Connie Briscoe on Writing, Promoting Your Book, the Literary Scene and More

Frustrated with trying to find an agent? Or maybe you’ve gotten enough rejection letters to plaster a wall in your office? No one can wave a magic wand to make it all better, unfortunately. But there is help out there and that’s what this site is about.

This week, I promised you a fantastic website for women writers (although you guys might find help here, too). Well, here it is. WOW! Women On Writing is an ezine that encourages communication among women writers, authors, agents, publishers, readers and others in the writing biz. WOW! describes itself as “a global magazine, designed to support women’s creativity, energy, blood, sweat and tears, throughout all stages of the writing process.”

Each month WOW! focuses on a different topic. For March they’re featuring Small Presses and Independent Publishers. In addition, WOW! is always full of information, advice and inspiration for authors–too much to list it all here. You’ll find articles on writing and promoting your work–such as creating characters, dealing with agents, and tips for beginning romance writers–and a whole lot more.

WOW! also features quarterly writing contests. Deadline for the Spring 2008 contest is May 31. The contest includes cash prizes, goodie bags and more. Plus your entry is published on the WOW! website.

WOW! Women On Writing

Photo credit (top): Mlenny/iStockphoto

I’m always sending folks from my MySpace page to my blog here, and it occurred to me that some of the people who come to my blog might not be aware that I have a MySpace page. Well, I do, and you can get to it here.

For the longest time, I avoided MySpace, thinking it was for the kiddies only. Then I ran into an author when I was doing a book signing, and she told me I absolutely had to get on MySpace and that my view about it was all wrong.

And she was right. Yeah, there are a gazillion kids on MySpace (not that there’s anything wrong with kids, heh!) but it’s also cool for adults, especially for artistic types like musicians and authors. It’s a fantastic way to get and stay in touch with readers and also to network with other like-minded types. And many authors use MySpace to promote their work.

So check me out at www.myspace.com/conniebriscoe if you haven’t already.

Bestselling author Kimberla Lawson Roby has written 10 novels. Her latest, Sin No More, was published earlier this year and has already hit #16 on the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction and #4 on the Wal*Mart bestseller list for hardcover titles.

Kimberla has been so successful that few people realize that her debut novel, Behind Closed Doors, was originally self-published. Here she shares marketing tips for authors and much more.

Connie Briscoe: You’re on book tour for your latest novel Sin No More. What do you like about touring? What could you do without?

Kimberla Lawson Roby: The best thing about touring is meeting all of my loyal and very dedicated readers, people I never would have had the amazing opportunity to meet had I not written any books. It’s wonderful because when I hear positive and enthusiastic comments about my work during discussions, it encourages me to keep doing what I do.

The one thing, however, I could sometimes do without is very early morning wake-ups! This isn’t always the case, but there are many times when I do need to take early morning flights to get to the next city.

CB: I know all about the 5 a.m. wake-ups when you’ve been up until late the night before at a book signing. A lot of people don’t realize how tough book tours can be.

Your novels always do so well, hitting the New York Times and Essence bestseller lists consistently. Do you think touring actually helps sell books?

Kimberla Lawson Roby: I really do. I always say that whenever you meet readers in person and they also enjoy your work, they are your readers for life.

CB: What else do you do to promote your novels besides touring?

Kimberla Lawson Roby: In addition to what my publisher does for each book, I also do lots of pre-publication promotion on my own. To name a few items, I send newsletters out to my mailing lists, hold contests for general readers as well as a separate contest for book clubs nationwide.

And I get a lot of traffic on my web site, which I keep updated with my current book signings, events, speaking engagements, and other information. I now also have a MySpace page, and this has proven to be a wonderful marketing tool as well.

CB: Yes, MySpace is a wonderful marketing and networking tool for authors. How do you come up with your story ideas?

Kimberla Lawson Roby: I always try to write about real-life social issues, so I am inspired by all sorts of topics. I never base my stories on any real situation, but I am inspired by much of what I see and hear.

CB: How do you come up with your characters?

Kimberla Lawson Roby: Once I know what topic I’m going to be focusing on, I spend days mentally creating my characters. I do this for weeks and eventually they become very real people for me.

CB: Do you outline or write character sketches? If so, tell us how you do it. If not, how do you organize your writing?

Kimberla Lawson Roby: Yes, I do outline each book I write. Basically, what I do is write a synopsis of each chapter, which can range anywhere from one to two pages and sometimes even three, depending on how in-depth I want it to be. Then, when I finish the outline, I write the actual chapters.

CB: Do you feel pressure to write more frequent or more detailed sex scenes in your novels these days?

Kimberla Lawson Roby: No, actually, as of Sin No More, I stopped writing detailed sex scenes of any kind. Even in my past novels, I never wrote erotica and worked hard not to write anything offensive, but I finally realized it just wasn’t necessary to include all the details unless the story is somehow centered on sex.

