Back away from the Send Key (Dealing with negative reviews)

Book Reviews.

There's the perfect recipe for a love hate situation if I've ever seen one.

Once authors have cracked the publishing egg, we long for them in the same breath that we dread them. Show me any story, and I'll show you good reviews, so-so ones, and yes, sometimes even bad ones. And the bad ones sting. There's no way around that.

But for the sake of your career, don't shoot the messenger. Set your emotions aside and exercise the common sense to lick your wounds in private--and never in a public forum.

Truth is, reviewers know other reviewers. They also forge relationships with the editors we submit our work to. After all, a good reviewer makes her reputation on being the first to review an upcoming novel. In order to do that, she needs to be on the editor's lists for advance review copies (ARCs). Reviewers and editors talk. A lot. Don't believe me? Keep your eyes open at the next big book conference you attend.


I received a so-so review on Wicked Temptation last week from a respected review site. On the same day, I recieved the coveted five star rating on the same story. Even reviewers have opinions. And if you pay close attention to the reviews, you might just find a way to improve your cradft.

And yes, reviewer opinions vary as wildly as their opinions on their mother's meat loaf.

I saw an author react badly to a poor review over the weekend. It completely changed my opinion of her as a human being. Will I buy her work in the future? No. Why support bad behavior? Contracts are hard to come by. I like to think they are issued to authors who conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times.

No matter how talented an author is, some people aren't going to like her work. Some are going to hate it. But everyone who reads an author's public negative reaction to a bad review is going to remember her name--and not in a good way. Sure, your buddies will crowd around you, and tell you how wonderful you and your work are.

But those who don't know you, or your work? They won't.

Read my lips (keyboard?). They. Won't.

If you want your work reviewed in the future, don't shoot the messenger. Resist the urge to lash out at fellow authors you know are colleagues of your reviewer. It's a small publishing world out there. As a result, many writer blogs have authors AND reviewers on board. I know mine does. No, I don't control what our resident reviewer posts. Nor would I ever attempt to.

If you an author who is new to the review process, remind yourself before reading any review that the publishing world is smaller than most newcomers would believe. But also realize that the reviewer you piss off today may just be the one who makes enough buzz about your next book to push it onto the best seller list tomorrow. She may also be tight with the editor you just submitted your next project to.

Now there's a scary thought. And I'm pretty sure that all of us can agree that hearing our names attached to words like temperamental, vindictive and difficult is something we all want to avoid. So count to ten before spouting off in a public forum.

It may just save your career!

The Un-blog Post

Perhaps 'tis the season to be jolly, but I have to confess, I'm in a funk.

Short of congratulating the five amazing finalists in the Dorchester Next Best Celler contest(two of whom are DIVAS!!!!), I have no blog topic today. So, I'm going to do what hard pressed women have been doing since the dawn of time. I'm going to fake it until I make it. ;)

The holidays are upon us, and I don't know about you, but the more I throw myself into celebrating, the lower my daily wordcount falls. I think my high school math teacher referred to this concept as an "inverse correlation." Or not, considering I probably skipped that day, which means my notes were borrowed from the studly but not so intellectually endowed second-string quarterback. Translation? God only knows how accurate that term really is.

But for the purpose of today's blog, it works. Holidays are play time. This holiday, moreso, as it may be the last one for a while when my entire family is together. So my word count is tanking hard and fast. That makes January payback time.

But this year, I can't afford to spend the month of January oiling my rusty hinges. In spite of my dropping out of the Next Best Celler contest to deal with some epic family struggles, I do still have a manuscript due to my (patient) publisher and a personal goal to get Muse Struck into Dorchester before they forget that they have ever so graciously invited me to send it in to them when it's done. ;)

Muse Struck was the manuscript that autism built, my fun way of pushing awareness into areas of readership that might not have been introduced to autism otherwise. The project simply can't die. Every hope I have for my sons' futures is tied up in that manuscript.

So, with that said, I'm falling to our writer readers to help me figure out how to move through a bittersweet holiday season with enough focus to keep the pages piling up, even if it's just a paragraph at a time.

So dear readers, have at it. How do you pile up the pages when the gun's aimed at your skull?

On an aside, did you ever wish you could say you knew a best seller way back when? Now you can. When you're done putting me on the straight and narrow, check out fellow textnovelist and Next Best Celler semi-finalist, Jennifer Hart's fun, fresh and sassy interview at Wild Child Publishing as she talkes about her new release, River Rats.

