What's going on out there.

Back to politics. Being politically correct. Staying out of other people's business.

But when you have wisdom earned the hard way, how do you keep quiet? Can other people learn from your mistakes or must history repeat itself over and over and over - like some crazy Star Trek episode (where Fraser is piloting the Enterprise - is that a time warp or a reality warp?).

So I'm not going to get pushy or name names or anything like that. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to tell you how it works when you get published or get an agent. The ONLY way it works. If anyone else offers you anything else you have one of two choices. RUN (highly suggested) or figure out how much money you can afford to lose.

Getting an Agent.
1. You apply to agents by writing brilliant query letters and/or submitting several chapters of your manuscript. Unless you are George Clooney or a former president, they are not going to offer you anything without a completed manuscript. It doesn't matter how clever your idea or how witty your proposal it ain't gonna happen. You might have the idea, but they need to know that you can sustain it to completion of a coherent piece of work.

2. An agent finally (it will take a few submissions, trust me) agrees to represent you. You will sign a contract agreeing what works of your they will represent and what rights they will be allowed to sell for you. You will agree upon a percentage and how their costs are billed (i.e. photocopying, postage, etc.) The best advice I have is pay close attention to sites like Preditors and Editors and Writer Beware, as they not only have warnings on agents and publishers to be wary of, but they have links to sites where you can see what an agency agreement should look like.

3. Consult a lawyer. A lawyer who has experience in the entertainment industry. It will cost you some money but it will be very worth it in the end. Trust me, I have spent way more on shady agents than my lawyer charges per hour. Lesson learned.

REMEMBER:

An agent makes money by selling your work, not by billing you for reading fees or editing fees or book doctoring fees. If you have a good agent (as I do) they will give you advice and guidance because they want to represent good works which will be easier to sell. They should never charge you for these services - if they spend all their time reading work for income, when are they selling your work to publishers?

The costs incurred should be hard costs - postage for mailing out submissions, photocopying and those types of costs. My agent takes my books to all the big book fairs/book expos (as does my publisher) at NO cost to me.

Getting a Publisher
1. Whether you are self-submitting or an agent is doing it for you, it should never cost you a single cent to get published. It's a confusing world out there right now, with vanity presses, self publishers, POD (print on demand) and all sorts of legitimate publishers as well (lest we forget). The problem with the POD or self publishing is distribution. Now, what I know about distribution barely fits on the head of a pin. You can say my publisher uses Ingram or their books are available on Amazon. But it is so much deeper than that. Talk to book stores in your area. Find out what they think. They are the ones that will sell your books, so you better find out what they will buy and from whom. And find out why. Learn everything you can. Every time I think I know it all the universe sends me a lesson (not always fun but definitely character building) - so now I try to remember that I know nothing and these people can teach me things. And they have. And they will teach you too. It is far better to learn these things before you have a signed contract.

2. When a publisher wants to publish your manuscript, they pay you. You will receive an advance and you will receive royalties. All companies pay these in different manners, but that will be spelled out in your contract. There will be holdbacks and returns and remainders and, again, you need to get a lawyer to explain this all to you. If you have an agent, they will review your contract for you also, negotiating the fine points, but either way, spend the money and an hour with your lawyer and then you will have no regrets.

Please notice that no where in there did I say that you Had to pay for anything. My publisher has never asked me for money for marketing, editing, entry into book fairs, review copies or ANYTHING. If you learn no other lessons, learn that one.

They say that first time authors can't get published anymore. Go look at the bookstores and then tell me if that's true. What doesn't get published is books that are poorly written or books that don't appeal to the market the publisher is aiming for. So take classes, refine your research and submit to the appropriate people. Don't whine, it's not attractive!

There are stories circulating everywhere about how so many successful authors self published and then became famous. It's happened...A couple of times...And they quit their jobs, invested everything and drove the country for years in their station wagons.

You may think that at least you'll have a published book out there. But if your book is a series, then you're going to have a hard time getting a legitimate publisher to take your series on in the middle. If it's a stand-alone, when do your rites revert? How long are you going to be beholden to your contract? You certainly can't sell it to anyone else until that happens. And then tell me why someone would want to republish it? It's already been out and sold or not sold, unless you got struck by lightning and got a best seller, it's not going to happen.

I worked for ten years to get my books published. I fell for some scams but luckily nothing that I couldn't recover from. And I believe in the end it was the best thing for my writing and my career to hold out for an established publisher.

