ONLINE GROUP PITCHING

By Tess MacKall with Contributions by Zetta Brown

There are basically two kinds of pitches—in person and online. A pitch is a brief sales pitch—not a synopsis. A synopsis is a detailed account of your manuscript. E published authors have been pitching books online for quite some time now. The in-person pitch is definitely different in that you don’t have the luxury to keep refining until you get it right. The editor is, after all, sitting right there and you MUST deliver. In-person pitches usually occur at conventions or conferences where editors take appointments to specifically hear an author’s pitch.

Today I’m going to address online pitching only.

I’ve noticed a blog or two here and there taking two or three sentence pitches to editors, and most recently, a Yahoo group I am familiar with, Publishing Trove, http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/publishing trove,has begun accepting online group pitches. Authors simply post their pitch to the group and editors, agents, and publishers read these pitches to determine their interest. Authors are contacted individually, usually off group, in order to request a manuscript.

It’s a wonderful idea, and I applaud the group owner, Trinity Blacio, and her vision. However, the online group pitch process, while working, is still being refined, and I spoke to Trinity about offering this workshop on AWH to possibly help define this unique venture a bit further.

To do so, we must first equate the process to what we do when following a publisher’s submission guidelines. What does that include? Query, synopsis, and manuscript. Well, we don’t need all that for an online group pitch, but what about looking at those big three and narrowing it down to just what we do need? For instance, we’ll take one of the most important parts—the specific data with regard to the manuscript.

The specifics will include: Title, Author Name, Genre, Word Count, Completion Status, Sensuality Level, Pairings, Previously Published or Not, Availability, Contact Information, and Website information. Note: In the case of the online group pitch, you should also include whether the work is erotic or non-erotic, and if it is romance, something other than romance, or simply contains romantic elements. After all, we are in Romancelandia and a great many online publishers invest heavily in erotic works.

Note: While you can’t specifically target a particular font an editor would want used as you are pitching to several different publishers at once, please use an easy to read 12 pt. font such as: Times New Roman, Book Antiqua, Georgia, or Constantia.

DO NOT pitch your book if it has been previously published and you cannot offer proof that your rights have been returned to you. DO NOT pitch a book that is NOT available. If the book is already contracted with a publisher, it is simply NOT available. And it also stands to reason that if YOU as the author are not ready to send your manuscript—not finished with self editing, etc.—that it should NOT be pitched. When an editor contacts you to request your book, they will expect to see it in a very short time period. And in the case of this group online pitch, I’d say they would expect to hear back from an author within 24 hours. It’s the nature of this whole online process—instant access.

So what else do we need? Something that grabs the editor’s attention—a tagline. Just one line that really pops!

Then comes the heart of the matter—the manuscript’s blurb or pitch. The actual pitch can be one, two, or three paragraphs which does two things. 1) Tells the editor/reader about the story, and 2) piques the editor’s interest, pushing them to request more.

Now we come to the closing of the pitch. Remember to thank the group for its time, just as you would in a regular query letter, and include your contact information. DO NOT reveal your phone number or address or your real name if you use a pen name—that information can come later if the editor/publisher/ agent decides to contract your work. Simply post your email address and your website or blog address (Editors and publishers want to see your online presence if any—not to worry, though, if you don’t yet have an online presence. It’s not a deal breaker. It’s the story that matters first and foremost.).

The Publishing Trove group asks that you upload your posted query in the group files section to the file entitled Pitch Day. Remember to include all the needed information at the top of your file so an editor doesn’t have to go searching through the members’ section for an email address or a ton of posts on the group. Some individuals upload a complete synopsis of their manuscript, which is fine. But I feel compelled to caution authors against this. A synopsis is a detailed and sometimes lengthy—two to five page account of your story. It should include the beginning, middle and end. And in most cases, a twist and turn or two as well. You are, in essence, exposing your entire book—idea—on a public group. So, if you do upload your synopsis, please remember to list your copyright information along with your author information. Your pen name, or real name if you don’t use a pen name, should be included with the copyright date. The copyright date is the date you first set pen to paper—or fingers to keyboard—to create your work. It is NOT today’s date or the date you finished the book. It is the date you came up with the idea for your book and started writing. List the year of creation only, not a specific month and date.

