We all know we need to start our stories with a hook, something that’ll draw the reader in right away and keep him or her riveted to the page. There are some great ones out there, and I’d love you to tell me your favorite opening lines in the Comments section.
A recent intriguing opening line I read is from an upcoming new release by E.F. Watkins entitled One Blood. Does this make you wonder at all: Without meaning to, Camilla Torres had picked a good place to die.
What’s the best way – open with dialogue? That can be an attention grabber for sure, depending on how provocative or intriguing those words are! Open with a fast-moving action scene? It definitely gets your readers’ adrenaline pumping. Open with a description that pulls your reader into the atmosphere of the story? That can be very effective.
But the reader feels let down if a great hook degenerates into a mediocre narrative. Therefore, it’s our job as authors to keep that energy of a great first line moving. You must engage your reader and don’t let that oomph stop. Keep the reader’s interest piqued and the story and characters moving forward at a consistent clip. Of course, there have to be moments where everyone catches his or her breath, but the reader is counting on you to deliver from that great opening line…right through to the final syllable.
So, tell me in the Comments section as well – what is your favorite closing line?
Libby McKinmer
Romance with an edge
www.libbymckinmer.com
libby@libbymckinmer.com
Also on Twitter, GoodReads & Facebook
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Searching for Clues - Online
Whether finding the right poison or verifying how long it takes rigor mortis to set in, a writer has to do a lot of research in the process of creating a good mystery or thriller. Finding the information you need as a writer shouldn’t be a chore and as I've recently learned, there are loads of search engines out there that can help us find what we need. A website for Accredited Online Colleges seems like an unlikely source, but I just read a blog on that site that is a collection of 60 Awesome Search Engines for Serious Writers. (http://www.accreditedonlinecolleges.com/blog/2010/60-awesome-search-engines-for-serious-writers/
The search sites are broken into logical categories. For example, under the Professional heading you'll find sources like the Writer’s Cafe, an online writer’s forum to find and share creative works; and the Literary Marketplace, a great place to learn about the publishing industry.
The Writing list includes WriteSearch which focuses exclusively on sites devoted to reading and writing, and the self-explanatory Writing Forums. Under Research you’ll find Google Scholar for reliable, academic results for your searches, OpenLibrary which can help you find books you can use, and lots more.
And if you need to look up a quote or a fact, check the Reference search engines such as Quotes.net, Literary Encyclopedia and Acronym Finder. There are also search engines for Niche Writers, books and Blogging.
I think every writer can benefit from this fine collection of sources to start his or her search. What have YOU had trouble finding, and where did you find it??
The search sites are broken into logical categories. For example, under the Professional heading you'll find sources like the Writer’s Cafe, an online writer’s forum to find and share creative works; and the Literary Marketplace, a great place to learn about the publishing industry.
The Writing list includes WriteSearch which focuses exclusively on sites devoted to reading and writing, and the self-explanatory Writing Forums. Under Research you’ll find Google Scholar for reliable, academic results for your searches, OpenLibrary which can help you find books you can use, and lots more.
And if you need to look up a quote or a fact, check the Reference search engines such as Quotes.net, Literary Encyclopedia and Acronym Finder. There are also search engines for Niche Writers, books and Blogging.
I think every writer can benefit from this fine collection of sources to start his or her search. What have YOU had trouble finding, and where did you find it??
Saturday, August 7, 2010
As Re: Big 6 Publishx Going E-book a BAD THING
He who gives over his rights to his electronic books to the Big Six is in for a world of hurt and financial loss. Read on from one who knows as this past year I have had it both ways - self pubbed as Indie Author on Kindle and watched as HarperCollins pubbed three of my titles as ebooks. Guess which one of us is making money and which is failing to as a result of stupid corporate greed?
Think of it, please, all youse guys who think that publishers getting into ebooks is a good thing; with their practices in the paper world, do you expect them to change such things as KEEP the sales numbers secret for six months to a year? A secret from the author? My three HC books that are up now, I have SEEN no sales figures for whatsoever in a year's time. Why? Because I have no access to my own figures--a fact that has always been the case with dead tree publsihing (DTB)....and now it carries over to ebooks.
Same will be true and is true of my HC "so-called" team - PR, Marketing -- I see NO backup or help for the books on e-platform anymore than I saw in the non-virtual world for these titles. The titles are also effectively killed by another practice brought over from the paper world - too high a price. These publishers, and Dorchester is among the worst for poor royalty statements, unreadable contracts, etc., ripping off writers, etc., YOU can bet have not changed their spots.
