KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN OR GET OUT OF DODGE

Lots of players and itchy trigger fingers in today's romance world.

When people ask me how long I’ve been writing, I often answer, “All my life.” I think it’s that way for most writers; we can’t remember a time when we weren’t creating stories and putting them to paper (or screen). Writing isn’t just something we do, it’s something we are. 

And yet so many of my fellow authors are experiencing a kind of existential crisis right now. After five or ten or fifteen years of professional publication—either through traditional means or self-pubbing—they are giving up. Those who went the trad route made it through the gauntlet of contests, querying, rejections, the thrill of “the call,” more rejections, winning the contract at last, cover squabbles, revisions, release day, and anxiety over sales—sometimes multiple times. Those who went the self-pub route had to find an editor, find a cover artist (or do it themselves), format the manuscript, pay for all that, pay for promo and agonize over sales—sometimes multiple times. But despite overcoming all those challenges many authors are realizing the gain is no longer worth the pain. From author after author, the publishing world is hearing, “I quit.”

You can’t blame them, really. Institutions that used to encourage newbie writers, indie authors, niche genres and slow, but steady performers are drying up like ponds on the African savannah. RWA® is eliminating the Golden Heart® contest for unpublished manuscripts after having tightened requirements for membership in its Professional Authors Network to the point that only high-performing pro authors need apply. We almost lost the most comprehensive website for SFR book listings, SFR Station, until a “retiring” SFR author stepped in to take over from its founder. 

RT Reviews, a digital romance magazine that was a trusted source of reviews for SFR and other romance novels, folded without notice this summer, taking with it the RTBooklovers Con. That convention’s “replacement,” the BookLovers Con, which still focuses on romance, limited author participation in next spring’s event in New Orleans to “invited” authors only. As you might guess, those invited authors are the big names who can post the big sales numbers.

But even more discouraging is the kind of gold rush mentality that has overtaken the self-pubbing world in general, and the romance community in particular. It's common knowledge that you can use certain skeezy techniques to manipulate the sales and promo algorithms on Amazon, especially as relates to Kindle Unlimited. Scamming the system is apparently easier and a lot more profitable than actually writing decent books and trying to promote and sell them legitimately. 

With the encouragement of certain “gurus” like John Konrath, who promise untold wealth via self-pubbling, and the meteoric rise of new adult erotica in romance bringing in hordes of wannabes hoping to cash in on the latest craze, self-published romance on Amazon is the Wild West right now. Gunslingers, card sharps, scalpers and carpetbaggers of all descriptions abound, and it’s damn hard to find a place at the bar with all the bullets zinging past your ear.

So, what to do? Well, there are only two ways to go. Get the hell out of Dodge. Or keep your head down and write. Me, I don’t have a choice. I’m a writer. I’ve been doing this all my life.

Cheers, Donna

FEEL THE LOVE, EXPAND THE MISSION

In this age of the Internet, we authors are well used to flogging our books on blog tours, in Facebook groups and in every virtual space we can invade. The days of the actual book tour are almost gone, the opportunities for meeting readers at book signings and book fairs being increasingly limited.

That’s why I still welcome those chances wherever I can conjure them, like at last weekend’s Shore Leave Science Fiction convention in Hunt Valley, Maryland. This was my third year selling books in the Dealers’ Room at this con, the largest fan-run SF event in the country, now in its 39^th year. Like always, the con was well-organized and well-attended, with some great guests from the SF entertainment and scientific worlds. But it seemed like the cosplay folks outdid themselves this year, with an ongoing parade of very innovative creations going by the table and competing in the Masquerade.

 

I was able to meet up with some friends who took my advice and chose Shore Leave as their first SF con experience ever. They had a ball, and I was able to see things from their newbie perspective all over again. That’s always fun. Since I’ve been doing this particular con since I was a fan fiction writer in the Nineties, I tend not to blink when the Klingon conga line goes by.

The hours were a little long without my daughter to help out at the table. (She’s expecting her first child in September, so no con for her this summer!) But I had my friend Stephanie of Red Fish Rue Fish as a neighbor at the next table to chat and cut up with, and neighbors on the other side that seemed to wear a different costume every five minutes. I had lots of return customers who came seeking the latest book in my Interstellar Rescue series. (I sold out of Fools Rush In !) and made some new friends, too. (I sold all of the “new cover” copies of Unchained Memory!) All in all, sales were good and worth the investment on the table.

