Both Sides of the New Adult Coin by CD Brennan

A few months back, I got to review CD Brennan's delightful novel, Watershed. I'm currently in the middle of her latest novel, A World Apart, and hope to review it next week once all the excitement of RWA dies down. One of the hot topics at RWA is the subject of the New Adult genre. But what is that? Today we get a great explanation from CD Brennan who explains what New Adult means and how it's changing the world of publishing! -- Mary Ann

Both Sides of the New Adult Coin

by

CD Brennan

As both a writer and editor of New Adult romance, I am particularly interested in the future of this genre. It was practically genius who devised New Adult. I love that the age range is vast, from 18 – 26, because growing into who you are as an adult takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight, or within the halls of a high school, and some mature faster than others. Personally, I dawdled—bad. It took me, like forever, to figure out who I was, what I believed, what was important to me without letting outside influences alter my path. Looking back, I think I was a complete and utter eejit those years. Where was my head? In my heart, most likely. But that’s okay, and an often explored meme in New Adult.

I’m first and foremost an Editor, then an author. Editing is my job and I love it. I’m not being modest when I say that I am a better Editor than I am a writer. Writing and editing are different disciplines. One uses the right side of the brain; one uses the left. As an editor, I work with parameters and rules, including grammar and construction. I work within the laws of the language and guidelines set by my house. I evaluate a book’s development as if it were a puzzle, rearrange content, if needed, for it all to fit. As an author, I develop settings and plot lines, create loveable, iconic characters, and devise witty, realistic dialogue. From nothing. From thin air. Poof! Okay, maybe with help from a glass of wine and 80s love songs. Everyone has their muse.

I am a Content & Acquisitions Editor with Lyrical Press, a romance imprint of Kensington Publishing out of New York. In the last year, we have seen a large increase in New Adult submissions. As a new genre, it is still growing, and that means writers are expanding into new territories with New Adult. Lately, I’ve received some great NA subs, including time-travel, historical, and fairytale. New Adult writers are dipping into other subgenres, which I am pleased to see. The possibilities are endless. Perhaps a NA sci-fi? Or even better, NA dystopian? I’ve got an idea for that one myself. Or why not New Adult erotic romance? Who’s to say a college chic can’t have an erotic journey of discovery with a hunky grad student on a summer archeological dig? Tent + middle of nowhere = no one will hear them scream.

Maybe NA is becoming more popular for its first mature love combined with youthful fantasy and silly mistakes. Young adults face profound life choices and powerful emotion. Parfait them with great sexual content, and you can’t help but have a winner. The best YA stories make me so effin’ excited when they first kiss, I could cry. Then I want more. How many YA stories did you think to yourself – God, I just wish they could get it on?

That’s where NA comes in. New Adult doesn’t have to be red hot, but it can include characters’ sexual exploration side of their relationships. My series is low in heat, but I reckon if I knew then what I know now, I would have written them a bit sexier. New Adult sales are stronger with higher heat levels. And fair enough. How many young twenty-somethings do you know who aren’t having sex? Sometimes copious amounts! Don’t mistake edgy and angsty with sexy. They don’t have to go together like tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum. There is nothing wrong with a lighthearted storyline with lots of great sex. You can have a strong storyline that integrates sex into the character or relationship development, without the need for uber-drama.

What I am trying to say, is that whatever way you choose to write your New Adult novel, this genre currently has the most potential for new and different. The possibilities are endless.

All Things Writing members interested in publication with Kensington Publishing’s Lyrical Press line may submit directly. Believe in your story and send it to me. cdemaagd@gmail.com

Or, I’d be more than honored if you wanted to check out my own NA series, Love Where You Roam. www.cdbrennan.com

Happy Writing!

Corinne DeMaagd

Nothing Sucks Worse Than An Editing Scam!

It’s like a stab through the heart. Just when you thought it was safe to plunge into the publishing waters, your literary masterpiece—the great work you’ve slaved over for months—becomes shark bait. In a conscientious effort to produce a polished manuscript, you’ve become a victim of fraud. Editing fraud.

