New Release from Alyne Hart!

I’m pleased to showcase the new release from my fellow author and friend, Alyne Hart. Her new book, SOMETHING LIKE THIS, is Book 3 in the Men of Evansdale County Series. This is the much anticipated Siobhan and Vincent’s story!

Photographer: Reggie Deanching
Model: Connor Smith 180

Book Blurb:  

Vincent Owen. He was gorgeous. He was cocky. He was a complete and total douche bag, and I was head over heels for him.

He left to become a champion, a warrior amongst men. And though he said he would call, I never heard from him again.

I never admitted to him how I felt. I never told him he made everything inside of me that hurt go away and everything that was wrong with me feel right – even if it were just for a little while. And that when he left, he took a little piece of me with him, a piece of my heart I could never get back.

That was then, and this is now and none of that matters anymore.

It all changed the day my daughter Violet was born. I moved on, life became about her and keeping my family ranch running. But now he’s back to pay his respects to the man his best friend considered a father. A man our whole town loved, and he’s about to find out that’s not the only thing waiting for him in Evansdale.

Together again it’s time to face the truth. For both of us.

The biggest question now is, is he ready for something like this?

________________________________________________________________________

Pre-order your copy!   And because you deserve it, here’s the beautiful back cover!!

CONGRATULATIONS ALYNE!!  Find her here.

So, what are you waiting for? Go get your copy now!

Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry

Don’t Write and Self Publish A Book

I’ll bet that got your attention. Please don’t write and self-publish a book? This from a self-published author? Yup. In a world of self-publishing proliferation, I’m here to say you probably shouldn’t write a book, and I have a several reasons why not.

Lately, it seems everyone is into publishing their book. Ex-White House staffers, current and past Olympians, people in jail, people out of jail, famous, infamous, Hollywood stars, musicians, a rescuer, the rescued, the housewife who discovered how to budget, the lady who lost weight, the homeschooler who dabbles in poetry, the cute kid who made thousands selling lemonade. On and on, ad nauseum, it seems that people everywhere are jumping on the bandwagon to be known as a writer, and more specifically, an author. Many of these folks have the benefit of a large publishing house who expects to make money off their clients fame (even fleeting). This is especially true of people who live online.

Then there are “the others” — the lesser knowns probably more recognizable to the common masses like you and me. Check out the podcasts where the hosts are now writing books. Look at Facebook and Pinterest where people are deciding to turn their social life into books. Success and failure is making people decide to write. Had 15 minutes of fame? Self-publish a book. And the result is there are too many people diving into the publishing pool and most of the resulting books are terrible, making the entire pool feel cheap and stinky.

Yes, I went there and no, I’m not sorry.

There are lots of publishing companies (vanity and hybrids) waiting for you to pay for a publishing package and all you have to do is write the words. We’ll market and advertise and make you a “successful author,” they promise. Oh my, it’s too much to resist and the books are flying!

Problem is most of these self-published folks haven’t a clue about writing or how to write well. Most of these would-be writers don’t know what makes a good cover or what trends are passé or which ones are hot. Most novice authors haven’t build up a list of credits to their resume to bring weight to their upcoming “bestseller,” but they are certain all 17 of their family members will buy their book (only to discover that most of them expect a copy for free or else aren’t really interested).

Most author wanna-be’s think that they have a great idea for a cookbook and expect to write a Martha Stewart-esque in demand volume and make the bestseller list. Instead they publish a book with crappy pictures and their mom’s old recipes only to find there isn’t much of anything exceptional about their book and maybe they should have hired a photographer, a ghostwriter, and a taste tester.

There are some publishing companies that don’t care about your credits and promise to make you a star. All you have to do is agree to a contract and they will make your book shine with a slick cover and a professional interior. And they will edit your work too, give you some marketing, put your book in some book conferences and promote. All for a tidy fee of about $5-$10 thousand dollars. And before you gasp, you can get financing and ten copies of your book for friends. Look, the company will say, now you can promote yourself as an AUTHOR.

And so it happens. Another crappy 400 page, poorly written, edited by friends, with a cover showcasing a personal photo hits the Amazon self-publishing arena and muddies the water.

Yes, it irritates me but it makes me sad too.

I remember my long time desire to be an author. I didn’t think it would ever happen for me because I wasn’t a Stephen King or a Daphne du Maurier. But I studied the writing craft, I devoured books, I read “how to” and “how not to” books,  and I wrote and wrote and wrote. I tried publishing through regular channels. I sought an agent too. I was either off trend, too trendy, too inexperienced or too late. I finally self published in 2013 because this was a new possibility that didn’t exist when I first started! My first book came out in 2008. I was 54. I’ve been writing since I was five.

When a 22 year old publishes a book I can’t help but lift an eyebrow. There are few folks who are phenoms and publish brilliant works so young. Yes, there are some who succeed early and are wildly successful – V.E. Schwab comes to mind. She published at 24 and is now 31 and is a USA Today and NYT Bestselling author (and wow is she good). Most of us will never be her. And that is hard truth for many. But hope rises and young people, eager to get in the tide flow, jump in before they are experienced, seasoned, learned, practiced and oh…dear….I do wish they wouldn’t.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t be published or even that you must not if you are only 19 or 23. If you have stories to tell, write them. Enter story contests, seek out venues for your work, and along the way study your craft. If you feel this terrible burn to be published, then work it with small presses, newspapers, magazines, contests. If becoming an author is all you desire, then go with that passion and prepare for the realities of writing, specifically that you probably won’t be rich or famous. 

Why do you want to be an author? IF the reasons include because your friends are doing it, or because you’ll feel more important, then please don’t publish. If your reasons are because it will add to your professional resume or make you look smarter, then don’t do it. If publishing and being an author looks like exciting fun or because your mom thinks you should, please don’t! 

