The One Way To Kill Your Writing Career -- *WARNING: This is a long but important post."

Well, it's not by writing a bad book. Lots of great authors put out a bad book here and there. Even authors who put out consistently bad books can have careers. The truth of it is, for every bad book that is written, there is a reader somewhere who likes it. So what is the one thing that can truly kill a writing career?

Let me give you a hint. It's one word...

Okay, it could easily be lots of words if you want to get colorful...

EGO.

As an editor, I have experienced the negative effects of the overinflated writer's ego more times than I can count. I have been yelled at, told I'm bad at my job, called insensitive and ignorant, had my own and my editors' skill and character attacked, received unsuccessful attempts at manipulation by writers using mental and physical health issues to get me to allow their behavior and consider it acceptable, and countless other things. Anyone who knows me at all, knows I deserve none of these things. Still, it has happened, and I have had to waste my precious time, energy, and own emotional well-being defending myself and my team to narcissistic, egotistical writers, some of whom could be great writers if it weren't for their ego, and others of whom are not and will never be very talented/skilled in this particular arena.

Sadly, I am certainly not the only one who goes through this. It happens regularly. And to draw attention to the issue, Lilyn G. of the website Sci-Fi & Scary shared her most recent experience in the post "This is NOT a Review of Hell’s Shadows by Dean Klein" (this post was updated on May 13, 2019, and is a bit out of order, but if you read it through, you'll catch on quickly. Do it. It's worth it.):

So for those of you that have already read this I won’t make you read through the whole thing to get to the update. (Don’t worry, his e-mail wasn’t 9 screenshots long this time.) This is how Klein chose to respond to me (and my follow-up response.)

 

There was another e-mail where he said “You put it on the web, knowing the damage it would cause. You didn’t have to do that yet you did. You deliberately defamed my book." 

As he seems unable to get any sort of point here I have blocked him. 

For those just entering the scene… 

Sci-Fi & Scary has a clause in their review policy that states that if you act like a whiny ass child, you will be treated as such. Furthermore, it states that all communications once you have started acting like said child will be posted publicly. 

“If you submit to this site, you are saying that you promise you will be an adult if you receive a negative review. You WILL not attempt to harass or coerce the reviewer about the review that you received. You will not contact them at all about the review that you received. IF YOU DO: 

Your communication will not stay private. It will be posted on the site for the world to see, and shared to social media. Your whinging and/or harassing will be publicly displayed, as will any follow-up whinges about it being posted publicly. 

If you act like a child, you will be treated like a child." 

[This is] our review policy. Don’t believe me just look. 

In the months (years?) since I instituted this policy, I have never had to use it before. Not until now. There’s always someone, isn’t there? 

Klein has made a few mistakes here. Firstly, he used his (supposed/self-claimed) anxiety as a crutch, sending us a few emails asking where the book was on the reviewer's list and such. (Normally I wouldn’t place the emphasis on supposed/self-claimed, but you’ll see why I did in just a bit.) 

Authors: Don’t use your mental health as a crutch when seeking reviews. It is okay to suffer from mental health problems, and it is definitely okay to talk about them. However, doing it when seeking a review is seen as trying to influence reviewers to be nice to YOU (aka be nicer about their review of your books). This is NOT GOOD PRACTICE. I say this as someone who deals with anxiety and takes meds for it almost daily. (Credit where it’s due, it’s Jim from Gingernuts of Horror who put it more clearly than I could have when this part of the convo popped up on Twitter.) 

(Now, because of his claimed anxiety and we understand that, Sian had two other people go over her review to make it as nice as it could be while still be truthful…but more on that later.) 

Secondly, when I nicely sent him an e-mail out of consideration for his anxiety, the response that I got was off the charts. 

Here’s the email that I sent him. 

I apologize for the 9 screenshots to come, but that’s how many it took me to capture all of his e-mail for everyone to see. Now, there’s some overlap in these because I wanted to make sure nothing was missed,but STILL. No petulant response to the notification of a bad review should ever happen, and it should DEFINITELY never be this long!!

I’ll just wait here for a moment while you all take this in. 

via GIPHY

…. kind of amazing, am I right? After reading this, you totally want to buy this man’s book and read it, right?! 

But wait, dear readers! It gets BETTER. 

In the author’s note, Klein writes: 

“And please note this – both novels were read by an entire Barnes & Noble store management team and were deemed so good by the two assistant store managers and the store manager that they were ordered and shelved right next to the works of Mr. King himself.”

Dean Klein, author’s note for Hell’s Shadows

I don’t… I don’t know how to break this to you, dear author, but the mostly likely reason you were shelved right next to “Mr. King himself” is that your last name is KLEIN and most stores do tend to shelve things alphabetically in their respective genres. KL comes after KI so… yeah. Draw what conclusion you will there but I think most of us can figure that one out. 

I’m not done yet. 

There’s also the fact that this fine fellow also tends to be a complete toe-rag to those who have dared to give him a negative review on Amazon.

Now, this is absolutely NOT A REVIEW of Dean Klein’s Hell’s Shadows book, but if it were a review, then it would say this: 

Title: Hell’s Shadows | Author: Dean Klein | Publisher: CreateSpace | Pub. Date: 16 November 2012 | Pages: 426 | ISBN: 1480279102 | Genre: Horror | Language: English | Triggers: None | Rating: 1 out of 5 | Source: I received a copy of this book for review consideration 

Hell’s Shadows Review 

Robin and Gil are married and want to buy a house, unfortunately they don’t like any Estate Agent Elaine shows them until she shows the uninhabited, probably haunted ‘Parsons Knoll’. Parsons Knoll isn’t overly happy to have potential new tenants so tries to kill Elaine. Naturally, Gil and Robin then must buy this house. 

