4 WEBINARS ON SAVVY AUTHORS

It is official. I will be presenting four webinars...one a week...in the month of March for the SavvyAuthors.com website. Each session will begin at 9 p.m. EST/6 p.m. PST Here is the overview. For full information and to register, visit

http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/showevent.php?eventid=1358:

March 6, 2012     SESSION 1 - POINT OF VIEW (POV)
This frequently confusing part of writing fiction includes so many sub-possibilities that it can become mind-boggling. The Webinar will concentrate upon the three most often used—Third Person, First Person and Omniscient. 

March 13, 2012    SESSION 2 - DIALOGUE 
Poorly written dialogue can spell disaster for a novel while well written dialogue moves a story along, pulls the reader into the realm of the characters and adds emotion to the story. 

March 20, 2012    SESSION 3 - PACING 
Pacing is important because it can create a page turner on one hand and a really dull novel on the other. Most people immediately think of pace and “fast-paced” in the same vein, but using techniques to slow it down also allows readers to savor certain passages and leave them wanting more. 

March 27, 2012   SESSION 4 - XERIC WRITING (What is that?)
Don’t let “xeric writing” trip you up. “Xeric” means dry—xeric writing causes readers to turn pages, but not in the good way. 

All of the webinars will include one or more interactive exercises.

Spotlight: The Portrait - a gift that was meant to be

You never know how special the gift of giving is until you make a gift that touches a family's heart.

It is no secret that commercialism has dominated our holidays for several years, but there is another side to giving besides buying gifts for friends and family. It is one that is rare in today's society and that is why when I hear a story like this, I have to write about it. It is about the true spirit of giving of yourself and the happiness it can bring.
There are many unsung heroes in our communities and as my readers know, I've written about a few. Today it's my pleasure to relate another special story about a person whose very nature is to give to others.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Writers’ Tricks of the Trade: Are you establishing your brand?

Two years ago I didn’t really have a brand. Yes I wrote a mystery series and was getting known for the Silver Sisters Mysteries, but then I decided to write two romantic suspense novels. Following advice of others instead of what I felt in my heart, I wrote two books under the pseudonym Arliss Adams because those who advised me felt readers who loved my humor would be shocked by the sex and touch of violence in these two books.

The result? I not only lost my platform, but felt like a dual personality. Most people who liked my writing didn’t know I was Arliss, so in addition to all the normal tasks I normally juggle, I found myself keeping up two additional websites as well as yet one more blog, just to have something to grab onto. Amazon wouldn’t even put those two books on my author page because the name was different.

What is an author brand?  READ MORE...

Would you like to write for examiner.com?

I've been writing columns for www.examiner.com for over two years now. I started with the Las Vegas edition and later added Los Angeles. The exposure has been great and my following has grown steadily.

 "Examiner" is their term for reporters all over the country in--big cities and small--who report local happenings in a very broad range of topics. Styles vary greatly from the news oriented to the personal angles. Then there are those like me who concentrate on evergreen columns. What is an evergreen column? It is one that does not go out of date.

After trying to do a local calendar of writers' events in Las Vegas, I realized that people were not coming to me with their announcements as I'd anticipated. I spent hours upon hours looking for events and at last decided that my time would be better spent creating content that would almost always be of interest or helpful to my readers---content that didn't have an expiration date.

Occasionally I update my Spotlight columns if something significant has happened in the life or career of one of the people I've interviewed or there are new features for events or organizations I've profiled, but for the most part these columns introduce my readers to someone or something they will find interesting. As for the personal angle, I always try to show something about the authors and people in the industry that isn't necessarily common knowledge...like when reviewer Jackie Houchin discussed her love of horses.

The Writers' Tricks of the Trade column which was the inspiration for this blog, the newsletter and my recently released Writers' Tricks of the Trade book, is my way of sharing what I've learned through the years with my readers. The newsletter is a sharing of ideas, tips and techniques from guest contributors from all over the country with some add-ins by yours truly, and the book is an easy-to-read handy reference to keep on the bookshelf, computer or electronic reader for quick information or inspiration.

