Do you remember your first?

Do you remember your first? Oh my, but I do. And with the memory comes all the feelings-- the excitement, the shyness, the sheer naughtiness of it all. I remember as I dove into the experience the nervous twinge, the flutter of joy, the tight anticipation, the tears of release, and finally, contentment.

My first was a powerful Greek. A war hero turned shipping magnate. It must be said, he could be surly, with an absolutely shitty disposition. And yes, he took arrogance to a then un-heard-of extreme. But he had a fondness for unicorns and when push came to shove, was willing to sacrifice his life for his love.

Sigh.

My first was The Honey is Bitter by Violet Winspear, a Harlequin Presents written in 1967. I read it over 30 years ago one afternoon at the beach house, where I found it on a shelf above my grandfather's Tijuana Brass albums, tucked between Harry Kemelman and Jean Plaidy. By the end of the novel, Paul had nearly died, was blinded, and never once told Domini he loved her. And poor Domini! She'd been traded to Paul to cover her cousin's debts, had nearly been crushed to death in a cave-in, and had miscarried her baby.

And some of the lines... like this one: "...as he laid his face against her heart, her hand dwelt with compassion at the back of his head." What does that even mean? Who knows? And really, who cares? The book is riddled, literally riddled with enough sentiment to make any modern woman's head explode. But, well, it was my first romance. And Paul was my first romance hero. This book was my first sortie into the written word of love and emotion and longing, and as such will always remain close to my heart.

The experience fo that first novel is forever imprinted upon my heart and mind, and I continue to seek it whenever I pick up a new book, try a new author. And as a writer, this si the experience that i want to give to my readers. It is twisty and painful and joyful and happy. An experience that begins with anticipation and culminates with satisfaction and the good kind of wanting more.

Tell me about your first, and i fyou have ever had it as good as or better since.

Publication is not a zero sum game

Publication is not a zero sum game.

What’s a zero sum game, you ask? Say you have a city with 500,000 citizens and 5 hospitals that serve 100,000 people each. In order for Hospital A to gain new clientele, it must lure patients away from Hospitals B, C, D and E. Growth for one organization means a decline for the others in this closed system scenario.

Over the years, I noticed a lot of fear among writers (pubbed and unpubbed) that one author’s success somehow comes at the expense of another’s, as though there is some arbitrary limit to the number of books/stories that readers will purchase in any given year.

Possibly it is human nature to think in terms of scarcity rather than abundance. Certainly over the last few decades, traditional publishers have slashed the ranks of their mid-list authors and poured their money into larger advances for fewer writers. Perhaps this has left folks with the impression that the pursuit of a publishing contract is a competition for finite resources where there is only so much to go around. So on the surface, it may appear that fear of someone else’s success is justifiable.

But I’m going to make two arguments against that premise.

First. As a reader, I am always on the lookout for a good story. Always. As a romance reader, I fall into that happy category of buyers who purchase multiple books a month, if not a week. There are a lot of us out there. So if Loretta Chase, Eileen Wilks, and Kristan Higgins all come out with a release one week and my friend recommends a debut author’s new book too, hello, I’m buying all 4 books. I am voracious and I am not alone.

Second. With the proliferation of indy-publishing and electronic readers, there has been a commensurate explosion of opportunity for writers. You don’t “write to the market” and no publisher will sign you? You’ve been cut by your publisher after a so-so book or two? Today you have options online that simply didn’t exist a couple of years ago.

So an audience hungry for stories exists. As does an accessible, flexible and powerful set of online tools for marketing and distribution.

Someone once told me that FEAR stands for False Expectations Appearing Real.

It is a fallacy to believe that another person’s success impedes one’s own. To a large extend, success in publication will always remain a crapshoot. You can’t make people buy your books. But you can control your output and attitude. Write the best stories you can. Woo your current and/or would-be readers. Be kind to yourself and to others. And know this to be true: Publication is not a zero sum game. Good stories find their ways into the hands of readers and that’s a win-win for all of us.

What do you think?

Did I make my case?

Do you agree there’s room for all of us at the table?

Or have I got rose-colored shades blinding me to the realities of the publishing industry?