At first I thought the folks at HC just did not know any better, that eReaders are not so dumb as they want to believe, so I wrote to them explaining no one is going to by an ebook set at same price as a paperback, but it is not just that they do not listen to the author, they are greedily married to an old model, an economic model that does not work in the online world (a circumstance wherein an author can make far, far more money on a title set at 2.99 than he can make on a $25 dollar hardback). So eReaders, not wishing to be tagged as stupid refuse outright to purchase a book online that is set at the same price or higher than the same book out here in the tangible world where hardcovers have become door jams.
Joe Konrath is the Pied Piper here on this subject of becoming an Indie Author and championing the author's causes rather than those of the publishers who have not given us authors a raise since Johnathan Hawthorne's House of Seven Gables was penned. Joe Konrath is the Pied Piper and the rats he is running out of town are the publishers, and I am close enough to Joe that he allows me to trumpet for him but you need to clue into his blog on this issue now if you are an author, whether a newbie or an old pro like me. Go to The Newbie's Guide to Publishing found at: http://tinyurl.com/236en6k
Whereas my HC titles are sitting like stones due to the stupidity of the publisher's decison-makers and committees, the titles numbering 40 that I have up and I control are earning out enough now for me to pay my rent and go on a trip and feed my family and buy the occasional shoes and tie. I have made more in the past month on ebooks than I have in the past three years on paper books. But my three HC titles on Kindle have earned me not a dime in a year's sitting there at 7.99 and 6.99. Sad really as in my estimation these books represent my best work to date alongside Children of Salem, my bestselling title on Kindle which sells a hundred copies a month. So will publishers -- who once considered ebooks as a losing proposition -- help or hurt authors by taking their electronic rights, running off with them, taking a big cut on books they sell online? That is IF they can sell online at all? Given their poor track record so far, I'd say no if a publisher insisted on suddenly ebook rights being a deal breaker on a contract -- as those rights in your hands mean dividends for you and not a waste of time orchestrated by them!
Would love to hear your thoughts on this. I have lost my rights to certain titles during my career, and I would hate to hear that you have made the same mistakes I have in this business. As in a casino, the stakes are against us but for now ebooks has historically given us a much, much better percentage than ever before in the world of publishing. Now that whole NYC agencies are putting up their clients backlists and whole NYC publishers are making ebook rights a boiler plate clause in the contracts....BEWARE of who you are dealing wtih and as one agent cautioned me in 1980, "These people, Rob, are not your friends."
Sorry to take the tone of the cynic but who made me so? Born of experience and it is borne out.
Robert W. Walker
free sneak peeks of Children of Salem and Titanic 2012 here:
http://www.robertwalkerbooks.com/
Think of it, please, all youse guys who think that publishers getting into ebooks is a good thing; with their practices in the paper world, do you expect them to change such things as KEEP the sales numbers secret for six months to a year? A secret from the author? My three HC books that are up now, I have SEEN no sales figures for whatsoever in a year's time. Why? Because I have no access to my own figures--a fact that has always been the case with dead tree publsihing (DTB)....and now it carries over to ebooks.
Same will be true and is true of my HC "so-called" team - PR, Marketing -- I see NO backup or help for the books on e-platform anymore than I saw in the non-virtual world for these titles. The titles are also effectively killed by another practice brought over from the paper world - too high a price. These publishers, and Dorchester is among the worst for poor royalty statements, unreadable contracts, etc., ripping off writers, etc., YOU can bet have not changed their spots.
At first I thought the folks at HC just did not know any better, that eReaders are not so dumb as they want to believe, so I wrote to them explaining no one is going to by an ebook set at same price as a paperback, but it is not just that they do not listen to the author, they are greedily married to an old model, an economic model that does not work in the online world (a circumstance wherein an author can make far, far more money on a title set at 2.99 than he can make on a $25 dollar hardback). So eReaders, not wishing to be tagged as stupid refuse outright to purchase a book online that is set at the same price or higher than the same book out here in the tangible world where hardcovers have become door jams.
