Judging a Book by Its Cover

As children, we were taught to not judge a book by its cover. But, it’s a lesson that didn’t stick. Every day we judge something or someone by its outward appearance: that buff guy at the gym must be a narcissist; that woman in a conservative suit and ballerina-tight bun must be dull; and that plain-jane cover must render that book boring.

It’s human nature to make quick judgments – if it wasn’t, we wouldn’t have phrases like, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression,” or receptionists wouldn’t have titles like, Director of First Impressions.

Are Book Trailers Effective?

Reblogged from Nothing To Read Here:

I buy (and read) books for a couple of different reasons.  If I am a fan of an author then I’m willing to try anything they write even if it is in a genre I’m not a fan of.  I’ll also give a book a chance if it has an interesting premise.  With that said I know it can be hard to encapsulate the awesomeness of a book in a couple of paragraphs on the back cover. 

Read more… 67 more words, 1 more video

My blogger buddy Taureanw posted this a while back about book trailers. It's a brilliant post and even more clever device to market books - had to share!

A Visit from the Stork

No, no, I’m not pregnant. But I did make you look.

I Am Who I Say I Am

It’s something that happens every day, every hour, across the country many times over. It’s done so casually that some people respond without a second thought, and then reciprocate with half-hearted interest. It happens at birthday parties, happy hour, luncheons, business meetings, the grocery store, the gym and even while lying on the table of a chatty masseuse.

“So, what do you do?”

You Can Go Your Own Way

Lately the words to Fleetwood Mac’s iconic song “Go Your Own Way” have been rolling around my head. This break-up song is quite fitting actually because I’m breaking up with querying and I’m going to Indie publish Phoenix.

The road I'm taking. I'm sure it won't be as straight and pothole free.

A few weeks ago, I blogged that I was standing at a crossroad. It was a three-pronged fork: continue to query Phoenix, become an Indie author or lock Phoenix in a drawer and abandon the other two novels that follow. It was one of the toughest conversations I’ve had with myself, but ultimately I feel that I owe it to Amanda, David, Shiloh and Alex to share their story.

And this is why we drink

Yeppers. Been there.

Standing at a Crossroad

This spring marks a bittersweet milestone. Two years ago, I nervously sat across the very first literary agent I’ve ever met and pitched her Phoenix. She was lovely, said it sounded very interesting but had a few suggestions. Then the clincher, she was actually leaving the business, but encouraged me to send it to her boss (but the boss rejected).

Let’s fast forward to today. According to my Querytracker stats, of the 250 agents I’ve flagged I’ve sent 206 queries and have received 184 negative responses (either rejections or no responses). Six agents have requested pages, five have ultimately rejected and one has had my full manuscript since August.

“Egads!” you’re thinking. “Why isn’t this girl taking up crocheting or calling time of death on this manuscript and moving on to something this?”