The premise for this book could really have been something, and I think with some heavy editing and maybe cutting out 200 pages of the book, could have had the potential to build tension well. This book promises to be the scariest haunted house book you will ever read, yet unfortunately falls short of this promise due to a heavy reliance on dialogue and repetition the whole way through. For example, Robin would find out some information from Alvina which might be a few pages worth of potentially interesting development, she would then feed it back to Gil in almost as many pages (or so it at least felt). 

The characters were fickle, especially Robin, who literally spent every other page changing her mind as to whether or not she wanted to stay in the house or not. Gil was patronising and a bit sexist and their relationship with the police was quite unbelievable. I didn’t really like any of them and though that isn’t always necessary it would have helped Hell’s Shadows a good bit. Alvina, this old woman (who’s like over 100 years old so knows loads about the house) accent is too much and it cast a shadow on the read and her character for me. 

Unfortunately, for the first third of Hell’s Shadows the writing failed to engage me. The majority of sentences start with ‘But’ which is something that we all fall prey to sometimes, but just doesn’t make for a good read.  It gets a bit better in the middle, but the problem reappears near the end. 

Hell’s Shadows has potential, but again it is severely hampered by problems that could be fixed by the attention of a good editor. As it stands it is a painfully slow read that doesn’t allow the premise to shine like it could have. (Sometimes 100 pages feels like 3, and sometimes 3 feels like a hundred. Bookworm relativity.) 

Unfortunately this was not a pleasant reading experience, but I do hope the author continues to work hard at refining his skill. 

1 star. 

That is the review that would have been posted. Because we do try to be nice on occasion. The following is (posting with Sian’s permission) the original review had we not been so nice: 

Robin and Gil are married and want to buy a house, unfortunately they don’t like any Estate Agent Elaine shows them until she shows the uninhabited, probably haunted ‘Parsons Knoll’. Parsons Knoll isn’t overly happy to have potential new tenants so tries to kill Elaine. Naturally, Gil and Robin then must buy this house. 

The premise for this book could really have been something, and I think with some heavy editing and maybe cutting out 200 pages of the book, could have had the potential to build tension well. This book promises to be the scariest haunted house book you will ever read, yet fails to build any tension and drama due to a heavy reliance on dialogue and repetition the whole way through. For example, Robin would find out some information from Alvina which might be a few pages worth of potentially interesting development, she would then feed it back to Gil in almost as many pages (or so it at least felt). Yawn. 

The characters were fickle, especially Robin, who literally spent every other page changing her mind as to whether or not she wanted to stay in the house or not. Gil was patronising and a bit sexist and their relationship with the police was ridiculously unbelievable. I didn’t really like any of them. Alvina, this old woman (who’s like over 100 years old so knows loads about the house) accent is gimmicky and cheapened the read and her character for me. 

Now, the plot is bad and the characters are bad, but at least the writing is engaging? Unfortunately not, for the first third of the book, the majority of sentences start with But, for absolutely no reason. I thought this had gotten better later on but maybe I just started to notice it less. Then they started appearing again. Have you ever read 100 pages of a book, and felt like you had made incredible progress, and then looked down at the page count and realised you had actually only read 3? That’s what this entire book felt like. I don’t usually DNF reads but this book has taught me that should be the option I choose in future. 

1 star. 

So, I said there were a few things that Dean Klein had done wrong. What was the final thing, you ask? 

The final thing was that he fucked with my crew. You do NOT talk down to me and my team like that and get away with it, you pathetic excuse for an over-privileged and underwhelming rectal sore masquerading as a man. I don’t need a college degree to spot an asshole, nor one to understand how not to be one.

See the original post HERE

The response you are looking for is WTF?!

But yes, people do behave like this. I have had similar experiences. And I know you probably want the specifics of those experiences now that you've seen what can happen, but I will not be sharing them for several reasons:

A) I don't have a clause like the one in the above article,  

B) the only time things between me, my team, and an author are not confidential is if I have to take something to a law enforcement or a lawyer or if I am given permission from an author to share something, 

(Note: Yes, I have had to take someone to court. Yes, it was a pain in my ass. And yes, I would still do it again if I had to or if anyone ever defamed or libelled me. So don't test me. LOL)

C) these are toxic experiences and people I have any interest in holding on to and have broken ties with, 

D) I'm just not an asshole.

I also like to believe most people eventually grow and realize the error of their ways. I won't be working with them ever again, but I also am not going to name names and potentially affect their future opportunities. In some cases, I do believe in calling people out, just as Lilyn did in the above piece, and I respect her for supporting her staff and doing so, especially since the author in that scenario kept escalating things and was attacking even readers in a public forum and was refusing to let up. It was the right way to handle it in that situation. But in my cases, the guilty parties already know who they are and what they did, and are not in my life anymore. And I sincerely hope that I never have to make anything public in order to protect others from the same abuse.

All that said, it's unbelievable to me how highly some people think of themselves and how uncivilized, unprofessional, and just plain horrible people can be to you when you dare disagree with them or point out something that could be improved. I am not saying a writer can't be confident, of course; a writer needs to be confident. But they also need to be realistic, self-aware, and respectful of others.

Sort of like all people in life in general need to be...

For the most part, writers who work with editors do learn this over time, if they don't start off that way. An editor is there to help make a book the very best version of itself, and that often means swallowing one's pride and being open to constructive criticism, even when it results in a little bit of temporary heartache and having to kill some of one's darlings, as we say. As creators of any piece of work, we can't see our own creations objectively, whether we think we can or not. Not right away. We need professionals to help us see through the fog. We might not agree with them even after that fog clears, but more often than not, after a little time, we see what said professional meant and why. Only then can we tweak and revise to find that sweet spot.

