Three ways to improve your grand gesture

I’m about to say something which might have my Romance Writers Card revoked…

I was never a big fan of the grand gesture.

I know, I know. It’s the moment that’s supposed to make you all gooey inside. It’s the moment that gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling of satisfaction. When done well, it’s the scene readers will remember long after they finish a book.

But it took me a long time to embrace this part of writing romance.

You’ll read plenty of novels where the hero gives a public speech to declare his love for the heroine, sometimes it occurs during another character’s wedding or at another important event. Or maybe the heroine stands up for the hero in public. And then there’s the classic running towards the airport gate/taxi/train etc.

I think the part of the grand gesture that I struggled to connect with was the “grand” aspect. I’m all about a sweet gesture, or a thoughtful gesture. But grand? It’s not really me. However, the gesture doesn’t necessarily need to be grand or extravagant, if that’s not your style.

What it should do is bring the reader full circle.

Here are a few ways that you can give extra oomph to your grand gesture:

Completing the arc

A grand gesture is a great way to show how much a character has developed. It should involve something they would never have done at the beginning of the story.

For example, in Betting the Bad Boy the hero grew up in the foster system and was moved frequently from one home to the next. So, when he finally got out of the system, it was important for him to live alone because then nobody would ever be able to kick him out. He wouldn’t even bring his date back to his house because it was his ‘safe space.’ Therefore, his grand gesture involves giving a key to the heroine and asking her to live with him.

Making a sacrifice

Grand gestures are especially impactful when one character gives up something to be with the other character. For this to work, the sacrifice needs to be something of high value. This also works especially well when the heroes and/or heroines have strongly opposed goals.

The sacrifice also needs to come about because they’ve changed as characters. So, it’s not about a woman giving up a job she really wants simply to be with the hero. It’s about a character giving up a cause they were chasing because their relationship has fundamentally changed the character.

For example, in Bad Bachelor Reed is determined to bring down the person who created the Bad Bachelor app. But at the end of the book, he realises that doing so will irreparably hurt his relationship with Darcy. So he has to sacrifice his need for retribution in order to find his HEA with Darcy. He can only make this sacrifice because he’s changed as a character over the course of the book. 

Mirroring

Grand gestures that mirror an event from earlier in the story gives a sense of closure and familiarity to the reader. As humans, we always seek out patterns and repetition, so this is a very effective technique. You may also hear this referred to as ‘bookending.’ The trick is to mirror an important moment for the characters, rather than just putting them in the same location at beginning and end.

For example, from Mr. Dangerously Sexy the heroine, Addison, comes to learn that the hero secretly organized a wreath of yellow roses for her father’s funeral, because her father had always used the roses to apologise after an argument. It showed he knew what was important to her, and that even though he was the kind of person who would never say it aloud, he cared about her very much. The grand gesture for that story involves a room full of yellow roses. By itself that gesture would be sweet and romantic, but having it tied to an earlier event gives the gesture a deeper importance and meaning.

Final note… 

You can absolutely mix and match these grand gesture types as they’re not mutually exclusive. Put a sacrifice with a bookend, or complete an arc while the character gives up something important. If you’re stuck, try writing a grand gesture that fits each one of these types and see what works best.

 Happy writing!

Red Flags in Publishing

NB. This post was originally written for the Toronto Public Library.

For many writers, going out on submission for the first time brings about mixed emotions. What if everybody rejects your manuscript? Or what if you're given conflicting feedback? Or what if you're that rare person who has plenty of offers and you don't know which one to take? 

Unfortunately, the excitement of an offer from an editor or agent can sometimes overshadow niggling doubts we have about contract terms and other important aspects of the publishing process. But publishing, like many other industries, has its dark corners and there are definitely things you should watch out for.

Reading Fees, Editing Fees and Other Charges

If you're looking to traditionally publish your manuscript, it's important to understand how everyone gets paid. On average, agents will take 15% of your earnings. Royalty rates and advances vary, but often this information can be found on the submission portion of the publisher's website.

The percentage taken by the agent and publishing house covers the reading, submission process, all stages of editing, production, marketing (although it's expected authors will do marketing activities as well), and distribution of your book. If an agent or publisher asks you for money up-front to cover the cost of any of these activities, as well as wanting to take a percentage of each book sold, be wary. Agents and publishers should make their money from the sale of your book, not from charging the author. The only time a writer should pay a fee up-front for someone to read or work on their manuscript is if they're hiring a freelance professional.

Restrictive Contract Terms

Publishing contracts are not always the easiest documents to decipher and this is one reason authors might sign with an agent.

