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

Cheap Thrills: Free Stuff For Writers

You know that lady at the front of the checkout line who has a ton of groceries, then hands over a thick stack of coupons that all have to be scanned and/or manually typed in? It takes 30 minutes for her to get rung through because she argues over the validity of her .50 coupon? In the end, her total goes from $70 odd bucks to a paltry $6 and your anger at having to stand there is overcome by a little admiration. That's me, and in fact the line actually clapped for me (I have a friend who was at the end of the line who witnessed this. He still shakes his head in disbelief)

I am cheap. I view things as a good deal only if I can get it for what it would have cost me in tax. Or better, free.

Ahh, my favorite four-letter word. For my fellow writers, here are some of the best free bets to be had.

Your Writing:

Open Office
Creative License is a wonderful thing, especially when buying a Microsoft Word program, on sale, is about $100. Open Office is the same thing, but better. It saves, writes and opens stuff with the extension .doc, .rtf, .wps, dot whatever you can dream of. And it is free. I love it. Besides a writer program, it does spreadsheets, databases, and presentations.

YEdit2
Are you a word count fanatic? Always clicking to see how much you've written towards you goal? Wasting precious seconds when you could be writing an awesome novel? Well, I have your savior right here. YEdit2 is a simple notepad with one beautiful difference: You can select how many words you want to write, or add your own goal, and start typing away. On the bottom of your screen you'll see how many words you've written and how may more you have to go. Even cooler, it autosaves constantly. Awesome. For those of you Dirty Drafting, this was created for you

yWriter
Your story have more twists and turns than the road in Kubrick's vision of King's The Shining? This absolutely wonderful writer's helper is not only an organizer for the facts of your story, but also a word processor, word counter, character encyclopedia, world builder and so much more wrapped into one pretty gift. I have to say, I like this program more than my previous fave Power Structure, and it is $180 cheaper.

Momentum Writer
Miss writing on a typewriter? Never wrote on one, but like the idea? Well, this is for you. Momentum writer won't let you do anything but write, like an old manual typewriter. No backspace, no scrolling, no deleting. No distractions. Just you and your ideas.

Promotion: Blog and website toys

Word Meter
How far along are you in your NaNoWriMo? Let everybody know with this widget. Plug in your total word goal, then how much you actually have done. It will calculate the percentage for you and bam, give you the codes to put it anywhere you want for all to see. Thank you Saoirse!

Templates:
Open Source Web Design
Open Source Design
Free Flash Templates
Our web presence acts like a resume. With a little web address, a potential agent or fan can find out everything about you you want them to know. You need something classy and mirrors your personality. Instead of hiring someone, I highly recommend you check out these website and blog templates. Already done for you, and under
the Creative Commons License, almost all can be used for promotion as long as you keep their name on the product.

Freado
Wouldn't it be great to create an interactive version of your unpublished book, kind of like what Amazon does when you click "look inside"? Well, here you go. Not only can you upload covers, your novel, where to buy it, read reviews, share it on a number of social networks, collect fans of the work and so much more.



Sprout Builder
Create your own widget
I saw this one when a favorite author of mine had been promoting her new novel with a poll that was e-mailed to her newsletter list. I clicked on the neat widget, answered the poll, and then was able to download a chapter in audiobook form. How cool is that. And you can do it to, like the big wigs, for FREE! At the home page click on the pricing link, then scroll to the bottom. You'll see the free link, which is limited but still more than I need.

FREE Limited Plan
Price: FREE
3 Projects
100 MB Storage
10 GB/month Bandwidth
Gigya Distribution
Branded with Sprout
Ad Supported

There is also a 30 day tryout plan that is full, but I find the ad supported isn't bad.

Jigsaw Planet
Love puzzles? Have an awesome cover for your novel? Want to advertise in a different way? Upload any .jpg or .gif, choose size and difficulty, and let jigsaw planet create a neat game to keep your peoples on your webpage, blog, or e-mail it to them. Another Saoirse gem.

Playlist
What music did you listen to to get your muse on? Use this awesome embedable player to show the world. Tell the backstory of your characters using music and then copy the code to put it anywhere on your blog or webpage.

Keeping organized:

Sonar3 Submissions Tracker
Ok, I have yet to try this one 'cause (I am blushing here) I have yet to actually submit anything anywhere. I am a newbie of the nth degree. When I finally get to the point when I am submissing stuff all over, I will put this baby to use. Here is what the guy who designed it says:

Sonar is a manuscript submission tracking program, and I wrote it because I was going nuts keeping track of short story submissions. This program tells me which market has each story, whether a story has been sold or rejected and which stories are gathering dust instead of earning their keep. If you decide to use it, you will be able to view a list of all your stories and then filter them in various ways (e.g. only show stories which are available to send out). You can add markets, stories and submissions and best of all it's completely free!

Hero's Journey
This is an awesome flash worksheet. You answer questions that are based on some fundamentals found in every epic, with examples from famous movies we have all watched, to make sure you are moving your novel along. Hero's Journey will collect your answers and lay them out for you to print (there is no saving) and you will completely see your novel in a new way, and also see what it is that your novel is lacking. Liane Gentry Skye passed this link to me, and it now a valuable link in my bookmarks.

Submissions

Duotrope
It is freaking amazing. It encompasses both paying and non-paying contests, publishing houses, and e-zines. I get weekly e-mails of upcoming submission deadlines and they have a great search capability. When I finally do get my stuff out there, it will be because of this site.

Welcome to Duotrope's Digest, a free writers' resource listing over 2600 current Fiction and Poetry publications. Use this page to search for markets that may make a fine home for the piece you just polished. Use the menus at the top and right to explore the rest of the free services we offer writers and editors, including a free online submissions tracker for registered users. We usually make several updates per day, and we check each of the current listings regularly (once a week for most listings) to ensure the most up-to-date database humanly possible.

Erotic Readers and Writers Assosciation
My great friend Amy suggested this to me, and I love it. It also includes quiries for not-so-erotic material. includes links to many of the big romance publishing houses as well as e-publishers so that one may get all the submission requirements in one place.

Textnovel
You know my heart belongs here. not only am I able to get my writing up where everyone can read it (for free) but it doesn't cost me a dime. Textnovel is on the edge of publishing's future. The ability to read novels via your cell phone is a huge sensation in the Eastern world and I am proud to be riding the cusp of it here in the Western part of the planet. Haven't joined yet? Do it now. You are definitely missing out.

Well, there you go. Writing on the cheap. There is no reason to be a starving artist when we have such great free resources. Have any that I missed? Please, pass it along.

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

Out From Under The Covers

This world is a changing, and you can be bedside! Texting Between The Sheets features Textnovel's up-and-coming authors in the romance genre. They are on the fringe of a technological boom already seen in Japan, the cell phone novel. Think Dickens--with an iPhone. You'll find links to their work, their causes, and their creative genius.