| On June 3rd, I will be attending
one of my favorite events; Book Exposition America. See http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/
for more details. This literary happening is being held in New York at the Jacob
Javits Convention Center. Stop by the Harlequin booth on Sunday, June 3rd at 11.00
a.m. where I’ll be co-hosting the Kimani hour, and signing Down and Out in Flamingo
Beach. What’s even nicer are that the books are free. It’s a fun opportunity to
meet some of your favorite authors. Now
back to business. This month’s exciting author interview is with Ingrid Weaver.
Ingrid launches book number one of Harlequin’s Mediterranean Nights Series. Yours
truly closes the series with book number twelve. Ingrid’s book is titled From
Russia, With Love. If you like mixing it up, and enjoy both romance and suspense,
this is one book you shouldn’t miss. I haven’t been able to put it down. I’ll
let Ingrid tell you all about From Russia, With Love. Her inspiring interview
is below. Happy writing
and have an even happier spring! Romantically
Yours, Marcia King-Gamble
Editor -- Romantically Yours
http://www.lovemarcia.com/ p.s.
Chat with me on May 30, 2007 at 9.00 p.m. Log onto http://www.writerspace.com/.
************* Tools
of the Trade Last month’s
topic was self promotion. Continuing in that same vein, this month we talk about
putting together your own book tour. Want to know how to go about it? Read below.
Once you’ve written that
book in your heart you should have a game plan. That game plan should be to market
the heck out of that book. Don’t depend on your publisher to do it for you because
unless you’re a big name author, it just might not happen. Keeping
that in mind, an author, especially a newbie, would do well to plan his/her own
book tour. You might choose to go to places where you already know people but
I advocate venturing out of your comfort zone. Use the tour as an opportunity
to build your bookseller and reader data bases. Booksellers
can be your biggest allies because they hand sell books. Take the time to make
a connection with these personal ‘sales reps;’ the end result can only be positive.
Your efforts should go way beyond just sending out postcards. Putting yourself
out there gets even better results. Stop into a bookstore, smile, introduce yourself
and pump a hand. Transits at airports are another good opportunity to widen your
bookselling circle. You’re passing through so visit and leave a business card,
bookmark, or newsletter behind. Once
your tour is all set maximize your exposure by planning speaking engagements,
book signings, and media interviews. If you’re a member of Romance Writers of
America you might try emailing the local chapter presidents for recommendations
about romance friendly bookstores, media etc. Use
the Internet to your advantage to research bookstores, local newspapers, radio
stations etc. In addition to book signings don’t discount the power of the cold
call. It’s a great opportunity to sign any stock (books) of yours the store might
have at hand while at the same time making the booksellers acquaintance. One added
bonus is that you might get better shelf positioning. Putting
together a tour sends a message to your editor that you are all for investing
in your future. Booksellers remember authors who have been gracious and friendly.
They’ll do everything in their power to hand sell your book. Better
sales translate to better contracts and that’s what this business is about. So
go to it and good luck! *************
Happenings:
May 31- June 03, 2007 Book
Exposition America
Jacob Javits Convention Center
655 W. 34th St.
NY. NY. 10005 July 11-14, 2007
September 20-23, 2007
September 28-30, 2007
October 26-28, 2007
Emerald
City Writers’ Conference
Bellevue Hilton
Bellevue, WA
Keynote: Jayne
Ann Krentz AKA Amanda Quick *************************************************
Award winning
novelist of romantic suspense books, Ingrid Weaver is our featured author this
month. Ingrid is a Canadian author who lives on a farm. This talented mother of
three is an ex math and history teacher who now writes full time. Log onto her
website http://www.ingridweaver.com/
for more about this prolific author. Interview
with Ingrid Weaver RY: Would
you describe yourself as a writer of Romantic Suspense? If so what is it about
the romantic suspense genre that appeals to you? IW: Strange
as it may seem, two of my favorite authors are Lavyrle Spencer and Clive Cussler,
so with a contrast like that, it's only natural that I'd gravitate toward writing
romantic suspense. I believe in the "show, don't tell" rule of storytelling, and
nothing reveals character quite so readily as placing protagonists in life or
death situations. How they react to a crisis not only shows their characters,
it shows their true feelings and gives them the opportunity to earn a happy ending
through their choices. RY: Your
first published book; a 1994 release was titled True Blue was that also a romantic
suspense? What inspired you to write that story? IW: Yes,
TRUE BLUE was a Silhouette Intimate Moments romantic suspense. In the opening
scene, the heroine is watching a video of Dirty Harry, and it was the moral ambiguities
of Clint Eastwood's title character in the movie that inspired my story. The hero
of TRUE BLUE is a tough ex-con who, like Harry Callahan, bends the letter of the
law but still does the morally right thing. RY: It’s
a great honor to launch Harlequin’s Mediterranean Series continuity. Book one
(your book) is titled From Russia with Love. Tell us a little about it. IW: David
and Marina, the hero and heroine in FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE, both want custody
of Marina's orphaned nephew, Stefan. But the car crash that killed Stefan's parents
wasn't an accident as everyone believes, it was a hit by the Russian mob. While
David and Marina spend their Mediterranean cruise debating who would make the
best parent for Stefan, the hitman has tracked Stefan to the ship and plans to
finish the job. This was another one of those stories where I used impending danger
to reveal the true feelings of my characters, and I'm very excited about how it
turned out! RY: Is
this your first continuity? Please describe what a continuity is for the reader.
What would you say is the most challenging aspect of this type of series? IW: Continuities
are a number of books (often 12) that are stand-alone stories linked by a common
plot thread and continuing characters. Because the overall plot is developed over
such a large canvas, it can get fairly complicated, which means a mind-boggling
number of details for the authors to keep straight. Mediterranean Nights
is the sixth continuity that I've participated in, and each one has been a challenge.
I inevitably reach a point where I grumble that I'm swearing continuities off
forever, but I keep doing more for one simple reason: working on a project with
so many talented, creative people generates its own unique energy. Ideas spark
other ideas, making the stories richer than they would have been on their own.
It's a wonderful experience in what is otherwise a solitary profession. RY: Speaking
of series? Have you written other series that are not part of a continuity? If
not would you like to? IW: I've
written two series of linked stories for Intimate Moments. The one in 2003 was
Eagle Squadron, three books that featured a team of Delta Force soldiers.
Another series in 2005 was Payback, which revolved around former criminals
who were given the chance to redeem themselves by righting a wrong. Writing trilogies
allowed me to develop larger concepts than I could with one book, and I enjoyed
being able to bring characters from one story to the next - it was like visiting
with old friends. RY: How
many books do you typically write a year? How many books would you be comfortable
writing annually? How many would you say an author needs to write a year to earn
a decent living? IW: I
prefer to spend around five months on a book - it's not a straight line kind of
progress, since the first three chapters usually take as much time for me as the
remaining thirteen or so. The occasions when I managed to write three books in
one year were pretty draining, so I like to limit it to one or two. Of the twenty-three
books I've written so far, not one has earned the same amount as another so it
would be hard to fix on the number of titles needed per year to attain a particular
income level. The more relevant number is the size of the backlist, since with
a publisher like Harlequin that pursues foreign markets and reissues books, those
old titles continue to earn for years. RY: When
did the writing bug bite and how difficult was it to make your first sale? IW: I
began writing in 1989, when my youngest child was in school full time. I decided
I'd like a job I could do at home, and I liked to read, so how hard could it be
to write a book? Uh-huh. At the time, I hadn't yet heard of Romance Writers of
America, which might have been a good thing or I would have realized what a competitive
field I had chosen. Instead, I bought a copy of THE WRITER'S MARKET, learned through
that about romance publishers, query letters and manuscript format, and then simply
started writing. Blissfully ignorant of the odds and in total isolation from any
other authors, I wrote one manuscript after another and just kept sending them
to publishers. After four years, eight rejected manuscripts and three worn-out
manual typewriters I finally made my first sale to Silhouette. RY: As
a Canadian author growing up in a mining town, did that have an effect on the
kinds of stories you felt compelled to write about? What about now. Does the remoteness
of farm life influence your writing? IW: To
clear up the confusion, I am indeed Canadian but I didn't grow up in a mining
town, I was born and raised in Peterborough, a picturesque community in an agricultural
and cottage/tourism region near Toronto. I lived in a northern Quebec mining town
with my husband for a while, but now we're back in the South (for Canada, that
is.) Where I've lived has definitely influenced my writing, since I like to use
characters who have a small town feel to them, down-to-earth people with strong
ethics and an independent streak. Being out in the country now is a mixed blessing
- it's quiet, less stressful than the city, with fewer distractions, but somehow
there's always so much to do. RY: On
your website you mention having a degree in English yet you taught high school
math and history. Would you then say you’re both right and left brained (the right
brain being the creative side)? IW: Absolutely.
