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Some of you have heard me talk about my (not so) sekret project -- something new coming out from Llewellyn right before the next book.
So you can imagine how tickled I was to find out that I was mentioned in a Publishers Weekly article about the new cool thing!
Llewellyn launches eshorts program
Look ma, I'm *famous* :-)
Showing posts with label publishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label publishing. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Monday, December 5, 2011
BIG NEWS! The Sekrit Project is HERE!!!
Once upon a time, there was a book. It was called Witch Ever Way You Can, and it was the first novel I sent out into the world. My first child, if you will. Witch Ever Way You Can spent about two years being submitted to agents and about a year on the RWA chapters contest circuit. It got a great response: agents loved it, editors loved it, my critique partners and first readers loved it, and it garnered all sorts of finals and wins in contests, including the much-sought-after EMILY "Best of the Best" Award. Author Candace Havens (then just someone I admired mightily, now a friend and colleague) even gave me first prize in a contest she was judging and recommended me to her (and now my) agent Elaine Spencer because of it.
But it wasn't "High Concept" enough to sell in an increasingly tough publishing market. Agents kept telling me, "Two years ago, I could have sold this in a heartbeat, but things are very tight now." If you are an author, you may have heard that one yourself. *headdesk*
Eventually, I wrote another couple of books, including Pentacles and Pentimentos which got me signed with Elaine and is currently out on submission. But I never forgot about my first baby.
So when Candace and I were talking a couple of months ago about how long it takes to get a publishing contract these days, and how people kept asking me, "When am I going to be able to read one of your novels?!" she had this suggestion: why not epublish Witch Ever Way You Can?
I talked to a couple of author friends who had epubbed some of their backlist (older books they'd gotten the rights back on) or even new novels they couldn't find a home for with a conventional publisher. They said, "Go for it!" And I talked to Elaine (because you always run important decisions by your agent), and she said, "Go for it!"
And with the help of my uber-savvy friend and webmistress, the brilliant Robin Wright, I did. Ta da!
Witch Ever Way You Can is now available for your Kindle at Amazon, and will be available soon from B & N and another couple of places. I'll post links as soon as I have them. (The Amazon link is below.) I've priced it fairly low--$2.99--because I wanted to reward all the faithful folks who have asked for a novel for so long. I hope that people will buy it for themselves, as gifts for their friends, and pass the word (pretty please!) to anyone they think might like a paranormal romance told with a humorous voice. It's about a Witch, of course.
I'll probably run some kind of giveaway contest soon...just have to come up with something suitable good! In the meanwhile, who is going to be the first to buy it? Maybe you?
But it wasn't "High Concept" enough to sell in an increasingly tough publishing market. Agents kept telling me, "Two years ago, I could have sold this in a heartbeat, but things are very tight now." If you are an author, you may have heard that one yourself. *headdesk*
Eventually, I wrote another couple of books, including Pentacles and Pentimentos which got me signed with Elaine and is currently out on submission. But I never forgot about my first baby.
So when Candace and I were talking a couple of months ago about how long it takes to get a publishing contract these days, and how people kept asking me, "When am I going to be able to read one of your novels?!" she had this suggestion: why not epublish Witch Ever Way You Can?
I talked to a couple of author friends who had epubbed some of their backlist (older books they'd gotten the rights back on) or even new novels they couldn't find a home for with a conventional publisher. They said, "Go for it!" And I talked to Elaine (because you always run important decisions by your agent), and she said, "Go for it!"
And with the help of my uber-savvy friend and webmistress, the brilliant Robin Wright, I did. Ta da!
Witch Ever Way You Can is now available for your Kindle at Amazon, and will be available soon from B & N and another couple of places. I'll post links as soon as I have them. (The Amazon link is below.) I've priced it fairly low--$2.99--because I wanted to reward all the faithful folks who have asked for a novel for so long. I hope that people will buy it for themselves, as gifts for their friends, and pass the word (pretty please!) to anyone they think might like a paranormal romance told with a humorous voice. It's about a Witch, of course.
I'll probably run some kind of giveaway contest soon...just have to come up with something suitable good! In the meanwhile, who is going to be the first to buy it? Maybe you?
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Book Six for Llewellyn--The Vision Meeting
As some of you know, I finished my sixth book for Llewellyn a few months ago, and sent it off to my lovely acquisitions editor, Elysia Gallo (who would be one of my favorite people in the world even if she wasn't my acquisitions editor). The book was tentitively titled "50 Rituals for the Everyday Witch," and was the third book in the "Everyday Witch" series, which already includes Everyday Witch A to Z and Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook.
