Firstly, winners! Thanks to all who entered the Jennifer Haymore/A Touch of Scandal giveaway! We will have four winners, since Jennifer is kicking in two extra copies. (Thanks, Jennifer!) Winners, as drawn by Random.org, are:
Liz (#9)
Liza (#14)
Peggy H (#15)
Hannah (#20)
Winners, please use the contact email form (click contact in top menu) to send me your snail mail address.
While I'm announcing winners, and since I'm still on a little high from the RITA final last week, I think I'll blog a bit about contests. (If you're not an aspiring author, this may bore you to tears. Sorry! I will not be hurt if you sneak out the back.)
In the time since I sold my first book, I've sometimes been asked by aspiring authors about contests. Did I enter RWA chapter contests as an unpublished writer? Did I find them of benefit?
The answers are yes, and yes--with caveats.
I entered a total of five chapter contests with Goddess of the Hunt, and one with a very early draft of Surrender of a Siren. The entries placed everywhere from first place to "bottom third" (where they mercifully do not reveal your exact ranking). I got something out of each and every contest.
What I got out of contests:
Some helpful feedback
Some unhelpful feedback
The invaluable experience of learning to sort out which is which
A few wonderful networking connections with published author judges
A chance to thicken my skin before dealing with Amazon reviews
On one occasion, a nifty plaque
On another occasion, cash!
What I did not get out of contests:
A sale
Here is the thing I always say about contests (and I don't get dogmatic that often, so this is a clue that I really, reaaalllly believe this):
Contests are NOT a substitute for querying and submitting.
A great many writers enter contests with the goal of getting their pages in front of the final judge, who is usually an editor or agent. This is a worthy goal, no question, and I do know of authors who started great careers this way. But in my personal experience and judging by the anecdotal evidence of friends and acquaintances--speaking generally, contests are a less effective (and much more expensive!) way to sell a book than the standard query process.
Case in point, in one of the contests I entered (and eventually won), I did get a request for the full manuscript from editor judge. However, between the time I entered the contest and the announcement of the final results, I had already signed with an agent and sold the book. So if I'd waited - I just might have sold that manuscript through this one contest connection. But I guarantee you, I would not have gotten the same deal.
So if anyone looks to me for contest advice (and I'm not sure you should be, but...), here it is: By all means, enter contests! Sometimes they yield valuable advice and perspective. Sometimes they are a $25 dollar course in "Learning to Suck It Up," which is valuable in its own way. The are often a good motivator to make progress by a deadline. Occasionally, they can lead to a great networking connection or manuscript request. But I beg you, don't rely exclusively on contest judges to tell you whether or not your manuscript is any good, and please, please don't use "I'll just wait for the feedback/scores/final results" as an excuse to hold off on querying or submitting through normal channels.
Whew. With those exhortations out of my system, let me point those of you still interested in contests toward THE contest I believe to be the best of any I entered, and among the best of any out there. It is, coincidentally, my own chapter's contest: .
Things that are awesome about the Orange Rose and make it stand out from the pack:
+ALL the judges are published authors. Yes, ALL.
+Entrants submit 50 pages and a synopsis.
+So at minimum, your entry fee gets you 3 critiques of a 50-page partial from published authors. Can't beat that deal.
+The ten finalists are chosen by total score, regardless of subgenre (so you don't have some people breezing through a category with only 5 entrants, while others are struggling to break out of a pack of 50)
+Each of the finalist manuscripts is sent to not one, but two editor judges - and they are guaranteed to be judges acquiring in your category. If you have a series manuscript, the contest coordinator finds two acquiring series editors to judge it. If you have an inspirational manuscript, she will make sure it goes to editors who buy that.
+Cash prizes. 'Nuff said.
All the entry information is . This year's deadline is April 10th. So get those entries in the mail! Who knows, I may be one of the lucky judges who gets to read your entry.
Any other writers wandering by have advice to add? Contests to recommend? Or points to refute? Please fire away!
