point of view

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POINT OF VIEW: Keeping Hope Alive

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hope - pixabay

These are troubled times in the world at large. These are troubled times in our little corner of the publishing business, too. Once again, someone in the queer romance world has been credibly accused of plagiarism. Several of our publishers have recently closed, and another is going through a major disruption. Some of my author friends are waiting months for royalties, and at the same time are being squeezed by Amazon and other online retailers. Scammers have figured out how to game the system through a variety of tricks, and skim Amazon royalties off the backs of the rest of … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Deciphering the Universe’s Mixed Messages

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Mixed Messages - Deposit Photos

I’m an asshole. But we’ll get back to that in a minute. I won four Rainbow Awards on Saturday night. I should have been over the moon, right? But here’s the thing. Every one of them was a second place finish. In 2017, I won a bunch of them too. Also ALL second place wins. When you think about it, second place is actually pretty damned good. Amazing, really. it’s higher than 99% of the other folks who entered. And four different winning books in one year? That’s practically unbelievable. So why was my initial reaction “Gah”? Fans of this … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Building the Cover

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I’ve started doing covers for my own releases, and thought it would be fun to share a bit of the process with you – in this case, for my trans-elf San Francisco climate change story Cailleadhama. The first step (and often one of the most time-intensive ones) is to find an image that suits the story. In this case, I was looking for something to represent a partially drowned city of San Francisco, along with a seawall to hold back the waters. Bonus points for a gondolier… After a bit of searching, I found this image, which I immediately loved: … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Reading to the Crowd

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Scott - Capital Books

The first time I read one of my works aloud, I was scared shitless. That’s not entirely true. The first time was a breeze. It was the second time that almost killed me. The first time was at RainbowCon circa 2015. I was scheduled to read in a huge meeting room with at least a hundred chairs, and just looking at them made my heart beat like a jackhammer. But due to low attendance and too much programming, I ended up reading to an audience of just six people – the four of us authors scheduled for the hour and … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Riding the Rocket

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Rocket Ride - deposit photos

So I had a BookBub for “The Stark Divide” last week. BookBub, for those who don’t know, is a daily email service that sends out specials (usually free or 99¢) to a huge list of potential readers/buyers. When you get one, it can mean a big, if temporary, boost in sales. How big? Potentially a thousand books or more in a single day, all sent to Amazon. Numbers that make the ‘zon stand up and take notice. I was ready and waiting for the start of mine. I only told a few people, and even then, I was warned to … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Taking a (Little) Break

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break - pixabay

I am a big believer of listening to what the universe is telling me. I didn’t like what I heard this last month. I entered the Pitch Wars contest, confident that I had an amazing manuscript, one that would make heads turn. I chose my four potential mentors carefully, even finding one team who was looking for exactly what I was pitching, and who had a local member. I went to an agent pitch training session at our local writer’s club, and tailored the perfect pitch. And when the clock struck midnight on submission day, I submitted it all right … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Going On Blind Faith

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fingers crossed - deposit photos

I am at the edge of a precipice. When I jumped into this writing thing again six years ago, I hoped to be discovered, to have a huge bestseller that would catapult me into… I don’t know. Fame? Success? Money? Validation? And now here I am, facing the biggest questions of my writing career. Where do I go from here? How do I make it all make sense for my life, my relationship, and my bank account? Is this writing thing going to lead me somewhere? By many measures, I am already a “success.” I have fans who adore my … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Fifteen Days of Immersion

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immersion - pixabay

Those who read my column regularly know I am madly working to finish “Dropnauts: Redemption Book One” in time for PitchWars. I just got my editor notes back on Thursday, and now have about two weeks to whip the whole thing into shape. The news from the editor is mixed. He functioned as my beta reader this time around as the time table was too compressed to manage both, so the manuscript was at a bit rougher stage than I would have preferred. He loved the story! That alone made me dance and throw my hands in the air like … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Working the Crowd

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Sac Pride QSAC Booth

We just wrapped up a warm Sacramento day at Rainbowfest – an annual LGBTQ+ festival in Lavender Heights (which strangely is very flat) – with our local author group, the “Queer Sacramento Authors’ Collective” (QSAC). I’ve learned a few things doing these kinds of events, and thought I’d share some of my tips with you for getting the most out of them, especially in your interactions with your booth/table visitors. Bring Lots of Books: If your table has just a few individual books, folks are generally less likely to stop by to see what you offer. I bring 5-10 copies … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Getting a Little Perspective

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perspective - pixabay

Oh how pride goeth before the fall. Sometimes when you think you have this whole writer gig figured out, life steps in to give you a hard slap across the cheek. A few weeks ago, I ran across a review that was so negative it might have stopped my nascent writing career in its tracks if I had seen it when it was first published, back in 2015. I patted myself on the back for being so much more evolved these days, both in writing skill and in my reaction to my sometimes bad reviews. I’d even half-convinced myself that … Read more