These two contract clauses provide restrictions on the author beyond the initial manuscript, and are definitely worth looking at:

• Conflict of interest clauses

• First right of refusal clauses

Conflict of Interest Clause

This clause is found in most manuscripts, so it's not a red flag in itself. But authors should read this one very carefully as it may impact the author's publishing schedule. This clause prevents the author from publishing other books within the same or similar genre for a period of time around the release of the contracted manuscript. It's common that publishers don't want an author putting out two books in the same month, but if the contract restricts you from publishing another book in the same year then authors should think about how this will impact their career.

First Right of Refusal Clause

This clause relates to a contractual obligation that means the author has to show the next manuscript to their current publisher before they can take it on submission elsewhere. Again, this is a common clause and its appearance alone isn't cause for worry. But the more narrowly defined this clause is, the better. For example, this clause could be narrowed to only include manuscripts within the same series or set in the same world as the one being contracted. It's also important when working with multiple publishers, to ensure this clause doesn't clash with other open contracts.

Freelancer Red Flags

If you're independently publishing your book, you have the option of choosing your team. This may include a developmental editor, copy editor, proof-reader etc. It's important to do your due diligence and make sure you're paying qualified and professional people. 

Some red flags when hiring freelance editors:

• It's a good idea to ask for a sample so you can assess the quality and style of editing. You may have to pay for this sample, but it's better to spend a small amount here than hire someone for a large fee and end up being unhappy with their work. You may want to be wary of any editor who refuses to provide a sample. 

• Be wary of any freelancers who trash books online, whether on review platforms or social media. If your relationship doesn't work out, would they be likely to do this to your book? It wouldn't be the first time a freelancer has taken an author's (or publisher's) money only to then criticize the book online. This is incredibly unprofessional and given there are plenty of great freelance editors and proof-readers out there, it should be an easy issue to avoid. 

• Always ensure that you're getting the level of editing that you're paying for. A developmental edit (which usually costs more than copy edits or proof-reading) should not simply point out typos and continuity errors. Developmental edits should come with in-depth feedback about the characters, plot, pacing, and clarity of the writing. If you get a sample, as mentioned above, you should be able to see whether the editor is providing the right level of feedback based on what you've asked for.

Working With an Agent

A good agent will help grow your career, will be collaborative and encouraging while also being truthful about your work. A good agent will push your career forward, and a bad agent can be worse than no agent at all. 

If you're going through the querying process with an agent, or if you've already signed with one, here are some red flags to look out for:

• Be wary of any agent who hasn't read the manuscript but is offering representation. An agent must be intimately familiar with your work in order to best position it with publishers, and to help you grow your career.

• A good agent will be transparent with how they plan to sell your manuscript. If your agent is unwilling to share details about the submission strategy, this could be a red flag that they won't be likely to share other important information like editorial feedback, industry information etc.

• Watch out for agents who appear to always side with the publisher. Yes, an agent needs to have a good relationship with publishers and editors, but they also have to represent their author's best interests. If you've signed with an agent who doesn't appear to be backing you, then it might be time to have a conversation about your relationship.

Additional Resources

In addition to the tips above, check out the following resources for authors navigating the publishing landscape:

• Absolute Write Forums

• Writers Beware Blog

• Association of Canadian Publishers
   

Good luck! 

Staying True to Your Voice

I’m hardly a veteran in Romancelandia. In our patch of the publishing world, it’s not uncommon for an author to published 50, 100, 200+ books in their long and prolific careers. It’s not just the sheer volume of words they’ve written, but their ability to continue to find new readers and keep afloat in a constantly changing environment that I truly admire.

Since getting published in 2014, my career has encountered its share of turbulence. This year I hit a milestone of twenty books written across three publishers. In that time, I’ve written for five different category lines, worked with eight different editors and written books with word counts ranging from 30,000 to 95,000 words.

I have learned A LOT. And I have been asked to do a lot.

In that time I’ve been asked for : more sex scenes, less swearing, more tropes, higher concepts, something “sticky” (and no, that wasn’t related to the sex scenes). How about an accidental pregnancy story? Oooh, not another office romance. The book needs to be set in the USA. Actually, don’t set this book in the USA, set it somewhere else.

I asked myself a question that many career authors face: how I find the balance between telling my stories and staying relevant in an ever-changing market? (although, let’s be real, when I asked myself that question it was way less coherent and contained way more sobbing and expletives.)

One day I had a lightbulb moment. I will always make sure my books were the stories I wanted to tell because tropes and settings and heat-level don’t define the story, they’re simply the window dressing.

WHAT READERS LOOK FOR

Some months ago I asked my reader group on Facebook what they expect when they pick up a Stefanie London book. Not one of them said “I like Australian books” or “I like romantic comedy” or “I like fake engagement tropes.”

Instead, they told me that they loved how my characters always had great dialogue, that my stories often made them laugh, that they enjoyed how “real” my characters and their problems were even if the story had more of a fantastical setting or plot. They enjoyed that my books had great sexual tension, snappy banter and quippy one-liners. They enjoyed that I always gave them heartfelt HEAs and that I never left them disappointed with a cliffhanger.

