Fill Me In Friday: Best Writing Links of the Week

 


It's that time of the week again. Hope everyone had a wonderful week! Here are the best links I've come across in the last few days.

 

On Writing and Publishing:

The Literary Lab: Who is the Ultimate Authority of a Piece of Fiction?

25 Things Writers Should Know About Agents via Chuck Wendig

Novel Plotting Worksheets | Annie Neugebauer

Jennifer Represents...: The Fine Art of Zipping It, or XYZ PDQ

Reader Reviews and What Not To Do, by @WendySMarcus | Romance University

10 Bestselling Books with 50+ One-Star Reviews - GalleyCat

why Pinterest is totally not a waste of time: creating a visionboard for your novel

The Bookshelf Muse: Do You Need a Social Media Intervention?

The Value Rubric: Do Book Bloggers Really Matter? | Publishing Perspectives

Writability: Why I Don't Auto-Follow Back

No Shame Here | GENREALITY - on not considering any book a "guilty pleasure"

Writing in different genres: A Blog Series | Nicole Basaraba's Uni-Verse-City

Trust Thyself | Kait Nolan - on writer's block

What’s the Problem with FREE? « Kristen Lamb's Blog

Why blog hits DON’T REALLY MATTER | The Red Pen of Doom

The Twitter, it is NOT for selling books | The Red Pen of Doom

What You May Have Missed Here:

What You May Have Missed on the FINAL Week of My Blog Tour:

 

All right, that's it from my end. What were some of your favorite links of the week?  Have a great weekend!

 


 

 

 “...a sexy, sizzling tale that is sure to have readers begging for more!" –Jo Davis, author of I SPY A DARK OBSESSION

 

CRASH INTO YOU is now available!

Read an excerpt here.



All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2012 |Copyright Statement

 

Fill-Me-In Friday: Best Writing Links of The Week

 


It's that time of the week again. Here are the best writing links of the week along with updates from my blog tour. (Thanks to those of you who are stopping by for the tour. I really appreciate it!)

 

On Writing and Publishing:

How To Self-Publish So It Benefits Readers by Chuck Wendig

Engage with your readers through threaded commenting | Blogger Buzz --FINALLY, threaded comments on Blogger!

Here There Be Blog Trolls–How to Spot Them & What To Do « Kristen Lamb's Blog

Twitter - the virtual literary salon | Books | guardian.co.uk

Author, Jody Hedlund: Walls on the Path to Publication: a Necessity or a Nuisance

Eight Steps to Successfully Market Yourself Online - Author Marketing Experts

How Tightly Do You Control Your Blog? | Jami Gold, Paranormal Author

How To Pick and Choose a Writers Conference | GENREALITY

Twitter Really, Really Hates Google’s New Google+ Integration | TechCrunch

Ah, Decisions! FREE Wordpress Blog or Self-Hosted Website? | Molly Greene

Author, Jody Hedlund: Making Friends Without Making Them Feel Used

Sierra Godfrey: Blog Spam and How to Spot It

What You May Have Missed Here: 

by Elise Rome
What You May Have Missed on the Author Blog:

My Blog Tour Stops:

 

A Peek Into My Heroine's Background at Bookin' It Reviews

5 Ways Writing Erotic Romance Differs From Writing Other Genres at Words of Wisdom

Interview at Get Lost in a Story

My Road To Publication Started with New Kids on the Block at Ramblings From This Chick

A Sneak Peek Inside The Ranch (the BDSM retreat in my books)  at AsianCocoa's Secret Garden

Interview at Novel Reflections (New today!)

What Inspires Me As a Writer at Mina Khan's Blog (New today!)

Alright, that's all I've got this week. What were some of your favorite links of the week?

 


“...a sexy, sizzling tale that is sure to have readers begging for more!" –Jo Davis, author of I SPY A DARK OBSESSION

 

 

CRASH INTO YOU is now available!

Read an excerpt here.



All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2012 |Copyright Statement|

 

Guest Blogging Etiquette 101

As most of you know, my book released last week (squee!) and I've been embarking on a promotional blog tour. That means I'm writing not only my own blogs, but also putting together another 1-2 daily. It's been a lot of fun, but is a LOT of work. I hired Goddess Fish Promotions to help me organize mine because I just couldn't juggle everything on my own, and that's been a godsend. But it still take a lot of time and effort to manage a successful tour. 

So as I go through this, I was reminded of this post I did last year about Guest Blogging Etiquette. Using these guidelines can make the guest blogging process mostly painless for everyone. Hope you find it helpful!

GOOD NEWS ALERT!

- CRASH INTO YOU debuted at #3 on the Barnes and Nobles Trade Romance Bestsellers List!!! I'm shocked and so excited. Thank you SO much to everyone who has bought the book. You guys rock!

Now on to today's post..

