OUR GUEST: AUTHOR OF STOP ME

Get a sneak preview of our guest blogger's thriller novel, STOP ME, before next week! View his web site at http://www.richardjayparker.com

Read the unique premise of his novel regarding an email/vacation killer and hear the suspenseful music! This book is a real page turner. Remember, one lucky writer/reader who comments on the 15th will receive a free copy of STOP ME.

Reminder--the date he guest blogs is Tuesday, Dec. 15.

THRILLER AUTHOR TO GUEST BLOG NEXT WEEK

Sleuths, keep watching this page for more information about next week's guest blogger, Richard Jay Parker. Richard is the author of STOP ME, his exciting debut thriller in the U.K. He'll guest blog on Tuesday, December 15. Please mark your calendars!

Richard will discuss his thriller publishing experience from writing to submission to promotion, including Twitter. Ask him any questions regarding these topics, being a debut author or the thriller genre next week.

Currently STOP ME may be shipped to the US absolutely free with 30% off via http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780749007072/Stop-Me. Also, his publisher, Allison & Busby, www.allisonandbusby.com has graciously agreed to offer ONE FREE COPY of STOP ME. We'll draw names from those of you who ask questions on the 15th. More later.

Stacy Juba - Writing For Small Independent Publishers: The Yin and Yang

Writing For Small Independent Publishers: The Yin and Yang

Many writers have asked what it’s like working with a small independent publisher, and I’m pleased to report that it’s been a wonderful experience. My first mystery novel Twenty-Five Years Ago Today, about a newspaper obit writer who stumbles across an unsolved murder on the microfilm, was released in October from Mainly Murder Press. Like most independent publishers, MMP has a niche – in this case, New England-based mystery novels, serving authors and readers who especially enjoy mysteries set in the Northeast (New England plus New York and Pennsylvania).

Industry reports indicate that as larger publishing conglomerates narrow the choice of books that they publish, small specialized presses have stepped in to fill that gap with literary offerings often equal in quality, if not superior to, mainstream publications. These niche publishers know who is reading their product and how to reach them, which is good news for talented authors seeking a home for their work.

Although independent publishers maintain high standards of excellence and the submission process is competitive, writers don’t necessarily need an agent to submit. Should their work be accepted, small press authors will likely receive more individualized attention than authors published by a large conglomerate – for example, they might have an opportunity to give cover input and they may be kept more informed about the marketing of their books. As with any publishing contract, however, writers need to do their research before signing.

I first heard about my publisher when Mainly Murder Press announced over the Sisters in Crime listserv that they were accepting submissions. Sisters in Crime is an organization that promotes the professional development and advancement of women crime writers to achieve equality in the industry. I liked that MMP belonged to both Sisters in Crime and the Independent Book Publishers Association, as this reflects a high level of professionalism. I studied sample book contracts on-line, asked questions of published Sisters in Crime members, and read one of the publisher’s previous books. Satisfied that it was a terrific opportunity, I signed my name and celebrated.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when conducting research: What is the publisher’s distribution network? Does it include distributors such as Ingram’s, Amazon.com, Baker and Taylor, and Barnes & Noble.com so that bookstores and libraries can easily order your book? Does the publisher offer strong discounts and other attractive terms to distributors, retailers and libraries to encourage stocking and special ordering? How often are royalty payments issued and are they based on industry commission standards? Are there any fees to contracted authors? Are authors required to purchase a minimum quantity of their own title? Several small publishers (vanity presses cloaked as legitimate publishers) demand that the author purchase a minimum quantity of books, which can be as many as 500 copies or more. Because it's not a "fee," some writers fool themselves into thinking this is an industry requirement, but it most assuredly is not.


Writer Beware, the public face of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s Committee on Writing Scams, offers a great deal of information through its web site, http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/. This is a good place to begin your research. Once the contract has been signed, small press authors should prepare to take an active role in book promotion and marketing. In fact, many independent publishers require a marketing plan as part of the submission process. As a start, I established a web site, http://www.stacyjuba.com; created a Facebook page; visited mystery author web sites and jotted down the publications and book web sites that had reviewed their novels; compiled a database of local media, reviewers, and book clubs; created and distributed bookmarks; and researched email addresses for bookstores and libraries.

Working with an independent press lets you experience the Yin and Yang of the publishing industry – the creative side of writing balanced by the business side of marketing. I’ve had a lot to learn, but hopefully by the time Mainly Murder Press publishes my second mystery suspense novel, Sink or Swim, in Fall 2010, I’ll be an old pro. More information on Mainly Murder Press titles can be found at http://www.mainlymurderpress.com.

Decoding The Lost Symbol - Simon Cox

Solving mysteries is what I do. In my case, its usually historical mysteries and enigmas, I’m the perfect person to write a guide to the latest Dan Brown novel, The Lost Symbol. This is my fourth such guide book after, Cracking The Da Vinci Code, Illuminating Angels & Demons, and The Dan Brown Companion. I think I have Mr. Brown figured out by now.