I’d been doing something smart all along (although I can honestly say it wasn’t a conscious thing until more recently). I had cultivated an authentic voice that went beyond window-dressing.

I had written my books to suit the “reader promises” within each publishing house, and yet I had always given my readers a true Stefanie London story. A story that’s guaranteed to have humour mixed into the emotion, that’s going to have sizzling tension regardless of how the heat-level might fluctuate, that’s going to have characters who feel real and fleshed out. Everything else—the covers, the title, the tropes, the word count, the number of sex scenes—is simply a sandbox for me to play in.

CULTIVATING A VOICE

This isn’t something you can “learn” from a book or a blog post or a workshop. It takes time, practise, missteps. The more you write, the more your voice will develop. Each time you learn something new and apply it to your work, it will help shape your voice.

But there are a few questions you can ask yourself now that might help you figure out what kinds of stories you want to tell:

• What do I want my readers to feel when they read one of my books?

• What are the bits of the book I love writing most? How can I incorporate them strongly into each story?

• What themes are important to me? What message do I want my books to impart?

• Why do I write? How does that affect the stories I want to tell?

It’s a good idea to revisit these questions, too, as our writing evolves. And as we evolve.

I know a lot of people fling the advice of “staying true to yourself” around a lot. But it is true. Publishing will shift, lines come and go, editors change jobs, and genres fall in and out of favour.

But an author’s voice can rise above all that, and readers will still get the stories they love from you.

Refilling the Creative Well

There’s a shift that occurs when writing goes from being a hobby to being a potential career and source of income. The joy that comes from 'just writing' begins to be overshadowed by deadlines and revisions and submissions and rejections. It's hard to recapture that feeling from the early days when suddenly you MUST get 3,000 words done to meet your deadline.

Early on, when my only goal was to finish a manuscript, writing was my outlet. I’d settle down on the weekend with a cup of coffee and indulge in writing. It was the way I chose to spend my free time. My joyful "me time." It lifted my spirits, helped my creativity to come to life. It refilled my well.

Now, that’s certainly not to say that writing feels like a chore these day. It absolutely doesn’t! I truly love my job…but it is still a job. That means I view writing with a different lens now—there’s more pressure for speed, more self-criticism, more commercial thinking, and more focus on other activities around the book (like marketing, admin etc.) I can't sit down and write simply because I feel like it, anymore. I turn up to my desk every day like I would at any paying job.

And that glorious time I used to spend on the weekends never really got replaced with anything. For a long time, I found myself without something else to do in order to recharge creatively. So I kept writing, working all weekend (in addition to the workweek) only stopping for social occasions because I wasn't sure what else to do with myself if I had time to spare.

But this is a slippery slope to creative burnout. To be a writer you DO NOT have to write every day. In fact, sometimes the best thing you can do is take a day off.

Why is it important to recharge your creative mind?

Have you ever felt stuck on a project for no apparent reason? You have a solid plan, the characters are cooperating (for once!) and the words should be flowing freely…except they’re not. This can happen when you haven’t given your mind time to enjoy being creative without the pressure of a deadline/reviews/feedback etc. How do you feel when you create something simply for the sake of personal enjoyment where there’s no expectation of performance? It feels great. Freeing. Motivating. Insert your adjective here.

What can I do about it?

Allow yourself some time to indulge in a creative activity for your own enjoyment rather than feeling guilty about “stealing” time from your writing (I can’t be the only one who’s had that thought!) Of course schedules need to be balanced, but being a writer doesn’t mean you’ve given up any hope of having hobbies. Like anything, creative recharge requires you to make time rather than wait for it to happen…because we all know how that ends!

Not sure what to do to help yourself recharge? Here are a few ideas for things that might help you to gain that creative spark back…

·      Get visual: see a movie by a director you love, go to an art gallery to see the work from your favourite painter, or watch a play. Just because we work with words doesn’t mean we’re not stimulated by creative visuals.

·      Experience nature: I don’t know what it is precisely about being out in a park, but there is something utterly soul-soothing about it. Go for a walk at a pace that allows you to think. Or go to the beach and watch the waves roll in. If you're a more city type, go to your favourite part of the city and find a place to sit and observe. 

·      Make something: As writers, we love to create with words, but making something with your hands is a great way to engage your mind in a totally different way. Try knitting, sewing, drawing, painting, baking, or grab a colouring book and some pencils. The pleasure we get from seeing our efforts to fruition can be exactly the shot of motivation we need to tackle the next bit of our story.

·      Learn something: this is similar to the above. The satisfaction we get from mastering a new skill can be a great release for our minds. Plus, you never know when the knowledge you’ve picked up might make it into a story! If you don't want to commit to a full course in your new skill, there are plenty of options for workshops or single day/afternoon courses.