Today they held the Visions Meeting for the book. Here is how Elysia described these meetings on Facebook:
Sadly, that's not much of an exaggeration! But what she doesn't mention is that all these changes usually result in a much better book--that's the point of the whole thing. And at least this time I only got SIX pages of notes. When I was working on book two, the first Everyday Witch A to Z, I got ELEVEN pages. (Book 1, Circle, Coven & Grove, got no changes at all, beyond a few grammatical things, lulling me in to a false sense of security.) I believe there might have been crying. Also whining, pouting, and possibly threats to quit writing forever. Then I made the requested changes, and the finished book was much better. This was actually a defining moment for me as an author. I learned something about the process, and about sometimes needing to let go of my original vision of a book. In fact, it was after that whole thing that I wrote the following haiku for Elysia (yes, we write each other haiku on occasion--what, you don't write haiku for your editor?):
Today they held the Visions Meeting for the book. Here is how Elysia described these meetings on Facebook:
"Vision is the meeting where we read a whole manuscript by unsuspecting authors,tear it apart, put it back together again, and send the author pages upon pages of annoying, nit-picking notes. "
Sadly, that's not much of an exaggeration! But what she doesn't mention is that all these changes usually result in a much better book--that's the point of the whole thing. And at least this time I only got SIX pages of notes. When I was working on book two, the first Everyday Witch A to Z, I got ELEVEN pages. (Book 1, Circle, Coven & Grove, got no changes at all, beyond a few grammatical things, lulling me in to a false sense of security.) I believe there might have been crying. Also whining, pouting, and possibly threats to quit writing forever. Then I made the requested changes, and the finished book was much better. This was actually a defining moment for me as an author. I learned something about the process, and about sometimes needing to let go of my original vision of a book. In fact, it was after that whole thing that I wrote the following haiku for Elysia (yes, we write each other haiku on occasion--what, you don't write haiku for your editor?):
Here is what I know
When an author is in doubt
Editor is right
Does this mean the editor is always right? Not at all. And sometimes, as an author, you have to stick to your guns if there is something that you believe shouldn't be changed. On the other hand, I can't stress too much the importance of having an open mind
That's why they call it Vision.
By the way--in today's Vision Meeting, they cut 12 of the 50 rituals. Something tells me I need to come up with a new title...
Monday, February 2, 2009
Update on January Goals and new February Goals
I didn't manage to accomplish all my writing goals for January, although I made a fairly good dent in them. Here is my report for last month and the month to come:
Writing Goals
This Week (Feb 2-Feb 8):
1. Update blog
2. Enter “Chase the Dream” contest again
3. Write G-H on Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook
4. Write 20 new pages in King Me!
5. Read and edit Writer’s Group pal Shannon’s book chap 9-12
Last Month (January 2009)
1. done Finish all edits on WEWYC (set aside other than agent/contest submissions)
2. did only thru F Complete thru “L” on Everyday Witch Spellbook
3. done Review and revise first 100+ pages of King Me!
4. did 3, decided to wait on more Send 10 queries for WEWYC (if necessary)
5. got verbal “yes” and waiting on contract Get contract for Everyday Witch Spellbook
6. done Update blog weekly
7. Write up outline for Witch Ever Way You Turn didn’t get to
8. Write additional 50 pages on first draft of King Me! Didn’t get to
9. Find 2 opportunities for freelance article writing did one of 2
This Month (February 2009)
1. Update blog weekly
2. Enter one contest
3. Complete G-M on Everyday Witch A to Z
4. Complete 50 additional pages on King Me!
5. Work with webmaster to update website
How are you doing with your goals?
Writing Goals
This Week (Feb 2-Feb 8):
1. Update blog
2. Enter “Chase the Dream” contest again
3. Write G-H on Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook
4. Write 20 new pages in King Me!
5. Read and edit Writer’s Group pal Shannon’s book chap 9-12
Last Month (January 2009)
1. done Finish all edits on WEWYC (set aside other than agent/contest submissions)
2. did only thru F Complete thru “L” on Everyday Witch Spellbook
3. done Review and revise first 100+ pages of King Me!
