Question:
To blog or not to blog? Do you feel blogging is a valuable promotional tool for a published author or a time sucker?

Answers:

“I think the jury is still out on blogging. I have yet to see any measurable benefits from my group blog (www.jauntyquills.com), but that's pretty much how it is with all the promotion I do (except my website). I do think blogging would be a huge time sucker if I didn't blog with a group. I think that's why so many authors are choosing to do group blogs. No one can invest that much time on their own.”

Courtesy of Shane Bolks
Reality TV Bites – Available Now!
www.shanebolks.com

“To blog or not to blog. Carrying on with the Shakespeare analogy, personally, I'd rather suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune than blog. I hate blogging. I'm no good at it, it eats up hours of time I don't have and every time I do, I think how uncreative I really am. I participate in one blog (Warner Women) as my token effort just in case blogs are effective in promoting books, but it's always a chore and I don't really enjoy it. I honestly don't know if anyone reads it - or if they do, there's no guarantee they'll rush right out and buy my book.

Now, with that said, I have done "guest" blogs that seem to be good promotional opportunities. Speaking as a plotter, I think blogs are a pantser conspiracy to keep us plotters functioning out of our comfort zone.”

Courtesy of Robin T. Popp
Seduced By The Night – Available now!
www.robintpopp.com

“I've found my blog to be extremely valuable, the primary reason being that I had my website designed by someone else, and I'm not savvy enough to do updates myself. Because the designer isn't always available at a moment's notice, the blog provides a place to share information immediately, whether I'm announcing a new contest or a recent review. In that sense, the blog is also a cost cutter, because I'm not paying for constant updates. And one final benefit is that because I'm a debut author, I haven't generated enough of a readership to necessitate a discussion board on my website. I still wanted a place where I could answer questions and generally be available to readers. The blog gives me that ability.”

Courtesy of Jolie Mathis
The Sea King – Available Now!
http://www.joliemathis.com/joliehome/homex.html

"How would you describe your working relationship with your agent? Is this what you expected and hoped for when signing on with him/her?"

Answers:

“Some authors insist that your relationship with your agent is pure business, that you should be professional at all times and avoid thinking of or treating your agent as a friend. After nearly a year of correspondence and--finally--a sale I would have to disagree.

When first corresponding with my agent I made a conscious decision to "be me," without filtering out the sarcasm and humor that made her fall in love with my writing. If she loved my writing, I thought, then she must love me. The two are the same. In response, she is equally honest and unfiltered with me. If I shoot her an idea that is total garbage she'll tell me straight up. Some authors might not appreciate someone saying, "That's a terrible title!" or "Wah! Boring!" but I find that her blunt approach gives me confidence in a business that is full of insecurity. Now I know that if she says an idea is great, she really means it.

None of this means that I am unprofessional in our correspondence, but--at least in my particular case with this particular agent--I have found it possible to be both professional and friendly at the same time. I wouldn't have it any other way.”

Courtesy of Tera Lynn Childs
www.teralynnchilds.com

“It literally took me decades to get an agent. When I finally did, it was thrilling and I didn't know what to expect. What I found was that she loved my writing, shopped it around and got me an offer from Berkley I was ready to jump at. Oh, no, she said, they'll pay more. And they did. I sold on proposal. She also wanted to see my complete before I sent it to the editor and made some good and specific suggestions. Nothing nit-picking, just the kinds of overall feelings that I felt made the book more marketable. The contract she negotiated was very favorable and included things I didn't know to ask for: like extra free copies of the book and allowing me to send in my book on-line instead of paper copies which add the expense of postage. Now she's been helping make sure I have final approval of the cover. The three of us, editor, agent and me emailed back and forth about the art and back copy. The result is something I'm very happy with, a big contrast to my first few unagented books.

What finally got me an agent? I quit sending in my historical, which is a tough sale these days, and finally wrote something different and hot market-wise. Now I'm hearing that the vampire market is glutted. I made it in just in time. No agent will take you on if she doesn't think she can make money on you and not just a few piddling dollars. Marketability is key. I may have to shift gears again in the future if the Real Vampire series doesn't take off. I hope not, though, because it's fun to write. But I'll do what it takes because writing without selling is not fun.”

Courtesy of Gerry Bartlett
Real Vampires Have Curves, Berkley Trade Paperback, March, 2007
www.gerrybartlett.com

“I think my agent is pretty close to perfect. It's important to me that the people who work for me (and an agent does work FOR the author) get back to me quickly and keep me informed as to the work they do on my behalf. My agent always call me back promptly (and lots of times just to say hi) and keeps me informed about submissions. He's actually exceeded my expectations as he's become a friend. He went to my wedding and goes to dinner with my parents every few months. Even if he wasn't my agent, we'd still be friends.”

