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    Pitch Your Book To Annie Melton of Etopia Press Today 

        Published: April 16th, 2013  Views: 205 
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    Trying to catch the eye of an editor? Well, now's your chance! Annie Melton of Etopia Press will be reading pitches today.

    SUBMISSIONS REQUESTED: Etopia Press is looking for hot erotic romance for 2013 in all sub genres. Contemporary, historical, paranormal, menage, BDSM... whatever you love, they'd like to see it. M/F or M/M, traditional plots or something completely different, the only requirements are passionate romance, a great story, and lots of good, hot sex! Etopia is interested in gay romance, any sub-genre, any heat level. Wolf shifters are selling really well for at the moment, as are contemporary menage (M/F/M, M/M/F, and M/M/M) and stories featuring sports stars (particularly interracial) and rock stars. And who doesn't love those hot, alpha fire fighters?

    Etopia Press publishes all lengths, but is currently looking for novella and novel lengths, 15,000 words and up. For erotic romance and M/M, they pay an advance of $250-1000 for works over 50,000 words. For erotic romance and M/M authors with strong brands and established sales histories, they'll consider advances for works in the 30-40k range as well.

    Members will have an opportunity to post your 3-line pitch or short blurb as a comment to this post. Results will be posted within two weeks. Check back to see if you've scored a request!
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    Pitch Your Book To Ann Nibbs of Etopia Press Today 

        Published: April 16th, 2013  Views: 197 
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    Trying to catch the eye of an editor? Well, now's your chance! Ann Nibbs of Etopia Press will be reading pitches today.

    SUBMISSIONS REQUESTED: Etopia Press is looking for more traditional and cutting-edge horror, the kind that’sscary,not simply graphic depictions of death. Hauntings, rural backwoods horror, urban noir, the madness that lies within… it’s all good, as long as the mood is dark and there’s plenty of tension to drive the characters to the limit. If it’s a more traditional tale, make sure it hasn’t been done to death (graphic or otherwise). They want character-driven stories that will keep them up into the wee hours and make them scared to turn off the light. All lengths are welcome, but Etopia is particularly interested in more works over 50,000 words. Novella and short lengths will be considered for print collections and individual e-book releases.


    Members will have an opportunity to post their 3-line pitch or a short blurb as a comment to this post. Results will be posted within two weeks. Check back to see if you've scored a request!

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    Pitch Your Book To Rhiannon Morgan of Etopia Press Today 

        Published: April 16th, 2013  Views: 162 
    Article Preview

    Trying to catch the eye of an editor? Well, now's your chance! Rhiannon Morgan of Etopia Press will be reading pitches today.

    SUBMISSIONS REQUESTED: Etopia Press is currently looking for great YA reads around 45,000 to 65,000 words in all genres, with a particular preference for romance, contemporary, and “issue books.” They're also looking for original and imaginative paranormal, fantasy, postapocalyptic, dystopian, and other speculative fiction titles. No preachy, religious, or goodie-two-shoes stories designed to "show kids the way." Female protagonists are preferred, but Etopia will consider the well-written male-oriented story as well, especially if it’s LGBT. Please keep protagonists in their later teens for YA, and early 20s for NA. You must know the genre you’re writing for, and the current demands of these markets. And you absolutely must understand digital-first publishing and the author's role in online promotions. You must have an online platform and online marketing strategy before submitting.

    Members will have an opportunity to post their 3-line pitch or a short blurb as a comment to this post. Results will be posted within two weeks. Check back to see if you've scored a request!
    Categories:
    1. News & Events
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    Be An “Indie-Preneur” – Part Time by Beth Daniels 

        Published: April 15th, 2013  Views: 457 
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    Writers have to be a lot of things. They have to dream up the story, create and work with diva-ish characters, face down writers block, do promotional work, build a brand, edit, edit again, and again, dream up a title and then flog the manuscript to readers, some of whom are editors and agents.

    It’s called being an Entrepreneur.

    I’ve been an entrepreneurial writer for 23 years now and it never gets easier. In fact, because I’m pickier about what I turn out now, it gets harder!
    Categories:
    1. Craft
    2. Workshops
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    Savvy Authors Weekly News April 15, 2013 

    by
    Leslie Dow
        Published: April 15th, 2013

    Read our newsletter here!
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    April Boot Camp Week 2 Update 

        Published: April 15th, 2013
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    It’s day ten and the recruits have written over 600,000 words. The ones to beat are YA Avengers with 40pts and the Sexy Vibe Writers with 31 pts. But
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    Savvy Authors Pitch Perfect Week 2 Update 

        Published: April 15th, 2013

    Two weeks down, two weeks to go for Savvy Authors Pitch Perfect event of 30 pitches in 30 days.

    Last week was filled with chat pitches
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    SavvyAuthors chooses a new logo... 

    by
    Leslie Dow
        Published: April 15th, 2013
    Article Preview

    …And you get to help!

    Yes, it’s true with a new site comes a new logo. We’ve chosen a fun way to select one: A Design Contest!
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    Flashbits by Lynn Kerstan 

        Published: April 14th, 2013  Views: 224 
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    From the writer’s toolbox . . .

