You can buy Joy in a Box November 24, 2009

I am delighted to announce that
My collection of flash fiction, Joy in a Box, is now available in print. This is the perfect book to give as a gift to someone who likes to read stories that are short and sweet, because each story only takes two to three minutes to read. Put it in the downstairs restroom, beside the coffeemaker, or on the coffee table.

The sun pulled the daylight down with it, the silky nuances of dusk wrapping themselves around the strange couple, and Penny’s thoughts hovered in their folds. (Note Attached)

Genres
I’ve added as many genres as possible in the book in order to appeal to all tastes, and the stories are even clean enough for teenagers to read. Many of the stories have won placement positions in writing challenges, and others have caused readers to think, ponder, believe, imagine, reflect, feel, consider, suppose, assume, sense . . . (thesaurus, anyone?).

On went the motor of the walking machine; flip flap went the fat on the insides of Dorothy’s thighs. Dust flew abundantly in all directions. (Absolutely Fabulous!)

Reviews
“Her poignant crystal clarity of truth and honest point of view gather together in the smallest set of words for each short story. The antagonist—generally a normal aspect of any written story—isn’t entirely concrete, malleable, even visible. We’re not talking about a villain dressed in black here, or a mean old lady out to skin 101 dalmations for their fur to make coats. The conflict is something inside rather than outside. The plot is more based on thought than on action. The story moves more on the concept of memories than on events, sort of like . . . Haiku.” ~ Pierre Dominique Roustan, author of The Cain Letters

“It takes a special talent to write a complete story in a few words. Sally Hanan has that talent, and most of her stories have an interesting twist ending.” ~ Lena Nelson Dooley, award-winning author of Wild West Christmas, Christmas Love at Lake Tahoe, and Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico

“A well-written and thought-provoking book of inspiring stories. Each story was so different. This book is about more than JOY; it stands for HOPE!” ~ Fran Lewis, author of My Name is Bertha, Bertha Speaks Out, and Bertha Fights Back

Where to buy this work of genius
You can buy Joy in a Box for $11.99, with shippping by UPS, here. I haven’t got it available on other online stores yet, as I need to come up with $99 to cover the ISBN and channel distribution costs. Yes, that’s what it costs.

She smiled—one of those fizzy drink kind of smiles that pops tiny bubbles of air to the lips over seconds of time. Then she went back to reading. (In The Orange-Sherbet Light)

 

Every piece of writing needs to be clear and precise. With microscope in hand, Inksnatcher’s writing and editing service will hone any work until it glitters in the light of a 1,000 watt bulb. INKSNATCHER.COM

 

 

The Search for God and Guinness November 12, 2009

Stephen Mansfield, the renowned biographer of presidents and dead men, has written a book that might cause the deeply religious to twitch an eyebrow or two. It’s called The Search for God and Guinness: A Biography of the Beer that Changed the World, and it is a testament to the lives and philanthropy of the Guinness family over the last 246 years.

Faith seemed to play the largest part in the generous actions and career choices of the family, and it was heartwarming to see how one family could give such worth to so many. Even more fascinating is the fact that this has continued for so long.

Stephen got a lot of flack last year for writing a book called The Faith of Barack Obama. This book shouldn’t generate nearly as much shock and denial. It runs like a familiar history book with an easy, swing-door style into the hearts of various members of the Guinness family over the generations. Stephen is a writer who can take history and turn it into interesting stories. I’d give this book a four out of five, only because of the tendency for repetition in places.

The most valuable lesson in this book is the questions the reader can ask him/herself at the end.
What can I create that will change culture for the better?
What legacy of giving will I leave behind?
What value have I given to all I have encountered and had the opportunity to lead?
How can I be enough of an example to my children that the good will continue to touch the generations beyond theirs?

 

Every piece of writing needs to be clear and precise. With microscope in hand, Inksnatcher’s writing and editing service will hone any work until it glitters in the light of a 1,000 watt bulb. INKSNATCHER.COM

 

 

Find a concept for your novel October 21, 2009

Concept
For my last novel and the one my mind is currently cooking up, I got the basic idea from quotes. Last time around, I found the following quote:

“We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart.” ~ Blaise Pascal

I had spent some time around a friend who had once been a sniper, and he talked a lot about the secrecy and mental stress of the job. I then formed my novel around those two things. It’s called We Know the Truth and is currently with an agent. Here’s hoping!