Revising a Dream--Why I can't be America's Next Best Celler

The funny thing about life is that it changes.

Nothing is given, especially not good health. Just when things are rolling along fine, the world spins and turns over, often in the space of a single heartbeat. Sometimes those changes are good. Other times, not so much. Often, there's no way to tell whether the changes that have rocked our worlds are positive ones until the dust settles.

Let's just say some major dust is settling in mine and my family's lives right now.

My oldest son has severe autism, and I'm truly ok with that, as long as he's a healthy, happy human being. But right now he's not happy or healthy. Not anymore. David developed regressive catatonia last fall, losing his abilty to speak, read, write and interact with others. When he inexplicably snapped out of it, he seemed fine, at first. Turns out, he brought something new into the mix--schizophrenia. My formerly, placid, laughing, albeit severely impacted child, turned into a screaming, headbanging, often hallucinating teenager who was determined to exorcise whatever inner torment drove him to such fits with his own fists. During his episodes he's gone through doors, windows, walls, and anyone who dares to stand in his way.

We thought for a few brief weeks that we were over the worst of it. We thought wrong. He adapts to medication regimes in three week cycles. Then his world goes to hell again. His strength during his rages is superhuman. No, this isn't an exaggeration. We're averaging a concussion a month. He can't go on like this. Neither can we.

As his mom, I can't stand by and watch him throw himself through a window. Not intervening to protect him is not an option. But those interventions usually wind up with my getting hurt. Sometimes badly. So we've made a tough choice, to do everything in our power to increase our son's level of care to 24/7 in hopes this level of intensive consistency will help calm his misery so that he can make it through the hell that has become his puberty alive.

Getting him there will occupy ever spare moment of my time over the next month--and then some. This will be a hard and heartbreaking transition for all of us.

I'm not sure this is the right choice for my son, but I do know that for now, it is the only one we haven't tried. I'm going into this phase of his life armed with a lot of hope. I have to believe on the other side of these frenetic teenage years I'll see my handsome, laughing boy again. That is the image I'm holding in my mind as I wipe the egg from my face and apologize to my readers, fans, Stan Soper of textnovel and Alicia Condon of Dorchester Publishing for this unexpected, last minute decision to withdraw my manuscript, Muse Struck, from America's Next Best Celler contest.

All of these changes, combined with a prior obligation to deliver the last manuscript in the Three Kinds of Wicked series to my current publisher will prohibit me from continuing on as a contestant. I simply can't in good faith give this contest the energy, enthusiasm, and promotion it deserves while throwing my child and a publisher who has been so very good to me under the bus.

I'm pretty sure the editors at Dorchester wouldn't want me to. They're pretty amazing people. :)

Please trust me when I say that there's nothing else I can do. Thank you. For all the vote tarting fun, the laughter, the comraderie, the editing suggestions and the support. Mostly, for the friendships and contacts that will last forever. For that, I've already won this contest a thousand times over. That is plenty enough to sustain me through the difficult days ahead.

I wish each and every one of you the very best of luck. Any one of you will do Dorchester proud.

Liane

A Word about Contests and Publishing

I know, I know. I was going to write about Dark YA today, but (considering the Textnovel/Dorchester "America's Next Best Celler" contest announced the top ten yesterday) I decided I'd go for "timely." Yeah. Who'dda thunk it?

I've developed a few opinions regarding contests recently (thanks in part to the 1st TN one that landed me a contract and a few other contests I've checked into).

First, let me make this perfectly clear: If you compete in a contest you are already a winner. Why? Because it takes guts to put your work out there to be judged. You're putting a part of yourself on display and hoping for good stuff. I understand that. And I know that for everyone of you who had the guts to compete in "Best Celler" there are tons more who didn't have the guts to get in the mix.

As I was watching the announcements and congratulations flitting by on Twitter, I was also pretty certain I was watching a few hearts breaking. Knowing you've made it to a certain level and then being told you can't proceed--well, it sucks. And I noticed a few folks saying things like "just because you aren't right for Dorchester..." and "your time will come."

I want you to understand two things:

1.) If you continue pressing forward, honing your writing skills, working on things like query letters and high concept pitches, etc., and if you are determined to persevere (without bitterness and ego) you WILL make it. Regardless of what naysayers proclaim, publishing is a VERY open field. Keep writing. Believe in yourself and your story.

