Guild’s April 1 workshop focuses on how writers become authors

On April 1, author and editor McKenzie Johnston Winberry will lead a workshop entitled, "Step 1: Write, Step 2: ????, Step 3: PROFIT," from 10 a.m. to noon at The Lodge Des Peres, 1050 Des Peres Rd, St. Louis, MO 63131. Free for St. Louis Writers Guild members; $5 for nonmembers.

“This workshop will be about that fuzzy in-between stage of having written something and actually being published,” she said. “I will talk about different ways of finding a publisher, how to submit your stuff, and why you should not be upset about a rejection (especially a form rejection).”

McKenzie will provide resources that collect publisher information, and information about conventions and other networking opportunities.

“These are significantly more important to becoming a successful writer than most people anticipate,” she said, noting that being a good writer isn’t always enough. “For example, JK Rowling was rejected repeatedly until she found someone who had faith in HER..and now she is one of the most successful writers in the world.”

McKenzie works for Apex Publications and is a published author of short fiction. She is currently working on a collaborative collection of short stories and a novel. When she is not writing, you can find her teaching video games and Spanish at Maverick Learning Center. Check out her website at mckenziejohnstonwinberry.com

Learn more about the St. Louis Writers Guild at www.stlwritersguild.org.

Traditional vs. Self vs. Hybrid - Part Two

Traditional vs. Self vs. Hybrid – Part Two

The Write Pack Radio Rebroadcast

The question every writer faces in the modern world of publishing is if they should choose to try to be traditionally published, self-published or a hybrid. It is not an easy decision and can shape your career as a writer. This debate, which has raged and simmered for years, has been fanned into an inferno of dueling blogs around the question: Has the publishing world now been divided into a “caste system.” Follow along as the Write Pack feels their way through this maze.

This is part 2 of the discussion,

The Write Pack goes more into what do you really market, your book or yourself? They provide tips and insight based on their experiences!

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/writepackradio/2014/03/23/traditional-vs-self-vs-hybrid-publishing-part-2 

The following blog posts are for reference.

The blog that fanned the flames: The New Class Systemhttp://writerunboxed.com/2014/02/05/the-new-class-system/

My Amazon bestseller made me nothing: http://www.salon.com/2013/03/15/hey_amazon_wheres_my_money/

Author Earnings Data Supports DBW Findings | Digital Book World: http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2014/author-earnings-data-supports-dbw-findings/

The 50k Report – Author Earnings: http://authorearnings.com/reports/the-50k-report/

Book Sales: Running the Number: http://stlsinc.blogspot.com/2014/02/book-sales-running-numbers.html

Hugh Howey and the Indie Author Revolt: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/61116-hugh-howey-and-the-indie-author-revolt.html?et_mid=661161&rid=240749728 (Note you need a subscription to the magazine to see this---so if you don’t have one, check out your local library. Many subscribe to Publishers Weekly)

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/writepackradio/2014/03/23/traditional-vs-self-vs-hybrid-publishing-part-2

There are many talks on the internet about writing, but nothing like Write Pack Radio. Write Pack Radio brings Pop Culture, Writing, and Publishing together and throws them into a crucible of humor, clarity, and passion.

Every Sunday at 3pm CST, Write Pack Radio brings you a new topic and a lively discussion of issues facing every writer or anyone navigating the tumultuous waters of the publishing industry.

Find the Write Pack Radio on www.blogtalkradio.com/writepackradio 

Other Episodes you’ll find on The Write Pack Radio

Amusing the Muse

Traditional vs. Self vs. Hybrid – Part One

Brown Bagging Books: Are You Judged By What You Read

Blank Slate Press Re-Opens to Submissions and is Growing!

Blank Slate Press Re-Opens to Submissions and is Growing!

By Brad R. Cook

First the Big News – Blank Slate Press is re-opening to submissions!

Okay now the real news; I have joined the team at BSP!

That’s right I’m an author and publisher! Exciting!

As a partner in Blank Slate Press, I will lead the team in Marketing, Author Management, and Acquisitions.

Blank Slate Press was founded in 2010 by Kristina Makansi to discover, nurture, publish and promote emerging writers. Many of the titles they’ve released have won awards. BSP is an adventure in the future of publishing. It truly is writers publishing writers! Because we are so small (i.e., micro, nano, itty bitty), we can only publish a limited number of books per year. In doing so we can maintain the quality of each book and the attention we give to each author. 

Fiction Submission Guidelines

The Blank Slate Press imprint is genre-blind but with a literary sensibility. We accept adult and young adult genre fiction and literary fiction submissions, and we are looking to publish a few non-fiction titles. The bottom line is great writing, intriguing characters, and a little extra something to stand out in the crowd–even for non-fiction. BSP seeks excellent writers who are committed to and excited about marketing their book, fostering their author presence online and off, and building a community of readers. You do not need to have an agent to submit your work.