Joe Konrath is the Pied Piper here on this subject of becoming an Indie Author and championing the author's causes rather than those of the publishers who have not given us authors a raise since Johnathan Hawthorne's House of Seven Gables was penned. Joe Konrath is the Pied Piper and the rats he is running out of town are the publishers, and I am close enough to Joe that he allows me to trumpet for him but you need to clue into his blog on this issue now if you are an author, whether a newbie or an old pro like me. Go to The Newbie's Guide to Publishing found at: http://tinyurl.com/236en6k
Whereas my HC titles are sitting like stones due to the stupidity of the publisher's decison-makers and committees, the titles numbering 40 that I have up and I control are earning out enough now for me to pay my rent and go on a trip and feed my family and buy the occasional shoes and tie. I have made more in the past month on ebooks than I have in the past three years on paper books. But my three HC titles on Kindle have earned me not a dime in a year's sitting there at 7.99 and 6.99. Sad really as in my estimation these books represent my best work to date alongside Children of Salem, my bestselling title on Kindle which sells a hundred copies a month. So will publishers -- who once considered ebooks as a losing proposition -- help or hurt authors by taking their electronic rights, running off with them, taking a big cut on books they sell online? That is IF they can sell online at all? Given their poor track record so far, I'd say no if a publisher insisted on suddenly ebook rights being a deal breaker on a contract -- as those rights in your hands mean dividends for you and not a waste of time orchestrated by them!
Would love to hear your thoughts on this. I have lost my rights to certain titles during my career, and I would hate to hear that you have made the same mistakes I have in this business. As in a casino, the stakes are against us but for now ebooks has historically given us a much, much better percentage than ever before in the world of publishing. Now that whole NYC agencies are putting up their clients backlists and whole NYC publishers are making ebook rights a boiler plate clause in the contracts....BEWARE of who you are dealing wtih and as one agent cautioned me in 1980, "These people, Rob, are not your friends."
Sorry to take the tone of the cynic but who made me so? Born of experience and it is borne out.
Robert W. Walker
free sneak peeks of Children of Salem and Titanic 2012 here:
http://www.robertwalkerbooks.com/
Friday, August 6, 2010
What's Beind the Rise of Senior Sleuths
By Chester Campbell
The subject of senior sleuths has grown in popularity in recent years. Being a certified senior writer who now has five books about a detective couple far from being spring chickens, I was tapped for a panel at the 2010 Killer Nashville conference titled "Grow Old Along With Me: The Aging of Crime Fiction Protagonists." It got me to thinking about what prompted this new fascination with old age.
Perhaps it stems from the fact that everybody is headed in that direction, and we find it comforting to read about people who do a great job of dealing with the problems older generations face. Some writers go for the caricature approach, painting old-timers as slow and bumbling, perhaps in an effort at comic effect. I'm more interested in showing them as productive citizens whose views are enhanced by years of experience. These are the seniors I know.
I have nothing against using a muddling character when the plot calls for it, but not as an example of elderly people. In my new book I used a character who is shabby and shiftless but there is nothing to suggest that he is particularly old.
Sleuths in the senior ranks, commonly thought of as over sixty, bring many years of experience to the job. They don't see a lot that surprises them. When they face a problem, they can usually relate it to something they have encountered in the past.
Older detectives do encounter problems, but they're aware of their shortcomings and know how to compensate for them. They're no match for a younger guy in a foot race. When it comes to physical struggles, their timing is a little off, and unless they work out regularly they won't have the stamina of years past. If they're smart, and that's the only kind of people I write about, they use their brains to outsmart their opponents.
Younger investigators tend to be tough guys, ready to use their fists and quick to drasw their guns. Older detectives use persuasion and logic and depend on their weapons only when there's no other way. I think readers live vicariously with the slam-bam types but feel admiration for the older protagonists who tend to be more like people they know.
How do you feel about seniors as sleuths?
Visit me at Mystery Mania
The subject of senior sleuths has grown in popularity in recent years. Being a certified senior writer who now has five books about a detective couple far from being spring chickens, I was tapped for a panel at the 2010 Killer Nashville conference titled "Grow Old Along With Me: The Aging of Crime Fiction Protagonists." It got me to thinking about what prompted this new fascination with old age.
Perhaps it stems from the fact that everybody is headed in that direction, and we find it comforting to read about people who do a great job of dealing with the problems older generations face. Some writers go for the caricature approach, painting old-timers as slow and bumbling, perhaps in an effort at comic effect. I'm more interested in showing them as productive citizens whose views are enhanced by years of experience. These are the seniors I know.
I have nothing against using a muddling character when the plot calls for it, but not as an example of elderly people. In my new book I used a character who is shabby and shiftless but there is nothing to suggest that he is particularly old.
Sleuths in the senior ranks, commonly thought of as over sixty, bring many years of experience to the job. They don't see a lot that surprises them. When they face a problem, they can usually relate it to something they have encountered in the past.
