You and Your Editor: Partners in Crime

by Anna Lee Huber

New authors hear lots of stories about editors—good and bad—and when we finally receive that coveted publishing contract, we’re left guessing how exactly this author-editor relationship will work. Most of us don’t want to rock the boat, but we also want to protect the artistic integrity of our work. We wonder how much of a say we really have. If we signed over our right to an opinion once we put pen to contract.

Yes, we do have a say. That book is still ours, after all. That’s still our name on the cover. And our editors want us to be happy with the final product, not regret putting our manuscript into their hands.

I think it helps to understand that the relationship between author and editor is a collaboration, not a dictatorship. Our editor is our ally. They want to work with us to make our novel the best it can be, not change it into something else. When seen in that light, it makes it much easier to consider and implement their editorial suggestions, as well as question them when we don’t agree.

We should value our editors for the talents and skills they bring to the table, first and foremost of which is an ability to view our writing objectively. A good editor will pinpoint any problems or miscommunications that keep our novel from being all that it can be, and make suggestions on how to fix them. However, it’s key to remember that while they want these problems fixed, it doesn’t have to be done in the way they recommend. It’s the author’s job to figure out the best solution. Your editor will assist you however they can, but it is still your responsibility to make the repair.

When I received my first round of content edits from my editor on my debut novel, I was pleased to discover I agreed with most of the changes she suggested. But there was one edit in particular that caused me a great deal of anxiety because I did not agree with her proposed fix. She wanted me to add a prologue to introduce some of my secondary characters earlier in the novel. While I accepted the merit and necessity of her suggestion, I felt that doing so would make it far more difficult to grab the reader’s attention, as I’d done in the beginning of chapter one. I explained my concerns and proposed an alternative solution, slipping the scene into the middle of chapter two, which she instantly agreed with.

I then felt silly for agonizing over the edit for so long, but I learned a valuable lesson. The next time, I would simply talk to my editor. I would view her as my ally, there to help me, not dictate to me what to do. She’s not some school marm ready to rap me on the knuckles if I disagree with her. She’s my partner in crime, errr…writing.

Anna Lee Huber was born and raised in a small town in Ohio. She is a graduate of Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN, where she majored in Music and minored in Psychology. THE ANATOMIST'S WIFE, the first book in the Lady Darby historical mystery series, has been hailed as “…a riveting debut…” and will be released by Berkley Publishing on November 6^th, 2012. She currently lives in Indiana with her husband and troublemaking tabby cat. When not hard at work on her next novel, she enjoys reading, singing, travel, and spending time with her family. Visit her website at www.annaleehuber.com

THE ANATOMIST'S WIFE: Scotland, 1830. Following the death of her husband, Lady Darby has taken refuge at her sister's estate, finding solace in her passion for painting. But when her hosts throw a house party for the cream of London society, Kiera is unable to hide from the ire of those who believe her to be as unnatural as her husband, an anatomist who used her artistic talents to suit his own macabre purposes. Kiera wants to put her past aside, but when one of the house guests is murdered, her brother-in-law asks her to utilize her knowledge of human anatomy to aid the insufferable Sebastian Gage-a fellow guest with some experience as an inquiry agent. When Kiera and Gage's search leads them to even more gruesome discoveries, a series of disturbing notes urges Lady Darby to give up the inquiry. But Kiera is determined to both protect her family and prove her innocence, even as she risks becoming the next victim...

Don’t Write What You Know. Write Like You Know

by J. Mark Bertrand

It’s not enough to write what you know. You have to write like you know. All the research in the world won’t save you if you don’t master the art of writing with authority.

I should know. I write crime novels––police procedurals––and yet the closest I’ve come to wearing a badge is completing a private detective correspondence course as a teenager. And yet a real cop, reading one of my fight scenes, reported the action was authentic enough to make him reach for his back-up piece.

“Cool,” I thought. Then: “How did that happen?”

On my shelf is a novel written by a homicide detective. If the author bio is to be believed, the guy knows his stuff. Still, I couldn’t get through the story: it just rang so false. He was writing what he knew, but not writing like he knew it. You can tell the truth in such a way that nobody believes it, and that’s what this man did. He had authority, but he didn’t write with it.