How did it happen? The scenario usually goes something like this:

You revise and proof your book until your eyes glaze over. Your first readers—friends and relatives—hardly unbiased, praise it. But deep inside is a small niggling of doubt. Something doesn’t feel right, but you can’t quite put a finger on it. You need a professional opinion. To avoid submitting “sloppy copy” to an agent or publisher—or embarrassing yourself with a self-published blooper—you take the next step: Hiring a private editor who will help polish and perfect your work. You Google “private” or “independent” editors. Hundreds of names pop up. You narrow your search to the classifieds of writing magazines. Not so many. You shotgun emails to a bunch who advertise cheap rates and promise—no, guarantee—your publishing success. Responses pour in. You jump at the cheapest with the quickest turn-around. Because, after all, how hard can it be to give your 400-page magnum opus a quick read-through, fix your typos, and offer a few tweaks? Many weeks later, after much delay, unhelpful suggestions, and a significant outlay of cash, the process stalls. Your emails go unanswered. Like a thief in the night, the so-called editor has cashed in and slithered away. You’re worse off than when you started. And you’re kicking yourself for being the world’s biggest doofus.

Like any business, publishing has its share of scammers. How can you protect yourself?

1.     If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. It’s been said a million times but suckers still fall for perceived bargains. Editors advertising “Cheap rates!” or “Quick turnaround!” or “Publication Guaranteed!” are yanking your chain.

2.     Don’t fall for ego stroking. Beware of editors who flatter you with outrageous praise, comparing your book and style to best-selling authors. We all love to hear compliments about our work, but smooth talk and sucking up are only tactics to lure you in and take your cash.

3.     Talk about the work first. A legitimate editor is more interested in what your book is about, the intended audience, word count, and your skill level. Before taking you on, an editor should ask to see a sample of your writing, or a synopsis and a few chapters. No professional editor wants to waste time and energy working with amateur writers who lack basic grammar, punctuation, and sentence construction skills. No matter how much money is involved.

4.     You get what you pay for. The going rate for a professional private editor is currently about $40 – 50 per hour. (Copy editors generally charge per page.) After reviewing the details of your project, the editor will give you a rough estimate of the amount of time involved. You might be required to upfront some cash as a “retainer,” as you would when hiring an attorney. Some editors work with clients on a pay-as-you go plan, with installments payable at intervals. You should be allowed to terminate the working relationship at any time. This assures that you will never exceed your budget.

5.     Check out references and edited books. Ask the editor to provide links to edited book samples. Or ask for a satisfied client’s contact info in order to verify and discuss their editing experience.

Not all private editors are out to take advantage of you. But how do you find the good guys? Your best bet is through a professional writing organization like the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (www.scbwi.org) which publishes a Freelance Editors directory. LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) also categorizes freelance editors and posts their endorsements. Check out names on Preditors and Editors (www.pred-ed.com) for fraud activity and general bad-mouthing. And you can’t beat writing listserv groups for word of mouth contact info.

Before you entrust your masterpiece to a stranger, do your homework. Use reliable sources, name check, and ask for references. Stop the sharks from taking a chomp out of your wallet.   

Jacqueline Horsfall is the author of over 20 books, a college-level writing instructor, and a 15-year freelance editor (not of the shark variety). Visit her booklist at http://amazon.com/author/jacquelinehorsfallbooks

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7 Writing Tips to Keep You Sane---guest blogger, Kate Hawkins

Today we welcome guest blogger, Kate Hawkins! Welcome to All Things Writing!--Mary Ann

    When I am writing, I usually get scenes, short plots, and/or characters in my head. THAT'S what inspires my writing. It might be a single, short, boring scene that inspires me. It might be some movie. Heck, it may even be another author's book. My ideas come from anywhere and everywhere, just like everyone else's. For me, the hard part of writing is plotting the whole story. Occasionally, I'll slip up where the characters are involved. I have to change a few characters and a few relationships throughout the story. I have to add and kill characters fairly quickly. When a writer says that writing isn't easy, they're right. It takes a lot of rewriting and editing and changing your plans to create a piece that sings.

 Most authors know what they're talking about. I've seen a lot of tips for writing, and when I created this site, I added 'and tricks' simply because I liked the sound of it. In reality, there are no tricks to writing. There aren't any shortcuts. You can't wave a magical wand and end up with an amazing story, or even a poor one. Writing takes experience, which I am lacking in because I've learned almost nothing about writing these past few years. (Texas has changed their state tests, and our main focus has shifted to essays. Not a sentence of fiction.)
So, I'm going to give some tips of my own. Honestly, I haven't tested any of them. They're mostly theoretical.

Tip 1: Set a daily word count
I see this one everywhere, and if you've looked at writing T&T before, you probably have too. It's everywhere. Honestly, I've never tried it, but I want to. Personally, if you're like me, a 750 word count sounds good. And don't worry; it's not as long as it seems. It's just over a paragraph or two. Also, most typing programs (Word, Notepad, etc.) have an automatic word counter. This word count, as far as I remember, is just a minimum. However, I wouldn't go over 800 words total. That way, if I still had ideas, I could save them for the next day.

