THE CINDERELLA STORY OF “SEDUCING CINDERELLA”

(or, How I Went From Aspiring Author to NYT Bestselling Author in only 5 Months)

It still blows my mind that I can add that title after my name. A little over a month ago I couldn’t even claim to be a published author, much less a bestselling one. I went from being aspiring, to contracted, to published, to bestselling all in a matter of less than six months. I did it without an agent, without a traditional publisher, and without prior writing experience…and if you’re an aspiring author, I believe you can, too.

This is my story.

 Starting Clueless

When I say I had no prior writing experience, I mean that before I started my journey to publication I’d never tried my hand at fiction writing other than the short story assignments in school. English had been my favorite class and I enjoyed writing the stories, but it never entered my mind to go to college for writing. Writing novels and getting them published is what “other people” did. Other people who were meant to do big things and be a part of that big opportunity stadium that someone like me can only hope to tailgate in the parking lot without getting thrown out for not even having a parking permit. Even when I started writing, it was only meant to be a hobby; another way of immersing myself into a story other than reading. But the more I wrote for fun, the more I started to wonder if I could get published. And so began the journey.

Since I had no formal training I made myself a sponge and researched every article I could find on Google about writing good fiction and how to get published. I signed up for newsletters and RSS feeds for writing advice blogs so I’d get the latest advice sent right to my inbox. I started my own blog and met other aspiring authors with blogs and we traded snippets and regular support. I joined online writing groups and learned all the proper writing vernacular and acronyms like MS (manuscript), WC (word count), CP (critique partner), POV (point of view), and WIP (work in progress). I tried out several CPs until I found just the right ones with strengths in the areas I was weak and learned how to write better with every swap of our MSS (manuscripts). I networked my butt off and made every connection I possibly could. I researched literary agents and how to query them properly. And I did all of that while writing my first book.

Ready to Submit…Sort Of

Three years, six CPs, fourteen major rewrites, and hundreds of smaller revisions later, I finally had a product I felt was ready to be queried. I actually started querying a little earlier than I should have (I was a bit of an Eager Beaver), meaning my query letter wasn’t the best it could be, nor was my manuscript. According to my data (I used QueryTracker.net to keep track of everything) I queried approximately 30 literary agents between May and August of 2011. Some requested additional pages, some requested partials, but in the end, they all rejected my manuscript. Based on the feedback I received, I took the next three months to tweak things and polish it all up. Again. Then I started querying again in January of 2012 with a hook-tastic query letter and shiny manuscript.

While waiting to hear back from several agents, one of whom had requested a full and shown great interest in my book, I started to hear buzz through the author grapevine about Entangled Publishing, a new boutique publisher that accepted submissions from unagented writers. Remember when I said I networked my butt off? Well, it paid off in several instances, but never more than this particular one. Along the way I’d made friends with paranormal romance author, Dawn McClure, who also heads up the Savvy Author newsletters. (Savvy Authors is a fantastic website run by writers for writers. It’s a veritable font of writerly information. Get thee to the site straight away.) Early last year she’d mentioned in passing conversation that her best friend was starting up her own publishing house. 

Then early this year I asked her if she’d heard of this new publishing house called Entangled that everyone was talking about, which is when she informed me that that was the company her best friend had opened. It really can be a small world sometimes, and the more people you know, the smaller it gets.

After weighing the pros and cons of submitting my manuscript to Entangled versus holding out for the possibility of selling to New York with a literary agent—which incidentally also brought about a list of pros and cons concerning what a traditional publisher could offer me versus a more intimate publisher—I decided to go for it and submitted directly to Liz Pelletier, founder and senior editor.

The “Call”

Before Liz was a third of the way through my ms she sent me a Direct Message on Twitter telling me how much she loved it and wanted to know who else she had to beat out in order to acquire it! After I picked my jaw off the floor and stopped running around my bedroom like a crazed lunatic, I DMed her something semi-coherent and we continued to discuss for some time about the book, the trilogy it was a part of, and when we could speak on the phone. By the end of our stream of 140-character messages, I knew Entangled planned to contract me for my entire paranormal romance trilogy for digital and mass trade paperback release, and on March 7^th I signed on the dotted line and became a contracted author.

New Project & New Heights

Since my Prophecy of Souls trilogy isn’t set to release until Summer 2013, Liz suggested I write a category romance for one of their digital lines to release this summer. I admit I wasn’t even sure what a category romance was, nor had I ever heard the word “trope” before, but Liz was great about encouraging me and answering any questions I had.

