Retirement and Writing

As of June 1st, I am officially retired from a 23-year career in education. During those years, I worked as a...

• special education teacher
• preschool through 12th grade principal
• school psychologist then the director of special education for 13 school districts in a 7500 square mile area
• substitute teacher
• and for the last seven years, as a secondary English and history teacher while also teaching community college classes

Whew! I was busy.

It was bittersweet making that last, long look at my empty classroom, but I have no regrets about leaving (although the picture brings to mind the Les Mis song, Empty Chairs at Empty Tables). I'm ready to devote my time to my writing.

Seven years ago, my first book, Lonely Places, a western romance, was published by a brand new ebook publisher, Cobblestone Press, and a little while later, another new ebook publisher, Breathless Press, also published one of my western romances (Gambling with Love). I'm so grateful to my publishers for taking me in as one of their authors (Sable Grey and Deanna Lee at Cobblestone and Justyn Perry at Breathless Press).

It seemed that teaching had become a 24-7 job just trying to meet all of the requirements of the state and federal departments of education plus writing lesson plans, grading papers, and spending the extra time at school sponsoring, etc., that when I actually had time to sit at my computer and write, I was too tired—mentally and physically. By January 1st of this year, I was in the writing doldrums, floating aimlessly on a sea of unfinished manuscripts. I was afraid I'd never write again. Then my dad died on April 4th and, until this past weekend, I was absolutely convinced I'd never write another word, because my heart was so full of loss and anger.

Thankfully, as June 1st gets closer, I'm feeling tiny sparks of creativity returning. With my mom adjusting little-by-little to my dad being gone, I've had more time to myself, which I haven't had in nearly two months.

I want to have two of my unfinished manuscripts completed by the time I'd normally return to school in mid-August, and one of them somewhere in the publication process.

Time and inspiration will tell, I suppose.

Until next time,

Kaye

Fall in love...faster, harder, deeper with Kaye Spencer romances
www.kayespencer.com

Conduct Yourself as a Successful Bestselling Author to Protect Your Career

What sort of behavior am I talking about? I'm talking about author etiquette. This may be simple but you'd be surprised by how many authors forget their manners. Being taken seriously means rising above anything bad or insulting that comes your way. You can rant and cry in private but never do such online. Your professional persona is the difference between lasting success and a one-shot wonder.

What about bad reviews, you ask? If an author has solicited a review themselves from a site, then remember to thank the reviewer, regardless of a one or five star review. Neither type of review will make or break your career, so comport yourself with the dignity expected of you as a published professional. Think of your favorite author, do they complain about bad review? No. We've all had those reviews. Feel the pain, but don't let one person's opinion break you. Eat some chocolate, indulge in ice cream, punch a wall or whatever, and then get back to that Work in Progress and write!

Having an issue with your publisher? Any author will tell you that complaining about your publisher online is a death sentence for your career. At least it is if you mention the publisher by name. What should you do? First take a deep breath and evaluate the issue with a dispassionate view. Speak with a trust author friend. They might offer a more objective view. Above all, remember that writing is a career.

You are the CEO of your own future and need look further in the future than the moment. What are your ten, twenty, and thirty year goals when thinking of your career as an author? Remember the publisher want a successful book as well as you do, because that is the only way they make money. So, keep those lines of communication open with your publisher and you'll both be happier in the end.

Authors with successful careers are the epitome of grace and self-confidence. They are charming and witty without tearing others down. Women like Jackie Collins are the embodiment of this sort of romance author; graceful, stylish, sophisticated and flirty. She's intelligent and has a true mind for the business of romance writing. She's a role model for us all.    

On our journey to become bestselling and/or millionaire authors, we should develop these traits in order to bring about the success we are striving toward. The publishing world is full of ups and downs. We walk through this fire each time a new book comes out. Conduct yourself with traits worthy of a successful author and see how much easier it becomes to handle adversity.

