Sex & Money: Be Bold

Romance writers are great at tackling one provocative subject: sex. But my sense is we need to open up the dialogue about another: money. We write with edge and passion; we should also advocate for the value of our work as boldly.

The web is full of information and inspiration to improve our craft. But ask: How do I make it financially? Excuse me while I blow the dust from my inbox.

I can't throw a rock into the blogosphere without hitting a post about how difficult it is to get published, how I shouldn't expect to earn anything (click for recent article), how many writers struggle and why spelling is the main reason agents and publishers send rejections. Okay, okay. We get it. Now, show me the .... Oops, cliches are the second reason.

The facts -- our genre is thriving and ebooks are selling. Someone out there is making money. Is it you?

I read on this blog about the G.R.I.P.E., the Great Indy Pub Experiment. I was impressed at J. Rose Allister's willingness to disclose. Her and her husband's three-month goal was to sell 500 self-published books. They surpassed their sales by more than 3,000 and made about $6,000. They worked hard to do it.

Romance writer Brenda Hiatt started a list of what several publishers pay for romance (click for list). It's an ongoing project on her author website (click for site), which she updates with information provided voluntarily by writers. Not surprisingly, the list reveals that advances for books range wildly, from as little as zero to $40,000. Earn-outs also vary by the same extreme.

Hiatt recently added a list of indie earnings (click). And, she now takes questions regarding money (click) . Hip-Hip-Hoorah! A clearinghouse never looked so good. In addition, there are many, many romance publishers (click) not listed yet, indicating more money is out there to be made.

I believe we need to help each other by self-reporting our earnings. (Hiatt's list is anonymous. Disclosures to your crit group are encouraged!) How does information-sharing help? It helps to know that book sales are not dead (click for stats). It helps to discuss whether it works against us (click for debate) to give our work away for free or for very little.

Publishers are scouring for good, fresh novels. Information allows us to make better decisions about what to accept as payment for our books, newbies and veterans alike. Let's keep sharing and making the industry healthier (and profitable) for all of us.-- Jennifer Fulford 

A Tribute to Struggling Writers

Good day, all! I have a special treat for you.  In spite of concentrating my efforts on NaNoWriMo, I decided to "fix" this song.  I mangled it to make it work for writers. It used to be Big & Rich's "Big Time", but now it's Allison's "Big Time". I'm probably going to get sued, but I think this is something we can all agree on (except hopefully we do make the Times bestseller list). All together now, pretend you've just run into your favorite big name author at the coffee shop and you're telling him/her about your writing.

My clothes might be a little unkempt for your taste my friend
My computer cost a little less than watch you're wearin'.
I'm glad you stumbled in here on your book tour trip
Before you toss 'em, are you gonna eat those chips?

Well, I bet your life is beautiful
And you looked good on the Today Show
I'm doin' pretty good myself
Hey, pal, don't you know?

I stroke the keys
And I bug my muse for story lines
Cookies and cokes and Facebook pokes
Keep me feelin' fine.
And there's always a hunk
And a beautiful dame to save my plot line
In my simple way
Guess you could say
I'm livin' in the big time.

I know I'll probably never make the Times bestseller list
I'll probably end up with carpel tunnel in my wrist.
I don't mind that stuff 'cause I've got Nook and Kindle too.
To feed my ego and show the world what I can do.

I know you're really living
With that contract to fulfill
So if you feel like talkin'
Friend, I've got a blog to fill.

I stroke the keys
And I plot my next novel all the time
Cookies and cokes and Facebook pokes
Keep me feelin' fine.
And there's always a hunk
And beautiful dame to save my plot line.
In my simple way
Guess you could say
I'm living in the big time.

I'm having the time of my life
With agents on my mind
But everything will be fine.
Today, I'll type faster than yesterday.
Someday everything will go my way,
I'm living in the big time.

And there's always a hunk
And beautiful dame to save my plot line.
In my simple way
Guess you could say
I'm living in the big time.

You can get more of my zaniness at Have Novel, Will Edit or on Facebook.

The Elevator Pitch

On the October 21-22, I’m attending the New Jersey Romance Writers "Put Your Heart in a Book Conference." I’m not pitching, but several of my friends are. When I saw this article “Prepare Your Elevator Speech” by Margot Carmichael Lester, MonsterContributing Writer on Yahoo, it got me to thinking about how these five points could be adapted to work for an elevator pitch with an editor/agent.

1—Focus on the book

If you haven’t done so, come up with a high concept, one-sentence blurb of your book. The higher the concept the better. Think about what makes your book stand out, and yet, what makes it the same. Focus on the goals, motivations and conflicts of your characters.

2—Do your homework

Know why you want published or represented by this person. What makes him/her special? Have you taken a workshop with him/her? What makes this person your dream editor/agent or publisher? What books by this publisher have you read? Or if it’s an agent, do you read the authors he/she represents? You may not have to bring up any of this, but if in the course of your conversation, he/she asks any of these questions, it would be better to be prepared.

3—Be professional

This should really go without saying. We all have the knack of pointing out a fake. Don’t tell the editor/agent you’re best writer ever. Don’t brag and don’t kiss up. If you’re published, bring it up, but don’t make things up. Don’t blame others. I know, sounds like common sense. But we all know how that seems to be in short supply sometimes…

4—Keep it short

We are all busy people and editors/agents are some of the busiest. Keep your pitch focused and interesting.

5—Practice

The best thing you can do is write out your entire pitch. Then practice, practice, practice. Aloud and in front of a mirror. Pretend your reflection is the editor/agent of your dreams. Make notes of where you can improve. Try to reduce your nervous habits. Make it sound natural by varying your tone of voice. Become familiar with the script, but don’t become so focused on memorizing the script until you can’t think of anything else. This is where knowing as much as possible about the editor/agent is important. If he/she asks you a question, you’ll still be able to keep your cool and give an intelligent answer. Have your friends—writer friends who are familiar with what you are doing are best, in my opinion—to critique your pitch. It might even be a good idea to have them role play with you by asking questions about your story that are not covered in the pitch, or to ask you one of the questions mentioned in Number 2 to practice those answers as well.

Good luck!