Resources for the Non-RWA Newbie Part 2

If you've been doing your research, you'll know that the judges I mentioned in part 1 of my Resources for the Non-RWA Newbie post below are people who you WANT to get your work in front of. These are the people you WANT to notice you. Even if you don't final in the contest, don't think they don't notice. They pay attention. They watch what's going on. That's thier job and the reason they get involved in contests. Otherwise, why would they waste thier valuable time judging them? The same goes for Karin Tabke's First Line Contest. Like Leah Michaels and Rachelle Chase, Karin Tabke is a well known, established author. Her contest is a small, quieter contest, but that doesn't mean that it's not a darn good contest. Believe you me, it's just as important. Hilary Teeman of St. Martin's Press is the final judge for Karin Tabke's First Line Contest. Again, not too shabby. Not even a little. And, if you've been following my blog, you'll know #1) I write western historical romances and #2) that, Hilary Teeman is an author at St. Martins Press and #3) After reading the Bookends, LLC blog entry, a certain editor from St. Martin's is looking for a really good western... Bingo! Invaluable advice! Now, don't you think I entered this contest just as fast as my fingers could type? I did. In fact, I was the very first entry (I won't mention the very inbaressing bo-bo I made, either *grin*). But you see what I'm saying? Who knows, this just might be the break I'm looking for - or you're looking for. Which brings me to the next form of keeping abroad of the romance industry without the help of RWA. Blogs. Blogs are an excellent way to keep up with what's going on in the romance industry. This may be a little time consuming because of the fact that you need to do a LOT of reading to keep up with them, on a daily basis or at least on a weekly basis, but they are an invalualbe tool. I can't stress that enough. That's how I learned abuout Karin Tabke's contest and the Chase the Dream Contest. Karin Tabke's contest wasn't broadcast all over the place like most are. What I mean by that is, it wasn't mentioned on ANY of the writer's lists I belong to (and I belong to a LOT) like contests usually are. On these writers lists, if there's something important going on, this is where you'll usually hear about it. But, apparently, some things do slip by, which is why the aspiring romance writer should join as many as she/he can possibly keep up with in addition to reading blogs. This is how I learned about Karin Tabke's Contest - on a blog (and I can't for the life of me remember which blog). But, there you have it. If I hadn't read that blog, I never would have learned about this contest, therefore, I might have missed a good chance to get noticed, because I write western romance and Hilary Teeman is a St. Martin's editor and she's the final judge for the First Line Contest and a certain St. Martins Press editor is looking for a really good western...see where I'm going with this? LOL There are a lot of very informative blogs that you should keep up with and read faithfully. The ones I highly recommend and suggest you read are the agent and/or publishers blogs and published author blogs. By reading thieir blogs you can learn what agents and editors are currently looking for, what's popular, who's accepting what and more. And, the best thing about this is, these things are not rumnors or hearsay (sp?). They're facts - straight from the horse's mouth (I don't like using that particular term to refer to agents and editor and publishers - sorry if you're reading this - but it gets my point across). VBG On the Bookends, LLC blog (which is my favorite, by the way) every once in a while the agents will post what they're looking for and sometimes whats hot and whats not. In fact, Bookends, LLC's Jessica Faust is offering a free Pitch critique as we speak. Back in May she offered a Query workshop, where she critiqued queries. See what I mean? Authors blogs often list these kinds of things, too. Not only can they keep you abreast of what's going on, they often post mini-workshops, articles and some even sporatically offer mini-critiques (another benefit of keeping up with author blogs is the promotional contests they have. You won't believe the books, calanders and other stuff I've won in the past four months! Woo-hoo! Everyone like to win things, don't they?). Another good non-RWA resource example is The Muse Online Conference that was put on by Leah Schzeas just recently. I cannot begin to tell you the wealth of learning infomation offered at this FREE, week-long online conference. Wonderful presenters, great handouts and friendly people. This conference was not only geared towards romance writers, either. There were a lot of courses presented for poetry and children's writers, fantasy, mystery writers, etc., but, the same rule applies. It's a way to learn, to network and to grow. Another point I'd like to make/stress. I learned about this conference MONTHS ago from a MySpace blog post. Yes, MySpace (believe it or not, MySpace is another great networking tool). The post told about the conference and gave the link to the site. Once there, I was able to register and sign up to receive a reminder (since I registered months in advance). My point is, you have to keep your eyes and ears open. You have to read everything, and I mean everything, you have to join everything and you have to get involved. Register for online classes, courses and conferences (as I mentioned, the majority of these are free). Join MySpce, Facebook, Shelfari, attend chats, join writers groups and eloops and lists (and, let me just mention that a lot of editors, agents, publishers and published authors are members of these lists. They may just lurk in the background, but they're there.). Yes, it's a lot of work and believe me, it's very time consuming. It involves a LOT of reading and heavy online involvement but, in the longrun it just might be worth the effort. If you want to learn and grow and possibly get your foot in the door or your manuscript in front of a publisher, editor and/or agent without the help of RWA (even with the help of RWA), it's necessary. Plain and simple. If you want to play the game, you'd better be up for it. End of Part 2 Note: I planned on only having 2 parts to this post, but it ended up being much longer than I expected, so I've seperated it into 3 parts. Check back in a couple of day for part 3