Staying in the Saddle

The final Monday of every month, the Rockville 8 cuts loose and kicks back with a guest blogger, and this Memorial Day Monday is no exception. With June and the Romance Writers of America National Conference right around the corner, the Eight chats with 2011 RWA Service Award winner and debut author, Amy Atwell.

Amy worked in professional theater for 15 years before turning from the stage to the page to write fiction. She now gives her imagination free rein in both contemporary and historical stories that combine adventure and romance. Her debut romantic suspense, Lying Eyes, is available from Carina Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble, while her historical Ambersley is slated for a mid-June release. Visit her online at her website, Facebook, Twitter and/or GoodReads.

And now, a few words from Amy Atwell...

Thanks to Nichole and the Rockville 8 for inviting me today. I love groups of women, writers, laughter and, yes, even Mondays. Especially holiday Mondays.

My path to publication has been a long one. I started writing with an eye toward publication in 2000. Back then, the vision I had was clear: I would write engaging, popular, well-crafted stories and attract an agent. The agent would sell me to a big NY publisher who would acknowledge my talent by printing me hard cover and then paperback. I would earn a substantial advance and create a string of sales that would earn me a comfortable living.

That dream sustained me. It kept me “in the saddle” as a writer, despite a lot of hard knocks and spills. I “fell off” the writing horse a few times due to stresses—job changes, cross country moves, the deaths of both my parents. There were also times I “unsaddled” my writing horse because of rejections or negative contest feedback. These were balanced by successes that encouraged me to hold fast to that original dream. I resaddled that NY-published writing horse in 2008 following a string of contest wins, being named a Golden Heart® finalist and signing with an agent.

But after two agented submissions failed to sell to New York, I took a hard look at my dream. My NY-published writing horse was still sleek and beautiful, but it hadn’t earned me more than a few dollars in ten years. Like a real pleasure horse, my writing dream had become an expensive hobby. I didn’t want to quit riding (or writing!), so I considered other options for selling my manuscripts.

Fortunately, publishing has been rapidly evolving as digital technology has offered a new way for readers to buy, store and read books. My agent submitted a manuscript to Carina Press, and that became my debut release. My decision to sell to a digital first publisher was not because I’d abandoned the notion of ever selling to New York. It was a career choice to add a second horse (publishing platform) to my stable. I’m even adding a self-publishing horse to my stable next month when I release my historical, Ambersley.

With three publishing platforms in my writing stable, I have more choices to further my career and create the income stream I envisioned so long ago. I can target a manuscript to New York or digital or self-publishing with the same ease as saddling a horse. And if it’s the wrong fit, I can try that same saddle on a different horse. I’m not convinced that any one platform is better than the others. I think each offers benefits and potential drawbacks, but I’m continuing to pursue all three.

The key is to keep writing, keep improving your craft and keep exploring your options for publishing. And when those hard knocks force you to the ground, dust yourself off and get back in the saddle.

Thanks, Amy! Okay, readers, it's your turn to take the floor. The Rockville 8 and Amy Atwell want to know: How many horses and saddles are in your writing stable? What keeps you in the saddle when the trail gets tough? Is there anything that would make you hang up your spurs?

My Kitchen Floor and Other Sticky Situations

Writing, when you think about it, can be rather like cleaning the house. That’s to say if you’re a writer, you have to write. And if you live in any accommodation short of a coal bin, you have to clean.

The problem with cleaning your house is that it gets dirty again. Consider my kitchen floor. It’s a glorious, golden maple marked by eighty years of family life. Recently, my own family announced plans to visit so I swept it, mopped it, and waxed it. Boy, did it shine.

Then, a rogue brussels sprout skidded across the floor, leaving a trail of butter sauce. The scent of broiling lamb chops drew my drooling dog to the kitchen. After the meal, I spilled a hot cup of coffee—complete with cream and sugar. I wiped up these messes, but the damage was done. Now, my kitchen floor isn’t just dirty. It’s downright sticky!

Writing is the exact same way. You may think you’re done with that draft, but are you? Time and your trusted critique group can help you decide. In my case, the opening scene, which seemed so spic and span, is really a sticky situation. It snags readers on too many points instead of sending them on into the rest of the story. My manuscript doesn’t touch their hearts because too many questions are sticking in their heads.

