Inspiration of the Landscape Variety

Lord knows inspiration comes at us from all angles. Walking down the street, sitting in a cafe, perusing photos of fine men... well, let's just say we can easily be bombarded with it. And if you aren't friends with Diana Duncan on FaceBook, then you're missing out on her photo album of some very fine inspiration of the male flesh variety.

However, gorgeous men, or women, aside, I constantly get revved up by the scenery around me. In fact, today, I'm playing driver to my mom and some out of town guests and driving them to the city of Seward, a seaport on Resurrection Bay, off the Gulf of Alaska. I'm especially thrilled because not only do I get to visit with family friends who knew me when I was knee high to a grasshopper, but I'll also get to feast my eyes on some of the most beautiful sights to be seen on this earth.

I'll also get to research that scenery for my next WIP. Like, where does cell service drop out and is there a pull out wide enough for a broken down car? And where is a likely place for my heroine's parents to live? What's her favorite hangout when she leaves the big city to go home for a weekend?

I already have several photos, so now I can narrow in my locations, not only for this WIP, but another two I have in mind. Yeah, there's a lot of beauty to inspire anyone up here. Just ask the thousands of professional and amateur artists who flood the gift shops with the coolest tourist junk I've seen anywhere.

Since I'll be out of pocket for the day, I'll leave you with some photos taken on some gloriously sunny days, which we may or may not have. Enjoy!

Photos: Mt. Susitna, Sailboat on Resurrection Bay, Fishing Boats on Resurrection Bay, Fireweed along the Steese Highway. All taken by Morgan Q. O'Reilly.

Morgan Q. O'Reilly

Get Some Tonight

http://morganqoreilly.com

Lyrical Press

Cobblestone Press

'Was'--A four letter word.

"Show don’t tell. Use active voice, not passive," writing guides invariably tell us.

That’s nice...and thanks for sharing. "Now how do I do that?" you ask.

Well, pick a sentence in your WIP. A good long one that’s been giving you trouble. Maybe it doesn’t express what you’d envisioned exactly the way you’d like. Or for some reason seems to make the reader an observer, not immerse them in the scene. Whatever. It’s off and you know it.

Move along the sentence, looking at the words...okay. Stop. See that word ‘was’? That’s the culprit. Now move a little farther along the sentence. And stop. See that verb with the ING ending? I’ll bet, put in the past tense, that wishy washy word could say exactly what you want and drive that sentence. Am I some sort of writing guru extraordinaire, to know this? Nope. Just been there and done that. Not fun. Lost clumps of hair.

Here’s an example. Let’s say, our intrepid heroine sees the hot hero.

He was wearing faded Levi’s riding low on his hips that defined his powerful thighs and a white long-sleeved shirt, open at the throat to reveal the strong tanned column of his neck and a muscled chest with a sprinkling of dark hair. His eyes were steel blue, gleaming with the same amusement that curved his lips. She wanted to laugh with him, move closer and see if he smelled as good as he looked.

Kinda "meh", huh? He’s hot, but you’re still an observer, just reading a description. You know he could be scorching, seem so real he might step off the page. And what about the heroine’s reaction? Seems like an afterthought just kinda poked in there, doesn’t it?

So, look at the verb ‘wearing’ and think scorching, those Godiva chocolates you’ve hidden under the bed so your children don’t eat them all-worthy. No, huh? Just doesn’t do it. Okay...‘Riding’.

Now that’s a verb with power. There ya go.

Faded Levi’s rode low on his hips and defined the power in his thighs, the wide opening of his white long-sleeved shirt revealed the strong tanned column of his neck and chest muscles sprinkled with dark hair. Amusement gleamed in his steel blue eyes and curved his lips, made her want to laugh with him, move in closer. Yum. He probably smelled as good as he looked.

Much better. And guess what? All showing from the heroine’s point of view. No passive voice in sight. And no, I will not share my Godivas. Okay, maybe one...but don’t touch the white chocolate seashells. I’m saving those for when I read your romance novel.