So, to repeat: We consider all genres and literary works for adult, young adult and middle grade, but the writing must have what we call a “literary sensibility.” In other words, we love genre fiction, but we’re not just looking for good storytelling. We’re also looking for writing that is insightful and moving, and that will stay with the reader long after the book is closed or the device turned off. Note: we do not publish poetry.

We believe in top quality novels with a literary mindset. That isn’t changing, what is, the number of books we produce in a year!

As for me, I’ll always be looking for great stories with deep complex characters and strong voices. I’m on the eternal hunt for books that make me think, wrench my emotions, and define my life… basically books that move me.

So do you have a great story, a strong voice, top notch writing, and a new twist on the genre? Then BSP may be the right publisher for your hard work!

Blank Slate Press is a traditional publisher. For submission guidelines and what BSP is looking for please visit http://blankslatepress.com/submission-guidelines/ 

I’m really excited to help writers reach their lifelong goals!

Brad R. Cook, author, publisher at Blank Slate Press, and President of St. Louis Writers Guild. Please visit www.bradrcook.com or www.blankslatepress.com for more information. Follow me on Twitter @bradrcook https://twitter.com/bradrcook, @blankslatepress https://twitter.com/blankslatepress, @stlwritersguild https://twitter.com/stlwritersguild, or my tumblr page Thoughts from Midnight http://bradrcook.tumblr.com/ 

Dreamspell authors: We're back!

By T.W. Fendley

Two months ago, the authors of L&L Dreamspell were reeling from the death of publisher Linda Houle and co-publisher Lisa Smith's decision to close the business. Since then, many have found ways to get their books back into print, thanks to Lisa's prompt execution of their Reversion of Rights.

"I think what I've learned is just how much persistence is an essential part of this business," said author Chris Ferguson. "Obviously the closing of L&L DS was a personal and community tragedy for us. But of course it was also disappointing as an author. Fortunately there are avenues for good work to continue on, so setbacks are not the end of the world."

I solicited status updates from the Dream Team, and their paths to publication are as varied as the books they write. 

GONE INDIE

With Jennifer Stolzer's cover design, my historical fantasy novel, Zero Time, is available through Kindle and "in process" at CreateSpace. 

Jo Hiestand also chose the self-publishing route via CreateSpace and has already published 15 of her mystery novels (including two that were out of print for five years) and Esther Lutrell has several of her titles out under their new imprint, Golden Harvest Press. In addition to her novels, Jo also compiled two anthologies and published Carols for Groundhog's Day.

"We've learned a lot in these months," Jo said. "How to format the books for trade paper and ebook publication, how to buy ISBNs, how to list the published books thru Bowker so the books are included in the books-in-print catalog that other bookstores and libraries use to get info on your work, how to set up royalty payments and follow the sales reports, and how much work there is to getting a book out -- and so my admiration for Linda and Lisa grew tremendously."

Facing a busy fall speaking schedule, Cindy Sample chose to upload her two backlist books to Kindle. "I didn’t want to spend money advertising until my new book is released [in October], but word of mouth seems to be working. Today was exciting because for the first time ever my books placed in a top 100 bestseller category. As of this second, Dying for a Date is # 73 in sales of over 22,000 fiction books in the humor category."

Bobbye Terry (aka Daryn Cross) said, "I released mine as indies. Walk Right In became Like Humans Do, and Walk Right Back became Like Demons Do. I plan to release the third one, Like Zombies Do, next year, The two currently out were both re-edited before re-releasing and came out in both Kindle and print through CreateSpace. I did my covers with their Cover Creator. I placed two of my short stories in the collection, Moonlight Magic, published the same way."

"I quickly put Ghost Orchid on Kindle to keep it in the market while searching for a reprint publisher," D.K. Christi said. "I am particularly grateful to Lisa Smith of the former L & L Dreamspell team who provided quick assistance with our search and with the team of authors who have helped each other."

Christy Tillery French also placed all her books in The Bodyguard series as Amazon Kindles.

WITH A LITTLE HELP

Nancy Means Wright reported her middle grade/YA novel,Walking into the Wild, is now available. "With a good review coming out soon in a magazine, I wanted to get it out asap, so the book will be published by my own imprint, Wildcat Books, at the new publisher Prince and Pauper Press."  

"(Jennifer Carson) and I have worked closely together to bring out my book with a bright new cover, new interior pages, back cover, adding a map, etc," Nancy said. "I paid her $300 for all this, and then put it up on Amazon in my name. So it’s a sort of alternative affair, not exactly self-pubbed, but I have some control for the first time in my writing  life!  And we’ve done it in about a month—which wouldn’t have happened had I tried a traditional press. I will take all royalties from e-book sales, and she will take a small % from online print book sales."

