I’ve sent out a handful of pitches to agents. So far only one has emailed back saying, “No thanks.” I’m no stranger to publishing so I know I need to accept rejection More »
There’s something too final about hitting the “send” button in email. There is no second chance to make a good first impression, so I stare and read and stare some more while More »
I got a Nook for Christmas and so far I really like it. I’ve been like many people who are resistant to making the change to e-readers, despite the fact that I’m More »
Sometimes though, they are too unlikeable or the situation is so unrealistic (i.e. Play Dirty). Lethal starts off just like that. Coburn takes Honor and her daughter hostage for a night, he kills the cop who shows up to save them, and then Honor leaves with him…voluntarily. Of course, it was the right thing to do, since the cop was dirty. But I wonder if I’d have gone with him, especially with my four year old daughter in tow.
Despite that, the book was one of the better of Brown’s recent releases. Perhaps it’s the setting (I love books set in Louisiana) or watching how Honor’s daughter interacts with the hard, cold Coburn. Like all the books, the villain is a surprise, although it doesn’t leave you with the feeling of “Oh my God, I didn’t see that coming” that Sandra Brown is famous for. In fact, there is less and less of that with her new releases.
If I could change one thing about the book, it would be the ending. It stops one scene short. (Spoiler alert….) the romantic side of me would have liked to have experienced Coburn’s reaction to seeing Honor step off the plane.
I’ve sent out a handful of pitches to agents. So far only one has emailed back saying, “No thanks.” I’m no stranger to publishing so I know I need to accept rejection as part of the deal in traditional publishing. But with ebooks going like gang busters and hearing so many stories of self-publishers who are making great money selling their books directly through Kindle and Nook, I’m seriously wondering if maybe I should do that.
I’m not sure I could get it out in time for Valentine’s Day, which would be perfect because book one ends on Valentine’s Day. But I’m sure I could get it out sooner than if I went through traditional publishing. I’ve actually already made a cover. It’s not perfect yet. And I’m not sure it really fits the mood of the book. Deadly Valentine is a murder mystery, but it’s lighthearted and romantic. This cover says “serious” to me. If you’ve read the excerpts and have an opinion, let me know. I’m on the hunt for good graphics to make a different cover. Perhaps I’ll have a poll to see which you think will be best.
As I finish this post, it almost sounds as if I’ve made up my mind to self-publish. I’ve determined that I’m going to work towards that (formatting, editing and cover design take time), and if one of the agent’s I’ve contacted me are interested in the book in the meantime, then I’ll pursue that route. If not, and all the agents say “no”, my fall-back route will be ready.
There’s something too final about hitting the “send” button in email. There is no second chance to make a good first impression, so I stare and read and stare some more while my cursor hovers over the “send” button. Almost without fail, the error I’m worried about doesn’t reveal it’s self until after the message is sent.
I read a lot of books and interviews from agents, so I know it doesn’t take much to send your submission to the reject pile. I think I do a good job avoiding some of the big ones like not sending a submission the agent doesn’t represent and not being cocky. But the typos and poor sentence construction are a challenge to me (I have yet to master the comma). I have a vision of an agent reading until the first little error and then immediately hitting delete. “There is no apostrophe in ‘its’ when it doesn’t stand for ‘it is’”.
But there’s no way to get an agent without pitching, so I’ll keep hitting the “send” button until one says “Yes!”
I got a Nook for Christmas and so far I really like it. I’ve been like many people who are resistant to making the change to e-readers, despite the fact that I’m a digital person. My music is digital. My calendar and to-do’s are digital. I spend much of my life on the web, so switching to ebooks seems like a no-brainer.
On the other hand, I love going to the bookstore and holding (and smelling) new books. Plus, you can’t take a Nook into the bath tub. But my biggest worry about having an ereader is that it’s way to easy to buy books. I’ve already ordered and paid for Celebrity In Death
Since Christmas I’ve clicked “Order Now” way more times than I think I would have had I driven to the store and found the books on the shelf. So while the books tend to be cheaper, I may end up spending more. With the publishing world worried about how they will survive in a digital world, I wonder if they’ve considered that.
I do have a few other pet peeves….
I am able to wrap my brain around the idea of spending money for digital items, afterall it’s the content of the book not the materials that make up the value of the book. But I feel like I’d rather buy a paperback than a digital book, if the prices are the same (most of the fiction paperbacks I’ve considered buying digitally are the same price at the store). Plus you can’t return or re-sell a digital book, so if it’s a dud, you’re stuck with it. I’m also not sure I like reading magazines on the Nook. Right now I subscribe to The Writer. The content and layout is the same, but reading the articles is cumbersome. Still, the digital version is cheaper, so I guess I’ll just get used to it.
Overall I really like my Nook, and while I’m not done wanting traditional books, I know that as time goes on, I’ll probably have fewer books overfilling my shelves.
It seems a little early to be making a fan page at Facebook. Currently I have about two fans; my mother and my sister. But one thing I’ve been learning about book publishing is that the most important thing (after writing a good book) is marketing. Even before publishing, having a “platform” or a ready-made audience is crucial to success. So I have a Facebook fan page. It still needs a little work, but I’d love it if you stopped by. Jenna Harte Facebook Fan Page.
I had to completely delete the previous Jenna Harte site because of too much spam and other problems. That’s what happens when you don’t keep up with blog maintenance. But now that I’m ready to find an agent for Deadly Valentine, I need to focus on spreading the word and building a platform.
I’ve got a few treats for those of you have been following my journey. First I have an excerpt of the first four chapters of Deadly Valentine. Second, I have an excerpt of the next four chapters to those who sign up for my email list (see subscription box to the right). Don’t worry about getting too much email. The list is solely to provide updates, freebies and other goodies occasionally.