 

Guest Blogging 101

Guest Blogging Etiquette 101

So if you've been blogging for any amount of time, you've probably had some experience with guest blogging--either inviting people onto your own site or doing a post on someone else's site. It's a great thing to do to cross promote and once you've got a book coming out, it's often a big piece of your marketing. Blog tours are all the rage because the internet is a great place to find readers and build word of mouth.

I get requests on a pretty regular basis both to be a guest on other sites and from people wanting to do a post here. It seems once you get past 500 or so followers, a good number of people want to hang out on your site. :) That's awesome. I love doing guests posts and I certainly love having people stop by here.

However, there is some etiquette that goes along with this process. Some people follow it and others fail miserably. So I figured I would give some quick tips I've gathered from my experience that may help you navigate the guest blogging waters.

If you are going to ask someone to be on your site...

 

1. Be polite when asking and give them a clear out so you don't put them on the spot. (i.e. if you're too busy, I completely understand.)

2. Give them an ample amount of time to get back to you, but it is best to give them a deadline

Don't say, "Hey, I'd love you to be a guest, can you get me a post by next week?" Give them a few weeks minimum. And you can give them an open-ended--whenever you can--kind of deadline. BUT, be warned--this may result in less success of getting that post. I am an epic failure at saying "yes" to open-ended, can you guest post for me sometime and then I never get to it.

3. Provide options.

A guest post takes a lot of time. I can whip out a daily post over here in under an hour, but when I know I'm going to be on someone else's site, I feel more pressure to get it perfect, for it to be epic. So, it takes more effort and time. Therefore, if you really want someone on your site, maybe offer to interview them instead of a guest post. This makes it easier for the person to just answer questions and not have to come up with a topic, etc.

4. If you are going to ask for a post (not an interview), provide suggestions for topics you might like to see from them (while also leaving it open for them to choose whatever topic they want.)

It is SO helpful when someone approaches me for a guest post when they say--hey, maybe you could do something on yadda yadda yadda. I may not know what topics they've already covered on their own blog, so this saves me from having to research what's already been covered on that site.

5. Once you get their post and schedule it, email the person on the day (or day before) the post is going to go live.

This a) reminds the person and b) gives them a the chance to do some promotion for you and send people there.

If you want to approach someone to be on their blog...

 

1. Do your research and know that blog/blogger (at least a little bit).

If someone emails me wanting to post here to promote their book and I've never had any interaction with them, their chances are way lower that I'm going to pay attention. They don't follow the blog, have never left a comment, have never talked to me on Twitter, etc. They're a complete and total stranger. I feel like they stumbled across my blog, saw I had a platform and said--ooh, ooh, let me sell stuff here! My blog isn't here as an advertisement board for anyone who wants to stick a flyer up. (2016 Update: Over the years, you'll notice that the only authors I'm promoting are ones I've read on my own time and want to share. I may occasionally share affiliate links or invite a guest, but I've gone away from doing much else.)

2. Offer the blogger a number of options--an interview, guest blog, contest/giveaway.

Show them that you can provide whatever type of post they need. And just like the reverse of the above, an interview is more work for the host blogger, so don't just offer that. It's also a lot of work to ask someone to review your book. That means they have to have time to read it, like your genre, etc. When people email me asking if I can interview them or review their book, I usually respond with--can you do a guest post instead? I just don't have time lately to come up with interview questions specific to you and your book. (2016 Update: I do not accept review requests or requests for guests posts anymore.)

3. If you get the go ahead to do the guest blog, make sure you send something with quality content, no typos, and include your bio and pic.

Don't make the blogger have to correct your work.

4. Get the post to the person on time. And do not ask them to send you a reminder. 

If they give you a deadline, keep it. And it's your job to remember when it's due--they are doing you a favor.

5. Promote that post on your own blog when it goes live. This helps you and the host blogger.

6. Offer to reciprocate. If they let you on their blog, let them know they are welcome to stop by yours

Overall: 

The key to remember with all of this is to know who is holding the power in the exchange (can you tell I write BDSM romance?) The person who benefits more from what the other person has to offer has to go out of their way to make it as convenient as possible for the other.

For instance, if I want my book reviewed on a big book blogger site--the power is in their hands. I'm the one who has to go out of my way. But if a brand new author who just self-published wants me to do a feature on their book here where I have a big following of potential readers, then I'm the one holding more cards. Sounds kind of snotty, but it is what it is. You'll be on both sides of the equation at some point.

So what do you think? Have you had any negative guest blogging experiences? How do you like to be approached for a guest blog?

 

"Revved up and red-hot sexy, CRASH INTO YOU, delivers a riveting romance!" --Lorelei James, NY Times Bestselling author of the ROUGH RIDERS seriesCRASH INTO YOU is now available!

