December, 2018

Write Touch Conference Speaker Profile: Maya Rodale

I’m tickled pink to meet Maya Rodale next April. So you can meet her too, get out your redsharpie and mark it on your calendar –

Meet Maya Rodale…
The Write Touch Conference
APRIL 4-7, 2019
The Hyatt Regency –Milwaukee, Wisconsin

To prepare you for meeting Ms. Rodale, here’s more about this fabulous author. To be fair,listed below are the bits about Maya that I really want to further explore when we meet at the Hyatt Regency in Milwaukee at #WisRWA19.

*What is Maya’s mother’s name? We have to find out and thank her…profusely. As it’sbecause of her mother, who insisted her daughter read romances, Maya now reads,writes and advocates for the romance genre. Thank you, Mrs.____________!

*Penny is Maya’s beautiful dog. As you can see in the picture, Penny is dazzling and she deserves her title as a Lady. How has Penny become so deserving of her title? Inquiring minds, especially those with pets, want to know more about Penny.

*Maya hooked me with, “It has pockets,” the blurb from her latest title, Duchess by Design. How did Maya Rodale tap into my own quirky fashion necessity? How does Maya do it? Get readers to bond with her heroines in less than a nanosecond!

Comment and tell me what your questions are for Maya Rodale! Together, we’ll find out the answers in April 2019.

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Duchess by Design came out in November. I plan to hunker down after the holiday season with my copy. In January I will be cozying up with some warm fleece socks, a blanket, a mug of hot chocolate and my trusty soft pants…with pockets.   

All these lovely photos are on Maya Rodale’s website. For more info about #WisRWA’s keynote speaker, visit her website. I promise, you’ll want to meet her at WisRWA’s 2019 Write Touch Conference. 

Tricia Q.
Daring and Decadent Storyteller

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Historical Romance, Maya Rodale, Romance, Romance Writing, WisRWA, Write Touch Conference

How To Successfully Co-Write

Co-writing is not for everyone. Char Chaffin and I have been friends since 2011, when we both came on board Soul Mate Publishing with our debut novels. We got to know each other virtually, and by the time we met in person at our first romance conference—Atlanta in 2013—it was as if we’d known each other forever. Soon, we both became acquiring editors with Soul Mate, cementing an already strong friendship.

During RWA Atlanta, we’d tossed around writing something together, and after one frenetic brainstorming evening came up with our first co-written book, Rodeo King, which debuted in 2014. We were thrilled when Rodeo King finaled in the 2016 Heart of Excellence Readers’ Choice Awards.

We had so much fun writing together, we decided to keep doing it, and agreed a pen name was in order. CiCi’s first name was easy, since both our names start with ‘C.’ All we needed was a last name. Eventually, we came up with ‘Cordelia’ which means ‘heart,’ and our tagline is ‘Writing From The Heart.’

Co-writing is an exciting adventure, but it also comes with challenges, and is not for the weak at heart. Mutual respect and compromise is the key to a successful co-writing partnership.

Char and I talk on the phone frequently; everyday if we’re working on a project. I’ll bring Char in here and we’ll discuss our writing processes and how they combine seamlessly into our works as CiCi Cordelia.

We’ll answer some of the questions we routinely receive regarding our partnership:

How do you combine your voices?

Since Char’s a heavy plotter, and I’m a total fly by the seat Pantser, it works really well. I’m able to continue with my usual creative process while Char keeps us focused. Plus, I’ve learned to at least outline each chapter which has improved my writing. I just can’t plot too far in advance or I lose the spontaneity of the story.

Char: Writing with someone else opens up a whole new world of compromise. ::grin:: For me, I had to write more on the fly than ever, and Cheryl found herself dealing with my incessant need for outlining. Part of why CiCi succeeds is our ability to meet each other halfway.

Cheryl: True dat. Since I started writing with Char, I’ve learned to plot, just a bit. We do a general outline,so we can stay on track. But the stories never turn out the way we originally plotted them, so there’s still a lot of pantsing going on.

Who writes what chapter?

One of us writes a chapter, then sends it to the other for edits. We usually have two or three editing rounds before the chapter is polished enough to move on. Then the other one writes a chapter and we repeat the process.

How do you work out disagreements?

Char: We are both strong writers with strong opinions, so obviously we sometimes come at our basic plot incompletely different ways, whether or not we’ve already set down an outline. We’ve never not been able to talk it out and find common ground we can both accept. I think that’s because we do know each other very well and consequently know when it’s better to cede rather than argue. Also, we understand when a project won’t work for us, the same as we instinctively know when we have picked a winner that will benefit from what we both bring to its creation.