I wrote Seducing Cinderella in two months—which was mind-blowing to me, considering I’d spent three years on my first book—and it launched the Brazen line July 20^th, marking that one of the happiest days of my life.

News of SC and its great reviews spread quickly throughout the romance world and in only seven days it reached the #9 spot on Barnes & Noble. The week after that it broke the Top 100 on Amazon and made it onto the extended USA TODAY Bestseller list at #113. Over the course of its third week it climbed to #13 for Kindle books overall on Amazon, #1 for Kindle Romance Series, #60 on USA TODAY, and—shockingly—the extended NY Times Bestseller list at #27!

My new cover w/the NYT title above my name!

To say that I was blown away by SC’s success every time I turned around is the understatement of the century.

And then this past week I received the craziest news yet: not only did Seducing Cinderella jump up on the USA TODAY* list to #33, but it also shot up to #9 (e-books) and #14 (combined) on the NYT** list!

I was fortunate enough to be on the phone with Liz when I received the email from my one of my publicists with that news. There was a lot of screaming and “Oh my Gods!” for a good ten minutes and then sporadically throughout the rest of our call.

Dare to Dream & Bring Others Along

This might sound strange, but I prefer to say I’m the “author of the NY Times Bestselling novel, Seducing Cinderella” instead of the other way around as you see it on the nametag up there. Sure, I’m the one who wrote the book, but there are so many others who had a hand in the final product and those who work hard to get it into the hands of readers. People like my editor, the cover designer, blurb writer, copyeditor, and my publicists. Without their expertise, my book wouldn’t be where it is today. I know that for a fact. And before that I have my CPs to thank for helping me write tighter, better stories.

The last month has been a surreal whirlwind of dreams come true for me, and if people can be believed, this is only the beginning, and I’m excited to see what the future holds. I know it’s cliché to say, “If it can happen to me, it can happen to you,” so I won’t push that down your throat. But if you come away with anything from my story, let it be this: learn everything you can, and immerse yourself in the world of writers. I don’t think there’s any other industry in the world where people who are technically your competition are as supportive as your own mother and will do what they can to help you and lift you up. Take advantage of that, and in turn, pay it forward whenever you can.

None of us reaches our dreams on our own. It truly does take a village to raise a book—even an author—and I’m so incredibly grateful for mine.

Ciao, bellas!

* The NYT list for ebooks is 1-25, with the extended list going through 35. The combined (print and ebooks together) list is 1-15, with the extended list going through 35.

**The USA TODAY list is 1-100, with the extended list going through 150. You cannot legitimately print that you're a NYT or USA TODAY bestselling author if you remain in either of the extended lists.

Word Count vs. Words That Count

As many of you know, I'm in major crunch mode. I gave myself a deadline of finishing my first Indulgence category romance by Monday the 16th. As you can see by the handy-dandy word counter in the side bar, I still have a ways to go. BUT, I do my best work when under the gun, so I'm doing a-ok.

What's really been suffering is this blog! Poor bloggy has been grossly neglected as of late, since I just don't have the time to write epically long posts (What was that? Write short posts, you say? *snort* Yeah, right, as if.) while trying to exceed my daily word count goals in order to make my deadline.

SO...I decided to RE-post one of my oldies-but-goodies (originally posted on 5-25-10) that has a huge relevance to what I'm going through in my writing at the moment. I haven't edited the original content of this post even though I feel the writing is sub-standard and it's killing me not to make changes to make sure it's up to snuff. However, I think either way, it'll get my point across. Make sure you weigh in on the comments section! I'll take the time to respond and discuss. :)

Ciao, bellas!

P.S. Now that I'm a writer with contractual deadlines, I absolutely and positively understand the need for word count goals. But I still think we need to evaluate our obsession with high counts versus slightly less counts with higher quality. End verbal disclosure. :)

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It’s in the progress posts on our blogs. It’s in little widgets in our sidebars. It’s what we obsess over. It’s our Literary Odometer.

It’s our WORD COUNT.


As writers we measure our progress by this term. It’s universally understood in the writing community as the success – or lack thereof – of our daily, weekly, or cumulative progress on our current Works In Progress (WIPs).

It seems that the majority of writers have a specific goal in mind. Whether it’s 500 words a day or 5000 words a day, it’s a way of keeping oneself motivated and on-point with an estimated date of completion for a rough draft.