How does a writer fix this kind of sticky situation? I’m treating my opening scene like my kitchen floor. Instead of a quick swipe, I’m going back to the beginning and cleaning it up.

In my current revision, I’m asking myself what does the reader need to know right now?

Next, I make a list of those things, and I keep the list short.

I work hard to reveal each listed point in description, dialogue, and action.

I cut anything that doesn’t fall under the heading of Needs to Know Right Now, but I save these bits. After all, the reader will need to know those details as my story progresses. If she doesn’t need to know them now, they don’t belong in this scene. If she doesn’t need to know them ever, they don’t belong in the manuscript.

Just like cleaning the floor, cleaning up this opening scene is proving to be hard work. I’ll get it done, though. Once I’m finished with it, hopefully, it’ll shine.

Now, the Rockville 8 wants to know what part of your manuscript is the sticky part? How do you plan to fix it? Which household chore do you hate the most? If I promise you tea and cake afterward, will you come over and mop my kitchen floor?

Protecting The Dream

Somewhere between the age of ten and thirty we forget how to dream. Who really knows what the magical age is that all our hopes and aspirations, those limitless possibilities, vanish in the face of the harsh realities of life? One day you turn around and poof. They’re gone. But I believe it’s more important than ever for writers--and women, especially--to keep the dream alive. We have so many demands on our lives and responsibilities that can weigh us down and pull us in a hundred different directions that we often overlook or push aside those secret dreams and goals we’ve nurtured deep inside. Instead, we choose to sacrifice what’s good for us for that which seems best for our families and loved ones. However, I’d argue, it’s when you’re pursuing your goals, when you’re tasting the fruit of your dreams, that you become a stronger person and have more to offer those who depend on you. What are your dreams? And what are you willing to do to achieve them?

Here are five key things I’ve discovered are important to breathing life into your hopes and dreams, no matter what your age.

Believe in Yourself - If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will. Start there. Recognize your talent. Work hard to be the best writer you can be. Acknowledge you can achieve anything you set your mind to and then do it. Realize that no one else really cares if you finish that novel and they’ll all do everything in their power to make sure you don’t. It’s all up to you. You must believe in yourself and your writing.

Know What You Want - If you don’t set goals, you’ll never achieve them or know that you’ve achieved them. Are you afraid of success? Start little. Baby steps will get you moving in the direction you want to go as long as you know the destination. If you never have a destination, you’ll float through life. That’s okay if you’re a balloon. Not if you want to be a published author.

Keep Your Focus - When the rest of the world is frittering away time on x, y, and z, keep your focus. Write. Write. Write. Those pages add up. If you want to be a published author you need to write like a published author. No excuses. What are you willing to do without to complete your manuscript?

Take Risks - Don’t let your fear cripple you. Take appropriate risks to further your publishing career. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Push yourself outside your comfort level. Yes, it’s scary. But you’ll grow exponentially. Pitch to your dream editor. Corner that rockin’ hot agent at the bar. Take a class that will push your writing to the next level. Present a workshop. Courage and confidence will take you far.

Surround Yourself With Cheerleaders - The writing life is hard. It’s a lonely, solitary life. Find a group of writers who will help you grow and cheer you on when the process becomes overwhelmingly hard. We can’t do this alone. We need to know that even though writing is a solitary journey that there are others like us walking a similar path.

So, what are you prepared to do to make your dream a reality?

Opinions Are Just That

One day, my child came home from school upset that another child had called her a name. After she told me what happened, I told her that just because another person said something doesn’t make it so.

“But she said it.”

“What if I said elephants can fly,” I answered. “Does that make it true?”

Recently, I entered a Romance Writer’s of America (RWA) chapter contest. I won’t say which one but it’s not one I belong to. Of the four critiques, three of them were encouraging and contained constructive criticisms—helpful and professional. One was not. This critique was insulting, demeaning and, in some places, contradictory and rambling. After I read it, I moped about a bit, emailed the Rockville 8, told my husband, and then moped a little more.