Find the right quote
This time around (because of gearing up for NaNoWriMo), I went looking for the right quote again. My story begins with a girl who gets pregnant at seventeen and her mother is not impressed, to say the least. I specifically went in search of baby quotes and found a perfect quote that I can use part of as my title.

My basic concept is that the girl runs off to America with the aid of a rich man, but there are strings attached. Eventually she hears of her mother’s cancer and returns home to heal the relationship. This idea is still sorely lacking, though, because there is nothing to carry the story. I need a plot, a theme; novels based on daughters reuniting with their mothers don’t really sell in droves.

What if . . .
What if she falls for the older rich man? What if she still pines for her boyfriend? What if that boyfriend is a player? What if the child dies? What if she gives her up for adoption only to change her mind when the child is two because the father wants to marry her? What if the child is kidnapped? All these questions depend on which genre I want to write in, but no matter which one I choose, the reader must want to keep turning the pages to find out information.

What genre?
I could do some paranormal thing—she could discover a gift of mind reading and cause a lot of damage. Perhaps she gets into astral projection and visits her ex to torment him about impregnating her. I could make it a love story and a hunk of burning love shows up and she is in love in three days (although I hate the absurdness of that)l; I could take the suspense angle and have the child kidnapped, I could write Christian fiction and save them all in the process of love/suspense/paranormal activity.

What’s the goal?
So what if the child dies and the MC really loves kids and really wanted this baby once she was settled? What if the rich guy wants kids with her but she does not want them brought up by him? What if her biggest goal is to have kids and he is the chief antagonist to her having them? What if no publisher in the world will touch a novel with the chief goal of the protagonist being to have babies?

This, my friends, is the way a writer’s mind works. If you have any helpful suggestions that will turn me into a multi-millionaire, um, an inspiring writer, please let me know. In the meantime, see what you can come up with based on quotes you find.

All the best with your own search for a concept and plot-driven theme.

brainyquote.com
quotegarden.com
quotationspage.com
quoteland.com
thinkexist.com

 

Every piece of writing needs to be clear and precise. With microscope in hand, Inksnatcher’s writing and editing service will hone any work until it glitters in the light of a 1,000 watt bulb. INKSNATCHER.COM

 

 

Testimonials and endorsements—new laws for bloggers October 7, 2009

The Federal Trade Commission has recently passed an adoption of revised guidelines for bloggers and other forms of media advertisements. These new additions will become effective on December 1, 2009.

Why the new rules?
The FTC is worried that we, the American people, cannot figure out who is paid for a review or endorsement v. who is doing it out of the kindness of his/her heart. The review talks about celebrities being paid to promote products they never even use, and there is worry we might be duped into believing that the celebrity actually cares about the item he/she endorses. In the same way, there are many bloggers who receive free products to review, and if Johnny Moolah gets a free Xbox 360, we need to know about that before we read his stunning review (in which he may smarm up to the givers of such toys).
                                                                 

What does this mean for bloggers?
If you are paid to endorse a product, you must reveal that fact.
If you get a free book/product to review, you must disclose that.
If you simply review something you bought with your own money and want to tell the world how horrible/fantastic it was, you can do whatever you want.

“Endorsers also may be liable for statements made in the course of their
endorsements.”
(This is only if you make claims about the product that are untrue, e.g. you will lose forty lbs. in two weeks with no exercise if you drink Disappear sodas.)

Is it all on me to disclose what I earn/get for free out of my review?
“The manufacturer should advise him (Johnny Moolah) at the time it provides the gaming system (or car or book etc.) that this connection should be disclosed, and it should have procedures in place to try to monitor his postings for compliance.”

The summary?
Basically you have to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, even if you think your readers can’t handle the truth. You cannot claim that reading my collection of flash fiction made your hair grow, or that reading it in the restroom gave you rabies—stuff like that.

“Endorsements must reflect the honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experience of the endorser.”
                                                                 
                                                                 
Isn’t this all a bit silly?
Well . . . yes, in my opinion. As school is mandatory, and every child is taught some kind of basic education, I can’t see how necessary this really is. With the clichéd “dumbing down of America,” perhaps we now need a whole load of newer laws to cover our newer levels of stupidity. And now, I will shut my mouth. (And no, I was not paid to do that, although all monetary offers to do so will be gratefully received.)

 

Every piece of writing needs to be clear and precise. With microscope in hand, Inksnatcher’s writing and editing service will hone any work until it glitters in the light of a 1,000 watt bulb. INKSNATCHER.COM

 

 

Litmatch—agent search and submission tracking September 28, 2009

LitMatch is a free service that helps writers find and secure an agent. Apart from the necessary ads in the right-hand column, the site is beautifully designed—crisp and clean looking. It’s dead easy to use, too.