Courtesy of Shane Bolks
Reality TV Bites, Avon Trade Paperback – Available now!
www.shanebolks.com

How much consideration do you give to industry "trends" when writing a book?

Answers:

I've never been one to follow trends. My books were turned down by publishers for years because I wrote too sexy. Finding Ellora's Cave was a dream come true. I'd written seven books for EC when I was approached by Lucia Macro to write a story in Avon's new erotic romance anthology. I'm currently working on book number two for the Avon Red line, and couldn't be happier to write the type of books I love to write.

Lynn LaFleur
Rent-a-stud – Available now!
www.lynnlafleur.com

I'm aware of the trends, but I don't greatly bend my writing in a trendy direction.  I've been writing sexy books since I started targeting the romance market in 1995, so I'm just fortunate that erotic romance has taken off in such a big way.  That said, in my most recent book, SWEPT AWAY - the first single title in Avon's Red line and coming out in September - I may have tweaked the story as I was writing it to suit the fact that it was being placed in an erotic line.  Meaning I may have amped up certain sexual situations a smidge, and when I realistically thought the characters might use a bit of graphic language, I didn't weigh that as heavily as I might have if the book were being released in the mass market romance program.  But those decisions were very minor in the big picture and they came after the fact.  I think the trick is – if something you already LOVE to write happens to be trendy at the moment, figure out how you can tweak or bend your work a little to capitalize on the trend.  But don't waste your time trying to write stories you're not passionate about.

Toni Blake
In Your Wildest Dreams – Available Now!
www.toniblake.com

Well, my (Avon) Red books are paranormals featuring dreams, alternate realities, and alien worlds. The choice was based on the following:

1.) Sexy paranormals are hot.
2.) Vamps, weres, and magic are too prolific. I wanted something different.

I always try to see what has been done, and then do the opposite. I can only go so far though. Romance readers are pretty adamant about certain things being wall-bangers.

Courtesy of Sylvia Day
Bad Boys Ahoy – Available Now!
www.sylviaday.com

I write the books that I want to be reading at the time, so industry trends don't impact my writing in the least. I ADORE historical romance novels, especially ones with a good helping of intrigue (think Amanda Quick, Christina Dodd, Stephanie Laurens, among others). These books have staying power; I believe that other people are as passionate about these novels as I am and don't see that changing any time soon.

Courtesy of Sari Robbins
What To Wear To A Seduction – Available now!
www.SariRobins.com

Besides a website, what is the best thing you've done to promote your work?

Answers:

“I've found that putting time and effort into just making sure the book is well written goes a long way.  Cases in point are the two projects I got as a result of consistently good reviews and having another book nominated for RT's reviewer's choice award.  That's what I do - especially since I don't have time or money for any other type of promotion.  The only other thing I do that seems to help a little is when I meet new people, after I've had a chance to get to know them a bit, I then let them know I'm an author.  By that time, we have a relationship and they're curious to go out and find my book and read it for themselves.  After that, I'm hoping word of mouth with do the trick.”  

Courtesy of Robin T. Popp
www.robintpopp.com
OUT OF THE NIGHT – Available now!

“The best thing I have done is media. It's really hard to get for fiction books, but if you can get a TV interview or major newspaper interview, it really gets the word out there. When I was in the Houston Chronicle, I got emails from people I went to elementary school with. It's the old cliche ("Hi, remember me?  I sat behind you in 4th grade!"), but it really happened. I don't know if it translated into sales, but it didn't hurt.”

Courtesy of Shana Galen/Shane Bolks
www.shanagalen.com
PRIDE AND PETTICOATS – Available now!

“The best thing I've done is send out my own ARCs because my publisher doesn't. The first time I did this, in 2004, the book I did it with (award-winning AN IMPROPER PROPOSAL) sold out almost immediately. I think it did so because I was able to get some great quotes and word of mouth based on the reviewers to whom I sent the ARCs.”

Courtesy of Cheryl Bolen
www.CherylBolen.com
ONE GOLDEN RING – Available now!

What was the most significant change you made in your writing patterns/routine when you became published?

Answers:

“Since I now had hard deadlines and contractual obligations, in order to meet them, I needed more time to write than I had available.  With a full-time day job and a family, something had to give.  What gave was all my sick leave and vacation time.  When I got behind my writing schedule, I took a day of sick leave or vacation.  When I got very close to a delivery date, I took as many days of vacation days I had left.”

Courtesy of Marianne Stillings
www.MarianneStillings.com
SIGHS MATTER– Available now!