Cheryl: This is where compromise comes into play. Char and I are fortunate that we love the same type of books and don’t often have disagreements. But, we’ve had a few. It’s a delicate balance because usually we are both right, it’s just that we’re having a difference in where we see the story leading. So, we carefully and respectfully work through it, until we agree upon the chapter, and where it’s heading. The best thing about co-writing is that this process leads to a better read, in my opinion.

How do you both settle on genre? Characters? Titles?

Char:  It depends on whether one or both of us have an idea that won’t leave us alone, or whether we’re just chatting on the phone and brainstorming occurs. We both get so excited when we start talking plotting and characters, that often the genre and our hero/heroine creates themselves.As for titles, those can be toughies, but again if we just talk it out together, we find what’s right for our work.

Cheryl: Yeah, what she said . . . ::smile::

Do you use an outside editor and cover art services for your co-written works?

Char: Since we’re both editors, we usually edit each other during the creative process. Cheryl is a great developmental editor, and I’m punctuation-crazed and grammatically anal. Both of us are strong characterization editors. Cheryl handles all the cover artwork, either creating it herself or working with a cover artist to come up with a selling cover.

Cheryl: We edit each other and that seems to work well. I do have a handful of critique partners I run my work through, and they catch a lot of stuff. By the time we finish our stories, they are pretty clean.

Does your writing partnership affect your working relationship as acquiring editors at Soul Mate Publishing?

Cheryl & Char: That would be a yes . . .but only in a good way. Sometime in the fall of 2015, we were chatting as usual, and started toying with the idea of a long-range book/series project we could develop together as editors, written by thirteen different Soul Mate authors. When we presented the idea to Soul Mate Owner and Senior Editor Debby Gilbert, she fell in love with the premise and gave it her professional blessing, and The Soul Mate Tree Series was born. The first book was written by us, under our pen-name, CiCi Cordelia. So, we not only co-write together, we co-edit.

We are currently working on a three-book historical western series, and our co-writing grows stronger with each book.

What advice do you have for those thinking of co-writing?

Char: First and foremost, you need to trust your co-writer. And it helps if you work with an author whose writing is similar to yours. I believe you should go at co-writing for the right reasons. Cheryl and I co-write because we love writing together and we believe the books we create together combine the best of both of us. As mentioned before, compromise is key. You’ll have to find common ground through every aspect of the process and you’ll need to leave your ego at the door, too.

Cheryl: As Char mentioned above,make sure you like and trust your writing partner. That’s key. Then look for someone who complements your work. It’s important to find a writer who makes your own writing stronger.

I do believe Char mentioned she’s anal . . .lol. True. I, on the other hand, am not. So I’m always rushing, wanting to get to the exciting part. That sometimes means leaving out details that would make the scene stronger. And Char sometimes writes with so much detail I find my mind wandering. So I edit her down, and she edits me up, and the pacing of our stories is the better for it. So don’t just look for someone who writes ‘just like you.’ Look for someone who melds with your own writing style to make a great story even greater.

But most of all, have fun!

Cheryl Yeko is an award-winning author and writes Steamy Romantic Suspense with protective alpha men and strong heroines. She also co-writes Sexy Historical Westerns and Hot Paranormal with her BFF, Char Chaffin.

She lives in Wisconsin with her husband Patrick. She loves to read, play piano, and spend time with family and friends. She belongs to several writing groups, including Romance Writers of America (RWA), Wisconsin Writers Association, Wisconsin Screenwriter Forum, and Sisters in Crime.

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Promotion Thursday – December 2018

It’s Promotion Thursday for December. Check out where you can find our WisRWA authors this month.

Helen Johannes visited The Wild Rose Press blog with a holiday blog post on December 5.

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Helen Johannes, Promotion Thursday, Romance, Romance Writing, WisRWA

The Internet is Not Forever, and Other Useful Social Media Advice

“The internet is forever.”

Wrong. We’ve all heard this warning. I say it to my teenage daughter all the time. But this so-called helpful advice is not only not helpful to you, if you’re like most people, it’s probably detrimental to your success on social media.

Unless you’re talking about nudie pictures, (public service announcement: don’t post nudie pictures on the Internet) letting your social media strategy be guided by the fear that any of your posts will ever be fascinating to the whole world for all time is kind of like planning your three-year-old’s career as an NBA superstar. Sure, it happens to some people, but the odds of it happening to you are just so (to be polite) ridiculously small. And, in fact, your biggest problem is much more likely the opposite: getting anyone, anyone at all, to read and care about what you’ve posted.

My day job is social media marketing, and I spend a lot of time doing it. So, from my experience, let me suggest some better, more helpful advice.