That end result is why editors, reviewers, and the like exist at all. We do not exist to just pat you on the back and praise you. We are paid (sometimes haha) to find the weaknesses and make sure you see them, as well as help you learn different ways you could address said weaknesses. If that's not what you want, you shouldn't hire an editor, request reviews, or probably even put a book out there at all because just as someone somewhere will like it, someone somewhere will dislike it. And artists of all kinds have to accept that and be respectful of others' opinions.

However... Sometimes people just don't. Sometimes a writer thinks they are perfect and because Mr. X thought it was brilliant, Ms. Y said it was a revelation, and Dr. Z told you it was engaging, doesn't mean it will be to everyone. Just like not all people have the same sense of humor, nor react the same way to things, nor have the same feelings and even morals. And just because a person--including the writer himself or herself--believes something does not make it so. Besides, a writer wants as many people as possible to enjoy their work, right? For that to happen, it requires listening to and considering the constructive criticism of people whose opinions are different from yours, who have pinpointed examples and explained how a reader could react to something in your manuscript. It's a new set of eyes, a fresh angle on something you are way too intimately attached to and know way too much about to see clearly from another person's perspective.

I'm not saying a writer has to take all the suggestions that are made to him/her. If they did, they'd have a Frankenstein book on their hands because, again, there are a million different opinions out there. But when you reach out to a professional, an expert in a field with experience and training, you should at least be open. You can't shut it down immediately. You can't take it as a personal attack. You can't claim your own opinion is fact. You can't then attack us for trying to help you, for doing the job you asked us to do.

If you think about it, attacking us for critiquing your work and doing our job is actually you doing to us exactly what you feel we've done to you. You are attacking our life's work, belittling us, hurting us, and so much more. Except we haven't done that. And if you feel we have, it certainly isn't intentional while your attack is. Because believe it or not, just as we expect you to be respectful to us, we are respectful of you. We carefully word our comments, we rework our revision letters to soften any hard blows so they are actually more helpful to you, we have others even read our work sometimes to ensure we are coming across the way we intend and are not. Yes, sometimes, things come out wrong even after all those steps. Certain people are more sensitive to specific things than others, too, which we can't always know, and everyone has different triggers. So we try our best.

We aren't going to sugarcoat every single thing for you, though. If we do, it's doing you and your project a disservice, especially if that candy coating makes you think a comment isn't significant when it is really a major issue that needs to be addressed one way or another. We will do our best to share our thoughts, responses, experiences, and expertise in a way that gives it the importance it needs and to get our point across most effectively based on what we do know about any given author, but we are human, too. And we have you and your book's best interest at heart at all times--it's why you hired us. It's what we do.

Remembering all these things and being respectful of your editors, reviewers, and readers is the only way you will ever succeed in this industry.

And what do you know? Doing that in life overall is also the only way you will ever truly be happy (and a good person).

Life Balance and Prioritizing

Dear Book Lovers,

I miss you. I have done a crummy job as a blogger, and for that, I apologize. Life sort of got in the way...

I am now married (yikes!).

I am now a homeowner (yikes again!). 

And I'm constantly dealing with at least one of my many chronic illnesses or procedures, as well as the "joys" of homeownership...

Oh, and our crazy, silly cat, Luna, is quite the handful. 

These are the reasons, but they are not excuses. So now it's time to prioritize...

I'll be restarting the RBtL blog slowly, with an aim to post every Thursday. I hope not to let you down again!

Thanks for being awesome.

Always,
Danielle

Dr. Seuss and Turning Thirty

The past week or so has been a little bit crazy, hence the radio silence on my end. While most of the time I have been trapped in the editing cave, I did have a big event last week that also took up a bit of my time (though in the best ways possible). And that is...I turned thirty. The big 3-0, dirty thirty, whatever you want to call it, and now it feels like a bigger milestone than I ever really expected.

Initially, I had struggled with the idea of this new era of my life, focusing too much on all the things I had wanted to accomplish by the time I hit thirty but haven't yet. But then I shifted my thinking, realizing that now I'm moving into a more stable, more confident, and more successful period of my life. While there are certainly highlights to my twenties, looking back, they really kind of sucked, and I think that's a relatively common feeling. Your twenties are this crazy roller coaster, where you start out just finishing up college, figuring out who you are, where your supposed to be, making lots of mistakes along the way as you grow into a real "adult."

That's not to say that I have all those things figured out 100 percent just because I'm in a new decade of my life, but I'm done with the wishy-washiness of my twenties, with the huge changes that go along with growing up, the tripping and falling on my face for the same reasons again and again. I still want to grow on a daily basis, but now it's time to do so with a different mindset. This is the time to make shit happen, if you will excuse my language, to be settled in my own skin and build the life I've always wanted, for the present and the future. I still expect to get some dirt on my face here and there, but I'm ready to be a bit less clumsy and a lot more balanced.

All that said, when I was skimming my book biz emails this morning, I came across something quite fitting for this renewed mindset of mine, so I knew it was the perfect thing to share with you: 10 Life Lessons From Dr. Seuss That’ll Make You A Better Person, courtesy of Buzz Feed:

1. He taught us that we can change our world if we take the initiative.  

2. He wanted us all to realize that everyone deserves equal rights, and sometimes we need to give our voice to the voiceless.  

3. He validated that reading is awesome, and knowledge will take you to new and amazing places. 

4. He wanted us to stay true to our word and true to ourselves, no matter what.  

5. He taught us that if we remain open-minded, we can discover some pretty great things.  

 

6. He let us know that it’s okay to grow up and go off in to the world. You know what you’re doing, and you have to believe that you will find your way in the end.  

7. He wanted us to open our eyes and realize that the world truly is a funny place.  

8. He told us to believe in love.  

9. He opened our eyes and made us grateful for what we have.  

10. And above all, he told us that no one is “youer than you.” 

See the original post HERE

Double Vision Editorial Now Up and Running!