So join some writer's groups, talk to some writers and try not to let history repeat itself.

Stranger than Fiction

BREAKING NEWS

Anyone read the news lately? Watch it on TV? Talk about it around the water cooler. There's always lots of news. Not all of it good. People shot. People set on fire. People doing horrible things to other people. And the newspapers putting large photographs of the killers on the front page of the paper, while the victims barely merit a photo. But that's a political comment. And I wouldn't make a political comment about how these people that have all sorts of problems and are starved for attention know that they will get it. They know the more people they take with them, the bigger the article will be about their lives. They know that the neighbors that ignored them yesterday, will be talking about them non-stop for days, weeks, months or maybe even years. Is it right? Should the criminals get the glory and the victims be ignored? Oh yeah, I wasn't going to be political, right?

And what about writers? Authors? Fictionalists? Do we make this stuff up? No, not all of it. I mean, have you read a newspaper lately? All this stuff inspires thoughts of stories. Some of us turn it into a mystery, following the crime and the people trying to solve it. Some of us follow the tragedy, the victims, their families, their grief. Some of us follow the victims, having their ghosts reappear after a troubled death. Some of us do true stories, books with biographies and photographs, trying to understand how it can happen. And do we feel social responsibility for this?

Well, I can only speak for myself. When I wrote my first two books, I had no problem at all. Of course, I had no contract either and no real image in my mind of what it would be like to sell or publish the books. When I wrote book 3, Sins of the Mother, House Report had already come out and Evening the Score was about to. I had been reviewed by some big journals. The books were selling out. That meant real people were reading the stuff I was writing and I had a moment where I panicked. Real people were reading my stuff - was I being socially responsible? Should I be socially responsible?

In Sins of the Mother, the first draft, a police officer gets shot and dies in the line of duty. At a call for a "domestic" actually, which is one of the most dangerous calls they can take. That and traffic stops. Isn't that interesting? Not what TV or the movies tries to make us believe. Anyway, back to this poor police officer. I realized that this book was going to go out in the world and everyone was going to know I wrote a novel where a police officer died. And I love the police. They have rescued me when I needed it, they put themselves in danger so that I don't have to be. I really had such a panic, a moment of self doubt. And I changed the book. The police officer lived. Do I regret it? I don't know if it really changed the story a lot, but I was sorry I let outside sources influence my writing. And it's funny, because by book 4, Flirting With Disaster, I was killing people everywhere and writing about a very scary serial killer. And I didn't give it a second thought.

So does this happen to everyone? I don't know, you'll have to tell me. Should the newspapers and televisions take a little more responsibility on what they say and do? I don't know the answer to that yet either. But I definitely think it should be a topic of discussion.

So be safe, and remember the last thing you should tell those close to you every time you see them is "I love you". You never know what the day might bring.

Is there anybody out there?

So many people never live to know if they have made any impact on the world or anyone in it.










However, some of us are lucky enough to hear from our fans while we're still alive.

And fans are cool!





I mean, think about it. A fan is someone who doesn't know you and reaps no benefit from your success or failure. They were just strolling by a bookstore or library one day, saw the cover of your book and for whatever reason, they were motivated to buy or borrow it. Now, you can't get all swollen-headed about this - they probably bought your book because the cover was pretty. So kudos to the art department, but nothing for you yet.

So this stranger grants you some moments in their life. They read your book. And maybe they like it. That's cool. But you'll never know. I mean, are you going to email every author of every book you read and tell them what you think of it? No, of course you aren't. But then every once in a while, someone was really impressed or moved by your book, there was something that touched their lives enough that they actually took the time to write you a note and tell you.

And then that email hurtles its way across cyber-space and if it is lucky enough to make it past all your security software, you'll actually get to read it.



It's like getting a hug....(from George Clooney - well you can't blame a girl for dreaming)!



So I want to say thank you to those wonderful people who have granted me a few moments out of their lives to let me know that my books have touched them in some way. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. Us authors don't get out much - and we sure don't get a chance to meet our "public" much either - so these notes are worth their weight in gold. They honestly mean the world to me.

When I started writing, I always said that if I touched just one person, it would all be worth it. And now I know I have. Thank you.



And hugs and kisses to my friends too, who support me endlessly here in between notes from fans! Carol, Ramona, Joe, Terry, mom and dad, George for lighting all those candles, and everyone at the office - your patience and enthusiasm are boundless and I will never be able to truly thank you all!