If you prefer not to upload your entire synopsis, simply state in the pitch information you offer that a synopsis is available, just like the full (or partial) manuscript, upon request.

Two things you need to remember:

First, when a publisher requests your manuscript and you have placed it elsewhere for consideration, please inform the publisher/editor. Not all publishing houses will consider simultaneous submissions. Let the editor decide if they still want to look at your manuscript. Or you decide if you’d like for that particular publisher to have an exclusive first look.

And second, when you are contacted about your work by a publisher or editor, always reply, even if you aren’t interested in publishing with that particular house. All you need do is simply say: “I’m sorry, but I’ve already placed the manuscript. Thank you for your time and effort in contacting me.” Be professional at all times. It goes a long way.

Also, for the purpose of housekeeping, Publishing Trove requests that once your manuscript has been contracted, remove your pitch from the group files. This saves confusion down the road.

Below is a sample online group pitch. Everything you need to include will be noted in RED.

Title: Sunlight and Magnolias

Author (Pen name or real name as desired): Tess MacKall

Genre (cross genre if any): Historical Western—Erotic Romance

Word Count: 80K projected

Completion Status: 50K into the projected 80K

Sensuality Level: Highly erotic. Sensual, but racy. Graphic and detailed sex scenes

Pairings: M/F

Previously Published: NO

Availability (subject to change, of course.): Manuscript has not been requested at this time. First offering. Partial manuscript and full synopsis are available upon request.

Contact: tessmackall@ gmail.com (Since Yahoo deletes most of an email address you should offer it this way: tessmackall at gmail dot com.)

Website: http://tessmackall. com

Next comes the formal information about the manuscript and copyright information (Yes, you should include the copyright info on that blurb as well—not just the synopsis).

Sunlight and Magnolias

By Tess MacKall

© 2009 All Rights Reserved Tess MacKall

Now, that all important tagline that should grab an editor’s attention right away!

Tagline:

The road to love can be long and lonely…

but two hearts meant to beat as one will always find their way.

Next is the actual blurb. Pack it with words that punch! (Excuse mine, it was written when I was quite tired and hasn’t been critiqued—it’ s just an example. LOL)

Blurb:

In the aftermath of the Civil War, CELIA MONTAGUE faces life alone, her independence stifled by the rigorous religion of her benefactors and schoolmarm position. A decade passes, and with her spinster status firmly in place, she’s given the opportunity to move west and marry a man she doesn’t know.

LAWSON MACCORMAC fought for his beloved South and returns home to find the streets filled with blue bellies and carpetbaggers. Adding to his anguish, the woman he loves turns her back on him. In search of a new beginning, he moves his family to Texas, consumed with building a legacy from the wilderness.

Joined in holy matrimony out of necessity, each looking for a place they belong, neither is willing to acknowledge that beyond the passion they share, love waits. Haunted by the past, they struggle to forge a life together. Shared lust begins their bond, but will those sinfully erotic nights be enough to sustain love? Only danger and the threat of losing each other can bring them together and end their journey on that long and lonely road to love.

And finally:

I’d like to thank all the editors, publishers, and members here on the group for taking the time to read my pitch for Sunlight and Magnolias. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I loved writing it.

Tess MacKall

So your pitch, when posted, should look similar to this:

Title: Sunlight and Magnolias

Author: Tess MacKall

Genre: Historical Western—Erotic Romance

Word Count: 80K projected

Completion Status: 50K into the projected 80K

Sensuality Level: Highly erotic. Sensual, but racy. Graphic and detailed sex scenes

Pairings: M/F

Previously Published: NO

Availability: Manuscript has not been requested at this time. First offering. Partial manuscript and full synopsis available upon request.

Contact: tessmackall@ gmail.com (Since Yahoo deletes most of an email address you should offer it this way: tessmackall at gmail dot com.)

Website: http://tessmackall. com

Sunlight and Magnolias

© 2009 All Rights Reserved Tess MacKall

Blurb:

In the aftermath of the Civil War, CELIA MONTAGUE faces life alone, her independence stifled by the rigorous religion of her benefactors and schoolmarm position. A decade passes, and with her spinster status firmly in place, she’s given the opportunity to move west and marry a man she doesn’t know.

