Getting Crafty

Not crafty as in arts-and-crafts. I dabble in that but really, I'm not very good. I'm talking crafty as in writer's craft. And craft books.

As I'm going through revisions on not one, but two WIPs, I've been consulting a couple of my favorite craft books: Writing the Breakout Novel and Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass and Don't Sabotage Your Submission by Chris Roerden. I also like Hooked by Les Edgerton and The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman, but I've yet to crack those open again - I'm still working on plot and characters, not worrying about how beautifully the first few pages shine yet.

I've realized I should do more reading on craft. There are several books I still want to read (The Art and Craft of Fiction by Victoria Mixon, Architecture of the Novel by Jane Vandenburgh, The Art of War for Writers and Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell and others...) and I'm sure I can learn something from each of them. We should always be working on improving our skills and although writing itself is the best way to improve, so is learning from the experts.

On the other hand, we can't go too far with "expert" advice. I learned this the hard way with Promise. Experts give all kinds of great advice and various sets of rules we must follow (although they often conflict with each other). Doing so will make our stories so much better. Our writing will glow like a hundred-watt light bulb. Our characters will pop off the page. And not doing these things will cause ultimate failure.

My lesson: With Promise, I followed all the experts' advice in the multitude of books I read. I revised, rewrote, edited, proofed and spit-polished exactly how they said to do it. I took out the big no-no's. I replaced them with what "really makes a story good." I was a model student. And when all was said and done...I hated my story. Hated it. Following all their rules and advice created an uninspiring narration that was the equivalent of cardboard pizza.

I also realized that I had come to the point where I was changing things just to change them - I wasn't making the story any better. Despite what the experts said.

So I went back and revised again. No, I didn't undo everything they suggested. Many of their recommendations did make the story better. But I did undo/redo the lifeless parts. I took my story back and made it mine. And I'm so freakin' glad I did.

Craft books, conferences, professional critiques/editors...they're all great. We need them. We must continuously grow and learn or we start dying. But we also need to know how to apply what we learn, know when to take something and when to leave it. Because all those experts only know what works for them, their clients/students/friends/past successes/etc. They don't know our story. And every story is unique.

Keeping that in mind, I'll be making a point of reading more craft books. I have a ton of fiction to read (did I tell you we cleaned out Borders' paranormal section? And there was a lot still left at 80% off!) but I need to make a point that for every two or three novels I read, I must read something about craft or the business of writing.

So...what are your favorite crafty books? Have you read any of those I mentioned? What has been your experience when applying what you learn? Do you do any arts-and-crafts?

My First Ever Book Show

I've been to an author festival and school book fairs, but never to a trade show. This past weekend, my publishing team and I made the trek to Daytona Beach for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) annual trade show. Holy cow! What fun!!!!

We had no idea what we were getting into. We realized before even going that we should have had a booth. See, the publishers have the booths and the indie store owners do the browsing. Probably should have been obvious, but we just didn't know. Besides, by the time we joined SIBA, it was too late anyway. So this was entirely a learning experience.

We romped the show floor, hung out in the lobby and bar and met lots of people and made some great contacts. And now we know what to do next time. Yes, there will definitely be a next time.

I handed out a few copies of Promise and lots of literature. Hopefully some of these indies will be selling Promise soon.

But almost as good (okay, a part of me says even better, but don't tell my publisher), this:

Saturday's haul by all three of us. We added nearly this much on Sunday.

And this:

My own personal loot...spread out...and not including tote bags and other fun items. Yes, those are Nightshade and Across the Universe ARCs!!! And many more I can't wait to delve into!

All stacked up...except for the book I brought home for The Man, which he's already reading in the other room.

Oh, yeah. I have lots of reading to do and reviews to write. Still can't decide where to start. For now, though, I'm finishing up edits on Purpose so it can go to the printer for ARCs. Yep, you read that right. Purpose ARCs coming soon. I see a contest in the near future...

My Personal Mission

So Monday I wrote about what it takes to put a book together – as in a physical book, with cover, pages with words, etc. One person commented. I know it’s not exciting stuff and it can be overwhelming. I also know most of you don’t find it relevant at all, but, honestly, you should.

If you’re a writer, you might be thinking that your publisher will do all this for you. If you have a good understanding of what it takes to produce a book, though, you can see why the publisher wants a fair share of your pie. You can also sound more knowledgeable when you communicate with your publisher and agent. And if you consider self-publishing, you need to know exactly what you’re getting into.

If you’re a reader – as in you read others’ stories, but don’t write your own – I think it’s also important to know these things. In fact, I’ve made it a personal mission to inform readers of all that goes into a book so you can understand why they’re not free or next to free. I know we can’t all afford to go out and buy every single book we want to read and, instead, we borrow from friends or the library. But it bugs the crap out of me when someone broadcasts on the Internet that “I’ll never pay $10 for a book! I’ll wait to buy it at a garage sale, even if it is my favorite author.”

Side-note: It really, really burns me. A book brings hours of entertainment. People will willingly pay $10 to see a movie that might be two hours long. They’ll pay $20 to buy a DVD they might watch a few times, so two to eight hours. But they balk at $15-$20 for a book that provides hours of entertainment, something to look forward to every evening for a few days (or longer, depending on your reading speed) and, if it’s really good, many more hours of daydreaming about the characters and the story. And you’re actually using your brain! Bonus!!)

But that favorite author won’t be around forever if he or she isn’t supported and that even applies to the big ones. Because nobody gets paid for re-sales, trades, sharing, etc. If stores and distributors aren’t making money, publishers aren’t making money. If publishers aren’t making money, authors are the ones that suffer. They get mid-listed, fewer resources are invested in their projects, which means even fewer sales…and the downward cycle continues. They get stuck in a deep rut in their careers.

Most authors don’t write for the money, but most of us would like to be able to write full-time. But we all have bills to pay. Unfortunately, nobody makes much money off a book – not publishers and especially not authors. You have to sell millions of copies to make millions of dollars. Seriously. An author is doing well to bring in about $1 per copy sold. Obviously, borrowed, traded, found, stolen and garage-sale books don’t count.

Numbers may vary but since an author gets paid as a percentage of sales, the more the book’s price, the more the author receives. So they might get $1.50 instead of $1. On a $15 book. You’ll find discussions in many places of higher royalty rates, but royalties are complex. A 20% royalty is not usually 20% of the list price. There are all kinds of calculations that go into it. No matter how we’ve crunched the numbers, from major publishers to indie presses, it basically comes down to about $1-$1.50 per book.

Surprising? It was when I first figured it out. Depressing? It can be. Discouraging? Maybe, but only if you let it be.

My point is that I hope more readers will be less likely to complain about book prices if they understand that 1) nobody makes a ton of money unless the book sells a ton of copies; and 2) the author gets a tiny amount of each sale.

I also hope that writers take the initiative to learn about the industry and all of their options. Everybody wants a piece of your pie. It’s just the way it is. All you can do is write an amazing book and then market, market, market.

That was supposed to be today’s post – what goes into marketing a book. But I went off on a tangent. Sorry. I’ll get off my soapbox now.

What are your thoughts? Anyone want to join me on my mission to educate readers?

Five for Friday

Looking for something good to read this weekend? Check out and bookmark these review blogs for great recommendations for urban/contemporary fantasy and paranormal reads.

1. All Things Urban Fantasy
2. Bitten by Books
3. Ex Libris
4. Paranormal Haven
5. Book Chick City

Have a great weekend and happy reading!