If you have a topic or hobby you are passionate about, think about writing news or a column for examiner. You can find the application as well as a list of cities and available topics at http://exm.nr/iyeW7c. I would appreciate it if you  list me as the one who referred you.

Happy writing.

Cartoonists have fun with writers today

Ah, one of my favorite pursuits--reading the morning comics. Well, it hasn't been as much fun in recent years because many of the strips  I enjoyed have disappeared from the L.A. Times and others have simply become silly.

In my humble opinion, two that stay consistently funny or timely are Pearls to Swine and Doonesbury. Today didn't disappoint as they aimed their humor at the writers' community. Better than talking about it, let me show you what I mean.

How true! The father tries to get his point across that shipments and sales are two different things, but the son who is high on presumed success views it as jealousy. As authors and publishers know, book stores can return unsold books, without having paid the bill, months after the shipment. 50,000 books. If only 20% were sold, imagine the impact. Returns can arrive in any condition, resaleable or not.

If you are not a New York Times bestseller, or have a high profile or a ton of fans, try to head off possible heavy returns by cautioning a bookstore to order light for a signing. Most of them will allow you to supplement from your own stock, then they order that amount of books to replace the stock you've "lent" them. Of course, we all hope every book they order sells out, but that is not always the case.

There are so many blogs out there now, how do you get yours noticed? Like everyone else, I've been addressing the issue. Interesting content brings people back once they've found you, but how do they find you?

I just took some of the advice Stephanie Campbell offered in her article about blogging in the November issue of the Writers' Tricks of the Trade newsletter and have begun listing my blog with blog directories. Putting the news of new posts on Facebook and Twitter is important, of course, but for the most part I think the same people see them each time.

Directories expose you to new "eyeballs" and hopefully they will like what you have to say, come back often and share your link with their friends.

TWO GUEST BLOG APPEARANCES

Yesterday I was a guest on M.M. Gornell's blog. We had a great chat, and instead of going into details, I'd like to invite you to click the link and read all about what I had to say:

http://www.mmgornell.wordpress.com

Tomorrow I'l be guest blogging at the Thoughts in Progress blog. It's all about how an idea became a column, then a book, a blog and a newsletter. Check it out and post your comments.

Thoughts in Progress 

I LOVED SPEAKING TO PARTNERS IN CRIME IN SYDNEY

Yesterday was actually the official launch of Writers' Tricks of the Trade: 39 Things You Need to Know About the ABCs of Writing Fiction. When I started writing this handy reference book, I never dreamed that the first writers to buy signed copies would live down under in Sydney, Australia.

I was given a very warm welcome by this chapter of Sisters in Crime, and I'm sure that all of the members who bought the book will keep it handy on their bookshelves. It was a first in two directions---their first speaker from the United States and my first international presentation. It is funny how things happen. I shared some of the "tricks" in my talk and used passages from the just-released Silver Sisters Mystery, Vanishing Act in Vegas, to illustrate some of the techniques.

This is a short post because today we are off to the Blue Mountains which are known to be one of the most beautiful spots in Australia, and will be there for 2  1/2 days.

Isn't it great that technical assistants know what they're talking about (LOL)

For all of you writers out there who travel or might travel internationally, my experience today is a real eye-opener. Read to the end of this post for some interesting info.

I'm going to Australia from the U.S. on Saturday, and know the voltage is different. I looked everywhere to find out if my Dell laptop has universal or worldwide power or needs a converter. In other words, with the right plug adapter will it convert from 110-120v to the Australian 220-240v power?

I spent almost an hour on the net trying to find out at the Dell website. No luck, so I tried to email my question to them. A message popped up saying this sort of email info wasn't available to me and I would have to call. So I called the technical support number, gave them my model number and the express service tag number which supposedly would give me quick service and a quick answer. The tech support rep who was most likely in India pondered the question for a bit, then said, "I really don't have that answer."

I asked if there wasn't a specification for the model that might have the answer. He seemed as though he was on another planet. "Specification?"

"Yeah, you know those techie type of things I would expect a technician to have access to..."