So, what were the major mysteries of The Lost Symbol? Well, they certainly weren’t in the same controversial league as the previous novel, The Da Vinci Code – but mysteries there are nevertheless. As a British based author, I suddenly found myself faced with a mountain of research to undertake on the foundations of the United States, its founding fathers, the seemingly Masonic origins of many of the symbols and iconography associated with the formation of this new state and of whether secret societies had a hand in this creation. It was one of the most interesting research endeavors I have ever undertaken.

One of the major eye opening mysteries that I looked into, was the seemingly sacred and secret layout of Washington, DC. This beautiful city on the banks of the Potomac river is at first glance an elegant and well designed array of streets and boulevards that show a high degree of architectural skill and forward thinking design. However, when you look deeper you find that other hands may well have been at play when this city that was to rise from the swampland was designed and planned. There are obvious symbolic elements and Masonic meanings encoded within the very fabric of the city. The way streets are aligned and laid out, the placement of buildings and monuments, and the number symbolism inherent within the measurements of many of the original buildings, all points to a unified and symbolic meaning encoded within DC. It was wonderful to see and understand, like a fog had been lifted, and I could see a glimpse of the original idea.

What makes the Dan Brown books so absorbing is the way he weaves such factual elements into the fabric of his thrillers. In The Da Vinci Code, he had us all wondering whether a great religious and sacred secret was to be found in the south of France, in Angels & Demons he introduced many people to the brilliant artist and sculptor, Bernini, for the first time. In The Lost Symbol, he once again introduces the reader to some deep and interesting themes. Science is represented by noetics, religion by the ideas of such men as Jefferson, Franklin and Washington, art by the amazing Albrecht Durer. It all adds up to a compelling and addictive mix that involves you as a reader and engages you as a researcher.

The Lost Symbol is a pretty good book in the end. Not as immediate as The Da Vinci Code and not as dynamic as Angels & Demons, but its much more of a slow burner. A book that challenges you to look deeper and think more about belief, tolerance and the fundamental meaning of things.

My guide book, Decoding The Lost Symbol, is published in the United States on November 3rd, by Touchstone/Simon & Schuster. I hope it inspires some people to look at the bibliography and some of the entries, with an eye to looking further into some of the mysteries of the past. Your past.

For those of you interested in knowing more, or who want to contact me directly, I am on Facebook under my name, on Twitter (@FindSimonCox) and have a website at www.decodingthelostsymbol.com, where you will also find details of a fabulous conference I have put together for November 8th in Los Angeles.

Simon Cox

National Novel Writing Month

Have any of you ever participated in National Novel Writing Month? It's an annual writing event every November. The goal is to bang out a 50,000 word novel in 30 days (no editing allowed--just writing as fast as you can). You have the option of posting your daily word count, wearing Nanowrite t-shirts for inspiration, sending your completed novel at the end of the month and more. Sign up and/or find out more at http://www.nanowrimo.org/

I've never tried it but am tempted, even though I'm still in editing mode. It would be fun to work on an entirely different novel for one month. If you're interested, read the guidelines and Q&A on their site. You can't begin before November 1 but you may outline and decide on your cast of characters. That's about it.

I wish it were held a different month--like January or February. November is very busy with Thanksgiving, guests, traveling, and that old thing called Christmas shopping. If no member of Sleuths is going to try this, maybe we should hold our own writing month this winter.

What do you think? Are you going for it?

ANYBODY SEEN MY SHORTS? - Michael Bracken

Professional short story markets are disappearing at an alarming rate. Soon there won’t be any professional publications left that publish short stories.
Sound familiar? I’ve been hearing variations of this refrain for several decades. Every generation of short story writers complains that the previous generation of writers had it easy.
Guess what? It’s never been easy. Yet short story writers with only a moderate amount of talent have been able to overcome the odds against them by applying a great deal of hard work and dogged determination to their efforts.
How do I know? I have only a moderate amount of talent, yet I’ve sold more than 800 short stories, and I’ve had one or more short stories published every month for the past 74 consecutive months.
Here’s how you can duplicate my success:

1. Develop an intimate relationship with the English language. You don’t need to become a grammarian, but you do need to know how to spell the words you use and how to punctuate the sentences you write.

2. Develop an understanding of what constitutes a story. Read widely and voraciously and study every story you read.

3. Don’t allow another writer’s blinders to become your blinders. If another writer convinces you that there are only a few markets for short stories in your genre, you won’t make an effort to find the hidden markets.

4. Don’t allow your love for a particular genre to limit you. Write in multiple genres and you may find, as I did, that you are more successful writing outside your favorite genre.

5. Volunteer to read submissions for a small press, literary publication, or Webzine so that you can see the manuscripts other writers are submitting, and learn why some of the best submissions are not accepted.

6. Develop a familiarity with the publishing process. Understand why submitting a Christmas story in December is a waste of everyone’s time.