Tracking
For each novel, record the submissions you’ve made to agents. (You would not believe how easy it is to forget.)
Records: Day, agent, agency
Follow up info
End result

Agent search
Find an agent who represents your genre—LitMatch’s search feature could not be any easier.

Literary agencies and agents
LitMatch lists 1757 agents in 821 agencies. You can pull up any agency and find:
The list of agents
What they prefer to represent
All their contact info
Personal info/publishing experience
If they are currently open to submissions
If they accept e-mail submissions
If they accept postal submissions
A pie chart of the percentage of offers, requests, and rejections
Responses
Response times
Submission guidelines
Clients and projects represented
Comments

Agent blogs
Lists and links to all of the blogs agents have

Hotlist
When you find an agent or agency you like the look of, you can hotlist it, grading it out of five flames.

LitMatch blog
Talks about what LitMatch hopes to offer in the near future

I’ve just registered so I can track who I’ve sent my queries to. Hopefully you guys will find it just as helpful as I have.

 

Every piece of writing needs to be clear and precise. With microscope in hand, Inksnatcher’s writing and editing service will hone any work until it glitters in the light of a 1,000 watt bulb. INKSNATCHER.COM

 

 

Writing the synopsis September 24, 2009

A synopsis is a short summary of a novel, movie, play, etc. Apparently there is a huge benefit to doing this—you get to examine your story and see if there are any holes in the plot, any developmental lack in the main characters, or any unbelievable occurences throughout the story. For me, it’s as comforting as dissecting a (dead) cat and laying the parts on a gurney for inspection. I mean, come on, who wants to take a beautiful story and rip it into little scientific shreds?

Editors do.

Agents do.

Why?
Because they are busy people. They can see in the first three paragraphs if your writing is worthy of their time. If they like it, they can look at your summary/synopsis and decide in seconds if the story is worth reading. Some do it the other way around—they check out the storyline first and then look at your writing. Either way, they need that synopsis.

How long does it need to be?
It varies. Usually the submission guidelines will let you know exactly how long it needs to be. Some agents like it to be one page long and unspaced, others prefer the longer version of about five to six spaced pages.

How do I know if they want a synopsis at all?
Read the guidelines!

Where do I begin?
Skim through your novel and highlight all the important, key parts of the story. Then put them all together to see if you can tell the story on one page. Don’t worry about the subplots, they just make things more interesting. You are focusing on the two (or three) main characters because they rule the story you are trying to tell. Don’t worry about the sentence flow or grammar at the moment, just read it through to see if it includes all the key points. This will be your rough draft.

I’m already overwhelmed.
We all feel that way. You just have to grit your teeth and get on with it, though.

Here is a good list of more tips for writing the short version. (Ignore the “don’t give too much away” comment. The agents wants to know the whole thing. They just don’t need the smaller details. You’re giving the overview.)

And here are two great examples of what you’re going for.

Once you feel that you have nailed the key points, make the sentences flow and try and fit in a little of your voice. Sometimes, because you are limited to one page, the summary can sound stilted and boring. See if you can take out any more smaller details so that you can add in some suspense or humor to it.

N.B. DO NOT SEND IT IN until you feel that it covers exactly what you want to say, the way you want to say it. I know, I understand, you are excited; BUT if you can curb your enthusiasm a few more days until you are delighted with it, chances are, the agents/editors will be too.

The long synopsis
What? This is even worse than dissecting a cat! I couldn’t agree more, but like I said, grit your teeth, and get on with it. The long synopsis is going to be the long summary of your novel. It should fill about three pages before you double space it. Some evil people might even ask for a ten to fifteen page synopsis. . . . (Just pretend you didn’t see that.) What you’ll need to have in there for both MC 1 & 2 are:

1. Opening/intro/hook

2. Who are they, what do they want, what’s your promise to the reader

3. Main goal throughout the story, what kicks them into gear, flaws/fears in action

4. Internal and external tension, conflict, and POV (point of view)

—Keep developing the plot in each MC

—More conflict

—Some redeeming powers to overcome conflict (repeat these three ad nauseum as plot builds)

5. Darkest moment

6. Break free/wow moment

7. Wrap it all up

Here is a great example of a longer plot synopsis from My Book Therapy with the whys added in.

Lisa Gardner has some tips for writing an even longer synopsis.