I am so jealous of my friend Jennifer Haymore. First, because she gets the most unbelievably beautiful, hawt stepbacks. If you're a clinch lover like I am, you must visit and mouse over the cover of , so you can see this one in all its blond-hero glory.
But my envy of her doesn't end there, not by a mile. Jennifer is not only a beautiful writer, but she has a gift for creating gut-wrenching, heart-wringing, romantic scenarios for her characters. You know, the kind of books where you wonder halfway through, "How can this possibly end happily?" ...and then it does! And the end is so much sweeter for all that angst.
Last year, her debut, , was a runaway success and the talk of Romancelandia. It featured a love triangle between a widow, her new husband, and the first husband thought dead, who returns eight years later. Let me tell you, I still get chills thinking of the first chapter of that book. I'm pretty sure you can with the "Look Inside" feature.
But of course, with a love triangle, you know someone's going to get left out in the end (in a mainstream romance, anyhow!), and now this year we have Garrett's book, so he can have a happy ending of his own! Yay! The blurb for A Touch of Scandal:
The last thing Garrett, Duke of Calton, expects to find while tracking his sworn enemy is the delectable, mysterious Kate. This beautiful servant girl rouses a longing the battle-scarred ex-soldier had never hoped to feel again. But when she turns out to be the sister of the man he seeks, he’s convinced he’s been betrayed.
Kate knows her duty to her family, yet how can she ignore Garrett’s powerful pull on her heart? Or the heady temptation of his stolen-and sizzling-kisses? Scandal has followed the duke since the war. Now the greatest shock of all is on its way-the one that can separate Garrett and Kate forever.
Once again, Jennifer creates a gut-wrenching scenario--Garrett finally finds love! Yay! Um, with the sister of his sworn enemy. Oh...tartar sauce, as the darelings would say. A blissfully happy ending awaits--but you have to go through the wringer with these characters to get there. Jennifer Haymore is an author to read when you really want to feel invested in the characters, feel taken on their journey...just feel.
is on sale today, but you could win a copy here! Just leave a comment about your favorite heart-wrenching romance by 9PM PST, March 31st. At least two winners, possibly more, will be selected at random and posted Thursday. No April foolin'.
I'm thrilled to announce that Surrender of a Siren is a RITA finalist in the Regency Historical category! The RITAs are given by the to celebrate excellence in the romance genre, and the awards will be presented at the national conference this July. I'm so honored.
I knew it was Golden Heart and RITA "call day," and I was very glad that I'd already made plans to spend the morning volunteering in my dareling's classroom. You see, this is my 3rd or 4th year watching "call day" closely -- but the first time I've ever been entered in either of the contests. For those who may not know, the RITA and Golden Heart are nationwide contests sponsored by . The RITA is for published romance novels, and the Golden Heart is for unpublished manuscripts. Entries happen way back in November/December. Then the finalists all get phone calls on the same day in March, and around the world, writers are plastered to websites and blogs and Twitter feeds, waiting to see who gets "the call".
The stress! Yeah, I would rather be chillin' in kindergarten.
I brought my phone along, just in case, but kept it on silent. So there I was, happily cutting crafts and stapling papers, when my pocket started to buzz. I didn't answer. When I checked the number, I didn't recognize it. My phone told me it was a call from Texas, though (where RWA headquarters is located), so the next time my pocket started tingling, I ducked out onto the playground to take the call.
And it was a lovely lady from RWA Headquarters, whose name I will never be able to remember, calling to tell me that Surrender of a Siren is a finalist in the Regency Historical category! I was so excited! But I had to be very, very quiet. So I was quietly excited for an hour or two more, until I went home to get on the computer share the good news.
Oh, I did get a very exciting text from , letting me know her novella, This Wicked Gift, had be nominated in the Novella category! That just made everything sweeter. Congratulations, CM!
For that matter, congratulations to all the finalists in all the categories! If you see the other nominees in my category, you will understand why I am just thrilled to be anywhere on the same planet as this list. A list of all the finalists is .