1. Use fewer words. You know people do it. You probably do too. You see a wall of words, lengthy and dense, and you move along without reading it, even if you know it’s probably interesting. tldr is an abbreviation the kids use these days for “too long; didn’t read.” The attention span of the average social media user is approximately a nanosecond. Or less. Even if your high school taught the 12-sentence paragraph, as you’ve long suspected, your high school was wrong. Keep your sentences and your paragraphs short. Use lots of white space. And, lead with your important thoughts, so your readers see them before they stop reading.
2. Go back and cut out a few more words.
3. Don’t post without explanation. Tell people why you’re posting this picture, or sharing this person’s post. You’ll engage with them more if you let them know why you thought they’d like something or find it interesting. Social media is a chance for your readers to hear your voice, maybe understand a little of what you’re thinking, maybe respond, and to feel connected with you. So, connect.
4. Avoid “saminess.” And, yes, before you say anything, that is a real word. Probably. Social media platforms all have top-secret formulas for deciding who, and how many people, will see which posts in their feeds. This is called your post’s reach. One of the things most heavily penalized is saminess. Same pictures. Same words. Sometimes you need to repeat yourself, promoting a new release, for example, but it’s important to find different ways to present it on subsequent posts.
5. Vary the types of posts as well. Promotional posts typically get the lowest reach, but are the most important to you as an author. Build up the size of your audience with different types of posts, such as interesting informational or educational posts that your readers will find useful, and engaging posts that touch their emotions. No, it doesn’t all have to be your original content. It can be shares. And yes, sometimes this means kitten pictures and hamster videos. These kinds of posts help you connect better with your followers. And then, when you do promote, there will be more people to see it, and they’ll be more inclined to care.
6. Avoid “selling words,” or be prepared to pay. Using words such as “on sale” or “sale price” or “to purchase” or “for more information” flags the top-secret formula that you’re advertising something. Posts with selling words have the lowest reach, because the platforms want you to sponsor or boost these posts (i.e. pay for them to be delivered to more people’s feeds.) Sometimes, that’s actually a good idea. You get to choose how much money to spend. The amount you’ll pay to get a decent reach is gradually rising, but this is still a relatively cheap way to advertise. Plus, boosted/sponsored posts let you reach people beyond those who have liked or followed you. For your first experience, start with a small amount of money, maybe five or ten bucks, and experiment with how it works. Pay attention to audience selection. You can choose your audience by age range, gender, geographical area and interests. The more you filter your audience, the smaller it will be. On the other hand, the more you filter your audience, the higher the likelihood that your post will be seen by someone who might actually be interested.
7. Use pictures with every post you can. For many people, posts without pictures might as well be invisible.
8. Pick the platforms that suit your style or appeal to your preferred market. There are too many to use them all. Google “social media statistics” to find out which platforms are currently popular with which gender and age group. Then get started. If you don’t yet know which ones suit your style, then just pick a popular one and try it. Feel free to change your mind after you’ve gained some experience with it. Follow other authors, and pay attention to what they’re doing, especially if you find a post engaging, or it gets a lot of likes, comments or shares, which means other people are engaged by it. If it’s working for them, give it a try.
9. Don’t worry about making every post perfect. Take some chances, and find your voice. Just as in writing, where we have to turn off our editor on the first draft and just write, let yourself make mistakes starting out on social media. If you’re embarrassed later by something you’ve posted, you can go back and delete it. If you notice a typo later, you can go back and edit it. There will be awkward first efforts. Post anyway. That’s the best way to get the hang of it, and to develop your social media style. Remember that early on, not many people are paying attention to what you’re doing anyway, so try things. You’ll make mistakes. Take that as a given, and do it anyway.
10. Likewise, don’t wait for the perfect topic. It’s great to post big exciting news of success, signing an agent, scoring a contract, finishing a manuscript, or releasing your next book, but you don’t wait for big news to post. Readers are interested in behind-the-scenes glimpses of the writing process and the life of a writer. It might be where you’re at in your current book, the amazing fabric you found at the quilting store, what you’re currently reading, something you learned at a workshop, an interesting post you saw on someone else’s feed, or even the color of the sky outside your window. The important thing is to provide content that someone would care about. Not sure yet what that is? Don’t worry about it. Give it your best shot. Let yourself make mistakes. You’ll figure it out. And remember, as long as you haven’t posted nudie pictures, the internet isn’t forever. It won’t be long before your awkward misfires (or even your perfect, golden flashes of genius) are buried under hundreds of subsequent posts, deep down the rabbit hole of your timeline.

by: Kristin Bayer

By night, Kristin is a playwright, and an aspiring romance author. By day she’s a digital marketing consultant and a mom. Find her at her website or on the bleachers at her kid’s game.

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Author Promotion, Kristin Bayer, Promotion, social media, WisRWA, Writing, Writing Craft