And, as I’ve mentioned before, if you need a break to go and laugh about summarizing your novel, visit angry alien. Hopefully you will be refreshed and inspired upon viewing.

 

Every piece of writing needs to be clear and precise. With microscope in hand, Inksnatcher’s writing and editing service will hone any work until it glitters in the light of a 1,000 watt bulb. INKSNATCHER.COM

 

 

Make the most of your writing conference September 22, 2009

I’ve been at the ACFW conference for the last few days. I went without expectations, and was duly impressed with what I saw. Here are a few tips on how to make the most out of yours.

Packing list
Comfortable shoes
Clothes that meet the “relaxed professional” look
Notepad and pen
Laptop, power source
Business cards
Snacks
Water
Extra room in your luggage for all the books you’ll bring home

During the conference
Do advance research on the workshops offered.
Don’t miss a thing.
Get to your agent and editor appointments at least five minutes early.
Be ready to hand out your card to anyone who asks.
Chat to all the other writers—some of them have terrific advice.

Have ready to show editors and agents (only if they ask)
The first five pages of your novel/book (double spaced)
One-page synopsis of your novel/book
Writing samples
Bio page with all published credentials and social media activity

The editors and agents will usually only scan your papers to see if they want to work with you, and even then, most agents won’t ask for the full MS until they have read the first three chapters, which they will ask you to e-mail after the conference.

The best advice I can give you is this: If you have a completed novel you’ve pitched, and an agent or editor asked for more, send in the partial that’s been requested ASAP so that the agent does not forget you among the heap of other writers they showed an interest in.

 

Every piece of writing needs to be clear and precise. With microscope in hand, Inksnatcher’s writing and editing service will hone any work until it glitters in the light of a 1,000 watt bulb. INKSNATCHER.COM

 

 

Writing the one-page synopsis, or not September 6, 2009

I want to share with you one of my favorite sites of all time, Angry Alien Productions, “The 30-Second Bunnies Theatre Library … in which a troupe of bunnies parodies a collection of movies by re-enacting them in 30 seconds, more or less.”

If there was any movie you never bothered to watch, you can get the whole thing in thirty funny seconds and no one will ever know the difference.
Watch Casablanca’s sad love
                                                                 
                                                                 
                                                                 
                                                                 

or some deliverance in The Exorcist
                                                                 
                                                                 
                                                                 
                                                                 

or nerdy power in Napoleon Dynamite.
                                                                 
                                                                 
                                                                 
                                                                 

It is all in your hands now. The classics of cinematography await your click.

Angryalien.com

P.S. If you’re wondering what on earth this has to do with writing, now and then you just need a good laugh, you know? For those of you having a hard time doing that, use these reenactments as an example of how to squeeze your masterpiece into a one-page synopsis.

 

Every piece of writing needs to be clear and precise. With microscope in hand, Inksnatcher’s writing and editing service will hone any work until it glitters in the light of a 1,000 watt bulb. INKSNATCHER.COM

 

 

Use fear to sell your wares August 17, 2009

Having been a lay counselor for almost ten years, I have noticed that people’s problems tend to settle into four basic beliefs or lies about themselves. Writers and sales people then use those fears to sell their wares.

Example #1
You are afraid of being abandoned by loved ones and believe that no one will help you when you need help the most.

Sales pitch: Do you live alone? Are you nervous about strangers breaking into your house in the middle of the night to kidnap your children and steal the family jewels?
Then buy the Zillion Decibel Alarmifuss, the ONLY alarm that will not only wake you, but also all the neighbors on your street and the cops in the donut shops on 5th and 9th. Buy Alarmifuss TODAY, and don’t live in fear any longer.

Story: She was at the part of her dream when he pulled her to his manly studly body and lowered his soft lips when the noise woke her. So disturbed was Lady Antonia by the sudden breach of her dream that she fought to regain her mind.
Lady Antonia was alone. Sir Gallivant had left her for his weekly tirade of the servants down at the shed (or had he), and she, the weak and helpless damsel, felt her heart stir with dread. She traced a finger down her cheek to the floor. Soon it would all be over, and Sir Gallivant would find her in a pool of her own blood with the jewels that bedecked her ears . . . gone.
                                                               
                                                               
Example #2
You are afraid of emotional or physical pain and you fear that you will die if you experience too much of it.

Sales pitch: Are you sad ALL the time? Do you cry at Disney movies? Do you weep at comedies? Are there tears on your pillow?
You need CryNoMore, the laughing pill that will have you frozen in happiness forevermore, and it’s sunshine yellow, because once you start taking these pills, every day will seem to have the sun shining through it.