Resources for the Non-RWA Newbie Part 1

I recently returned to romance writing after a three year hiatus. Since then, I've been diligently trying to pick up where I left off. If you've been reading my blog this past month, you'll know that I've been busy entering writing contests. But, what you might not know or realize is, these contests are non-RWA sponsored contests. I'm not a member of RWA. I used to be, but when I ran into personal problems three years back, not only was I forced to set my writing aside, I was forced to let my RWA membership lapse.

Believe me, I miss my RWA Membership. I miss the sister chapters I belonged to. I miss the camaraderie and I miss the RWR (Romance Writer Report), which is RWA's official monthly Newsletter, which is chock full of valuable information. It lists the current market changes, upcoming contests, contest winners, who's had their first sale and just about everything else you can think of. Joining RWA is the best thing an aspiring romance writer can do to learn and grow in her or his writing career. But, sometimes things happen. They just do. You, your husband or God forbid, you both get laid off. The business or corporation you work for go under. Someone falls ill. There are a million and one things that can happen and when/if it does, you're forced to prioritize.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's had the misfortune to find herself in this position. Hopefully, it's temporary and before long, I'll be able to join RWA again. But, until then, what do you do? How do you learn and grow and keep up with the highly competitive romance writing industry? Believe it or not, there are a LOT of things you can do. Just because you're not a RWA member doesn't mean it's the end of the world. It doesn't mean that you won't have the same opportunities and tools that a RWA member has. It only means that you'll have to take a different route to find them.

The opportunities are out there. There are lots of romance writing groups and lists and many offer free writing courses and workshops. They have author and agent speakers, offer up tips, articles, advice and just about anything else you can think of. But what about contests? Are the only contests available to romance writers RWA sponsored contests? The answer is no. There are quite a few contests available these days that are not RWA sponsored. And a perfect example is the two contests I've been talking about the past few weeks here on my blog.

Six years ago when I first started writing romance, I didn't know that other contests, like the ones I just mentioned, existed. And maybe at that time they didn't. Or maybe they did but I just never knew about them. Whatever the reason, I discovered that they do indeed exist. And, the majority of them are free. Sure, there are RWA contests offered for non-members, but there's still the entry fee. And those fees can add up. And if you're unable to afford the entry fee, much less the $100 RWA first time enrollment fee just to become a member, this is the route to go.

Besides the many non-RWA writers lists and egroups and courses available, there are also non-RWA contests available. And, these contests are just as good or BETTER than some of the RWA sponsored ones. And, as with the RWA sponsored contests, they're also great opportunities to get your MS in front of an editor and/or agent.

Take Leah Michaels and Rachelle Chases' Chase the Dream Contest. Both Leah and Rachelle are established, well known, published authors. They know they're stuff. I was honored to have my little 1,000 word entry critiqued by them. And, who better to get a critique and get advice from than published, well established authors like Leah Michaels and Rachelle Chase? I learned a lot, possibly more in that critique than I learned in a long time. And, not only is that, IMHO, an invaluable experience, just the fact that they (and other contests put together by other well established authors) have a wonderful line-up of judges is reason enough to enter.

This is one of the best ways for a pre-published author to get noticed, whether your a member of RWA or not. This is a way to get your manuscript in front of an editor and/or agent without the help of a RWA sponsored contest. Just look at the line-up of judges for this years Chase the Dream Contest:

• PAULA EYKELHOF, Executive Editor, Harlequin Everlasting
• HILARY SARES, Editor, Kensington Publishing
• RAELENE GORLINSKY, Publisher, Elloras Cave and Cerridwen Press
• ELAINE ENGLISH, of Elaine P. English PLLC — Attorney and Literary Agent
• CHERYL FERGUSON, of Ferguson Literary Agency — Literary Agent
• CHRISTINE WITTHOHN, Agent, Book Cents Literary Agency

Not too shabby, aye?

End of Part 1
Because this post ended up being so long, I decided to split it into two separate ones. Please check back in a couple of days for part 2 of my article on Resources for the Non-RWA Newbie

How's Your Grammer?

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct. It's pretty obvious that you don't make basic grammatical errors. If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs. As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human. And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

The It's Its There Their They're Quiz

I Made It To Round Four!

Woo-hoo! I did it again - I made it to round #4 in Karin Tabke's First Line Contest! Yes!