Tip 2: Join a writing group
Most schools have some sort of creative writing club. I've never been to one, and I'm not sure how it works, but I intent to pay a few visits this coming school year. I don't know if they do poetry, fiction, research papers, or fantasy, or a mix of all of them, although I'm hoping for a fiction group. That way, I can promote this website as well as my other one where I post my writings. (Yafantasy.yolasite.com)

Tip 3: Constructive Criticism
This is EXTREMELY important. Coming from someone who knows what they're talking about, this can help your writing immensely. If you don't have anyone telling you how to get better, you wont improve. I haven;'t gotten constructive criticism in years, and I realized how little I've improved when I found a story I wrote in middle school. There really isn't much I want to change. It's staying almost the same as it was four years ago! So, this is important. This is where your writing will get better and how it will evolve.

Tip 4: Edit and Rewrite
I hate this part of writing. I hate rereading my work. It's awful. But, unfortunately, I know I should do it. In my other work (Again on YAFantasy.yolasite.com) I haven't edited or rewritten anything outside of Dakota's story, and that was only redone because the story was no longer a collaboration; my partner is no longer available for it. So, I have to change it and change characters and such, even though the plot is staying mostly the same.

Tip 5: Get Good Feedback
This, IMO, is important. If you don't have anyone telling you you're good or that you have potential, you're not going to want to write anymore. This is a big confidence booster. However, don't let it go to your head. Make sure to remember the constructive criticism when you write.

Tip 6: Show off your work
What's the point of writing if no one's going to read your work? Yes, some people may enjoy writing for themselves, but most people I know hate it. Personally, if I'm not getting views for my websites, I get lazy and stop posting. It doesn't have to be many views (I get excited about two unknown people visiting.), but any readers, regular or not, are good. However, try your hardest to get regular readers early on. If you're posting a chapter every other week like I am for three stories, new readers can get overwhelmed fairly quickly.

Tip 7: Run your work by friends
  I do this quite often with one of my friends. She helps me come up with great ideas to help keep my story moving. This step is also important to me, because without her input, I'd have a very, VERY boring story. And I don't even realize it until I hear her opinion! So, this seems to be a great idea to me. It may fall under the feedback category, but it is helpful.

To learn more about Kate, drop by her website http://evietellsall.yolasite.com/

Developing An Outline for Your Short Story

Spring time is approaching and that always makes me think of short story writing for some reason! I'm re-posting this piece by Clive West on how to use an outline to develop your short story!---Mary Ann

They might not take as long to complete as an epic novel. You won’t, in most instances, be putting in weeks, months or even years of research. But if anybody ever told you that writing short stories was easy, they were very wrong. And the hardest part of all is getting started.

Your ideas are there, and some are very strong, but they’re jumbled. Characters are coming to life in your mind. You think your story could be great, and you’re desperate to get in on paper.

Stop there. When writing fiction, planning is everything. Here are a few tips on how to write the perfect short story outline.

Your characters

Get those characters right

Your characters will drive your situations, further your plot and take up a lot of space in your mind until you get your story finished! They’re important, yes? So invest plenty of time in them! Make a list, a template if you like, for them, from the basics of their name and age, through to their fears and key life experiences. Go so far as to list ‘facts’ about them that, although may drive their actions in your story, you will not reveal to the reader. Make them as realistic, well rounded and as human as you can. Wooden or forgettable characters will make your story about as riveting as watching grass grow, no matter how solid or inventive your plot is.

Note down and play around with your dialogue

You may have snippets of conversation between characters in your head, or just single lines of dialogue you want to fit in but are not sure what to do with yet. That’s fine; just get them all written down. Say them aloud. They may appear very different in both instances than they initially did in your head – you might decide you no longer want to keep them at all! And that’s fine. Change and adjust accordingly. Don’t be afraid of a little experimentation – no harm will come from it!

Now write that outline!

It’s time to get your beginning, middle and end down onto paper. Be detailed – don’t just make quick notes, use full sentences. Note down when the dialogue you have written and planned will be used and who by.  Don’t just rely on your memory, get those tiny but important details in there too. You’ll be surprised how easily they might slip your mind when it comes to drafting, and one little slip could ruin your entire piece. Don’t write it like a synopsis; think of your story in chunks. How big or small these chunks are is up to you, but use a bullet point to describe what is going to unfold in each one. Make sure everything is in order.