CB: How much do you draw from your real life for your novels?

Kimberla Lawson Roby: The only time I based a character on myself was in my fourth novel, It’s a Thin Line. I based the Sydney character on me and the Delores character on my mom, who really did have a benign brain tumor. It was very therapeutic for me, and the other reason I wrote it was because I wanted to show what it was like losing the most important person in my life, my best friend, and how it took a lot of prayer and every bit of faith I had to get through a loss of that magnitude.

Also, I wanted to show how even though my mom was the one dying, she never stopped lifting up me or the rest of our family. She kept her faith strong until the very end.

Visit the Kimberla Lawson Roby website site for more.

Connie Briscoe Presents
This week New York Times bestselling author Kimberla Lawson Roby, author of ten novels, takes time out from touring for her latest novel–Sin No More–to chat with me about writing and book touring. Kimberla has been hugely successful for so long–hitting many major bestseller lists–that you may find it hard to believe that her first novel was self-published.

That’s probably why she’s so savvy when it comes to self-promotion. And in our chat later this week Kimberla reveals several little gems that she uses prior to publication of her novels to help promote them.

Writing Tips
Also this week, I’ll point you to a nice little website that’s chock full of resources and advice for women authors and aspiring women authors, although to my way of seeing things it’s got handy tips for guy writers too.

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Only a few days left. I’m being featured today with an essay called “Acting White or Not Black Enough.”

For those who missed the original announcement, in recognition of Black History Month, APOOO Book Club has spotlighted one author each day since February 1 on the APOOO website. The spotlight includes an article written by the author on topics such as–

• Why Is Black History Important?
• Room at the Table (Is there room at the table for all African American authors no matter the genre?)
• Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner (interracial dating)
• Acting White or Not Black Enough
• Are We Ready? (for a black president)

Some past authors featured are–

• Angelia Menchan
• Earl Sewell
• Sheila Goss
• Francis Ray
• Felicia Pride
• Eric Pete
• Jewel Parker Rhodes
• Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant

There’s bound to be an essay written by one of your favorite authors, so head on over!

APOOO Author Spotlight

I get a kick out of stumbling across nice book video trailers and this one was a special treat. I haven’t read the novel, so I can’t vouch for that, but the video trailer is a hit! This one is for Out of Her League, self-published by Delores Airey, a writer living in the United Kingdom. Produced by GWExtra.
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Want to see more? Featured book trailers.

Cheryl Robinson tells us how she went from self-publishing her first two novels to landing book deals with New York publishing houses. She also discusses why she decided to try virtual book touring for her latest title, Sweet Georgia Brown.

Connie Briscoe: You started out as a self-published author. Why was that? Did you try to find an agent or traditional publisher first? Tell us about those early years.

Cheryl Robinson: It took years before I decided to put my first novel to paper. I made a conscious decision when I started writing that I would self-publish because I had heard the horror stories on finding an agent or publishing company. I had also tried in the past to obtain an agent and I did receive my fair share of rejection letters, which discouraged me from pursuing my passion for several years.

So when I did finally sat down in front of my computer and decided to write my first novel, which was Memories of Yesterday, my thought process was that I would publish my first novel myself, and I felt very confident that I would gain the attention of publishers from that point.

CB: How did you finally land a literary agent?

Cheryl Robinson: I self-published Memories of Yesterday and sent it off to Earl Cox in New York who owned a small press and also provided consulting for authors. I was hoping that with his assistance I could take my novel to the next level. He wasn’t interested in my first book so the following year I self-published another novel, When I Get Free. I went all out with my promotional material–with a full-color press kit folder, a catchy title and a nice tagline.

I went back to Earl Cox and this time he was very interested. He received my novel on a day when he was flying to Los Angeles to meet with a literary agent about another one of his clients and he took my book with him, read it, and loved it. He passed my book on to the agent who also loved it. Within 30 days from that point, I had a literary agent.

CB: How is it different working with an agent?

Cheryl Robinson: The agent is the go between you and the publisher. Even if you have been working with the same editor for a while, the proper protocol is to have your agent pitch your next book deal and of course negotiate the contract. The right agent can make or break your career, I believe. They are very important and they must believe in you as a writer and in your work in order to work out the best possible deal for you.

CB: You are currently on a virtual book tour. Is this your first one and how is it going?

Cheryl Robinson: It is my first one and I am having a lot of fun.

CB: Why did you decide to go on a virtual book tour?

Cheryl Robinson: I needed to save money. I was spending thousands of dollars on marketing my novels, and travel was an enormous expense for me. I also needed to save time and find a smarter way to market my titles. For me, I think the virtual book tour is the best way for now.

CB: So you liked the idea of going on a book tour without ever having to leave home. When and where do you write?

