Part Seven - Practices of a Published Author by Debra Glass

Read What You Write

You’ve all heard the old advice, write what you know.

When I first started seriously writing romance, I rarely read the type romances I wrote. This was a mistake. How could I target a publisher if I didn’t know what they wanted?

Find out which companies publish the type books you write. Read, read, read the type books you write. But read with a critical eye. Pay attention to how the author sets up the story, the style, the language, the author’s voice, the pacing, the level of plot intensity. Those are the same things editors will be looking for from you as a prospective writer for them. Make time to read books like the ones you write.

DEBRA GLASS is the author of over fifteen books of historical and paranormal romance, non-fiction, and folklore. The recipient of the National Society of Arts and Letters Alabama Screenwriter Award, she went on to win the NSAL Empire State Award for excellence in screenwriting. She received nominations as favorite erotic romance author with two of her books earning nominations as best erotic historical romance of 2009 from The Romance Studio. Two of Debra’s historical romances are currently finalists in Romance Writers of America’s Passionate Ink contest for published authors.

Debra is a member of Romance Writers of America, the Professional Authors’ Network, and Passionate Ink. She is also a member of RWA's Heart of Dixie chapter. She lives in Alabama with her real life hero, a couple of smart-aleck ghosts, and a diabolical black cat.

For more information about Debra and her books, click HERE

Current Releases:

In Print: Shadowkeeper

Digital: Having Patience

Part Four - Practices of a Published Author by Debra Glass

Be Able to Classify Your Book

Before I ever got serious about getting published, I attended a class with Michael Garret who is an editor and writer. I had 400 typed pages of my baby with me. It was a vampire story which I wrote from my dissatisfaction with all the other vampire stories I’d read or seen at the movies. Mr. Garret asked me, “If the book were to be published, in which section would it be found at your local bookstore?”

Well, that stumped me. I didn’t know. He told me, “If you don’t know, the publisher doesn’t know and they won’t buy your book.”

I can still quote the rejection letter I received after one long year of waiting for three chapters and a synopsis of this book to be read. “Dear Debra, your writing is, at times evocative, however we must pass on publishing this book because there are elements of both romance and horror and the editors don’t feel they can determine a genre for this work.”

Funny how those rejections stick with you but I can’t recall the exact wording of my first acceptance letter.

Michael Garret was right. I’ve heard many unpublished writers say they’re writing the next great American novel which is based on their own experiences. In the sage words of Spongebob Squarepants, “Well, good luck with that!”

Writers must know in which genre are writing. They need to know exactly where their book would be found on a bookstore shelf, be it romance, teen fiction, horror, inspirational, biographical, etc.

Editors do not want anything different – especially from an unknown. They want tried and true plots but with a fresh spin. They want to know exactly how to classify your book. Don’t hope to surprise an editor by crossing two genres. That’s the fastest track to rejection.

Study your "writing voice." Get input from friends and critique partners. Is your writing funny, serious, dramatic, melodramatic? Do you have a light voice which is perfect for contemporaries or a dark voice that lends itself well to suspense, horror or paranormal? Or perhaps, your writing is filled with prose and antiquated words perfect for penning a historical romance or historical fiction.

Know what it is that you write and write to your strength.

DEBRA GLASS is the author of over fifteen books of historical and paranormal romance, non-fiction, and folklore. The recipient of the National Society of Arts and Letters Alabama Screenwriter Award, she went on to win the NSAL Empire State Award for excellence in screenwriting. She received nominations as favorite erotic romance author with two of her books earning nominations as best erotic historical romance of 2009 from The Romance Studio. Two of Debra’s historical romances are currently finalists in Romance Writers of America’s Passionate Ink contest for published authors.

Debra is a member of Romance Writers of America, the Professional Authors’ Network, and Passionate Ink. She is also a member of RWA's Heart of Dixie chapter. She lives in Alabama with her real life hero, a couple of smart-aleck ghosts, and a diabolical black cat.

For more information about Debra or her books, click HERE

Part Three - Practices of a Published Author by Debra Glass

Write in Layers

How do you write? In other words, what is your writing style?

To write consistently, an author needs to understand how they go about the process of writing a story.

I’m what’s known as a pantser. That means I write by the seat of my pants. My story ideas start out with a beginning and an end. What happens in the middle is totally up to my characters and sometimes, they surprise me!