Mary Murray, editor

Focus On: Allure Imprint

Ever read publisher guidelines and wish they were more specific? Then you've come to the right place.

Today, we're focusing on the Allure Imprint.

From the imprint submissions guidelines page:

• Acquiring editor: Emma Wayne Porter
  
• Genre: erotic contemporary romance
  
• Length: 60-80k
  
• Key Characteristic: willful hero, capable heroine
  
• Key Characteristic: sexual tension and romantic conflict
  
• Requirement: HEA
  
• Sensuality Level: extremely hot
  

Editor's notes: Know your tropes. This line is focused on the buildup and resolution of sexual tension and romantic conflict. The thrill of anticipation is as key as the erotic payoff.

We want willful heroes, and capable heroines. We do not want "perfect" or cardboard characters, nor do we want helpless, shrinking-violet heroines. We want compelling, fully developed contemporary characters with GMC and sizzling conflict brought to fulfilling resolution.

We'll go over the editor's notes to help authors shooting for this imprint. Let's start with tropes. By tropes I mean base structural ingredients like "marriage of convenience", "forbidden love", "taming of the shrew", "secret baby", "wrong bed", "married by mistake", and all those other thematic patterns romance readers have come to expect from romance.

Note what the guidelines don't say regarding tropes... the word "follow" is not used. "Know" is. Innovative treatment of the tropes is most welcome for this line.

A happily ever after ending is required for this line. "Happy for now" works for some erotic romances, but not these. We want full-on happily ever after. And we're quite serious about putting the sexual tension back into the mix. We want the sensuality level to be scorching hot, but this is not the line for "two sex scenes every chapter".  There can be as many sex scenes as drive the conflict when the time is right -- when the actual sex becomes a powerful reader (and character) payoff. 

Willful heros: I don't necessarily believe in the "alpha" or "beta" hero terminology, and don't believe it applies to this line. In this case, "willfull" means the hero wants or needs something and God help anything or anyone who gets in his way. Betas can be put in this position and perform just as well as any alpha, hence why I've stayed away from those terms.

Capable heroines: I grew up on Harlequin Presents and love them dearly...except for the powerless heroines. Now yes, there is much plot-fodder to be found in the Cinderella trope wherein the "good girl" gets her man despite some ugly obstacles, but there should be no hand-wringing going on with these heroines. In the case of a Cinderella trope setup, the arcs should  move them from deprivation to empowerment, but not solely because she hooked up with a rich, powerful prince.

Show me a marriage of convenience where it's the heroine who ropes the hero into it instead of the other way around, and you'd have my full attention. Show me a self-made gabillionaire heroine who's not skulking in a corner, but unapologetically enjoying her success. Show me heroines who put the fear of God into anyone who gets in their way.

"Perfect" characters need not apply. Let them be wrong, foolish, uncaring, selfish, single-minded... Of course, their perspective mate gets to show them how wrong, foolish, uncaring, selfish or single-minded they are, and most importantly, inflict change for the better.

Lastly, those of you who know me know I couldn't let a guideline go without tossing GMC into the mix. GMC stands for Goals, Motivation and Conflict. If you aren't familiar with this theory written by Debra Dixon, pick up a copy. The theory is brilliantly simple and is the very heart of what we're looking for with Allure. Conflict needs to be strong and well-developed so that when the hero and heroine do finally get together, the payoff is as fulfilling and satisfying as possible.

Renee and I will be back soon to look at Elements. Until then, if you have any questions, fire away here on the blog or send questions privately to: 

The Skeleton in My Closet

I have a shameful secret. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Eng… ineering. Biomedical Engineering, to be exact. In academic circles, people recognize the name of my graduating program, and react with awe and respect. It is, after all, one of the hardest programs in Canada, and many of its graduates have moved on to immeasurable success (translation: very measurable and large quantities of money). But since I started looking for work in the publishing world, it’s become my dirty little secret. How exactly am I supposed to tell my authors, a few of whom have been published for years, that not only am I new, but that I come from a group of people whose communication skills are viewed by most people as only slightly above a cockroach’s? So I haven’t. I have made no comments as to how long I’ve been editing for (a little over four months for Lyrical Press), how much time has passed since graduation (a year as of a few days ago), or what I studied (if you wish to get technical about it, I have a Bachelor of Applied Science in Engineering Science, majoring in Biomedical Engineering). I’ve been almost terrified that someone outside of Emma and Renee, who have seen my resume, will find out, and I’ll be lynched and called a fraud. But not anymore.

