Maine Romance Writers’ 2019
STRUT YOUR STUFF CONTEST
The 2019 Maine Romance Writers’ STRUT YOUR STUFF CONTEST is NOW OPEN!
And we’re excited to announce this year’s contest is open to published and unpublished authors!
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Authors whose published books become finalists will be entered in our online
Readers’ Choice Awards and have a chance to get their book in front of potential readers.
We are pleased toannounce that acquiring editor, DEBWERKSMAN of SOURCEBOOKS will be this year’s final round judge for unpublished entries.
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Eligibility:
** PUBLISHED BOOKS **
Books with an original copyright date of 2018 maybe entered in any of the four categories below.
** UNPUBLISHED BOOKS**
Any author may enter a blurb in the unpublishedportion of the contest as long as the book being entered has never beenpublished in any format and is not or will not be under contract, up forpre-order or set to be published before May 20, 2019.
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Authorsmay enter multiple books with separate entry form and fee for each title. Entries will be accepted until midnight EST FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2019
No membership requirements
You can check out all the details on the MAINE ROMANCE WRITERS WEBSITE.
We hope you’ll consider entering.
This is the third installment of my self-publishing series. This week I’ll cover formatting and cover art.
To check out information on traditional publishing vs self publishing, click HERE and my post on editing and proofreading can be found HERE. And now that you’ve got that manuscript polished and ready, it’s time to put the package together and formatted for uploading. Many authors choose to do their own formatting. I always tell authors … if you typed the manuscript, you can do your own formatting for upload.
Before your manuscript is ready for formatting, you will need to add the FRONT MATTER for the digital book. Following is information I include on its own page.
Optional Pages:
- REVIEWS: Many authors choose to include reviews of the current novel or prior published novels
- DEDICATION and/or acknowledgments
An acknowledgment is a special thank you to anyone who may have helped you with your novel, whether it’s a professional who helped with research, a critique group who helped in development or a special nod to your editor or cover artist. That would be included in the acknowledgment section.
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I just finished edits on my twelfth book, which in the grand scheme of things isn’t very many. I’m a very slow writer by many standards, but I digress. It’s not the number that’s important here. I only wanted to let you know I’ve been through the process of publishing a book plenty of times to tell you, none of it gets old!
I’m not one of those authors that can just puke up the first draft, though goodness knows I’d like to figure out how. I fuss and futter over every word. Every paragraph. Every word of dialogue. Until some days my muse is ready to pour the bottle of tequilla she’s been enjoying over my head. But I’ve got to tell you there’s nothing more thrilling than finding that perfect turn of phrase that makes the page sparkle.
Well, except the thrill of typing “the end” and sending my story off to my critique partners for a final perusal. And after one more spell check and fixing the glitches my partners find, hitting the send button and getting my story out to my editor. Oh, yeah, there’s a totally sigh of contentment. (And then nervously sitting and anticipating her reaction while it sits in her queue waiting her read.)
And then the offer of contract arrives and I squee like a little girl getting a pony at her birthday party (which never did happen in my lifetime). Not occasionally. Not only if the book was on the more difficult side to write. Every time. I run out and shout it to my critique partners. Blast it across facebook. And annoy my loops with giddy dances of excitement. Yay! Signing a new contract makes my heart sing.
Then of course there’s the excitement of filling out the cover request information, anticipating the gorgeous artwork that will come back.
Then the edits arrive. I’m one of those writers that loves the editing process. First of all I have to sing praises to Mary, my editor at Ellora’s Cave. Mary pushes my writing to be better in the larger scheme of the book. But she’s also amazing in the small details of a story that my beta readers miss. Like the fact that my hero has on biker boots when he arrives at a resort in chapter one and shows up in cowboy boots in chapter seven. (Yeah, no guy brings that many shoes to a mostly nekkid resort.) Or that months of therapy suddenly becomes years of therapy three chapters later. Looooooooove herrrrrrr! (Yes that was me singing Mary’s praises.) Anyhoodles … edits give me another chance to see each scene by itself and really make it shine. There’s a delightful sense of accomplishment sending the shining manuscript back to my editor.
Then the email arrives with my cover attached and I let it sit, enjoying the anticipation of the unveiling. My heart in my throat, my breath held, I open the email and get my first glimpse of the artwork that will identify my book to readers. Yeah, I love that moment.
And after it’s all come together the day arrives when my baby heads out into the world. Release day probably is the best part. Well, until the first reviews are posted leaving me running around the internet like a crazy woman, posting links everywhere.
Hopefully in the middle of all of that, I’ve got another book in the pipeline and all of it happens all over again. Because as you can see, I just really get stupidly happy through all the stages of this crazy publishing business.
