Issue #21
September, 2006
Dear Romance Writer:
Happy September to you! With fall finally here, I’m looking forward to some much-needed relief from a very hot summer… aren’t you? In addition to writing yet another book, I’ve been busy preparing for AWAI’s annual conference here in Delray Beach. In just a few weeks, we’ll play host to hundreds of aspiring copywriters and graphic designers. If you haven’t heard about our annual FastTrack to Success Copywriting Bootcamp, then you’re missing out on an exciting interactive experience.
Every year this conference gets bigger and better. On Wednesday Nov. 1st, the conference kicks off with an exciting “Speed Meeting” event, where participants get to rub elbows with master copywriters and designers in the direct-response industry. Following that, there is a “Meet and Mingle” cocktail party, which Ilise Benun and I are hosting. Those of you attending will get to witness first-hand how networking works. For more information about Bootcamp 2006, please visit: http://www.awaionline.com/bootcamp/.
And finally, remember… the only way that manuscript is going to get published is to put your butt in a chair and your fingers on the keyboard. Books that are written from the heart are done one painstaking word at a time.
Happy writing!
Romantically Yours,
Marcia King-Gamble
Editor of Romantically Yours
www.lovemarcia.com
TOOLS OF THE TRADE: WRITING A SELLING PROPOSAL IN TODAY’S DIFFICULT MARKET
To sell in today’s tough market, you’ll need luck and the right editor. Here are some ways to improve your chances, from this month’s featured contemporary author, Karen Kendall.
- Have a great marketing “hook.” (This is not your plot; just your set-up for the story.) Include this hook in a “blurb” at the top of your proposal. Take time with the blurb. It can sell your book for you if it’s intriguing enough. Really!
- Do your homework in the market. Search online and find out if there are other books similar to yours already out there. If there are, don’t despair!
Figure out how your book is different from the ones out there. If it’s not different, then come up with something that’s unique about it and make sure you mention that in your proposal.
(For example, I have a book coming out in March from NAL/Signet, Fit to be Tied. It’s about a runaway bride. There were lots of runaway bride stories out there, as you can imagine. I made mine stand out by having the bride run away after the wedding, not before. In fact, she asks for a divorce on the honeymoon! Don’t worry, the book has a happy ending.)
- Do you have special credentials or experience that will give you a voice of authority in this project? Make sure you mention them.
- The tone of your synopsis should reflect the tone of your story. So if your story is light and witty, do your best to (subtly) entertain in the synopsis. Synopses are deathly boring documents, and anything you can do to make yours more readable is worth the work.
- Proof your proposal and cut out any unnecessary verbiage. Make sure you punctuate and spell correctly. Make sure your grammar is correct. Yes, editors do notice. You want them engaged in your storyline, not whipping out a red pen.
- Still have questions? See Making the Perfect Pitch by Katharine Sands (ISBN # 0-87116-206-7). It’s a great book that covers almost everything you need to know!
HAPPENINGS:
October 6–7, 2006
New Jersey Romance Writers
Put Your Heart in a Book
The Sheraton at Woodbridge — Iselin, NJ
www.NJRomancewriters.org
Keynote Speakers — Jennifer Crusie and Gayle Wilson (President of RWA)
October 6–8, 2006
Emerald City Writers’ Conference
Coast Hotel — Bellevue, Washington
Visit www.gsrwa.org or email ecwc@gsrwa.org
Keynote Speaker — Vicki Lewis Thompson
Featured Speakers — Stella Cameron/Cherry Adair
Guest Speakers — Jayne Ann Krentz, Debbie Macomber, Julia Quinn
October 27–28, 2006
Nebraska Romance Writers Workshop
Lincoln Women’s Club — Lincoln, NE
info@nebraskaromancewriters.com
Judith Arnold presents a workshop on conflict and writing for the long haul.
