Out of Control Characters

Monday, December 1, 2014 is the biggest online sales day of the year. I’ve had people tell me that books don’t sell well during November and December, so they scale back their promotions.
Really? You really believe that?
Here’s the reality. That may have been true in the past, but we are a new generation of authors. We have to pound the cyber-pavement daily, often for long lonely hours. We have the opportunity to turn things around.
The first myth we must dispel is that people don’t read any longer. People read every single day. They read labels on cans at the store, they read street signs, they read contracts, and they read credits on their favorite television program or movie. So, ordinary people read a lot, even if they don’t think about that. What we as authors must do is get them to read our books in addition to all this other information.
The purpose of Cyber Monday is to purchase gifts for others in your family or your friends. Every year, humanity is bombarded with a advertising …

Tickets are FREE. Get your tickets here http://www.eventbrite.com/e/clark-library-author-meet-greet-tickets-13445462741
Join the event page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/349244275255605/
Clark Public Library will be hosting an Author Meet & Greet on Saturday, December 6 from 2-4pm. This relaxed, casual setting will offer readers, fans and book lovers alike time to meet and greet some of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania’s very own authors.
Delve into the mind of an author who may just become a new favorite!
Authors range in all genres from YA to Adult.
This event is free to attend and open to the public. The authors will have signed books for sale so be sure to bring cash if you’d like to purchase one.
Authors attending: Michael Cupo Karen L. Schnitzspahn Mary Wasowski Amy Evans Marissa Carmel Trudy Stiles Jill Prand Rebecca Brooke Alivia Anders C.L. Foster Rhoda D’Ettore Eric Nierstedt Maria DeSouza Starla Huchton Amanda Lance S.J. Pajonas Jennifer Collins Joy Ann Lara Heather Dahlgren L…

You’ve been offered a contract and suddenly you’re dropped into a mass of information about what’s going to happen next. There’s cover art to decide on, an editor is being assigned, you need to get your social media cleaned up or even create pages on those sites in order to promote.
There’s one other little bit of information you need to give your publisher—information about you that will be included in the back of your book. You glance at the request to get that information to the as soon as possible. There’s a lot they want.
A blurb for your book that must be 125 to 250 words. It has to tease and tantalize, but never give anything away. Just how are you expected to write this? Isn’t that their job? You have too much to do. You blow off this important job, expecting the editor in chief to assign someone to write a blurb from your synopsis. After all, you sweated for hours making that. They can do this job. It’s too hard for you to do.
Well, it is your job to provide a blurb if you’ve b…

You’ve spent months or years working over your manuscript. Every single plot point has been brought to a satisfying conclusion. Your narratives are both tight and descriptive. The characters speak in a normal tone rather than bombastic blatherings. The synopsis you labored over for what seemed like your lifetime is so tight that a quarter bounced off it will fly over a mountain.
So it’s not time to send that beautiful book off to a publisher. You have nothing left to do. You’ve done it all. Looking over what you’ve written one last time is the  last thing on your mind. It doesn’t matter there are a slew of red lines under some of the words you’ve used. So what? The publisher will be so entranced by your story they will immediately send you a contract and shower you with praise.
Really?
Do you really expect a publisher to offer you a contract if you’ve skipped the biggest step every author does when writing their book.
Did you spell check your work?
The best responses I’ve gotten are along…

Your book has been published. You anxiously await the sales to get moving, to see the rankings moving toward the top 100, the top 10, or even the coveted number 1 spot. Then, while “ghosting” on Amazon, you see a review. Anxiously, you glance at the number of stars first and reality hits.
This reality can be a fist pumping screech of joy when you see five stars and a glowing review, or a “meh” at seeing three or four stars, with things mentioned like cliché, needs editing or proofreading, or plot thin. Your heart stutters if there are only two stars, and you’re wondering just what this person was thinking. Or there might a single star with the words “don’t bother with this book, not worth your while.”
What do the stars in a review system mean? Basically, they’re a single point to indicate how the reviewer felt about your book. Most reviewers won’t rate below three stars, unless the book has far too many problems with it to do so. Other people will use the review system as revenge for…