I'm sad because Dr. Horrible is over. Like a really good book I read too fast, it's ended too soon.
Although now, I want to write about superheroes.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
RNA Conference notes part three: Saturday afternoon
While I wait for the third instalment of Dr. Horrible (new addiction! Yes it is!), here are the rest of my conference notes for Saturday's workshops.
Saturday afternoon
Midas PR: secrets of a successful PR campaign
Steven Williams, MD of Midas PR who run the RNA’s publicity campaigns, gave an informative talk on the elements of a PR campaign. He said that PR is all about face-to-face contact, and the best way to do this is to contact national newspapers and TV shows. Phone is better than email, as you want to build a rapport. However, as an example only about 3% of books sent to the Daily Mail are actually reviewed for the paper, and your chances of getting a slot on something like Woman’s Hour are even smaller.
Steven advised us to familiarise ourselves with the media by reading the papers and blogs that review and promote books, to make sure we’re targeting the right ones. He recommended Ready Steady Blog, Book Slut, Grumpy Old Bookman and Rake’s Progress, as well as the women’s website iVillage. You’re more likely to reach younger readers online, and older readers via traditional media. Build a website: this is becoming essential. You don’t necessarily need a blog—a neglected one can reflect badly, but if you think you can stick to it then it’s a good idea.
Write a PR plan. This should factor in lead times—big magazines plan their features 4-6 months ahead, national papers 4-6 weeks. Look at your audience and how to reach them, ie find the right magazine or website for your target readership. Use an angle: for instance have you begun a new career in midlife? Has your writing helped you overcome an illness or tragedy? Do you have an unusual background? Don’t forget that national newspapers have widely-read websites: for instance the Guardian’s paper sales are around 350,000, while its website gets about 16 million hits per day.
You press release should not be too long, no more than a page. Include a relevant biography—leave out the details that have nothing to do with your book or the angle you’re chasing. Always include a photo of yourself, as professional as possible.
Try targeting the trade press, in this instance writing magazines, with feature ideas, and don’t neglect your local papers or radio, as you have a built-in angle. Try to build a relationship with someone at the paper/radio station—think of that face-to-face contact. People are more likely to remember you that way and think of you for their own articles. Literary festivals ar eon the rise and a great way to make your face known.
Use the themes in your book if you don’t have a personal angle. For instance Freya North, who won the RNA main award this year with Pillow Talk. She ran interviews with sleepwalkers, as it affects her main character.
Unfortunately if you’re fielding the press campaign yourself it’s very expensive: Steven warned that a 2-3 day hard campaign would cost about £5000. This could rise to £20,000 for a bigger campaign.
Emma Rose: The life and times of a Random House novel.
Emma Rose edits the Arrow line of books at Random House. She invented a fictional author and her book, to talk us through the submission and publishing process: Betty Seller, whose first book (sorry but I’ve forgotten the fictional title!) has been submitted to Random House.
The editor takes lunch with an agent, who pitches Betty’s book. Emma likes the agent, and trusts her to pitch books that match the style and taste of the things she’d looking for. She accepts the submission and reads it quickly. Emma uses an e-reader, so she can read the book in the office and on the train, or wherever she likes. She likes the book, and takes it to her senior editor.
Emma has to sell the book to everyone else in the office: not just her senior editor, but also the maeketing, sales and editorial teams have to be on board. The book is pitched at an acquisitions meeting, where a profit-and-loss sheet is drawn up to work out the maximum offer Random House can afford to make on Betty’s book. They need to work out where it will fit into the schedule, making sure it won’t clash with other books of a similar nature.
The ultimate decision on whether to accept the book lies with the editorial department, but the marketing dept. also has a say.
The editorial team will make a presentation to Betty and her agent on how they intend to sell the book. If Betty’s agent has pitched the book to more than one publisher, they may need to try harder, and an auction might decide who actually takes on the book.
Emma’s offer is successful and Betty signs the deal. A year in advance, the author is consulted on the ‘jacket brief’. Work on the cover begins early as it is such an important selling tool. The team must decide where the book will be positioned in the market, and if the cover should feature photos, illustrations, or mainly text. The editor needs to tell the designer why she loves the book, and what the market is.
The editorial team has lunch with the agent and author so that the author can meet the team. Emma’s notes on Betty’s book allow her to return the second draft within a month, and a few weeks later the line edits have been completed. Emma did note that this is a very fast turnaround, but we’re looking at a perfect example.
Emma creates a title information sheet, which includes details on Betty, her biography, her agent, the cover and blurb of the book, as well as the sales points of the book. The publisher will usually write the blurb, although occasionally the author might do it. It’s considered a major selling point.
Sales to big chains have to begin 6-8 months in advance. If the book is to be published in May, then the jacket brief takes place the preceding May. In July the blurb is written. September is when the marketing meeting takes place, and a month later marketing material is produced at the sales launch meeting. In November, a proof cover is created.
Proofs are less common now than they used to be. They’re advance copies sent to booksellers, with some of the sales points on the cover (a friend of mine used to work in a bookshop and bring these home—it was how I discovered Sarah Mason—I remember a large photo of the author on the front cover, and sales points on the back, telling potential booksellers where the book stood in the market, expected print run/sales figures, and how great the book was was). After the final edit the book is sent to a freelance copy editor to check for any mistakes. The editorial team chooses the typeface and the proof is created a few weeks later.
In terms of marketing, sell-out and sell-through are about point-of-sale marketing, getting consumers (ie readers) to buy the product. Company marketing to customers (ie booksellers), known as sell-in, uses less paper materials and more interactive gimmicks, such as the whips sent to company buyers advertising a new bonkbuster. Samples of the book are often sent out, and various toys, and sometimes even cakes! Occasionally the publisher will take the buyer to dinner, but that’s less common now. A lot of customers don’t allow freebies. The publisher looks at marketing Betty’s career, rather than individual books. They work several books ahead. The aim is always to get books on shelves.
The marketing department might be working several books ahead. Their aim is always to get books on shelves, but ultimately they’re not marketing one book, they’re marketing Betty Seller’s entire career.