 

Fill-Me-In-Friday - Best Writing Links of the Week

 

 

 

It's that time of the week where I round up the best links I've run across this week and share them with you guys. This week has been one of the busiest of my life, but also one of the best ever. :) So thanks to all of you for the support and cheerleading for CRASH INTO YOU's release. You guys rock.

 


DAILY BLOG TOUR ALERT: 

 

How I Built a BDSM Ranch (in my head) and a chance to win CRASH INTO YOU at Deb's Book Bag! Plus a review that got me a little verklempt--can't tell you how rewarding it is to hear my book resonated with a reader. :)


Also, I'm being interviewed over at Love to Read For Fun where I answer questions like "Your book takes place at a BDSM retreat. Did you have to do a lot of research?" 

 



Now on to the links...

On Writing/Publishing:

 

Stops From my Blog Tour:

 

 

 

 

Alright, that's all I've got. How was your week? What were some of your favorite links from this week? 


Have a great weekend!

 


 

"Revved up and red-hot sexy, CRASH INTO YOU, delivers a riveting romance!" --Lorelei James, NY Times Bestselling author of the ROUGH RIDERS series

 

 

CRASH INTO YOU is now available!

Read an excerpt here.


All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2012 |Copyright Statement|

 

Is That the Sound of My Dream Coming True? CRASH INTO YOU is out!!!

We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog to say...

CRASH INTO YOU is out!!!!!!!!


Woo-hoo! The dream I've had since I wrote that horrible New Kids on the Block fan fiction novel at 15 has finally come true. :) A book that I wrote is actually on the shelves.

Thank you to everyone of you who has been here along the way on this journey with me! I love y'all more than cupcakes. :)

And for those of you who are buying CRASH, *too tight hugs* and I hope you enjoy it!

(And remember to take a picture with your book or ebook version with your best Blue Steel face and get a chance to win a gift certificate, plus get a signed bookplate and be featured in a kickass blogging slideshow!)

Also, I'm over at Seductive Musings today with an EXCLUSIVE steamy excerpt and a post about being a fearless as opposed to a hopeless romantic. Would love it if y'all stopped by! :)

*off to happy dance and stalk the local bookstores so I can spot my book on their shelves*


"Revved up and red-hot sexy, CRASH INTO YOU, delivers a riveting romance!" --Lorelei James, NY Times Bestselling author of the ROUGH RIDERS series

"Hot and romantic, with an edge of suspense that will keep you entertained.” --Shayla Black, New York Times Bestselling author of SURRENDER TO ME

“...a sexy, sizzling tale that is sure to have readers begging for more!" –Jo Davis, author of I SPY A DARK OBSESSION

CRASH INTO YOU is now available!
Read an excerpt here.


All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2012 |Copyright Statement|

Authors Interacting with Readers Online - More Controversial Than I Thought

Okay, before I get into the nitty gritty, I'd like to make a few announcements:

1) My "official" blog tour starts today. If you visit and comment on posts throughout the tour, there's a chance to win a gift certificate. : ) Today's post is over at Romancing Rakes where I'm talking about The Anatomy of a Sex Scene. (There's also a review of the book here.) I'd love it if you guys would stop by and say hi!

2) So, uh, I have a book coming out. SQUEE!!!!!! CRASH INTO YOU drops tomorrow. Though I will refrain from begging--*ahem* for now--I will be your BFF (you know, virtually braid your hair and paint your toenails) if you check out a copy. (Um, for you boys, I'll buy the beer and cue up the big screen for the bowl games.) And really, if nothing else, you can buy a copy just to see if I've followed all that writing advice I'm sharing on here all the time. And then make fun of me when I didn't. ;)

Okay, so onto today's topic...

Authors Interacting With Readers Online - Some Things to Think About

This past week I ran across a thought-provoking post over at Dear Author, Is there room on the internet for authorial interaction? In the post, Jane talks about the role of the author and when it's appropriate for the author to interact with the readers (when it adds value and when it taints things.)

The post itself is enough to get you thinking, but the slew of comments are just as enlightening. I was truly surprised to find out how some readers feel about authorial interaction.

Most agree (and I can see this point) that an author should not be commenting on reviews--mainly because once the author shows up it can make others clam up. Who wants to say something negative once they know the author is there listening?

But I was surprised to see that this even went as far as applying to the author saying thank you for the review. Jane and some other reviewers mentioned that a thank you almost makes them feel uncomfortable, especially in response to a negative review,because it implies that the reviewer has done a "favor" for the author. (I'm assuming this is for reviews you didn't directly set up with the reviewer. If you directly interacted with the blogger--like setting up a blog tour--then a thank you is obviously in order.)

Now, I'm southern. I say thank you for EVERYTHING. It's like a reflex. To think that my thank you may make someone uncomfortable kind of took me aback. When I say thank you, it's simply because I'm appreciative that the person took the time to read my book and to comment on it publicly (which is press--regardless of the content of the review.) Reviews are important. So my instinct would be to thank someone if I saw that they reviewed my book. (Plus I'm a dorky new author and just want to hug everyone who reads my book, lol.)