November 11, 2006
Crusie/Mayer Writing Workshop
Sponsored by Ohio Valley RWA
Oasis Conference Center — Loveland, Ohio
Contact Carol Serrone at c.serrone@insightbb.com
Fees: $75–$90
INTERVIEW WITH KAREN KENDALL
Karen Kendall is one of the most prolific authors I know. She writes upbeat lighthearted romances for NAL (Signet) and Harlequin. She’s as attractive, smart, and bubbly as any of her heroines… and she’s funny too. For insight into Karen’s quirky personality, catch her informative and upbeat interview below. Her books are entertaining and guaranteed to provide a chuckle or two.
RY: You’ve been called a chick-lit author by some and a writer of lighthearted contemporaries by others. How would you categorize your writing?
KK: I’d characterize my work as lighthearted contemporary. I’m really not a chick-lit author, though when we did the Bridesmaid Chronicles for NAL/Signet, our editor described what they were looking for as “romance meets chick-lit,” or books that “bridged the gap” between the two.
My books often have underlying themes that are more serious, but I do tend to write with a lot of surface humor. I just think the human condition in general is both funny and tragic. This outlook gets reflected in my books.
RY: How long did it take you to get published, and what did you do to get that first published manuscript polished and ready for sale? What advice would you give to our readers?
KK: It took me about four years to get published. I wrote three manuscripts that never sold (thank God!). They weren’t exactly stellar, but I learned a lot from writing them.
What did I do to polish my first manuscript? Hmmm… I sold in such a bizarre way. What happened was that I entered a contest, and one of my judges liked the story so much that she called her old editor and told her she needed to take a look. (I’ll forever be grateful to that judge for her kindness.) The editor read the partial and called me three weeks later to ask for the rest. At first I was afraid it was a crank call! Then, once I figured out that it really was a living, breathing, New York editor on the phone, asking to see MY book, I had to do the unthinkable: confess that I only had 3 more pages. It was a truly terrible moment. (A piece of advice: do NOT do this!!! Have the book done before you submit a partial.)
Luckily, the editor did not chew me out for wasting her time. She simply asked, in a calm tone, how long it would take me to finish the book. In a fit of madness, I told her to give me three months. We arranged that I would send it to her 100 pages at a time. Then I thanked her, hung up the phone and smacked myself repeatedly in the forehead. Was I NUTS? How could I finish this book in three months?
But I did, thinking all the while that she wouldn’t buy it anyway. I wrote 5 pages a day, Monday through Friday, and then I revised on the weekends. I gave up my life and got that book done. I think I slept with the manuscript pages. To answer your question, I revised and polished until I was blue in the face! I found every checklist in every writing book I owned and made sure that I had done everything on them before I sent the manuscript off to New York.
Then I waited and waited and waited. Three months later, the editor called and offered a two-book contract! Again, I was afraid it was a crank call.
Advice? Hang onto your manuscript until it’s really as good as you can get it. Resist the urge to run to the post office before it’s ready. Make sure there are no typos or grammatical errors. (You want to get the editor focused on the story, not any surface distractions, so, yes, this is important.) And the number one piece of advice I can offer is BE FLEXIBLE. If you get a letter back asking for revisions, this is a great sign! Try to make them to the best of your ability. I know sometimes they hurt (I almost died when I got back my first revision letter from an editor), but it’s not a personal criticism, just a bid to make your story more saleable in this tough market.
RY: Now why would a nice art history major like you enter this crazy world of writing? When did you get the calling?
KK: I’ve always wanted to write, ever since I was a little girl. But I didn’t know anyone who made a living that way and I listened to all the people who told me that it was impossible.
I’d say that I really “got the calling,” though, when my mother died in her mid-fifties. It was traumatic for me (I was 24) and illustrated that life can be unexpectedly cut short. It made me see that if I wanted to achieve my dream, I’d better get started right away.
RY: You’ve got a unique way of expressing yourself — a “voice” that leaves an impression. What have you done to market yourself? What has your publisher done to market you and get your name out there?