Saturday afternoon
Midas PR: secrets of a successful PR campaign
Steven Williams, MD of Midas PR who run the RNA’s publicity campaigns, gave an informative talk on the elements of a PR campaign. He said that PR is all about face-to-face contact, and the best way to do this is to contact national newspapers and TV shows. Phone is better than email, as you want to build a rapport. However, as an example only about 3% of books sent to the Daily Mail are actually reviewed for the paper, and your chances of getting a slot on something like Woman’s Hour are even smaller.
Steven advised us to familiarise ourselves with the media by reading the papers and blogs that review and promote books, to make sure we’re targeting the right ones. He recommended Ready Steady Blog, Book Slut, Grumpy Old Bookman and Rake’s Progress, as well as the women’s website iVillage. You’re more likely to reach younger readers online, and older readers via traditional media. Build a website: this is becoming essential. You don’t necessarily need a blog—a neglected one can reflect badly, but if you think you can stick to it then it’s a good idea.
Write a PR plan. This should factor in lead times—big magazines plan their features 4-6 months ahead, national papers 4-6 weeks. Look at your audience and how to reach them, ie find the right magazine or website for your target readership. Use an angle: for instance have you begun a new career in midlife? Has your writing helped you overcome an illness or tragedy? Do you have an unusual background? Don’t forget that national newspapers have widely-read websites: for instance the Guardian’s paper sales are around 350,000, while its website gets about 16 million hits per day.
You press release should not be too long, no more than a page. Include a relevant biography—leave out the details that have nothing to do with your book or the angle you’re chasing. Always include a photo of yourself, as professional as possible.
Try targeting the trade press, in this instance writing magazines, with feature ideas, and don’t neglect your local papers or radio, as you have a built-in angle. Try to build a relationship with someone at the paper/radio station—think of that face-to-face contact. People are more likely to remember you that way and think of you for their own articles. Literary festivals ar eon the rise and a great way to make your face known.
Use the themes in your book if you don’t have a personal angle. For instance Freya North, who won the RNA main award this year with Pillow Talk. She ran interviews with sleepwalkers, as it affects her main character.
Unfortunately if you’re fielding the press campaign yourself it’s very expensive: Steven warned that a 2-3 day hard campaign would cost about £5000. This could rise to £20,000 for a bigger campaign.
Emma Rose: The life and times of a Random House novel.
Emma Rose edits the Arrow line of books at Random House. She invented a fictional author and her book, to talk us through the submission and publishing process: Betty Seller, whose first book (sorry but I’ve forgotten the fictional title!) has been submitted to Random House.
The editor takes lunch with an agent, who pitches Betty’s book. Emma likes the agent, and trusts her to pitch books that match the style and taste of the things she’d looking for. She accepts the submission and reads it quickly. Emma uses an e-reader, so she can read the book in the office and on the train, or wherever she likes. She likes the book, and takes it to her senior editor.
Emma has to sell the book to everyone else in the office: not just her senior editor, but also the maeketing, sales and editorial teams have to be on board. The book is pitched at an acquisitions meeting, where a profit-and-loss sheet is drawn up to work out the maximum offer Random House can afford to make on Betty’s book. They need to work out where it will fit into the schedule, making sure it won’t clash with other books of a similar nature.
The ultimate decision on whether to accept the book lies with the editorial department, but the marketing dept. also has a say.
The editorial team will make a presentation to Betty and her agent on how they intend to sell the book. If Betty’s agent has pitched the book to more than one publisher, they may need to try harder, and an auction might decide who actually takes on the book.
Emma’s offer is successful and Betty signs the deal. A year in advance, the author is consulted on the ‘jacket brief’. Work on the cover begins early as it is such an important selling tool. The team must decide where the book will be positioned in the market, and if the cover should feature photos, illustrations, or mainly text. The editor needs to tell the designer why she loves the book, and what the market is.
The editorial team has lunch with the agent and author so that the author can meet the team. Emma’s notes on Betty’s book allow her to return the second draft within a month, and a few weeks later the line edits have been completed. Emma did note that this is a very fast turnaround, but we’re looking at a perfect example.
Emma creates a title information sheet, which includes details on Betty, her biography, her agent, the cover and blurb of the book, as well as the sales points of the book. The publisher will usually write the blurb, although occasionally the author might do it. It’s considered a major selling point.
Sales to big chains have to begin 6-8 months in advance. If the book is to be published in May, then the jacket brief takes place the preceding May. In July the blurb is written. September is when the marketing meeting takes place, and a month later marketing material is produced at the sales launch meeting. In November, a proof cover is created.
Proofs are less common now than they used to be. They’re advance copies sent to booksellers, with some of the sales points on the cover (a friend of mine used to work in a bookshop and bring these home—it was how I discovered Sarah Mason—I remember a large photo of the author on the front cover, and sales points on the back, telling potential booksellers where the book stood in the market, expected print run/sales figures, and how great the book was was). After the final edit the book is sent to a freelance copy editor to check for any mistakes. The editorial team chooses the typeface and the proof is created a few weeks later.
In terms of marketing, sell-out and sell-through are about point-of-sale marketing, getting consumers (ie readers) to buy the product. Company marketing to customers (ie booksellers), known as sell-in, uses less paper materials and more interactive gimmicks, such as the whips sent to company buyers advertising a new bonkbuster. Samples of the book are often sent out, and various toys, and sometimes even cakes! Occasionally the publisher will take the buyer to dinner, but that’s less common now. A lot of customers don’t allow freebies. The publisher looks at marketing Betty’s career, rather than individual books. They work several books ahead. The aim is always to get books on shelves.
The marketing department might be working several books ahead. Their aim is always to get books on shelves, but ultimately they’re not marketing one book, they’re marketing Betty Seller’s entire career.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
I've just discovered Dr. Horrible
I'm amazed that with my abiding love of all things Joss Whedon I managed to miss this! Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog is a musical blog webcast thingy with a lovelorn wannabe supervillain, and Nathan Fillion as an egocentric singing superhero.