"Oh well, you will have to talk to a field rep. I'll connect you."

Rings followed by an answer. I went through the whole song and dance again, only to be told I wasn't speaking to a field rep. I was speaking to an operator. "Who did you wish to speak to?"

"A field rep."

"May I ask why?"

I explained my problem. She said, "No, you must talk to a technical rep."

"But, that's who transferred me to you. They said I needed a field rep."

Next stop, field rep. Once again the whole story plus once again looking up the Service Tag number on the bottom of the laptop. This time I got smart. I wrote it down. After a bit of back and forth, and for the umpteenth time asking if there were any specifications available, he said, "You must speak to a technical rep for that kind of answer."

I wondered if I might have entered the Twilight Zone or Ground Hog Day. I told him the tenchnical rep referred me to him. "Oh, no. Not that technical rep. I will give you an 800 number for another technical rep." By now about 45 minutes had passed. So I called technical rep #2. You know the drill. He listened, then said, "Let me look up all the features on your laptop."

"Please, I don't need to know the features. I've had it for over a year. I just need to know if it will blow up if I plug it in to an outlet in Australia without a converter. I have converter kits, but they say don't use with a blow dryer, shaver or laptop. Truly, I don't know what they're good for except putting some dollars in the manufacturer's pockets." I was almost out of patience.

He gently said, "Bear with me. I need to go through the features to see if the information you need is one of the features." I listened to elevator music while he read. "I am very sorry, but I do not have the answer. I suggest you go to the store where you bought it and ask them."

A few hours later I was at Best Buy once again explaining the question and my dilemma. The Geek Squad didn't know, but showed me some plugs they use for foreign outlets stating they were self-contained converters. They were not. They were simply plug adapters as the fellow in accessories explained. He showed me a powerful converter kit, good up to 90v output, but suggested I check the back of my power adapter just to make sure.

I figured the computer salesperson could do that on their model but he told me they don't have the power units available to look at. I asked if he could look on a box to see if it was listed. He said the info wouldn't be there.

At long last, I bought a $39.99 high wattage converter kit the salesperson said should work with the laptop. Back home, when I looked at the specs on the back of the power adapter to make sure it was compatible with the converter as he suggested, guess what I saw written on the back? INPUT 110-240v OUTPUT 50-60 Hz.

Hmmm. Sounded suspiciously like the power source actually DID have power that would work in Australia. I quickly logged onto a search engine and typed "What does Input 110-240v mean?" AHA! It means it automatically converts up to 240v and all I need is a plug adapter which I already have. The site added to make sure it also said 50-60 Hz. I was home free.

Tomorrow I will return the $39.99 converter kit and as for all of those lost hours, well...it was a learning curve. Something to use in a story one of these days.

The moral of the story -- The voltage capability is in the power adapter, so if you are traveling abroad and have a question look at the writing on the back of the power adapter. Maybe someday someone will tell the technical support and sales people about that.

Miffed in Marina Del Rey

About mispronounced words

.Sometimes there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to the way certain words are pronounced. Because of that, when listening to an audio book, it isn't unusual to hear cities, streets, places, descriptive words pronounced wrong. It happens in some really wonderful books. Because I listen to lots of audio books while driving between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, I might be more aware of it. Books recorded by powerhouse publishers are no exception, by the way.

I'm currently listening to Loitering With Intent,  a good book by Stuart Woods featuring his attorney/sleuth Stone Barrington. Stone and his former buddy on the police department, Dino, are investigating in Key West, Florida.

Now, most of us have seen the word "conch" and if I'd never been to Key West, I wouldn't have realized it's pronounced wrong many times throughout this book. They want conch burgers, they talk about all things conch and the reader, who is a good reader, pronounces it just like it's spelled--con-sch. Therein lies the problem. When I was in Key West I did the same thing and was quickly corrected. The correct way to say it is "conk" like a blow to the head.

It's not a big thing unless you know how it should be pronounced. Then it is really annoying, kind of like fingernails on a blackboard. As I said, it happens to the best of them. Four of my books have audio editions also with fabulous narrators. However, there are a few mispronounciations in them, too. Mostly street names and a few Yiddish expressions the Silver Sisters' mother likes to use.