So what’s the trick to writing with authority?

Tell the deeper truth.

Wear your knowledge lightly and focus on the visceral story realities, the emotional truth. Telling me if the rounds in the magazine are 115-grain or 124, hollow points or full metal jacket, isn’t nearly as important as making me feel what it’s like to have that muzzle shoved in my face. Get that wrong, and even if your facts are straight, I won’t buy it.

At the same time, don’t give yourself away. If you don’t know, don’t go there. My rule of thumb is, if I don’t know something without looking it up, I’m usually better off working around it. When you drop in undigested research morsels, the reader can feel it in his teeth.

Even if you do know, avoid the nitty gritty when you can. Castiglione preached the grace of sprezzatura, which amounts to never appearing to try too hard. Even when things don’t come easy, make them look easy. Learn that and you can write with authority when you’re not one.

Authors who spout facts come off like they’re trying to prove something, and authors trying to prove something rarely do.

Your story is like a painted backdrop. As long as the camera’s at the right distance and the action moves at a healthy pace, the illusion is convincing. Slow down, zoom too close, and the bubble bursts. So don’t take your foot off the pedal. Writing what you know requires research. Writing like you know requires narrative verve. While verve alone won’t make up for flat out ignorance, mere knowledge won’t imbue your story with a sense of reality. Ironically enough, the key to realism is a vivid imagination.

J. Mark Bertrand is the author of three crime novels featuring Houston homicide detective Roland March. The most recent, Nothing to Hide, was published in July 2012. He has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Houston and blogs about writing and the life of crime at CrimeGenre.com.

NOTHING TO HIDE: Spies and gun runners. The Divine Comedy meets the Mexican Cartels. The stakes have never been higher for Detective Roland March.

The head is missing, but what intrigues March is the victim’s skinned hand. The pointing finger must be a clue––but to what? According to the FBI, the dead man was an undercover asset tracking the flow of illegal arms to the Mexican cartels. To protect the operation, they want March to play along with the cover story. With a little digging, though, he discovers the Feds are lying. And they're not the only ones. In an upside-down world of paranoia and conspiracy, March finds himself dogged by injury and haunted by a tragic failure. Forced to take justice into his own hands, his twisting investigation leads him into the very heart of darkness, leaving March with nothing to lose––and nothing to hide.

Self Publishing vs. Mainstream Publishing

 

by Leo Maloney

Writing my first novel has been a 3-year process. When I started, I had no concept of the work and time that would be required. It seemed to me that I had a pretty interesting story, based on my thirty-years of experiences as a Black Ops contractor. I naively thought that when I was finished writing the book, a publishing company would jump at the chance to publish it. I had no training as a writer, but found I had a knack for telling a story. I combined events and characters from my past in a plot that I felt would appeal to thriller readers. Other authors had to do research … I was writing from experience, so I felt I had an edge.

I brought my manuscript to ThrillerFest 2010 in NYC with the goal of getting an agent. I didn’t. But I learned about writing “rules” and the procedures involved with publishing. Upon returning home I refined my novel and sent query letters to dozens of agents. Some sent back polite letters stating that the book wasn’t their type; others ignored me.

I considered giving up, but then decided to explore self-publishing. Having some experience with promotions, I opened my own publishing company, Independent Publishing House (IPH), with a NYC address and phone number. I found experts in the specialties that I needed: freelance editors, a graphic arts designer, printer, publicist, and a consultant who was working in publishing. With their help, I produced my book and printed a first run. With Lightning Source as distributor, the book was available on Amazon.com as both a print and e-book. I was able to place copies in a local Walgreens and independent bookstore, but was frustrated that Barnes and Noble would not talk to me.

I knew then I needed a publisher.

After about seven months, I was fortunate to have a conversation with Michaela Hamilton, Executive Editor of Kensington Publishing Corp. A couple of weeks later I went to NYC to meet with Michaela and also met everyone at the company, from the owner to the mail handler. Everyone treated me like a member of the Kensington family. Within days I had a contract for a 2-book deal. After some editing and an impressive new cover, Termination Orders was released.