LAWSON MACCORMAC fought for his beloved South and returns home to find the streets filled with blue bellies and carpetbaggers. Adding to his anguish, the woman he loves turns her back on him. In search of a new beginning, he moves his family to Texas, consumed with building a legacy from the wilderness.

Joined in holy matrimony out of necessity, each looking for a place they belong, neither is willing to acknowledge that beyond the passion they share, love waits. Haunted by the past, they struggle to forge a life together. Shared lust begins their bond, but will those sinfully erotic nights be enough to sustain love? Only danger and the threat of losing each other can bring them together and end their journey on that long and lonely road to love.

~***~

I’d like to thank all the editors, publishers, and members here on the group for taking the time to read my pitch for Sunlight and Magnolias. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I loved writing it.

Tess MacKall

That’s it! Well, not exactly. LOL What happens when an editor contacts you?

Once the manuscript is requested, remember to tell the editor if you intend to send to more than one publisher. That needs to be taken care of right away. It saves a lot of time in the end.

If the editor is fine with you sending to more than one publisher, or if you and the editor decide that you will allow that particular publisher an exclusive first look, then it’s okay to send the requested material.

So, send your synopsis and manuscript (completed or partial just as you have noted in the pitch information) .

With regard to a synopsis, I hope you’ve done your homework. Your synopsis should be no more than 1 to 2% of the overall length of your book. For instance: If your book is 25K then your synopsis should be no more than 500 words or a page and a half to two pages. If your book is 80K then your synopsis should be no more than 1600 words or two to five pages.

In addition to word count—number of pages—your synopsis should a detailed summary of your book. Make sure you include the actual ending and do not “tease” the editor/publisher with a cute little cliff hanger. Now is not the time for cliff hangers. It’s “down to business” time.

Make every word in your synopsis count, pack it with punch. Get to the point, but “show” the editor exactly what you’re trying to convey with your story. The emotion. The action. And it’s always a good idea to have a critique partner go over your synopsis, just like your manuscript, for anything they might see out of place or lacking. They can even tell you if it’s too much of one thing or another. Hit the high points—only those things that are an absolute must to telling your story to the editor.

And again, don’t forget to thank the editor for their time. And it’s fine to ask when you may hear back from them too. Good editors and publishers are never upset by questions.

Okay, that’s really IT this time. LOL. I do hope this has helped all of you who plan to pitch online. Many thanks goes out to Zetta Brown, one of our AWH moderators and Logical Lust publisher, for her invaluable contributions to this lesson.

The workshop is open to questions or suggestions.

Thanks!

Tess MacKall
Senior Editor, Passion in Print Press
An Imprint of MLR Press, LLC.

And AWH Moderator
http://passioninpri nt.com

First, I wanted to once again thank everyone who donated to the AWH donation baskets for the Lori Foster Get Together. Over $5,000 from the raffle baskets alone was raised for the One Way Farm for Orphaned and Abandoned Children. That’s amazing!

Another nice part of the Get Together was that I got to meet two AWH puppies who were also my authors when I was the ME of Wild Child and Freya’s Bower. Missy Lyons approached my table with an adorable baby perched on her hip, and I discovered Nicole Zoltack sitting at book-signing table. Both are lovely ladies and it was a true joy to meet them!

Now, on to the matter at hand.

Today was my day to blog at Flirty Author Bitches which was a prelude to this blog post.

After much deliberation, after days and days of tossing ideas around with my hubby and three of my close friends, and after worrying, swaying back and forth on a decision, and deliberating some more, I’ve finally come to some decisions that I must share with all involved with AWH and AWH Chatters.

Most of you know that the Brown Family has moved into a new, bigger home. It was a horribly difficult move. Why? Because four out of six days of the move, I did it alone. I’m not patting myself on the back. Oh, no. I think I’m whining more than anything, lmao. There were things I moved I should never have moved. I towed a trailer back and forth between the two houses with everything I could cram into it. And thank God I’m not a li’l ninety-pound stick figure. Otherwise, I’d probably still be mashed somewhere between a mattress and a china cabinet!

Ivory, my twelve-year-old dau, worked her li’l butt off, and JadeyKiss did her best to help, but she’s due to have her baby in about four weeks, and without any big guys to step in due to their work schedules and the hubby unable to take off work (they all helped over the weekend with the really big stuff), you now see why I had to disappear for a while from AWH.