Anita Page's novel, Damned If You Don't, has been reissued as an e-book by Glenmere Press.

L.A. Stark said two ebooks (13 Days: The Pythagoras Conspiracy and Strike Price) will be published by Stone Thread Publishing. "They have asked for more e-books in the Lynn Dayton series," she said.

Elise Dee Beraru said, "I'm going to release my two short stories as a double feature through Dark Hallows, probably at 99 cents for the pair. I just need to get them formatted and a new cover." The stories are "By the Dark of the Moon" and "Three Wishes," from the Dreamspell Romance and Magic anthologies.

Thom Reese's The Empty will be rereleased in early 2014 by the publisher of his other novels, Speaking Volumes. It will be an expanded edition that includes material removed from the Dreamspell edition to meet their word count restrictions. 

Catherine Winn has signed a contract with the new YA imprint of Poisoned Pen Press, The Poisoned Pencil, for the YA mystery novel that had been slated to be published by Dreamspell this summer. 

Peter Green said, "My plan has been to look for good sustainable small presses. I have found one, an imprint of a larger, established  press, where my two mysteries are on submission. If that’s accepted, I’ll go with it. If not, I may look for others. My fallback position is to self-publish with Lightning Source (which many indie publishers use, including the former LLD—part of Ingram, best distribution) or Amazon CreateSpace and KDP (best marketing in one huge market, but no others)."

THE WILD ROSE PRESS

When Lisa announced Dreamspell would be closing, she also let us know of her arrangements with Rhonda Penders, one of the owners of The Wild Rose Press Inc.  “You will not have to go through their usual "slush" pile but rather go directly to her and she will assign you an editor. She doesn't promise a contract for everything but she does promise to try very hard to find you a home at TWRP if you want it.”

Dreamspellers who have contracts with The Wild Rose Press include:

• Leigh Neely and Jan Powell, True Nature
• Marilyn Gardiner, Comanche Moon
• Susan Coryell, A Red, Red Rose
• Mark Rosendorf, The Rasner Effect
• J.D. Webb, Smudge
• Chris Ferguson, Suicide Kings
• Nikki Andrews, Framed
• Joyce Scarbrough, Symmetry
• Lynn Schurr, A Trashy Affair, Love Letter for a Sinner, A Convent Rose

Contracts are also under consideration at TWRP for a new book from Jo Hiestand, D.K. Christy's Ghost Orchid, and Lynn Shurr’s Wish for a Sinner and Kicks for a Sinner

“I feel lucky to have titles coming out next year," Lynn said. "Trashy Affair was all edited and only lacked its cover before DS folded, hence the quick turnaround.” A Trashy Affair is also on Kindle.

ADDITIONAL TIPS

Other advice Dream Team authors shared about getting books back in print included:

• BackinPrint through The Author's Guild--"Costs you nothing at all except you have to join Author's Guild. iuniverse will do the printing and cover art. I hand all my St. Martin's Press books done that way. They don't do ebooks, though, just print." -- Nancy Means Wright
• StoneThread Publishing--A traditional royalty-paying publisher for e-books only, is particularly interested in series. Publisher Harvey Stanbrough recommends first reading the About and the FAQs pages before reading the submissions page. 
• Harlequin Worldwide Mystery & Suspense--"...they bought the first 
two in [my] series as reprints."--Jacqueline Seewald
• Prince and Pauper Press--the publisher is Dreamspell author Jennifer Carson, carson4boys@yahoo.com

And advice on other markets (some currently closed to submissions):

• Penumbra Publishing--"They cover a wide variety of genres. My latest sci-fi novel, Status Quo, is through them."--Mark Rosendorf  
• Belle Books--"... is another publisher with a good reputation...They do romance and mystery and do give an advance.
They are very slow to reply though.

"-- Jacqueline Seewald

• Spencer Hill Press--"We usually only take queries from agented authors, except in cases where we have met authors at conferences, etc. I am extending to you an open door because of our situation. Spencer Hill does have a wing for contemporary stories. Unfortunately, we don't do straight historical though."--Spencer Hill Press senior editor Jennifer Carson (who is also a Dreamspell author)  
• Kings River Life Magazine--(Lorie Ham, editor) Reprints individual mystery short stories.--Nancy Means Wright

Guild workshop 9/7 focuses on Publishing Perspectives

Writers can explore options for getting published at the Sept. 7 “Publishing Perspectives” workshop sponsored by the St. Louis Writers Guild. Representatives of Walrus Publishing, Blank Slate Press/Treehouse Publishing, Month9Books and a nonfiction and poetry educator/editor will explain their services and answer questions from 10 a.m. to noon at the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 S. Geyer Road in Kirkwood. Free to Guild members, $5 for nonmembers.