I attended ThrillerFest again this year, and was asked to be on a panel. I will attend Bouchercon and will participate on a panel there as well. I have several signings at bookstores scheduled as well as radio interviews.

I think one of the most important benefits of a mainstream publisher is that “they’ve done it” … they have a formula that works. In addition, they can get you into stores that a self-published author cannot get into, unless he already has a huge reputation. It took a great deal of hard work, self-promoting and luck to get to this point.

What I have learned from this journey is not to give up. If you believe in yourself, have a good commercial product and work hard, you can be successful.

While Leo J. Maloney was serving in the army in 1966, he was recruited by a United States government clandestine agency and received highly specialized Black Ops training. Among his assignments in the decades that followed were asset extraction, espionage, and numerous missions still too secret to divulge. Now retired, he lives in the Boston area. To learn more, please visit LEOJMALONEY.COM.

TERMINATION ORDERS: Once a trained killer for the CIA, Dan Morgan has built a new life for himself. But when he receives a desperate plea from his former Black Ops partner - reportedly killed in a foreign battle zone - he flies to help. It should be a routine mission, extracting a human asset from the region. But it's not routine; it's an ambush. Now Morgan is running for his life, holding crucial evidence. With his contacts dead and family in danger, Morgan must take on a full-scale conspiracy in the highest echelons of a vast global network that plays by its own rules - when it suits them. For Dan Morgan, it's about to come to an end in Washington, D.C., on a national stage, in the crosshairs of a killer...

September 2012 Debuts

Happy September and Happy Thrilling Thursday. The first of every month we will feature members of our Debut Authors Program. We are excited to announce that two members have books being released in September 2012. Please take a look and let’s celebrate their success!

Tim O’ Brien’s THE LINCOLN CONSPIRACY
A nation shattered by its president’s murder. Two diaries that reveal the true scope of an American conspiracy. A detective determined to bring the truth to light, no matter what it costs him.What if the plot to assassinate President Lincoln was wider and more sinister than we ever imagined? (Ballantine)
Amy Shojai’s LOST and FOUND
Animal behaviorist September Day has lost everything—husband murdered, career in ruins, confidence shot—and flees to Texas to recover. She’s forced out of hibernation when her nephew Steven and his autism service dog Shadow disappear in a freak blizzard. When her sister trusts a maverick researcher’s promise to help Steven, September has 24 hours to rescue them from a devastating medical experiment impacting millions of children, a deadly secret others will kill to protect. As September races the clock, the body count swells. Shadow does his good-dog duty but can’t protect his boy. Finally September and Shadow forge a stormy partnership to rescue the missing and stop the nightmare cure. But can they also find the lost parts of themselves?

PROMOTING YOUR NEW BABY--LESSONS LEARNED BY A DEBUT NOVELIST

by H. W. “Buzz” Bernard

The most pressing question I had upon the release of my debut novel, Eyewall, was: How am I gonna promote the darn thing? Fortunately, my publisher, BelleBooks, had an answer.

 “We’re going to give it away.”

“You’re what?”

“We’re going to give it away.”

Holy crap, I thought. I spend 10 years and buckets-full of blood, sweat and tears to get something traditionally published and now it’s gonna be a freebie!

“Uh, that’s a little counterintuitive,” I told them.

“Trust us. You’ll see.”

Yeah, check’s in the mail. It was obvious to me that these people had gone down the rabbit hole. I took matters into my own hands, signing up for a “virtual” (blog) tour, creating a new Website, and developing a Facebook page for Eyewall. Well, you know how this turned out, don’t you? The giveaway for Eyewall on Amazon jumpstarted sales and, more importantly, reviews. The novel shot up immediately to number one on Amazon’s Kindle free list, then peaked at number eight on the paid list after it came off the freebie shelf. But the key here is the reviews Eyewall received, most of them glowing. It’s word-of-mouth that propels the commercial success of a book. And there’s nothing like giving something away to get people to give it a whirl. Or in the case of Eyewall, to take a ride into the eye of a Cat 5 hurricane.

