Verbs are a vital part of the writer’s arsenal.  In fact, you can’t tell a story without them.  Todlers learning to talk have a natural affinity for verbs.  If you listen to a two or three year old speak, you will hear simple sentences containing an identifiable subject and a verb.  Those verbs, I might add, are quite active.  Think about the child who is telling you about something traumatic in their world.  “Doggie bite!”  There is no doubt what that little one is communicating.

As we get older, our sentence constructions get more complex and we add in those words to help sentences make better sense, especially to our ear.  Instead of hearing something like above, we may hear something along the lines of, “The black labrador has a problem with strangers. He tried to bite my foot.” 

Those additions, though, may seduce us into thinking we have an active verb driven story.  The above example isn’t very engaging. As writers you should look to tighten your work, engage your reader, and remove passive writing.  Frequently, one of the ways to make your sentence more action driven is to substitute the linking verb used with a verb depicting action.  Now the sentence might read, “The big, black lab ravaged my foot.” (Remember, these are off-the-cuff!)

How many linking verbs can you replace in a work to make your writing more vivid?  Plenty.  Take this tiny example.  She was depressed.  Was is a linking verb.  It shows depressed is related to she.  How can you replace was?  The blues hit her hard.  Now was has been converted into a verb of action and makes for a more interesting sentence.

Common linking verbs include: is, are, was, were, am, be, been, have, had, seem, felt, and a host more.  You can find lists in middle school, English grammar text books.

There are sentences you need to convey that must have a linking verb or a verb phrase to express the idea you want to get across.  Just beware, there may be a better way of saying writing the same idea that will be of more interest to your reader and will set your writing apart from the scores of others who haven’t conquered a passive voice.

I’m a well traveled author who couldn’t live without a tote on my shoulder. We have such a bag, sporting the beautiful “TEDDI TURNS ON” cover, for you to win in an easy contest. Second and Third Prize winners get a great Goodie Bag.

This contest runs September 7 until October 6. Winners will be announced October 7!

To play, go to www.phoenixrisingpromotions.com or www.sloanetaylor.com. Under the contest section find Questions to the Trivia, but to make it even easier here they are:

1. What does Sloane Taylor’s disclaimer read?

2. What is the heroine’s name in TEDDI TURNS ON?

3. Who are Sloane Taylor’s publishers?

4. What is the featured recipe for August 2008?

5. What is Sloane Taylor’s first Travel tip?

Go to www.sloanetaylor.com for all the answers.

Email your answers to phoenix@phoenixrisingpromotions.com, with TEDDI in the subject line, where you will be entered into a drawing for the fabulous tote.

Happy searching!

Sloane Taylor
Sweet as Honey…Hotter than Hell
TEDDI TURNS ON www.aspenmountainpress.com
FRENCH TWIST www.eternalpress.ca
www.sloanetaylor.com www.myspace.com/sloanetaylor

No doubt about it, book trailers can be effective, engaging ways to attract new readers.

Sadly, though, most languish without more than 100 viewings.

Think about the youtube videos you enjoy. Someone TOLD you about the video, sent you a link and you watched it. If you liked it, you sent it along to more people in your email circle. This is viral (it spreads like a virus).

Several of us laughed when we watched the video of the office workers destroying their computers set to the music of Daniel Powter in Bad Day. (3.7 million hits)

Daniel Powter’s real video, Bad Day, is really good too (1.2 million hits).

Why?

It garnered our attention with ACTION and however brief, told a story.

Does your book trailer tell a story? Any story? Or is it just a gathering of pictures, blurbs, and music? Has your video been uploaded to YouTube? How many views has it had?

If it hasn’t had many, I suggest rethinking the video trailer. It should be similar to a trailer you’d see to engage the viewers interest for a movie like The Dark Knight, or Ironman, or another popular movie. Think ACTION. They don’t flash a lot of words up on the screen.

Take a look at this video done for the character of Felix Gomez, a contemporary vampire who lives in Denver. Felix is first introduced to readers in Mario Acevedo’s novel, The Nymphos of Rocky Flats. For those of you familiar with Denver, Rocky Flats was an area of town known for playing with some not very nice, highly reactive elements like plutonium. This video was done with Lego people and you’ll notice there isn’t a whole lot of printed verbiage until the very end when you find out about Mario’s three books. At this time, this particular video has had more than 2300 hits. While that isn’t high compared to some, Mario’s trailer has done extremely well among book trailers.