But at what point does that ever-present, ever-looming Word Count goal become counter-productive?

If we get wrapped up in how many words we can “put on paper” as opposed to the QUALITY of those words, we’ll officially be hurting ourselves when it comes time for revisions. I can write 2000 words in one day and feel like I accomplished a whole helluva lot, but when I go back to revise that section, if the words weren’t quality to begin with, I bet I’m going to be spending a lot more time trying to fix them than if I would’ve just taken a little more time to make sure they were somewhat decent to begin with.

I’m not saying that our rough drafts will be all but flawless and revisions will be a piece of cake with this method – the day that happens will be the day I turn down dark chocolate (NEVER). But what I am saying, is that maybe we should find a happy medium.

If I sit down to work on my WIP and I only have a few hundred more words than when I started, I shouldn’t have to feel that “OMG, I suck” sense of failure. I should be able to look at those few hundred words and say, “That was a really good addition to that section – nice job, Maxwell.”

So I propose that we change our concerns of a generic Word Count, to a positive mindset of putting down Words That Count.

What do you think?

Do we have too much emphasis on our Word Count? Do you feel that sometimes a high Word Count compromises the quality? Or do you feel that a strict Word Count goal is the only thing that keeps you moving forward at a steady pace?

**This post has a word count of 424, and THE shortest post I've ever written, ironically enough.**

Authors Gone Wild! (wherein they act like boobs instead of flashing them)

By now I'm sure most of you have seen at least a few examples of Authors Behaving Badly in regards to reviews they've found to be less than favorable. No? Well, here's the worst example I've seen. And if that isn't enough for you, simply Google "authors behaving badly" and you can spend days getting lost in the muckety-muck.

I haven't gotten too wrapped up in this whole blowup, but it seems like it's turned into an Interwebz Civil War...only without any civility whatsoever. Authors and Reviewers are choosing sides, sometimes pitting friend against friend, as everyone weighs in--rather heavily--on the subject of authors and reviewers mixing it up.

Everyone has the right to speak their piece. That's a given. In an ideal world, people would take others' feelings into consideration and refrain from being total jagdishes. Unfortunately, our precious world is far from ideal and there are a lot of assholes out there who couldn't give a damn about anyone's feelings. Such is life.

My author friend, Jessa Slade, wrote a post about this whole debacle and used a great analogy, comparing authors and reviewers to unwed parents. I like that analogy, especially since authors are wont to view their stories as their "precious babies."

So, following that line of thinking, I believe the parents in Jessa's analogy should stay far away from one another. You know, all that "and never the twain shall meet" kind of thing. Authors should view it as having a restraining order against them once someone has reviewed their book. At most, a polite nod from across the street to acknowledge the reviewer's presence would be appropriate. And that's even if the review is wonderful! Just like you don't want to hurt your image by bashing the reviewer if they found your book to be less than cookie-dough-wonderful, I think it would seem just as unprofessional to publicly gush your appreciation for a glowing review.

This recent 'splosion of shite is a perfect example of a few bad apples spoiling the whole bunch (here's a Goodreads shelf listing a whole bushel of those bad apples). But with the internet's permanency and lightning-quick ability to make anything viral in a matter of minutes, the spoilage spreads faster and farther than ever before.

The best we can do as authors is write a book to the best of our ability. But once we hand it off to the masses, we can't control how they'll receive it. Hopefully they'll love it, but not everyone will. It's an absolute and unequivocal certainty.

Authors, do yourself a favor, and stop the review-stalking madness. If you must say anything at all, please leave it at, "Thank you for your time," and then go write another book.

Ciao, bellas!

Top 10 Things I Learned from Writing a Book: #8 Sometimes you must kill that which you love

So I’ve finished my first novel, Desires of the Soul, and it’s caused me to reflect on the things I’ve learned. Naturally, I want to share them with all of you. Maybe you’ve learned the same things; maybe you were lucky enough to already possess this wisdom. Either way, for the next couple of months, I’ll be posting a new lesson-learned every week (or so). I hope you’ll check back each week and weigh in with thoughts or lessons of your own. So without further ado, here is…

#8. Sometimes you must kill that which you love

It’s called “killing your darlings” in the literary world. You can write the most kickass chapter ever with clever phrases, amazing descriptions and phenomenal chemistry…but that doesn’t mean it belongs in your book.