KK: Yes, my writing voice is a lot stronger than my speaking voice.
Marketing myself is very hard for me — I was brought up not to “toot my own horn,” if you know what I mean. So even announcing great reviews or awards feels utterly shameless to me! But what I’ve tried to do is create a colorful, inviting website (www.karenkendall.com) and come up with a marketing “tag line” that sums up my work. “Romance: Funny Side Up… With Sizzle.” A lot of my writing is humorous and sexy — so that seems to sum it up.
I do some print advertising, I do a few workshops, and I try to maintain the website. Lately I’ve been working with a PR firm. But to be honest, my focus is more on writing the best books I can write — because if I spend all my time marketing, then the stories are going to suffer.
RY: Of all the books you have written, which was your favorite to write and why?
KK: Oh, this is a tough question! Let’s see… I’ve now written a total of 16 books (if you count the three that never saw the light of day) and 1.5 novellas. (The other half of the second one is my current project.) I’m currently contracted for five more.
I can’t say that I have an absolute favorite. Something About Cecily will always be dear to my heart because it became my first published book. I love the two books I did for The Bridesmaid Chronicles (First Date and First Dance). And I always have fun with the Blaze trilogies I do — probably my favorites there are the ones in The Man-Handlers series, Who’s on Top?, Unzipped? and Open Invitation. I’m attached to my March 2007 Signet book, Fit to Be Tied, because for the first time, I’ve gotten to explore all the doubts and fears of marriage. It, too, is funny but deeply emotional.
RY: Describe a typical day in the writing life of Karen Kendall.
KK: I’m not sure there is a “typical” day. My ideal day would be to get up, do an hour on the treadmill and be at the computer by 8:00 a.m. (bah ha ha ha ha ha!) so that I write 20 pages with ease, grace and humor. (Excuse me: hahahahahahahahahahahaha. Deep breath. Hahahahahahhahahahaha.) Okay, I’m back now.
The more likely scenario is something like this: I wake up, look away from the treadmill and sneak past it in search of coffee. It can’t see me; it doesn’t have eyes… so how can it make me feel SO guilty?
Two cups of coffee later, I am trying to kick my husband out of my office, where he is “saving the free world” on our shared desktop computer. (This means he is playing video games and shooting things. How old is he, again?) He tells me that he’s almost done, that all he needs is another two minutes to ensure the continuation of democracy as we know it. I snort.
Twenty minutes later, I am asking him which part of the word “OUT” he does not understand? I eventually get to my computer and check email around nine. Then I check the calendar and see that instead of writing 20 pages with ease, grace and humor (bah ha ha ha ha!) I have promised Marcia that I will have her interview done by today…
I think you get the idea?
To be honest, when I’m on deadline I usually have a strict page quota to deliver Monday through Friday. Depending on the deadline (and how many others back up to it!), this quota can be anywhere from 5 pages to 15 pages… and in emergencies, 20 pages. (I try to avoid emergencies. They hurt by the end of the day.)
RY: Kendall is the pseudonym you use for your books. How does a writer who uses a pseudonym get paid? Is the check written to the pseudonym or the real last name? How is paperwork handled?
KK: A writer who uses a pseudonym gets paid under her real name — unless she changes her name legally to the pen name. Usually paperwork like a contract will specify, “Sue Jones, writing as Sue Loverly,” so there’s no confusion there.
RY: One of the imprints you write for is Harlequin Blaze. Can you tell us about the guidelines for this imprint? What’s the sensuality level, and how much is the word count?
KK: Harlequin Blaze is a very sexy line, as sexy as you can get without crossing the line to erotica. I actually started writing for the line by accident! I had sold three comedies to the FlipSide line, but as soon as we inked the contract, the line folded. So Harlequin asked if I wanted to write for Blaze.
