Debut authors read this!

There's a fabulous article over at WRITER UNBOXED for debut authors.

A must-read!

10 year anniversary book launch!

This week sees my 10 year anniversary since I got 'The Call' from Kimberly Young at Harlequin Mills and Boon that launched my publishing career.

To celebrate, I'm launching DO IT WRITE, a little reference book packed with gems I've picked up over the years, as well as some easy 'how-to' stuff with sample synopses, etc...

It's at a special introductory price of $0.99!

Currently available on AMAZON but with all retailers by the end of the week.

Happy writing!

'Net' V 'Cover': why royalty rates matter

If you're a writer, I highly recommend you read NYT bestselling author Laura Kaye's blog post on WHY ROYALTY RATES MATTER.

It's excellent!

And as an author with 10 years experience of varying contracts, I can tell you that 'net' versus 'cover' price makes a huge difference in your hip pocket!

Go read it now!

THE WRITE WHISPER: Sales rankings

Due to deadline craziness (that will continue into this year!) I haven't done a writing craft post for a while.

So here's a link to an article that all authors will find fascinating.

Which author doesn't check their sales rankings on Amazon or Barnes & Noble?
But what do those numbers mean?

Here's a great post by author Christine Bell that demystifies rankings.

Pinterest: Pros and Cons

Everywhere I turn these days, people are discussing Pinterest.
More to the point, there are divided opinions whether to be on it or not.
Author loops are rife with Pinterest discussions and I've been chatting about it on Twitter too.

My viewpoint?

I jumped on Pinterest with gusto. Within the first week I had beautiful storyboards for my books and WIPs. My BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD and HOT HEROES boards had over 500 followers within days. I was loving it. Having an absolute ball. And it really helped my creativity to see the stories I was writing unfolding before my eyes in pictures.

Then a lawyer wrote an article about the dangers of Pinterest and of being sued by photographers.
Then 2 authors I know had to pay huge sums of money for incorrectly using pictures, despite taking them down as soon as they were notified.

And I pulled my boards.
All of them, except my covers, and I haven't logged onto Pinterest since.

It soured my entire experience, the thought that pictures we pin, despite linking back to the original source, can cause so many problems.

And then I started thinking...as an author, it's the bane of my existence when people illegally pirate my books, posting them for free on the Internet.
How do the photographers feel, having the same done to their work?

So in all good conscience, unless Pinterest cleans up the legalities, it's something I won't be doing.

Where do you stand on the Pinterest debate?

Developing a thick skin

Authors, check out this brilliant blog post by Beth Revis on how to handle negative reviews.

Love it!

True grit as a writer

Great post today at Bob Mayer's blog, discussing the heirarchy of goals in writing.

Having a strategic goal is crucial and Bob has some absolute gems that will resonate.

Go check it out here

(I'm still rapt I got to hear Bob speak at the RWAus conference last year in Melbourne. He really inspired me to become a hybrid author willing to take chances in this ever-evolving publishing industry. He's brilliant! If you ever get a chance to hear him speak, grab the opportunity, you won't regret it.)

Digital Book World Conference

The Digital Book World conference is happening right now in NYC and the information coming from it is fantastic!

If you're on Twitter, follow #dbw and #dbw12

And BOB MAYER is providing great wrap-ups and excellent insights as always on his blog.

Branding

Timely post by Nathan Bransford on branding today.

He says there's no such thing as branding on the internet, only you, and I have to agree.

Because I've always wanted to write mainstream fiction alongside my Harlequin romances, I deliberately chose a generalised tagline "Flirty Fiction with Flair."

With the upcoming release of BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD, I've been toying with the idea of a separate blog, until I realised something.
I have a loyal following here. I look forward to interacting with those people daily.
I don't want to branch off somewhere else where I may miss out on those interactions.

Then there's Facebook & Twitter & Goodreads, where I chat daily too.
And I'm totally with Nathan. What you see on those media sites is ME. I chat life, books, kids, footy, food, Bollywood, publishing stuff.
I'm the brand.
Not a tagline, not what I write.
Me.

So that's what you're going to get.
Sure, there'll be loads of new Bollywood goodness here (stay tuned for some exciting reveals!) but what you see is what you get.

Nathan Bransford's post is reiterating this. Worth reading.

Don't forget the BACK TO THE BOOKS giveaway is running for another few days!
Check out my 3 book giveaway HERE.

Changing landscape in publishing

As an interesting follow on from the Joe Konrath blog post yesterday, here's one from my favourite publishing guru, Bob Mayer.

I love his clarity and bluntness.

Well worth reading about the changing landscape of publishing.

Power in publishing

I love hearing the daily developments in publishing at the moment and here's another one.

Joe Konrath and Blake Crouch discussing who has the power in publishing.

Fascinating reading.

Marketing your book

Check out this extensive list of blog posts on how to market your books via agent Rachelle Gardner.

Publishing information you need

A brilliant post over at agent Rachelle Gardner's blog with loads of links to submission details, an agent blogroll, query tips and more.

Check it out!

Montlake romance

You may have heard Amazon recently launched its Montlake Romance imprint, with bestselling author Connie Brockway's title The Other Guy's Bride.

Now the imprint is open to agented submissions.

For full details, see here.

Savvy Authors

If you're a writer, there is an abundance of resources available these days.

Some stand out more than others and I was lucky enough to stumble across SAVVY AUTHORS a few weeks ago and instantly joined up.

Basic membership is free, premium is US$30/year (AU$28 with current exchange rate, bargain!)

Go check out the website, you won't be disappointed.

The information available is amazing, as are their frequent online courses.

I'm currently doing a course on witchcraft which has been immensely helpful for my upcoming YA revisions.

But the website is worth a visit for the articles alone.

Agent expectations

Rachelle Gardner has a link to a great series of blog posts by Wendy Lawton, an agent at Books & Such, about agents and expectations of themselves and writers.

Really worth a look here.

THE WRITE WHISPER: The greatest gift

I love receiving fan mail.

It's such a thrill to discover people read and enjoy the stories I create.

I also love it when people take the time to comment here. The interaction and feedback is great.

Every author has regulars, lovely people who read our books and take time out of their busy days to let us know. You have no idea how uplifting it can be when you're having a tough day and the WIP isn't zooming along and the PC crashed and the dog ate your synopsis...you get the general idea.

Feedback is important.

Positive feedback also sells books.

So what's the greatest gift you can give an author?

(apart from a six figure advance on a 5 book contract?)

Word of mouth.

If you love a book, tell people.

Loud and proud.

Post reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, Shelfari, Twitter, your blogs, wherever people will see them.

If you don't have time to post a review, 'star' the book.

Every little bit helps and the more sales an author makes from word of mouth, the more contracts they'll be offered and the more books you'll get to read from your fave authors.

Sounds self-serving coming from an author? Maybe, but I love recommending good books and my favourite authors, because readers buying books keeps the publishing industry alive and in the long run, that's a bonus for us all.

Plus I want you to enjoy curling up with a good book as much as I do :)