After I finished one of my drafts, I sent it off to my three beta readers for some good ole crit-love. They all came back with a common theme:

The first three chapters are great (*puffs chest out in pride*), but not necessary for the story...(*dagger to the heart…*) Axe ‘em. (*…aaannd twist!*)

I did the whole, “Really? Huh. I’ll look it over and give that some serious thought.”

But what I was screaming in my head was, “Are you effing kidding me?!?! Do you have any idea how much I love those chapters? How will people know what their relationship was like before he was turned into a vampire? How are they supposed to see how viciously he struggled against them to spare the woman he loves the same fate? Not to mention how his turning actually helped his subsequent brilliant escape. It’s just not possible. So put. Down. The crack pipe.”

Rejections are No BFD

Typically speaking, I don’t have a thick skin. Look at me the wrong way and I’ll instantly run through a gamut of offenses I might be guilty of to cause just such a glance. In all reality, the person might just have a piece of dust in their eye and the twitchy-narrowing-eye-thingy wasn’t a display of loathing, but simply an attempt to eradicate the microscopic dust bunny.

While writing my first book, I often worried about the inevitability of rejection. Not only are writers rejected 9 out of 10 times [note: not a real statistic; I’m just guessing], but also more often than not, they’re form rejections, so we don’t even know the reason behind it. This is the same as that “Wrong Look” I just mentioned. It tells us there’s a problem in the agent’s eyes (pun intended), but it doesn’t tell us what the problem is.

There are lots of posts and articles and probably carvings on bathroom stalls with advice on how to deal with rejection as a writer. After all, every writer–whether you’re Stephen King or the literary equivalent of William Hung–gets rejected.

And that, my friends, is the single most important lesson I want you to remember.

It happens to EVERYONE!

Top 10 Things I Learned from Writing a Book: #9 Trim the fat & get to the good stuff

So I’ve finished my first novel, Desires of the Soul, and it’s caused me to reflect on the things I’ve learned. Naturally, I want to share them with all of you. Maybe you’ve learned the same things; maybe you were lucky enough to already possess this wisdom. Either way, for the next couple of months, I’ll be posting a new lesson-learned every week (or so). I hope you’ll check back and weigh in with thoughts or lessons of your own. So without further ado, here is...

#9. Trim the fat & get to the good stuff

This is something I still have a hard time with.  For those who have read my previous post I wish I was an under-achiever, you know that I’m not the writer who fleshes out the book and then fills it in with details later.  I’m also not the writer who can be described as “succinct” in her writing.

Nope, I’m long-winded, an embellisher, a detailed digresser.  The practice of “short and sweet”
completely escapes me.

But if we wax poetic about what our main character had for breakfast and how it was prepared, we’re slowing our pace down and getting away from what’s truly important in the scene.  So unless those pancakes trigger a vital memory or are the cause of his food poisoning, skip it.  Take it out.  You don’t need it.

I’ll give you an example from my first chapter of how I trimmed the fat and changed an entire paragraph into one simple sentence…

Top 10 Things I Learned from Writing a Book: #10 Fiction writing is a whole different animal

So I’ve finished my first novel, Desires of the Soul, and it’s caused me to reflect on the things I’ve learned. Naturally, I want to share them with all of you. Maybe you’ve learned the same things; maybe you were lucky enough to already possess this wisdom. Either way, for the next couple of months, I’ll be posting a new lesson-learned every week. I hope you’ll check back and weigh in with thoughts or lessons of your own. So without further ado, here is...

#10. Fiction writing is a whole different animal

As it turns out, spinning witty tales of my life via email is completely different from writing exceptional fiction. Who knew? When I started out, I sure as hell didn’t.

Friends and family often commented on how much they enjoyed reading my tales, or how funny they were, or that I should be a writer. [Aside: In all honesty, the only time I'm funny and witty is when I'm writing. If you were to speak to me in person you'd think Paul Rudd used me as a character study for his role in I Love You, Man.] I loved their reactions—after all, why try to be entertaining if no one appreciates it—but I never took their off-handed career advice seriously. To me, it was just another way for them to say, “Hey, that was great!”

Yes, But How Does He Smell?

Hola!  Notice anything different?  Go ahead and take a second to think about it...no, it's not my hair...no, I haven't waxed my eyebrows (recently)... It's all the extras on the blog, sillies!  Check out the "follow me" options on the right: twitter, facebook, email.  Awesome, right?  I know, so go ahead and click on them...yeah, right now...no, I'll wait.  Did you also notice the additional couple of pages at the top?  I now have my future projects listed (in case you were dying to know what my Muse has in store for me) and a very lengthy essay that answers all of your hard-hitting questions about moi!  You. Are. Welcome!  *lol*

Okay, enough of that nonsense.