Then the weekend for the Lori Foster Get Together arrived and I drove four hours to it and four hours home. Over this past week I’ve done very li’l except write, write, write, and revise, revise, revise—and SLEEP.

I am so damn tired I find myself nodding off at the kitchen table, the computer, over my laptop, and as I try to watch TV.

But one thing I haven’t said much about is that I have writing contracts rolling in. I’m not one to wave my flag and shout all over cyberspace about my contracts and publications. One thing I learned a long, long time ago is that the readers will find your work and they’ll read what they want to read no matter how much you shimmy around in a bright banner or shoot promo after various promo through the loops. However, I’ve learned the hard way that there are way too many green-eyed gremlins out there in Writer Land for my taste, so keeping my publishing news to my blogs and my newsletter for the most part is the wisest choice for me.

I have four pen names and two variants of my real name that I publish under. I’m open about Molly Diamond’s work because it’s pure erotica for the most part, but my other ones I use for various reasons of anonymity. I’m published with some big guys, and I’m content keeping the who, what, when, where, and why of it all quiet.

With that said, I’ve sold several manuscripts of late, two of which were sold on two chapters or just a few pages. I already have publication dates for these novels and they’re looming in the near future. On top of that, I have a series under consideration too.

Now, mix in my big family, a grandchild on the way, and helping my daughter finish her education so she can go on to college… Well, I have to trim some things down in my life and two of them are the loops and AWH.

Now before the devout AWH puppies howl in protest, I’m not shutting AWH down completely. This is what I’m going to do:

• Over the next week or so, I will be sending a repeat special notice through the AWH Workshop encouraging those there who are not on Chatters to make the shift over to the AWH Chatters group. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/avoidwritershellchatters

• This AWH blog will remain open. Lex is graciously keeping it online. Therefore, lessons, informative posts, articles, and the like will appear here on the AWH blog.

• AWH puppies (students) with questions and comments about said AWH lessons/articles can leave them in the comments, and myself and my mods can answer and discuss things in comments too. This makes it easier for me, too, because I’m stuck with dial-up until something better becomes available in my region.

• AWH Chatters will be the same as it has always been. Promos on Mondays, general questions asked there, chitchat, and so on.

Moreover, I do have a lot of nonfiction material that I want to compile into one big volume for writers that has the same tone and theme of the AWH Books so that’s another reason I want to keep AWH going. One day I hope to have that conference for AWH too.

But right now, I find myself with more obligations and work than I have time. Since my writing helps pay the bills, I have to sculpt my schedule so I can make room for everything.

If you have any questions, you can email me privately or post it in the comments section here.

Change is a big part of life.

I love you all.

Faith

Founder of Avoid Writers Hell

When I first sat down to blog here at AWH’s site tonight, I didn’t have a clue what to write about. I combed through old articles, blog posts from three and four years ago, and still came up with nothing.

Time is something I have learned to manage quite well, but sometimes, no matter how hard you try to manage that time, you still have to bite the bullet and write from scratch, lol.

As I began typing here, I started thinking of the people I’ve met over the past couple of years. There are people I’ve grown to respect and even love as friends. I also thought about the tiny handful who have made me quirk an eyebrow, mutter a few choice words, and wonder what entity possesses them, LMAO.

First, I want to tell all the AWH puppies that they’re great and that I adore them. For those of you who are new to this site, I teach at the AWH Workshop and we commune and talk over at AWH Chatters. The people who hang at both sites are amazing people.

I launched AWH on a whim. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought it would grow like it has. Sure, members have come and gone at the workshop, but 90% of the original members from the first year are still there learning and growing as writers. Those folks are writers devoted to growing in their craft, and I respect each one who strives to hone their work and continue to learn.

And like every group or forum, AWH has had its ups and downs, but you know what? The matters were handled, and, as a result, the groups have grown stronger. My love goes out to all of the AWH puppies and the mods!

AWH now has this blog site, it has an awesome newsletter for members, and a fantastic online magazine for both members and non-members (click the mag links on the right). I continue to get fan mail for the AWH books too. This has inspired me to put together a non-fiction book on writing that I hope will go to print one day.