A little sidebar here. BelleBooks, at the time of the giveaway, had been hemming and hawing over accepting my second novel, Plague. I had a contract in-hand two days after Eyewall hit number one on the freebie list. Ah, yes. The Doctrine of Unintended Consequences in action, in a positive way. Later in the year, Eyewall, on the strength of Amazon’s Daily Deal, in which a featured eBook sells for $1.99, rocketed to number one on the paid list.

It’s obvious to me now that BelleBooks was on top of the game. They knew precisely how to leverage the market in the world of eBooks and digital marketing giants. Lesson learned: Listen to the folks who’ve been around the (publishing) block a few times.

So, you ask, what fruit did my marketing efforts bear? The upgraded Website was a bit pricey, but it’s important that I--and you, as an author--have a professional, polished Web presence. It shouldn’t look like something built by your 10-year-old grandson. Looking back, the virtual tour did virtually nothing to nudge sales up, at least not when compared to the great freebie caper. The Facebook page didn’t cost anything, but now that I’ve got additional novels in the pipeline, I’m abandoning the Eyewall page in favor of an author page. For Plague, I’m updating my Website again, not purchasing any pre-publication marketing packages, and avoiding book signings. The in-store event that turned out best for me was the launch party for Plague.


H. W. “Buzz” Bernard is vice president of the Southeastern Writers Association. Besides being a member of International Thriller Writers, he belongs to the Atlanta Writers Club and Willamette Writers. His debut novel, Eyewall, was a number one best seller on Kindle. His second novel, Plague, comes out this month in trade paperback and eBook formats. He and his wife Christina live in Roswell, Georgia, along with their fuzzy Shih-Tzu, Stormy.

PLAGUE A brilliant but psychopathic microbiologist-turned-terrorist is about to unleash weaponized Ebola, the Black Death of the 21st century, on a major American city. Only one man has enough information to stop what could turn into a global plague. But he’s wounded, wanted for murder, and is being hunted by a German hit-woman. He doesn’t stand a chance.

Thrillerfest 2012: View from a Debut

by Carter Wilson

 

Holy hell, what a cool conference!

This was my third trip to Thrillerfest and my first as a debut author. On my two prior jaunts, I clung to every word at each panel, then clung to the wall and my drink at each reception. I couldn’t simply go up and talk to these well known authors, could I? The publishing industry is a foreign world to me, having been rooted in the hotel and consulting business for twenty years. In prior years I met few people but learned much from the panels. I quietly collected information, garnered insights, but was intimated by a camaraderie of the erudite.

This year, however, I came to ITW as a debut author, having published my novel FINAL CROSSING (Vantage Point Books) in June. I will say that it’s been a long road for me (as it is for most authors). FINAL CROSSING was my fifth novel but the first to sell. This made the experience at Thrillerfest this year all the more sweet for me—the hard work had finally paid off (at least in terms of satisfaction if not gobs of cash). This year at Thrillerfest, I met two dozen other debuts like me, and was able to compare and contrast experiences.  Most importantly, I now had people to drink with.

I also shared with my fellow debuts the experience of the Debut Author Breakfast, which is somewhat surreal. A few hundred people came to an amazing morning feast as the debuts were honored for our foray into the world of publishing.  Douglas Preston (Douglas Preston!) introduced each one of us personally to the crowd, which, I will add, is the last time I use the truth in my bio. My fellow debuts had such fascinating backgrounds. Mine seemed lacking, to be put it mildly. Hospitality consultant? From here on out, I am a former CIA agent/astronaut/biohazard weapon scientist-gone-rogue. So there.

After this year's conference, I am also committed to becoming involved with Thrillerfest for next year and beyond.  One thing I would love to see more focus on are those authors not-yet published. Twice I attended Thrillerfest as a "hopeful", and I was impressed by how many unpublished writers continue to attend the conference to connect with agents, publishers, and to learn more about the industry. Agentfest is an amazing event, but I would love to see more panels focused on those who are trying to understand more about what it takes to break into the industry.  Even a session or two would be enough.