Continue reading →

1) Not critical enough. I’m going to get blunt here. All too often new authors think their work is far better than it really is. With rare exceptions, I don’t read other writers’ manuscripts anymore for a number of reasons that I won’t go into here. But before I got wise, I would sometimes agree to read a new writer’s work if he or she asked me nicely enough. The writer would excitedly fill me with tales about how wonderful the work was and how it was the next Great American Novel. I would read it with eagerness only to end up hugely disappointed within a few pages. People assume this job is easier than it is. That’s because it’s harder to write well than it looks.

Be your own toughest critic. Read the kind of novel you want to write–again and again. Pick up books on how to plot and create characters. Take a course. When you proof your novel, pretend that it was written by someone else. Is it really just as good as the novels in the bookstore?

2) Not enough deep thinking. Can you summarize the theme or topic of your novel in one paragraph? Better yet, can you sum it up in a sentence? If not, you’ve got some deep thinking to do about where you’re going with this, or your novel is likely to go all over the place. And don’t tell me it’s about “life.” Every novel ever written is about life in one way or another. How’s yours different?

3) Writing about unfamiliar subjects or locales. This should be obvious but it isn’t always. There’s a rule that every new author should follow: write about what you know best. This is especially good advice for a first novel, because you’ve got enough to worry about without having to do a lot of extra research. Focus on creating better characters or fleshing out your plot instead. Hone in on your theme. It’s not only that you’re less likely to make errors if you know your subject and location well; you’re also going to be able to provide richer details that will make your work come alive.

4) Grammatical errors. No one is expecting you to be as knowledgeable as an English Ph.D. But your manuscript is expected to follow the basic rules of grammar. If you’re lacking in this area, get a book, take an evening class. A good place to start is The Elements of Style. This is something you can definitely improve if you work at it.

5) Not proofing the work enough. Typos are like cockroaches. They hide and then creep up when and where least expected. Just when you think you’ve squished them all, another one pops up. Still you gotta try your best to exterminate these pests. Proof your manuscript until you can find no more errors and then proof it again.

6) Relying on the judgment of family and friends. Proceed with caution for all sorts of reasons. One, your mom may praise your work because she doesn’t want to hurt your feelings. Or two, your girlfriend may be overly critical out of jealousy or for other hidden reasons. People have all kinds of agendas. Three, the person may not know what the heck he or she is talking about or maybe her taste in literature is just different. The list goes on and on. Let others read it if you want, but unless they’re professionals in the business be careful how seriously you take the criticism or praise.

Photo credit: jcarter/iStockphoto

Connie Briscoe Presents

After self-publishing her first two novels, author Cheryl Robinson, whose latest work is Sweet Georgia Brown, landed book deals with New American Library and HarperCollins. This week, Cheryl tells us how she finally landed a literary agent and a New York publisher.

Writing Tips

Also this week, I’ll list the biggest mistakes that aspiring and new authors make and suggest how to correct them.

Even if you’ve written the great American novel, no one is going to bother reading it unless it’s well written. Before my first novel was published, I worked as an editor for more than 10 years, so I have a good idea of what editors expect from authors. Having a good story to tell is a wonderful start, but if your manuscript isn’t well written it will never get read. So before sending anything out, do yourself a favor and polish until it’s the very best you’re capable of.

When I wrote Sisters and Lovers, my first novel, which went on to sell more than three-quarters of a million copies in hardcover and paperback, I spent several weeks editing it and making sure there were no typos or glaring grammatical errors. That was after I had spent nearly a year writing the novel. You’re not expected to turn in a manuscript that exactly follows the publisher’s standards–they have editors for that and each publisher is a little different. But you are expected to submit something that is neat and has consistent punctuation and usage and good grammar. In other words, you should know what a serial comma is and how to use it consistently. If you just thought–HUH?–you got some learning to do. The guides listed below will help get you started.

So polish, polish, polish. Be your own toughest critic!

Must-have Resources for Writers

The Elements of Style, by Strunk, White and Angell. This famous little book has been a handy reference of the basic principles of composition, grammar and word usage for writers since 1957. It was introduced to me when I was studying writing and publishing at George Washington University. Clear and concise. Every author or aspiring author should have one.

A CD-ROM based dictionary. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary both offer CD-ROM versions. I know you can look up words online now, but that never worked for me. It gets cumbersome to open my browser, etc., etc., whenever I need to check a definition or look for synonyms. I much prefer being able to click an icon on the taskbar at the bottom of my screen. I have an ancient version (doesn’t even have Internet terms in it), and it’s always the first software I move whenever I buy a new computer. I can’t live without it and someday I’ll update it to get the latest features such as audio pronunciations and color photos.

And especially for aspiring authors–
One or more of the Writer’s Market guides published by Writer’s Digest Books each year such as 2008 Writer’s Market, 2008 Novel and Short Story Writer’s Market and the 2008 Guide to Literary Agents. The guides list names and contact information on where to send your manuscript once you’ve polished to perfection. They also contain insightful articles about writing and publishing.

If you’ve got suggestions for writing resources you can’t live without, share them with the rest of us.