That raises the question, and I've thought about it before:  If there are words that are a little off the standard, should the author provide a short glossary clearly showing how to say the word when submitting the manuscript so the reader knows how to say it? In the case of a word like kugel, (which is a noodle pudding)  should it include a note about what it is?

I've decided to do just that if any more of my books are recorded. What do you think?

INTERESTING REPORT ON EBOOK TRENDS

This spring dedicated e-readers as well as “multifunctional” devices gained ground even as computers continued to lose ground. The portability and instant access to data is greatly contributing to the growth of eBooks and Kindles. The net result is between May 2010 and May 2011 consumer buying habits  found all of these devices nearly neck-in-neck with computers.

According to the Book Industry Study Group's "Consumer Attitudes Toward E-Book Reading," e-book buyers continued to spend more money on e-books while cutting back on purchases of print titles. Oh, those of little faith who mere years ago said eBooks were not real books.

In September, e-book buyers reduced spending on hardcovers and paperbacks by 40% each. What a significant drop! The survey also shows the impact the holiday season had on overall book buying. After receiving or buying devices in December, the percentage of e-book buyers who increased their spending on all book formats rose to about 35% in January, and then fell back slightly in May.

Amazon remained the dominant place to buy e-books, with more than 70% of e-book buyers using the store to buy titles in May 2011. Barnes & Noble.com stayed ahead of the iBookstore and iTunes in May with about 27% of e-book buyers going to B&N.com, while e-book buyers using the Apple stores stayed below 10% (and actually fell slightly from January). The only issue that e-book buyers said became more of a hindrance in buying e-books between May 2010 and May 2011 was the cost of titles, with prices rising from about 22% to 28% for e-book buyers.

According to consumers, receiving free chapters or samples had the biggest impact on getting them to buy an e-book in May, while reading an online review fell to second place.

In that regard, Writers’ Tricks of the Trade, 39 Things You Need to Know About the ABCs of Writing Fiction is now available in Kindle and eBook and the paperback can be pre-ordered at Amazon. Click here for an Amazon "Look Inside"  through Chapter 3 to whet your appetite.

Today I learned more about "hashtags"

Learning to navigate the internet and social networks is a never-ending task. I'd heard about hash-marks but never really checked into them. Today I found an article called 10 Twitter Hashtags for Writers on Publishing Talk.

What an informative article and why haven't I been using them!! I learned that hashtags are nothing more than words or phrases used in tweets wth the # symbol in front of them. No spaces, just squash them together. EXAMPLE: #amediting. If you are at the editing stage, it lets people know and you can ask for advice. The hashtag becomes a link and you can click it to see whose tweets contain that hashtag. This can greatly extend your Twitter reach. The article lists 10 useful hashtags for writers.

Check out this twitter link: https://twitter.com/#!/publishingtalk. I'm following them now and look forward to discovering lots of great info.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.morganstjames-author.com

USING THE RIGHT FORM OF A WORD

Something I saw on the news yesterday was so appropriate to the "You Don't Say" presentation I will be making for Sisters in Crime Los Angeles on October 9 that I had to write this.

My presentation is all about navigating the English language--a language peppered with bloopers just waiting for you to commit them.

Even editors aren't exempt. You see using the wrong form of a word, if taken literally, totally changes the intent of the sentence or phrase and is a terrible booby trap.

What I saw yesterday was a commentary on the deplorable state of our economy. It was part of a feature I like to watch called The Rant. They always put the written comment up on the screen. This one spoke about a "waist of money."

My first thought was why didn't someone catch that, which was rapidly followed by a giggle because I pictured the implications of a waist of money. Things like "pulling in your belt" led to imagining all these politicians parading around the House and Senate with money belts cinching in their waists --- or would that be wastes?

You can really have some fun with the wrong form of the right word. Take for example using "slight of hand" instead of "sleight of hand."