    Flashbits

    Flashbits are woefully underused. They deserve better. In fact, they are wonderfully effective at preventing a “sequel” from putting readers to sleep. Whether or not you consciously work with the scene/sequel paradigm, your protagonists frequently need to analyze what happened in an earlier scene and make decisions about what to do next. Too often, this results in a dreaded a’sittin’ & a’thinkin’ episode, which is never a page turner unless the reader has started flipping pages in search of something interesting.
    Categories:
    1. Craft
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    Develop Your Pitch, Tagline and Query from an Agent's Perspective by Dawn Dowdle 

        Published: April 13th, 2013  Views: 98 

    You’ve finally finished writing your novel. How do you format your manuscript? How do you select agents to query? What do you send?

    One author thought procuring an agent was like choosing a hair stylist or a car mechanic. She did her research online and in thick books about publishers and agents. She found an agency she thought met her needs and sent them an e-mail telling them she’d chosen them to represent her. Are you rolling your eyes and laughing? No doubt the agent did after she or he pressed the delete button. Obviously she had a lot to learn.
    Categories:
    1. Craft
    2. Workshops
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    Crock Pots, Commuter Trains, and Artist Dates: Making the Time to Write Instead of Just Talking About It by Marley Gibson 

        Published: April 12th, 2013  Views: 268 
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    I won’t lie to you. Writing a book is a lot of hard work. It’s a creative endeavor. It’s putting yourself out there. It’s a labor of love. It’s a hell of a lot of work and dedication. It’s also a lot more than just have a ‘great idea’. The world is wall papered with good ideas. It’s making that vision come to fruition that is the most important thing no matter the obstacles, challenges, and effort.

    And writing is an always-developing skill. It takes training and it takes ‘doing’ it. As with any talent –playing the piano, doing acrylic painting, sculpting, singing, etc.—you have to practice your art and you have to take it seriously. There’s a high level of need for persistence, patience, and practice.

    Why haven’t you written that great idea out yet? What’s stopping you?

    Categories:
    1. Craft
    2. Writing Life
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    Pitch Your Book To Debby Gilbert of Soul Mate Publishing 

        Published: April 12th, 2013  Views: 318 
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    Trying to catch the eye of an editor? Well, now's your chance! Debby Gilbert of Soul Mate Publishing will be reading pitches today.

    SUBMISSIONS REQUESTED:     She’s open to all genres of romance except YA.

    Until midnight EST April 12th, members will have an opportunity to post their three lines as a comment to this post. Results will be posted within two weeks. Check back to see if you've scored a request!
    Categories:
    1. Contests
    2. News & Events
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    Beyond the Bookmark – The Top Eleven Things I Have Learned About SWAG by Kim Carmichael 

        Published: April 11th, 2013  Views: 283 
    Article Preview

    I know it's silly, but when my I contracted my first book, aside from jumping around like a crazy person, one of the things I was most excited about was making a bookmark. It didn't matter that the book was a short and could be read in one sitting, or that the book would only be offered as an e-book. And it didn't matter that every other author on the planet has a bookmark. What did matter was that I got to have a bookmark.

    Even more remarkable than creating my bookmark was the fact that people wanted this little prize. They would enter contests and remark on blogs, and do a variety of other things to procure one of these little pieces of cardboard meant as placeholder for a book that would never have actual pages.
    Categories:
    1. Craft
    2. Marketing and Promo
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    Pitch Your Book To Lisa Dunick of Samhaim Publishing 

        Published: April 11th, 2013  Views: 763 
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    Trying to catch the eye of an editor? Well, now's your chance! Lisa Dunick of Samhain will be reading pitches today.

    SUBMISSIONS REQUESTED: Lisa is     looking for a wide range of things, but prefer not to get high fantasy or sweet romances. She's also really picky about shifters or vampires at this point, and she's probably not the one who will go for anything too kinky. Though she would love to find a great historical, but the big thing she looks for is voice. If a writer can hook her in the first few pages, the genre doesn't tend to matter as much.

    Until midnight EST April 11th, members will have an opportunity to post their pitch of no more than 100 wordsas a comment to this post. Results will be posted within two weeks. Check back to see if you've scored a request!
    Categories:
    1. Contests
    2. News & Events
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    Pitch Your Book To Laurie McLean of Foreword Literary Agency 

        Published: April 11th, 2013  Views: 1740 
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    Trying to catch the eye of an editor? Well, now's your chance! Laurie McLean of Foreword Literary Agency will be reading pitches today.

    SUBMISSIONS REQUESTED: Laurie is looking for adult genre fiction (romance, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, thrillers, suspense, horror, etc.) plus middle-grade and young adult children’s books.

    Until midnight EST April 11th, members will have an opportunity to post their log line of no more than 5 words and a 25 word pitchas a comment to this post. Results will be posted within two weeks. Check back to see if you've scored a request!
    Categories:
    1. Contests
    2. News & Events
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    Pitch Your Book To Kerri-Leigh Grady of Entangled Publishing 

        Published: April 10th, 2013  Views: 1436 
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    Trying to catch the eye of an editor? Well, now's your chance! Kerri-leigh Grady of Entangled Publishing will be reading pitches today.