4. did 3, decided to wait on more Send 10 queries for WEWYC (if necessary)
5. got verbal “yes” and waiting on contract Get contract for Everyday Witch Spellbook
6. done Update blog weekly
7. Write up outline for Witch Ever Way You Turn didn’t get to
8. Write additional 50 pages on first draft of King Me! Didn’t get to
9. Find 2 opportunities for freelance article writing did one of 2
This Month (February 2009)
1. Update blog weekly
2. Enter one contest
3. Complete G-M on Everyday Witch A to Z
4. Complete 50 additional pages on King Me!
5. Work with webmaster to update website
How are you doing with your goals?
Monday, January 19, 2009
Great news and this week's writing goals
This week was quite productive, and I managed to do all but one of the goals on my list. But I am TIRED and am devising a slightly more manageable list for next week.
THE GOOD NEWS IS: I got the call from my aquisitions editor at Llewellyn, and they will be contracting for my 4th book, The Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook. Yahoo! That puts me in line to achieve my goal with the NF, which was 5 books in 5 years. (I decided that was what it would take to get me "known.") So big ol' happy dance here! Of course, now I have to finish writing it:-)
Did: updated my blog, entered two contests (small free ones), got info to my webmaster pal so we can update my website, wrote all of the "C" and some of the "D" entries for Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook, reread and polished Witch Ever Way pages 100-190, sent out 3 queries for it (got 2 rejections almost immediately--sigh) and finished reading and scoring my entries for the Golden Heart and Great Expectations contests and sent them in.
Didn't do: I only managed to get through part of "D" for the A-Z, when I'd been aiming at finishing thru "F." Still, not a bad week, all in all.
Updated Writing Goals
This Week (Jan 19-25):
1. Update blog
2. Enter “Chase the Dream” contest again
3. Write up mini-proposal for Itty Bitty Kitty Spellbook
4. Write D-F on Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook
5. Reread and polish WEWYC page 193-263 (end)
6. Send out 3 Queries for Witch Ever Way You Can
7. Send out Full of WEWYC to Lois Winston
8. Review and revise 1st 35 pages of King Me!
I hope everyone is doing well keeping up with their goals and new year's resolutions. I am working on a few personal goals too, but it is a little to early to share them. I'll let you know if things go well:-)
THE GOOD NEWS IS: I got the call from my aquisitions editor at Llewellyn, and they will be contracting for my 4th book, The Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook. Yahoo! That puts me in line to achieve my goal with the NF, which was 5 books in 5 years. (I decided that was what it would take to get me "known.") So big ol' happy dance here! Of course, now I have to finish writing it:-)
Did: updated my blog, entered two contests (small free ones), got info to my webmaster pal so we can update my website, wrote all of the "C" and some of the "D" entries for Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook, reread and polished Witch Ever Way pages 100-190, sent out 3 queries for it (got 2 rejections almost immediately--sigh) and finished reading and scoring my entries for the Golden Heart and Great Expectations contests and sent them in.
Didn't do: I only managed to get through part of "D" for the A-Z, when I'd been aiming at finishing thru "F." Still, not a bad week, all in all.
Updated Writing Goals
This Week (Jan 19-25):
1. Update blog
2. Enter “Chase the Dream” contest again
3. Write up mini-proposal for Itty Bitty Kitty Spellbook
4. Write D-F on Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook
5. Reread and polish WEWYC page 193-263 (end)
6. Send out 3 Queries for Witch Ever Way You Can
7. Send out Full of WEWYC to Lois Winston
8. Review and revise 1st 35 pages of King Me!
I hope everyone is doing well keeping up with their goals and new year's resolutions. I am working on a few personal goals too, but it is a little to early to share them. I'll let you know if things go well:-)
Sunday, September 28, 2008
An Interview with Author Alex Bledsoe
I was lucky enough to be able to interview my fellow-author, Alex Bledsoe, who also has a story in The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction. Here it is. I hope you enjoy it. An interview with C. S. MacCath will follow next week!
DB: How long have you been writing short stories and is this your first pagan story?
AB: I've been seriously writing since 1996; and my first published story, "The Chill in the Air Wakes the Ghosts Off the Ground," was actually a pagan-themed story, although that wasn't a primary consideration at the time. In the nineties I had several pagan stories published in PanGaia magazine, and have also been published in The Wheel, Five Feathers (South Africa) and Dragonswood (UK).
DB: What draws you to write about pagans and how did you get the idea for the story in the anthology?