What's not to love?
(If that site is down, which it apparently often is due to the sheer volume of people wanting to share the Horribleness, try here).
Episodes--oops, I mean Acts--Two and Three will be shown 17th and 19th July, and taken down 20th July. Don't forget to read the Master Plan, it's hi-larious!
What's not to love?
(If that site is down, which it apparently often is due to the sheer volume of people wanting to share the Horribleness, try here).
Episodes--oops, I mean Acts--Two and Three will be shown 17th and 19th July, and taken down 20th July. Don't forget to read the Master Plan, it's hi-larious!
RNA conference notes part two: Saturday mid-morning
Following on from Saturday morning's sessions, after coffee and the first of many compliments on my shoes
Anna Scamans: A Sense of Place
Anna (writing as Anna Louise Lucia) gave a brilliant interactive workshop on how to use setting in your books. She began by reading the opening of a Mary Stewart book (can anyone remember which one? I’m not hugely well-read on MS and only have one on my shelves--which isn't it!). The passage described the landscape in terms that foreshadow what’s to come: “a sound like rain” (which I think described the susurrus of wind on long grass or crops) hinting there’s a storm ahead in the story.
The passage was long, and as Anna said, unlikely to be picked up by a publisher today as a way of opening a book. Be wary of putting too much description together in your book—consider the pacing.
Anna asked us to partner up and describe a place that we had a personal connection to.
As Anna said when these places were described (not quite as lengthily as mine!), there is always a reaction to a space—whether you’re safe, happy, uncomfortable, scared, disgusted, whatever. What you know about a place is as important as what we see. Think of those poppy fields in northern France and Belgium: they look very pretty and peaceful, but we know the horrors that went on there, and it affects how we feel about them.
Your relationship with a space makes you who you are. I described a rural setting, but my partner described an urban one (again, it reminded her of her childhood) in which she felt happy. Having lived in a semi-rural setting all my life, I’m much happier with some space and greenery around me, but I’ve had city-dwelling friends who feel unsafe in the countryside (you know, all those pitchfork-wielding yokels. Too much League of Gentlemen if you ask me).
Make the setting significant to the characters. Anna’s example was the film Gladiator: we first see Maximus on a dark, muddy, bloody battlefield where he seems to be completely at home; but when he closes his eyes he dreams of golden fields, because that’s where his home really is.
When you’re researching a setting, don’t just look for geographical details. Try looking at blogs and travel journals to see how other people have connected with a place.
Anna put up four photographs, of a city street, a green valley, a beach at sunset and her office (complete with cats), and asked us to pick one and write about a character who felt comfortable there, interacting with the surroundings. Then to take the same character and put him/her in a setting that was uncomfortable. Taking a character out of their element can say as much about them as putting them somewhere they’re comfortable.
Use the five senses—although admittedly Taste is a tough one in a lot of settings! If your setting is somewhere that includes food or drink then it’s easier. Don’t just describe how a place looks but how it sounds and smells, and what sort of textures your character encounters.
When Anna came into the room she said it reminded her of being back at school—perhaps because of the desk and chairs and OHP, but the thing that got me about it was the smell. My primary school had the infants class next to the office and staff room. Whenever the connecting door opened, I smelled paper, ink and coffee. It still takes me back twenty-one years to Mrs Wood’s class, even when I smell it in my own office now.
Finally, Anna reminded us that a physical journey can often symbolise an emotional journey. Just don’t be too obvious with it!
Anna Scamans: A Sense of Place
Anna (writing as Anna Louise Lucia) gave a brilliant interactive workshop on how to use setting in your books. She began by reading the opening of a Mary Stewart book (can anyone remember which one? I’m not hugely well-read on MS and only have one on my shelves--which isn't it!). The passage described the landscape in terms that foreshadow what’s to come: “a sound like rain” (which I think described the susurrus of wind on long grass or crops) hinting there’s a storm ahead in the story.
The passage was long, and as Anna said, unlikely to be picked up by a publisher today as a way of opening a book. Be wary of putting too much description together in your book—consider the pacing.
Anna asked us to partner up and describe a place that we had a personal connection to.
Mine was the fields where I walk the Demon Puppy—although she’s just over a year old, I’ve been walking there since, well, I was old enough to! My first dog, Jenny, was an ancient terrier cross who joined the family ten years before I did, and died when I was five, so our field walks were short. However, for five years after that we continued to walk in the fields on bank holidays and weekends when the weather was good.
I remember the gleam of wheat in sunshine, the movement of crops like waves in water. The smell of rain on a sunny day. The cool of the shade under the trees in the little wood and the stink of stagnant water in one of the overflow ponds up in the small nature reserve.
Those ponds became a bathing pool for Honey, who was my dog from age 10 to 24. She was long-haired (Retriever/Sheltie cross) and on hot days I used to walk her to the far side of the fields, through the nature reserve, to the ponds, where she’d just wade in and stand there, steaming, but never getting her face wet, like a lady with a hairdo. Now the Demon Puppy (short-haired black Lab/Collie cross) launches herself in, belly-flop style, and paddles around after sticks. This dog ain’t no lady.
Those fields and woods remind me of my childhood and of my dogs. I quite often stand there and, as Neil Finn put it, “breathe in the view” (from the song Part Of Me, Part Of You, which even starts with the words “Over these green hills, blue electric light, always in my blood, forever in my eyes”—yes, the setting even brings music to mind!). I’ve always been very glad they’re so close and always felt at home and quite safe there—although this could be to do with the hefty weight of the brass buckle on the end of the dog lead!
As Anna said when these places were described (not quite as lengthily as mine!), there is always a reaction to a space—whether you’re safe, happy, uncomfortable, scared, disgusted, whatever. What you know about a place is as important as what we see. Think of those poppy fields in northern France and Belgium: they look very pretty and peaceful, but we know the horrors that went on there, and it affects how we feel about them.