Polish and modify

One day, one day.

Your outline needs the tender love of your inner editor as well. Before you even think about starting that first draft, read through the outline. Does everything make sense? Are there things that you might like, but don’t need in terms of furthering the plot? Are some moments in the story weaker or less interesting than others? Spot and solve these early problems. Don’t leave it until you start writing; the more you prepare with your outline, the easier drafting will be.

All done? You’re ready to go. Good luck!

Sometime in the near future, when your short story is completed, edited and ready for anything, you might be thinking about trying to get it seen by a publisher. Why not give Any Subject Books a try? They always welcome new talent, and if they see true potential in your work you might find yourself on their list of authors very soon indeed!  Their submission process and guidelines are simple to follow and can be found on their 'Writers Wanted' page.

Tackling the World of Self Publishing by Guest Author Jessi Gage

I reviewed Jessi Gage's fabulous book Wishing for a Highlander a few months back. Click here for the review: Wishing for a Highlander Review! This is the perfect Valentine's Day read! And, I have to say that I adore the new cover--though I'm biased! I'm delighted to have her blog for us today, and I hear a sequel is in the works for her Highlander series. Can't wait to read it! Enjoy and Happy Valentines Day!---Mary Ann

Thanks for hosting me on the day of luurve, Mary Ann! I’m celebrating Valentines Day by shouting from the rooftops news of my re-released time-travel romance Wishing for a Highlander.

With the sale of my publisher, Lyrical, to Kensington last month, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to try self-publishing. It’s something I’ve been curious about and have learned a lot about through friends who have done it. It felt like the right time, so when I had the opportunity to get my rights back, I jumped at the chance to launch myself as a hybrid author (author who does traditional and indie publishing).

So what’s new in the second edition of Wishing for a Highlander? Pretty much just the cover (which Mary Ann helped me with *winks*), blurb, and price. I made a few minor edits, but for the most part, the story itself is just as fast-paced and sweet as ever.

Being able to price the book myself, I reduced the price to $3.99. It’s wonderful to have such control over every aspect of my baby, but the benefits come with risks and hard work. So far, I’m pleased with my new indie venture, and I hope it pays off for readers too!

Wishing for a Highlander

In a nutshell, it’s about a single and pregnant museum worker who accidentally wishes herself back in time and is forced to marry a Highland warrior with intimacy issues.

Here’s the blurb:

Be careful what you wish for. It might just come true.

Single-and-pregnant museum worker Melanie voices an idle wish while examining a Scottish artifact, that a Highland warrior would sweep her off her feet and help her forget her cheating ex. The last thing she expects is for her wish to be granted. Magically transported to the middle of a clan skirmish in the sixteenth-century Highlands, she comes face to face with her kilted fantasy man.

Tall, handsome, and heir to his uncle’s lairdship, Darcy Keith should be the most eligible bachelor in Ackergill. Instead, thanks to a prank played on him in his teenage years, he is known for being too large under his kilt to ever make a proper husband. “Big Darcy” runs his deceased father’s windmills and lives alone at his family manor, believing he will never marry.

But a strangely dressed woman he rescues from a clan skirmish makes him long for more. When the woman’s claims of coming to Ackergill by magic reach the laird’s ears, she is accused of witchcraft. Darcy determines to protect her any way he can, even if it means binding her to him forever.

Buy Links

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Goodreads

About Jessi Gage

Jessi lives with her husband and children in the Seattle area. In addition to writing paranormal romance, she’s a wife, a mom, an audiologist, a church-goer, a Ford driver, a PC user, and a coffee snob. Her guiding tenet in her writing is that good triumphs over evil, but not before evil gives good one heck of a run for its money. The last time she imagined a world without romance novels, her husband found her crouched in the corner, rocking.

Jessi Gage links

Website | Blog | Facebook Fan Page | Twitter | Goodreads

Thanks for stopping by to wish me well on my first indie venture, and thank you, Mary Ann, for hosting me!

Happy Valentines Day!

Quirks, foibles and traits

Sounds like a collection of ultra-small physics particles, doesn't it?

In reality, the insertion of these idiosyncrasies into a book are a key part of what delineates a potentially great author from a mediocre one. If that sounds like an exaggeration, I'll say it again in a slightly different way - leave them out at your peril.

Let's look at an example. A typical breakfast scene where the main point of the act is the dialogue that's taking place between the principal characters. No doubt you've polished this and it works perfectly so I’m not going to consider the conversation, only the actions that are going on around it.

