Who Have I Sent My Work To?

     The novel is finished. You’re excited for someone other than Mom to read it. You have tried for over a year to get an agent (which you probably don’t need anyway), and so you’re going to strike out on your own.

     You try all of the big boys, and they tell you to get an agent. What do they know?

     Next, you start on the smaller publishers. Hmmm…they tell you get an agent. You chew the edge of your lip, but remember clearly that Mom loved it. So what do they know either?

     Finally! A publisher…a traditional publisher (they say so on their site) wants your work. You are in the top 4, 5, or 6% of all of the submissions they get. (You stop worrying about all of the typos and wrong word choices, their editor is going to fix this, right?) They tell you how absolutely amazing the novel is. THEY will create your cover. THEY will edit your work. THEY will do what is necessary to get the word out. THEY absorb all of the cost of production.

     Only one small thing. You MUST work with their marketing team. And that will cost you $5000.

$5000.00?!? I don’t have that kind of money. That’s why I’m writing…to get rich!

     But good news here, you can actually buy a bunch of your books at a discount, and they’d like you to purchase at least one thousand of them to show good faith in wanting to get this published.

     Oh, and by the way, the contract also states that you MAY NOT share any information in it with ANYONE! No one but you should ever see it. And they assure you this is industry standard.

     Have you seen any red flags yet?

     There are NO SHORTCUTS in the publishing industry. If you choose to self-publish, then self-publish, but don’t pay for the privilege with a press that is there only to take money from unsuspecting authors who simply want to be validated.

     Is validation worth $5000? How about going to a conference for under $1000 and learning the industry…better. Learning how to write…better. Learning the ins and outs…better. Go to online classes from reputable organizations and LEARN YOUR CRAFT! Join writing organizations for less than $100 a year and learn from their authors.

     Find a critique group who will give you honest feedback. Rewrite, rewrite, and rewrite. Then, and only then, start looking for an agent again.

     Be wary and remember. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

     BE WISE in your dealings as an author. Don’t be taken in by those who would tell you what you want to hear.

Everyone's Offended by Linda S. Glaz

We’re all offended by something: flags, movies, religion, the government, quotes, books, attitudes. Something! And we all want the entire world to know about it. One man posted that he’s offended by everybody being offended. 

:( 

There’s no exit ramp for this mentality.

And there’s no reality in it, either.

We used to fight it out, debate it, talk it out, you name it. But we had our say and moved on. We returned to our lives, but today, we have this lovely tool at our disposal that dissects more accurately than a scalpel. It’s called social media. And like an octopus, it reaches out with its venomous tentacles and touches as many lives as it can, paralyzing and devouring as it crawls along.

It’s a new kind of hatred. A special kind of hatred because it comes with an attitude of entitlement. “I’m anonymous on the other end of this note and therefore I can say or do anything that I choose without consequences.” No need to gather opinions, truths of any kind, or even another person’s side of the story. Why? “Because I’m entitled to say anything that I choose. And you can’t stop me.”

Years ago, or what now seems to be centuries to old coots like me, we found out we were wrong, and rather than digging in deeper, we used two words: “I’m sorry.”

Not quite as sensational as taking a stronger stand and driving the scalpel in deeper, but it had value. It showed our humanness. Our ability to forgive and move on. To see the other person’s side of things. It stopped the offense and humbled both the offender and the offended. It gave us a starting and stopping point.

My kids laughed at me when I fought computers in our home what seems like forever ago. I said I felt as if it were the artificial creation of real life. Not sure that I’ve changed my mind all that much. I see its potential, but what was meant for good may not be all that good after all. It has become another tool to hurt each other. To have our “say” without consequences. To be offended as often as we like and to gather our chicks with similar opinions under our wings until we all peck and torture anyone with a differing opinion.

Social media has the ability to put out erroneous information, quotes, comments and call them all truth. Truth?

If you’re offended by this post, too bad. Take an aspirin and comment in the morning. But don’t change my words and assume that you know me by one blog post. You don’t. Only those who go past the internet and know me personally will ever understand my intentions and my truths.

Have wonderful day and try not to be offended! J
(first posted on Hartline blog 8/17/15)

Congrats Maxie and Teri

Congrats, Maxie for winning a copy of Kate's book, 

For Such a Time

and Terri for winning Not By Sight

Way to go, ladies!!!!

Terri your email is bouncing, can you resend your email addy to me. Something isn't right in what you listed ???

A Two-Fer Win!!!

A Two-fer Win!!!

In honor of Kate Breslin’s new release, Not by Sight, I’ll be giving away two ebooks. One of her debut novel, For Such a Time, and one of her new novel, Not by Sight.

What are folks saying about the new release?

"Set in Great Britain during the first World War, readers will feel that they have been transported to the world of Downton Abbey. With a great deal of romance, along with intrigue, espionage, and suspense, Breslin creates a tale difficult to put down until its touching, soul-satisfying ending."--RT Book Review

And most of you already know that For Such a Time finaled for The Christy, The Rita, and many other prestigious awards.

So don’t miss your chance for a free e-copy. Leave your email addy and I’ll addy you into the draw! I'll pick two folks on Wed at 6pm.