The other style of writer is the plotter. A plotter is someone who knows every detail, every twist and turn and every red herring before they put the first word on a page.

The end result is the same. Both pantsers and plotters are capable of writing intricate stories with well developed characters and intriguing plots that don’t have the dreaded sagging middle.

But whether you’re a pantser or a plotter, the goal is to get the story on the page. I know many talented writers who have wonderful ideas but who cannot get them on a page because they fixate on perfection.

Instead of expecting a perfect first draft, I write in layers. I write the first chapter which will include the setup and the introduction of the main characters and the initial conflict. In addition, I include the dialogue and minor description. In essence, I get the story on the page. Then I go back and describe and add more detail. After writing 2500 words or so, I will then revise, layering in more description and tweaking the dialogue. I might have thought of something that will add a little twist the plot so I add this.

At the end of my book, I put it aside for several days and then revise with fresh eyes.

After that, I enlist the help of a critique partner who helps polish my manuscript. Critique partners are also great sounding boards when working out plot points or when your characters run away with your story.

Editors are busy people who don’t have time for a manuscript filled with grammatical errors and typos. With the sheer volume of books being published right now, authors must, must, must perfect manuscripts. Writing in layers will help you submit a clean, impressive submission.

DEBRA GLASS is the author of over fifteen books of historical and paranormal romance, non-fiction, and folklore. The recipient of the National Society of Arts and Letters Alabama Screenwriter Award, she went on to win the NSAL Empire State Award for excellence in screenwriting. She received nominations as favorite erotic romance author with two of her books earning nominations as best erotic historical romance of 2009 from The Romance Studio. Two of Debra’s historical romances are currently finalists in Romance Writers of America’s Passionate Ink contest for published authors.

Debra is a member of Romance Writers of America, the Professional Authors’ Network, and Passionate Ink. She is also a member of RWA's Heart of Dixie chapter. She lives in Alabama with her real life hero, a couple of smart-aleck ghosts, and a diabolical black cat.

For more information about Debra and her books, click HERE

Part One - Practices of a Published Author by Debra Glass

Part One of my "Getting Published" series - Practices of a Published Author -

Treat Writing Like a Job

The best advice I ever received as a writer came from my husband – who, incidentally, does not even read books! I had been lamenting the sour economy. Two weeks before 9/11, I’d bought Ryan Piano Company, building, business, inventory and all. Making a piano business work for someone with no experience in running a business was not an easy feat. I had single-handedly funded the store with my side business of giving my ghost walk tours and selling copies of my regional ghost story collections which I had self-published.

Piano sales fell somewhere between slim and none.

My husband, who is a businessman, asked me, “If you could do anything for a living, what would you choose to do?” I didn’t even have to think about it. I told him, “I’d be a writer.”

I waited for the response I’d gotten from husband one and husband two which was this: “Who’d want to read anything you would write?”

Instead, my husband said, “All right. If you want to be a writer, then treat writing like a job.”

(Cue light bulb illumination) I’d never thought of treating something that I enjoyed doing like a job and from that moment on, I began thinking in terms of working as a writer.

Writing means more than spending inordinate amounts of time in front of a computer or with a pen and paper in hand. As a serious writer, I realized I had to learn the market. I needed to know what was selling, to whom it was selling, how much it was selling, which publishing houses were buying and which were not. I researched agents and editors just as I would have if I’d been looking for a job as a potential employee.

I joined a professional writer’s organization. Since I wanted to publish in the romance genre, I joined the national organization, Romance Writer’s America, and then the local Heart of Dixie chapter.

I had joined RWA ten years prior and was more in awe of the other published authors than learning how to hone the craft for myself. But when I got down to the business of becoming a writer, I recalled watching, then unpublished authors, Rhonda Nelson and Debra Webb network and learn the ropes while developing their writing skills. Both are amazing writers who can weave unforgettable stories but they knew that in this business where only 1% of submissions make it to publication, if they hadn’t researched their market, then those fabulous manuscripts might be sitting in a drawer somewhere instead of attracting readers on the book store shelves. Because of their dedication to networking, skill-building, and their overall professionalism, both Debra and Rhonda are now multi-published authors.

I learned a lot from watching their careers unfold.

