Hey Jealousyyy

April 19, 2017May 17, 20171 Comment

This week’s #RWchat topic is all about jealousy. (And yes, this post title comes from a Gin Blossoms song.)

Envy is real. We look over at someone else getting the book deal, winning the award, hitting the bestseller list, and we think, “I want that.” But envy can be useful. It can guide us toward new goals, and allow us to study how other people got to where we want to go. Envy can push us to work harder and smarter. But if left unchecked, or allowed to run rampant in the mind, envy can quickly turn to jealousy, which is far more insidious.

jealous_liz_lemon

The dictionary defines jealousy as, “jealous resentment against a rival, a person enjoying success or advantage, etc., or against another’s success or advantage itself.” The key word here is resentment. Resentment can fester and grow, sapping creativity and damaging personal and professional relationships.

jealous_xtina

Last month, I attended the Liberty States Fiction Writers’ “Create Something Magical” conference with fellow RWchat co-host Robin Lovett. On a whim, we went to a session called “I Want What She’s Got: How to Cope with Professional Jealousy” led by Avery Flynn and Kimberly Kincaid. Normally I’m a compulsive note-taker, and I live-tweet workshops and panels, but this felt too personal to live-tweet.

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Coming April 23rd… Jealousy

April 16, 2017April 19, 2017Leave a comment

RWchat April 23 Jealousy

We love watching each other succeed. An achievement for one is good news for all. But it doesn’t mean we’re not tempted to compare ourselves to one another. And when someone else gets that contract we’ve been wanting or hits a bestseller list before we do… it can be really hard not to feel envious. Or dare we say… jealous.

Come chat with us about how you deal with jealousy when it arises and hear how others cope with it too. See you Sunday 4pm PST/ 7pm EST.

~Robin Lovett

Bragging, Bullshit, & Lies

April 16, 2017April 26, 2017Leave a comment

Our final publishing origin story is Kimberly Bell’s. For stories with less profanity and hubris, check out Alexis Daria, Robin Lovett, and C.L. Polk.

Everyone’s journey to getting published is unique, but I’ve been told mine is particularly atypical. I don’t like to tell it because I think it is unrealistic, and thus unhelpful. It also kind of makes me sound like I’m bragging. (…sometimes, I kind of am, but I don’t like to sound that way.)

The very first book I ever tried to write was the first book I published. I had dabbled in single scenes of fiction, but I’d primarily written personal journal entries before I decided to sit down and write a romance novel. It took a year, almost to the day. I edited the first couple chapters, but then I became impatient and started querying.

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Did twitter get me a book deal?

April 14, 2017April 16, 20171 Comment

Next in our publishing origin stories is C.L. Polk’s journey. Be sure to check out Robin Lovett’s story from earlier!

Did twitter get me a book deal? Well, not exactly. But it helped…

Step one: I wrote a book.

Seriously, this is step one. You cannot use twitter to help you until you’ve done this part. I wrote a book. I revised the book. I edited the book. It took a little over a year to do this step, because I interrupted my process by writing a book length fanfic for the fun of it. And then I was ready for… Continue reading →

The Ups And Downs To Getting A Contract

April 13, 2017April 13, 20172 Comments

Next in our publishing origin stories is ROBIN LOVETT’s whirl wind journey to her first big five book deal. (Don’t forget to check out Alexis Daria’s story.)

I was lucky. Getting an agent came pretty easy for me. Well, easy if you count writing three books before sending out my fourth to query. I made decisions based on market research, what I’d heard at writing conferences from editor and agent panels. I gave up on my dystopian romance book and wrote an erotic contemporary–because that’s what they said was selling. And it worked, for getting an agent at least.

Rachel Brooks of the L. Perkins asked for a Revise & Resubmit (R&R) then signed my dark erotic romance. There’s some stuff I can’t tell you about here — see Kim Bell’s The First Rule of Pubclub. This was winter 2015.

But my luck ran out there. Unfortunately, for that book, the ending is not happy. It was on submission for a year and did not sell.

That’s right–a year.

christmas movies muppets michael caine the muppet christmas carol why do you delight in torturing me GIF

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The Road to the Book Deal

April 12, 2017April 16, 20173 Comments

In honor of Sunday’s topic, this week the hosts of #RWchat are telling our own publishing origin stories. Here’s Alexis Daria’s journey.

Where to begin? It would be easy to start last month, when everything happened at once. Or in January, when I sent out the first queries and fulls, and entered the Golden Heart®. November, when I finished the first draft. July, when I developed the proposal. Or even the last days of May 2016, when I got the first inkling for the idea and jotted down notes.

But really, this has been a long road, and I have to go back even further. Not all the way back, to when I was a pre-teen just starting to experiment with long-form stories, although even then I knew I wanted to be a published writer. But a few years, at least, to when I decided to take writing seriously and give it the same fair shot I’d given art.

::cue flashback screen wipe::

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Coming April 16th… Origin Stories

April 9, 2017April 9, 2017Leave a comment

Graphic by Alexis Daria

We all come from somewhere, and what happens in our past informs who we are and the decisions we make. Our characters are no different. Creating a rich character backstory is vital to any hero or heroine’s story of the future.

As a fun treat, your four #RWchat hosts will each be posting our “Writing Origin Stories” this week. We’ll be sharing how we got into publishing romance – how our experiences are informing our decisions now.

It’s a bit of a celebration for us, because last week, Alexis Daria announced her publishing deal with SMP Swerve which means…. *drum roll*….

All four of your #RWChat hosts – Kimberly Bell, C.L. Polk, Alexis Daria and me, Robin Lovett – are all officially agented writers with traditional publishing contracts! Huzzah! We want to share our stories (the good and the horrible) with you for how we’ve gotten to where we are.

Keep an eye out for our posts this week!

See you for our Origin Stories chat next week, Sunday 4pm PST / 7pm EST.

~Robin Lovett

Coming April 9th… Spring Goals

April 2, 2017Leave a comment

Graphic by Alexis Daria

So, remember those New Years goals? How are they going? Do we even remember what they were?

Now’s the time to assess how the year is going so far. Are we on track for where we want to be? Are there things in the way of our goals? If so, are they things out of our control or within our control? How can we readjust our goals accordingly to keep us motivated and encouraged in the coming months?

Join us with your ideas and thoughts. Or come to lurk and learn. See you Sunday 4pm Pacific / 7pm Eastern.

~Robin Lovett

Coming April 2nd… Publishing Process

March 26, 2017Leave a comment

Graphic by Alexis Daria

Getting a book written and revised is just the beginning. The path from there to publication is tumultuous. Whether it’s traditional or self-publishing, there are multiple rounds of edits to go through with an editor. Knowing and learning how to work with an editor is an intricate relationship to navigate. Since the days of writing one book per year are pretty much gone, there’s the problem of juggling a publishing schedule and managing more than one project at once. How do you do it?

Come share your expertise, learn from the experts, and ask us your questions, Sunday 4pm PST / 7pm EST.

~Robin Lovett

Coming Feb. 19th… Hybrid Publishing

February 13, 2017February 13, 2017Leave a comment

rwchat-2-19-17

To publish our writing we have two main avenues, traditional publishing or self-publishing. But there’s that third choice, the holy grail, best of both worlds: hybrid publishing. Is it right for us? What are the benefits? What are the drawbacks? Have you considered being a hybrid author, already are one? Or are you on the “never in a million years” list?

Come chat with us about it Sunday 4pm PST / 7pm EST !

~Robin Lovett

Graphic by Alexis Daria