Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘manuscript evaluation’

And so it begins…

Posted in Publishers, revision, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 22, 2015| 3 Comments »

hands on laptop…my road to self-publication that is.

Riverhaven Books forwarded an analysis of my story by one of their editors.

First the good news:

The author has a well-conceived mystery. There are very good twists and turns, especially at the end. The writing is straight-forward and follows a logical structure. There will be little required in terms of correcting punctuation or grammar.

And now the not-as-good news:

However, I think there is developmental work to be done. I would recommend that the author work on character development, backstory, subtlety in dialogue, and that she check with law enforcement professionals on some of the legal practices described, as some don’t ring true.

I can either try to develop these improvements on my own, or hire this same editor to work with me. Her 10-hour contract costs $30 per hour…sounds like a good investment to me!

I’ll keep you posted as we move along!

Read Full Post »

On the Road to Self-Publishing

Posted in Publishers, tagged , , , , on January 6, 2015| 2 Comments »

imagesWell, it’s finally happening.  I’ve given up on agents who don’t respond, and am submitting my first novel to a local self-publishing company here in southern New England.

One of their editors will read my story and provide a quote for editing, formatting, ISBN, uploading to the internet and Kindle, etc, etc., etc.

No idea how long this process will take. I’m excited to find out how the cover art is created. I know how I want my story visually depicted, but don’t know if my idea can be translated.

So I’m off!

Read Full Post »

Contest for Unpublished Authors

Posted in Contests, tagged , , , , , , , on August 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

fingers crossed behind bckWell, the contest for unpublished authors was moved forward by two months, and closed to new entries yesterday. Within the coming month, the editors on staff will read through the submissions and select their three favorites. These will be passed up to the owner, who will request the entire manuscripts from those three authors. 

Wouldn’t it be thrilling if I were chosen as one of the final three?

All I can do now is make final tweaks and wait for that hoped-for call to ring my phone. 

Of course, I have begun working on story #2, along with the plot issues that come with any new project. My victim is fleshed out, I know how he’s done in. I even know who does it. And I know who is falsely accused. But I haven’t figured out the why yet. Can’t get too far into the story until that major component is created.

And so my waiting game begins…my fingers are crossed!

 

 

Read Full Post »

Fresh Start

Posted in revision, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 26, 2014| 2 Comments »

ah-ha momentFor the past few years, I’ve listened to well-meaning comments from two writing groups, manuscript evaluators and uninterested agents. After a particularly brutal critique session this past weekend, my brain finally kicked and I experienced an “ah-ha moment”.

I had lost my title character.

A comment made several months ago at a mystery writers conference to “start with the body” sent me off on a major rewrite to move my chapter thirteen to page one. This forced me to re-introduce my potential suspects after the body dropped. What I sacrificed was providing my future readers with a sense of my characters as they responded to each other. Without real-time dialogue, the victim morphed into dreaded and story-slowing back story.

And so, last Saturday, as I drove home with my ego bruised and my head spinning, it occurred to me that all along I’ve been categorizing my story in the wrong genre. Since the first word was put to the page…or more accurately, onto the screen… I’ve considered it a mystery, but it doesn’t start out that way. It’s more accurately defined as perhaps ‘women’s fiction” that becomes a mystery with a dash of romance along the way. I’ve just found a blog called “Women Fiction Writers” and subscribed.

I’m no longer writing for some unknown agent or publisher with an unknown laundry list of what sort of story they are seeking at the moment. I am writing for myself. The story that has been in my head since the beginning has resurfaced and set me free. Will I self-publish? Most likely.

Are my instincts right? Who cares! All I know is that I’m reinvigorated about bringing my original concept to life on the page!

Read Full Post »