No. Today, I come out of my self-imposed secrecy and shout out to the ethers of the internet: I. AM. An ENGINEER. And you can suck it if you don’t like it. Why reveal this, you may ask? To be honest, I have no idea. I guess it’s for the same reasons I wanted to move on to publishing in the first place. I love to read, I always have, and one of my earliest memories is having my brother, who is only a year older than me, teaching me how to read. The memory is mostly false, though. Apparently, this picture-perfect scene that I have in my mind - my brother, holding his Disney storybook that was almost too large for a five-year old, sitting with the maid, and carefully teaching me to string letters together - is an entirely fictional construct. We always sat with my mother, not with the maid, and if anyone went through the trouble of teaching me how to read, it would have been her. Not him, who was also in the process of learning. But the principle stands. This is a part of me that I have loved for many, many years, and not one I should hide. When I applied to jobs in publishing, I wrote an extremely heartfelt and convincing letter outlining the many ways in which engineering prepared you for the editing world. And I meant it. Whether the “image” of engineering I portrayed was too idyllic or not, the facts remain the same. I love to read, but I went to school to figure out how to improve things. I am now, as a copy editor, doing that. And I love it. Yes, there are days when I long for mammalian cells on a slide and a microscope. There are others when I wish I didn’t know the difference between ‘then’ and ‘than’, so most of my hair could remain on my head. But the vast majority of the time, I’m so very glad to have found this place, where I can carve my niche, where I’ve been welcomed and aided, and given a chance. So yes, I am an engineer. But I’m also an editor. And that’s all that matters.

New gadget!

I've added a slideshow of our newest releases.

Check it out to see the covers of our June 15th releases!

Editor's Pick, June 2009

Starting this month, I get the rare pleasure of selecting a backlist title as an editor's pick. 

For anyone who'd ever question my decision to trade the feather pen for the dreaded red pencil, let these books stand in testimony. These picks make it a pleasure and an honor.

And this month, I'm here to show you why not all erotica is created equally. 

Exhibit A:

It didn’t take long for Lucious to sense that the night shift at Blaylock’s Bricks, with the exception of only a few people, was an incredibly close-knit group. To the point of exclusion. He could tell in the break room at night when they huddled close and talked in hushed tones, or told jokes that made no sense at all, that he was officially on the outside. He could tell it when he tried to get people to tell him about Tammy.

Exhibit B:

He had always been that way, at least until he arrived at the kiln. Something about this place, something about Tammy Blaylock and this group of people that truly, truly acted like a unit, was alluring to him. He wanted to be a part of their conversations. He wanted to know everything there was to know about Tammy and still be able to say she was a very friendly girl. He wanted to be trusted with their secrets, but he didn’t know how to gain their acceptance.

Exhibit C: 

“You can have her, too.” The voice beside him was deep, but achingly familiar. A gentle hand began massaging the back of his neck and his head. The touch was as intoxicating as the drinks he’d had earlier.He turned his head to the side and was confronted with one thick, strong brown thigh. It was shaved, oiled down, and immensely edible. Lucious’s thinking became clear as day then.

Exhibit D:

Sahara means moon, she would tell people. Nobody cared. She was just another black girl with a funny name. Sahara was a common word, or so she thought. It was guaranteed to be the most famous desert. Forget the Gobi. No one in the world apparently knew there was a Gobi somewhere out there in the Eastern Hemisphere. Still people consistently pronounced her name wrong. She hated it when people said her name wrong. “Sahara” was printed on her nametag at work and she absolutely hated that. Not because she didn’t like the name but because inevitably some student’s mother would spend thirty minutes saying Sahara’s name wrong, wasting her time and never even getting around to what it was the customer wanted in the first place. One customer had said that she was just going to call her Sarah. Sahara went home sick after that particular episode.

