Just want MarlaMiller.com visitors to know about the publication of The Booty Bible, a fitness book created by fitness guru/model, Alicia Marie &

Wes is a writer who finds much fodder in his day job as a member of the San Diego Police Dept. We look forward to helping him promote his debut novel that 

will be published soon. It's about crime and cops...of course!

www.DaughterofSmokeandMirrors.com

For those not able to join us at Book Candy Studios TV, just click this link to enter the studio and watch my interview with prolific author Claire Lazebnik who 'writes on the run.' She also talks about her wariness of 'critique groups'  though she never sends in a manuscript to her editor without 'The Simpsons' writer/hubby Rob LaZebnik reading every page. We had fun discussing her process and her newest release, Families and Other Non Returnable Gifts. Click here to watch our internet TV interview. 

I discovered this site during a tough time when I was being 'snarked' on another site. The lessons I learned from that experience will

make a good ebook tutorial. The silver lining? I was reintroduced to Query Tracker, a site I logged into about a year ago but lost track of!

A Successful Way to Build Your Platform

As a writer, you’re probably sick and tired of hearing about the importance of building your platform. You’ve tried blogging, tweeting, and facebooking, and apart from a few friends, you rarely get comments, let alone new followers. Why is that? Why aren’t people paying attention to what you have to say? Why aren’t they coming over to read your posts?
You get discouraged and start thinking, “Why bother? It’s not worth my time,” and so you quit

Selling for the independent author/publisher is perhaps a bit of a challenge. Often when I speak at writers’ conferences I get those deer-in-the-headlight looks when I start telling my classes that marketing is the most important job they must undertake once their books are published

Most students had not pitched yet. Those that had agreed with most of you: query letter writing is hard. This kind of 'business' writing is harder for some than writing an

entire novel!  

What I told them is worth repeating:

Whether you decide to travel down the indie road or publish traditionally, you will have to hook your reader.

That's what the query letter does.

Monday, July 19, 2010

My Long Journey Here

So, after two years of querying 68 agents and five small presses I finally have a contract with Lucky Press, LLC to publish my memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On. I can honestly say that I began writing pieces of this book as early as 1995 in a creative writing class at UCLA and in a Writing About Your Lives workshop at Esalen in Big Sur, CA. At the outset, I planned to write about Paul and his illness and how he survived it – so hopeful I was that he would survive. 

Masteries of Mystery:  Lizzie Borden Took An Axe

Thereby hangs a tale…

So, did she or didn’t she?  Was she guilty or innocent?  Nobody knows for certain.  
For the uninitiated, Lizzie Borden was accused and stood trial for the murders of her father and stepmother.  As the rhyme of the time went:  Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her mother forty whacks.  When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.  

the Art of the Query

by Gayle Carline

Even though I have two self-published books out (and will put a third out in the next few months), I never planned to be an independent author.I planned to follow the status quo and find an agent, then get a spectacular deal, and live in luxury, just like they portray authors in movies and TV shows. As a matter of fact, after all those years spent watching Murder She Wrote, I kept a list of all the places my publisher was going to send me on my whirlwind book tour.
Yes, I might have been a little delusional.

Therein lies the tale....

Masteries of Mystery:  Mistress of the Art of Death

Thereby hangs a tale… 

Ariana Franklin’s Mistress of the Art of Death is a wonder.  Not least because of its attention to historic detail.  It also offers us a star sleuth; a doctor versed in the ways of death.  The fact that the setting is twelfth century England, a country torn by religious strife and peopled be a melting pot of cultures—and the doctor a woman, a Mistress of the Art of Death—makes this a mystery to be savored.

I’ve been so busy lately producing videos that I haven’t had a chance to write a blog post, and blogging is something I have to do to build my author platform. Having video about you, and your books is another good way of building your author platform. Book trailers and author pitch videos are popping up all over the web, so I thought I’d blog about how authors can make videos to help them market their writing.