But perhaps the thank you should be a case by case basis and should be done privately via email instead of posting it on the review and shutting down other comments. 

The other issue that was interesting was how many of the commenters didn't like interacting with authors. They preferred to read and discuss the book without knowing anything about the author. They didn't want to hear the writer's perspective on why they wrote something the way they did.

I can understand this in the forum of a review. You don't want the author "defending" themselves in the comments, but seeing that many are opposed to any interaction is a little surprising and flies in the face of all we're told about connecting with readers online.

Some readers felt very strongly--finding authors "friending" readers on social networking sites as "rude". And another said they had enough drama in their life and didn't want to read about the author's life. Another was unhappy with authors hanging out on "reader" sites. One person said authors should only be known by their work. Also, many assume that if we're online and discussing books that aren't our own, we're just friends with that author and it's not genuine.

This prompted author Courtney Milan to ask in the comments:

How safe is it for authors to participate in discussions of books at all? Do people just assume that authors are friends with the author? Does that chill discussion?

The whole post and discussion was rather enlightening for me, a bit depressing and frankly, isolating. Yes, I absolutely agree that authors should refrain from commenting/defending/attacking in the comments sections of reviews. That's a given.

But now we're not supposed to discuss other books and we're not supposed to go in "reader" groups/areas? Yes, we're writers, but first and foremost we're READERS. Just because I have a book out there doesn't mean I'm not also voracious reader who loves to discuss books with others. Hearing that my presence in a reader group may be construed as something self-serving made me a little sad. Like I can't play on that playground anymore.

And maybe I'm the exception but even before I was a writer, I loved the idea of getting to know the authors behind the books I enjoyed. I liked reading the "why they wrote the book" posts or little explanations and insider information about the story. If I was actually able to discuss/chat about the book with them, well, awesome! So I know that there are other readers out there like me.

And maybe that's why the responses to the post surprised me. And, of course, this is a specific sample and may not represent readers as a whole. Many people commenting on the post were authors and book bloggers. Book bloggers are not your casual readers. They deal with authors daily. So I'm sure if you've dealt with one too many difficult authors, you can become a little more wary and jaded.

But here are my takeaways from the post:

1. Saying thank you publicly for a review may not always be a good thing. Send a note privately if you'd like to thank the reviewer.

2. Commenting on a review in any way can shut down reader discussion.

3. Readers may see you as an intruder with an agenda if you join book discussion groups. (So make sure you don't have an ulterior motive for joining.)

4. You may not be the best person to publicly promo your friends books (and vice versa) because many readers will only see it as helping a friend. This doesn't mean don't do it, but understand that it may hold less weight than independent reviewers so make sure you mix it up when you're promoting your book.

5. Some readers don't want to "connect" with you. It may taint their reading experience. Respect that. So interact, be available, chat, blog but don't go "hunting" readers and injecting yourself into their online lives if you weren't invited.

6. Don't jump into Facebook or Twitter discussions when people are discussing your book unless you're invited or messaged directly.

7. Do everything with genuineness. Don't "friend" people because you want them to buy your book. Friend them because you want to get to know them. (Duh.)

8. If certain issues or questions keep coming up in reviews, don't necessarily address them in the comments. Write a blog post on your own blog answering those questions so that readers who are interested in knowing more can seek it out if they'd like. (Good fodder for FAQ section.)

So what do you think about all this? Were you surprised by any of it? And how do you think these things should be handled? Do you think this represents a large group of readers or is more specific to bloggers who deal with authors daily?

Holding Myself Accountable - 2011 Resolutions Revisited

Today I don't have a Fill-Me-In-Friday for you because I've been on vacation and haven't been surfing the web and collecting links this week.

But, in the spirit of the new year rolling in this weekend, I figured I should check back in on my goals I set here on the blog at the end of last year and report on results.

So here goes...

2011 Writing Goals:

Complete Book 2 in the Exposure Therapy Loving on the Edge series way ahead of my June deadline. [Did it!]
Draft at least one additional full length novel. [only halfway there but that's because of one of the goals below]
Sell Wanderlust (the novel I finished before CRASH). [purposely put this on hold, deciding where I want to go with it]
Attend RWA Nationals in NYC. [did it!]
Attempt to write a short piece (short story or novella) --I am totally intimidated at the idea of writing anything shorter than category length (55k), but I think writing something briefer will be a good exercise for me. [Completed and sold a 30k novella to Berkley! This is also why I'm not finished book 3 this year.]

Blogging Goals:

Continue to keep up a regular blogging schedule and hopefully not bore you all. :) [kept up my blogging, you guys will have to let me know on the boring part]
Perhaps start or join a group blog and do more guest blogging. [definitely did more guest blogging and started up separate author blog]

Reading goals:

Read 40 or more books.