AB: I found the pagan view of the world to be amenable to my own, and it allowed me to deal with issues and topics that fascinate me in a way that might surprise the reader. Respect for nature, balance between men and women, and a direct relationship with a higher power free of institutionalized dogma are all things I believed in *before* I knew about paganism, and within these ideas are plenty of places for conflict with traditional society's values. That's usually where my stories come from.
When I heard about the anthology I knew I wanted to submit something, and I asked myself, "What's the *least* likely genre to have a pagan-themed story?" I decided the answer was a Western, so I challenged myself to write one that was both a traditional "oater" with a sheriff, a gunslinger and a showdown on main street, and that also brought in pagan ideas to generate the conflict.
DB: Your story takes place in the Old West, but in a very nontraditional way. You tend to write work that combines genres in an unconventional way, like your novel The Sword-Edged Blonde, which mixes sword and sorcery fantasy with the noir detective novel (quite successfully, I might add). How do you pull off such unusual pairings and what draws you to this approach?
AB: Usually it's a variant of the question I mentioned above: What's the least likely way to tell a particular story? The Sword-Edged Blonde started out as a straight epic fantasy, but it was too traditional, too average if you will, to come alive that way. So I thought, what's the most unusual way to tell this story, and decided to write it as a forties pulp detective novel, keeping the high fantasy setting. (The sequel, Burn Me Deadly, continues that approach). When I wrote my vampire novel Blood Groove, I had a story that technically could've worked in a contemporary setting, but had no real spark to it. So I backed it up to 1975, which put it before Anne Rice revolutionized the public idea of the vampire and allowed me to work with the vampire archetypes that spoke to me (Stoker, Hammer, etc.) free of any post-Rice irony.
DB: What can people expect from you next?
AB: Blood Groove will be released by Tor in the spring of 2009. The following fall, Burn Me Deadly (also from Tor) hits shelves. And a couple of other projects are making the rounds.
DB: How long have you been writing short stories and is this your first pagan story?
AB: I've been seriously writing since 1996; and my first published story, "The Chill in the Air Wakes the Ghosts Off the Ground," was actually a pagan-themed story, although that wasn't a primary consideration at the time. In the nineties I had several pagan stories published in PanGaia magazine, and have also been published in The Wheel, Five Feathers (South Africa) and Dragonswood (UK).
DB: What draws you to write about pagans and how did you get the idea for the story in the anthology?
AB: I found the pagan view of the world to be amenable to my own, and it allowed me to deal with issues and topics that fascinate me in a way that might surprise the reader. Respect for nature, balance between men and women, and a direct relationship with a higher power free of institutionalized dogma are all things I believed in *before* I knew about paganism, and within these ideas are plenty of places for conflict with traditional society's values. That's usually where my stories come from.
When I heard about the anthology I knew I wanted to submit something, and I asked myself, "What's the *least* likely genre to have a pagan-themed story?" I decided the answer was a Western, so I challenged myself to write one that was both a traditional "oater" with a sheriff, a gunslinger and a showdown on main street, and that also brought in pagan ideas to generate the conflict.
DB: Your story takes place in the Old West, but in a very nontraditional way. You tend to write work that combines genres in an unconventional way, like your novel The Sword-Edged Blonde, which mixes sword and sorcery fantasy with the noir detective novel (quite successfully, I might add). How do you pull off such unusual pairings and what draws you to this approach?
AB: Usually it's a variant of the question I mentioned above: What's the least likely way to tell a particular story? The Sword-Edged Blonde started out as a straight epic fantasy, but it was too traditional, too average if you will, to come alive that way. So I thought, what's the most unusual way to tell this story, and decided to write it as a forties pulp detective novel, keeping the high fantasy setting. (The sequel, Burn Me Deadly, continues that approach). When I wrote my vampire novel Blood Groove, I had a story that technically could've worked in a contemporary setting, but had no real spark to it. So I backed it up to 1975, which put it before Anne Rice revolutionized the public idea of the vampire and allowed me to work with the vampire archetypes that spoke to me (Stoker, Hammer, etc.) free of any post-Rice irony.
DB: What can people expect from you next?
AB: Blood Groove will be released by Tor in the spring of 2009. The following fall, Burn Me Deadly (also from Tor) hits shelves. And a couple of other projects are making the rounds.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
New books are out!
Hi all,
This is a big month for me. I have TWO books out. Well, one and part of one, really.
My second book from Llewellyn is out and looking great! I hope you'll all check it out. It's called Everyday Witch A to Z: An Amusting, Inspiring & Informative Guide to the Wonderful World of Witchcraft.