Your relationship with a space makes you who you are. I described a rural setting, but my partner described an urban one (again, it reminded her of her childhood) in which she felt happy. Having lived in a semi-rural setting all my life, I’m much happier with some space and greenery around me, but I’ve had city-dwelling friends who feel unsafe in the countryside (you know, all those pitchfork-wielding yokels. Too much League of Gentlemen if you ask me).
Make the setting significant to the characters. Anna’s example was the film Gladiator: we first see Maximus on a dark, muddy, bloody battlefield where he seems to be completely at home; but when he closes his eyes he dreams of golden fields, because that’s where his home really is.
When you’re researching a setting, don’t just look for geographical details. Try looking at blogs and travel journals to see how other people have connected with a place.
Anna put up four photographs, of a city street, a green valley, a beach at sunset and her office (complete with cats), and asked us to pick one and write about a character who felt comfortable there, interacting with the surroundings. Then to take the same character and put him/her in a setting that was uncomfortable. Taking a character out of their element can say as much about them as putting them somewhere they’re comfortable.
Use the five senses—although admittedly Taste is a tough one in a lot of settings! If your setting is somewhere that includes food or drink then it’s easier. Don’t just describe how a place looks but how it sounds and smells, and what sort of textures your character encounters.
When Anna came into the room she said it reminded her of being back at school—perhaps because of the desk and chairs and OHP, but the thing that got me about it was the smell. My primary school had the infants class next to the office and staff room. Whenever the connecting door opened, I smelled paper, ink and coffee. It still takes me back twenty-one years to Mrs Wood’s class, even when I smell it in my own office now.
Finally, Anna reminded us that a physical journey can often symbolise an emotional journey. Just don’t be too obvious with it!
Monday, July 14, 2008
RNA conference notes--part one: Friday & Saturday morning
I figured it was about time I posted something useful and constructive about the RNA conference, seeing as how I’ve been back a whole week now. I didn’t take my camera, so I’ve borrowed some pictures from other people who did.
Friday afternoon started with the author panel. I’ve already wibbled on about it; the other authors present did a much better job than me!
Picture borrowed from Liz Fenwick, who has loads of great snaps. L-R: me, Nicola Cornick, Kate Harrison (standing; just finished The Secret Shopper's Revenge and loved it!), Anne Ashurst (just visible), Kate Hardy, Anna Jacobs.
Same line-up; this time it's Nicola Cornick speaking.
After a slightly late, boozy Friday night, it was time to get down to the business of learning more about this ridiculous business of writing and publishing. Here are the first couple of talks I went to.
Saturday morning
jay Dixon: Shakespeare on Love
jay gave an informative talk on the influences of Shakespeare on romantic novelists from Georgette Heyer through to the present. Knowledge of Shakespeare has often been used to demonstrate compatibility between characters, and used as a shorthand to add intelligence, without stretching the reader’s knowledge too far. Shakespeare is known all over the world in many different languages (I once saw a production of King Lear at the Barbican that had an all-English cast, including the late Nigel Hawthorne, but an all-Japanese crew, including the director, Yukio Ninegawa).
Shakespeare has given us many common words, such as abstemious, critical, frugal, and zany—and several that haven’t caught on so well, such as insultment (I love this!), bepray, and undeaf.
He borrowed plots and subplots in a way that would have us crying piracy today—but in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was entirely acceptable. What Shakespeare gave us was a fresh way of writing. He could portray a character through speech—changing patterns of speech for older or younger characters, nobles or commoners (Julie Cohen also touched on this in her Sunday talk). His work was rich with metaphors and new ideas ‘bursting from their shells’ (that comes from a quote, but I only mate a very quick note so I can’t remember who!).
Romeo and Juliet gives us the framework for the romantic novel, beginning with disharmony and moving towards harmony. The stages can be described as:
Love at first sight
Obstacle
Declaration
Separation
Reconciliation
Of course in R&J the reconciliation isn’t between the lovers, but their families.
Shakespeare didn’t add on subplots for the hell of it: in R&J the Prince appears at three pivotal points and what he says and does affects the main plot. In Much Ado About Nothing, the wordy, funny, highly charge affair of Beatrice and Benedick is in total contrast to the romantic, tragic affair of Hero and Claudio.
Shakespeare had romantic plots of themes in a lot of plays that weren’t necessarily about romance: for instance Lady Macbeth’s love for her husband is the driving force behind her actions. The jealousy of Othello is a theme that’s been used again and again in romantic novels (although not usually with such tragic consequences).
And finally cross-dressing, so beloved of Shakespeare plots, is still an enduring device in romantic novels, although usually historicals, since today women in effect cross-dress on a daily basis!
Liz Bailey & Eileen Ramsey: Networking
Liz and Eileen gave a hugely enjoyable workshop on the right and wrong ways to network with publishers and agents. Using the biannual RNA parties as their example, and with Pia Fenton and Henriette Gyland as volunteers, they demonstrated the wrong ways to approach editors and agents at such events.
Picture borrowed from Kate Hardy, who also has a comprehensive write-up of the conference)
Things to avoid include: butting in on conversations; taking too long; being rude; approaching someone who doesn’t represent what you write; gushing over the other books they’ve edited; lacking a clear, concise ‘pitch’ to describe your book; don’t expect them to take your details/contact you; badgering famous authors for an introduction (but if they offer you one then take it!).
Things to remember: Be professional; be polite; know what your book is about (sounds obvious, but see below re: being unable to describe my own damn books); have paper/pen ready to take their details; if they’re there at such an event, then they’re willing to talk to you.
Then they had us role-play (haven’t done this since school) as pitchers/pitchees. I cheated, and played the pitchee.
The thing that always stumps me is trying to describe my books. All right; so I can explain the Sophie books without rambling on too long: a ditzy blonde gets recruited as a spy is probably all you need to know. And erotic paranormal romance doesn’t require much further explanation. But the book I’m currently shopping with agents (with very little success; possibly this is why) has no easy description.