I've always enjoyed numbers. In math an answer is either right or wrong, unlike
in literature where every answer is open to interpretation. Of course, it's that
wide open, anything-is-possible aspect that makes creating stories so satisfying,
but my analytical side comes in handy when I work through plot tangles. RY: I
noticed you Blog. How difficult is it to keep up with blogging? Do you blog every
day or just when you feel you have something worthwhile to say? Has blogging been
a successful marketing tool for you? IW: I
seldom venture onto the Internet, so I take a casual approach to blogging, posting
something new on my website only when the mood moves me. It's mostly just mind-dump
trivia, which likely provides some scary insights into how my brain works. So
whether or not that's a good thing... I'm not sure. RY: What
words of advice would you like to share with those attempting to get published?
IW: Focus.
The only way to become a writer, to find your own particular voice, is to write.
That means write through the rejections, the criticisms and the crises of your
real life. And though writing groups can offer great advice, remember that if
your goal is to get published, in the end the only opinion that counts is that
of an acquiring editor. RY: Finally,
what’s next for Ingrid Weaver? Do you have a big book in you, or a big idea that
you want to develop? IW: I've
been writing big ideas all along, they're just in small packages.
*************************************************
Who’s Acquiring Kensington
Publishing: Aphrodisia
Erotic romances and
very sexually explicit. Acquiring contemporary, historical, futuristic, paranormal,
multicultural etc. Novels
- Approx 80,000 words
Novellas – Approx 20,000- 30,000 Send
to: Audrey LeFehr, Hilary Sares, John Scognamiglia John
Scognamiglia is also looking for romantic suspense, paranormal, urban fantasy.
Word count 80,000. African
American and Women’s fiction submissions should be sent to Selena James.
New Publisher:
Update
on Agencies Artists
Literary Group
27 West 20th Street
10th Floor
New York, NY. 10011
www.algmedia.com Agents
accepting Romance Fiction Queries:
Joe Veltre
Diane Bartoli Bradford
Literary Agency
10353 San Diego Mission Road
Suite 333
San Diego,
CA 92108
http://www.bradfordlit.com/
619 521-1201 Queries:
Laura Bradford Crichton
& Associates, Inc.
6940 Carroll Avenue
Takoma Park, MD 20912
Phone:
(301) 495-9663
Fax: (202) 318-0050 Queries:
Sha-shana Crichton Imprint
Agency, Inc. 5 West 101st, St, Suite 8-B NY. NY. 10025 www.imprintagency.com Queries:
Stephany Evans *********
Did you know? Series
romance is on the upswing. Harlequin reports an increase in sales over their 2005
numbers. Now that’s good for me and you. Put
your heart in a book and continue writing. *
ABOUT Marcia’s ROMANTICALLY YOURS * Romantically
Yours is a FREE monthly newsletter. I would love to hear from you. Please send
comments, news, research, or story ideas directly to Marcia King-Gamble at mkinggambl@aol.co | 