We’re also having special guest and publisher days. We had author Jackie Kessler here last week, and we have the founder of Ellora’s Cave with us on February 24th, as well as the publishers of both LL-Publications/Logical Lust and Pink Petal Books scheduled for March with more coming in the future.

Moreover, I will be attending Lori Foster’s Get Together and will attend as not only an author and editor but the founder of AWH. The AWH puppies are helping to put raffle baskets together for the event too.

One day I would love to see AWH grow as big as RT with workshops, a nice ball, and lovely dinners.

Although I teach at AWH, this has been one big learning process for me as well. What matters, however, are those special people who post on their blogs about what they learned at AWH, or they send me an email that gets me choked up, or send me an e-card I wasn’t expecting to say a simple thank you, and even the occasional phone call that ends in, ‘Thank you for all that you do, Faith.’ which always makes me realize what beautiful people are out there.

I have great mods at AWH and I have great students.

You all rock!

Just like there wouldn’t be any books without writers, there wouldn’t be any AWH without writers who desire to learn.

No matter what the experience, it’s all about learning. Teachers teach, but they learn too.

To all out there who have been or still are a part of Avoid Writers Hell…thank you.

What’s the surprise that I mentioned yesterday on the Avoid Writers Hell Group and AWH Chatters? What is it that had all the AWH puppies calling me and Tess teases?

Well, Michelle “Emmy” Ellis designed our first AWH Magazine!!!

I came across an online magazine the other day that was so cool, and I sent the link to her and Tess, mentioning how I’d love to be able to do something like that for PDFs or whatever.

Next thing I knew, Emmy is asking me lots of questions, lol, and sends me a link later in the day.

My. Jaw. Dropped. This magazine is damn amazing!

However, this is NOT to be confused with the AWH newsletter. The AWH Newsletter is a monthly publication and is for my AWH puppies to share their news, their accomplishments, reviews, who is sick, who got out of the hospital, who had a baby, so on and so on. The AWH newsletter is only available to AWH members of either or both groups unless a member forwards it to someone, which is perfectly fine.

The AWH Magazine has articles, short fiction, recipes, Author Splashes, and much, much more. It will be available on the AWH blog site and anyone can access it, so if you have a story featured in it, your work will be presented to others, both readers and writers, outside of the AWH groups! However, the new issues will only be published when Emmy has the time to put them together. A day here, a day there, until she has enough material and has everything edited and formatted to publish the next issue.

Can you submit something to the AWH Magazine? Yes, but there are guidelines! Those are pending, so please be patient.

Here’s what Emmy has to say:

“Short fiction really does need to be short—no more than 1K words like your story, Faith—and edited [polished] as best the author can get it before they send it to me. I haven’t got time to do extensive edits. Writers must treat the AWH Magazine like any other mag submission.
 
“Also, if any puppies want their picture as the front cover, they’ll need to send me one. First come first served etc., on that—it will also depend whether or not the pic is small with low res as opposed to bigger and high res. Small and low res will make for a grainy, pixilated effect, so their pic may have to appear as a small one inside a frame like they have on mag fronts. Small ones would be cool if they also feature inside on Author Splash or the Author Bio pages.
 
“Aaaaand, basically, what they see in Issue 1 is what they’d have to send to me should they want to appear as any of those features. So, the sidebar stuff and recipes would have to be low word count. Author Splash!…they can see what info I want from Kiyara Benoiti’s double page—a personal quote is a must for that page because I want readers to connect with the author better. If I get too may Author Splash! requests, some might have to be held off until future issues. Any Top Tips, Dear Editors (these will be in confidence), and the confessions page—can stretch to two pages on those features if we get a lot of stuff sent. Confessions page is in confidence too.”

Guidelines will be available in the groups’ FILES section and on a page at the AWH blog site too (http://authorsalacart.com/awh/). PERMISSION TO FORWARD THIS MESSAGE GRANTED.

And drumroll…LOL…here is the link to view this amazing magazine:

http://en.calameo.com/read/000149014352beed9ca2e 

Play with the tools on the mag to tailor it how you are comfy viewing it. Note that wherever you point the curser it will move the entire page. No scrolling needed, which I find so nice.