Overall, however, Thrillerfest is worth every dollar. The networking, collective knowledge of attendees, and sheer coolness of the event make it the premier conference for aspiring and published thriller writers. Plan on seeing me there next year!

Thriller-writer Carter Wilson was born in New Mexico and grew up in Los Angeles before attending school at Cornell University. He has journeyed the globe both for work and pleasure, and his travels to Jerusalem were the inspiration behind FINAL CROSSING, which was released in June 2012 by Vantage Point Books. Carter is represented by Pamela Ahearn of the Ahearn Agency and is a member of the International Thriller Writer's organization. He currently lives in a spooky Victorian house in Colorado with his two children. Carter is currently at work on his second novel. Visit him at www.carterwilson.com

 

FINAL CROSSING (June 2012, Vantage Point) is the story of a senatorial chief of staff who teams up with a beautiful psychic criminologist to hunt down a serial killer who thinks God has commissioned him to start the Final Judgment

How your First Readers Help Establish your Brand

 
When we debut authors finally see our books in print, on the shelves, and in readers' hands, we find out important things about our stories. They no longer belong to us. They belong to our readers.

Now that I’m into editing the third novel in my series, I have become quite careful about giving my readers what they have stated that they loved the most about my books. It helps me determine what content I should cut out and what type of content I should give more of, and most importantly what I need to do to keep them wanting more books.

Today on The Thrill Begins, multi-award winning suspense author Lynn Emery shares how the reaction from her first novel changed the direction of how she wrote. Her quick discovery and acknowledgment that her readers had tapped into something important about her books, something that neither she nor her publisher had realized, made her a success once she adjusted her stories to satisfy her readers.

Setting as Character for my Books

 by Lynn Emery

My first book, Night Magic, was published in 1995. The book grew out of a writing exercise we did at my local RWA chapter meeting. The topic was description. The objective was to write a scene showing a character arriving or leaving somewhere. Our assignment was to bring the setting alive. We were to set the mood by describing the surroundings and the character’s reaction to that setting. I wrote a short scene showing Karen, my main character returning to her small hometown. I described her driving past Louisiana bayous and the lush green growth of the countryside.

After the book was published more than a few readers wrote to me and mentioned Louisiana as though my home state was a major secondary character. As a new writer I realized they were right. From then on I made sure that Louisiana became a leading character in the next eleven books I sold. It paid off.

Here are a few things to consider if you plan to make setting a character in your next novel:

1. A distinctive setting becomes a character when the culture, landscape and even climate contribute to the story so strongly. In other words, the reader becomes just as interested in the setting as the people and the plot within it. 
2. A setting can be a culture, sub-culture, or a profession. It’s not just limited to geography.
3. Bring your setting alive so much so that your readers experience it as a living thing. Take the exercise I had to do in RWA. Describe where you are as if it was a person or a pet.
4. Use settings to deepen the characterization of the story people. When we think of character development the region where the main character lives helps to shape the way that person thinks, the choices that person makes, their dialogue, and the way they react.

BETWEEN DUSK and DAWN: LaShaun Rousselle is as famous, and infamous, as her ancestors for being a psychic and voodoo expert. After a bad girl life she’s finally settled down in her small hometown of Beau Chene, Louisiana. She’s content to have a few true friends, and a new love with Deputy Chase Broussard,the chief criminal investigator with the Vermillion Parish Sheriff Department.LaShaun is determined to live simply and quietly, no more trouble. But trouble arrives on her doorstep in the unlikely form of two middle-aged ladies bearing unsettling suspicions about weird happenings in the parish.. Are the legends about loup garou real? LaShaun and Chase are going to find out and stop a serial killer, human or not.

Lynn is the author of fifteen romantic suspense and mystery novels. A native of Louisiana, most of her books are set in her home state. NIGHT MAGIC was recognized for Excellence in Romance Fiction by Romantic Times Magazine. Her novel AFTER ALL was adapted for a television movie by Black Entertainment Television (BET) in 2000. Lynn has been nominated several times for awards, and in 2006 won three Emma Awards for Kiss Lonely Goodbye as part of the Romance Slam Jam conference. Her latest novels is BETWEEN DUSK and DAWN. For more information visit  www.lynnemery.com

Reinvention

I had the pleasure of meeting Alexandra Sokoloff at one of her week-long classes and found she’s as delightful a person as she is a writer and teacher. I’m happy to welcome her as our guest for today’s blog. She will share her progression as an author—as she reinvests herself and her career in the rapidly evolving world of publishing.

