Newsletters...

Here ye! Here ye! Read all about it!

Well, I'm knee deep into my first newsletter and wondering what it is besides who you are and what you do that might be interesting to the masses. Just figuring the formatting you want can be a challenge. I've done it two ways: one with preset formatting and on my own, however, I will not diclose which route I've taken:) I did like both but one seemed more useful than the other.

I do want to discuss what things those of you who have done your own newletters may have included and those of you who like to peruse them are interested in seeing included.

My thoughts are a brief bio, a catalog of available books, upcoming events, maybe short craft or off-topic discussions? Upcoming projects, WIPs, and links?

What do you think?

I look forward to your thoughts. Meanwhile, I'm going to get back at it. The newsletter, that is:)

D~

Please welcome Nicole D'Arienzo Managing Editor, Historical Division and Kathy Cottrelle, Senior Editor, Last Rose of Summer, The Wild Rose Press

Perfecting your Pitch

This past weekend, my fellow senior editor, Kathy Cottrell (Last Rose of Summer line) and I traveled to the New Jersey Romance Writers conference in Iselin, NJ. Meeting so many of our authors and spending time with fellow TWRP editors was a lot of fun. It was such a delight to hear from so many of you who love what we do and are grateful we’re here. Rest assured, the feeling is mutual!

As the conference closed and Kath and I headed back home, our discussion turned to our conference experiences. One of the things we both noticed was a lack of preparedness on the part of many of the authors pitching to us. I admit I was quite taken aback by this; I’ve been around the publishing industry for some 20 years and one of the first lessons I learned was “perfecting your pitch.” This is not to say that the authors who came prepared to pitch had any more of a chance of being asked to submit their story than those who were not prepared, but I think a little bit of practice might have helped put them at ease. And it certainly would have helped me to understand what type of story they were pitching.

Let me explain. I had several authors sit down and immediately say “Okay, my heroine has long auburn hair and big green eyes. My hero is tall with dark hair and light blue eyes…” STOP! Hold the presses. While I would never interrupt an author sitting across from me babbling nervously like this, it is at this point my eyes begin to glaze over and I think: this is going to take a while. Honestly, if the first thing you can tell me about your characters is what they look like, it makes me wonder why I should care about them. Saying something like “my heroine is a spoiled socialite who has just lost everything. My hero is the guy who has been hired to kill her” would certainly grab my attention a lot faster.

Also, know ahead of time what it is you want to pitch. Don’t simply plop yourself in the chair and say “I’ve been writing since 1982. I have about 40 stories written. What are you looking for?” Instead of showing me what a polished professional you are, this makes me wonder why, after 40 stories, you are still not published and what on earth have I gotten myself into?

Being prepared will also help you avoid prattling on and saying “and then this happens…and then this happens…and then this happens…” over and over.

Luckily for you, two highly intelligent and capable women (at least we used to think we were!) managed to get ourselves hopelessly lost driving in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and had many, many long hours to discuss this very situation. *G*

Here is our two-for-the-price-of-one blog on Perfecting Your Pitch.

Greet the editor with a firm, confident handshake and introduce yourself. “Hi, nice to meet you.
Nicole, Kathy my name is Rose Author and I’d like to tell you about my ninety-thousand word contemporary story entitled The Great American Novel. It’s set in New Jersey and is about two highly intelligent women getting themselves hopelessly lost and the heroes who save them.”

Then give us a 25 word blurb about your story: “Scarlett O’Hara really just wants to get home. But she can’t get off the New Jersey Turnpike to save her life. Rhett Butler offers to give her more than just directions.”

Then sit back and let the editor ask you some questions. I might say something like “Describe the conflict for me.” Or “What is Rhett’s goal?” “How do the secondary characters, if any, help move the plot forward?” Be prepared to talk about these things.

Also, be prepared to answer questions such as: who you like to read, who you think you write like, which line at TWRP you’re targeting. Also if your story contains a lot of technical details (medicine, nursing, law enforcement, DA’s, history) be prepared to tell us a little bit about how you have come to be an expert in this field. For example, if your story involves Faberge eggs, you might say: “I’m a member of Faberge Egg Makers of America and regularly present online workshops on Faberge eggs through history.”

So as nerve-wracking as pitching can be, try to remember that you have something to sell and the editor is looking to buy.

A little bit of prep work goes a long way toward perfecting your pitch!

