Dailey Figments and Musings

Does dystopian have staying power or is it a publishing trend that will soon come an end? First off, I think that vampires, demons/angels (supernatural), super-powered humans, werewolves, witches, aliens and zombies are trending themes in novels and on the screen. Some are "out" right now and some are "in" . On the heels of Twilight we had Vampire Diaries, True Blood and Dracula  that were adapted on TV & the big screen. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was quite big too in its hay day too. However Vampire Academy, a popular YA series, bombed in the theaters so did  Beautiful Creatures ...and a slue of other book adaptions. Humans with super powers is a reaching trend made famous by comic book adaptions. Comic books have been around for decades and this trend is here to stay.  The supernatural trend has been alive in the 10 seasons of Supernatural on the WB network. However Mortal Instruments totally bombed in theaters. As far as I know there hasn't been a We

I found you through twitter and decided to answer since I think I have a lot to say on this subject. Not sure if this will help because this is equally a personal rant for me. I am a quick writer who is unpublished. From 2010 to 2015, I have written 7 books plus a prequel and plan on writing about *4 novels and a novella and revising 2 novels this year (I know, crazy!) . Writing is my passion and I truly believe one day I will make it. I have so many different stories to tell and mostly they are in the YA genre but regardless they itch to be written and shared. First I have a few questions, have you had the book professionally edited more than once? Have you revised to the best of your abilities? Have you had beta readers and critiques? Have you tried entering contests with it? I ask these questions because your completed draft should be the best you can make it and these things definitely help contribute. Agents and publishers want a polished manuscript even though they polish it

Do something until you can do something else. What I mean by that is write as a hobby (this is how you build a backlist and improve writing) until you can write for a living. If you really love it that much you will find a way to make it happen. It might be through the traditional route (including digital first) the lucky few take or the self publishing route. Beverley Kendall has a survey that about self-publishing that is awesome. She says, "The more books you have and the more professional your book is–amongst various other things–the better your chance at for finding success self-publishing." Also self publishing is a decision that is personal like any other big decision, you have to take into account your own talents and situation. My ultimate goal has always been to find an agent who will find me a publisher. Or find a publisher that accepts unsolicited manuscripts. However as I query I am beginning to look at the other option: indie (small press) or self-publis

Unequivocally My Favorite Genre                                                                                                          YA is my favorite genre and sometimes when I tell people, I get: "You don't like adult books?" or "Isn't that for teens?" or "You aren't a 'serious' reader". To those people I say, I have always liked this genre and just because I grew up doesn't mean that I'm to old to read young adult or ANYTHING I want. I enjoy Children's, Middle Grade, and Adult categorized books as well but YA is my absolute favorite. Of course I am an adult and not by far the same person I was when I was a teen reader but that doesn't mean that my tastes have to change or reflect my intelligence or growth. I grew up but I still like chocolate chips cookies, The Little Mermaid (I know all the words to  Part of Your World ), night lights and red vines - do I have to give up these things too because I'm grown? I

Everyone has a magic number because everyone gets rejected. This magic number equates to the number of times an author was rejected before they got someone who believed in them enough to give them a chance. J.K. Rowling's magic number was 12 for Harry Potter. Alex Haley's magic number was 200 for Roots. Madeleine L' Engle's magic number was 26 for A Wrinkle in Time. Kathryn Stockett's magic number was 61 for The Help. Stephanie Myers magic number was 14 for Twilight. Nicholas Sparks's magic number was 24 for The Notebook. Margaret Mitchell's magic number was 38 for Gone with the Wind. Jack Canfield 's magic number was 140 for Chicken Soup for the Soul. In addition the Da Vinci Code, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Princess Diaries  and The Diary of Anne Frank   authors all suffered through years of rejection. Each author on this list of bestsellers has sold millions of books. Think if any of these authors had allowed rejections and negativit

FREE your imagination, give it permission to wander. Ideas come to me all the time. From small details of the plot, to the characters to the scenery. It's like a really rough dream sequence that has no regard for the time or place of its arrival. I've gotten ideas in the shower, at 3 AM, coming or going places, while running errands, watching a movie, reading a book, drinking, listening to someone talking... the brain never stops creating and imagining. You ask yourself "what if" a lot when you're a writer and you allow yourself to answer, to truly imagine whatever images, people, settings and phrases come to mind. These initial ideas become the building blocks of my stories. I cannot force ideas and I don't need inspiration to write. What I mean is, I can't sit down and say I'm going to plot out a book...but I can free write in order to build on my original ideas. I also don't need to write at a particular time or feel a certain way to write.

Hard work makes things happen. I have been focusing on editing and revising my books in 2014 since the years before I was focused on merely writing books. I now have 6 books plus a novella. I am happy to say I have given my third book to my editor and will soon give her the novella and the last book for this year. The remaining 2 books are sequels so I am holding off on putting any money into them until I secure publishing deals for the first book in that series.                                                                                       I have trained myself this year to work as if I am publishing the books myself so I go through a whole process where I edit, revise, re-read (several times) and then hand off to the editor. Then once I get the edit back, I accept and discuss corrections I need clarification on and revise according to the corrections. I send it back again for another edit and again I accept, question and revise and send only changed parts to the editor. The