Lisa Miller

Lisa Miller founded Walrus Publishing, Inc. in 2008 with the mission to contribute to the Saint Louis Literary Community by publishing talented St. Louis writers. Walrus Publishing has three titles in print thus far and has several more “in the works.” Lisa is a member of the St. Louis Writers Guild, the Missouri Writers Guild, and a founding member of the St. Louis Literary Consortium. This year she is honored to serve as the Conference Committee Chair for the Missouri Writers Guild. Lisa has a B.A. in English from the University of Baltimore and an M.A. in English from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She has most recently published her debut novel¸ Halfway There.

Kristina Makansi

 Born and raised in Southern Illinois, Kristina Makansi has a B.A. in Government from University of Texas at Austin and a M.A.T. from the College of New Jersey and an opinion on everything. She has worked as a copywriter, marketing coordinator, web and collateral designer, editor, and publisher. In 2010, she co-founded Blank Slate Press, an award-winning small press focusing on debut authors in the greater St. Louis area, and in 2013, she co-founded Treehouse Publishing Group, an author services and assisted-publishing partnership. Her current writing projects include co-writing and self-publishing The Sowing, the first book in The Seeds Trilogy, and she is hard at work revising her historical fiction, Oracles of Delphi, set in ancient Greece.

Catherine Rankovic

Catherine Rankovic’s books include Meet Me: Writers in St. Louis; Island Universe: Essays and Entertainments; Fierce Consent and Other Poems; and Guilty Pleasures: Indulgences, Addictions, and Obsessions. She has published her poems in numerous print and online magazines. She received her M.F.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, where she taught from 1989 to 2010; she now teaches poetry writing and creative nonfiction writing in the online M.F.A. program at Lindenwood University and is a professional editor of poetry and prose manuscripts at BookEval.com.

Mandy Schoen

Mandy Schoen is a senior editor of Month9Books, LLC, and the managing editor of Swoon Romance (a digital romance imprint of Month9Books, LLC) and otherwise keeps plenty busy traveling the world, slaying dragons, falling in love, and whatever else her "To Be Read" pile has in store for her. When she’s not reading, hanging out with her family, or acquiring and editing incredible stories for Swoon Romance, she can usually be found huddling over a cup of flavored coffee. She lives in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, with her husband, her boxer, and her Nook, but it’s probably easier to find her on Twitter at @Mandy_Schoen.

SLPA's free event 8/14 to help writers

To Post or Not to Post--That is the Question of Today

Writers and the entire publishing industry are sailing the seas of revolution that can toss and drown institutions that once were the foundation to the industry (such as The Writer Magazine going on hiatus after 125 years) to new writers who tear at their hair in frustration at the contradictory advice. While the reader has access to a larger array of new authors, browsing online does not give the reader the same feel that the old brick and mortar bookstores did--where you could walk the rows of books and discover by accident a new book or new author.  Instead,  you click the "next button" to find the next list of 20 or more books in whatever category you are looking for--and the gem you seek may be around book 534 on your search list. 

There is no way to turn back the clock and the days of the standard gatekeeper is on a timer ticking away while they try to figure out how to adapt to the new world. With the obvious questions of "How do I get find new authors?" and "How do I get discovered?" comes a new paradigm coming under attack.  I have heard the following question raised at multiple writers' conferences and at workshops of writers' groups I belong to. Over the years the answer to this question has always been consistent--that was until I heard a few agents at a large writers' conference I attended change the answer.

The question is, "As an author (new or established), should I post the first few chapters of my book online?" The traditional answer has been a resounding "No." Actually, that no rings like a bell slammed with a sledge hammer.  That was until July this year when I heard some agents say "Yes."

In the past--and still many think this today--if a writer posts the first few chapters of a book on their website, then those chapters are self-published.  By doing that, the author would not be able to sell that work. Now, this hard line that had been chiseled into granite is now not so solid and the opinion is shifting among the agents and the publishers. So, what is the answer? Is there an answer?

I'm not sure if there is an answer.  I can only hear more questions like: "What if it is the next book in a series and the first book just came out? Won't it ruin the suspense?" and "What if I decide I need to rewrite? Is it too late?"  or "Will it attract agents and readers? Will they be the right agents?"

An ancient Chinese curse would be to wish someone to live in interesting times. All of us in the writing industry are living in such times. 

Please, if you would, share with us your opinion on this issue. Along with your opinion, please share if you are a reader, writer (we are all readers), agent or something else. 

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com and www.thewriterslens.com. Fiction is the world where the philosopher is the most free in our society to explore the human condition as he chooses.