I know. Characterization in erotica. Didn't think it was possible? Me either, until I met author Aubrey Leatherwood. 

I'll be honest and admit that at first , the title The People You Know, The Sex They Have bugged me, big time. It was too long and too obvious...and then I read the book. The title is not only perfect, it's what separates this book and this author from the pack. 

This is a writer who knows what she's about, and makes no bones about it. Thanks to her masterful characterization, these are the people you know, and this is the sex they have.

Thank you, Aubrey, for trusting this book to Lyrical.

Readers, enjoy.

House cleaning

Summer is here....although you'd never know it by looking out my window. Time for some house cleaning. Nothing major, just some more tweaks here and there. We've started with our blog. We've revamped it so that it is easier to read and easier to navigate.

We're doing the same with our main website, making it easier to read. We've gotten some suggestions about the white text on the black background being somewhat difficult to read and that simply will not due. Lyrical wants everyone to have a pleasant experience when visiting our sites.

We've listened to your suggestions and are in the process of updating the site so that is will be easier on the eyes. It'll take a while, but we plan on having it ready by August 3rd...hopefully.

hope you are all staying dryer than we are here in New York!

Sometimes a Query is Just a Query

A few weeks ago, I finished the last of my novel writing class teaching for awhile. Coupled with the great chat my class and I had along with some things I've seen on various agent blogs, I got thinking about query letters and the immense stress placed on them. Query letters have been likened to a resume of your book.

You basically let the agent or editor know what your story is about (what genre, how long and all that) and what you are all about (what credentials, background, awards, etc) in preferably one page if printed and somewhat around that for email. But many writers seem to think rejection is based on the query itself and how close to (or far way) from perfection it is. What exactly IS the perfect query?

Well, duh Rae, one that makes a sale. Right, okay.

So that would mean it would lead the agent/editor to the partial or full manuscript. Doesn't that mean that the story grabs them in some way that they must read it? After all, agents and editors are perhaps readers themselves and are mainly interested in something they themselves would want to read. Then why put so much emphasis on a calling card such as a query?

Don't get me wrong, I understand the importance of a shiny pretty query. It has to be succinct and it has to get right to the point of the story and end with a background on the author and a polite salutation. Much of this is completely up to the guidelines of the agent/editor's request (pay close attention to guidelines because they will get you a bit of a leg up toward landing on that agent/editor's desk and staying there) To be honest, its the synopsis (synopses?) that drive me nuts because you have to strike a nice balance between not too much information so that it's a chapter by chapter and yet enough so the editor/agent knows exactly what your story is about.

But I've never heard of an agent or editor rejecting because one's query isn't perfect. Perhaps the story just wasn't for them. Or maybe they just sold one like it recently or, as fabulous as the story is, they just don't see it as saleable. Either way, I guess my point is this. Aspiring authors, don't get hung up on that letter. Spiffy it up, IF you feel like it, but grab your goods and trudge forward. Finding a publishing house or agent is like finding a good mate and in this economy, getting tighter to squeeze through those gates. You want someone who's going to work for you, with you and well with you because this is, in essence, a partnership that you will be in for months (or perhaps more if you enjoy the relationship). You probably wouldn't want someone who's just going to go "Wow! The query is fabulous but the story is meh (as highly unlikely as it seems) but I'll just take them on anyway." No you want someone who's going to be cheering and just as excited as you are. Someone ready to go to bat for you and work their butt off as you are going to on your end.

I've been fortunate enough to find some pretty great publishers for my work. I've learned a lot about the industry, writing and publishing and also a lot about the production books go through from an author's first draft to the final shiny product into the hands of a reader. If you're eyeing to submit to some publishers/agents, Lyrical Press has just opened up a great new line coming soon. Check the guidelines before submitting and don't forget to polish that query, but even more, make sure your manuscript is polished enough to make a smashing first impression. ;-)

Rae Lori
http://www.raelori.com
http://raelori.blogspot.com
http://www.twitter.com/RaeLori
http://www.facebook.com/RaeLori

It's paranormal week at Lyrical Press!