“Believe it or not, I found that I had less time to actually write once I became published, because now I have promotion and business-type tasks to do during my 'work time' in addition to simply writing.  I try to set aside blocks of time to do these non-writing tasks, but it still amazes me just how time consuming it can be, and how much it all encroaches on my writing time--especially promotion.  Making time for it all is a constant challenge, one which I hope to soon conquer!”

Courtesy of Kristina Cook
www.kristinacook.com
UNVEILED – Available now!

  “I did something I swore I'd never do. I changed from a time period that wouldn't sell to write something aimed toward the market to keep my historical career alive. Fortunately, I fell in love with the Victorian period. Now at the behest of my publisher, my next two books will take place in Victorian Scotland rather than France. LOL. And yes, I love Scotland so my story was adaptable to the change.”

Courtesy of Melody Thomas
www.MelodyThomas.com
ANGEL IN BED – Available now!

“Deadlines.  My first book took me three years.  My second book - due out April 1- took nine months.  Deadlines are both a blessing and a bane.  They force me to be disciplined and organized as a writer, but they also hang over my head like the Sword of Damocles - sharp, and hanging by a hair!”

Courtesy of Elizabeth Vaughn
www.warprize.com
WARSWORN – Available now!

“The main change in my writing pattern came after I sold my second book, on proposal. Faced with a deadline, I had to figure out a daily page count and stick to it no matter what. I try to do most of my daily page count done early in the morning because that's my most productive writing time. Also, getting my daily page count done early keeps the panic away until the next morning!”

Courtesy of Joy Nash
www.joynash.com
CELTIC FIRE – Available now!

“I've had two major changes in my writing patterns/routine since my first book was published in 1998.  First, I have to concern myself with deadlines; I'm no longer writing just for fun, I'm writing as a job and deadlines must be met.  Along that line, second, I've had to change my approach to each book.  It's no longer just about the story in my head that I'm dying to put on paper, it's about pleasing agents/editors/publishing house(s) while being true to myself.  My dad gave me the best advice when I went away to college -- give the professor what he wants (even if you think it's totally stupid/weird/unnecessary, etc).  I've lived up to that with each book I've written for contract.  In other words, I may want to write about the promiscuous heroine who lives in Siberia, but if my publisher says a promiscuous heroine from Siberia won't sell, I have to make her an upstanding widow from London.  I've had to learn to take the book of my heart and balance it with what the editor (professor) wants.  It's not easy but it works.”

Courtesy of Adele Ashworth
www.adeleashworth.com
DUKE OF SIN – Available now!

What is the one thing you wish you had done to better prepare yourself for "the call"?

Answers:

"I wish I had more ideas ready to turn into proposal. I had several finished manuscripts, and it didn't occur to me that those wouldn't be bought next. I felt like I had to scramble for ideas for proposals."

Courtesy of Shana Galen/Shane Bolks
www.shanagalen.com
PRIDE AND PETTICOATS--FEBRUARY 2006

"I wished I had seriously considered what agents I was interested in and made some sort of list to query!  I was agentless when I mailed my first manuscript off to Avon in December of 2003.  To be honest, I don't think I ever truly expected anything to come of it, so I didn't prepare myself very well at all.  And I certainly didn't expect to hear back from Avon so soon! (January of 2004)  I've always been told that you should never accept any deals right away, that you should always tell the interested editor that you would discuss things with your agent and you would get back with them.  But after I hung up and finished doing the Snoopy dance, I remembered I didn't HAVE an agent and had no idea which agent to call!"

Courtesy of Kimberly Logan
www.kimberlylogan.net
A Kiss Before Dawn - Available now!

"First of all, brace yourself for the possibility that there might *actually* be a call. When I sent in my first manuscript, I guess I didn't really expect an answer from the publisher. Never in a million years did I expect a call TEN DAYS after I'd mailed the manuscript! So I was completely unprepared to talk to an official editor. Luckily, my 20 years as an ICU nurse served me well, and I remained cool and collected during The Call, and didn't flip out until after I'd hung up the phone. So my advice is to think through what you'll say WHEN you get The Call, not IF."

Courtesy of Margo Maguire
www.margomaguire.com
THE BRIDE HUNT – Available now!

"I wish I'd been more prepared for the emotions involved. I mean, obviously I knew there would be emotions, but what a rollercoaster. Extreme happiness swinging to disbelief, swinging to terror, swinging to doubt, back to happiness, over to mild paranoia... Whatever emotions there were, I got them. At some point I realized it was normal and I should just let it ride."

Courtesy of Jenna Petersen
www.jennapetersen.com
Scandalous – Available now!