Because of the way I began writing for Blaze, I honestly can’t tell you what the guidelines are. All I remember my editor saying was that we needed to get the characters into bed, or close to it, by page 100. The guidelines for the line are posted at www.eharlequin.com, which is a great site for both readers and aspiring writers. You can learn so much there.
I do know that the guidelines for Blaze have gotten more flexible and that they’re looking for all kinds of stories. For example, there are now some time-travel Blazes and Gothic Blazes. I write humorous ones. The sensuality level is high — I generally have at least three full love scenes and a lot of steamy sexual tension in mine.
The books will now be a little shorter, too. When I began writing for Blaze, I think the length was around 75K words. Now I believe they’ve dropped to 65K–70K. But check the official guidelines on www.eharlequin.com. It really is a great site!
RY: What project are you working on now, and what lies ahead for you in terms of projects?
KK: It’s complicated! I will be doing three more Blazes. I’m currently working on an anthology (a 120-page story which will appear with two others by different authors) for Blaze. After that, I’ll be writing a really fun story set on a cruise ship, which is part of a 12-book series for Harlequin. And for NAL/Signet, I’m in the planning stages for what I hope will be an exciting new series! I’m having a ball with all of these projects — I just wish there were two or three of me. I need a Karen Kendall clone!
RY: What about goal setting? Where do you see your writing career in the next five years?
KK: Goal setting tends to be tricky in this business, because there are so many factors beyond an author’s control. I can set the goal that I want to be on the USA Today list or the New York Times list (and yes, I do!), but it’s all going to depend on the orders, the sales, the publisher support and whether or not readers love a particular book.
So I tend to focus, in setting goals, on what I can control. And that is the quality of my books. My goal over the next five years is to keep learning and growing as a writer so that I can produce better books — books that readers won’t want to put down. One of my very favorite fan letters came from a woman who said she sat in her car in a parking lot for three hours because she couldn’t stop reading First Date! I figure I must have done something right in that book — now all I have to do is figure out exactly what it was… and do it even better next time. Wish me luck!
RY: And finally, do you have parting words of advice for those starting out in the business? Are there any particular dos or don’ts you’d like to share?
KK: Yes. Know that publishing is a tough business and grow a thick skin. Because we all deal with rejection not only before we’re published, but after. You may get terrible reviews on a book, or your editor may decide that a project isn’t quite right or turn down a sequel to a book that you were dying to write. It happens.
But if this is what you love to do and you’re willing to start off by doing it badly and then get better — if you’re willing to hang in there for all the career ups and downs, then just DO it. Don’t wait for anyone to tell you that this is the right time, don’t let contest judges or critique partners or agents or editors hurt your feelings, and don’t let fear paralyze you in the middle of a manuscript. Above all, be patient with yourself. Give yourself the time to learn, stretch and grow. To read the how-to books. To find your voice and the stories that you want to tell.
Just as you wouldn’t scream at a toddler for not being able to paint a masterpiece, don’t beat yourself up for not being Nora Roberts or James Michener in your first few manuscripts. The writing that we all learn in school is not the writing that it takes to master the craft of fiction.
So my advice is that you should be nice to yourself! You can always turn into a mad, tortured genius later. In the meantime, enjoy the learning process!
WHO’S ACQUIRING:
Harlequin Enterprises Limited announces the launch of its manga-format imprint, Harlequin Ginger Blossom, beginning this month. It’s a blend of “east meets west”… mixing manga with romance.
New writing opportunities are available with the following Harlequin/Silhouette Lines:
Steeple Hill Love Inspired Historicals
Length: 75,000-85,000 words
Editor: Melissa Endlich
Editorial Office: New York
Launch: October 2007
Captivating historical romance: love and faith throughout the ages.