(MarketingtheMuse Note: Brendan was a MtheM eBook panelist at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. We hope this is the first of many e-publishing educational blogs he offers to MarlaMiller.com visitors.)  

The Difference Between An eBook & A Book App

by Brendan Pollitz

With the advent of the mobile revolution, digital is replacing paper at a remarkable pace.  Now authors and programmers can have their work reach hundreds of millions of people on a range of mobile devices.  From iOS to Android, Amazon to iTunes, and all the digital stores in between, how do authors decide on which stores they should publish their work and if they should publish their work as an eBook or an App?

Click this URL to read Ms. Abbe's blog that includes her review of an ebook MarketingtheMuse Workshop she attended while visiting the conference!

BACKSTORY: Reflections on the Santa Barbara Writers Conference

           I took a scenic route on my road to publication and watched a few book trailers to give my frayed mind a break. It inspired me to make one of my own. Lordy, what a long detour that turned out to be!  I figured I could just whip one up like a batch of Sunday waffles at a roadside café, but creating a book trailer is no easy task for an amateur like me. Though I only hold a learner’s permit in this field, I’m imparting what I gleaned through trial and error, so it’ll be a little smoother for anyone embarking on this road.

Thereby hangs the tale....

Thereby hangs a tale…

Joan Didion opens her novel, Play It As It Lays with the intriguing question:  “What makes Iago evil?  Some people ask.  I never ask.”

That's our job.  Mystery writers ‘ask’.

In the dark night of the soul, the good guy stands between us and the force of evil.

This simple equation is the basis of almost every mystery novel.

Counter cobblestone along a pretty path, good offsets evil.  It is the voice of reason, of order, or of right.  It is justice regained after the fall into chaos caused by an evil act—the murder.  It is resolution

As a child I devoured the Nancy books.  Making her detective debut in 1930, Nancy was the creation of Edward Stratemeyer, the books themselves ghostwritten by various writers over the years, all under the pseudonym, Carolyn Keene.

I write humor and mysteries. I'm guessing there are probably 100 mystery writers to every 1 humor writer. Just go into any bookstore and look around. "Mystery" gets its own section "Humor" gets one shelf.

By quantity, I write more humor than mystery, simply because, since 2005, I've provided the Placentia News-Times with 600 words every week, telling some story about my family in the most exaggerated, and hopefully funniest, way possible. And yet, when people ask me what I write, I tell them I write murder mysteries.

I try to say that with a demure smile.

....That’s the most frequently asked question when someone hears about this blog. Having now read at least 100 memoirs, I am ready to offer my own top ten list for your inspection. The ten books fall into three categories:

Memoirs written before the current trend–books that first drew me to the genre:

Like most of my readers, I am an admirer of Greg Mortenson and think what he has done  in Afghanistan and Pakistan–building schools (helping girls, especially) and building relationships of trust–is the best way for Americans to interact with the people of Central Asia. A vast improvement over drone strikes and endless war!

Yet the 60 Minutes program last Sunday and many articles in the national media since then have accused Mortenson of two major transgressions–mismanagement of funds and dishonesty in print.

Catherine Ryan Hyde is adept at using social media to get her books on our bookshelves. "The days of publishers marketing our books is over," says Hyde. "It's also an exciting time because we now have the tools to market our own."

Tune into this show; 15 minutes of information quite useful to authors on the road to publication.

Very informational piece by Elfrieda Abbe that features MarlaMiller.com- My former site, MarketingtheMuse.com is now incorporated into this 'namesake' site

To read, go to:

http://www.writermag.com/Articles/2011/02/The%20buzz%20on%20social%20media.aspx?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WRT_NEWS_110209_final&utm_content=

Jeremy talks about his upcoming workshop at SCWC that offers writers the chance to create & launch a blog during his 90-minute tutorial., 

http://writeclickhosting.com

Click show # 2 on the BlogTalkRadio dial below to hear my interview with this web strategist who's alss an author on the road to publication.

GOOD NEWS: This show is featured on BLOGTALKRADIO!

