Thursday Thoughts

Over the past few months, I've read a lot of blogs that announce to authors how difficult it is to make it in this industry.

One industry expert said a person is 400 times more likely to move to Hollywood and become the next Angelina Jolie than to make a living as an author.

A literary agent spoke of the monumental task of selling 20,000 copies of one title - the magic number for agents and publishers to begin to take notice of a previously published author.

Survey results showed that the vast majority of authors earn less than $500 a year.

So, what's up?

In my opinion, it's so easy for anyone to publish their own work that everyone thinks they can be a successful author. But not everything that is written deserves to be published.

Too many people think all they have to do is have a book printed and the world is their oyster; people will line up around the block to buy it, they'll be celebrities and their phones will ring off the hook.

There are very few writers who can write a book that requires minimal editing. And those are best-selling authors who have been at this for decades. Yet, many self-published writers think their first work is beyond reproach. Why is that?

Time after time, I hear a writer say their first book, which they intend to self-publish, will be an instant bestseller. Really?

Yes, the statistics I mentioned at the beginning of this post can be depressing. But they are meant to be a wake-up call. I've been in this industry since 1984 and full-time since 2000. And I'm here to tell you: being a successful author is hard work.

You need a team behind you: a fierce line editor, a dedicated publicist, sales and marketing plans and people to implement them. To try and do it all on your own is like going to Hollywood and becoming the producer, director, screenwriter and all the actors in your own film. Say you film it successfully. Now how are you going to distribute it, get it into the public eye, and convince people to buy it?

At Book 'Em North Carolina, we'll have a SuperTeam panel discussion filled with the people who make things happen: literary agents, traditional publishers, promoters and editors. If you want to make it in this industry, you need to be there - Saturday, February 23, 2013. And it's free. For more information, visit Book 'Em North Carolina.

WIP Wednesday

It's Work-in-Progress Wednesday and I am completing the first draft of Dylan's Song.

It's the fourth book in the Black Swamp Mysteries series. The others take place in the real town of Lumberton, North Carolina. Dylan's Song takes a bit of a departure. It begins in Lumberton but Dylan has received news that his grandmother is dying in Ireland, a country he thought he'd turned his back on forever.

Vicki has been working on a psychic mission in which a CIA operative follows a terrorist to Ireland and disappears.

So the two head to the Emerald Isle. Dylan's purpose is two-fold: when his grandmother dies during their visit, he must arrange her wake and burial. He must also extract the CIA operative from the position Vicki pinpoints in her remote viewing sessions and get him safely out of the country.

And along the way, he must confront the demons that caused him to leave Ireland.

Dylan's Song is due to be released in the spring of 2013.

Teaser Tuesday

Today's Teaser Tuesday comes from Vicki's Key, which placed as one of five finalists in the 2012 International Book Awards (Mysteries):

He grabbed her hand and wrapped it around the knife handle. Then he pressed his own hand on top of hers, guiding the knife against her throat. "There's nothing you can do to stop it," he said. "You're crazy; everybody at the CIA knows it. Now you've gone over the deep end. Taken your own life."

"Let me go!" Vicki managed to croak through clenched teeth.

He pushed against her, pinning her to the wall with his body while one arm held her neck in place. She tried to struggle but with each movement she made, it only served to tighten his grip on her. One hand was on her throat, cutting off her oxygen as the other hand guided the knife against her skin.

Monday Musings

As late as five years ago, it seemed the New York publishers were determined to operate as they had in the 1980's, although the rest of the world was moving past them in leaps and bounds.

It's no secret that eBooks are part of the equation that is forcing the publishing industry into the future.

So the question on a lot of authors' lips these days is:

If I can ePublish my own book, why do I need a publisher?

What do you think? If you have a traditional publisher who epublishes your titles, what advantages do you have with them that a self-published author does not have?

Or if you are a self-published author, why did you choose not to go with a traditional publisher?

Where the Greener Grass Grows

Ever plan for the day your kids leave home and you actually have the house to yourself?

I hope you'll pop into Book 'Em North Carolina today to read about Lin Brooks' newest fiction, Where the Greener Grass Grows, about a woman finding her way when she's left with an empty nest. All the plans she made seemed to fly out the window once the room was empty and clean. The house was still; too still...

What did you do when your kids left home and you became an empty nester?

Thursday Thoughts

The plot for Secrets of a Dangerous Woman came to me during a year that was particularly loaded with politicians doing bad things.

There was the congressman who thought he was photographing his private parts for one woman when he inadvertantly tweeted it to tens of thousands.

More than one who resigned over illicit affairs.

One who claimed to be on his state's business but it turns out he was in South America... having an affair.

Brenda Carnegie is a computer hacker who loves living on the wrong side of the law. And with so many politicians doing bad things, making a list of all those who haven't been "outed" yet and selling to the highest bidder is just too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Having been in the computer field myself for more than 40 years (my God, I'm old) I do have to wonder how anyone in this day and age can have any expectation of privacy. Even private emails bounce from server to server and when the user thinks they're deleted... They really are not.

Do you have any expectation of privacy?

WIP Wednesday

This is Work-in-Progress Wednesday and in honor of Halloween, I'd like to tell you about the ghost stories that have made their way into my books.

Black Swamp Mysteries features a psychic spy who sees ghosts. In Vicki's Key (released early 2012) she sees a ghost in the home she is staying in, as well as a ghost at the Carolina Civic Center's Historic Theatre and at Luther Britt Park.

Vicki's home was inspired by real ghosts sighted in real homes in Lumberton, North Carolina.

Like the ghost that walks in front of the windows in an abandoned home, shining a lantern to light the way... but to where?

Or the real Lady in White, who roams the Historic Theatre. She is often seen walking across the balcony. She looks as real as a live person but when she reaches the opposite side, she disappears.

I am currently working on Dylan's Song, which is set in Ireland. When Vicki ventures to Ireland with Dylan, she meets his grandmother Bonnie O'Sullivan. Bonnie warns her that the "veil is thin in Ireland", something I've heard from many, many who were born and raised there.

What does that mean? It means it is easy to cross into another dimension... Or communicate with those in other dimensions...

And Vicki sees ghosts while she's in Ireland. Several of them.

Unfortunately, Dylan's grandmother passes away while they are in Ireland (which is part of the reason for their trip) ... But if she's gone, why does Vicki continue to see her?