It's paranormal week at Lyrical Press this week!
http://www.lyricalpress.com/

June 15th releases on sale now!
http://www.onceuponabookstore.com/



Genre: Paranormal/Thriller
Length: Novella
Price: $3.50
Aequitas I: Betrayal by a.c. Mason
http://www.lyricalpress.com/aequitas_I_betrayal
Genre: Paranormal/Thriller
Length: Short Novel
Price: $4.50

The Aequitas, part angel and demon, have kept the balance between the forces of good and evil -- until now.

When Etienne Grant is kidnapped and transformed into an Aequitas, marriage to Auria is the only thing that will save his soul.

Auria is a beautiful but efficient Aequitas, a General who wants nothing to do with love. A former lover has plans to prevent any hope of happiness with her new husband, and after murdering his own best friend and forcing Auria to join his rebellion, the balance between good and evil spirals out of control.

Can Etienne's tenderness melt Auria's cold heart and heal the pain of their secret pasts? Their very survival depends on it.



Born of Darkness by Rita Vetere
http://www.lyricalpress.com/born_of_darkness
Genre: Paranormal/Dark Fantasy
Length: Novel
Price: $5.50

There's no escaping black karma, even for immortals.

Meet Jasmine Fairchild, outrageously gorgeous and extremely persuasive -- unnaturally so. Jasmine is a Cambion, part mortal, part succubus.

Enter Ahriman, an ancient and evil incubus. For centuries, he has exploited the secrets of reincarnation to reach his goal of immortality and the eradication of humanity. All he needs now is a portal, an opportunity...and Jasmine.

She stands alone as the only force powerful enough to immortalize or destroy him, and her dual nature makes Ahriman's task a little tougher than he thought...



The Devil's Scream by Stephanie Barmann
http://www.lyricalpress.com/the_devils_scream
Genre: Paranormal/Horror
Length: Short Novel
Price: $4.50

When the devil screams, will Emma fight the call?

The Seneca Indians believe The Cave of Evil Spirits is the gateway to hell. Emma Carney and her friends learn they might just be right -- Emma escapes the cave with her life, a scar and a rattlesnake bite, but that's only the beginning of her struggle between good and evil.

The locals think she's crazy until Jared comes into her life. He seems to hold the answers to the cave's many mysteries, and promises to help rid the cave of evil. Will he succeed, or perish with her?

***

New eBooks release the first and third Mondays of the month. Watch for them on sale at Once Upon A Bookstore!
http://www.onceuponabookstore.com/
Keep up to date on Lyrical Press and Once Upon A Bookstore!
Talk to our authors:
http://www.lyricalpress.yuku.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lyricalpress/

Overcoming Obstacles

Because this is my first post on the blog, I thought I'd share a little bit about myself, and why I started writing. Since Lyrical Press published my first novel War of the Soulites, people have been asking for some background information about me, and I find that it's never an easy question to answer.

Twenty years ago, I was a girl with frizzy hair, crooked teeth, glasses, asthma, and a stutter. I wasn't exactly the most popular girl in school-in fact, I was the least popular. I was also actively discouraged from doing anything important, both from my teachers and my fellow students. Before being a writer, I was officially the best female chess player in my province. But I was bullied for it so much at school that chess was a stardom soon abandoned.

During class I would often write stories to pass the time. Writing was just a little habit in my mind that wouldn't die, no matter how often it was discouraged. It was only after graduation when I posted the stories on-line that I quickly realized people actually liked them. I had originally planned to write a fantasy novel, not a science fiction one. But at the time, I was watching a lot of science fiction shows, and there were so many ideas that were done wrong, or not explored at all. After that I was determined to not only write a novel, but to also not have the same life of rejection I had back in school. Within a year and a half of writing War of the Soulites, it was published by Lyrical Press.