·      Have good conversation with loved ones: Phone that friend you haven't spoken to in a while, or take some time out with your partner to have a good yarn over a cup of coffee. Investing in relationships and quality conversation (as opposed to the usual surface stuff) can totally change your perspective on things and recharge you emotionally. Writing - as with so many creative pursuits - asks us to draw down on our mental and emotional reserves whenever we work on our stories, and spending quality time with loved ones is a great way to recharge.

·      Zone out: sometimes you just need to do nothing. Chill out with a book, play a video game, get out a deck of cards, have a long nap. If you're pushing yourself to work harder and faster, eventually you'll find your breaking point. I certainly did. Listen to your body. Sometimes all that's needed to recharge creatively, is simply to slow down for a bit. Ask for help, if you need it. Take a day off if you can. Hang up that "do not disturb" sign and be kind to yourself.

One of the best things you can do for your writing is to take care of yourself. Writing stories is a wonderful thing, but it can't be the top priority 100% of the time. Put yourself first, do something just for you and don't feel guilty about it. Happy creating!

What to Take to a Writing Conference

I've been to my share of conferences now and every single time I umm and ahh about what to pack. I'm also a reformed chronic over-packer (true story!) so I think long and hard every time I flip that suitcase or carry-on bag open. Packing isn't one-size-fits-all, but here are the things I take...and a few I don't.

THE NECESSITIES

• A suitcase/bag that isn't full to the brim on the way over: Here’s a little secret about conference…you get a lot of books! It's easy to get caught out not having the space to bring them home, and shipping can be pricey if you're travelling internationally.

• Comfortable shoes: I know, I love shoes. But I've made it my mission to find cute shoes that won't kill my feet, because life's too short for blisters. These are my personal conference go-to cute shoes. They give height, look pretty with all my dresses, and are easy to walk around in.

• Business Cards: I'll admit, I'm pretty terrible about handing mine out but if you happen to chat with someone while waiting in line for a drink and they ask you what your website is, people are more likely to hang onto a card than a scrap of paper.

• Water, headache remedy of choice, hydrating eye cream and a facial mist: This is my ‘anti-tired’ kit. By day three I want to crawl in bed and sleep off the exhaustion, but I also don’t want to miss out on the fun. The water can be bought at the hotel or in a nearby shop, but I HIGHLY recommend keeping hydrated. Hotels often have air conditioning running and it can make you feel really sluggish and headachy.

• Chargers for your phone/other devices: This seems like an obvious one, but put it on your list anyway.

• A printed copy of your schedule: I always have a spreadsheet printed out with my schedule in case my phone dies at an inopportune time. I don't always need it, but I know I'll be thankful that one time my phone fails me.

THE "GOOD TO HAVE"

• Writing implements: Whether you prefer pen and a notepad or a tablet/laptop, it’s good to have something to take notes on. This isn’t just for workshops but for any ideas that spring up thanks to all the additional creative energy you'll be experiencing, and to jot down the details of those you meet (in case they haven’t brought their business cards). I generally take a notepad and pen because I'm old-school like that.

• Camera: You don’t want to meet your favourite author only to realise you don’t have a camera with you! Phone cameras are totally fine.

• Something unique: I think it’s a great idea to have something unique with you that will stand out and make people remember you. It might be a flashy necklace, a cute headband or a stuffed llama (my personal item of choice!) Every little bit helps!

THINK VERY CAREFULLY ABOUT WHETHER YOU NEED THESE ITEMS

In the interest of saving space (or weight) in your luggage, I'd think long and hard about whether you need the following:

• Books for authors to sign: I know, there’s a huge signing and your favourite author is going to be there. But books take up space and you’ll be bringing a lot home with you anyway. If any author is participating in a singing, they'll have books at their table. So do you really need the extra weight in your suitcase?

• Your manuscript: The rules for pitches (and general conference etiquette) is usually that you provide our manuscript electronically after the conference if (and only if!) you get a request. Check the conference website for guidelines, if you're unsure. Having printed copies of your work on hand won’t make your chances any better of getting a request and they’ll just take up extra space in your luggage.

• That tenth pair of shoes: Honestly, I put this in as a reminder for myself. I always have the "choose half" rule applied pair after I've picked out all the shoes I'd like to to take. Those ten pair of heeled pretties? Reduce by half...at least.

• Laptop: I've never worked at a conference. I know many writers do and if that works for you, awesome! Personally, conference is a time to mingle, attend workshops, make new acquaintances and foster existing relationships. I make it a rule not to hide away on my laptop, and that's very easily achieved by not bringing it with me. I keep a notepad and pen handy at all times, in case I have a sudden idea for something I'm working on or if I'm stuck at the airport and want to get some work done.