Alex is the Thriller Award-winning author of the crime and supernatural thrillers THE HARROWING, THE PRICE, THE UNSEEN, BOOK OF SHADOWS, THE SPACE BETWEEN and the brand new crime thriller HUNTRESS MOON, and a co-author of the paranormal KEEPERS series, with Heather Graham and Harley Jane Kozak. She is a Bram Stoker and Anthony Award nominee. The New York Times Book Review called her a "daughter of Mary Shelley," and describe her novels as "some of the most original and freshly unnerving work in the genre."

As a screenwriter, Alex has sold original scripts and adapted novels for numerous Hollywood studios. In non-fiction, she is the author of SCREENWRITING TRICKS FOR AUTHORS (AND SCREENWRITERS!), and WRITING LOVE, workbooks based on her internationally acclaimed blog and workshops.
 

Reinvention

By Alexandra Sokoloff

Last night I was on my way home from a “Noir at the Bar” reading here in L.A., and my favorite radio station was playing alive recording of a Sting concert I’d actually been in the audience for, years ago. I always love that multidimensional feeling; it was like being in a time machine taking me back to a night I remember very well, because I’d just sold my first screenplay that month, a huge kick-start to what turned into an eleven-year screenwriting career. Now, when you’re outside the film business, a break like that feels like shattering some enormous, impenetrable glass dome atop the mythical business they call “the movies” that you’ve been circling for years, trying to figure out the entry point.  A feeling I’m fairly confident you debut authors are experiencing yourselves, lately!

And it was a great synchronicity, being transported back to that time and that feeling... because I’ve just now broken into e publishing with the launch of my new direct-to-e thriller Huntress Moon and am feeling the same kind of exhilaration of shattering a barrier to a whole new and exciting level of my career.  It reminded me how life is a spiral like that. You come back to the exact same points of life, but hopefully you’re constantly moving UP the spiral, taking all your knowledge of that pivotal threshold with you and ascending to a both a higher and a deeper level.

It also reminded me that as writers, we are constantly reinventing ourselves. I would say “having to reinvent ourselves” but that sounds scary and ominous. Oh well, okay, let’s be real. We are constantly HAVING to reinvent ourselves.

I started out as a theater person, from the time I was a kid, really, but after college I quickly switched my ambitions and focus to screenwriting, because I was aware of the practical need to, you know, eat.  Knowing nothing about the film business, I moved to L.A. just figuring I would figure it out. And the fact is, I did pretty much just that – I got the classic entry level job into movies, a script reader for various production companies, learned the business and the craft of film writing by reading and reporting on hundreds of scripts in a very short amount of time, wrote my own script with a writing partner, got an agent by using what I’d learned as a script reader, and sold the script to Fox in a bidding war.

Now, the trouble with being a screenwriter, and with Hollywood in general, is that you get caught up in the fact that you’ve MADE IT in a profession that all the naysayers (you know the ones I mean) always told you you would never MAKE IT in, and you’re making great money for doing what you love and the people you’re working with are wildly talented and interesting, and it’s all so exciting and non-stop that it becomes very hard to see when things are not quite working out the way you envisioned.  Screenwriters have very little power over their work; the potential movies you work on are very very seldom made, and most of them don’t look like any movie you would want your name on anyway once the script has been through the process very aptly named “development hell.”

Cut to ten years later and I had become so creatively miserable, without really knowing it, that it was affecting every other area of my life. And when a movie I’d written that I was truly passionate about fell through when we lost our director to another movie, I snapped. I just wasn’t going to go through that whole thing again.