Watching other writers taught me the difference between being a writer and being an author. An author is someone who writes when the muse strikes and who probably drinks bourbon before noon. (But hey, bourbon is also a job requirement for a southern belle as well – so that one didn’t count.) Kidding aside, a writer is someone who writes daily, who studies the publishing market, sets goals and works to achieve them.

Only after I worked at all these things (minus the bourbon) and began treating my writing like a job, I got what’s known in the publishing world as “the call” – or my first acceptance.

About the author

DEBRA GLASS is the author of over fifteen books of historical and paranormal romance, non-fiction, and folklore. The recipient of the National Society of Arts and Letters Alabama Screenwriter Award, she went on to win the NSAL Empire State Award for excellence in screenwriting. She received nominations as favorite erotic romance author with two of her books earning nominations as best erotic historical romance of 2009 from The Romance Studio. Two of Debra’s historical romances are currently finalists in Romance Writers of America’s Passionate Ink contest for published authors.

Debra is a member of Romance Writers of America, the Professional Authors’ Network, and Passionate Ink. She is also a member of RWA's Heart of Dixie chapter. She lives in Alabama with her real life hero, a couple of smart-aleck ghosts, and a diabolical black cat.

For more information about Debra and her books, click HERE

Creating To-Die-For Alpha Heroes (Who aren't jerks!) by Debra Glass

We all want a strong, sexy hero who rides up on the white horse and sweeps the heroine off her feet with stunning looks and clever banter. He's the man who won't take no for an answer and who's rakish charm whittles down the heroine's defenses.

But where do such rakes stop being jerks and start being heroes?

There is a fine line between the two and a romance author must tread carefully.

What is an Alpha Male? Alpha males are secure men who are genuinely confident, outgoing, friendly, and intelligent. They are the socially powerful leaders and are physically attractive. Alpha males have their egos in balance. They are confident and at the same time, humble.

In a romance novel, these alpha males, despite their shadow sides, have only heroic intentions.

According to Steven Smith, in his book, Egonomics, he writes, "When we move just right or left of center, we get false confidence, and ego manages us rather than the other way around. As a result, our strengths morph into counterfeit weaknesses, like someone who’s passionate now becomes overzealous, or if we’re strong-willed, now we become inflexible. We think it’s the same thing, but it’s not and everyone around us notices the difference."

Jerks, on the other hand, tend to see themselves in a positive light and others in a negative light. Jerks put out a sense of self-confidence to the world, which attracts women to them, however, a jerk's self-confidence is a ruse to hide insecurities.

A secure woman will not tolerate a jerk's behavior for long, therefore jerks gravitate toward anxious, insecure women. Jerks find these women easy to dominate which increases their warped sense of self-esteem.

A true alpha male is a benevolent man whom others look up to. He is caring and dominant without being overbearing. Craig Bruce, in his article, Alpha Males, Nice Guys, and Jerks, writes, "The jerk is an abusive head-case who socializes in order to abuse people."

He further defines the jerk's relationships as this: "The relationship is guided by the Principle of Least Interest: the person who is the least interested in the relationship gets to dictate the terms of the relationship. Result: he treats her like shit. He takes advantage of her, dominates and controls her. He sees problems in the relationship as being her fault, and if she's very lucky, she even gets to be physically abused."

Jerks actually suffer from a personality disorder known as Narcissism. Narcissists are not capable of the character growth required for a romance hero.

For more information see: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/narcissistic-personality-disorder/DS00652/DSECTION=2

One of the greatest romance heroes ever written was Rhett Butler who was definitely an alpha male. Why did we love him? Because beneath that cool exterior and those barbed quips, he saw Scarlett for what she was and loved her for it. Even admired her for it. He was a benevolent hero who gained the respect of others for his behind the scenes actions. He was confident and handsome, the consummate gentleman who knew what he wanted and went after it but always in a way that was above board.

Writing alpha males is a difficult task but with a little understanding of what a real alpha male is, we authors can continue creating those to-die-for heroes!

Debra Glass' paranormal romance, Gatekeeper, is the first of her Phantom Lovers series published by Ellora's Cave.

http://www.ellorascave.com/productpage.asp?ISBN=9781419914850

Gatekeeper's hero, Benton Smith, is an old world hero who is definitely an alpha male who is not above a little seduction when needed!