7. Study the magazines to which you are submitting. Pay particular attention to the advertising because it will tell you a great deal about the magazine’s readers.

8. Always, always, always, look for new markets. If you see a magazine, pick it up and study it. Some of the best short story sales I’ve made were to publications that weren’t listed in Writer’s Market and didn’t post their submission requirements on their Web site.

9. Write. Write until your fingers bleed, then continue writing.

10. Submit. Keep submitting. If your short story manuscript is rejected, send it out again. And again. And again. One of my stories sold for $150 to the twenty-third editor to see it, 17 years after the first editor rejected it.

11. Stop fretting. Writers with a single manuscript under submission tend to obsess about that submission. Writers like me who have dozens of manuscripts under submissions often forget what’s where and are pleasantly surprised every time an editor responds.

12. Set a goal. Some writers advocate writing a set number of words or pages per day. I prefer a goal that advocates finished manuscripts. For example, some short story writers I know advocate the “Rule of 12.” That means having 12 short story manuscripts under submission at all times. During the first year, write one short story each month. That’s half-a-page a day or less. At the end of a year you’ll have 12 manuscripts making the rounds. If you sell a story or if you retire one to your filing cabinet, you must write and submit a new story. My goal is to write and sell a short story every week. That’s 52 short stories every year.

13. Keep good records. Know where your manuscripts are, when they were submitted, and what the editors’ responses were. Keep copies of all contracts you sign. Keep a copy of every publication containing one of your stories. If your career lasts as long as mine, you’ll have multiple opportunities to sell reprint rights and may even find a publisher to release one or more of your short story collections.

Follow my advice and you probably won’t become rich and famous. You will, however, have a long career as a short story writer.
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Learn more about Michael Bracken at http://www.CrimeFictionWriter.com. Follow his progress and see if he meets his goal of writing and selling a story a week at http://crimefictionwriter.blogspot.com.

Michael Bracken Guest Blogs on Thursday, Sept. 24th

Michael Bracken is the author of 11 books, including All White Girls, Bad Girls, Deadly Campaign, Tequila Sunrise, and Yesterday in Blood and Bone, and nearly 1,200 shorter works published in more than 150 anthologies and periodicals.

More than 800 of Bracken’s short stories have appeared in literary, small press, and commercial publications worldwide. Bracken’s “Dreams Unborn” was named one of the best mystery short stories of the year by the editors of The Best American Mystery Stories 2005, “All My Yesterdays” received a Derringer Award, “Cuts Like a Knife” was short-listed for the Derringer Award, and “Of Dreams Unborn” appeared on the preliminary ballot for the Nebula Award. “Snowbirds,” co-authored with Tom Sweeney, was named fourth best story of the year in the Ellery Queen reader’s poll. His short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Espionage Magazine, Fantastic, Flesh & Blood: Guilty as Sin, Hot Blood: Strange Bedfellows, The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica 4, Midnight, Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, Northern Horror, Sun, True Story, Young World, and in many other anthologies and periodicals.

Bracken is the editor of five crime fiction anthologies, Fedora, Fedora II, Fedora III, Hardbroiled, and Small Crimes. Stories from Bracken’s anthologies have been short-listed for the Anthony, Derringer, Edgar, and Shamus awards.

In addition to writing and editing fiction, Bracken is editor of Senior News, a monthly newspaper distributed throughout Texas; managing editor of Texas Gardener, a bi-monthly consumer magazine; editor of Seeds, a weekly newsletter; and editor of Symphony Notes, a monthly newsletter. His non-fiction has appeared in Atlanta Parent, Inside Higher Ed, MAMM, Mothering, Mystery Scene, SFWA Bulletin, Teaching Miracles, The Writer, and other anthologies and periodicals. He has edited corporate and organization newsletters, and has received local, regional, and national awards for advertising copywriting, including a Silver ADDY Award presented by the American Advertising Federation.

Bracken served as vice president of the Private Eye Writers of America, served three terms as vice president of the Mystery Writers of America’s Southwest Chapter, and has served as chair of the Best First Novel committee for the Private Eye Writers of America’s Shamus Awards. He has held many elected positions in the Waco Advertising Federation, a chapter of the American Advertising Federation, including president. He is also an active member of the Horror Writers Association and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

He regularly speaks about writing, editing, and publishing to audiences across the U.S. The many writing conferences he’s spoken at include Hardboiled Heroes & Cozy Cats, Harriet Austin Writers’ Conference, The Journey Conference (sponsored by The Writer), The Langdon Weekend, McKendree Writers’ Conference, Pennwriters, Seton Hill University’s In Your Write Mind conference, and Woodlands Writers’ Guild’s annual conference. He’s taught non-credit writing classes at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and guest lectured in writing classes at Baylor University, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, and others.

Bracken received his Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing from Baylor University and currently serves clients from his office in Waco, Texas.

Additional information about Bracken, including a selected bibliography and his speaking schedule, is available at: www.CrimeFictionWriter.com.