[Read 31, so was close. If you're interested in seeing what I read, I kept the list here.]

Personal Goals

Potty train the kiddo [Sadly, no. This MUST happen this year. Please, God.]
Be in a size ten or lower by the time I go to previously mentioned RWA Nationals. [*snort* Yeah, uh, didn't happen.]
Have a better work/life balance. [This one fluctuated. Can still get better at this.

So I won some, I lost some. Altogether, not a bad year. Now I need to think of my goals for 2012. (If I can find time to actually think of some, lol.)

So how did you do on your goals this year? What are some of your goals for the new year? Are you joining any writing or reading challenges? What goal do you most hope to accomplish?

Hope you all have a wonderful New Year! And don't forget, CRASH INTO YOU comes out this Tuesday!!! (

See here for my dorky contest

.)

Fill-Me-In Friday: The Best Writing Links of the Week

 

Hey, everyone! I'm sure you've had a busy week preparing for the holidays, so I've rounded up the best posts I've come across this week. 
On Writing and Publishing:
Should You Join the Indy Revolution? by CJ Lyons via Romance University


For Gits and Shiggles:

 

Can Drinking Help Your Writing? at Slate Magazine  (love that one of the hypotheses is that writers are all a little crazy anyway and more prone to addiction, lol. Like we need anyone to tell us that we're bent.)

Awesome Holiday Videos via Emily Ryan-Davis

What You May Have Missed Here:

 

Creating a Story Bible by Suzanne Johnson
What You May Have Missed on the Author Blog or on My CRASH INTO YOU Blog Tour:

Reid, hero of CRASH INTO YOU, talks about the perfect submissive
PLUS a chance to win my book!
at As the Pages Turn
(And what that has to do with ugly guys in p0rn)
at Kat Latham's Blog
at Anne R. Allen's Blog
That's all I've got. I hope you all have a wonderful and happy holiday! Have fun, be safe, and eat too many cookies!

 

 


“...a sexy, sizzling tale that is sure to have readers begging for more!" –Jo Davis, author of I SPY A DARK OBSESSION

 

 

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.


All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2011 |Copyright Statement|

 

Why I Went Traditional and 7 Reasons Why You Should (or Shouldn't)

I'm a guest over at Anne R. Allen's fabulous blog today talking about my reasons for pursuing traditional publication. Would love for y'all to stop by and say hi! : )

Coming Soon!


"★★★★ After reading Loren’s book of bondage and love, readers will race out for their own handcuffs and whips." -RT Book Reviews magazine

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!
Read an excerpt here.


All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2011 |Copyright Statement|

Fill-Me-In-Friday - The Best Writing Links of the Week!

 

It's that time of week where I round up my favorite posts (and shamelessly re-pimp my own). Hope you all enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

 

On Writing and Publishing:

Writers Must Write First by Susan Kaye Quinn

The Number One Overlooked Skill for Every Author by Writer Unboxed

Reasons Not To Self-Publish in 2011-2012 at The Millions

Platform and Social Media Must Not Be Your Center by Jane Friedman

The New Media Melee - 5 Indisputable Truths of Author Marketing by Idyll Conversation

Can SEO Help You Sell More Books? by The Creative Penn

Is the Traditional Book Dead? by Jim Devitt

My Twitter Retweeting Policy by John Scalzi

Are You Blogging to the Wrong Audience? by Meghan Ward

When Do Readers Trust You? by C. Hope Clark

What You May Have Missed Here: 

 

by Sierra Godfrey
What You Missed on the Author Blog:
Those were some of my favorites, what were some of yours?

 

 


 

“...a sexy, sizzling tale that is sure to have readers begging for more!" –Jo Davis, author of I SPY A DARK OBSESSION

 

 

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.


All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2011 |Copyright Statement|

 

Fill-Me-In Friday: Best Links of the Week

 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I'm currently in a carb coma, but I tried to be lucid enough to give you my favorite links of the week. :)

 

Enjoy!

On Writing and Publishing:

How I Went From Writing 2k a Day to 10k a Day by Rachel Aaron (don't know if I can pull off 10k a day, but great tips)

A Social Media Survival Guide by Jenn Reese (LOVE the idea of everyone having their own guide and to not put your own expectations on others.)

How To Build a Blog Following From the Ground Up by Jody Hedlund

Amazon Reader Reviews: 12 Things Everybody and Their Grandmother Needs to Know by Anne R. Allen

Ten Things I Dislike About Your Blog by Story Siren

For Gits and Shiggles:

Five Things Romance Writers Should Know About Vaginas by Kat Latham

VIDEO: An argument via Siri. (This one is R-rated for language, so be warned it's NSFW). Found via Allison Pang's Blog

 


 

What You May Have Missed on the Author Blog:

 

What You May Have Missed Here:
by Suzanne Johnson

Favorite Tumblr of the Week:
Ryan Gosling in the rain, click here for more wet Ryan pics :)
Oh, and did you hear my news?
CRASH INTO YOU was given 4 stars by RT Book Reviews Magazine!
"After reading Loren's book of bondage and love, readers will race out for their own handcuffs and whips."
Yeah, buddy. :) AND I've been interviewed in Writer's Digest magazine's Breaking In section. So if you pick up a copy, check it out! :)
Hope everyone has a great weekend! (Unless you're an Arkansas football fan. Then I hope you have a really bad Friday. ;) Geaux Tigers!)


