The world-changing news came on what could have been a very average day. I'm sitting at my computer, getting ready to leave it for a while and revise the printed pages of my current work-in-progress, when a new message on my screen reads: Dear Elise, we would like to move forward with your delightful story... And I realize that someone is telling me that they want to publish…
According to Wikipedia, a red-letter day is any day of significance and my goodness did I have one! Last week I sent out my normal batch of query letters via email. This is part of my marketing plan, which entails sending out queries for my manuscript, Moonlight and Oranges, every two weeks or so. That same day, to my unbelieving eyes, two positive responses came back from two…
Last week I received my first writing review with some serious professional clout. As you know if you've been following this blog, I was a quarter-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards this year for my novel Moonlight and Oranges, which is a huge honor and a nice pat on the back. I'd never made it this far in a large contest before. After the quarter-finals, comes…
This is the excerpt for my novel Moonlight and Oranges, currently a quarter finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. After reading this, go to the Amazon page and review it. Thank you so much! _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER ONE: Orange and Vodka 1) Find a guy. 2) Strike up a witty conversation. If she could get that far. Lorona swallowed her bravado and felt sick. She was beginning…
Marketing myself as a writer is a lesson I've been gradually learning over the past few moths. Usually I'd grit my teeth about this. Many writers absolutely hate marketing. It feels uncreative, its exhausting, it feels like bragging, etc. But it teaches us how to talk to others about our writing. That's essentially what marketing is--a way to clearly communicate what we're about to the greater world. The time the…