Faith, Group Owner

www.faithbicknellbrown.com

Weaving Magic into Romance…
   

If you’re a writer, have you ever had that one story, novella, or novel that would only flow in fits and sputters? I have one of those. It’s my latest manuscript that I’m finishing up and preparing to mail off to my agent this month. No matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, I can only work on it in sections, then I have to walk away from it for a while. 

Granted, this novel is very complex. RUBY is an erotic paranormal romance (Ruby is the name of my heroine and the first word in the novel’s title). It’s all told from my heroine’s POV (point of view), but she has so many personal issues to resolve due to her weird and very hard life, then there’s the romance and her unusual hero, plus things from her past come back to haunt her, and there’s the subplot of her friendship with a Marilyn Monroe look alike who’s not what she seems, and…pant-pant…the novel’s paranormal mystery to solve. 

I have cussed this novel so much it’s pathetic. I’ve gone back and revised, revised, revised—six revisions thus far—up to these last three or four chapters that wrap up the novel. 

Then I caught a minor flaw in a subplot and had to go back and rewrite sections or delete them. 

However, I started writing this novel six years ago. Even then, it irked me to no end, and I finally put it away for a while. During that time span, I  pulled it out of the “drawer” every now and then. Revised the old—I guess that means there’s been more than six revisions—added more chapters, then I put it away for months or a year or two during this six-year period. 

What IS it about this novel that is so frustrating? 

I’m really not sure.

My readers who dissect and blurb my work are waiting for the finished product, and my agent knows he’ll be receiving the manuscript soon, but Lord have mercy, why can’t I get the words to flow on this particular novel where they keep flowing until I type THE END? It’s not like I have half a novel to write. I’m down to the last three or four chapters. 

Is it stress? No, not really. I have other WIPs (works in progress), but I don’t have this problem with any of them. It’s just my RUBY ms. 

Is it lack of time? Hmm…partially, but only a small part. And lack of time translates more into constant life interruptions. The phone rings, teenagers arrive unannounced, the youngest is crying in the living room and no one knows why and only Mom can solve it, kids are sick with viruses and colds, and lately I’ve had to pick up my husband’s chores since he’s been laid up from a surgery. I’ve also had to stop taking on private editing clientele because I had so many manuscripts to edit. 

Maybe I’m not in love with the novel? No, I am very much in love with the plot and characters, and I truly believe that this is a story that’s going to knock readers’ socks off. 

Is it the fact I don’t have a comfortable place to write at the moment? Partly, yes. I’ve been unable to furnish heat for my camper office this winter, and, since I do 95% of my serious writing on my laptop, I don’t have a quiet place to go, nor a comfortable chair of some sort to sit in. For the last three months, I’ve been writing on the bed. Add to it the fact my sciatic nerve is screwed up and I can’t sit in certain chairs without making it flare up…yeah, that’s irks me to no end and puts me in a foul mood. 

But what IS the key to why this novel is driving me insane and not flowing well? 

I think I’m afraid of failure. 

What, you say? Me? Afraid of failure? 

Those of you who know me well understand this comment. But for those of you who don’t, it boils down to one thing. I’ve had the carrot dangled in front of my nose only to have it yanked away so many darn times it’s ridiculous. In my subconscious, I think I feel RUBY will be yet another one of those glowing rejection letters raving about my work with a ‘but’ added to the end. 

However, as I’ve always said to my AWH puppies, I truly believe half the NYC publishing battle is determination. Don’t give up. 

I have to chant that to myself. 

Don’t give up, don’t give up, don’t give up….but oh, how tempting it is at times! 

Is it just me, or have any of you had a similar manuscript that gave or gives you fits? If so, did you determine the reason it bugged and frustrated you so much? Share it with me and my AWH puppies in comments. 

Don’t give up, don’t give up, don’t give up….

Welcome to the blog of Avoid Writer’s Hell. Pour yourself a glass of bubbly over there and help us celebrate our new blog!

My name is Faith Bicknell-Brown. I’m an author and an editor. Many of you know me, but for those who don’t, you can visit my bio page at my website for more information. In a nutshell, I’ve been in publishing over twenty years, I’ve been editing professionally for nearly twelve years, I’m represented by an amazing literary agent, and I’ve written for national men’s print magazines for a long time. I’ve written under a couple names some of you might know such as Zinnia Hope (retired now) and J. Emberglass amongst many other nom de plumes I still use or have launched.