The bad news: I can't isolate it from the pack SO click the 2nd button to hear my interview with novelist, Drusilla Campbell. She's been penning novels for many years.. Included in her author platform is teacher. Authors on the road to publication  should put Campbell's NOVEL CRAM Workshop on their list of "MUST-do's"

In our radio interview, she talks about her newest novel, The Good Sister,  and where she finds her muse. We also talk about keeping up to date with web marketing strategies. You can meet her @ the upcoming So Cal Writers Conference, www.writersconference.com

Dru can be reached through her website, www.drusillacampbell.com

It takes a special kind of person to be a ghostwriter, according to Dana Point author Jill Amadio.

"It's a matter of how you treat people," she said. "You have to be kind, gentle and patient."

She started her career when book tours were still 'in.'  By the time the web took over, Ms. Hyde had experienced enough of the 'glam' traditional book tours tout...at least in our imaginations! Her mention of ‘hand sellers’ is a term familiar to veteran authors. Hand sellers refer to industry marketers. In the ole days, you wanted your books in their hands. In today’s publishing reality,  hand sellers are book bloggers - same job, different medium.

Comediannes, composers, actors, singers and poets gather monthly at Vicki Abelson's Women Who Write. Salons like this one are held throughout the country so look for one in your area or start one of your own. It's a wonderful opportunity to audition work before an audience. Award winning composer Karen Hart had my heart when she sang this song at a recent Women Who Write Salon.  http://www.karenhartmusic.com/music.html

Next month, Harry Hamlin and wife Lisa Rinna join WWW. The title of his recently published memior, Full Frontal Nudity: The Making of an Accidental Actor has my attention...

SPEAK addresses 3 authors in various stages of pitching their projects OR how good news turns not so good---!

If you've signed up to receive our MUSELETTER you know all about this unpublished author's road to publication tale...

the stuff dreams are made of!

Join our MUSELETTER so you hear firsthand about authors gaining momentum in their efforts to get published!

Follow up to QQC # 14: When two senior editors from big houses requested the first 50 pages  of 'Kidjacked'  this author  was delighted. One month later and no word yet, he asked MarketingtheMuse "Now What?"

She cited Samuel Johnson as a source of inspiration. When asked why he chose to marry again after a failed first marriage, Johnson replied "It's the triumph of hope over experience!"

Deliberately teasing MarlaMiller.com subscribers with this upcoming interview!

Few authors write brilliantly AND market well.

Listen to TC Boyle discuss his writing process with NYT editor Sam Tenenhaus.

Interview highlights: 

Asked about his relative 'ease' at giving interviews, Boyle replies, "I'm a ham...!" 

Where does he find inspiration? "Anytime I want to find something out, I write a novel."

(Click URL to watch the video interview)

My interest in what hooks and what doesn't is why I contacted several agents and asked "Can you share a letter that hooked you on a project?" What I didn't expect to hear from literary agents was what I heard many say, "Gee, I don't have any."

Really? 

Emmanuelle Alspaugh, of Judith Ehrlich Literary Management was glad to participate in this series and offered a query letter that was short, sweet and hooked her! When writer Alissa Johnson sent Alspaugh the pitch for her novel As Luck Would Have It, Johnson was a non published author. "That Alissa could deliver the required information in few words I think is brilliant," Alspaugh says. Luck was published in 2008, and Johnson's second novel, Tempting Fate, debuted in January 2009.

Of short query letters, Emmanuelle Alspaugh says this: "Agents read so much that I think a short succinct letter that provides all the information an agent needs and no more, no flourishes, so to speak, sends the message that the writer understands an agent's time is limited and has our needs in mind."

Remember, we don't have to know who's talking or what they're talking about provided they keep us engaged enough to turn the page.

Barnaby Conrad continues to be one of my writing mentors. When we met in 1989, I was a part-time newby freelance writer and full-time homemaker. The Santa Barbara Writers Conference became my writing home because of Barnaby & Mary Conrad's hospitality. 