This new brand in the Steeple Hill imprint is a series of historical romances featuring Christian characters facing the many challenges of life and love in a variety of historical time periods. Love Inspired Historicals should be complex stories rich in period detail that will sweep readers into the past and absorb them from page one. We are open to seeing manuscripts set in the following time periods: Biblical fiction, Americana (e.g. Westerns, post-Civil War, etc.), European historical eras (e.g. Tudor, Regency and Victorian England, 18th-century Scotland, etc.) and 20th-century (turn-of-the-century through World War II). We are also interested in stories featuring missionaries abroad in exotic locations during various historical periods. We are not looking for stories set in Colonial America or the Civil War at this time. www.eharlequin.com/cms/learntowrite/ltwToc.jhtml
Silhouette Nocturne
Length: 70,000-75,000 words
Editorial Director: Tara Gavin
Associate Senior Editor: Ann Leslie Tuttle
Editorial Assistant: Sean Mackiewicz
Launch: October 2006 (2 books/month)
Nocturne is looking for stories that deliver a dark, very sexy read that will entertain readers and take them from everyday life to an atmospheric, complex, paranormal world filled with characters struggling with life and death issues. These stories will be fast-paced, action-packed and mission-oriented, with a strong level of sensuality. The hero is a key figure – powerful, mysterious and totally attractive to the heroine. In fact, both main characters are very powerful, and their conflict is based on this element. The author must be able to set up a unique existence for the characters, with its own set of rules and mythologies. We are looking for stories of vampires, shape-shifters, werewolves, psychic powers, etc. set in contemporary times. For more information log onto www.eharlequin.com/cms/learntowrite/ltwToc.jhtml
Kimani Press
Imprint: Arabesque Inspirational Romance
Genre: Inspirational Single-Title Romance
Manuscript Word Length: Approximately 85,000-100,000 words
Manuscript Pages: 300-400 pages
Arabesque Inspirational Romances offer uplifting, contemporary love stories featuring realistic African-American characters that resolve relationship conflicts through the perspective of strong moral beliefs. Arabesque Inspirational Romances may include several points of view, and offer classic contemporary settings.
www.eharlequin.com/cms/learntowrite/ltwToc.jhtml
Mills and Boon
Modern Xtra-Sensual
(Formerly Temptation)
Length: 60,000 words
Senior Editor: Bryony Green
Editorial Office: London
Take an international city background that vividly conveys the sophistication and buzz of cosmopolitan life, an independent woman who knows what she wants from love and her career and a guy who’s confident, easygoing and gorgeously sexy… and you have Modern Xtra-Sensual!
These titles promise to deliver to the reader a feel-good experience, focusing on the kind of relationships that women between the ages of 18 and 35 aspire to. Young characters in affluent urban settings – either North American or international – meet, flirt, share experiences, have great, passionate sex and fall in love, finally making a commitment that will bind them together, forever. Though their stories are firmly based around emotional issues, other concerns – such as job and friendship – are also touched upon and resolved in an upbeat way. Please submit the first three chapters along with a 1-2 page synopsis of your novel to:
The Editorial Department
Harlequin Mills & Boon Ltd
Eton House
18-24 Paradise Road
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 1SR
United Kingdom
COMING NEXT MONTH:
Here’s your opportunity to see how co-authoring works. Meet Lynn Sholes and Joe Moore, co-authors of the critically acclaimed The Last Secret. This book has been billed as “a religious thriller with a bite.” It’s a bit of a departure from romance, but as the genres become more and more blended, it’s good to read something different.
ABOUT ROMANTICALLY YOURS
Romantically Yours is a FREE monthly newsletter for members of American
Writers & Artists Inc.'s Romance Writing Course - "Writing for Love
and Money."
We want to hear from you. Please send comments, news, research, or story
ideas directly to Marcia King-Gamble at romanticallyyours@awaionline.com.
American Writers & Artists Inc.
245 NE 4th Ave., Ste 102
Delray Beach, FL 33483
Phone (561) 278-5557
Fax (561) 278-5929
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© 2006 American Writers & Artists Inc.