover.

Memes are kind of fun, so you might like to try one sometime. Here are a few of mine:

This picture was from vacation in Wisconsin

Another one from vacation

Memes are a great way to get noticed,and in our business every little bit helps.

Morgan Mandel
Find all of Morgan Mandel's romances
& mysteries on Amazon at
http://www.amazon.com/author/morganmandel

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/morgan.mandel

Twitter:
@MorganMandel



Thursday, January 8, 2015

Windy City Writers Retreat 2015! by DL Larson

Looking for a great writer's retreat? This may be the one ...

An 8 hour Master Class with Donald Maass, hosted by the Windy City RWA.  
The retreat is set for March 13 & 14, 2015 
at the Sheraton Lisle Hotel, 3000 Warrenville Road, Lisle IL 60532.


Donald Maass will present an intensive hands-on workshop teaching the techniques that give multi-year best selling novels their high impact, resulting in both strong story and beautiful writing, regardless of category.

Registration is limited and ends February 28, so there is still time to enroll in this important class. The cost is $100 for Windy City RWA members and $150 for non-members. This includes Friday dinner, Saturday continental breakfast and lunch, PLUS Donald Maass's Writing 21st Century Fiction book.

The tentative Schedule is:
Friday, March 13:
3:00 - 6:00 p.m. Registration/Networking
6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Buffet Dinner
7:30 - 9:00 p.m. Donald Maass Book Signing

Saturday, March 14:
7:00 - 8:00 a.m. Registration/Continental Breakfast
8:00 - Noon - Writing 21st Century Fiction Part I
12:00 - 1:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Writing 21st Century Fiction Part II

Mr. Maass has an impressive client list who continually reach the Best Seller Lists. His technique has proven to be effective in creating strong stories with impact. He knows the writing business and will share much of what it takes to expand your business as a writer.

Those interested may also make hotel reservations at the Sheraton Lisle Hotel. The rate is $104/night - a special Windy City RWA rate until February 11th. After that, current room rates kick in.

This is sure to be an exciting workshop with fellow writers. I call that a win-win!

Til next time ~

DL Larson
www.DLLARSON.com

Facebook Strategy

I keep hearing all kinds of dire predictions of not being able to use Facebook as well as before for promotion. One item I heard was that our author pages won't have as much reach as before.

Considering that I've been ignoring my author pages, and have focused instead on my profile page, I have a feeling that change won't affect me much. It's too crazy trying to keep up with a bunch of different pages. Seems better to concentrate on one and hope for the best, which is what I've been doing for quite some time now.

Some say to keep a professional page, but I do enjoy interacting with my Facebook friends, and I seem to get more satisfaction by doing that. Yes, I do happen to slip in promotions, publish excerpts, and use other methods so people know I'm an author, but there's only so much I can do.

I do enjoy changing the cover photo there, and often it does include one or more of my book covers, but my books are not all that's featured on my profile page. I like to add fun things, as well as what aggravates me as well. Here's a recent cover I drew up. Under the heart in this picture is where FB puts my profile pic, so that area is blank here.

And, in case you haven't figured it out, the background is a snow scene from my backyard. In this pic, I'm mixing personal with business. The tag line is Warmhearted Romances for Cold Days, which also fits in what's happening to me as a person, not only as an author, since it's mighty cold around here lately!


If you care to join me on Facebook, I'm at https://www.facebook.com/morgan.mandel


Click this short link to check out my romances and
mysteries at Amazon:

http://bitly.com/MMPage

Twitter: @MorganMandel