About Writing Romance and Real Life

I often get asked if I do the 'sexual' things I write about.  I think it is most often assumed that romance writers do the type of 'love play' that is in their novels or are unhappy some way in real life.  For me, this couldn't be further from the truth. I am very happy in real life and very much in love with my husband.  It is that relationship that enables me to write well.  If my home life wasn't so great, I would be too distracted to write.

I think it's silly to assume that just because someone writes about romance they long for more or are deficient in real life.  I also write horror, but not once has anyone asked me if I drink blood like my vampires, or kill and torture people, or long to do so.  The answer is, of course, no.  Or, since I write Medieval novels, do I long to be in that time period?  Again, no I don't think I would last very long there. *grin* I also don't wish to be a ghost, a lycan, a dragon shapeshifter...yeah, you get the point.

The key to being a good fiction writer is to be able to tell a good story.  I happen to like telling stories of not only people falling in love, but of their other emotions and influences as well.  I like to be scared and I like to write to scare people.  Horror is best left to fiction.  I don't long for it in real life, just as I don't long for a new hero--I have one already and I got no complaints!  *winking at hubby*

Besides, in my opinion, if you only write what you experience, you're not a very good fiction writer.  Fiction is a job that takes great imagination and all I can hope is that a few people like mine.

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How long did that first book take?

Honestly, it's hard to say. I wrote before even thinking of publishing, for fun in spare time and not in any consist time blocks. So when I finally submitted, it was my 8th book written and I was already on book 10 writing wise. Then I had to go back and clean up. I've published a few of those first ones-- Mountain's Captive, Emerald Knight and Maiden and the Monster, but not all. Some I need to dig up from the cyber graveyard, lol. They haven't even seen a publisher's slush pile.

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When was your first book published?

April 2004, New Concepts Publishing, The Mists of Midnight.

BTW, my 50th contracted book published was Realm Immortal 2: Faery Queen, Samhain Publishing, Sept 2006.

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How do I...?

(get published, submit, what are the guidelines for, have you test read...)

 I don't mind helping other authors, but I CANNOT help you get your book published, nor can I do test readings of your material.

Please refer to the individual publisher guidelines for submission information. Everything you need to know is there.

The only advice I really have that is worth anything is to do your homework. Publishers put their submission guideline out on their websites for a reason. Follow them!!!

There is tons of info on the web as to how to write queries, ect. You just have to spend the time and read up. There is no magic formula. I wish there was, lol. You just have to put in the hours and do the work.

And, yes, it is very hard to get published. It's a very competitive business.

 

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Is e-publishing and self-publishing the same?

Can you tell me about self-publishing?

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

You're confusing self-publishing and what many people refer to as e-publishers. I'm not self published, so I can't tell you anything about going through that process. For what I understand, self-pub is hard because you have to put the money up for the book and you get to do ALL the leg work--from distribution, cover art, ect. My pubs take care of a lot of that for me. :)

Is self pub easy?

I wouldn't think so. Again, I've never done it.

To put it bluntly, anyone can pay enough money to have something published, but you're coming out of pocket on it. Whether or not you turn a profit depends solely on you. That is not said to belittle the work self pubbed authors do, it's merely to explain the difference. In self pub you are the author, publisher, distributor, promotions, marketing, publicity, ect. YOU ARE EVERYTHING. You do it all and you pay for it all.

In publishing (whether e or traditional) you don't do it all. The company does a lot of the work.

Unless there is some extremely rare case I haven't heard of yet, pubbed turns a better profit than self-pubbed--unless an author at a publisher has very poor sales for some reason or the self pubbed author is particularly savvy in some special way. There are always exceptions to the rule.

Epublishers?

Epublishers like New Concepts Publishing and Ellora's Cave Publishing, are called 'E' because they start books off as Ebooks. But many of their titles go to print and can be found at traditional outlets like Borders and Waldenbooks, Amazon.com, ect. In my experience, there is no difference between writing for a epublisher as opposed to a traditional publisher who puts out print first and ebook later.

I work for both traditional and epubs and they are basically the same as far as what they demand from you. The quality demanded is the same, with variances only in house style. The only difference is the format in which the final product is first presented. And ebooks have faster turn around from conception to being published, as you don't have to wait for the print setup, distribution, ect and can publish more books faster, though the print versions do come along slower (thus the delay between my ebook and print releases of the exact same book in most cases)

 

Why E-books and why do you have covers?

(NO I am not taking a stand here, just giving common answers to the questions)

Thank you, Ellen Fisher, for this answer :)

Why E-books?  Well, why not E-books? 

The number one reason sited is waste. When a print run goes through on paperbacks, about 50% of those are expected to be recycled or thrown away. This is a lot of wasted paper when you multiply maybe 10,000 copies per title x 150 titles a month.