It has been nearly three years since my first nonfiction book for writers was published by Wild Child Publishing.com. There are four books in the series, and they were written in Laymen’s terms with my offbeat sense of humor (or warped for those who really know me, lol). The books are based on my experiences from my years of contributing to print magazines, e-zines, and e-books. My journey in writing was a difficult one and I often wished I’d had someone to rely upon to guide my way. Sure there were editors and authors from Marion Zimmer Bradley to my wonderful Gent Magazine editor, Jack Lisa, who offered encouragement, advice, and tips. And believe it or not, I even encountered a few literary agents who took time out of their busy schedules to write me letters or messages to point me in the right direction.

However, there just wasn’t a site that I found online nor any book that really helped to give me those ‘ah-ha!’ moments.

When I began editing professionally, I had one writer and editor after another who said I should write nonfiction books on what I know about publishing, grammar, punctuation, and publishing etiquette, and, after much thought, I decided to write the Avoid Writers Hell Series.

Oh, but it went beyond that.

One night a year and a half ago, I had a chat at The Romance Bistro. While waiting for the chat to begin that evening, I formed the Yahoo Group, Avoid Writers Hell, to go with the books. Little did I know that by doing so, the group would turn into something that has been a hub of information and camaraderie that has kept me hopping ever since. The chat kept me busy for nearly four hours,  literally hundreds of messages went through in that short time, and nearly one hundred people signed up for the AWH group that night. Three hundred members later, I’ve covered countless mini lessons on various aspects of writing and publishing, and finally had to take on a moderator, Ms. Tess MacKall, to help me in my absences and to simply moderate due to the amount of posts that go through the group.

Writers come and go, but 80% of the original members have remained and new ones have joined who state they’ve found a cyber home as long as I choose to keep the group open.

I have grown very fond of my AWH puppies, and I wield a cyber newspaper that whacks them whenever they repeat the same errors in their excerpts and exercises. We laugh, we cry upon one another’s shoulders, we rant and vent, we even do a li’l bitching, but the group is a safe haven. All there know that in order to survive this business a writer MUST keep an open mind and develop a thick skin.

Publishing is nothing like it was thirty or forty years ago. Now we have digital publishing. e-Books and the gadgets to read them on are beginning to boom. The English language changes constantly. Publishing changes constantly. And readers’ tastes change constantly too.

I teach what I know as a way to help aspiring authors to avoid some of the potholes and craters I encountered. Writing, when it’s a true calling of one’s soul, is an emotional roller coaster ride. To me, writing is the same as breathing; I’ve shed tears as well as celebratory moments over the years. That said, I understand what it’s like to struggle in this busness, so when I can help another writer dodge the slings and arrows of publishing, it puts a smile on my face.

Moreover, in order to keep the group a place of learning and communion with others in the business, and due to the growth of AWH, I had to impose special rules—and I hated to do so.  I know authors want to shout about great reviews or new covers. They desire to point fellow authors to a cool blog posts or a new website, so I was forced to impose days that promo, review announcements and so on could be posted. Confusion ensued.

Tess and I discussed the matter, and she suggested a blog. I didn’t have the time to set one up or constantly monitor it. Afterward, I found out she’d talked it over with author and web designer, Lex Valentine, who graciously offered to design and host a site for my AWH puppies. They surprised me with this beautiful blog and I sat back and thought, “Wow, I truly have some special  friends out there in Cyberland.”

Whether you’re a devoted AWH puppy, a newbie to the group, a newcomer thinking of joining AWH, or simply someone who enjoys reading blogs, take a moment to thank Tess and Lex for their lovely work and time involved to create this blog.

I hope you’ll visit here often. And if you’re interested in joining AWH, you can find us at THIS LINK. Membership is upon approval; we do this to weed out promoters and spammers.

Remember: AWH is about learning and support.

And if you’re curious about the AWH books that got this all started, you can find them at www.wildchildpublishing.com in their how-to section and at Fictionwise.com under Faith Bicknell-Brown.

Literature is a gift. It’s a means of escape from the stress of our world, and a method in which to learn. It doesn’t matter if the written word is in the form of an e-book or a hardback published by NYC…cherish books and encourage others to do the same.

I wish you all much success in your writing endeavors.

Warm regards,

Faith