There is only one reason to write a book and self-publish. It won’t matter who else is doing a book. It won’t matter how many of your friends have published. It won’t matter if your boss did it or if your resume will seem empty without it. The only reason you need is that you have a story to tell and you NEED to share it.

And I know you will have studied how to write, you will understand that there is no free road to publishing, that there is trial and error and in the end, the likelihood is that you will never be on Good Morning America or sell 10,000 copies. (How I wish Oprah would read me!). 

But if you’ve studied, if you’ve researched, if you’ve found your way into trends, and have a good designer and formatter, if you’re prepared to work and sweat and cry and bleed. with an understanding that being an author isn’t all million dollar royalties and an easy life…then become an author because you are a writer and are compelled to write.

And nothing else matters. You are going to give the world the very best of you for no other reason than a desire to write the story.

Unless you do that, you should not write and self publish a book. And that’s the truth.

_____________________________________________________________

Happy October! Fun things coming this month so stay tuned. What are you doing for Halloween? Be sure to drop me a note and let me know. This month we’ll look at some fun reads to celebrate the changing season.

Don’t forget my latest book, LOVE AND BLOOD, is now available. You might want to check it out if you want to be a part of the upcoming TRIVIA CONTEST.  More on that next time.

Until then…

I remain, Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry

Novels Need An Oral Exam

Say AH. How do you spell that? Ah? Aaah? aaH? Would you believe it is properly written as “ah?” Though you may still write it as “aah,” that is a less common approach in novel writing. Things like this expression are often discovered in the edit phase of writing your novel, but you might be surprised to know it is often most discovered during the ORAL phase, that is, when you read your novel ALOUD.

What’s that you say? You don’t do that? Then you are short changing yourself and missing out on the most critical of all the edits, the oral. Oral readings do several things and all of them benefit both you and the reader.

First, a good novel has natural rhythm and flow to the sentences. The words in a novel flow, are varied and come and go like the tide. Sometimes words rush and sometimes they drift lazily by, the pages easy reading. Sometimes the novel swallows the reader with drama and other times creeps up like a sneaky growing tidal wave, filled with foreshadowing. An oral read through of your work lets you, and the one or ones who are listening (more on that in a moment) get a feeling of the natural undulation of your work. Too slow and the reader snoozes and drops the book. Too fast and the reader may have a hard time staying with the plot. Therefore, a good read thru provides the first actual feel of the story. When you read the words aloud you can hear and feel the advancement of your idea and decide if it has a good pace.

Second, an oral read through lets you hear the dialogue. Are your characters sounding stilted and unnatural? Do guys sound like guys? Do the YA girls sound current or more like your old mom? Getting the right dialogue is tricky and no matter how many times you read it to yourself, there is nothing like hearing it aloud. You find out if your jokes sound natural and if they are truly funny. You hear if an argument has the fury you intended or just becomes page filler. Once you hear the worlds aloud, you (and your listeners) start to know your characters. As the book progresses, so they stay true to how they began? Are the voices consistent? Do you have the right slang? Are the joikes dated or are your references out of the wrong era (or head of time)? Don’t forget to listen for the accents of your characters. Do they say “lemme” but later, “let me?” Be sure to capture the consistent. Have the listeners pretend they are listening to your audio book. You will hear all the oddities you never dreamed in your writing.

Next, the oral read through helps you define pacing. If you started out slow and are supposed to be building to a moment but suddenly drift away to a subplot, is it well-timed? Is it necessary? You can hear these things and you will miss them when you read to yourself. Things the author wants to be there may not sound correct when said aloud. Separate from the rhythm and flow, pacing tells you whether your story is hitting the marks for impact, plot and climax. Like how the words flow, the story must also flow and develop. Bumps in this area come when the reader stutters through certain parts of the oral review. You’ll hear it when it happens.

Of course, the next thing you can eliminate the repetitive or unnecessary. When you’re in the diner, do we need to know what the rest of the diner is eating while we’re having a romantic moment? Probably not. But if you’re a vampire slayer and everyone is eating raw meat, you might be in a zombie deli and be in trouble. Orals let you know whether the details matter. You may enjoy the scene when you read it to yourself, but when you read it aloud, you  tend to sense whether or not you have fluff. Again, you’ll hear it. Also, you’ll hear your favorite overused words:  said, but, so, maybe, just, and, and, and. In my case: smiled, turned, laughed, breathed. Look out for the adverbs too: suddenly, consequently, as a result. Remember the road to hell is paved with adverbs and readers are trusting you to take them to heaven.

In the end, maybe the most important reason to do the oral exam is because this allows you to slow down and really hear the story. Reading aloud is time consuming, yes. But it presents the novel to you in a way that no other edit will. Everything that is wrong – missing commas, overused words, odd phrasing, choppy sentences, rough dialogue – everything stands out in an oral. I tried to put in vampire parkour because my vampire loves to run the rooftops. But my story takes place in 1997 and my listener looked at that and realized that parkour didn’t happen until the 21st century. Things that look great on paper can jump out during an oral (feel unnatural or sound silly).

If you’ve finished a story or a novel, then you are ready for all those terrible edits – copy, line and developmental – but don’t forget the one that will make you dividends, the Oral. After all, an oral checkup for the writer keeps your mouth and you healthy. The oral edit, the novel checkup, makes the book strong and healthy too.

_______________________________________________________________

I just finished the oral exam of my latest book, LOVE AND BLOOD, coming in Sept 2018. God Bless my friend, Terri Wilson, who sat through nine hours on day one and five hours on day two until we finished. Lessons from that read dramatically improve my work. Now my novel is ready for its close up and sharing all its secrets.

Get your Oral Exam done today!

Thanks for stopping by.

I remain, Yours Between the Lines, 

Sherry