Older detectives do encounter problems, but they're aware of their shortcomings and know how to compensate for them. They're no match for a younger guy in a foot race. When it comes to physical struggles, their timing is a little off, and unless they work out regularly they won't have the stamina of years past. If they're smart, and that's the only kind of people I write about, they use their brains to outsmart their opponents.
Younger investigators tend to be tough guys, ready to use their fists and quick to drasw their guns. Older detectives use persuasion and logic and depend on their weapons only when there's no other way. I think readers live vicariously with the slam-bam types but feel admiration for the older protagonists who tend to be more like people they know.
How do you feel about seniors as sleuths?
Visit me at Mystery Mania
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
The 80-20 Rule
The 80-20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle or the law of the vital few, goes back to Vilfredo Pareto who, in 1906, observed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. He also observed that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas. The so-called law has become a common rule of thumb in business and management. E.g., "80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers;" "80% of your productivity come from 20% of your staff;" or "80% of your problems come from 20% of your personnel."
The rule, as it were, has applications in a many other areas. The United Nations, in 1992, produced a report, which showed that the richest 20% of the world's population controls 82% of the world's income. There's nothing magical about the 80%. It's simply the case that, where there are a large number of resources, events, products, or whatever, they will be shared unequally and that inequality can be represented by a number between 50 and 100. If 50% of the land is owned by 50% of the population, the land can be said to be equally distributed. If 99% of the land is owned by 1% of the population, the land is unequally distributed. Most systems are characterized by an intermediate imbalance around 80%.
The 80-20 rule came to mind because of some comments about ebooks and the state of publishing. A contributor to an online discussion group asked if there was any advantage to an author in getting an agent and getting published by a traditional publishing house now that any author could publish his or her book on Kindle or iPad. The questioner implied that the book publishing industry is dead or nearly so.
On Monday, Helen Ginger, in her Straight from Hel blog referenced an interview with the CEO of Penguin who made exactly the opposite claim, He said the direct-to-consumer model does not work; that authors still need publishers.
So which is it? Have ebooks spawned an era in which every author's work will share the marketplace with every other book, or will authors continue to need agents and publishers to be successful?
Some people who comment on the current state of publishing compare the industry to the state of the recording industry. The arguments go as follows: The book publishing business better wake up or it will go the way of the recording industry. In some people's minds the big record labels are all but dead and music distribution is in the hands of indie publishers and artists. The reality is different. According to figures from the Recording Industry of America, a handful of music producers account for 80 to 85% of music sales with the indies fighting for the remaining 15 to 20%. In other words, the disparity between the vital few and the rest of the players is still great.
But could ebooks be pushing the publishing industry towards more equitable distribution? That remains to be seen. Dan Poynter gives a few telling statistics on the Para-Publishing website. According to Poynter, small presses and self publishers produce 78% of all book titles, and, therefore, big publishers produce 22%. When it comes to sales, industry watcher Andre Schiffrin, says that six publishing conglomerates control 80% of all book sales. In other words, 22% of titles are getting 80% of sales and 78% of titles are fighting over the remaining 20%. The large publishers are getting the largest piece of the pie.
Industry figures are hard to come by and often contradictory. Schiffrin's figures are from 2007. A lot has happened since then. Ebook sales have increased exponentially, The iPad and Kindle have made it easier for authors and independent publishers to sell directly to consumers. Is it working? I just went to the iBook store and pulled up the top ten best sellers. Nine of them were published by big publishing companies. Four of the top ten were published by, you guessed it, Penguin--the company that says the direct-to-consumer model doesn't work. Apparently, it works great for the big publishers, not so great for the indies.
I am not anti-ebooks or self-publishing. My first book was published in 2001 as an ebook by a small publisher and is still available in the Kindle store. I'm planning to self-publish a short story collection soon. But my latest work is represented by an agent who is trying to get it published by a big publisher because I want it to be one of the 20% of titles that are dividing up 80% of the sales.
So in answer to the question about whether or not an author needs an agent, I say it depends on how much of the sales pie you want to share and how many you are willing to share it with. Keep the 80-20 rule in mind. Eighty percent of book sales are controlled by twenty percent of the titles which are published by large publishers. I don't foresee that changing anytime soon. Do you?
Mark Troy
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
What Internet Promo Do You Like Best?
Recently a comment was left on a post I made on another blog asking me the question what of all the Internet Promo that I did seemed to be the most effective--or what did I like best?
My answer was that I really didn't know because they are all so interconnected.
I love blogging as anyone who has been following me probably has already figured out.