Thus, what you may not have done is to have considered the 'little details', such as having one or other of the characters:

• Leave the milk out of the fridge so it gets warm
• Burn the toast
• Have an impromptu 'seconds' from the cornflakes box so that there isn't quite enough cereal left for the other person to get a full serving
• Open their boiled eggs upside down
• Make a ritual out of sweeping up every last crumb of toast

... and so on.

There's nothing particularly magical about this list and you could easily add hundreds more bits of human weirdness that regularly take place around any breakfast table. While those details recounted en masse might well be terminally tedious, scattered sparingly over the breakfast scene just like pepper over one's scrambled eggs, will 'pep it up' considerably.

In fact, that's the key to the correct use of these qualities. When you choose your book’s cast, pick on a selection of ones which you feel are both in keeping with your characters and which will also allow you to inject interest into scenes which might otherwise be too dry or complex.

If I've not quite convinced you of how relevant this is, I'd like you to think of another scene that occurs regularly in your life such as going to work, eating dinner, preparing for bed – anything like these will do. Now make a mental list of what you actually do on each occasion and then make another list of how many processes you actually need to do. For example, take 'going to bed'. You don't NEED to line up your watch, jewellery, wallet etc - you could simply just chuck them down on the bedside table or the dresser. You don't NEED to put both shoes together - as long as you can find them, that's all that matters.

... and so on.

Whether you choose to make your quirks, foibles and traits amusing, frustrating or plain irritating, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you have made your characters human and depicting their weaknesses - weaknesses which we all suffer from – will be a major influence in getting your readers to identify with them.

Now, where’s my protractor? I like to leave my laptop screen at exactly 115º when it’s not in use.

Struggling with your formatting, cover design, ghost-writing, marketing or distribution? Contact Any Subject Books and we'll be only too pleased to help you. We're a family firm with old-fashioned standards of accuracy, attention to detail and decency in its trading. Because we endeavour to 'get it right first time', our overheads are lower and our prices highly competitive. Check it out now by clicking this link - Any Subject Books.

Grammar Geek

Bad grammar detracts from good writing like an over-salted dish ruins a fine meal.  It leaves a vile taste in the mouth and puts you off going there again.   

 

Yes language evolves, yes dictionaries are regularly updated to reflect this and no I don’t want us to all speak like Shakespeare but the way we speak and write is still important.   

 

You may be the most fascinating, hilarious and kindest person I’ve ever met but if you smell it will put me off spending time with you.   

 

To me, bad grammar is the same.  If you can’t be bothered to clean up your language and to make sure it flows smoothly, then I don’t want to read your work.   

 

Here are some common pitfalls that have crept into accepted use recently: 

 

Nauseous  

I am nauseous means I produce nausea in others.  You don’t mean that, do you?  You are nauseated.  You feel sick.  

 

Impactful  

Is not a word.  Marketing people – stop using it.   

   

Literally 

Unless you’re quite literally in an episode of Made in Chelsea, you quite literally cannot afford to use this horrific word over and over and over again.  

 

Irregardless  

Even Microsoft Word red pens this one.  It is not a word.  Stop repeating what you’ve heard other people say at work.    

 

Lay and lie  

My chickens lay eggs.  You do not.  You lie down.   

You lay an object.  You lie yourself down.   

 

Lay and laid  

Laid is the past tense of lay. Lay is the past tense of lie.   

See above.  You laid down an egg.  You lay down on the bed.   

 

Team  

Is singular.  My team is. Not my team are.  I’m not a violent person but I have to restrain myself over the incorrect use of this.  Beware.    

 

Their  

Do not use when you mean his or her.  The word ‘their’ is plural. It is not a substitute for his or her.  Everyone (singular) must bring his or her (not their) own parrot to the party.   

 

Fewer and less  

One that is become less often used, fortunately.  For those still unclear, fewer is quantifiable, less is hypothetical.  I have fewer items in my bagging area.  I have less time on my hands.   

 

I’m sure you recognise some of these errors but now you’re aware of them, with a little care and attention, we can put this right together and make sure every sentence we create is a little thing of beauty.   

 

Katy Pollard 

 

Katy Pollard is a Communications and Engagement professional with more than 11 years’ experience and qualifications of a CIPR Diploma and an MA in Journalism.  The self-confessed grammar-geek lives in Leeds, UK with her partner Steve and pet pig Gwen. 

Twitter: @Trolley79