2.) And no matter what anyone says, keep in mind that although you may not be what Dorchester wants RIGHT NOW, IN THIS CONTEST lists change. What they want now may not be what they want in spring or summer. There are some publishing houses (like my publisher St. Martin's Press) that don't really work to a preconceived "list." They want good stories. If you catch their attention they'll find a home for you.

3.) I said there'd be two--right? This is why I didn't go into math... Look at all the good you have already gotten from this experience: You met some other talented authors and probably built some relationships; you pushed yourself forward with your writing and learned a bit about marketing and engaging readers; you tested your own hunger for getting published by a NYC publisher. I daresay you've learned a lot about yourself through this contest.

So where do you go from here if you didn't make top 10?

1.) You complete your manuscript. Heck, try and do it to the same specs Dorchester has at the Textnovel Blog.
2.) Try doing your jacket copy (and see how the top 10's turn out--compare, contrast, learn a little more). That jacket copy can potentially be used in your query or synopsis, so it's not like the experience is wasted.
3.) Do some research. Who do you SERIOUSLY want to be published by? Maybe it's Dorchester. And maybe not. Make sure you're ready to exceed the expectations of the publishing house you really want (but don't get all "I'm so much better than this author, they HAVE to want me").
4.) Begin to build your platform and brand.
5.) Figure out if you need an agent or not. If you need one, get one. Be careful though. Some are good and some aren't (and there are all sorts of degrees in between).
6.) Do your query letter, your synopsis, your outline.
7.) Submit to your dream publishers first.
8.) Persevere.

You can do this!
~Shannon

(Another) America's Next Best Celler Semifinals Afterparty Post!

I confess that by throwing up this post, I'm usurping our dear Shannon's blog post day, so before you start partying down, please go read her amazing thoughts on contests and waiting beneath this post. You'll be glad you did. Leave her a comment, too, because our Shannon, she's the real deal. We're grateful to have her here.

Now, fire up the grill and mix up a vat of margaritas, cuz it's official. The top twenty in Dorchester Publishing's Next Best Celler contest @ textnovel have been posted. And that gives us another excuse to party down here at the Textnovel Divas blog!

We did it!

Come join us as we cut up, share funny stories, tell how our stories began...whatever ribaldry happens to hit the comments thread. Got questions about the contest? About what it's like to write a textnovel? Want to know our dirty secrets? Go ahead, ask them.

We might even be up for a spot of textnovel-ish truth or dare if you ply us with enough margaritas! :)

With that said. Party on, dude-ettes!

After Party Post 1 - How Low did YOU go?

Wow.

It's the morning after.

Finally.

No more pimping for votes.

No more refusing to pay the pizza dude until he agrees that I am, indeed, America's Next Best Celler.
Oh. Did I just put that in print?

Why, yes. I guess I did.

So with that particular skeleton out of the closet, it's fess up time here at Texting Between the Sheets.

Just how big of a vote tart are you?

The commenter with the best confession wins a e-copy of my (ultra steamy)Christmas novella from Red Sage Publishing, Believe.

The only rule to play is you must have participated in Dorchester Publishing's Next Best Celler contest at Textnovel.

For readers, we'll have a contest later on today!

OK, girls. Spill it. How low did you go?

Yeah,baby, it's the diva version of the limbo!

Leave your most shameful vote tarting moment in comments.

Our brand new textnovel divas, Valorie Dorr and Courtney Sheets will pick the winners tomorrow because...I said so!

To ALL of you who participated in the Next Best Celler Contest, major congrats are in order. This is your party, too. You put your hearts and souls and stories out there and did your level best to build a readership.

And we all did just that.

In my mind, all that heart goes a long way toward making each of us next best sellers.

Oh, so how low did I really go? Well, for one, I refused to let my daughter's boyfriend take her to a movie until he found me a voter.

OK. Three voters.

Yeah, I know. ::hangs head:: I chalk it up to CVTS - Compulsive Vote Tarting Syndrome.