This past week has been a crazy one for me, getting all the finishing touches ready for my official Double Vision Editorial launch, as well as the usual editing jazz. But I've now got two edits down, two in progress, and a press release (below!) out to the world.

Though I've been freelance editing for six years now, I've got to say that it feels different having sent out my launch announcement. Nothing has really changed, but I feel like I'm now finally giving myself a true chance at success.

Working with authors (and being one myself) has been a dream of mine since I was a kid. I used to play "publishing" with my Barbie dolls, dreaming of owning a publishing company where I could help writers make their books the best they can be (little did I know at the time, that was called editing). It's a scary thing, working for myself, not knowing where my next rent check or medical insurance bill is going to come from. But they say you should always at least try to follow your dreams, so this is me trying. Fingers crossed everything else just starts to fall into place. (With a ton of hard work and dedication, of course!)

June 28, 2013
Press Release

Danielle Poiesz, former Big-Six publishing industry professional, has officially launched her independent editorial company, Double Vision Editorial.

Aimed toward quality collaboration at fair prices, Danielle offers both book and non-book editorial services, including content editing, copy editing, and proofreading/cold reading for fiction, nonfiction, digital, educational, and technical projects. She is also trained in script/manuscript analysis, as well as the creation of various types of original content. Through Double Vision, Danielle hopes to share her knowledge and expertise in a way that helps writers, students, and businesses improve upon their original vision to create a finished product they can be proud to introduce to the world.

At Double Vision, we believe that just one pair of eyes is never enough. With the help of an imaginative and trained editorial specialist, an initial vision and inspiration can be amplified and deepened to give any project a broader appeal and brighter shine. But making it possible to perfect any project involves teamwork, mutual respect, trust, joint effort, and of course, creativity. The client-editor relationships brought about through Double Vision aim to be professional and personal partnerships that last for longer than just the course of a single project.

- DVE Philosophy

As owner and editorial guru of DVE, Danielle would love to work with you and yours on any of your editorial needs. Please visit her at http://www.doublevisioneditorial.com for more information, or feel free to email her directly at danielle@doublevisioneditorial.com.

http://www.doublevisioneditorial.com

Follow DVE at @DoubleVisionEds

Facebook Page Coming Soon!

Poking My Head Out of My Hidey Hole

Oh, my dear readers. My sincerest apologies for my seemingly random disappearance. First it was the holidays. Then it was being massively ill, putting me behind on all my work by about 10 days. Now, just a week ago, I finally had my last day at a full-time traditional job and am fully self-employed. As you can see, things have been less than leisurely!

What have I been doing, you wonder? Editing like a madwoman, and getting settled over at my consulting gig as Editorial Director of Entangled's Select and Edge imprints. With our upcoming Edge launch--Monday!--I have been especially wrapped up, finalizing manuscripts and covers, promotions and marketing copy, mission statements and branding plans. Craziness!

In all that time, not only have I not been able to blog, but I also haven't been able to read for pleasure or work on any of my own writing. Not that I think I could turn my editorial brain off right now, even if I did have time.

Which brings me to the topic of conversation over at Word-Whores this week. Allison Pang wrote a spot-on post today that I think outlines some of my own feelings on the topic quite well:

Like so many of my fellow word whores, I also find that I have less time to read - but then, I seem to have a lot less time for a lot of things. Gone are the days where I might play WoW until my eyes bled. Or stayed up all night to devour an 800 page book. Or spent all weekend cross-stitching. 

Or hell, even sleeping in. Which hasn't happened for at least nine years now. >_<  Silly children. 

It's not something I'd really thought about when I was trying to get published, but writing tends to suck up a good deal of my free time, so when I do read books I want them to be worth my time. So now I'm much more picky. Before all this, I nearly always finished every book I started - I guess I felt that I owed it to the author to see it through to the end. But these days, if it doesn't strike my fancy I put it down and move on to something else. 

The problem is that after spending so much time going over my own work and trying to improve my craft, it's hard to shut down that "editor brain" even when I read for fun. It's a bit of a bummer really. Part of it is nitpicking on things, but part of is is because now I *know* how much work and love goes into crafting a story - it's hard not to simply stop and appreciate a lovely turn of phrase or scene that truly transports or wince when I come across something that doesn't work. 

Reading has always been one of my greatest pleasures, so it's wonderful when I come across a book that I can forget the work that goes behind it. I think in some ways it becomes a measure of trust - I have a list of authors or book series that I trust - e.g. I know if I pick up a book by one of them, I will be satisfied. 

(Which is why it becomes so hard when an author or series suddenly seems to take a sharp right-hand turn into nowhere - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. That trust can become bitter disappointment.) 

These days I have books I read to feed my craft - highlighting bits and pieces or even certain words or scenes that strike my fancy that I want to remember - and books that are my comfort. When I look past the craft of the words and fall into the story like I used to? That's become rather precious to me because it doesn't happen as often as it used to. Things I could easily have overlooked before become glaring problems that pull me straight out of the story.

And of course, I realize that other people probably do the same thing with my books - which is both cool and somewhat mortifying all at once. And it's one of the reasons I can't really read my own books after they're out - the cool parts are cool, but wow, seeing the mistakes I made and can no longer change are often groan-inducing. 

But that's only fair, isn't it? :)

See the original post HERE 

The Cat is Out of the Bag

So, since it's now public knowledge via press release, I thought I'd share some news with you, dear reader.

My life has turned a teensy bit upside-down this week...to say the least.

I've made the official decision to leave my current day job at Penguin to go out on my own full-time. I'll be launching a new company in the new year for my own editorial services (though continuing to freelance until then, of course--just not under an incorporated business yet!). When I'm ready to announce the actual company specifically, you'll be the first to know! ;)

I've also accepted a consulting gig as a senior editor and editorial director of two adult single-title romance imprints at Entangled Publishing:

Entangled Publishing continues to attract top-tier publishing veterans to its highly qualified editorial team.  The newest addition, Danielle Poiesz, comes to Entangled after a storied career with Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, and Penguin.