Today's reader has little tolerance for beginnings that don't hook.

Create a list of agents right for your project. How do you know if an agent is right? Spend time finding books like yours and then look at the Acknowledgement page. Usually, grateful authors thank agents. I've included an example-sorry, it's not PDF readable but you get the idea. 

In honor of SBWC founder, Barnaby Conrad, MarketingtheMuse Curriculum is reposting this review of Conrad's keynote at a 2010 writers workshop. He loves to teach by reading from the writings of literary greats!

Vicki Abelson’s Women Who Write meets monthly. Sometimes held in NYC but mostly Vicki hosts WWW in her L.A. home, four freeway exchanges away from mine though I don’t even think about the drive. My monthly at Vicki’s is so worth it.

What defines it?

Writers often confuse memoir writing with other narrative non fiction which includes autobiographical writing.

So what is a memoir?

Think of it as a turning point—that time in life when crisis catapulted you in some significant way. Read good memoirs. Favorites of mine include Drinking: A Love Story and Eat, Pray Love. Commonalities to both: pivotal moments that anchor the telling of these tales. For Caroline Knapp, it was the day she almost killed her friend’s daughter during a drunken spree. For Elizabeth Gilbert, the night she ended up in the fetal position on her bathroom floor sobbing; the night that turned into her turning point.

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[Note: Questions reflect the perspective of a Russian reader who does not know how things work in the USA.]

Welcome to MarlaMiller.com, home of MarketingTheMuse, a writers resource website that since 2007 has been viraling its way into the e-mailboxes of writers on the road to publication.

When first launched, I wasn't sure what MarketingtheMuse.com would be. I just knew I wanted to fashion it after my real time workshops. In early 2010, I added Quick Query Critique videos. Soon after launching QQC, Skype Author Interview Series was added.

Today marks the first day of MarketingtheMuse's new home, incorporated it into MarlaMiller.com for this reason: long before I was a workshop leader/coach, I was a writer. And like you, I don't write to tuck work away in my hard drive. MarlaMiller.com profiles my career and includes projects-in-progress. Soon, it will also include projects whose progress was stopped by time constraints or rejection letters.

As a MarlaMiller.com launch gift, subscribers can download a Complimentary 40-minute real time Quick Query Critique Workshop and learn without leaving home. The workshop offers several query critiques and other valuable information writers need to know. It also demonstrates my teaching style which is no nonsense, direct and I'd like to think, kind. Because of my partnership with writer/filmmaker Vickie Patik, this video workshop is the first of many. Her editing eye is exceptional and our 40-minute complimentary video offers proof! Vickie Patik''s website  simpatkofilmworks.com  delivers more information about this award-winning screenwriter/documentarian and consultant I'm grateful to call 'friend.' 

In  21st century publishing world we now live in, every writer needs a web strategist; mine is Jeremy Lee James of www.writeclickmedia.com. Jeremy is a writer who understands writers' goals. His day job includes creating writer websites that is, when he's not pitching his own work. For several years, he has walked me through this process of web publishing/viraling.  I highly recommend him.

In these tough times, we hope MarlaMiller.com and MarketingtheMuse fill the gap created when the economy tanked and expendable funds dried up. While nothing's free--yes, soon products will be sold here, too--for those writers whose extra funds are limited, there's still lots here that won't cost a penny and will help advance you down your road to publication. Currently, we do have one product for sale-a real time workshop offered to writers in the LA/Ventura/Santa Barbara area.  Click 'News & Announcements' for details re: MtheM: The Road to Publication & Platform Building Workshop

For all visitors, our goal at MarlaMiller.com is to deliver a website that serves as a mini-writers conference--a good 'hangout' site for authors hoping to publish. Please visit often. Look for postings of contests, giveaways and interviews that will include industry Pros sharing what they’ve learned along publishing’s highway. Please tell us what you want to know more about.

And pretty please, tell your writer-ly friends about MarlaMiller.com & MarketingtheMuse