Then our family went to the Bahamas. Amidst the beautiful surroundings, the steel drums and the Kahlua coladas, I gained some perspective. I remembered that just because someone said it doesn’t make it true.

Ahhhh...don’t you love when your own advice comes back to you?

In other aspects of my life, I usually see that cruelty can stem from insecurity or having a bad day. But, because writing is so personal, so much a part of you, it’s harder to brush it off.

Three people encouraged me and liked the story. One did not. The one that was insulting was where I focused all of my energy. I realized that this one person’s opinion doesn’t define me. I define myself.

I’ve re-read each judge’s critique, even the unprofessional one. I’ve taken the good points from the nasty critique and ignored the catty and insulting remarks.

I decide which comments I should use and which ones aren’t valid. I decide what I want to do and how I want to do it.

I decide if I’m a writer.

What things inspire you? What have you learned from a harsh review? Do you think it’s healthier to ignore it?

Codename: Indie-published author Amanda Brice

The Rockville 8 welcomes YA debut author Amanda Brice!

First of all, I just wanted to thank the Rockville 8 ladies for having me here today to talk about my indie-publishing journey and to celebrate the release of my debut YA mystery, Codename: Dancer.

By now, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of Amanda Hocking. We may share the same first name, but that’s about where the similarity ends. Well, other than the fact that we both self-publish books for teens. (I wish that wasn’t where the similarity ended. I’d take even a fraction of her sales!)

I never set out to self-publish. If you’d told me 6 months ago that I would self-publish, I probably would have laughed at you. Actually, I’m wrong. I definitely would have. At this time last year, the idea wasn’t even on my radar screen. Some of my author friends had taken J.A. Konrath’s advice and started putting their unpublished manuscripts up on Smashwords and Kindle, but those were the ones who already had a backlist and dedicated readership who knew them. Surely nobody would buy a debut self-published book from a complete unknown.

Then Barnes & Noble created PubIt. More authors rushed into self-publishing, but still I resisted. I was convinced that self-publishing was only a good deal for previously published authors who wanted to put up their backlist (such as all the abandoned Dorchester authors who’d gotten their rights reverted). Any debut author who went this route was seriously deluding herself.

You see, I was still working under the mindset from a few years ago, when the average self-published author was lucky to sell 100 copies over the lifetime of the work. In my narrow worldview, self-published authors were hacks who shelled out hundreds and possibly thousands for the privilege of calling themselves “authors.” They had boxes of their books in the trunk of their car, and would hang around in the Wal-Mart parking lot trying to hawk them to unsuspecting passersby. Or the person standing behind them in the line at the grocery store. Or the desk clerk at the gym. Or anyone with two brain cells, really.

No, I would never go this route. After all, we’d all heard Yog’s Law that money should flow towards the author, not the other way around. And wasn’t self-publishing just a glorified form of vanity publishing? You’ll never find a readership, and will never make any money.

Except that isn’t necessarily the case anymore. At some point in the last year or so, the Kindle revolution made self-publishing a legitimate career option. I just hadn’t been paying attention.

In my defense, I have a 16-month-old, so from roughly December 2009 to December 2010 I was living in one big sleep-deprived haze. So I feel like I get a pass for not quite getting it until this year.

Once my non-writing friends started talking about Amanda Hocking and direct publishing on Kindle, I realized that maybe there was something to all this fuss. And maybe I needed to examine it a little closer. And I liked what I saw.

It occurred to me that I had several manuscripts just languishing on my hard drive. Now granted a few of them shall never see the light of day. And for good reason. But others were actually pretty darn good. I just hadn’t managed to find the right editor on the right day.

My former agent shopped Codename: Dancer widely. The book was named a finalist in Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart® Awards, and it had gotten a lot of attention. Editors at several Big Six houses raved about the premise, the writing, the voice, the characters…and even though the manuscript made it to several final acquisitions meetings, ultimately they all passed. Despite editors who loved it, marketing didn’t know where to place it.

The kiss of death.

The YA imprints called it Middle Grade. The Middle Grade imprints called it YA. I’ll let you in on my dirty little secret…they’re both right. It wasn’t that I didn’t know my audience. I just had a different audience in mind.