Today's guest (I'll write my own post soon, I promise!) is my writing friend, Ruthie Knox. I met her through a mutally entered contest where, after reading her entry, I shamelessly wrote an entire essay in the comments section on how much I loved her writing and gave her my email address in hopes she'd contact me to talk shop.

Fortunately for me she wasn't put off by my mild stalker behavior and we've been corresponding ever since. I've read a couple of her finished manuscripts and, believe me when I tell you, she is an absolute genius when it comes to contemporary romance. Not only did she sign with her dream agent in under four days, but said agent is in the process of pitching her books in AS IS condition. (I know, right?!)

I asked Ruthie to share one of her writing tips with us and she definitely did not disappoint...

Yes, But How Does He Smell?

There’s this scene in When Harry Met Sally where Harry and Sally are strolling in Central Park and talking about fantasies. Sally confesses to Harry she’s had this recurring dream ever since she was twelve, but it’s too embarrassing to tell him about. Then she tells him.

“Okay, there’s this guy,” she admits.

“What’s he look like?” Harry wants to know.

“I don’t know, he’s just kind of faceless,” she says.

“Faceless guy. Okay, then what?”

“He rips off my clothes.”

“Then what happens?”

“That’s it.”

Harry is flabbergasted. “That’s it? A faceless guy rips off your clothes, and that’s the sex fantasy you’ve been having since you were twelve. Exactly the same.”

“Sometimes I vary it a little.”

“Which part?”

“What I’m wearing.”

*insert rimshot here*

I love this scene. I love it because Harry finds the dream fantasy so disappointing, and I love it because Sally doesn’t.

I love it because it perfectly captures the way real-life fantasies often consist of very little -- just one detail, one image or action that makes us go Unh, or Ooh, or whatever internal brain-noise you make when you see something or read something or think something that revs your engine.

And I love it because it also perfectly captures that when you have an audience, just describing the Unh moment will never cut it. The scene reminds me that as a writer of erotic romance, I not only have to provide the Unh moment, I also have to furnish the rest of the fantasy, or Harry will be disappointed.

The mechanics of writing sex scenes, or at least sexy ones, have been on my mind lately as I’ve been revising an 800-word sex scene from my second manuscript into a 2,700-word one. I tend to write short and then layer up later on. The dialogue comes first, and the actions, but when I’m deep in the first draft I have a hard time remembering to consider what the characters are thinking, and even more so what they are experiencing -- the sights, sounds, smells, tastes. My writing brain wants to skitter right over those details, because thinking them up, those just-so descriptions, is really hard work. And yet those are the details that so often matter in a novel. Those are the details that make the reader go Unh.

Take smell. In romance novels, smell is sexy. Women like the way men smell, and vice versa. So how do you write it? How does your hero smell?

He smells good.

Well, yeah. But nobody’s going to go Unh over that line.

He smells fantastic.

Keep trying.

Here’s where a lot of authors default to cologne, aftershave, or perfume:

She caught the scent of his cologne, and it made her pulse race.

The light scent of her perfume drove him wild.

Okay, fine, we’re getting somewhere, but not anywhere especially original or interesting. What does his cologne smell like? As a reader, I refuse to be titillated by such vague description, so as an author I try to do better.

Also, here’s where I confess that I can’t stand any artificial scents, so I find references to cologne and perfume and aftershave mildly repulsive. I’m constitutionally incapable of writing heroes and heroines who repulse me, so I have to seek alternative smells.

There are two directions to go from here: get more specific, or find an analogy/simile/synecdoche to do the work for you.

Getting more specific requires thought, but it can be worth the trouble. You can try pinpointing actual, recognizable scents from the fragrance panoply. Sandalwood (not my favorite, but very popular). Lemons. Mint. Pine. Wintergreen. Whatever floats your boat, really.

I think it works better, though, to look for smells that link to your character. What does your hero do? What is he like? Would it make a difference to how he smells? Karen Foley has a novel for Harlequin Blaze, Flyboy, in which the hero is an Air Force jet pilot. He comes home from work reeking of jet fuel, and the heroine practically passes out with lust. I loved that detail. It made me go Unh. It made me want to find a jet-fuel-smelling man and sniff him.