I sat next to Imogen Howson for this talk, and while she described her book to me (A romantic ghost story with a shocking twist) perfectly, my description of the Untied Kingdom went something like, “Well, it’s set in a parallel world, and there’s this endless war, because basically we—er, that is Britain, England—are a sort of third world country, and there’s this girl who falls through a whole in the world from our world, and she’s fished out of the river by an army major, and he thinks she’s mad, or maybe a spy, and…”
You see the problem. So during and after the talk, I jotted down ideas for a more concise pitch. The trick to this, as I realised when I was writing the book, is to figure out whose story it is (I kept trying to write it as Eve’s story, but it’s really all about Harker). Here’s what I came up with:
Major Harker is fighting an endless war in a third world country that’s falling apart. It’s called England.
Whaddya think?
Friday afternoon started with the author panel. I’ve already wibbled on about it; the other authors present did a much better job than me!
Picture borrowed from Liz Fenwick, who has loads of great snaps. L-R: me, Nicola Cornick, Kate Harrison (standing; just finished The Secret Shopper's Revenge and loved it!), Anne Ashurst (just visible), Kate Hardy, Anna Jacobs.Same line-up; this time it's Nicola Cornick speaking.
After a slightly late, boozy Friday night, it was time to get down to the business of learning more about this ridiculous business of writing and publishing. Here are the first couple of talks I went to.
Saturday morning
jay Dixon: Shakespeare on Love
jay gave an informative talk on the influences of Shakespeare on romantic novelists from Georgette Heyer through to the present. Knowledge of Shakespeare has often been used to demonstrate compatibility between characters, and used as a shorthand to add intelligence, without stretching the reader’s knowledge too far. Shakespeare is known all over the world in many different languages (I once saw a production of King Lear at the Barbican that had an all-English cast, including the late Nigel Hawthorne, but an all-Japanese crew, including the director, Yukio Ninegawa).
Shakespeare has given us many common words, such as abstemious, critical, frugal, and zany—and several that haven’t caught on so well, such as insultment (I love this!), bepray, and undeaf.
He borrowed plots and subplots in a way that would have us crying piracy today—but in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was entirely acceptable. What Shakespeare gave us was a fresh way of writing. He could portray a character through speech—changing patterns of speech for older or younger characters, nobles or commoners (Julie Cohen also touched on this in her Sunday talk). His work was rich with metaphors and new ideas ‘bursting from their shells’ (that comes from a quote, but I only mate a very quick note so I can’t remember who!).
Romeo and Juliet gives us the framework for the romantic novel, beginning with disharmony and moving towards harmony. The stages can be described as:
Love at first sight
Obstacle
Declaration
Separation
Reconciliation
Of course in R&J the reconciliation isn’t between the lovers, but their families.
Shakespeare didn’t add on subplots for the hell of it: in R&J the Prince appears at three pivotal points and what he says and does affects the main plot. In Much Ado About Nothing, the wordy, funny, highly charge affair of Beatrice and Benedick is in total contrast to the romantic, tragic affair of Hero and Claudio.
Shakespeare had romantic plots of themes in a lot of plays that weren’t necessarily about romance: for instance Lady Macbeth’s love for her husband is the driving force behind her actions. The jealousy of Othello is a theme that’s been used again and again in romantic novels (although not usually with such tragic consequences).
And finally cross-dressing, so beloved of Shakespeare plots, is still an enduring device in romantic novels, although usually historicals, since today women in effect cross-dress on a daily basis!
Liz Bailey & Eileen Ramsey: Networking
Liz and Eileen gave a hugely enjoyable workshop on the right and wrong ways to network with publishers and agents. Using the biannual RNA parties as their example, and with Pia Fenton and Henriette Gyland as volunteers, they demonstrated the wrong ways to approach editors and agents at such events.
Picture borrowed from Kate Hardy, who also has a comprehensive write-up of the conference)Things to avoid include: butting in on conversations; taking too long; being rude; approaching someone who doesn’t represent what you write; gushing over the other books they’ve edited; lacking a clear, concise ‘pitch’ to describe your book; don’t expect them to take your details/contact you; badgering famous authors for an introduction (but if they offer you one then take it!).
Things to remember: Be professional; be polite; know what your book is about (sounds obvious, but see below re: being unable to describe my own damn books); have paper/pen ready to take their details; if they’re there at such an event, then they’re willing to talk to you.
Then they had us role-play (haven’t done this since school) as pitchers/pitchees. I cheated, and played the pitchee.
The thing that always stumps me is trying to describe my books. All right; so I can explain the Sophie books without rambling on too long: a ditzy blonde gets recruited as a spy is probably all you need to know. And erotic paranormal romance doesn’t require much further explanation. But the book I’m currently shopping with agents (with very little success; possibly this is why) has no easy description.
I sat next to Imogen Howson for this talk, and while she described her book to me (A romantic ghost story with a shocking twist) perfectly, my description of the Untied Kingdom went something like, “Well, it’s set in a parallel world, and there’s this endless war, because basically we—er, that is Britain, England—are a sort of third world country, and there’s this girl who falls through a whole in the world from our world, and she’s fished out of the river by an army major, and he thinks she’s mad, or maybe a spy, and…”
You see the problem. So during and after the talk, I jotted down ideas for a more concise pitch. The trick to this, as I realised when I was writing the book, is to figure out whose story it is (I kept trying to write it as Eve’s story, but it’s really all about Harker). Here’s what I came up with:
Major Harker is fighting an endless war in a third world country that’s falling apart. It’s called England.
Whaddya think?
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Hussah!
Have got Mozilla working again! I know, everyone was on tenterhooks, tearing out hair in sympathy, etc. New profile--apparently the old one got corrupted, probably by whatever Norton found lurking like a maggot in the depths of my hard drive. Also, I panicked when the most recent set of bookmarks it could found dated from January 2007--but I located the newer ones, too. I bookmark all my reviews, you see, so I can find them quickly. Now I just have to stop that Getting Started tab popping up every time I launch the browser, and I'm good.
Stupid browsers
So, I was getting tired of Mozilla crashing on me, and on my brother's recommendation downloaded the new version. Mozilla 3.0. Can't get it to even launch properly (opens a blank window and an eggtimer. That's all).