Another week of waiting to look forward to. I'm not complaining, mind you. I'm just amazed!

My entry is #6 if you want to check it out.

http://www.karintabke.com/blog/index.php

Wish me luck - again!

What I Read Today...

Over at the BookEnds, LLC blog, Jessica Faust said:

"Kim said that the one thing she’s hearing over and over is that romance editors are excited about the resurgence of interest in historicals. It seems everyone is hunting for new, fresh historical romance voices so you historical authors should get cracking. You’re in demand again!"

Ohhh, I got goosebumps! I have a feeling that something goods about to happen. I really do. I've had this feeling for the past six months and it's getting stronger.

She also had a post on submission guidelines. She said they've changed in the past year, so if you're planning on sending a query and you haven't checked the guidelines lately, she suggests you do so before mailing out that query.

Head on over to the Bookends blog and see what else Jessica Faust has to say.

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In the October 21, 2207 edition of Cindy Myer's Market News Newsletter, Cindy did a Spotlight on Dorchester Books from the RWA National Conference.

Here's what she said:

The Spotlight on Dorchester was presented by Editor Leah Hultenschmidt and Senior Editor Chris Keeslar.

"Dorchester is one of the oldest independent publishers, in business since 1971," Chris said in his introduction to the company. Dorchester publishes all varieties of mass market paperback fiction (and a little bit of trade and hardcover fiction.)

They are not a small press and have wide distribution in all major outlets.

They publish all genres — westerns, thrillers, horror, science fiction and fantasy, romance, and detective fiction. Romance is the major part of their list. They have a number of bestselling authors on their romance list. They also buy a number of new authors each year.

They have three romance editors on staff. Each authors gets individualized attention. They can react quickly to changes in the market and are willing to try new things.

The acquisition process is streamlined. There’s no huge editorial board that has to approve acquisitions. “We don’t pay as large an advance as some larger companies,” Chris said. “But that allows us to take chances.”

They buy books they love. Each year they do a contest for new writers in conjunction with Romantic Times — the American Title contest.

“We like to publish things that are different, that don’t fit into any particular categories,” Chris said. “Books that really touch nerves.”

"Things that don’t pigeonhole well are perfect books for Dorchester,” added Leah.

Historical romance continues to be strong for them.

They do all kinds of different settings and time periods from ancient times through the 1930s and 1940s: Americana, Victorian, Scottish, British Colonial, World War II, Native American historicals.

They were one of the first houses to publish paranormal romance. They do dark and light paranormal, historical and contemporary.

Dorchester publishes contemporary romance “with a twist.” They do very little straight contemporary romance. There should be a touch of paranormal or mystery or something that makes it different and unique. Chris prefers contemporary romance with strong humorous elements.

They’ve also published a lot of humorous romantic mysteries. They publish romantic suspense — darker, fast-paced and “thrilleresque.” There must be a suspenseful, valid mystery and a believable romance.

Editorial Director Alicia Condon is especially interested in romantic suspense. Dorchester has always published futuristic romance and continues to do so. This is a special interest of Chris’s. He doesn’t see enough of this.

All the editors work on all the different sub-genres and authors may submit to any of them. If something comes in that doesn’t work for them that they know will work for another editor, they will pass it on.

If your work doesn’t get passed on to someone else you’re probably wasting your time to re-submit to a different editor at Dorchester.

Dorchester publishes African-American romance, edited by Monica Harris.

If you want to subscribe to Cindy's Market Newsletter, you can do so by by sending a blank email to:

cynthiasterlingsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Posted with permission per Cynthia Sterling Market News Newsletter

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As I mentioned in a previous post, on the Monday, October 8, 2007 Bookends, LLC Blog post, Jessica Faust said:

"An editor at St. Martin's also told me recently that they would love to find a really great Western historical romance. Great news for lovers of this genre"

I just love hearing that. :)

Here's the link to that post: http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/

Happy Writing!

The Blog Readability Test

According to THE BLOG READABILITY TEST this blog is at the Colledge Post Grad reading level.

Hmmm...very interesting. How about yours?

And We're Off...

Woo - hoo! Hope everyone's ready cuz...it's time! It's November 1st and as of 12:00 Midnight last night, the first official day of NaNoWriMo 2007. This will be my first time doing NaNo. I've joined a few groups, made a few new friends and buddied up with a great gal that I met through my Shelfari NaNo group. I have my Alpha Smart, my notes, my portable CD player & earplugs, my Brain Sync (Brainwave Therapy) High Focus CD, a glass of Coke, my cigarettes (I know, bad habit) all ready to take into the living room (so I'm away from my computer) where I plan to graciously plant my butt (in my Lazy-Boy, of course) for the next few hours and haul you- know-what! Guess I'm about as ready as I'm ever going to be - how 'bout you? Let's get those fingers moving, people! Happy writing!