 

 


 

 

"Revved up and red-hot sexy, CRASH INTO YOU, delivers a riveting romance!" --Lorelei James, NY Times Bestselling author of the ROUGH RIDERS series

 

 

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.


 


All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2011 |Copyright Statement|

 

My Squeeful News!

I'm running behind today because kidlet has to go to the doctor, so Fill-Me-In Friday will be up later. But I just had to share my awesomely terrific news with you guys.

 

I sold two more books! Squee! My books are now officially The Loving on the Edge series. So four books plus one ebook novella will be out over the next two years! *dances*

Here's the official announcement from Publisher's Marketplace:

Roni Loren's third and fourth contemporary eroticromance novels in her Loving on the Edge series, following the upcoming CRASHINTO YOU, to KateSeaver at BerkleyHeat, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, for publication in 2013, by SaraMegibow at NelsonLiterary Agency (World English). Translation:
wlee@fieldingagency.com


I'm still a little stunned. A little over a year ago I was querying. Now I have five books to look forward to. I'm so, so thankful and excited.

*off to do another happy dance* (and to take kidlet to the doctor). Links post coming later, promise. :)


"Hot and romantic, with an edge of suspense that will keep you entertained.” --Shayla Black, New York Times Bestselling author of SURRENDER TO ME

 

 

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.



All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2011 |Copyright Statement|

 

Debut-a-Phobia: The Fear of People Actually Reading Your Book

 So I'm officially about a month and a half out from CRASH INTO YOU's release. I can't even tell you how excited I am. My book is finally going to be on shelves! It feels like forever since I signed the deal in October 2010. (Though in some ways, it feels like only yesterday.)

 

But I have to say one of the other emotions I'm going through is the occasional freak out that -- oh crap, real people are actually going to READ my book. This particular freak out is littered with any number of insecurities. Mainly, what if everyone hates it? What if my agent and editor were just having an off day when they decided they loved my book? What if it only sells twenty copies, the amount my family will probably buy?

Oh, and speaking of family, here comes oh-crap-moment number two--my family and people I know in real life are going to read my erotic romance. Ahh! There are curse words and bondage and sadomasochism and lots of nakedness. Yes, all those things are part of a romance and a suspense plot and a story about healing, but I'm afraid those who know me are only going to focus on the NC-17 stuff.

I know that people in my life understand that this is going to be an erotic romance, but I don't know if they've wrapped their heads around that totally because they've never read in the genre. And it's going to come out of left field for many of them because I'm not the "kind of girl" who you would expect to write a super sexy book. I don't even curse in front of anyone but my closest friends.

But that's simply because I'm a quiet, private person who plays my cards close to the vest. I only fully relax around a few people. So those who aren't in that close circle just make their own assumptions. And boy do people make lots of assumptions about quiet people.

Therefore, this whole experience is going to be interesting in a lot of ways. Not only am I opening up my writing for public opinion but I'm also opening myself up for people to make up all kinds of new assumptions about me--some that may be accurate and many that will be totally false.

But at the end of the day, this is what I signed up for. Regardless of whether you write romance or cozy mysteries or stories about aliens, writing is a deeply personal act that exposes the writer. There's no way around that. Regardless of the plot, your blood is on the page. It's the occupational hazard of good writing.

Hopefully we all survive it, lol.

So how about you? Even though you want to be published, do you fear people reading your words? Do you ever feel exposed in certain parts of your manuscript--a bit of dialogue or emotion that echoes something in your own life? Do you make assumptions about writers based on their books? Do you worry about your family reading your work?

 


 

 

"Revved up and red-hot sexy, CRASH INTO YOU, delivers a riveting romance!" --Lorelei James, NY Times Bestselling author of the ROUGH RIDERS series

 

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.



All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2011 |Copyright Statement|

 

Five Tips On Being Naked In Front of an Audience

You know those dreams where you show up for your first day of school or to give a presentation at work and you look down and realize you're naked? Yeah, those suck. But guess what?

Welcome to being an author.

Writing can be a pretty solitary career. We sit in our little writing caves and type up the stories we can't get out of our minds any other way. We drag out all of our life experiences, our vulnerabilities, our fears, our quirks and pepper our pages with it--whether we realize what we're doing or not. Our voice is us. Even if the story is about someone who is nothing like us or about something we've never experienced. We are naked on those pages.