It also reminds me that smells don’t have to be exotic to be sexy. The smell of sawdust from fresh-cut lumber is one of my favorites. Find me a hero who smells like sawdust, piney and resinous, and I will melt for the guy. You can make him a handyman or a lumberyard foreman or a construction worker or whatever you want. Just make him smell good. (And give him a toolbelt while you’re at it.)

Also, you don’t always have to tell the truth. Ranchers probably smell like sweat and animals, dirt and manure. But if you want to get my attention, find me a rancher who smells like leather work gloves and rust. Sage crushed under a boot heel. Sun-warmed denim. Paint me a picture of the way he smells that tells me who he is, what he is, and why the heroine wants him.

Or give me somebody more ordinary. Give me an office guy in a suit who smells like coffee and clean cotton, like photocopier toner and the peppermints he keeps in a jar on his desk. Give me a painter who smells like linseed oil and turpentine. Now I’m paying attention.

You can even get fancy if you want to, take the reader on a little sense journey. I wrote this the other day:

He smelled like his soap, spicy and exotic, bringing to mind peppercorns and trade voyages and the mysteries of the East. But beneath that he smelled like a man, like himself, and she buried her nose in the crook of his neck and inhaled, wanting to taste him on the back of her tongue. Wanting to memorize this indelible marker of who he was.

I’m not claiming it’s poetry--it’s actually still a little sneaky and vague--but at least it’s not “He smelled great.” At least it’s not “He rips off my clothes.”

Of course, smell is just one sense. We’ve got a bunch of other ones. Guidelines for writing a good sexy scene often say you have to bring as many senses into the scene as possible, and it’s great advice. But I try to take it one step further and submit my descriptions to the Harry test. If Harry is disappointed, I figure my (future, theoretical) readers will be too.

Ruthie Knox figured out how to walk and read at the same time in the second grade, and she hasn’t looked up since. She spent her formative years hiding romance novels in her bedroom closet to avoid the merciless teasing of her brothers and imagining scenarios in which someone who looked remarkably like Daniel Day Lewis recognized her well-hidden sex appeal and rescued her from middle-class Midwestern obscurity. After graduating from Grinnell College with an English and history double major, she earned a Ph.D. in modern British history that she’s put to remarkably little use. These days, she writes contemporary romance in which witty, down-to-earth characters find each other irresistible in their pajamas, though she freely admits this has yet to happen to her. Perhaps she needs more exciting pajamas. Ruthie abhors an epilogue and insists a decent romance requires at least three good sex scenes. You can find her at http://www.ruthieknox.com.

I wish I was an under-achiever...

Before I continue, let me state that my use of the term “under-achiever” in this particular post is not in its usual derogatory tone, but rather something I aspire to be as a writer in reference to the dreaded Word Count.


For example, if a novel in your genre is typically 90K words then you have achieved that goal when you reach approximately 90K words. If you finish your novel significantly less than that, then you have quite literally under-achieved. Right?

Contrarily, if you were to write…oh, say, a Paranormal Romance novel…and comes in at almost 135K WORDS, then you’ve by far surpassed the status of over-achieving and gone straight to, “Oh my God!”

That’s right, you guessed it. I went WAY over an acceptable first-novel-word-count. Now, I’ve looked at my scenes from every angle possible and tried to picture my story without them and just can’t bring myself to cut any of them except one. But as I was going through my MS this time I realized something about halfway through. Cutting scenes isn’t my problem. It’s cutting words.

I was always confused when I heard authors say, “I’m doing line edits now.” What the heck were line edits? Who, in their right mind, would go back and analyze every line in their book? I’ll tell you who. A writer who knows what the hell they’re doing, that’s who.

The first run-through of my MS on these latest edits (which were complete overhauls, I might add) I was taking out all of the unnecessary “that” uses and correcting paragraph breaks. Easy stuff like that. Because after all, I thought, I've done so much work on this thing, there's only going to be MINOR edits that need to be done now. It's basically a done deal.

But once I started getting closer to the middle I realized there was A LOT of text I could cut just by choosing different words. For instance, I could take a sentence like this:

“Your body can’t digest regular food now that you’re a vampire.”

And change it to this:

“Vampires can’t digest regular food.”

For my purposes, the second sentence works just as well as the first, but it knocked 6 words off of my count. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but they add up fast.