In Praise of Younger Men

As practitioners of textnovelling, the Divas are riding a new technological trend, but we seem to be part of a storyline trend as well. Two of our entries in the Dorchester/Textnovel America's Next Best Celler contest– Liane Gentry Skye’s Muse Struck and my Confessions of the World’s Oldest Shotgun Bride – involve romances between older women and younger men. And as it happens, two of this season’s new sitcoms plow those same, sometimes fertile (pun intended) fields. Descriptions from the network websites:

Accidentally on Purpose (CBS) - Billie is a successful 30-something movie critic living in San Francisco who’s just broken up with her commitment-phobic boyfriend. She ends up rebounding with a much younger man, Zack, who at 22 is just starting out on his career as a chef. Billie and Zack’s fling takes a serious turn when Billie discovers she is pregnant. Not knowing what the future has in store for her, Billie decides to keep the baby and raise it by herself if necessary. However, Zack decides to move in and help Billie with the baby. None of this sits too well with her ex, who tries to win her back, only to discover that she’s now very involved with Zack. Jenna Elfmann plays Billie.

Cougar Town (ABC) - Jules is a single mom in her 40s with a teenage son and a 20-something assistant. After Jules sees her recently divorced neighbor escorting a young conquest to a waiting cab, she confronts him about the double-standard people have when it comes to divorced men and women dating younger. He responds that Jules is just jealous because she couldn’t get a young stud if she tried. So Jules goes out to a bar with her assistant and meets a hot young guy, who later shows up on her doorstep. When the hottie lets his intentions be known, Jules is happy to go along. She’s excited about how the night has turned out until her son comes home early and walks in on her and the hottie during…well, let’s just say the next morning he’s uncomfortable seeing his mother about to eat a banana for breakfast. Courtney Cox stars as Jules.

I was curious about Accidentally because the basic storyline is similar to Confessions. I only saw about the last ten minutes of the pilot, but I have to say, in my humble opinion, Steve beats Zack all to hell in the hero department. Zack has a lot of growing up to do before he’ll make Billie a good mate. And I haven’t seen Cougar Town yet. But whether these shows have been executed well or poorly, the mere fact that they made it onto the air, with proven talent in the starring roles, tells me that the network suits think the public is ready for OW/YM stories. I’ll drink to that!

Showing It Off: Textnovel, Dorchester, and Other Contests That Can Get You Hot.

Contest. The very idea of allowing people read my writing so that they can judge it freaks me out. Not as bad as before I entered my first contest, the Dorchester "Next Best Celler" contest on Textnovel, but I still get a little light-headed at the thought.

I am as inexperienced an author as you can get. I have never won anything. I had never entered anything. In fact, I had been living vicariously through my writer's group, made up of two other authors. Both are published, but for the record, Deborah had been previously been ensconced in non-fiction and Shannon's first book doesn't come out until June of 2010.

In the group, I was the "brain stormer". We would outline plots and toy around with twists. I brought FAE NIGHTS to work on, read aloud a few parts of it, but never shared the manuscript the way my fellow authors did. Why? It felt like I was standing naked in front of them and asking them to paint me with latex.

That is when it began. We were bitten by the contest bug. First Shannon won last year's Textnovel contest, and you can see what happened to her. She obtained the writer's dream of 3 book deal. Deborah enters many RWA contests and recently won the 2009 RWA "Best of the Best" : Contemporary Romantic Suspense award.

How freakin' cool is that?

In June, a few days before my birthday, Shannon called to tell me that I had to enter the Textnovel/Dorchester. No ifs. No ands. And certainly no buts.

What she didn't know was that I had just spent 5 hours sitting in front of my computer, first chapter of FAE NIGHTS loaded, my finger poised over the "Save this chapter" button.

5 hours of wondering, of worrying, of heart palpitations. Remember, Shannon and Deborah had only been allowed glimpses of my work, and I trusted them. Here I was about to strip totally naked online.

By the time she called, I had already been breathing into a paper bag for a few minutes.

I can tell you, it isn't that bad. In fact, I still have the giddy feeling when people vote for me. It's inspiring, and I am so grateful. I wonder now why hadn't I done this before?

I also wonder if entering contests will help me in the long run. I am toying with the idea of doing more after Textnovel/Dorchester is over. I also think about writing for anthologies and actually getting paid for the time I put in. What I would like to know, well, need to know, is what everyone else has done? What are your newbie author stories? What was your big break?

For those who are on the aspiring writer boat with me, here are some websites that will may get your work on the path to awardom. I wish you luck!

Lists of contests:
The Open Directory List powered by AOL of writer's contests, including the Writer's Digest Competitions.

Erotica Readers and Writers Association Along with contest listings, there are also lists of publishers looking for specific submissions, ranging from light romance to erotica.