Trick or Treat!

A special Halloween treat for you. Enjoy!

Happy Halloween

I Made It To Round Three!

Woo-hoo! I made it to round 3 in Karin Tabke's First Line Contest! I've been doing the Snoopy Dance all afternoon. Another whole week of waiting to look forward to.

My entry is #5 if you want to take a look.

Wish me luck - again!

Ahhhh!

Okay - I give up. I changed the format setting on this blog and now not only is this post goofed up, but ALL my posts are goofed up. No matter what I do, the posts are not coming out like they are supposed to - Ahhhhh! Alright, I'm finished now. I just had to get that off my chest. You will now be returned to your regularly scheduled program. :)

Rachelle Chase's Mini-Critique

Today Rachelle Chase posted her mini-critique of Dangerous Desires on the Chase the Dream Contest site. Like Leah Michaels did yesterday, Rachelle Chase made my day. She gave me a treasure trove of advice, as did Leah, and I absolutely appreciate every bit. Here are some of the very nice things she said:

"You’re very welcome, Carol. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your entry - the writing is smooth, with a nice balance of narrative and action, which gave it just the right pacing. And, I love forced marriage stories. In fact, in my first class with Leigh, I wrote a modern day forced marriage story, and she pointed out the many ways it was not believable. (She was correct). LOL Well, you obviously do not have this problem, as yours is believable."

I loved this. Rachelle went on to explain the reason she'd have my opening scene in the heroines POV and WHY. And that's the best part. She explained why and how it would make the reader more sympathetic with my heroine. The biggest problem (and ONLY problem) both Leah and Rachelle had with my entry was the opening character POV. Needless to say, I took their suggestions to heart and I will absolutely apply them to my WIP. Here's what else Rachelle had to say in addition to the very nice comment below: "this was a well written scene":

"At any rate, much success to you with this story. You’re a talented writer with a great story idea and I’d love to find out what happens to Mairin at Don Garcia’s house. "

I've been doing the Snoopy Dance since yesterday. My DH is beginning to think I'm going crazy. Do you blame me? If you'd like to see Rachelle's (and Leah's) critique, click here. I'm off to apply my changes. Wish me luck!

I'm A Chase the Dream Contest Mini-Critique Winner!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I entered Leah Michaels CHASE THE DREAM CONTEST. In this contest, if your entry isn't chosen, you can re-submit as long as you haven't been picked as a finalist or mini-critique winner. I've entered every week since they began accepting submissions six weeks ago and I've finally been chosen! Not as a finalist, but as a mini-critique winner! Yes, Yes, Yes! I'm so excited! Leah Michaels gave a great critique of Dangerous Desires. She said, "And this is a delightful piece of writing – it’s well-constructed, and it gives us a wonderful portrait of a character." How nice is that? What a great boost to the ego, ay? I'm a very happy camper, to say the least. The comments and suggestions she provided were a HUGE help and what's even better is she answered some questions I've been struggling with. I just wish I'd have been picked a week earlier, before I entered Karin Table's First Line Contest, then I could have made changes to my entry before I submitted. Oh well, it's done and I made it to the second round in that contest, so my entry can't be all that bad. :) If you'd like to see Leah's critique of my 1,000 word entry (actually, it's more like around 750 words), click here. And if you'd like to add any suggestions of your own, please don't hesitate to leave me a comment. :) Now, I'm off to read Leah's writers guide CREATING ROMANTIC CHARACTERS and WRITING THE ROMANCE NOVEL (maybe I should have done that before entering her contest) and apply her suggestions to my WIP. Happy Writing!

I Made It To Round Two!

I made it to round two in Karin Tabke's First Line Contest. Now I have to post the second line in my opening paragraph and wait until Monday to see if my second line make's it through this round. My entry is #34 on her blog. Below is my first line: "Bethrothed...you can't be serious!" Here is the second line I will post to see if it will get me through the next round: Calvin O'Donnell watched his daughter jump to her feet, knocking the chair to the floor. So, here' is the whole entry:

"Bethrothed...you can't be serious!" Calvin O' Donnell watched his daughter jump to her feet, knocking the chair to the floor.

The final judge for Karin Tabke's contest is Hilary Teeman of St. Martin's Press. What makes this contest so exciting is, I read on the Bookends, LLC blog that an editor from St. Martin's would "love to find a really great Western Historical romance".

So, if you write Historical Romance like me, that's a good thing. And, Hilary Teeman is an editor at St. Martins...see where I'm going with this?

Here's a link to the Bookends post:

http://www.karintabke.com/blog/index.php

Now all I have to do is check Leah Michaels Chase the Dream Contest tomorrow to see if I made it as a finalist or mini-critique finalist on that contest! Wish me Luck!