Another habit I have that adds to my superfluous word count is my love for description. But I go overboard. I add in so many adjectives and adverbs that it turns a perfectly succinct sentence into an entire paragraph. I wax poetic until the reader forgets what the hell it is I’m waxing about. (Okay, maybe I’m not that bad, but you get the picture.) But whether you call it babbling or embellishing, it all has the same result.

Too. Many. Words.

So, even though I had the first half of my MS marked up with red pen, I went back to beginning and started marking it up with purple. I looked at every sentence as an individual. If it wasn’t pertinent to the story, I cut it. If they were unnecessary descriptions, I cut it. If I could think of a different word – or set of words – that would say the same thing in less, I cut it.

At this point I’ve only fixed about a quarter of my edits in the computer version of my novel and I’ve already knocked off about 2K words. That’s not bad at all. My goal is to not have anything more than 130,499 words, so when I query I can say 130K (you’re supposed to round to the nearest 500), but I’m hoping I can get it into the upper 120s.

What have I learned from this experience? With my next novel I have a feeling I’ll be analyzing my sentence structure and word choices a lot earlier in the game to prevent such a gross over-achieving status. I don’t hold out any hopes for ever being an under-achiever with word counts. I’ll just never be that person that can throw down a skeleton and flesh it out after.

But maybe, with practice and time, I’ll eventually just be a regular ol’ achiever.

Ciao!

P.S. My earlier post boasting about my new website is now obsolete. I cancelled that account with VistaPrint. Loved the template, hated the price. I'm still on the prowl for the right hosting company for my website. I'll let you all know when I make my final decision. Sorry for the tease with the other one!

Terrible Twos-day: Beta vs. VHS - Part II

Yesterday I discussed the first of two schools of thought when it comes to editing our WIPs: the School of Betas. The school where the teachers gently hold your creation in their hands, helpfully mark it up with red pen, and hand it back saying, “Again. This time with feeling.”

But, not every writer agrees with the use of Betas. *pause for collective audience gasp* It’s true! I’ve read their advice online exclaiming, “Don’t show your work to anyone under any circumstance!”

This group of writers vehemently oppose the Beta way of life. Instead, they are strict believers in the Vamp and Hide System, or VHS. (Yes, I made that up, so I wouldn’t start throwing that term around expecting people to know what the fark you’re talking about, unless you have a penchant for people looking at you like you have two heads.) They vamp and revamp their work all on their own and hold it so close to their chest that their skin begins to grow around the edges of the pages, fusing creator with creation in a grotesque display of paranoia. (Ew, that was gross. Sorry.)

The thought process that drives a VHS user is simple: no matter who your Betas are, once they have their grubby little paws on your unpublished - extremely vulnerable – manuscript, there’s nothing stopping the Beta from stealing your ideas, your words, your babies. Instead, the VHS-ers trust in their own abilities to write and edit the perfect story until the time comes for them to boldly submit their work with only a single set of eyes ever gracing its pages.

Wow. That’s intense, right? Now, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying that the VHS-er is wrong or convoluted in their way of thinking. In fact, I still haven’t decided which school I’ll be attending when I’ve reached that glorious false-sense-of-manuscript-perfection.

My inner (and quite possibly over-trusting) literary soul cries out for the use of Betas. I need to know what others think. Did the story work as well for them as it did for me? Is there anything I’ve failed to explain properly? Did I over explain in some areas? Are there plot holes I’ve blinded myself to? And, damn it, I want to know if it’s genuinely good!

But my soulmate (who is always wisely cynical) says I shouldn’t be bandying my ideas about a circle of people I barely know, like a lukewarm version of Hot Potato where the players get to hold it as long as they want and take a hunk off here or a slice off there. I shouldn’t trust anyone not to sell my baby on the black market or run away with it into the night, cackling at their good fortune and my naïve trusting ways.

Maybe there are ways to use Betas and not have to worry about the security of your ideas. What about using people who are knowledgeable in the craft of writing, but who aren't pursuing novel writing careers? Or using Betas who are in a different genre than you.

Or maybe there's really no reason to worry at all and the people we meet on the wonderful world of blogging are just as I am: out to connect with other writers and sincere in my wishes that they succeed just as I hope to.

So, which school do you attend? Beta or VHS?

Terrible Twos-day: Beta vs. VHS

I originally said that Terrible Twos-day would be an informative post on two things that knowledgeable professionals say writers should never do. I’m not abandoning that theme entirely, but rather twisting it into a discussion on two schools of thought that continue to plague me when it comes to my book: Do I use Betas or the VHS?