So, I'm using Internet Explorer, which obviously I hated enough to switch to Mozilla. It has none of my usual haunts cached, no bookmarks, no spellchecker (and I'm a terrible typist, I need to see my mistakes before I post anything!) , and everything's a little fuzzy, as if it's been enlarged 110%. Whenever I click on my Gmail notifier for new mail, it tries to open Mozilla. How do I get Mozilla back? I've installed, uninstalled, reinstalled... I don't really want to have to give up on it, especially because it involves resetting all my preferences for things like Gmail.
It's probably my computer, which has decided it hates me. I even downloaded new virus software (AVG Free said there was no problem; Norton begged to differ) which started a whole new rant about why I should have to pay for virus protection just to use the Internet (sure, if you never venture away from AOL or Yahoo's homepages, never send or receive anything, or even download a picture, you'll be safe, but then why are you using the Internet in the first place?).
Just my luck: I get the first computer in existence with PMS.
So, I'm using Internet Explorer, which obviously I hated enough to switch to Mozilla. It has none of my usual haunts cached, no bookmarks, no spellchecker (and I'm a terrible typist, I need to see my mistakes before I post anything!) , and everything's a little fuzzy, as if it's been enlarged 110%. Whenever I click on my Gmail notifier for new mail, it tries to open Mozilla. How do I get Mozilla back? I've installed, uninstalled, reinstalled... I don't really want to have to give up on it, especially because it involves resetting all my preferences for things like Gmail.
It's probably my computer, which has decided it hates me. I even downloaded new virus software (AVG Free said there was no problem; Norton begged to differ) which started a whole new rant about why I should have to pay for virus protection just to use the Internet (sure, if you never venture away from AOL or Yahoo's homepages, never send or receive anything, or even download a picture, you'll be safe, but then why are you using the Internet in the first place?).
Just my luck: I get the first computer in existence with PMS.
Friday, July 11, 2008
My shoes
Since so much has been asked about them--I thought I'd post a picture of the cream and black brogues that got so much attention on Saturday at the conference. Although for some reason Blogger has decided to post the picture sideways. Picture me confused.
I was going to post something much more witty and insightful about the conference, but I'm a bit floopy this morning having handed over a large wodge of cash to my dentist to drill and fill a tooth. Consequently, the right side of my mouth, jaw and lip, are kind of numb and earlier I found myself chewing my own cheek instead of some cheese. I thought I'd cheer myself up by watching Scrubs and Greek, which should have been recording last night, but Sky+ has no memory of either of them. This is very annoying, since I can't find a repeats--not for Greek which was the repeat episode (tennis having taken precedence on Sunday), or Scrubs, which is on E4 where of course there's no room for anything, what with Big Brother chomping great putrid holes in the schedule.
Anyway. When I'm less grumpy I'll write some more about the conference, or at least about Crowded House at Thetford (the cause of my TV schedule interruption) last night!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Annoying things people ask authors
One of the lovely things about RNA meetings is that everyone there is in the same boat, or at least adjacent ones. No one asks you the irritating things you usually get asked whenever you reveal what you do.
These include the assumptions that you're writing about yourself, your friends and family. Maybe people are desperate to recognise themselves in books; whatever it is, just mention a skin tone or hair colour, accent or nationality, or heaven forfend a name a little like someone else's, and everyone's convinced they know who you're writing about.
At RNA events, I'm often asked if I write full time. This is so much nicer than the "So do you have a proper job?" phrasing, which means the same thing but also manages to imply that writing is a sort of hobby. Even worse is, "So don't you do anything else, then?" But then, authors are paid to think about how words go together--and how not to insult someone deliberately.
I don't know a single author, published or unpublished, who hasn't been asked where they get their ideas from. And I don't know a single one who could answer honestly. I think Terry Pratchett put it best, when one of his characters invented a sort of helmet to try and stop the constant inspiration particles from colliding with his brain.
It's like with Shakespeare (well, sort of). You know how there are people convinced he didn't write his plays because he'd never been to the places where they were set, and that no one in his family had any history of writing, and--gasp!--may have even been illiterate! Well? So? No one else in my family can play the piano, but no one assumes my brother fakes that. Can't we allow the clearly brilliant Mr Shakespeare the nous to, I don't know, ask people about these far-off places?
Which brings me onto the sniggering question I'm asked when people find out I write erotic romance. "So do you research your books (nudge, wink) personally?" Yep. All of them. Everything in them--I've done that. Even the one with the faery wings and the flying.
As for, "Can I be in your book?" there's only one sensible answer: No. You're far too annoying.
These include the assumptions that you're writing about yourself, your friends and family. Maybe people are desperate to recognise themselves in books; whatever it is, just mention a skin tone or hair colour, accent or nationality, or heaven forfend a name a little like someone else's, and everyone's convinced they know who you're writing about.
At RNA events, I'm often asked if I write full time. This is so much nicer than the "So do you have a proper job?" phrasing, which means the same thing but also manages to imply that writing is a sort of hobby. Even worse is, "So don't you do anything else, then?" But then, authors are paid to think about how words go together--and how not to insult someone deliberately.
I don't know a single author, published or unpublished, who hasn't been asked where they get their ideas from. And I don't know a single one who could answer honestly. I think Terry Pratchett put it best, when one of his characters invented a sort of helmet to try and stop the constant inspiration particles from colliding with his brain.
It's like with Shakespeare (well, sort of). You know how there are people convinced he didn't write his plays because he'd never been to the places where they were set, and that no one in his family had any history of writing, and--gasp!--may have even been illiterate! Well? So? No one else in my family can play the piano, but no one assumes my brother fakes that. Can't we allow the clearly brilliant Mr Shakespeare the nous to, I don't know, ask people about these far-off places?
Which brings me onto the sniggering question I'm asked when people find out I write erotic romance. "So do you research your books (nudge, wink) personally?" Yep. All of them. Everything in them--I've done that. Even the one with the faery wings and the flying.