Romance Writer's of America In addition to the Golden Heart and RITA awards, many of the local chapters have their own they sponsor, such as The West Houston Chapter's EMILY Award, which Deborah won in 2009! See Chapter Contests and Awards

Textnovel You have until November 1st to enter the Dorchester Romance Contest and get 20 chapters up, but Textnovel also has a yearly contest with a $1000 award.

For my future submissions to anthologies, magazines, e-zines, etc, I have to say that Duotrope is the best site hands down. I know, I know, I mentioned them last blog too, but this site totally deserves all the kudos I can give.

By the way, Deborah's award winning novel, WITCH EVER WAY YOU CAN can be read on Textnovel, as can Shannon's 13 TO LIFE, which you will also find on a bookseller's shelf near you in 2010.

Read, Vote, Subscribe!

Brightest Blessings!
Robin

A Little Bit About Cell Phone Novels:

What are an aspiring romance novelist's dreams made of? Well, besides the obvious, naughty things, a chance at getting your book picked up by a major publishing house is pretty good! Dorchester's Press Release:

Cell Us Your Novel

Publisher Seeks New Romantic Voices through Social Networking Venture

New York City—Dorchester Publishing and Textnovel announce their partnership in an innovative writing competition for aspiring novelists. Beginning today, authors ages 18 and older are invited to participate in America’s Next Best Celler, a literary challenge that pairs the emergent cellular generation with the traditional publishing model. The contest will award a guaranteed publishing contract with Dorchester, the publisher who discovered and nurtured the careers of New York Times bestsellers Victoria Alexander, Christine Feehan and Lynsay Sands.

America’s Next Best Celler utilizes Textnovel’s unique business model that allows authors and readers to create, read and share serialized fiction via today’s most popular and ubiquitous technologies. The site encourages readers to subscribe to developing works of fiction which are disseminated in chapter-length installments via cell phones and email over a period of time. Subscribers offer direct feedback to authors and vote for their favorite serials, fostering an intimacy between artist and fan similar to reality television.

Textnovel was created in response to the literary movement that exploded in Japan a little over two years ago which produced an entirely new genre that now dominates their mainstream publishing industry. In 2007, five of Japan’s ten best-selling novels originated as cell phone serials. Many of the serials, such as Love Sky written by a debut novelist and read by 20 million people, have been adapted for TV series and movies.

With faster cell phone networks and data plans now available, the U.S. market has the potential to experience even more success than Japan. “Textnovel’s business model could revolutionize the entire publishing industry,” says Brooke Borneman, Dorchester’s Sales and Marketing Director. According to Maho no i-rando (Magic Island), Japan’s first and largest mobile novel portal, the site has six million registered users, representing roughly 5% of the country’s population. “When applying this percentage to the U.S. population of over 300 million people, the potential to build name recognition for authors is simply staggering,” states Borneman.

A collision of multiple cultural and societal influences has created the ideal situation for the resurgence of the serial which traces its roots to Victorian era novelists Charles Dickens, George Elliott and William Makepeace Thackeray. “Our increasingly fast-paced and chaotic lifestyles have created challenges for many individuals who can’t or won’t make the time to read. Between fragmented attention spans, the enthusiasm and devotion cultivated by fan participation in reality television and the social networking revolution, we think the time is perfect to bring readers and writers together through Textnovel and we hope to discover America’s Next Best ‘Celler,’” says Borneman.

Dorchester is seeking contest entries in any of the following romantic sub-genres: historical, paranormal, urban fantasy, high fantasy, futuristic, romantic suspense or humorous contemporary. For complete contest details, including rules and regulations, please visit www.dorchesterpub.com or www.textnovel.com.

About Dorchester Publishing
Dorchester Publishing has published mass market books since 1971, making it the oldest independent mass market publisher in America. Known for its collection of best-selling romance novels, Dorchester also publishes award-winning horror, thrillers and western titles, as well as the Hard Case Crime line of pulp-style mysteries. In addition, Dorchester distributes the bestselling Family Doctor series of health guides in the US and Canada. Website: http://www.dorchesterpub.com

About Textnovel
Textnovel is a social network for authors and readers of serial fiction and the first English language cell phone novel website, allowing members to write and read fiction with their cell phones or computers, using text messaging, email and online tools. Textnovel also offers literary agency services to aspiring novelists. Website: http://www.textnovel.com

Dorchester Publishing Press Release site