BEWARE THE SCAM-2

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

HODGEPODGE

I stole the title of this post (titles can’t be copyrighted) from the production of six funny one-act plays, one of which I’m directing, to be performed here June 1-3. It seemed apropriate because I‘m going to touch on a few topics instead of only one.


Practice Writing

A couple of weeks ago, I posted an article here about wasted writing versus practice writing. I quoted a few well-known writers who had something to say on the subject, for instance:

1. Writing is never wasted. If you can’t use it now, save it

2. Writers, like musicians and athletes, need practice.

3. You have to write a million words before you’re any good

4. You can always fix a draft; you can’t fix a blank page.

Then last week I ran across another wonderful quote on the subject. It’s from Lawrence Block and is great advice. “One thing that helps is to give myself permission to write badly. I tell myself I’m going to do my five pages no matter what, and I can always tear them up the following morning if I want to. I’ve lost nothing. Writing and tearing up five pages would leave me no further behind than if I took the day off.”

Harlequin

I’m a follower of J.A. (Joe) Konrath’s blog and this week he had a “doozy.” A woman writer, who sold twenty-five romantic suspense novels to Harlequin Intrigue, told how she can’t afford to get her son’s teeth straightened because Harlequin pays her so little. Konrath added the numbers and they were shocking. After trying for twenty years to get published by Harlequin, now I’m glad I’m not. Read Konrath’s blog yourself.

Book Covers

I just read a blog by a reader who refuses to buy a book if the cover doesn’t depict what it’s about. My DH is not only my computer guru but is a wonderful artist who provides covers for my books when necessary. Since I got my rights back to the two books Kensington published in 1998 and 2000, I needed new covers for the e-books and he came up with some good ones, IMHO. I’m especially pleased with ONCE MORE WITH FEELING, which was an original oil painting, many prints of which he sold when we lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. STRANGER IN PARADISE, set in Hawaii, has an entirely different look, but it qualifies too.

I’d love to know what you think of the covers, and also how you choose covers for your Indie e-books.

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