Mary Corrales

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Romance is Not Dead - Ericka Scott

Once again, Mills and Boon are conducting a search for New Voices in Romance! If you are interested in writing romance and are unpublished, you are eligible to enter ~

From there website:

New Voices is the search for some more glittering writing talent to join our galaxy of romantic fiction writing stars! And we need YOU!

Still need convincing about whether to enter? How about…

Publication of your book
A Mills & Boon Editor for the year
An iPad
A Mills & Boon hamper

…and lots of other prizes for our Top 20 too!

It's going to be an exciting couple of months - look here for more details and we hope you'll come along for the ride!
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Here's the link:

http://www.romanceisnotdead.com

Also, in the month of October, I'm hostessing the Coffee Write in the forums at Coffee Time Romance where my readers and I will be collaborating to write a ghost story a paragraph at a time. I hope you consider joining me there.

Ericka Scott
www.erickascott.com

To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish...

Is that really the question? Or is it part of the answer?

Amanda Hocking, of self-publishing fame signed a multi-million dollar contract with a publisher. In direct contrast, Barry Eisler told his publisher to take a leap and has gone the self-publishing route.

So, you are looking at your manuscript and thinking "What should I do?"

Contrary to what EVERYONE thinks, how you publish your work is a very personal decision. No matter what advice you are given, it all comes down to you. YOU are the person responsible for your success. Not the agent, the publisher, or the marketing executive.

Authors should invest the time to find out the value of agents, editors, and publishers. Ask questions of people in the field. How much did Madam Self-Published spend on copy editing, cover art, and marketing. Is that an investment you can afford to take. Or will sharing the risk (and royalties) with a publisher enable you to do what you do best -- write? If you decide to self-publish, what distribution channels are you going to utilize? If you go with a publisher, determine which have the most author-friendly contracts and highest royalty rates.

Even better, a smart author can use a combination of traditional, e-pub, and self-pub to spread their risk and, hopefully, capture a larger share of the market.

Knowledge, combined with an author's personal yens and know-how, allows her/him to use resources to the best advantage and not be tossed around like a leaf every time the 'winds of change' breeze through the industry.

Happy Writing!

Ericka
www.erickascott.com

Where to Go Next?

If you’re on the road to publication and land a contract, the resulting flurry to promote your name can be a time-sucking black hole. As a new published author of a short story by Books to Go Now, I’m definitely feeling the pressure to network and socialize--a thing that can grate against my personality as an introvert. I find my time for writing has disappeared, and even when I do have a moment, the drive is gone. It’s like I can only do one thing successfully--write or promote.

Now I’m sure this is merely new author fatigue, and once the newness wears off, I’ll be fine. But what to do until then?

Well, while I’ll still promote my short story, I’m going to step back and tackle my WIP. To tell the truth, my WIP might also be scaring me off from writing. I’m heartily sick of the story, but that’s another whole kettle of fish.

So what’s my recipe to overcoming this slump?

•Keep writing and critiquing

•Promote, network, but keep it in perspective

•Stop wasting time staring into space--a favored procrastination tactic of mine

Well, that’s all, folks. I have to get back to my writing--and, oh yes, my promotion. In fact, what kind of new pubbed author would I be if I didn’t stick a little blurb around here somewhere?

Blurb from Captive:

Emma finds herself far removed from her 21st century world and at the mercy of someone who shouldn't even exist. Even though her infuriating Elvin captor, Cian, is mysterious and sexy, she determines to keep herself aloof and return home. This soon all changes as he wages a seductive war on her defenses that challenges everything she's believed about love and life.

For Cian passion and rage intermingle as he alternately toys with her and submits to his fascination for this woman who, by her very humanity, should be an object of repulsion.

Can they put aside their differences and share a love that's stronger than time and prejudice?

Buy link:
http://bookstogonow.com/captive.html

Image: Pixomar / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Sound Off...I Can't Hear You!

This is the day you get to sound off. Tell us what happened to you last week, we want the good, the bad and the ugly. Tell us what made you mad, sad, happy, we want to hear it all.  This is where we get to come together and support one another. Anything goes, let it all out.

Happy Reading and Writing.

When night falls passions blaze.

Tabitha Blake