I went to Terri Blackstock’s workshop on writing suspense. Very interesting. You need to raise the stakes in your suspense stories and not make them too predictable. She used the movie Ransom? to illustrate what she was trying to tell us. We were supposed to watch this movie before attending the workshop, but I didn’t take the time to do that, but still gleaned lots of great information from her teaching.
For the Continuing Education session, I attended Jim Rubart’s and Chip Macgregor’s class on Marketing Your Fiction. Basically, you need to find something you’re good at…something marketing related, and do that to market your stuff. For example, if you can’t stand blogging, then don’t start a blog! Also, you need to shock editors, agents, people, about your work. Give them material that’s not the norm. When you write a thank-you note for your rejections, think of writing something with some spark that’ll make that editor remember you! I missed part of this workshop since I had appointments. If you really want to know about all that was said, it’d be best to buy the CD. Marketing is all about getting people to like you and help you promote your material, build a tribe and they’ll help you promote your stuff. That’s all I can recall off the top of my head.
I didn’t attend all of the workshops I signed up for since I got tired a few times and needed to rest, or sometimes I’d bump into people and we’d sit and talk and skip the workshops. This information is kind of sketchy, so read at your own risk, and take the following words with a grain of salt!
Maybe when you’re rested, you could give us just a little about the workshops you attended?
Planning on going next year?Probably, depending on a number of factors. I’d love to go again, though. I think I get more out of ACFW than RWA because MOST of the Christian publishers attend ACFW. Only a few Christian publishers attend RWA. When I went to RWA last year, I believe the only Christian houses attending were Bethany House and Steeple Hill.
Patricia commented on my . Her comments are bolded:
October 1, 2010 Posted by novelistcd
So, there, you have it! Another rejection! Whew! I’m tired of these!
We’re sorry to disappoint you on this project. We would be happy to look at any other projects you may be working on suited for our line. Thank you for thinking of us.Best,signed by the editor.
I also received a rejection today! Blah! I haven’t been under contract in almost two years and it’s starting to bother me, but, I’m not one to give up! Here’s what the rejection said:Dear Cecelia,Thank you so much for your patience as we read your project, Gabriel’s Pride. While the story has some interesting elements, I’m afraid this story doesn’t quite work for our line. Unfortunately, the romantic conflict between the hero and heroine is not as compelling as it needed to be.
I am currently reading Cecelia Dowdy’s Chesapeake Weddings. This book is an inspiration and allows us to put ourselves into these situations while also keeping God as the main focus of the novels.
My editor at Barbour received the following email today about my novel collection, :
October 28, 2010 Posted by novelistcd
Again, we'd like to see some new ideas and hope that Cecelia Dowdy can provide something more for the (XXXX) team to review.
Thank you for submitting the proposal for (title of my work). I'm sorry to say that this title is somewhat like some of our other titles. We're going to release an "identical twin brother" story later this year. However, while that title isn't necessarily a romance novel it's a little too close and we don't want our readers to think that we're publishing the same story over and over.
Also, wanted to mention that I’ve gotten a couple of rejections over the last few months. I forgot to blog about these. Some have asked why I blog about rejections..why? It’s part of being a writer and I think it helps unpublished writers to see what the rejections say. I like to focus on both the negative and positive aspects of writing to give a realistic view of the industry. Here’s what my most recent rejection said:
Diana, I’ll be mailing your books out to you within the next week. Everybody else, I’ll be posting TWO book giveaways soon. One will be a stand-alone book with an author interview, and the other will be another box of books. Visit my blog often for updates for these giveaways!
The winner for the is:Diana Donnelly – Thayne, WY
May 2, 2011 Posted by novelistcd
Category: ‘Rejections’
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