And that’s how I wrote my first novel, THE HARROWING.  And all the naysayers started up again, a lot of them inside my own head. “You’ll never make a living in publishing. At least in screenwriting you’re writing AND getting paid...”  (insert any profession, you know the drill....) But I knew I had to do something else, so I did, and the book got written, and it got sold, and suddenly a whole other glass dome had been shattered and I was on the rollercoaster of a whole new career, to mix a couple of metaphors. And I was lucky to make the shift when I did, because changes in the film industry have made a screenwriting career exponentially more difficult and creatively frustrating than it was when I started in the business.

But now I had to learn a whole different business and figure out a whole different way of making a living at writing.(NOT making a living was not an option – I’ve been writing professionally for so long I have no other marketable job skills). And publishing is a different way of making a living.

When you start out as an author – well, when I started out as an author, in 2006, people advised that we put our entire first book advance back into promotion. Because that’s how important the lift-off factor is in traditional publishing. I was a total newbie, and got completely obsessed with trying everything there was to try in marketing, all the things I imagine you all have been doing or preparing to do with varying degrees of terror: website, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, blog, grog, blog tours, book tours – oh right, and writing that second book. (If you want a bloodcurdling glimpse into how it was, I’ve blogged about it here: Marketing =Madness).

Well, I made a good launch with THE HARROWING- nominations for Stoker and Anthony Awards, significant recognition as a new and interesting female horror writer... but nothing like the brass ring, bestseller status. But I wrote more good books and got more recognition and also figured out how to create multiple income streams in my writing life –like teaching my very popular "Screenwriting Tricks for Authors" workshop, that I started on my blog and developed into an e workbook Screenwriting Tricks (doing the workshops for free at conferences until I was in demand, and then starting to pick and choose my venues and going only where people would pay me, which also turned into self-perpetuating and well-paying promotion, as well as a personally rewarding avocation).

I’m a big believer in diversifying your writing career in the same way that you diversify a financial portfolio; the money is erratic in a writing career, often cyclical, and it’s a huge mistake to think you’ll earn the same income every year – I’ve seen way too many talented screenwriters and authors crash and burn by making that assumption. Invest wisely when you have the money and always keep a cushion for the lean years, because believe me, there are going to be lean years.

But still, I wasn’t published for long before I started getting that uncomfortable feeling again.  This time it didn’t take as long for me to figure out that I had to try something different – again. (Watching the publishing industry starting to crumble before my eyes with the rise of e readers and self-publishing was a pretty good clue...)

I truly believe we are in the midst of the biggest revolution since the invention of the printing press. E books, ereaders – it is ALL good news for us as writers, because we have so many more choices now. Look, I know it’s hard enough to just get through the day doing the writing you have to do and the promotion you have to do on top of that. You may be just learning the ropes of traditional publishing and here I am suggesting that you add learning the ropes of e publishing, to boot. Don’t panic! Do what you need to do on this wonderful cusp of your brand new career. But if do you find you’re not making enough of a living with your traditionally published book(s), or are getting a nagging feeling that your publisher is not getting enough of your books out there to be bought and read in the first place, or Barnes & Noble goes bankrupt or something, there is a whole other miraculous option for you now.

In a time of diminishing publisher advances and massive bookstore closures, I and many of my traditionally published author friends who started out in publishing at the same time as I did have recently had the surreal experience of making more money in the first few weeks of an e publishing book launch as we ever got for a traditional advance. We can put a book out as soon as we finish it, rather than waiting a year and a half to two years for the publishing process to grind through its cycle.  Given the choice between a traditional publishing deal for HUNTRESS MOON and the tens of thousands of new readers that I was able to reach in just three days of a free Amazon promotion, plus having the full force of the Amazon marketing machine behind the book (which is now an Amazon bestseller that is outselling a staggering number of high-profile traditionally published books that have a Big Six publisher behind them)...

Well, it’s a no-brainer to me.

I guess what I’m trying to say to you is: Be aware. Be aware if a small voice in your head or your gut or wherever those small voices come from tells you that you need to do something different. Be aware of the incredible sea changes taking place in publishing because of the e publishing revolution, and the incredible opportunities that are there for you.  Be aware that you can always, always reinvent yourself.

We’re writers. We make things up. 