2010 RITA for Regency Historical Romance Finalists
Surrender of a Siren by Tessa Dare Scandal by Carolyn Jewel Tempting Fate by Alissa Johnson A View to a Kiss by Caroline Linden Revealed by Kate Noble What Happens in London by Julia Quinn Lord Braybrook's Penniless Bride by Elizabeth Rolls
Oh, and a big shout out to my Fanlit friend , who got the Golden Heart call this morning! Congratulations, Gillian!
Today, I refer you to a most unique and memorable interview. I've been interviewed by the resident were-llama at .
You all know the penchant I have for were-creatures, in particular ruminants. So this was great fun. And blogger CJ's husband even made me a Stud Muffin! Okay, a Stud Cupcake (even better, I say!) Check out the interview to learn the significance of that big, gold stud-emblazoned coin.
There are prizes to be won!
Oh, and the were-llama also coaxed an excerpt out of me -- if you've been curious to read more snippets of One Dance with a Duke, click on over!
This year, I am adding a new term to my publishing vocabulary: "crash". As in, "to crash a book."
Perhaps you already know what this means. I confess, I didn't. My agent called me a little over a year ago to let me know yes, Ballantine would publish the Stud Club trilogy. I said, "Great!" (Read: OMG, squeeeeeee!). She said they wanted to publish them in May/June/July 2010. I said, "Um, how is that possible?" (Read: massive internal freak-out) And she said, "Well, they will just crash the last book." And I said, "Oh, okay. I totally know what that means." (Read: a total lie.)
I still don't have a hard-and-fast definition for "crash", but I've gathered it means to rush a book through production. Sometimes this is unplanned, because the author for one reason or another turns in a book after deadline. In this case, however, the "crash" was planned in advance, as it was the only way to get the trilogy releasing back-to-back in the summer months. And since having a trilogy release back-to-back in the summer months is pretty awesome, I was down with this "crashing" thing, whatever it meant.
See, before this crashed book, I've always worked in my own little bubble between contract and deadline, then turned in the finished manuscript 9+ months before the book's publication date. Subsequent revisions, copy edits, page proofs have felt almost...leisurely, in retrospect.
But since we knew this third book would be a crashed book, turned in just four months before publication, the process has gone something like this:
My editor okayed a detailed proposal back when I got the contract, last year. We had some discussions about points of plot and character, and I rethought a few things before I even started writing. Almost like pre-writing revisions. ("Previsions"? Can that be a new word?)
Cover art was made. A blurb was written. The book was given an ISBN. All before I'd started writing this particular book. Urk. No backing out now!
As I wrote the book, I turned in parts of it to my editor at different intervals, to make sure she was okay with how the work was progressing (and probably so she could feel assured the work was progressing, period.) After I turned in the first section, she had some questions and we talked through them. When I turned in 2/3 of the book to her at the end of January, her only complaint was that the chunk I gave her cut off right before a love scene (I hadn't written it yet!). That's where I started to feel like everything would be just fine.
I worked like a fiend to finish. A few awesome critique friends read the draft on short notice, and I made some revisions before turning in the completed book on March 1st. I did need two extra days to get the epilogue done, but I still consider it a deadline met.
My editor read the book right away, was happy with how it turned out--by this point, there were no surprises, hopefully--and she sent it straight on to copy edits.
I got the copy edited manuscript back yesterday, barely 2-1/2 weeks after turning in the book. (Normally, it's something like 2-1/2 months.) I have a week to get it back to NY. Once I send it back, I assume the page proofs will be similarly rushed, and the whole shebang will be sent to print.
I know many authors work on this kind of a "crash" schedule routinely--sometimes on even tighter margins than mine--but holy cow. There's so little room for error. I'm so pleased that my publisher trusted me to deliver a good book on deadline, but the whole time I was writing Three Nights, I would have these horrible thoughts like, "What if I fall and break both arms, and I just physically can't finish the book on time? What will they do?"