For years I’ve lamented the fact that there isn’t a category between Middle Grade and Young Adult, despite a large segment of readers who could benefit from one. There’s a real market void. The Middle Grade books are too babyish for this group, yet many YA books are too mature (for lack of a better term). My middle-school-aged niece is a prime example. She’s a voracious reader, and is ready for something meatier than what’s offered for her age group. But my sister-in-law doesn’t want her reading Twilight (and Twilight is actually on the tame scale compared to some YA books out there) yet, and frankly I don’t blame her. Intellectually, she’s ready for it. Emotionally? Not so much.

So with this age group in mind, I sat down and wrote Codename. But because NY didn’t know where to shelve it (is it a “children’s book” or would it go in the “teen section?”), it never sold. Apparently main characters can only be 12-or-under or 16-or-older. Fourteen-year-old high school freshmen need not apply.

Some might consider my book to be “tween” but even that seems a bit limiting, because I know several teenagers who have read it and loved it. And what 13-, 14-, or 15-year-old wants to be lumped in with the 10-to-12-year-olds? Uh-uh. No way. So I’d call it a “Younger YA,” but that’s not an accepted trad-pub term. Where do you shelve it?

New York called it “niche,” but that’s the beauty of indie publishing. Doing it on my own, I can afford to take risks. Sure, I invested in a freelance editor, a cover artist, and a freelance formatter, so it certainly wasn’t free, but I’ve always spent money (organization fees, chapter fees, conferences, workshops, postage, etc.) on my pursuit of publication. This is merely another cost of the journey. The manuscript wasn’t doing anything for me while wasting space on my hard drive, so I decided to roll the dice and see if I could find it a readership on my own. Get it out there in the world and let readers decide whether it has any merit.

Granted this means I’ll also sink or swim on my own, too, but I’ve always been a risk taker.

I think if you have a niche book, indie-publishing is perfect for you. Or anything out-of-the-box. I do love NY, and I hope to have a traditional contract one day, but sometimes the definitions are a little too rigid. And I can understand their reluctance to take a chance, because that's their risk on the line if a book doesn't sell out its advance.

But I don't think you should simply bang out a book and put it up on Kindle. Ultimately it's your professional reputation at risk, so just like a traditionally-published book, you must put forward the absolute best product possible. And that's the problem. The best thing about self-publishing is that anyone can do it. The worst thing about self-publishing is that anyone can do it.

I hope I don't sound elitist, but unfortunately, there are a lot of self-published books out there that never should have been published. It's not that they're not good books, or their authors aren't good writers -- they're just not ready. But there are also a lot of really excellent self-published books, and the revolution of the last year has shown that it's a viable career choice.

So I guess my advice is that if you've gotten excellent feedback on your manuscript (and not from your mom!) and you think that NY is not quite right for it for whatever reason, then indie-publishing might be for you. But please do yourself a favor and give it as close to a traditionally-published experience as is possible.

Invest in a professional cover. Hire an editor (or at least utilize multiple critique partners and beta readers...as well as a qualified proofreader). Teach yourself formatting or hire a freelancer. Set a "launch date" and build up buzz ahead of time by giving away copies in contests and undergoing a blog tour. Send it to published authors in your genre for a cover quote. And send it to reviewers. Call on your networks. Were you in a sorority in college? Ask them to feature your book in their alumni magazine. Is there a particular hobby or activity featured in your book? Contact the various magazines or organizations for that activity and ask if they would help you promote. You never know unless you ask!

But remember that for every Amanda Hocking, there are hundreds or even thousands of indies who will struggle. And it's a marathon, not a sprint. Even the indies who have hit the NY Times list in the recent months started off selling just a handful of copies.

So the moral of the story is that if you have a “niche book,” don’t be discouraged. It might be perfect for indie publishing. And I bet you’ll have a blast!

Amanda Brice lives outside of Washington, DC with her husband and toddler daughter. An intellectual property attorney for a large federal government agency, she combines her love of writing with her legal career by speaking on basic copyright and trademark law on the writers’ conference circuit. Her debut novel, Codename: Dancer, was released on April 16, 2011. You can learn more about Amanda and her books at her website (http://www.amandabrice.net/).