Including ourselves.

I wish everyone the absolute best of luck and am very happy to answer any and all questions!

- Alex

Website: http://alexandrasokoloff.com

Blog: http://screenwritingtricks.com

Twitter @alexsokoloff

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alexandra-Sokoloff/61942917067

HUNTRESS MOON   

From Thriller Award-winning author Alexandra Sokoloff - Book 1 in the riveting new Huntress FBI series about a driven FBI agent on the hunt for that most rare of all killers: a female serial.

FBI Special Agent Matthew Roarke is closing in on a bust of a major criminal organization in San Francisco when he witnesses an undercover member of his team killed right in front of him on a busy street, an accident Roarke can’t believe is coincidental. His suspicions put him on the trail of a mysterious young woman who appears to have been present at each scene of a years-long string of “accidents” and murders, and who may well be that most rare of killers: a female serial.

Roarke’s hunt for her takes him across three states...while in a small coastal town, a young father and his five-year old son, both wounded from a recent divorce, encounter a lost and compelling young woman on the beach and strike up an unlikely friendship without realizing how deadly she may be.

As Roarke uncovers the shocking truth of her background, he realizes she is on a mission of her own, and must race to capture her before more blood is shed.

ITW Debut Authors in The News

The summer is a huge month for suspense authors. Most publishers crank out their summer thrillers, book and comic book festivals take over the city, and we celebrate ThrillerFest. This week we’re sharing what some of our 2012 debuts have been up to.
The Library Journal featured some of our great debut authors last month in “International Thriller Writers Debut Authors Breakfast: 21 Thrillers To Shiver Your Bones” Some of the 21 featured were: Nancy Bilyeau’s The Crown, Anthony J.Franze’s The Last Justice, and ,Carter Wilson’s Final Crossing (who apparently shared his novel to the attendants via poem. )Click the link to read more.
At this year’s Thriller Fest. Paul McEuen won the Thriller Award for First novel for SPIRAL(The Dial Press.) The entry form for the 2013 Thriller Awards is available here.Congrats, Paul!
Some of our favorite mentors participated in the LOVE is MURDER anthology edited by Sandra Brown. This summer BookTrib hosted a thirty day blog tour. Click here for to read all the great posts and meet the authors who participated in this great anthology. Here.

July 2012 Debuts

Happy July and Happy Thrilling Thursday. The first of every month we will feature members of our Debut Authors Program. We are excited to announce that two members have books being released in July 2012. Please take a look and let’s celebrate their success!

J.C. Carleson - CLOAKS AND VEILS (Thomas & Mercer) July 2012

For disgraced CIA officer Dara McIntyre, a new assignment to monitor a troubled junior agent is yet another blow to her once high-flying career. Punished for her affair with a Jordanian spy, Dara is stuck in a dreary desk job at Langley headquarters when orders come down for her to assess whether recently widowed officer Caitlin Wolff is still fit to serve in the field.

Dara soon discovers that the grieving widow has dark secrets; Caitlin and her late husband, Jonathan, were running a lurid shadow operation. Convinced that the couple’s unsanctioned acts led to Jonathan’s murder, Dara investigates their final operation. Her mission to track the terrorists responsible for the murder and salvage her career takes Dara to the hedonistic playground of Dubai and the chaotic streets of Barcelona. But when the investigation takes a jarring turn, she can no longer be sure who—if anyone—she can trust.

Joy Castro - HELL OR HIGH WATER (St. Martin’s/Thomas Dunne) July 2012

It's 2008 in New Orleans, and hundreds of registered sex offenders who went off the grid during the Hurricane Katrina evacuation have never been found.

The sex-offender story is assigned to Nola Céspedes, an ambitious young reporter at the Times-Picayune, who tries to balance her investigation with taking care of her aging mother, seeing her girlfriends, mentoring a teenager, and meeting a mysterious stranger named Bento.

As her research progresses, Nola is gradually drawn in to an underworld of violent predators--a world she struggles to keep separate from her middle-class professional life.  Raised in poverty by a single mother in New Orleans' notorious Desire Projects, Nola has her own secrets to hide.