The best trailers are not a bunch of stills and covers put together but rather mini-films.

It is possible to take a still photograph and make it feel like it is in action. Remember Captain Kangaroo? Remember the stories that were read on the program? The camera would zoom in on an area of the picture book and pan to different parts of the picture to show movement. This is done on a current children’s book trailer called “How to Save Your Tail“. Even this very simple video has had more than 1,000 hits.

Note how the different parts of the cover are used to convey movement and unity. When the art changes to the black and white drawings, there is a continuity. There is also unity with the voice overs, something a lot of book trailers are missing.

Book trailers shouldn’t be much over 3 minutes. Most people don’t have a lot of patience for watching much longer. Commercial length is good (30-45 seconds) unless you can really create a fun and compelling video. I’ve watch the lego squad several times because it’s humorous and entertaining. Many people will watch a music video over and again for the same reason…the video engages them along with the music.

Given how ebooks writers are better tied in to the internet community at large, think of the viral spread you can get telling about a fun video via the loops, blogs, and your web site.

Always, always, always, include links. These can be embedded so that a person can just click on a phrase and be taken to the book or the trailer you want them to see.

There are authors here, far more experienced than I, at using the various computer programs that allow for making movies on your computer. Consider that many cell phones have a video recording device installed. You may find the right spot to “film” a few potential scenes of your story. A lot of people are hams and would have fun reenacting certain parts of your stories. Maybe you could have a filming day.

Don’t know any hams? Try the local community college. The have a visual arts department where wanna-be-filmakers are itching to practice. Many communities actually have schools that teach filmography. See if one of the students there would be interested in “practicing” using your story. They might use it as a class project and you get a book trailer out of the deal.

Most of all, be creative in how you approach your trailer, how you think about accomplishing the trailer, how you get the word out. Maybe you’ll end up having a video as popular as the opera singer on Britain Has Talent. Paul Potts has had his video viewed over 27 million times!

Editors and friends have asked where I get my inspiration to write erotic romance. It’s simple since I’ve traveled to some of the most romantic countries in the world. How could a word lover not be flooded with plot lines when looking at the gorgeous gondoliers of Venice? There’s alwats a virile bobby with his stick strolling the parks in London. In Paris there’s enough kissable French men strolling the Champs-Elysees to make any woman’s heart flutter.

My most romantic city is Venice. St. Mark’s Square is filled with enough motivation for me to pick up a pen and scrawl everything I see and hear. There’s always a pair of lovers strolling through, wrapped in each others arms, with no outside world to interfere. You might even find them sharing a Cinzano while the soft strings of an orchestra fill the chilly night air.

So how can you remember everything you see to use in future books? It’s easy thanks to modern technology.

1 - Inspiration is all around you every single minute of the day and night. Take the time to notice it, absorb it, feel it, then let your imagination soar.

2 – Always carry a pen and paper with you to record those scenes blossoming before you.

3 – Carry a disposable camera to photograph anything of interest, no matter how trivial. In a pinch use your cell phone camera. Drop the pictures into a file for future use.

4 – I like to work with visual aids and compile images of location, people, clothing, maps, language, and anything else that lands me feel smack-dab in the middle of my story. Nothing is too trivial to Glue Stic to my poster board. It puts me in the mood but I always make sure it’s hidden before company arrives.

Now I’m off to dig out those photos from London for my latest book PHOTO OP! Look for it this fall coming from Aspen Mountain Press.

Sloane Taylor
Sweet as Honey…Hotter than Hell
Francine On Fire www.aspenmountainpress.com
www.sloanetaylor.com   

We have the greatest job in the world, writing and reading stories and helping make them better.  How cool is that?

But, there are days when the words are difficult to put to the page.  I posit that perhaps we spend too much time working on writing and not enough time refilling our creative well.  To that end I propose you consider the following:

1. Know when your peak writing time is and write then.  You won’t be fighting yourself.

2. Set a timer, for five minutes less than the time you are allotting to write.  Timers help us create natural arcs in our story structure be it a paragraph, a page, or a chapter.  When time expires, you need to wrap up your work, even if you will be getting back to it later in the day.  Five minutes or five hour long timings…using this technique will help you find conflict, action, and resolution within the building blocks of your story.