As for, "Can I be in your book?" there's only one sensible answer: No. You're far too annoying.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Pacing, and Why Kett Has Problems
Not just Kett the character, but Kett's book (which still doesn't have a definite title: another problem).
I bastardised Julie Cohen's plot chart to make this:
I know it's too small to see (also I don't want to actually give away the plot) but all the colours are relevant. The wide column with all the text outlines what happens in each chapter. The coloured columns list what they do. Orange is for character development, turquoise for plot development. The darker, the stronger. The next five (I ran out of clearly different colours) represent humour, drama/action, love/affection, lust/attraction, and hate/anger. This is so I can look at the book as a whole and see where the high and low points are.
For instance, chapter six appears to have some problems: it's high on plot development and exposition, but there's no character development, humour, drama, love, lust or hate. This means that chapter six is going to be pretty damn boring.
The purple column represents lust/attraction. You can see that Kett and Bael get off to a great start, but then there are big droughts where they barely even touch each other. This is a problem in a red hot romance. However, for the most part there's a lot of growing affection, and for many scenes there's drama which actually gets in the way of any naughty stuff.
The high point of hate/anger (the bright green on the right) represents the Black Moment. But look at all that crap that comes after it!
Methinks I need to do some serious work on this...
I bastardised Julie Cohen's plot chart to make this:
I know it's too small to see (also I don't want to actually give away the plot) but all the colours are relevant. The wide column with all the text outlines what happens in each chapter. The coloured columns list what they do. Orange is for character development, turquoise for plot development. The darker, the stronger. The next five (I ran out of clearly different colours) represent humour, drama/action, love/affection, lust/attraction, and hate/anger. This is so I can look at the book as a whole and see where the high and low points are.
For instance, chapter six appears to have some problems: it's high on plot development and exposition, but there's no character development, humour, drama, love, lust or hate. This means that chapter six is going to be pretty damn boring.
The purple column represents lust/attraction. You can see that Kett and Bael get off to a great start, but then there are big droughts where they barely even touch each other. This is a problem in a red hot romance. However, for the most part there's a lot of growing affection, and for many scenes there's drama which actually gets in the way of any naughty stuff.
The high point of hate/anger (the bright green on the right) represents the Black Moment. But look at all that crap that comes after it!
Methinks I need to do some serious work on this...
Monday, July 07, 2008
Well, what was romantic fiction?
Have just got back from RNA conference--well, not just, I had to watch Doctor Who first, obviously. Can I make a full report? No, my brain hasn't started working properly yet. The RNA conference is usually about two things: wine, and talking to other people who also hear the voices (in fact Nell Dixon has a t-shirt to that effect). Put the two together, and you don't get much sleep, especially in student accommodation with paper-thin walls (I hope to hell their library is quiet and conducive to study, because the student rooms aren't).
Anyway. I survived the author panel, which was the opening session and therefore at least over with quickly. Anne Ashurst did a brilliant job of keeping it moving and making sure all five of us answered each question, and in varying order. As we were first asked to talk about what sort of books we wrote and how we'd ended up writing them, I played the 'mis-spent youth watching Buffy and reading Terry Pratchett' card, which was sort of cheating as I'd already put that in my speaker bio for the conference notes.
Most of the questions weren't hard or scary, but being put on the spot is not my forte--when asked to name my favourite author in my own genre--paranormal romance in this case--my brain went dead and I couldn't think of one. It sort of went like this:
Me: Er, er, I hate being asked this question, er, well, my favourite paranormal author is Terry Pratchett, but that's not really romance--
Various Authors In The Audience: Which one? / Witches Abroad! / Wyrd Sisters!
Me: Yes, but the City Watch books are my favourite, Men at Arms and Thud! in particular.
Lynne Connolly: What about Kenyon?
Me: Oh God, thank you. Fantasy Lover! It's about a Greek demi-god who's cursed into a book as a sex slave, and whoever speaks the right incantation gets him as her slave.
V.A.I.T.A.: Collective sigh.
~
Question: What makes romantic fiction? What makes your books romantic?
O.A.O.P.: Very sensible answers about love and finding other half of soul, etc.
Me: I always think about what comes next. I hate books that are all grand and passionate but you can tell the characters are going to burn out. I always want to know what happens after the last page. Do they get married? What do they name their children? I want to know they're still going to be together when they're grey and old. (All right, I wasn't this concise and probably miss most of the pertinent points, but this was really what I meant to say. See above re: being put on the spot.)
~
Question: I know most of us are happily married, but if one of your heroes walked through the door, would you...?
Other Authors On Panel: No, of course not, I love my husband.
Me: I'm single, so yes. (This response was quoted back to me multiple times throughout the weekend!)
V.A.I.T.A.: Erupt in laughter.
Me: Especially if it's the one I based on Richard Armitage. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!
~
Etc. etc. Anyway, that over, I proceeded to the bar to drink lots of wine. Saturday morning came a little bit suddenly. It also came with my pretty cream and black heels, which garnered more compliments than any other shoes I've worn. They were followed by my silver sparkly shoes, which so enchanted Janet Gover that she put a picture of them on her blog. Sunday brought my red polka-dot wedge-heeled espadrilles, which made an appearance in a quickly-written PG Wodehouse-style parody in Katie Fforde's workshop (but unfortunately I can't remember whose! Sorry!) and had Tansy-whose-surname-I-can't-remember (sorry! Information overload!) asking me how me how many pairs of shoes I'd brought. The answer, embarrassingly for a three-night stay, was five.
Shoes and wine aside, I had a fantastic time hanging out with my writer friends, which I usually only get to do, Almost Famous-style, in the bookstore (speaking of bookstores, I took thirteen of my paperbacks with me, and sold eleven. Result!). I met Immi Howsen, who is an absolute sweetheart, and Naomi Clark, who is my age and lives near Cambridge which is brilliant. The usual suspects--Katie Ff., Kate Walker, Sophie Weston, Kate Lace, Jan Jones, Julie Cohen, Anna Louise Lucia--were all there and several of them ran brilliant workshops which I will try to relate in more detail later, and I made new acquaintances in the form of Kate Harrison, Anna Jacobs, Nicola Cornick and Kate Hardy who were also on the author panel with me.