I post the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays here. Every Tuesday, I blog at and I try to post every day on my own blog, Marilyn's Musings and I just signed on with Criminal Minds at Work for periodic blogging.
From time to time I post on my publisher's blog.
The entire month of July I was on a blog tour. Everyone always asks me if they work. All I can tell you is I get a lot of exposure because I promote each of them a lot and I've noticed that my Amazon numbers go down while I'm on a tour.
And you probably wonder about Facebook. I love Facebook--not sure how much good it does promotion wise, but I think it's a lot of fun and I've made friends and found old ones by posting on Facebook--and I also am connected to a lot of my relatives through Facebook.
I Twitter, but I usually do it through ping.fm which delivers whatever I post to all the social networking sites that I've signed up for.
One thing that's important about blogging is when you've blogged somewhere, to go back and check periodically to see if anyone has left a comment or question on the blog that you should respond to. If you're guest posting somewhere, be sure to leave a comment thanking you host for having you.
I love having people guest post on my blog--but one thing that I've noticed is that not everyone knows that all the information they want on the blog needs to be sent to the host: Your own name for instance. Yes, I've had people sent me a blog post via email with an address that doesn't include the person's name and the name is nowhere in the body of the email. Not too smart if the post is promotion of some kind. And if the person has a website--and if she or he is an author--that certainly should be included.
I always ask for .jpg photo of both the person and the book cover and sometimes I don't get either.
As the host, it is really a pain to have to pull information out of the person who wants to be on your blog. It also would be nice if the person spell checked their post--a typo or two is expected--but goodness, when you can't figure out what a sentence is supposed to mean, that's pretty sad.
So, what about you? What Internet promo do you like best? And do you have any pet peeves?
Marilyn
My answer was that I really didn't know because they are all so interconnected.
I love blogging as anyone who has been following me probably has already figured out.
I post the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays here. Every Tuesday, I blog at and I try to post every day on my own blog, Marilyn's Musings and I just signed on with Criminal Minds at Work for periodic blogging.
From time to time I post on my publisher's blog.
The entire month of July I was on a blog tour. Everyone always asks me if they work. All I can tell you is I get a lot of exposure because I promote each of them a lot and I've noticed that my Amazon numbers go down while I'm on a tour.
And you probably wonder about Facebook. I love Facebook--not sure how much good it does promotion wise, but I think it's a lot of fun and I've made friends and found old ones by posting on Facebook--and I also am connected to a lot of my relatives through Facebook.
I Twitter, but I usually do it through ping.fm which delivers whatever I post to all the social networking sites that I've signed up for.
One thing that's important about blogging is when you've blogged somewhere, to go back and check periodically to see if anyone has left a comment or question on the blog that you should respond to. If you're guest posting somewhere, be sure to leave a comment thanking you host for having you.
I love having people guest post on my blog--but one thing that I've noticed is that not everyone knows that all the information they want on the blog needs to be sent to the host: Your own name for instance. Yes, I've had people sent me a blog post via email with an address that doesn't include the person's name and the name is nowhere in the body of the email. Not too smart if the post is promotion of some kind. And if the person has a website--and if she or he is an author--that certainly should be included.
I always ask for .jpg photo of both the person and the book cover and sometimes I don't get either.
As the host, it is really a pain to have to pull information out of the person who wants to be on your blog. It also would be nice if the person spell checked their post--a typo or two is expected--but goodness, when you can't figure out what a sentence is supposed to mean, that's pretty sad.
So, what about you? What Internet promo do you like best? And do you have any pet peeves?
Marilyn
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Who has a kindle? Who doesn't? By Morgan Mandel
I broke down and ordered the Kindle3 and am quite psyched up about getting it. I've already bought Marilyn Meredith's kindle edition of Lingering Spirit. Someone who has a kindle had mentioned on an egroup that she had ordered tons of books before her kindle was delivered and they were all on there when it arrived. That sounded pretty handy, so I tried it. Actually, so far Marilyn's is the only one I've paid for. The others are freebies.
This is coming from someone who has a large TBR pile of traditional books, which I plan to read one of these days. (g)
What about you? Do you have a kindle or plan on getting one? If you have one or pre-ordered the latest, what do you like about the kindle?
If not, why don't you like the kindle?
Morgan Mandel
Link to my books on kindle
This is coming from someone who has a large TBR pile of traditional books, which I plan to read one of these days. (g)
What about you? Do you have a kindle or plan on getting one? If you have one or pre-ordered the latest, what do you like about the kindle?
If not, why don't you like the kindle?
Morgan Mandel
Link to my books on kindle
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