"Do you need to master SLIGHT OF HAND to be a good magician?" Hmmm. Don’t know that the size of the magician’s hands has anything to do with it. Although, with bigger hands, he could probably hold more cards."

SLIGHT is an interesting word. As an adjective, it means having a slim or delicate build or structure; as a transitive verb it means to treat with disdain or indifference, and as a noun it generally would be a humiliating discourtesy.

YOU DON'T SAY!

Morgan St. James

www.morganstjames-author.com

An invitation to join Morgan St. James in the Chat Room at www.Savvy Authors.com on Thursday evening, August 4

I’ve recently become involved with www.savvyauthors.com and am delighted to say that I’ll be hosting some online workshops for them in the future.

 In the meantime, I’ll be hosting an online chat about WRITING TIGHT this week on Thursday, August 4. It’s free, interactive and runs from 9:00-10:00 p.m. EST, 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. Central, 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Mountain time or 6:00-7:00 p.m. PST

 WRITE TIGHT ONLINE CHAT ON SAVVY AUTHORS –CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

 This is a great website for all authors to know about and utilize. Savvy Authors started with a simple conversation between two writers trying to figure out how writers at various stages of their career could help one another to achieve their goals. Whether it be promoting their new release, or finding a way to break through chapter three on their first book, the idea was to create a website where authors could network and gain motivation.

See you there,

MORGAN ST. JAMES 

THE COMMENT BOX IS NOW WORKING

As I've discovered, there is quite a bit to setting up an interactive blog. The Guest Comment box is now working in the right-hand column. Moving right along to August 15 when the first newsletter will post. Just click the SUBSCRIBE button. In the dropdown box, just click which of your feeds you would like posts to go into, or be sure to visit Writers' Tricks of the Trade each month to see the latest one.

Guest bloggers are lining up both to contribute to the newsletter and this blog with all sorts of "Tricks of the Trade." Check back often.

Important Information if you're designing your own blog or website

Wow! Did I learn something today and I want to share it. If you're designing your own website with a do-it-yourself template or setting up your own blog, be sure to look at it or better yet design it in MOZILLA FIREFOX. It may look absolutely fine on EXPLORER, but that doesn't mean it will look good on Firefox.

I found out the hard way and spent hours redoing certain things. This header had no problems in Explorer, but when I opened it in Firefox a big chunk of the right side was cut off. Back to the drawing board...and back...and back! I wasn't going to give up and finally made it fit correctly. It seems that if it looks good on Firefox, you're home free.

Many of us are setting up our own sites now with easy to use software, so take the little bit of extra time and check your sites on both browsers.

It is getting exciting. We now have several wonderful contributors ready to share their knowledge in the Writers' Tricks of the Trade WRITE ON newsletter launching April 15 and many will also write posts for the blog. New posts can be delivered to a choice of the sites you may use by simply clicking SUBSCRIBE in the right column and choosing the one(s) you want from the dropdown box. I'm having mine delivered to My Yahoo for easy access.

That's all for tonight.

July 22 Writers Tricks of the Trade in the Los Angeles edition of Examiner.com -

It's all about how important proofreading is. All of us have picked up books or read posts filled with errors that should have been caught---and weren't. The eye sees what it THINKS it sees. Read the column: http://exm.nr/proof-LA

Why I set up this blog

As if I haven't heaped enough on my plate, I decided to add one more tidbit. Here is your first peek at the cool cover designed by the brilliant British illustrator Scott Garrett. I can't even begin to thank him enough for capturing the lighthearted but educational value of Writers' Tricks of the Trade. But then, why should I be surprised? One look at his website, www.garrettworld.co.uk will show you how immensely talented he is.

The book will be coming out very soon now and I wanted to launch a blog/discussion forum for many of the topics that plague , confound and delight writers. I've acquired a great many friends in this crazy pursuit, and never cease to be amazed at how much knowledge is out there.

Another reason I wanted to have a forum type blog is because this won't be the only book I write about writing. There are so many more things I have to share and to learn that I definitely see more in the future.

So my friends,  I want to hear from you, too. Visit often and share your thoughts.