(nb: why are there so many Kates in the RNA?).
Right. More will follow, probably, but a) I'm really tired and b) I'm trying to apply Julie Cohen's tips on pacing to making Kett's book work. Wish me luck!
Anyway. I survived the author panel, which was the opening session and therefore at least over with quickly. Anne Ashurst did a brilliant job of keeping it moving and making sure all five of us answered each question, and in varying order. As we were first asked to talk about what sort of books we wrote and how we'd ended up writing them, I played the 'mis-spent youth watching Buffy and reading Terry Pratchett' card, which was sort of cheating as I'd already put that in my speaker bio for the conference notes.
Most of the questions weren't hard or scary, but being put on the spot is not my forte--when asked to name my favourite author in my own genre--paranormal romance in this case--my brain went dead and I couldn't think of one. It sort of went like this:
Me: Er, er, I hate being asked this question, er, well, my favourite paranormal author is Terry Pratchett, but that's not really romance--
Various Authors In The Audience: Which one? / Witches Abroad! / Wyrd Sisters!
Me: Yes, but the City Watch books are my favourite, Men at Arms and Thud! in particular.
Lynne Connolly: What about Kenyon?
Me: Oh God, thank you. Fantasy Lover! It's about a Greek demi-god who's cursed into a book as a sex slave, and whoever speaks the right incantation gets him as her slave.
V.A.I.T.A.: Collective sigh.
~
Question: What makes romantic fiction? What makes your books romantic?
O.A.O.P.: Very sensible answers about love and finding other half of soul, etc.
Me: I always think about what comes next. I hate books that are all grand and passionate but you can tell the characters are going to burn out. I always want to know what happens after the last page. Do they get married? What do they name their children? I want to know they're still going to be together when they're grey and old. (All right, I wasn't this concise and probably miss most of the pertinent points, but this was really what I meant to say. See above re: being put on the spot.)
~
Question: I know most of us are happily married, but if one of your heroes walked through the door, would you...?
Other Authors On Panel: No, of course not, I love my husband.
Me: I'm single, so yes. (This response was quoted back to me multiple times throughout the weekend!)
V.A.I.T.A.: Erupt in laughter.
Me: Especially if it's the one I based on Richard Armitage. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!
~
Etc. etc. Anyway, that over, I proceeded to the bar to drink lots of wine. Saturday morning came a little bit suddenly. It also came with my pretty cream and black heels, which garnered more compliments than any other shoes I've worn. They were followed by my silver sparkly shoes, which so enchanted Janet Gover that she put a picture of them on her blog. Sunday brought my red polka-dot wedge-heeled espadrilles, which made an appearance in a quickly-written PG Wodehouse-style parody in Katie Fforde's workshop (but unfortunately I can't remember whose! Sorry!) and had Tansy-whose-surname-I-can't-remember (sorry! Information overload!) asking me how me how many pairs of shoes I'd brought. The answer, embarrassingly for a three-night stay, was five.
Shoes and wine aside, I had a fantastic time hanging out with my writer friends, which I usually only get to do, Almost Famous-style, in the bookstore (speaking of bookstores, I took thirteen of my paperbacks with me, and sold eleven. Result!). I met Immi Howsen, who is an absolute sweetheart, and Naomi Clark, who is my age and lives near Cambridge which is brilliant. The usual suspects--Katie Ff., Kate Walker, Sophie Weston, Kate Lace, Jan Jones, Julie Cohen, Anna Louise Lucia--were all there and several of them ran brilliant workshops which I will try to relate in more detail later, and I made new acquaintances in the form of Kate Harrison, Anna Jacobs, Nicola Cornick and Kate Hardy who were also on the author panel with me.
(nb: why are there so many Kates in the RNA?).
Right. More will follow, probably, but a) I'm really tired and b) I'm trying to apply Julie Cohen's tips on pacing to making Kett's book work. Wish me luck!
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
What is romantic fiction, anyway?
That's the title of the author panel--yes, author panel--I'm on at the RNA conference this weekend. And, you know, if someone asks me that, I'm going to be stumped. I mean, your obvious answer is, "Fiction about romance" or, for the less sarky, it's a story about two people falling in love and living, if not happily ever after, them for the foreseeable future.
I'm representing the paranormal genre for the panel, and this makes it a little trickier. Paranormal romance is not a huge market in the UK. The authors you might find on the shelves are a) imports, mostly from America, and b) not very well known by much of the public over here. Therefore, unlike the other authors on the panel (Kate Harrison, chick lit; Anna Jacobs, sagas; Kate Hardy, category; Nicola Cornick, historical), I'm going to be going in cold, because most of the conference-goes won't be familiar with the genre.
So, as Jan (who coerced me into doing the panel in the first place) asked, "Why are elves sexy?" I immediately replied, "Didn't you see Lord of the Rings?" but I fear I'm going to need more of an answer than that.
What's so special about paranormal romance? Why do we find vampires and werewolves, traditionally the very unsexy monsters of horror stories, suddenly attractive? What about future worlds and alien species? Fantasy universes? Why is paranormal romance, well, romantic?
I'm representing the paranormal genre for the panel, and this makes it a little trickier. Paranormal romance is not a huge market in the UK. The authors you might find on the shelves are a) imports, mostly from America, and b) not very well known by much of the public over here. Therefore, unlike the other authors on the panel (Kate Harrison, chick lit; Anna Jacobs, sagas; Kate Hardy, category; Nicola Cornick, historical), I'm going to be going in cold, because most of the conference-goes won't be familiar with the genre.
So, as Jan (who coerced me into doing the panel in the first place) asked, "Why are elves sexy?" I immediately replied, "Didn't you see Lord of the Rings?" but I fear I'm going to need more of an answer than that.
What's so special about paranormal romance? Why do we find vampires and werewolves, traditionally the very unsexy monsters of horror stories, suddenly attractive? What about future worlds and alien species? Fantasy universes? Why is paranormal romance, well, romantic?
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