Danielle Poiesz comes on board as the editorial director of the new digital-first romance imprint, Entangled Edge, as well as taking over the helm of the successful print romance imprint, Entangled Select, unifying Entangled’s single-title adult romance division. “I’ve always believed that the romance genre reaches out to all kinds of hearts,” says Danielle. “I’m thrilled to be joining Entangled at a time where the adult market is so open and enthusiastic about romance—in any format. There are so many stories out there to be told and no better time to tell them.”

Danielle’s publishing experience runs the gamut: sales and editorial, to business development, digital/online, and self-publishing, to strategic innovations and tech. Now, as an Entangled editorial director and senior editor—and a continued freelance editorial specialist and blogger—Danielle brings a wealth of expertise to her new position with Entangled and is even more poised to help fill the world with eye-opening, meaningful, and, of course, entertaining literature.

“I know Danielle Poiesz is the perfect fit to grow and mold our adult imprints,” says Executive Editorial Director Stacy Cantor Abrams, echoing the entire team’s sentiments. “We all heartily welcome her to the Entangled family!”

Stacy Cantor Abrams, former Editorial Director of Entangled Select, has followed her passion for the young adult genre from Walker/Bloomsbury to her new position at Entangled as Executive Editorial Director over the company’s acclaimed Entangled TEEN print imprint as well as the newly announced digital-first young adult imprint, Entangled digiTEEN.

Entangled Publishing’s incredible growth and success stems from its utilization of a bold new business model to bridge the gap between traditional and indie publishing. Giving their authors the best of both worlds, Entangled offers quality editing, commercially appealing cover art, and an unequalled marketing department coupled with some of the highest author royalties in the industry. Entangled Edge and Entangled digiTEEN are positioned to capitalize on the fast-paced and growing success of e-books as well as round out Entangled’s complement of imprints for every romance reader.

See the original press release HERE

For the next month, I will be juggling all three roles--keep those balls in the air, Danielle!--and then in early January will be entirely self-employed, freelancing for individual clients and publishers, as well as Entangled.

As you can see, it's a very big, crazy day!

Whee!

I went in a bit of a circle, but I've found my way back to my true love: editorial. Very excited!

It's all about the books, after all.

And the love. Don't forget the love.

New Release: WHISPERS IN AUTUMN by Trisha Leigh

Every so often a story comes around that you just fall in love with. It's become rarer and rarer for me these days, though, and I'm not entirely sure why. But not too long ago, I was able to feel that feeling again. And lucky for me, the author wanted me to edit the book and the others in the series. I was thrilled that she wanted me to be a part of it! "Yay," I squealed!

On now the first book in the series, Whispers in Autumn by Trisha Leigh, has hit the virtual shelves:

In 2015, a race of alien Others conquered Earth. They enslaved humanity not by force, but through an aggressive mind control that turned people into contented, unquestioning robots.

Except sixteen-year-old Althea isn’t content at all, and she doesn’t need the mysterious note inside her locket to tell her she’s Something Else. It also warns her to trust no one, so she hides the pieces that make her different, even though it means being alone.

The autumn she meets Lucas, everything changes.

Althea and Lucas are immune to the alien mind control, and together they search for the reason why. What they uncover is a stunning truth the Others never anticipated, one with the potential to free the brainwashed human race.

It’s not who they are that makes them special, but what.

And what they are is a threat. One the Others are determined to eliminate for good.

It's been fantastic working with Trisha the past few months to hone and polish her already awesome book. I'm excited to see what she has in store for us next...

So, if you're looking for a fun YA read, order yourself a copy and enjoy! :)

You can find a print edition of Whispers in Autumn on Amazon.com. Electronic versions are available on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iBooks.

You can even order an autographed copy from Trisha herself via her website.

Congratulations on the release, Trisha!

RBtL Goes on Vacation!

I am off on an Alaskan and Californian adventure for about the next two weeks, so there will be silence on the Reading Between the Lines front.

First stop...Anchorage, Alaska

Hang tight, though, and mark your calendars--we'll be back from vacation on July 12th!

A Special Gift from a Special Author

When I first read Allison Pang's submission for the novel that would become A Brush of Darkness, I had no idea she and I would become such amazing friends. I also didn't know I'd only be her editor for one book and then my entire professional life would change drastically over the course of two years, but ya know. What can you do?

Anyway, today, Allison sent me the most lovely gift. A hand-drawn and inked illustration of my favorite scene from A Brush of Darkness by the super talented Aimo.

I don't even have words to describe how much this surprise meant to me. And the fact that it arrived on a day where I was very much in need of some love, kindness, and support from the people in my life was just plain perfect.

Allison also sent along a digital copy of the image, if you want a closer look:

Now, I've just gotta get this gorgeous baby framed. =)

A Little Personal News on This Wednesday Afternoon

Hi, all. So, I made an announcement today over at the Book Country blog that I wanted to share with you. I've been keeping it under wraps for a while for a variety of reasons but on April 6th I'll be stepping down as Book Country's editorial coordinator and moving into a new position on the 9th as the QA Specialist for Penguin's tech team.

It's a big change for me (and we all know how well I deal with that haha) but I think it will be a good one. Give me more structure, shift my life a bit so I can spend more energy on my own writing and freelance work, etc. And it's always fun to learn something new and be a part of exciting new projects. I won't lie though--it is very hard for me to step away from the community I so love and believe in. There are such wonderful people and promising writers that make up Book Country. I plan to stay a part of it as much as I can though, participating on my own as a writer and editor as well as continuing as an official moderator.

