As we saw last week, the romance genre is big business. If you want to break into the romance genre then it is a good idea to know the general tropes. You goal is to write a novel that will meet your readers’ expectations. Remember that romance readers are very knowledgeable. They are also a … Read more
We’re focusing on the romance genre this week. If you write urban fantasy or another genre, don’t be dismayed. Ideally, there are things you can glean for yourself even in a discussion about the romance genre. Miscellaneous goodies: In 2013, romance sales were $1.08 billion The audience for romance is 84% female, 16% male Romance … Read more
Sometimes I am a dumbass. I know you find it hard to believe, but it is true. Some of my professed dumbassedness is self-inflicted. I go against my gut, or more often, my schedule, and I get myself dug deep into some pit of Hell I don’t want to be in. This happens with good … Read more
Last week we considered the question of What If with regard to creating complex characters. I thought it would be good to push the Muse a bit more and continue with the What If conceptidea to help us brainstorm our book ideas. You can use What If to create characters and plot. You can also use What If to … Read more
Ideally, before you begin writing, you have the details of your novel worked out. But, before that, there is that flash of random inspiration of something that could, at some point, become a novel. Those flashes can come from anywhere. You could see a news story, and suddenly you have a dynamic plot that comes … Read more
I’ve been talking about writing as a business for the last few weeks, and for those of you in the back row mumbling about my topic of choice, I have a tiny bit of banter left, and next week we move on to something you might actually want to read. Okay? But, for now, I thought … Read more
Social Media Primer I know that you don’t want to hear this, this whole writing is a business topic. Really. I do. It is important, though, and so I am going to continue on before I return to my regularly scheduled topics. As I mentioned last week, publishing is a business, and you, the writer, … Read more
I know you’ve been working diligently. You’ve been writing new book ideas down on cocktail napkins in between bites of spinach-artichoke dip. Or maybe you hid in the closet with a flashlight and your laptop in order to knock out your story premise while your in-laws napped on the couch. However you got your writing … Read more
I thought I would start a discussion on critique groups. As you sit back to review your writing and plot out your next writing adventure, you might want to consider joining a critique group. If you are unfamiliar, a critique group is a bunch of serious writers sitting down on a regular basis to review … Read more
For the last several weeks I’ve been meeting deadlines, editing, and reading through the submission inbox at Literary Wanderlust. Several of the pitches I received were decent. A few pitches were good. One or two pitches were really good. Regardless of the pitch quality I still read through each submission, including the synopsis and chapters. … Read more