Fortunately, no such calamity befell me. More fortunate still, I'm blessed with an editor, agent, critique partners, friends, and family who were all so supportive and inspiring and helpful along the way. My goal, of course, wasn't just to meet the deadline, but to write a good book on deadline. To that end, there were many false starts and do-overs and late nights spent rethinking and revising. I'm so happy with how Julian and Lily's romance turned out, but I'll be working up to the last possible minute to make Three Nights with a Scoundrel the best book I can. This weekend, I'm sharpening my colored pencils and immersing myself in copy edits - and after that, I think I will crash.
While I'm defining words, there any publishing terms you're curious to see defined? Or that you've learned the meaning of the hard way?
Well, I returned from the wedding (um, a week ago, but who's counting...)! My dareling made a precious flower girl, if I do say it myself. Actually, several other people said so, too! I'm glad she got to have the experience, and it was lovely to see all our family members.
As I look at my schedule for the next few months, I see it filling up with exciting travel and literary events and book signings. If you are anywhere near any of these events, I would love to meet you! Yes, you! (Okay, maybe not you, who stumbled onto this site while searching for topless pics of that Canadian ice dancer).
Saturday, April 10th - I will be appearing on a Romance panel and signing books at the event in Irvine, CA. This is an all-day event with panels, speakers, food, and book signings. The Romance panel will be moderated by and also features authors HelenKay Dimon and Linda Widsom. So, you could come to see me. Or you could come to see HelenKay and Linda and Wendy, or keynote speakers Dean Koontz and Karen Joy Fowler, and just pretend you also came to see me. Either way, it's all good!
April 28-May 2nd - I'll be in Columbus, Ohio for the . Woot! My first RT con. Time to see if all the rumors are true... I'm not on any panels or other official thingys, but I will be around all week and I'll be signing at the Book Fair on Saturday, May 1st (11:00 AM - 2:00 PM, I believe). The Book Fair is open to the public for a $5 admission at the door. And I will most definitely be attending the Reviewers' Choice Awards ceremony, because Goddess of the Hunt is nominated for the Best First Historical category. So exciting!
July 28-31st - I'll be in Nashville, Tennessee for the I'll be participating in two panels, one on (the 28th) along with none other than... ! (See Wendy's post about it . The two of us will also be seeing one another when she comes to visit my local chapter in May. I tell you, by August, me and Wendy are either going to be BFF, or not speaking. Or it may prove a tempestuous on-again/off-again affair. Time will tell...) The other panel I'm on hasn't been officially scheduled yet. More info on that to come. And of course, I will once again be signing at the on July 28th from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. The book signing is free and open to the public, if you're anywhere in the area and want to drop by!
I'll be flying out for Nashville on July 27th. That's release day for Three Nights with a Scoundrel (my sixth novel in print) and two days before the one-year anniversary of my debut's release (Goddess of the Hunt came out July 29, 2009). That is crrrrazy.
I am so happy to report, the manuscript of Three Nights with a Scoundrel is all turned in to my editor. There will be revisions and edits and page proofs to come, but I can say now that I have authored six books. Hooray! I am so thankful to the wonderful friends and critique partners who helped me through this last stretch, and through the whole trilogy. You know you are. I could not have done it without your support. Mwah.
Yesterday was a big release day--so many great books hit the shelves! But a special shout out to my pal on her debut, ! I can't wait to find it on the bookstore shelves and buy it for my very own. By the way, I'm giving away copies of Too Wicked to Kiss and Sara Lindsey's Promise Me Always in my current contest.
This weekend, the dareling daughter and I are headed cross-country for a family wedding. She's going to be the flower girl! Awwww. Her dress is so precious, and she is so excited. I'm so glad she's getting the chance to do this before she grows too old. I never was a flower girl, myself.
So, any advice for mother or daughter from those who've done this before?
Whew! I have met all my deadlines (for the moment, ha), and just in time to enjoy the beautiful California spring. (My sympathies to those of you still shoveling snow in the East.) It's a busy family month for us, with weddings and birthdays and other fun. And I can't believe it's just a few months until the May 25th release of One Dance with a Duke!
Please fire away! 
