I can’t write on paper. Not only is my handwriting wretched, but my hand can’t keep up with my brain, so I’m constantly writing letters out of order. Add in that I’m left-handed, and it’s a miracle that anyone can ever read anything I write at all. I didn’t like writing much of anything until my mother bought our first home computer circa 1985, when I was twelve. Suddenly, I…
How Tech Controls My Chaos
In life, I’m inseparable from my cell phone, but when it comes to writing, there is one program I can no longer function without: Scrivener. I love this program to bits. I’m a non-sequential writer, and I spent the first ten years or so of my writing life struggling with endless Word docs. This goes back to the days when a full manuscript wouldn’t all fit on one 3.5″ disk…
[News Flash] May 20, 2018
Thank you so much to yesterday’s guest, Rowenna Miller! If you haven’t already, enter the #DebBallGiveaway to win a copy of Torn. You can enter by sharing our post on Facebook and/or retweeting the following tweet: Interview with Rowenna Miller (@RowennaM) + Giveaway of TORN https://t.co/9GPx677FQU pic.twitter.com/qvOPszjiHW — The Debutante Ball (@DebutanteBall) May 19, 2018 News from Former Debs: Amy Reichert releases her fourth novel, THE OPTIMIST’S GUIDE TO LETTING…
Interview with Rowenna Miller + Giveaway of TORN
This week, I am excited to introduce Rowenna Miller to the Debutante Ball! I know Rowenna through her editor, who was my editor back before she moved over to Orbit, and I’m delighted to have made her acquaintance this year. Torn is one of my favorite things that I’ve read in the past few months, a delightfully unique take on fantasy fiction. Rowenna sets her story in a world analogous to 1780s/90s France/England,…
Reviews: How Writers Can Use Them
I kind of secretly like reviews. Perhaps it comes from my 8 years of writing workshops, or perhaps it comes from the little voice in my head that is super critical of everything I do, but I find them kind of useful in their own way. Here’s why: Consistent Feedback. The resounding feedback for THE DIMINISHED agrees on one thing: the beginning is too slow. And looking back on it…
Reviews: No Lifeguard on Duty, Read at Your Own Risk
As soon as your book goes up on NetGalley, as soon as your publicist starts mailing out ARCs, you begin thinking about reader reviews. Will people love it? Hate it? Ignore it completely? Online author’s groups have multiple posts per day discussing reader reviews…celebrating the good ones, bemoaning the bad or unfair ones. But does any of it actually impact a book’s success? I decided to ask my editor what…
The Highs And The Lows Of Reviews
Today we are talking about reviews and who they are meant to inform. That’s an easy one: readers. Reviews are not for authors, who tend toward the snowflake end of the spectrum when it comes to feedback. (Or possibly that’s just me…) Reading a horrible review of her own book tends to produce the same feels in an author as if a stranger suddenly marched up and bitch-slapped her…
How to Write Useful Reviews
For a long time, if I didn’t like a book enough to give it 4 or 5 stars, I wouldn’t leave a review. I’d quietly ignore the book, feeling like I was helping out the author by doing nothing instead of giving a three-star review.It turns out, ignoring a book is one of the worst things you can do for it. Sites like Amazon count the number of reviews in order…
Reviews: An Object Lesson in Subjectivity
Reviews — Who are they for? Honestly? I have no gods-damned idea. The standard line is “Reviews are for readers, not writers,” but I’m not sure they’re even that. Maybe in aggregate — if a book has a large number of ratings, the average may be some sort of an indication of overall merit. And maybe some of the large, reputable reviewers serve that reader-informing purpose — I’m thinking of…
[News Flash] May 13, 2018
Congratulations to Janice Mess, winner of our #DebBallGiveaway of THE GOOD LIAR by Catherine McKenzie. Thank you so much to yesterday’s guest, Kristina Pérez, author of SWEET BLACK WAVES. News from the 2018 Debs: Julie Clark had an amazing launch week and is looking forward to a hometown book event on Thursday! Kaitlyn Sage Patterson revealed the title of the sequel to THE DIMINISHED this week. Who’s excited…
