Authoring & Playwriting

Anyone who missed out on today's LIVE Instagram wrap-up and the November Write Club Week 1 prize winner announcements, can find the full video HERE: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCHyHJeyYmw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&...

Hi, Terrence Sellers. Since the romance is only a subplot and your book is absolutely not about the romance, I think you should call the book an Urban Fantasy.

Yeah, I agree with Maurice, Terrence Sellers . Though I find most works nowadays cross multiple genres, which is the mark of a good book. My rule of thumb is that whatever the logline for the movie pitch would be is the main genre you'd present the book in. I like using Urban Fantasy as a category because it makes your book very specific in its tone. Magical Realism is too vague, I think.

Agree with Maurice Vaughan here. Let the subplot stay a subplot. Otherwise, readers will feel tricked into buying something they didn't actually want.

You always have to watch as the genre definitions change. Urban Fantasy has taken three major forms over the years. And for a long time Magical Realism just meant that you were writing Urban Fantasy but were shoved into the niche because you weren't a white author. (Glad to see that has mostly changed.). And even Magical Realism evolved from being solely related to surrealism influenced by various Hispanic cultures

A lot of people like their romance subplots in Urban Fantasy. Urban Romantasy sounds too much like you are pushing the romance. Readers may expect more tropes toward the Paranormal Romance aspect and there are more specific points to hit there when querying.

John, I started out with hybrid publishing, and am now self-publishing, which I found was best, as I was doing almost all the work myself anyway. Draft2Digital is the easiest for converting your pdf into book form and also for distributing your work to markets: https://www.draft2digital.com/ . As far as editing, I edit my work myself, as I have extremely strong editing skills, however, I always want other eyes to look at the work, so I hire readers to review and comment on the work: https://www.fiverr.com/ (there are other sites as well) . Marketing has been the hardest part, though sometimes I hire folks to assist with marketing. Canva: https://www.canva.com/ is my favorite. They have everything for free or nomial monthly amount. And don't forget to obtain ISBNs and copyrights for your work. Yes, it all does cost, however, I think us creatives know it is worth it to get our work to the public. Once you self publish one work, the next will be easier. https://www.ravenelldynasty.net/

John: It's true that more people make money off writers than off writing. But I"m 85, and I do all my editing for novella-size works, and under. I farm out the heavy lifting for novels to an editor at about $500 each. I do my own interior graphic design and front and back covers. I buy ISBNs ten at a time and the Copyright Office website makes it easy to do my own filing for copyright. Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing is also easy to use; they guide you through all the steps, they have help pages to refer to, and you can also seek help by searching the Internet, e.g,. "how do I size my book cover for paperbacks?" Fortunately, at my age, I still have a memory like one of those big grey animals.

Is the goal for you novelist to make a movie from your books? It seems like covers seem to be an issue. I could do both; make your movie & provide you with a book cover independently done. I don't turn them into screenplays unless you have the patience for that.

Thanks everyone for the advice and valuable information. At the moment I am in a funk suffering from PPCS (Post Publisher Collapse Syndrome). I realize I have a lot of work to do. I have decided to go back to my first novel and re-edit it. A friend came up with the comment "mine them for gold." I am a better writer now and I think I can turn them from adequate to excellent. Writing a good thriller takes at least six months, if you really buckle down and work at it, or even longer. They big names put out one a year. My big problem is I don't have the income to pay out more money. My publisher spoiled me by supplying editing and art work. So, I will have to do it all myself. I will finish number five before I start slogging away at the beginning, again. When I started #5, I decided to wing it and just write. What a mess. Now I am outlining and building my chapters. I can see where I went wrong.

Hi there, John. Wishing you much success with all your works. Please do keep us posted.

Ashley Renee Smith love his strengths-focused approach. Need more of this in the industry. And while I edit more in the nonfiction space than fiction, much of this rings true. Authors are usually concerned about the wrong stuff, they underestimate revisions, and over-optimism is rampant. POV is a consistent pain point I see among the fiction crowd (and even my own writing sometimes :-P). Something huge here for people scared of hiring an editor is what he discussed about not superimposing your view. The best editors won't try to "rewrite" the book. They'll home in on the author's vision and bring it to the surface more. Being more open about the measurements of success is another huge one I see in fiction and nonfiction. (And fiction authors tend to struggle in that area more than NF.)

I was fortunate to have an editor who was unremittingly meticulous, hard-working, and kind. I spent months revising ---- near tears a lot of the time and grinding my teeth. But she was correct in her calls, which humbled me and improved the book. I changed the ending entirely, which paved the way to a sequel. My editor taught me a lot about structure and self-discipline. I feel immense gratitude; it can't have been easy for her, either.

Thank you for sharing this, Maurice Vaughan

You're welcome, Raven Riley. Authors should definitely check out your blog!

A few years ago, I was a member of a Houston area writers group. Attendees came and went according to their interest. Really busy people make poor members in a writing group. This big shot executive showed up (dot the O) and wanted to read his novel. He had deluded himself into thinking he was going to have a best seller. The novel was awful. He said he he had hired an editor. I talked with him at the coffee break and asked him what it cost him. He said he paid the editor $10,000. Before I could control my comments, I said he'd been taken to the cleaners. The guy flew into a rage and left. Never say him again. I wondered if maybe I should be an editor. I'd have only screwed him out of $5000.

Thanks for the share, Maurice! A good editor will not just proofread and fix your errors, they'll also help you with fixing anything unclear in your story, and sometimes their suggestions are so good that they'll end up in your book!

You're welcome, John Roane. That's great. An editor is like a proofreader and book consultant in one.

I see what you mean, Giovanna Silvestre. Yeah, we definitely have to stay authentic to our writings and the stories we wish to tell!

That's also how I took the advice, Giovanna Silvestre! It's one thing to try to write the best version of something that you want to succeed, but it's another to write something that you think could be popular but you aren't passionate about.

Ashley Renee Smith Maurice Vaughan I LOVE this discussion because it puts a lot of things into perspective. First, I think it's important to write what you're called to write. I think all of us have that inner muse that speaks to us, and it's important to honor that message. Without that, creating feels empty. That said, I think it's important to envision the future you wish to experience for your work. I think it's okay to fuel your motivation by the feeling of what it would be like to write a NYT bestseller, see yourself on the red carpet, etc. without allowing that goal to direct your creative choices. Such a good discussion!

Darn! Hit the wrong button and lost all that writing I put here an hour ago! … is there way OF EVER retrieving it? Or lost to Time… Lol

Thanks for this, Ashley Renee Smith ! I especially agree with the first tip of not trying to write a best-seller. If you're focused on the marketing, your story won't be compelling. There's a filmmaking group I belong to called We Make Movies and one of our values is "Make the movie you want to see". I'd say if you "Write the book that you want to read", then you'll craft a story that will be great and resonate with a lot of readers.