And unlike most other careers, our goal is to expose that nakedness to others and subject ourselves to public judgment and ridicule.

That's a pretty brutal position to put yourself in. We know we have to have tough skin. And we do have it. We've been through the gauntlet of critique partners, query rejections and editor feedback. We know how to take constructive criticism.

However, once your writing is OUT THERE. Like for the general public to read and comment on, it's a whole different kind of naked. And I don't think any writer can be completely impervious to others commenting negatively about his or her work. Agents, editors, crit partners--we can deal with their opinion because we know they are coming from an informed viewpoint.

But when your story is out in the world--ANYONE can share their opinion. I can't tell you how many times I've seen reviews on Amazon where people have rated an erotic romance one star because "this book had graphic sex in it." Hello. Their are half-naked people on the cover. It's called EROTIC romance. By definition, the sex scenes are fully described using all the fun words.

Or someone will give a bad rating because the bookseller didn't ship their book on time--like that should have any bearing on the book itself. And on Goodreads, people can rate a book before there are even ARCs printed. They can rate the book when the manuscript is still scattered on the author's floor! (You can learn more about that here on Adventures in Children's Publishing.)

And as authors, there isn't much we can do about it. People can do what they want. They can tear down your book in mean-spirited, completely non-constructive way. They can post spoilers that give away the twists of your book. They can give completely inaccurate information. They can basically tell you that you look awful naked and that you should never take your clothes off with the lights on again.

And you have no control over that.

All you have control over is how you react. That's where you need to put your focus. I know that's what I'm going to try to concentrate on once my book it out. I've already suffered a mini-anxiety attack just putting up the first chapter of CRASH INTO YOU on my website. The reactions have all been positive so far, but it still felt like I was stripping in front of everyone, lol. That's the longest piece of my writing I've ever made public.

But anyway, here are a few tips once you've taken off your clothes in front of the world...

Tips on Being Naked In Front of an Audience AKA Being Published:

 

1. NEVER respond to negative reviews. Ever.

Okay? Don't do it. It makes you look petty and oversensitive. Just don't say anything at all. Or if you have to say something, say thank you for reviewing my book, sorry it wasn't for you.

2. Do not let a bad review ruin your day.

Most of the big reviewers will tell you that a bad review often sells as many books as a good one because people think--ooh, that sounds awful! I must see how awful it is for myself. (Then hopefully you surprise them.) It's the "Eww, this stinks. Smell this!" mentality.

3. If you find yourself being distracted or personally wounded by bad reviews, stop reading them.

This will be the hardest for me because I'm one of those people who wants to know--even if it's bad news. But if I ever feel like I'm getting brought down by the negativity, I will step away. 

4. Repeat after me: You can't please everybody.

This is the one I constantly have to remind myself of. Someone will hate your book, probably many someones. But others are going to love it! Your story is going to be some person's favorite book of the year. Think about those Oscar winning movies--how many times has something won a buttload of awards but you totally thought it sucked? Every story is not meant for everyone.

5. There's no such thing as bad press.

Okay, that's not true 100% of the time. If you make a jackass out of yourself publicly, that's not going to be good. But, in general, you'd rather people be talking about your book than not. Think how many people tear down Twilight. I bet many, many of those Twi-haters are first in line when each new movie comes out, if nothing else but to go in and laugh. Buzz is buzz.

So what do you think? How do you react to negative reviews or how do you think you will react? Will you have to read them or will you avoid reading reviews? What other tips would you add to this list? 

And if you'd like to see me "naked", you can go here and read my Chapter 1. Feel free to tell me what you think. I'm pretty tough. Mostly. ;) (Over 18 only, por favor.)

Writing In Flow - Burning Questions Answered

 


Today I'm answering burning questions over at Beverly Diehl's Writing in Flow blog. I'd love for y'all to stop by and comment.

 

Here are some of the questions I'm answering:

 

  • You got your agent - and book deal - through being a fabulous writer, obviously, but also through building an online presence and networking.  Let’s say someone is old school - they have a great novel which has been polished like a diamond, but they have ZERO online presence.  With your knowledge of the publishing world today, would you advise them to go ahead and start querying, then begin building their online presence while waiting for replies?  Or, in your opinion, would it be wiser to perhaps invest six months to a year in building a platform, before querying?
  • Your writing schedule - do you write every day?  Write steadily, then blog, then Twitter breaks, or check your e-mail first, or is it all dogpiled together?
  • Although your blog is PG-13, you write dark erotic suspense material, and you’re open about using your own name and photo, not a pseudonym.  Tell us about the thought process that went into that decision, and how your (extended) family feels about it.

 

Hope to see you over there! :)

 

All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2011 |Copyright Statement|

The Big Reveal: I Have a COVER!!!!