This is my not-so-subtle point to new writers, whether you're published or not. I was born with a stutter, yet I do public speaking. I was told I would amount to nothing, yet I have a book published. I'm terrified of heights, yet I've been on the highest roller coaster in Canada. I have a strong circle of friends, and I've traveled around Canada and the U.S. When I have more time, I'll probably go into some drama classes and maybe run a marathon. There are no limits for me, and there shouldn't be for you.

-Natasha Bennett
http://www.lyricalpress.com/war_of_the_soulites

Playing with Fyre...

Let's talk about Fyre. No, I'm not a pyromaniac, I really can't see the appeal in standing around a campfire poking at the flames with a stick like so many of my family (believe me, they're all weird but what can you do? You can't pick 'em and you can't sell 'em on ebay *shrugs*).

So Fyre, Logan Fyre.

Not shaken, not stirred. Just ruthless. Logan's a man who gets what he wants, when he wants. His business partner is known as the 'Jensen Mako', another hard-nosed, hard-bitten business man (well, to everyone except his new wife and baby daughter), but Logan could easily knock spots off him, if he felt like it.

A lawyer Logan Fyre is a man to be feared. Respected. Or avoided.

Raelyn Borne doesn't know anything about big business. She doesn't know that much about little business either. She just knows her bank books are not adding up in her favour and she'll do anything to save the little house she always wanted and finally managed to buy. Even if that means pretending to be Logan's wife.

But does she have what it takes to play with Fyre? Find out on July 6th...
http://www.lyricalpress.com/playing_with_fyre

When I'm a Grown-up Author...

Just to clarify: no, by “grown-up author”, I do not mean an author of adult material.

I mean, when I “make it”. “Arrive.” Achieve success, acclaim, and annual royalties sufficient to cover my Fictionwise habit.

Let me backtrack - Blog Prologue. I went to the library the other day looking for a particular book I’ve seen around. I haven’t read any of this author’s books yet and money’s tight, so she’s getting Trial by Library. Her book wasn’t available, but I ended up perusing the “New” rack while Dear Daughter ransacked the Princess Diaries section. And boy, did I hit the jackpot: Lisa Kleypas’ newest book and two new Lori Foster releases! (I’ll admit right here and now, I snatched all three up for myself, like the greedy book hog I am.)

But as I carried them to the check-out counter, I thought to myself, “Whoa. Now this is how I want to be when I grow up as an author. I want people to stop everything and snatch up my newest book when they see it. To know that they probably don’t have time to read three books in the next three weeks for pleasure, but they’re going to do it anyway, because they just can’t resist.”

Lisa’s book went everywhere with me for the next day and a half. I finished it this morning. And it was so worth it! Awesome characters, sexual tension galore (sexy alpha hero, sexy alpha hero, sexy alpha hero), a premise you just can’t help but be drawn into…

Yeah. I can only hope one day readers buy my books and then slack off for 36 hours with their nose glued to the pages (or screen).

For now, hats off to those two ladies for writing consistently great, consistently hot romances and keeping the genre fresh!

Autumn Piper
Got romance?

Piper Patter Blog

Psst!

It is I, Mason. Listen, we don’t have much time. I think they are onto me or someone hacked the last message I sent out. I escaped narrowly with my life, bed and laptop. I’m writing this to you from under a cot. These creatures aren’t messing around. Each has the face of an angel but demon is entrenched in soul. Trust no one.

Heavy fighting is spilling into places we never expected. I don’t know where they will strike next. I’ve risked surfacing to warn you. If I was a paranoid type, I might think we had a mole. But I know better! They can get into your mind, slip right in there. Hence, my wearing aluminum foil around my head. There will be no joyriding around in this brain. You can’t outsmart someone who is working on a plan to take over the world. Not so easily.

I’ve been lucky to find people on earth to join the struggle. This is the reason I am able to get the first installment to you. What is revealed may shock you, mildly. After you discover the hidden world, the choice is yours, go back to your comfort and believe I’m a loon, a bird from my native Canada or prepare for the dark days ahead.

Remember to tell no one I was here.