Anyway, take a look at the post and you will also meet the new Book Country assistant, Nevena Georgieva, who is totally amazing and will be a great member of the team!

GO HERE NOW

Exciting Book Country News

Today I can finally share with you all some exciting news, re: my job as Editorial Coordinator at Book Country, and Book Country in general...

We've helped orchestrate the first true discovery of a Book Country member! YAY!!

Kerry Schafer, an awesome woman from Washington State who I met through the lovely Allison Pang, was one of our beta testers for the site. I could tell from her first posting on Book Country that she had a tremendous amount of talent, so when she posted some pages of her fantasy novel, BETWEEN, I was stoked to check it out. I read it and instantly loved it! And after passing along my excitement to the Berkeley editorial staff, they did too.

Several weeks later, viola! The official Penguin press release goes out on the PR Newswire:

NEW YORK, Jan. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ace Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), today announced the signing of a new urban fantasy series by a writer discovered on Bookcountry.com, Penguin's nine-month-old online genre fiction workshopping community. The two-book deal marks the first acquisition from the site since the Book Country community launched in May of 2011.

BETWEEN, by debut novelist Kerry Schafer, was discovered by Susan Allison, Vice President, Editorial Director of The Berkley Publishing Group, who acquired it and its sequel, WAKEWORLD, the first two books in a planned trilogy.

"We're very excited to work with Kerry Schafer on BETWEEN and WAKEWORLD. She's a wonderful new voice in the urban fantasy genre," said Allison. "The fact that Penguin's own Book Country helped connect us to her is inspiring too. There's so much talent out there, and now we have one more way to find it. "

Schafer, a Mental Health Crisis Response Specialist in rural Washington State, talked about the importance of the online community in her road to publication. "My experience with Book Country has been amazing. I had a different novel up on the site and discovered that the feedback helped improve my writing. Criticism takes a little getting used to; my thought was that I should get some pages up and start building a thicker skin. When I uploaded BETWEEN to Book Country, I wasn't even thinking about it being picked up by an editor or an agent. What happened after that felt like pure magic."

David Shanks, CEO Penguin Group (USA), said, "Penguin is proud that Kerry Schafer, one of Book Country's original beta testers, was able to use the community's resources and will now be published by one of our own imprints. Book Country provides an exciting place for our editors to find great new talent."

Schafer's agent, Deidre Knight of The Knight Agency, said, "I marveled at the high level of talent I found on Book Country. BETWEEN is one of the most imaginative submissions I've read in a long time. I found myself compulsively reading more than half the book in one sitting."

Molly Barton, Penguin's Global Digital Director, who spearheaded the launch of the Book Country community in 2011, said, "Book Country is a constructive online place for writers to post and refine their fiction while helping other writers improve their craft. Finding such a great project to acquire in a community that is less than a year old tells me that Book Country is working exactly the way it's supposed to. I couldn't be more thrilled!"

About Penguin Group (USA)

Penguin Group (USA) Inc. is the U.S. member of the internationally renowned Penguin Group. Penguin Group (USA) is one of the leading U.S. adult and children's trade book publishers, owning a wide range of imprints and trademarks, including Viking, G. P. Putnam's Sons, The Penguin Press, Riverhead Books, Dutton, Penguin Books, Berkley Books, Gotham Books, Portfolio, New American Library, Plume, Tarcher, Philomel, Grosset & Dunlap, Puffin, and Frederick Warne, among others. The Penguin Group (www.penguin.com) is part of Pearson plc, the international media company.

See the press release HERE

The New York Times also picked up the story and I'm sure we'll have more to come this week! It's such exciting news! The fact that it's Penguin who did the deal doesn't even really make that much of a difference to me, honestly--I mean, it's great, of course, but what this deal means is that the site and initiative is working. Writers who might not get their due recognition getting the help, appreciation, and opportunities they deserve. =)

A big congratulations to Kerry!

Guesting at Warrior Writers Today!

I'm guest blogging today about the 8 building blocks of a great story over at Warrior Writers, the blog of the fabulous social media guru and author Kristen Lamb!

Check it out! (And if you comment, you are entered into the running to win a critique from Kristen herself--whee!)

GO HERE! --> http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/taking-your-novel-from-good-to-great/

Book Country Launch! It's Official!

This morning, Book Country--the project I've been slaving over for the past year--has officially launched!!!! It's stressful and scary but also super exciting so I wanted to share it with you all. Our press release is below!

BOOK COUNTRY LAUNCHES SELF PUBLISHING SERVICES

Penguin’s Online Genre Fiction Writing Community Broadens Path to Publication

NEW YORK, November 16, 2011 -- Book Country, the online community dedicated to genre fiction launched by Penguin Group (USA) earlier this year, today introduced a suite of self-publishing tools, marking the first entry by a unit of a Big Six publisher into this fast-growing, non-traditional segment of the book industry.

"In combination with free access to our community and all it offers readers and writers of original genre fiction, these professional tools provide a direct path to publication for those who choose to go the self-publishing route," said Molly Barton, president of Book Country. "And the site remains a great way for authors to get their manuscripts read, critiqued and workshopped in preparation for readers."

The BookCountry.com site has attracted more than 120,000 unique visitors since going into public beta in May and has close to 4,000 members who have posted over 500 works of genre fiction and offered thousands of constructive critiques of those works. Publishing professionals have used the site to scout for new authors. A small number of writers in the community have secured agents. The new self-publishing tools will add another way for site members to reach readers.

David Shanks, chief executive of Penguin Group (USA), said, "Penguin is committed to maintaining its leadership position in digital publishing and that includes offering self-publishing services that are consistent with our overall strategy of connecting a broad variety of writers to the reading public. With its focus on nurturing and supporting new voices, Book Country is the perfect vehicle for introducing a new kind of self publishing that offers a more professional product and provides guidance that isn't currently available from other players."