The only problem is the long drive to Maryland (nine hours on a good day). DragonCon in Atlanta is much closer, and I recently met another writer who encouraged me to try it next year. I may add it to the schedule and see if it works as well as Shore Leave.

MISSION SUCCESS: THE CONTINUING MISSION

I was so glad to read blog partner Laurie’s news that she had made the difficult, but optimistic, decision to rededicate herself to her writing career. Not only because I would hate to think I was alone in this very lonely endeavor, but also because I strongly believe Laurie’s is a writing voice that should continue to be heard in the SFR world. Lord knows this is not an easy path to choose, and encouragement is not always to be found. But, as her fans showed in their reviews, people are out there reading and appreciating, and that does make it all worthwhile. (Events like Shore Leave, where you get to meet readers directly, can help bring that home, too.)

I recently finished Book Four in my Interstellar Rescue series, a book which technically did not have a contract from my agent/publisher. I was a little nervous to think she might not want to continue with this arrangement, which allows me all kinds of creative (and financial) freedom. But we concluded a new agreement that extends the arrangement with some tweaks, and I’m very happy. My terrific editor just signed on to do this book, too, so we’re officially in production with a goal of publishing by November, 2017. 

It just goes to show that our original Mission Success was not a short-term objective, but a long-term plan—a Five-Year Mission and beyond. And for that we—and our readers—are  all systems GO!

Cheers, Donna

LOVING THE LIFE OF AUTHOR-IN-RESIDENCE IN QUIRKY MARSHALL

I’m not sure when I started to think I might have gotten in over my head. 

Maybe it was when the artist organizer of the Marshall Patchwork Multimedia Art and Fashion Show, brought out the “string dresses” she’d made for a long-ago Mardi Gras, that resembled—no, that were—wildly colored sweater dresses covered with threads of synthetic Spanish moss.

Yarn hairdo and elaborate makeup--but it works for her!

Maybe it was when I had to say—a few times—that I really didn’t need elaborate makeup and a yarn hairdo for the event.

Maybe it wasn’t until the actual evening of the show, when the place was packed, the models were dressing in their unpredictably fabulous costumes, it was a hundred degrees in the old building, and I had to talk one of the designers (my friend) off a proverbial ledge before she agreed to go on. (“This is a circus,” she said. “I don’t do circuses.”)

But this was Marshall, my new adopted home town, and my friend and I shouldn’t have worried. In the end, the show was AMAZING, everyone who participated had a blast and the audience loved us! Quirky is Marshall’s middle name—right there before North Carolina. How could we go wrong with a show that featured music, art, fashion (not the kind you wear, but the kind that draws interest), and, of course, science fiction romance?

The multimedia event was the brainchild of Lois Simbach, a long-time resident of Marshall and a professional artist in several media, including fabric arts. In the carefree way of most artists, Lois just thought, well, let’s have a show, with the theme of “patchwork—all the many things that make up our mountain community.” She asked her friends to join in, with hanging pieces for the walls at the Madison County Arts Council, and fashion pieces, music and, ahem, readings for the show. 

Lois Simbach, Marshall Patchwork show organizer, in her string dress.

 

Living paper dolls from the Marshall Patchwork show.

 

And more living dolls from the show!

 

That’s where I come in. Lois is my friend—she asked me to do a reading from my new book, Fools Rush In. And, like most writers, I’ll do anything to sell a book. So I found myself among all these wonderful visual artists, a fish out of water, certainly, but willing nonetheless.

As the night of the show approached, one thing became clear. The fashion show would be wild, crazy and liable to bring the house down. So I asked to go first on the program. I figured I would have to overcome a fair amount of noise from the folks circulating with drinks from the bar, since the first hour of our 6:00-8:00 p.m. program was reserved for “beer, wine and conversation.” And, sure enough, when I began at 7:00, people kept talking in the back for a while. But about half-way through my excerpt from Fools Rush In (edited to a PG rating), I noticed things got quiet. And the audience stayed with me until the end, their final applause much more than polite. Later, complete strangers came up to say they’d really enjoyed hearing me read. According them, I didn’t sound nervous at all! 

Well, at least SOMEBODY'S listening!

 

Personally, I was just glad to have my part of the show over with so I could enjoy the fun. And, man, was it some kind of raucous entertainment! The pictures here don’t begin to tell the story. I do love my new home town. And I love even more being the author-in-residence!

Photos courtesy Colby Sexton, Marshall NC and Graeme Frelick, Marshall NC

Cheers, Donna