3. Make a date with yourself to do something away from your desk, away from your workplace.  You might go to a garage sale, a second-hand shop, a museum, the park.  Renew yourself by changing your environment.

4. Hone your craft.  Attend classes, lectures, critique groups, read craft books, find the things that can help you be a better writer.

5. Remember writing is also a job.  Jobs have beginnings and ends every day. Jobs have responsibilities that need to be met.  You have to show up.  Writers need to show up at the page, put in their time  and then  need to end the day.  But like a job, you have to make writing a priority, just like you do when you go to work.  If you’re serious about writing, “calling in” is not an option for the days you don’t “feel like it.”

That’s it.  Pretty simple.  Don’t burn out, recharge and make use of the time you have.

(All opinions and statements in this post are my own opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of Aspen Mountain Press. Yell at me, if you wish.)

I keep hearing a statement from aspiring authors that absolutely makes me shudder. There seems to be a belief that spelling and grammar issues are solely the job of editors and don’t need to be worried about by the authors.

It’s true that, when the rubber hits the road, we editors are responsible for correcting spelling and grammar issues. But failure to make your work the cleanest and best it can be possible before you submit it may mean you never reach that point. The editor (or agent) may never even request a full because their appreciation of your story may not be enough to balance the costs and resources needed to get it through the publication process.

The first thing aspiring authors have to understand is that your submission – be it synopsis, partial or full – is your interview for a contract. It’s what you will be judged on. Why would you choose to make less than the best impression you possibly could? Would you show up to interview for a modeling shot with grimy hair and say that’s the hairdresser’s job? Shooting yourself in the foot is not a great start to any venture.

Now, keep in mind that almost every submission contains some errors, that’s normal and expected. But a plethora of easy to find and fix ones tells me (accurately or not) that the author doesn’t care enough to do the very best job possible. That it’s not important to the author. Are they lazy? Are they going to be difficult to work with?

Another thing it tells me is that if I contract this work, it will cost my house more money to get it in shape for publishing than it would an equivalent story that is cleaned up and corrected. The longer I have to spend on it, the longer my line editors or proofers have to spend on it, the more it costs. Publishing is still a business and it’s part of my job to make the best use of my house’s resources as I can.

It also directly affects my ability to appreciate and enjoy the story. Like it or not, each time I see an error, it drags me out of the story and breaks my immersion. Too many times and I can’t follow the story very well and end up not liking it as much as I possibly could have. You don’t want to let mechanical errors get in the way of the story.

I want to strongly encourage anyone who submits a work for publication to utilize the marvels of spellcheck and the eagle eyes of a test reader or critique partner. Make your submission as clean and correct as you possibly can before you submit it and you will increase your chances of acceptance.

There are some words authors should try their hardest to avoid.  Two of them are “very” and “that”.

“Very” is a word used for padding.  Advice often given to authors is to use one word rather than two when describing something.  What is meant by this oft repeated but little understood expression?  On the most basic level one should not describe something as “very blue” but sea blue, ice blue, battleship grey, forest green, rather than use the throwaway “very”.  If one word will suffice, use it instead.  Rather than the green stuff growing on the rock, name it precisely…moss, lichen, whatever the green stuff really is.

How good is “very good”?  Excellent, perfect, 99.9% accurate, barely above average?  Very doesn’t tell the reader anything of importance.  “Very” is an excellent word to eliminate in most circumstances.

The same can be said of the word “that”.  Frequently, the word “that” serves no real purpose in a sentence and when deleted the fundamental meaning of the sentence hasn’t changed.  There will be instances where you have to use “that”; you can’t get rid of all of them, but do try. 

All writers seem to be tempted at one time or another to include in their stories the history of their main characters.  In writer jargon this is known as backstory.

DON’T!

Start on the day that is different, in the middle of a tense conflict if at all possible.  This advice goes as far back as Aristotle who said a story should start “in the midst of things.”

Should you, the author, know backstory for your characters? Absolutely.  Just don’t tell the reader.  You see, that backstory could easily be a pivotal point in your tale, the secret that shocks the heck out of us.