Also, I've read that about 75% of Americans are connected to the internet. Which means more are using computers.  Why go to a store if you can just instantly download a book to read when you want it?  And with handhelds nowadays you can store several hundred novels in one unit.  Talk about some light traveling!  Besides, as my friend Ellen pointed out, with the price of gas these days isn't it reasonable to cut out some of those side trips?

You can also adjust the font size with E-books.  As many get older, it's harder to read the finer print.

So why not E-books, they're just as well written.  There is faster turn around time for your fave authors, so you don't have to wait forever for that next release.  I'm not saying I don't like print books, cause I really do. But, the way I figure it, a good story is a good story, no matter the format.

Why do E-books have covers?  This is simple.  E-books are just like print, only they are on your computer.  We all like to look at the covers when shopping, it's just all part of the packaging.  And, since a lot of E-books do eventually go into print, they're going to need a cover all the same.  In my opinion, I like having a picture to go along with the book. And, at least at NCP, the covers do tend to match the characters inside.  I don't know how many print books will have a red head on the front only to give me a blonde between the pages.

ANSWER PROVIDED BY ELLEN FISHER, AUTHOR NCP

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What are your feelings on paperback novels? 

Are you against them?

This is silly, lol. Of course I don't have a negative view on paperbacks, and don't want it to sound like that because I defend the legitimacy of e-books. I do understand that e-books are not a choice for some, like those without computers.

I love paperback and own quite a few. I defend e-books because they do seem to get attacked quite a bit as not being 'real' books. They take just as much work to write as a paperback and in fact a lot of them can be found in paperback as well. All that's different is the format. I would like to see book judged for their content, not their packaging.  Unfortunately this doesn't always happen.

See here for print books.

UPDATE: Many of my books (almost all) are now in print, or coming soon to print.

E-books going into Print

Many e-books will go into print eventually, so there is a possibility that the rest of my work will someday be available that way. If you wish to see a particular e-book in print, the best thing is to email the publishers (and get your friends to do it too) to let them know what you want to buy the book in paperback. It doesn't mean you have to buy it, but helps the editors know there is an interest in seeing a particular work in print. It also helps us authors out, as there is stiff competition for getting stuff in print.

UPDATE: Many of my books (almost all) are now in print, or coming soon.

FOR NCP TITLES: Email my editor, Andrea de Pasture, at New Concepts Publishing and let her know of your interest  HERE and request them in paperback. Also be sure to support the e-book.  If the e-book falters then the story with never see print.

FOR EC TITLES: Email service@ellorascave.com and request the book in print form.

To see what titles are from what publisher, click here.

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BOOK REVIEW REQUESTS:

Requesting one of my books to review

Each of my publishers have a set list of review sites they auto-send to.  Please verify that your site is on the list through your site administrator. Requests should be placed through them as I am no longer accepting them. Thank you.

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About My Futuristics

The Dragon Lords success has truly floored me.  I'd never expected that in a million years.  They were my first attempt at futuristic, though I have notebooks full of ideas I’ve written down over the years. 

This Dragon Lords series actually started as a short story with Morrigan and Ualan from The Barbarian Prince that grew into four mid-length novels.  I just signed a contract and felt really inspired to do something different.  Ideas just kept popping into my head as I tried to make all four heroines different.  Actually, I’d lie in bed with a notebook beside me to write the ideas down because I couldn’t sleep.  I’ve perfected the art of writing in the dark.

Many readers started demanding Var books {the cat shifting enemy of the Draig (Dragon Lords)}.  So, from that, Lords of the Var was born.  Whereas the Draig trust fate and are raised believing that their life mate is predestined, the Var men are raised to put no stock in love.  In fact, their father King Attor raises them not to ever fall even consider falling in love.  It’s quite the opposite concept from the Draig race.  Look for these to come out after the Dragon Lords.

I’ll keep writing and expanding the series as long as people want them.  One thing I want readers to know is that all my futuristic will connect somehow.  I’ve got short carnals, Galaxy Playmates.  They also connect to the others.  I also have several plans for other spin-off series.  So, if you want to see more of anything, all you have to do is ask.

DRAIG AND VAR QUESTIONS:

I was just curious to know if the few female children of the Draigs and Vars can shift?

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Tribes of the Vampire FAQ

Where did you get the idea for Tribes?

The idea was purely mine.  Some of the tribal names were taken from various vampire legends.  I did that to make them sound familiar.  That way, when the reader is reading the books, it will strike a familiar note with them, like maybe our legends have it wrong and this is really where those myths originated from.  Other than those few names, everything else was from my head.  I have the whole world set up, much of which hasn’t come out in the books yet.

About the characters? Will Jirí have his own book?

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What is your next project?

How do you promote?

There are several, cheaper ways for promotion on the internet. The best route is to do you research, visit author blogs, websites, publisher sites, review sites. Offer to do interviews, set up yahoo newsletters or chat groups, and open a myspace account. The number one thing? HAVE A WEBSITE!!

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