Story: He looked into her liquid-green eyes and saw the fiery sparks of resentment firing back up into a fire. His heart melted in the flames, liquid lava spreading through his gut like a fire in his belly—the flames of love and lustiness reaching new heights—only to be drowned in her fireman’s dousing of all that lay within. He backed away, one footstep at a time. His fire would never meet her hose again—he vowed, and then he dashed away.
                                                               

Subscribe to this website for Part Two, cuz if you don’t, you, too, might find yourself without all I have to offer.
                                                               
                                                               

 

Every piece of writing needs to be clear and precise. With microscope in hand, Inksnatcher’s writing and editing service will hone any work until it glitters in the light of a 1,000 watt bulb. INKSNATCHER.COM

 

 

Espresso: In-store book printing August 6, 2009

What is an Espresso machine?
This is an Espresso machine. It makes you coffee and serves up a warmed chocolate croissant. . . .
Kidding!

“Up close and personal it is as if the Gutenberg Press met with Willy Wonka, and the chocolatier come out on top.” ~ Felicity Wood, editorial assistant at The Bookseller

What can it do?
The Espresso machine is like an ATM for books because it prints books while you wait. The exact number of minutes it takes to print a book depends on the number of pages being printed and the size of the book, but in one machine,
pages are printed,
a cover is printed,
the spine is glued,
the pages are evenly chopped,
and a finished book slides out of the chute.

How fast is it?
Version 2.0 will print a book of 300 pages in about four minutes. The older version is three times slower.

What can be printed on it?
Books can be printed from the Public Domain list, as can books from a PDF file. Publishers that work with Lightening Source have made their titles available. Writers and content owners can also print their own books on it.

How much will it cost to print a book?
The cost to the store owner for one book is about $2, but we have yet to see what price the retailers settle at for having the machine in their store. The older machine costs a store/library $75,000, and the newer one $175,000. The store also has the option to rent it for $1,000 a month.

If a newer machine prints 60,000 books a year when it’s working 24/7, then it produces 20,000 if it only works an 8 hour day. If the retailer charges double the cost to make a book, then he will only make $40k in the first year, assuming that books will be churned out of it like play-dough. It will take over four years before he begins to make a return on his money, so I assume that he will charge the public about $7 in order to pay off the machine inside of two years instead. Add on the royalties for the publisher and the writer, and you shoot up the price even more. This would end up costing more than the basic price of a paperback, so who benefits, then?

Writers might.

How might it benefit writers?
Writers can send their files electronically to the Espresso machine and have them printed while on their way to pick it up. As long as retailers settle at $8 a book, it ends up cheaper for writers to print their books on an Espresso than print the book with print-on-demand companies. Most print-on-demand books end up charging the writer over $10 just to print, and that’s before shipping costs are added. As long as retailers make the use of the Espresso machine cost effective, a writer can price a book to be more competitive with bookstore prices and still receive some sort of royalty.

Another beauty of printing on the Espresso is that writers and publishers can see exactly where their content has been ordered and produced, and the system tracks all the data needed to divvy up royalties, production costs, network fees, etc.

“We’re looking forward to a rapid expansion of available content, moving us much closer to our goal of 1 million titles available on the Espresso Book Machine.” ~Andrew Hutchings, Blackwell Group Chief Executive Officer.

All of this is only good news to writers if stores and libraries are smart about their pricing system. In England there is a set fee of $17 a book, plus 4c for every page, although a popular book costs the same as its cover price. Rare books could cost about $25. Not so smart. . . .

Where are these machines?
Libraries and bookstores will be the main outlets for this machine. As I write, the Espresso machines are available in the following places in the US:

Internet Archive, San Francisco
New Orleans Public Library
University of Michigan Library
Northshire Bookstore, Vermont
Brigham Young University Bookstore, Provo, Utah
University of Arizona Bookstore, Tucson, AZ
University of Missouri Bookstore, Columbia, MO
The InfoShop, The World Bank (exhibition, 2006), Washington, District of Columbia
New York Public Library, SIBL (exhibition, 2007), New York, New York

Click here to find the location of Espressos in other countries.

Click here for more information about the Espresso machine.

 

Every piece of writing needs to be clear and precise. With microscope in hand, Inksnatcher’s writing and editing service will hone any work until it glitters in the light of a 1,000 watt bulb. INKSNATCHER.COM