While there are dozens of book packagers and self-publishing sites, Book Country is the only one that allows writers to create an eBook and a print book in one simple flow. Book Country combines a robust peer review process, a staff with decades of book publishing experience, and groundbreaking browsing tools to help writers be discovered. Book Country also provides a cover creator tool and suggests fonts and styles that would be appropriate for the book's genre. And unlike other self-publishing sites, the author can make up to 15 free formatting changes if they need to make small refinements late in the process. Three options—user-formatted eBook only, user-formatted eBook and print, and professional eBook and print—are available. Start to finish, the Book Country self-publishing process is streamlined and simple, while offering flexibility and customization.

"Self publishing is a trend that isn't going away," said Ms. Barton. "There are a growing number of authors who simply want to go directly to readers with their books. We respect that new reality and the changed landscape that technology has brought to book publishing."

In addition to being Book Country's President, Ms. Barton leads Penguin US's efforts to publish apps, enriched eBooks, and eSpecials, which are digital-only essays and short stories. As Global Digital Director at Penguin, she is applying her vision and knowledge of digital publishing to developing key elements of Book Country's offerings.

“Book Country is egalitarian and merit-based while fostering an atmosphere of encouragement and creativity,” explains Ms. Barton. “We created the site because while writing and publishing sites have proliferated in recent years, none are focused on supporting genre fiction writers from inspiration to publication.”

Visit Book Country at www.BookCountry.com.

Visit me at ComicCon this week!

If you're heading to ComicCon, be sure to come by the Book Country booth, #2028, and say hi to me! We also have some great swag to give away!



Check it out --> http://bookcountry.com/Industry/Article.aspx?articleId=120815

Blogging over at Book Country Today

Head on over to Book Country to check out my post on the experience of revising my own writing--eek!

Scary, but it had to be done.

Read it HERE

Personal Update

So, my recovery took a bit longer than anticipated. :(

I'm still not 100% but am on the mend, do not fear!

Posting will recommence today! Probably won't be super consistent as I finish healing and getting back into the swing of things, but I'll do my best.

Thanks for your patience!

A Two-week RBtL Sabbatical

I'm sorry I've been so terrible about staying up-to-date lately. Things have been hectic and my health has not been well, making it all the more difficult. But I am hopefully going to be remedying the latter part of that statement by having surgery tomorrow to have my tonsils removed.

That said, I'll be taking a short sabbatical during my two-week recovery. Don't miss me too much and please send all the positive thoughts you can my way--I need them!

Have a lovely two weeks, darling readers, and I'll be back as soon as I can!

The countdown begins...

Just more three hours until Allison Pang's debut urban fantasy novel, A Brush of Darkness, hits shelves!

Please head out and buy a copy or order the e-book for your e-reader...it'll rock your world!

It certainly changed mine...

(I know. I'm shameless. But this book is worth it!)

Book Review: Unbearable Lightness

It's been a little under a year since William Morris Endeavor announced the sale of Portia de Rossi's memoir to a at-the-time-discreet publisher. But now, de Rossi's book, Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain, sits on the shelves, touting the Atria Publishing logo on its spine. It also happens to be sitting on my bookshelf at home, its binding happily cracked and pages fully read--and autographed by the author to some girl named Christine, might I add (it was a leftover copy from a signing courtesy of my dear friend, Rachel).

If you recall, when the book deal went public last year, I was surprised. I didn't know much about de Rossi, hadn't seen her in anything, but was inexplicably intrigued. Since then, I've watched her in "Arrested Development" and "Better Off Ted," her comedic acting chops--and her phenomenal beauty--glaringly evident. Naturally, my desire to read her memoir increased exponentially.

And I've gotta say, I was not disappointed.

Unbearable Lightness is a powerful, no-holds-barred story of de Rossi's struggle with body image, eating disorders, societal expectations, and her sexuality. With beautifully constructed prose written by de Rossi herself--a refreshing change for the celebrity publication--she transports the reader into her mind and her body.

At times, the things running through de Rossi's head--the fears, the voices demanding more of her, the justifications--seem excessive and unrealistic, but it's immediately apparent that that's kind of the point. The distorted views of a scared, sick, and sensitive soul aren't reasonable or sensible. They just are. And when you can't understand them, when you know they are wrong but can't seem to fight back, that's when it's the most palpable and traumatic. It's also when it's the hardest to overcome.

De Rossi, however, fought her demons and won. It took a trip to the hospital and diagnoses of lupus, osteoporosis, and more, to get her on the road to recovery but she made the journey. Her struggle and success is inspiring and hopeful for any who have ever experienced any of the thoughts de Rossi so craftily expresses. I had a few issues with some of the narrative drive, at times feeling like the multiple themes de Rossi tackled weren't coming together quite cohesively enough. I also wasn't a fan of the lengthy epilogue, wishing it had been written as part of the story itself and having her recovery process fleshed out in more detail. But I understand why it was structured the way it was, and really, there are more significant aspects of this book. Its impressive conveyance of de Rossi's hardships, for one.

Though I haven't personally experienced any of de Rossi's specific situations, I have--like most women of my generation--dealt with issues of body image, weight, and self-hate. And I will admit, that de Rossi hits the nail on the head, to be cliched. I too have heard that voice in my head telling me I'm too fat, that I'm too ugly to succeed in my career, to find love, to be worthy of, well, anything.

It's such a logically ridiculous concept, but society has burned it into our brains and, as much as I wish it hadn't affected me, I can't lie and say it hasn't. The thoughts still happen on a weekly basis, but I've learned to listen to them less and to tell them to scram when they start to take hold.