Now for a little editor time: Please welcome Ms. Amanda Barnett, Senior Editor of the Faery Line at TWRP

Hello everyone,

I'm Amanda Barnett, Senior editor for the Faery Rose line at The Wild Rose Press. I've been with the company for almost a year and a half. I have some wonderful authors, met some awesome editors and feel like TWRP is a company that stands on its word.

I have a background in the publishing world that includes, reviews, columns, interviews and my own work being put under a microscope and then published. For me you have to be willing to put it all out there in relation to your work in order to get anywhere.


I would like to tell you a bit about what I'm looking for in the way of manuscripts for the Faery Rose line. Heroes and heroines who are sensual, plots that are edgy and filled with some of the elements that make up our guidelines. Ghosts, witches, dragons, faeries, time travels, science fiction. These are the basis for our line, and I would love to see characters that readers remember long after they read
the last page.

A good way for any author be they a newbie or already pubbed, is to make sure you read the guidelines for whichever line you are targeting. That gives you an insight as to what we editors are looking for. The elements of writing should be adhered to and I will tell you now, I do not care for point of view that is all over the place.

We have some of the best editors, cover artists, production and public relations folks in the business at The Wild Rose Press, who will be more than happy to guide you from start to finish with your work.

Happy writing,

Amanda Barnett
amanda@thewildrosepress.com

Please Welcome today's guest, Erotic Author, Cari Quinn!

To Be or Not To Be...Published

Thanks so much, Dayana, for allowing me to blog today. It's been a great month of posts so far and October still has two weeks left!

Most authors come to another author's blog to talk about their latest release, but I don't have a release yet. I'm still waiting for "The Call" or "The Email" or however that special moment should arrive. Not only that, I can't claim a whole slew of rejections to prove how hard I'm working to change that fact because I've yet to submit anywhere. That's right - two and a half years since I started "writing seriously" and I still haven't swallowed my nerve enough to submit.

I've entered two contests, though: the romance industry's biggie for the unpublished masses, the Golden Heart, and the Virginia Romance Writers' Fool For Love contest, which I won in the Short Contemporary category with my manuscript, Virgin Territory. Winning my first (and only) chapter contest was a terrific experience in a lot of ways. For not much money, I got two detailed critiques from published authors, then a third when my manuscript ended up needing a discrepancy judge because of the wide variance between my scores. I got some positive feedback, and some not so positive. But it taught me something any writer who has battled in the trenches knows. Writing ain't for the faint of heart. It's just not. If you can't stand the idea of your "baby" being dissected by strangers, it's going to hit you pretty hard to know not everyone will get your jokes, or think your hero's as wonderful as you know he is. It hit me hard after I got the judges' scores back. I even stopped writing for a few days. But I started again - hey, nothing can keep me from writing too long, because it's in my blood - and I'm still going.

Actually, I think that contest was the perfect microcosm of a book's reception by the public. Sometimes people get your voice and your characters. Your book resonates with them and they eagerly anticipate your next release. Someone else can read the same book and have an entirely different response. And that's okay. I heard a piece of advice once that a writer wants to have a voice that incites great love and yes, maybe even strong dislike, because that voice means you're different and being different is what will get you sold.

That's MY theory, anyhoo, and I'm sticking to it.

I'm still learning. Still struggling. Still enjoying writing the kind of stories I like to read. Still waiting for that moment when my Call or Email comes, so that I can start fretting about a whole new set of problems: contracts, actual deadlines, pleasing my editor, thrilling my fans...

Having fans. Whew. There's a heady thought.

Next week, I'll be submitting my baby to my dream publisher. Okay, one of my babies to one of my dream publishers (I have a lot of dreams!) But regardless of what happens, I'll have joined the ranks of those fearless enough to put their work out there, and I'm proud of that. I just started a new blog-cariquinn.blogspot-where I'll be posting book reviews and chronicling my journey to publication. Hope you'll stop by to say hi. I love to meet fellow writers and readers.

Before I go, I want to give a shout out to someone else who won a contest recently: The Wild Rose Press's bestselling author of the Scarlet rosette Seduced In Seoul, Helen Hardt. She took first place in the Colorado Romance Writers' Heart of the Rockies contest in the erotic category and second AND third place in the short contemporary category. Congratulations, Helen! She'll be blogging here on Monday, October 20th.

Thanks again for having me, Dayana. It's been a blast! And thank you to YOU for reading.

Cari Quinn
http://cariquinn.blogspot.com/