What was that sound? Did you hear that? Oh no…

Prepare yourself…
On June 15th 2009 Aequitas I: Betrayal will be unleashed. Are you ready?

a.c.Mason
Darkness Desires
www.acmason.com

Join us for a bit of mayhem... and some great giveaways!

Vampires, Nephilim and Cambions will be the topic of discussion at Monday night's chat.

Join me and my guests, S.W. Vaughn and Denise K. Rago, at Chatting in the Dark on Monday, June 8th at 8:00 p.m. EST for a virtual drink, live chat and some great giveaways. Three lucky participants will receive:

An ADVANCE copy of my Dark Fantasy ebook, Born of Darkness, releasing with Lyrical Press on June 15th

S.W. Vaughn's Urban Fantasy ebook, Hunted

A $10.00 gift certificate to Once Upon a Bookstore

Here's an invitation--See you there!

Editor On a Soapbox

Not so long ago, I was an unpublished, querying-like-mad author. I had so many submissions going on for so many books, I made an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of who I’d subbed to, when, what they wanted, and their response. I only sent my stuff to people who wanted it. My research was thorough—I read blogs, hit Publishers Marketplace, read Writers Digest, searched the Agent database websites, RWA’s market listings… You could say I was determined. By the time I got my first contract, I had rejections from 17 publishers and 63 agents. Even after my first two books sold, I got another 29 agent rejections for my fifth novel.

It’s a tough, tough biz.

My queries and submissions had the benefit of a dozen sets of CP eyes looking them over for errors, typos, and general readability. As per every agent or editor who blogged, I made sure those queries looked darn good. Like a resumé.

For all you aspiring authors out there hoping to one day sell your work, please, please, heed this advice. When editors tell you to “put your best foot forward” by submitting a clean query and synopsis, they’re not repeating clichés because they’ve got too much time on their hands. Simply put, sending out sloppy queries makes you look bad. Lazy. Disrespectful. Unprofessional.

Have some friends (hopefully literate ones) proofread your query letter and your synopsis. Have some critique partners work your manuscript over. Run Spellcheck, for Pete’s sake. You wouldn’t go to a job interview without looking yourself over in a mirror. Nor would you go there wearing the clothes you’d slept in, with a few cola stains and ripped seams. You wouldn’t mail out a snail query you’d spilled coffee on.

You’re a writer. Show us you can write!

When reading submissions, of course we’re not going to completely discount a great story if the query has a typo. You’re human, we’re human. But let me tell ya, it’s darn hard—as someone who gets paid to keep a watchful eye for errors—to ignore them. Stumbling over more than a couple goofs in one letter will make my eyes roll faster than Meg Ryan’s in a deli scene. (Brief anatomy lesson: if my eyes roll back, I cannot read your manuscript)

What it boils down to is this: If you can’t get a 350 word letter right, how can I expect you to get an 80,000 word novel right? If you aren’t willing to put forth the effort to clean up two pages of synopsis and make it legible, then what are the odds your novel/novella is publishable?

If your premise is absolutely fan-freaking-tastic, are we going to reject it based on sloppy writing? Sadly, we might. Good ideas are darn hard to see if they’re blotched by messy writing. So do yourself a favor: clean up your work before you send it out into the big bad world. Whip out the elbow grease and do some serious polishing. Make it shine! Dress it up with a crisp, spotless query, and send it on in.

We’ll be waiting.

Piper Denna
http://piperpatter.blogspot.com/

Thank you for celebrating with us!

Lyrical would like to thank everyone for playing along with us in celebrating our first anniversary.

Join us this coming year when we will introduce wonderful new authors, reacquaint you with established favorites and present to you three new Lyrical Elite imprint lines: Allure, Elements and Vintage!

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Congratulations to our final winner of Lyrical's 31 days of Ebook giveaways, Erotic Horizon, who is taking home Prey For mercy by A.E. Roguth!

Congratulations to Blanche, the winner of Lyrical's grand prize gift bag! Please email us at publisher@lyricalpress.com with your snail mail address so we can send your prize to you!