There are always exciting days in a writer’s world. Finishing a story and sending it off to your editor. Contract Offers. Release days. But you know, there is nothing that makes me hold my breath like COVER DAY! Seriously. I spend a lot of time describing my characters and my world settings to the art department in hopes that they can capture the feel of my story. So when the email comes from the art department I take a deep breath, close my eyes and open the attachment…and just stare. I have been blessed with some gorgeous covers. But none has made me jump up and down and shed tears of happiness like the cover for A TOUCH OF LILLY.
The VERY talented Reese Dante designed it for me and she fit all the pieces together perfectly! So it is with all kinds of happiness that I stand up and cheer for her as she accepts the ARIANA book cover award in the Science Fiction Erotic Romance category. w00f! w00f! w00f! (See the Julia Roberts fist pump.) She actually won in two categories which is not surprising since she is truly talented and makes the most gorgeous covers.
Anyway, I just wanted to share my joy with you. And since it’s been awhile, how about and excerpt …
Lilly D’Angelo could have been walking into any of the seedier establishments lining Forty-fifth and Wester on Chicago’s south side. Except for the clientele, the tavern’s owner had managed to replicate nearly every detail right down to the blue haze and the soft crooning of a jazz band on the corner stage. The acrid stench and gruff hum of a Friday night crowd tripped Lilly down memory lane—a place she had no desire to travel at the moment.
Lilly pushed the sour thoughts of home out of her mind and focused her energy on the patrons at the bar. Morphing her features into her sexiest vixen pout, she moved gracefully toward the long bar on the other side of the room. Her voluptuous breasts, spilling temptingly from her silk blouse, led the way. The eyes watching her ass sashay around the battered tables were clustered on various life forms—none of them human.
Yeah, definitely not Chicago. Shit, this wasn’t even Earth for chrissake.
“Regent’s ale, straight up, hold the brenic.” She spoke English, hoping the two-headed Xerick behind the bar had a cochlear translator in one of those eight holes that passed for ears. Satisfied when one head nodded, she settled on a stool, making sure her fur jacket and blouse parted enough to offer a seductive view of her cleavage. Lilly shifted just enough to let the black leather skirt ride up her thigh and expose a little more silky real estate. Surreptitiously checking her image in the mirrored glass behind the liquor bottles, she was pleased she looked every bit the part. She wasn’t trying to attract anyone in particular, perhaps something on the less offensive side that could offer her a bit of entertainment to help fritter away the next couple of hours.
Lilly wasn’t a xenophobic bigot by any stretch of the imagination. But six months in deep space, working these kinds of joints, wasn’t really long enough to become accustomed to the scenery. The Nebulae Galaxy’s spaceports overflowed with aliens of all sizes and genders. Only that wasn’t really a fair term here in deep space.
Alien inferred the life forms didn’t belong. On the contrary, it was humans who were invading their territory. The treaties of 2253, signed well over forty years ago, had guaranteed the safe travel of humans in deep space. After the snafu of ’34, which saw the first major space disaster since light travel had been discovered, humans had insisted on protection for their species. They’d formed some bullshit board of security, guaranteeing humans could run roughshod over the universe like everywhere else. Though most people referred to them as the QAL, Lilly nicknamed them the alphabet mafia. At one point she’d actually considered working for them until they’d discovered who she was—or more specifically what she was. It didn’t matter. They could all go fuck themselves if they didn’t appreciate her gifts. Lilly had found a way to use her talents and still bring down the bad guys.
Of course in deep space, bad was a relative term.
And Syneca does it again! My newest story with Ellora’s Cave will be out hopefully this spring. This is the novella formerly titled “Blue Moon Rising” in the Furry, Fluffy &Wild anthology. I’m currently in edits for the rewritten version.
“Bonded Souls” is the story that began Jayda and Cole’s love affair. It’s actually the prequel to “Bonded by Need”. And without further adieu here’s the cover …
Blurb:
After discovering her boyfriend is married, veterinarian Jayda Kynslan decides to give up on men. She has every intention of planting her feet firmly on the path of celibacy-right after one more night of shameless sex with a stranger. A vacation in Montana would certainly ease the pain of betrayal and offer her anonymity.
Police chief and wolf shifter council leader, Cole Takoda, needs a break from investigating the murders of shifters plaguing his town. When a beautiful stranger seduces him at the local tavern it’s more than a tryst…it’s uncontrollable desire. And Cole can’t stand it. To top it off, their quickie becomes a revelation of shifter secrets and unfulfilled prophecies.
The discovery of a dead man in the forest behind Jayda’s rented cabin thrusts her into a foreign world of animal shifters and murder and the man she thought was only a casual diversion seems to be the only one willing to hear her side of the story. Jayda’s just not sure if Cole’s going to take her to jail-or his bed.
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