    SUBMISSIONS REQUESTED:Kerri is looking to fill her 2014 calendar. She’s really interested in romantic comedies for any line and historical romances for Scandalous, Edge, or Select. She’d also love to get her hands on some Old West and Regency romances, romantic thrillers (supernatural elements are a bonus), f/f novellas, smart romantic comedies, and post-apocalyptic romance. She’s also open to smart, strong, funny heroines and the men who can go toe-to-toe with them in the category lines. She’d like to see smart Covets, but she prefers stories with very limited critter counts (i.e. one or _maybe_ two paranormal species per world). And she would squeal hard if she got a Covet featuring any trope at all and a sexy nerd angel. Or two. Ahem.

    Until midnight EST April 10th, members will have an opportunity to post their 2 or 3- line pitch with the first 100 wordsas a comment to this post. Results will be posted within two weeks. Check back to see if you've scored a request!
    Categories:
    1. Contests
    2. News & Events
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    Linking the Line of Action to Character Arc by Thoth - The Gods of Writing 

        Published: April 9th, 2013  Views: 158 
    Article Preview

    Long ago, back in the days before he invented story, Thoth was bored. There was no way to be a scribe without a way to get concepts down on papyrus in a form others would understand. The trouble with story is that sometimes it works—a happy result Thoth takes full credit for—and sometimes it doesn’t.
    After a long tanning session with Danu, an onion or two and many beers, he came to the conclusion the problem is conflict. There are many kinds of conflict, both internal and external, and the easiest way to look at them are as lines of action.

    The primary line of action is what the story is about on an external level. Maybe John goes to Egypt to find the gods. The line of counter-action is that the gods don’t want to be discovered, and will do anything short of killing him to remain undetected. Perhaps the writer decides to flesh out the line of action and turn it into:

    His little girl is dying and John needs the relic of Osiris to save her.

    Categories:
    1. Craft
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    “It aren’t over ‘til it’s over.” by Charmaine Gordon 

        Published: April 9th, 2013  Views: 192 
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    A book—a story—is like a ball game. “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”

    In my case, first came Reconstructing Charlie. By the time I wrote The End, there were some interesting characters in need of exploration. So I wrote Haven introducing for the first time a bad guy in the midst of possible romance between Charlie Costigan’s younger brother Jimmy and her best friend, Shelley Jackson. My first novella –story ending with nothing further to tell. . .Uh huh.

    So how come I kept writing ‘what comes next?’

    Categories:
    1. Craft
    2. Writing Life
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    Pitch Your Book To Ann Nibs of Etopia Press 

        Published: April 9th, 2013  Views: 402 
    Article Preview

    Deadline extended to 4/10
    Trying to catch the eye of an editor? Well, now's your chance! Ann Nibs of Etopia Press will be reading pitches today.

    SUBMISSIONS REQUESTED: Etopia Press is looking for more traditional and cutting-edge horror, the kind that’sscary,not simply graphic depictions of death. Hauntings, rural backwoods horror, urban noir, the madness that lies within… it’s all good, as long as the mood is dark and there’s plenty of tension to drive the characters to the limit. If it’s a more traditional tale, make sure it hasn’t been done to death (graphic or otherwise). They want character-driven stories that will keep them up into the wee hours and make them scared to turn off the light. All lengths are welcome, but Etopia is particularly interested in more works over 50,000 words. Novella and short lengths will be considered for print collections and individual e-book releases.
    Until midnight EST April 10th, members will have an opportunity to post their 3-line pitch or a short blurb as a comment to this post. Results will be posted within two weeks. Check back to see if you've scored a request!
    Categories:
    1. Contests
    2. News & Events
    Read More Read More 5 Comments

    Pitch Your Book To Rhiannon Morgan of Etopia Press 

        Published: April 9th, 2013  Views: 297 
    Article Preview

    Deadline extended to 4/10
    Trying to catch the eye of an editor? Well, now's your chance! Rhiannon Morgan of Etopia Press will be reading pitches today.

    SUBMISSIONS REQUESTED: Etopia Press is currently looking for great YA reads around 45,000 to 65,000 words in all genres, with a particular preference for romance, contemporary, and “issue books.” They're also looking for original and imaginative paranormal, fantasy, postapocalyptic, dystopian, and other speculative fiction titles. No preachy, religious, or goodie-two-shoes stories designed to "show kids the way." Female protagonists are preferred, but Etopia will consider the well-written male-oriented story as well, especially if it’s LGBT. Please keep protagonists in their later teens for YA, and early 20s for NA. You must know the genre you’re writing for, and the current demands of these markets. And you absolutely must understand digital-first publishing and the author's role in online promotions. You must have an online platform and online marketing strategy before submitting.

    Until midnight EST April 10th, members will have an opportunity to post their 3-line pitch or a short blurb as a comment to this post. Results will be posted within two weeks. Check back to see if you've scored a request!
    Categories:
    1. Contests
    2. News & Events
    Read More Read More 11 Comments
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