And my short story, "Dead and (Mostly) Gone" is included in The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction: 13 Prize Winning Tales, also out from Llewellyn this month. (My story is the first one in the book, BTW, and won 3rd prize in the contest that started it all.)
All in all, a pretty exciting month as an author.
I hope you all have a wonderful Mabon (Autumn Equinox, for all you non-pagans).
Blessings, Deborah
This is a big month for me. I have TWO books out. Well, one and part of one, really.
My second book from Llewellyn is out and looking great! I hope you'll all check it out. It's called Everyday Witch A to Z: An Amusting, Inspiring & Informative Guide to the Wonderful World of Witchcraft.
And my short story, "Dead and (Mostly) Gone" is included in The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction: 13 Prize Winning Tales, also out from Llewellyn this month. (My story is the first one in the book, BTW, and won 3rd prize in the contest that started it all.)
All in all, a pretty exciting month as an author.
I hope you all have a wonderful Mabon (Autumn Equinox, for all you non-pagans).
Blessings, Deborah
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Today's tally
Pages written -- Four and a half (chapter 6 and the start of 7)
Jewelry made -- 0
Time doing anything in the garden or yard -- 0
Responses to queries -- 0
Weird car stuff which will require a visit to my mechanic -- 1
Oh, goodie.
Jewelry made -- 0
Time doing anything in the garden or yard -- 0
Responses to queries -- 0
Weird car stuff which will require a visit to my mechanic -- 1
Oh, goodie.
Monday, August 11, 2008
What I'm working on this week, Part Deux
Okay, then. The articles are finished and turned in. I've given my editor at Llewellyn my ideas for Book 4, and I'm waiting on her response to that. The next batch of query letters for Witch Ever Way You Can (novel #1) are out, and I am reviewing my final (well, final for this week) revisions.
But the big news is that I've started the next novel. I got the idea and wrote down three pages of notes on the 5th, then kicked it off with the first 11 pages (three short chapters) on the 7th. (Probably the most I've ever written in one day.)
I spent the 8th writing up a detailed outline (a first for me, since I don't usually use an outline for fiction...just sort of let it spill out any way it comes)--which rocked, by the way. The book is a humorous paranormal romance, and even the outline made people laugh out loud. That's got to be a good sign:)
Then I went to visit family for the weekend, so I only got some minor edits done on the first 11 pages (I tend to start the next day's writing by going over and editing the previous day's work), but managed another 6 pages tonight. Along with making 2 necklaces, since my jewelry making is still helping to support me, and I have a few shows coming up.
My goal is to whip this one out as fast as I can, so I'm aiming for an average of 4 pages a day. If I am trying to produce 280 pages (about), that means I could have the first draft finished in 70 days, or a little over 2 months. Pretty ambitious, considering I still have the regular job and the jewelry making (not to mention the garden, the yard and everything else to take care of...
But hey, you never know unless you try.
So I'm going for it, and I'll try to post regular updates about my progress. If anyone is curious about the book, I can give out a few details. Of course, I'll have to swear you to secrecy...
Happy writing!
Deborah
But the big news is that I've started the next novel. I got the idea and wrote down three pages of notes on the 5th, then kicked it off with the first 11 pages (three short chapters) on the 7th. (Probably the most I've ever written in one day.)
I spent the 8th writing up a detailed outline (a first for me, since I don't usually use an outline for fiction...just sort of let it spill out any way it comes)--which rocked, by the way. The book is a humorous paranormal romance, and even the outline made people laugh out loud. That's got to be a good sign:)
Then I went to visit family for the weekend, so I only got some minor edits done on the first 11 pages (I tend to start the next day's writing by going over and editing the previous day's work), but managed another 6 pages tonight. Along with making 2 necklaces, since my jewelry making is still helping to support me, and I have a few shows coming up.
My goal is to whip this one out as fast as I can, so I'm aiming for an average of 4 pages a day. If I am trying to produce 280 pages (about), that means I could have the first draft finished in 70 days, or a little over 2 months. Pretty ambitious, considering I still have the regular job and the jewelry making (not to mention the garden, the yard and everything else to take care of...
But hey, you never know unless you try.
So I'm going for it, and I'll try to post regular updates about my progress. If anyone is curious about the book, I can give out a few details. Of course, I'll have to swear you to secrecy...
Happy writing!
Deborah
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