 


I'm so excited about sharing my cover with you guys today that I barely even have the patience to write this post. I just want to post the picture and jump up and down like an over-caffeinated tween at a Justin Bieber concert.

 

So all I'll say is that so far on this publication journey, nothing has made it feel as real as when I opened my email two days ago and saw this cover with my characters images and my name on it.

I'm not sure I've ever felt such a rush. I loved it at first sight. It was exactly what I wanted and I bow down to the Berkley Heat art department. Their covers always amaze me, but seeing my own was seriously a dream come true.

I asked for a couple and for rain (because a pivotal scene of the book happens in the rain), that's about all the input I gave. And this is the ridiculously perfect cover they graced me with.

*drumroll please*

Here is the final cover for CRASH INTO YOU (Berkley Heat, Jan. 2012), which now is also available for preorder on Amazon!

 

 

So what do you think? :D Isn't his hand placement so hot?

Career Insurance: 5 Ways To Sell Your Next Book Before It's Written

Photo by Sem Vandekerckhove

When we're writing a book, we often have the end goal of getting an agent or publishing deal in mind. If I can just sell THIS book. That's our focus. What happens beyond that is gravy, right? 

Well, yes and no. Unless you're writing the next blockbuster of the century, one book does not a career make. One book is just the gun going off at the starter gate. If you want to do this for a living, you need to anticipate that you will be putting butt-in-chair over and over again to write more stories. And you hope that editors and readers keep buying said books.

So one of the purposes your initial book (and every book after that) has to serve is to sell the next one. You want your readers/editors turning that last page and thinking--OMG, must have the next one!

There are a few ways to go about doing this. It can depend on the genre you're writing and if you're doing single-title vs. a series or trilogy. But here are some strategies to close the deal on the next book before it's even written.

How to Sell Your Readers on the Next Book Before It's Even Written

 

1. The writing must be so amazing you take the reader to another place.

This is number one no matter what. Great writing. Period. If this isn't there, you've already killed your chance for next time. This is why I caution people about jumping in and self-publishing their first novel. I look back at my first novel and cringe. Had I put that out there, my name would be attached to that level of writing. Ack! So keep in mind that ANYTHING you put out there with your name on it can either pump up or sully your reputation as a writer. Therefore, make sure you only put the best product out there.

2. Cliffhangers (but not shameless ones!)

This is a delicate balance. Cliffhangers are absolutely awesome for making your readers desperate to have the next book, but be really careful with this. A shameless, brutal cliffhanger also runs the risk of pissing off a reader. I have seriously stopped reading an author when I feel like I was taken for a ride then left hanging on the edge with no resolution at all. Each book has to have ITS OWN ARC. You have to tie up the main threads of the plot in that book while still leaving unanswered questions for the SERIES ARC. Those arcs are two different things. Do not twist up all that tension and then leave the reader in a knot. Give them some relief.

3. Main characters that are strong and interesting enough to keep readers coming back for more. (Series--same hero/heroine.)

If you are going to write a series that follows the same main characters, you have to create heroes and heroines that are knock-you-on-your-ass interesting. (And humor helps too. I find myself more drawn to ongoing characters who are funny/sarcastic and entertaining.) Following the same people for one book is a big enough commitment, so for me to follow those same people for another two, ten, fifteen books, they better be amazing. You have to create a character with so many layers that you can continue to peel back with each new story. 

4. Secondary characters that the reader falls in love with. (Series--different hero/heroine, same world.)

If you want to write a series, especially in romance, this is vital. For instance, my books are part of a series but each book is its own complete love story. Therefore, CRASH INTO YOU's story is about Brynn and Reid. Then MELT INTO YOU is about Reid's best friend Jace, who was introduced in book one.

When readers finish one of my books, I want them asking, "When does this character's story come out???" You don't want to plant a character just for "sequel bait". They need to have a good reason to be in the previous book, but make the reader want that person's story. Readers were loving Jace and anticipating his story before Melt Into You was even written. Another good example is Adrian in Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series. He's such a likeable character that you want to know what happens to him. So now he has his own spinoff series.

5. A fantastic author voice.

This can get me every time. If I love the author's voice--the wit, the style of writing, the way they can put together language--I'm going to line up to buy whatever they write. This is why even though I don't read science fiction, I still picked up Lauren Dane's Undercover which takes place in space. I love her voice and her stories, so I'll follow her into genres I may normally not pick up. 

So when you look at THE ONE BOOK you're trying so hard to sell, try to find what is going to make someone want to buy your next book. Editors usually want to make multi-book deals, so give them a good reason to take a chance on you. :)

Now, you guys tell me, what hooks you into wanting to buy another book from that author? How do you feel about cliffhangers? And which authors/books have you read where you absolutely couldn't wait to get your hands on the next one (like you're on Amazon within ten minutes of finishing the book or your schlepping out to Barnes and Nobles in your pajama pants)?