When I was a wee lass in Small Town, Wisconsin, my family stepped into the future and became proud owners of the latest and greatest technology: the VCR. (The very first videos we rented were The Muppets Take Manhattan and WHAM!’s Greatest Hits Videos. Don’t judge me!) When you rented videos, you had the option of renting a Beta version or VHS version of your desired movie. The type of VCR you owned determined which version you rented for your viewing pleasure. To this day I have no idea what a Beta version of a VCR looks like, or what the difference between the two are (nor do I particularly care).

Nowadays, when I hear the term Beta, it’s linked to a new-and-improved version of software or hardware or Tupperware that hasn’t had all the bugs, kinks and wrinkles worked out yet. Therefore, they label it “Incredible Thing You Must Have version 18.0 Beta.” This tells us they want us to take it for a spin and let them know what we think is great, and not so great, about their latest and greatest Thingamabobber.

So how does that apply to our writing?

It doesn’t.

It has to do with our editing. The people that read your finished manuscript are called your “Beta Readers,” or more affectionately, “Betas.” Here’s an example scenario of why some (most?) writers use Betas:

Writer: YES! Finally, my manuscript is complete! I’ve poured over every last word, every tiny comma, and there’s nothing I could possibly change, add, delete or embellish to make this better. Here, my lucky little Betas, read and bask in the literary glory that is my polished book.

Beta #1: Ooh, this was really good, but I think it would be even better if you changed this, this, aaaaaaand this.

Beta #2: Yes, and don’t forget to make this part a little clearer and this part a little stronger.

Beta #3: Right. Oh, and also, I don’t think this is necessary to move the story forward…or this…oooooooor this.

Writer: Well, button my britches, you’re all absolutely right! I’m so glad I had fresh sets of eyes to point out my story’s weaknesses that I couldn’t see for myself. Now my book will be even better. Thank you, Betas!

In summary, Betas can read and analyze our work more objectively than we can. We are the mothers, painstakingly dressing and primping our children for their big debut to the world. We look at them with blinded pride and say to anyone who will listen, “Look at what I have created. She is beautiful beyond compare and I have dressed her in the finest clothes and styled her hair in a unique and wonderful way.” Then the photographers – or Beta Readers – show up for the photo shoot and says, “Sacre bleu! Zees will not do! Ze clothes are so last season and her hair ees like she stuck her fingair een ze light socket. Tsk tsk tsk. Non, non, non. Come. I will fix and zen she will shine like ze Eiffel Tower, non? OUI!”

(I’m not sure why the Beta Readers were French in that scenario, but you get the picture.)

But if we’re going to use Betas, who do we chose? How do we know they’re qualified to take on such a task in the first place?

I could tell you all day long how knowledgeable I am in the world of fiction writing and my role as a Crit Partner or Beta Reader would be invaluable to you. But I’d be lying. I’m not qualified in the least! All I can tell you is what I liked or didn’t like as a reader. I’m not worth a damn as an editor, unless we’re talking spelling errors. I can catch those with my eyes closed. But when it comes to technical writing? Sentence structure? Nope, don’t ask me, ‘cause I have no idea.

And, maybe I’m completely off the mark here, but I feel like 99% of the people I’ve met through the wonderful world of blogging are in the same position I’m in. Finding their writing voice and struggling to finish their current books or projects. We’re not published. We don’t have years of success under our belts. We’re newbies, novices, hopefuls, students. From reading snippets and teasers, I’ve discovered so many people whom I truly think are talented writers with bright futures ahead of them. But others seem to like my snippets as well, but again, I’d like to reiterate that I am not qualified to be a Beta, so raw talent doesn’t necessarily mean I have the tools to refine my work or anyone else’s.

I know a lot of you have Betas already. What were your reasons for choosing those people? Are they personal friends of yours? Are they internet friends whose work you admire? Give me your thoughts on the School of Betas.

**Because this post ended up being so obnoxiously long, I’m breaking it up into two days. Part two will air tomorrow morning, where I’ll discuss the VHS option of editing your work. (the following is said in a ridiculous New York accent---->) Frankly, the whole thing is making me a little verklempt, so I’m giving you a topic to talk amongst yourselves: Tupperware. It’s neither Tupper, nor ware. Discuss. (One million points and all of my love to the person(s) who can tell me what that’s from!)**

Tootles!