In college I had a particularly difficult time with it though. (Yes, I'm going into personal-story mode now...). I had gained about 25 pounds my first year of college--freshman 15 my big butt!--and when I was home for the summer and put on a bathing suit, I was distraught. I decided that I was going to turn things around, that I was going to loss all the weight I gained through exercise and eating better. I was also in a long-distance relationship and terrified that my boyfriend at the time was going to cheat on me since I was so far away and had gained so much weight. There were much thinner, prettier girls at his disposal and I was crazy if I thought he wouldn't jump at the chance if it arose--or so the voice in my head told me. So, I had to get in shape. I had to.

So, I started eating much less--I never counted calories, but I certainly restricted my diet, limiting my sugar intake (a particularly difficult feat for someone with the biggest sweet tooth in the, umm, world) and eating loads of salad, rice cakes with peanut butter, and such, and ignoring my stomach's grumbles when I was still hungry after my meal. I also started working out regularly--going to the gym to alternate cardio to shed fat with weight lifting to tone 4-5 days a week.

It wasn't too excessive, but my mindset shifted. If I missed a day at the gym or ate an extra cookie when I hadn't allotted it, I beat myself up psychologically. I would get angry and feel disgusting, often resorting to measuring myself in various spots and keeping a record to stare at when I was failing. I became obsessed with looking in the mirror to pick apart my body, to point out every teeny tiny flaw and make myself feel like crap until I left my dorm and went to the gym. I never thought of myself as having a disorder--and maybe I didn't, who knows--but my then boyfriend certainly commented, expressing his concern that I was obsessing over my weight and appearance when he thought I was the most beautiful, sexist girl he'd ever seen. I was furious when he said those things, thinking he was lying to me just to humor me. I'd get irritable and we'd argue. I'd be upset and he'd be frustrated. At the time, I didn't understand--I didn't get why he was so annoyed that I was trying to look better for him. But I see it now: the thoughts I was having, the obsessions, were simply unhealthy.

We broke up a year later, despite the fact that I shed all the weight I'd wanted. I'd gone from 150 back to 125. The break up devastated me though and my appetite disappeared completely. I went from 125 to 110 in about a week and a half. I'm not sure how that's even possible, but it happened. Then I dropped two more pounds to 108. That's when the comments about my being "too thin" began. I denied it for a while, happy to fit into clothes I hadn't worn in ages, but one day, I looked in the mirror as I was getting in the shower and saw what everyone else saw--bones jutting out, once-strong hips looking weak, the small amount of fat I did have sagged off my bones. It was time to eat again, to snap out of my stupor. This is also when I started drinking for the first time. The combo shot me back up to about 135, and the partying I was experiencing for the first time (and my exercise regime going by the wayside) pushed me back to 140. I was now not caring. With my knee injury occurring shortly thereafter, I cared even less, justifying my lack of activity.

About a year after I hit 108 though, I was back to about 130--a weight that I'm learning is my "healthy weight," the same in fact, as Portia de Rossi's. I focused on eating healthier, silencing the voices, letting myself slack once and a while without giving myself a lecture for it, and doing what I could to exercise without overdoing it and hurting myself. All in all, a much, MUCH healthier routine.

I still struggle with it on a regular basis, as I don't think these kinds of things ever really completely go away (not to mention the fact that I still have a bad knee so my activity is limited), but as de Rossi shares in her pretty incredible memoir, you learn to control it, to be the one in charge of the voice and not the other way around. You just learn to be better.

The Last Word: A moving, relatable, and superbly crafted memoir that any girl who's had even a speck of low self-confidence will find inspiring in one way or another.

A Long-Awaited Apology...and Promises of Change

I know it's been a while, dear readers. I'm sorry for that. Things over this way have been a whirlwind, for a variety of reasons really. But one in particular stands out from the others: Tomorrow is my last day at my current job.

It's the nature of the business, really. In the publishing world people bounce from house to house, zig-zagging their way up the ladder. It's a small industry and often you find yourself working again with someone you worked with years before or in the very same office you left several years prior.

In my case, though, it's more of a lateral move, a judgmental call that was not easy to make. I'm leaving Pocket for Penguin, but more than that, I'm leaving editorial for business development.

Trust me, that's a fact I'd never thought I'd ever face. I came into publishing with one goal: to be an editor and as such make a difference through books. And four years in, I find myself going down a new path, not one I looked for but one that found me, one that is exciting and scary and that holds great opportunity and potential reward.

I won't try for a second to claim I'm not sad about leaving because I am. I'm going to miss my bosses, my co-workers, and of course, my wonderful authors tremendously. Heck, I have one more day and I miss them all already. But as we all know, publishing is ever-changing and quickly evolving--just as we are as individuals. It's a change and adventure that, despite my tendency to stay put and hide from anything unfamiliar, for whatever reason the universe compelled me to attempt.

So, as you can probably imagine, it's been an emotional and difficult few weeks making this decision and then trying to accept the decision I made. Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly excited about this new venture, working on the digital side of things and being at the forefront of some innovative an exciting new projects (one in particular of which I was hired on for but it's top secret at the moment...you know I'll tell you the moment I'm allowed!) is going to be such a new and different experience for me, and all the signs point to it being a great move.

But it's a biiiig life change. So it's had a little tied up in knots, hence my absence. One thing this new will allow though, is for me to have my free time back, to have a little more motivation and energy to get back into doing some of the things I love--pleasure reading, writing, and chatting with all of you.

So, get ready. Because RBtL is gonna be kicking it back into gear pretty damn soon.

I have two book reviews on deck, a couple of guest bloggers in the works, and some new article topics percolating up in that crazy-full-of-emotion brain of mine.

Can't wait to share it all with you!

In the meantime, enjoy this adorable book trailer for my dear friend and fantastic author Jill Myles's upcoming release, My Fair Succubi. Her artist husband--who seems to be the sweetest man on earth minus his chosen NHL team allegiance *wink*--actually made it for her, which just makes it even more awesome.