Cynthia Wicklund On Indie & Audio Books

Cynthia Wicklund is the best selling author of The Garden Series. The first book in the series, In the Garden of Temptation, has been downloaded over half a million times worldwide.

Oddly enough, her first published book, Lord of Always, a Gothic romance published by Ellora's Cave, didn't really begin selling until readers were introduced to her Indie books.

Now, the first book in the Garden Series, In The Garden of Temptation and the second book in the series, In The Garden of Disgrace, are available as audio books.

If Historical Regency isn't your cup of tea, then try her paranormal romance Thief of Souls.

Cynthia Wicklund Tackles The Dirty Dozen


First let me say, Joan, thank you for inviting me to SlingWords today and introducing me to your readers again. It's always a pleasure!


1. Do you read ebooks? If so, what device do you use?

Yes, I do. I use the Kindle Touch. I also have a Kindle Fire, but my husband somehow ended up with it. :)


2. Do you listen to audio books? If so, what device do you use?

Again, yes. The Kindle Touch and my smartphone, the HTC Vivid.


3. When did you enter the indie publishing arena, and how has it affected your career?

I published my first Indie book at Smashwords in September 2010. How has it not affected my career would be easier to answer. I went from believing my dream wasn't going to happen to selling thousands of books all over the world. Some days I have to pinch myself because I can't believe it's true.


4. What's the best thing about being an indie author?

Getting my stories in front of readers. The occasional review that makes you want to hug the reviewer. One reviewer said, "I love me some Wicklund." That didn't just make my day, it made my week. Okay, more than that. It still makes me smile.


5. What's the worst thing about being an indie author?

The same as a traditional author. The pressure to produce. That butt to chair requirement that is an absolute necessity for achieving success.


6. What would you like to tell readers if you could appear in front of all of them?

Thank you. Thank you for reading my stories. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, good or bad. And most of all, thank you for helping me realize my dream. Without the readers there is no dream.


7. Of all the books you've written and published, what is your favorite book? Why?

In the Garden of Temptation. That's the first book I ever wrote. I was a complete neophyte. I didn't understand pacing or point of view or plotting or a host of other requirements needed to produce a decent book. I was too ignorant of the process to know I was doing it all wrong. I just wrote what I wanted to write, and I had the time of my life. Needless to say, ITGOT required a complete overhaul before I could publish it, but it was my training ground, the book that taught me to love writing, and it will always be special because of that.


8. If you were a casting director and that book was being produced as a movie, who would you cast in the major roles?

I always find that question interesting. Usually I try not to imagine faces exactly as it's a distraction to me. However, occasionally, a person really strikes me as perfect. James Purefoy, so handsome and British in A Knight's Tale, ticks all the right boxes for any of my heroes. Hugh Jackman from Kate and Leopold ditto. I have more trouble imagining an actress -- not sure why -- but I think Katherine Heigl would be a great choice for my heroine -- if she could do a British accent. Maybe it's because I'd love to exude her energy and beauty.


9. Now that you are having audio books produced from all your titles, what do you think is the most difficult aspect of the audio book experience?

Ratings, without a doubt. Because you have a narrator, you're not just responsible for your own work. A bad review means your narrator got a bad review also.

10. How did you go about choosing your narrator?

Helen Lloyd, who narrated In the Garden of Temptation, had samples on the ACX site. All I can say is she had the most warm, melodic voice and beautiful British accent. I was honored that she accepted my offer. She did an absolutely amazing job.


11. What are you currently working on?

I have a new trilogy, Knights of Heaven, that I'm currently working on. The first book, Heaven in His Touch, was already supposed to be out, so I'm a little behind schedule, but I'm working furiously to catch up. The stories are historical, British set, but they'll have a paranormal aspect to them.


12. Where online can readers find you?


Twitter: @CynthiaWicklund
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cynthia.wicklund
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4105912.Cynthia_Wicklund

My books are available at most ebook sellers, and my audio books can be found at Audible, Amazon, and Apple. My website is woefully out of date, but my New Year's resolution is to do something about that.

Takeaway Truth

Thanks for joining us today and giving readers and listeners a chance to get to know you better.

Time, Time, Time – What’s A Reader To Do?

This morning, I'm happy to welcome Cathy Perkins to talk about one of my favorite subjects — reading.

Cathy's award-winning suspense writing lurks behind a financial day-job, where she learned, firsthand, skills like camouflage and hiding in plain sight -- skills employed by her villains. Born and raised in South Carolina, the setting for Honor Code (A Mystery Novella) and her mystery novel The Professor, Cathy now makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her workaholic  husband and a 75-pound Lab who thinks she’s still a lap-puppy. You can learn more on her website

Find Cathy

On Facebook,https://www.facebook.com/#!/CathyPerkinsAuthor
On Twitter, http://twitter.com/cperkinswrites

Time, Time, Time – What’s A Reader To Do?
by Cathy Perkins

How can we get it all done? Everything we have to do – plus the things we want to do?

We still have twenty-four hours, right? Do we cram too much into each day, or do we simply have too many balls in the air?

When the day job, family, volunteer activities, oh, the rest of life gets hectic, often my reading time suffers. I love to read. My favorites are character-driven mysteries. But sometimes, I start a novel, then come back two days later and backtrack to remember what’s going on. Frustrating, and not conducive to "getting lost in a story."

My Discovery

Recently, however, I’ve rediscovered short fiction. Stories I can read during lunch or while sitting in the orthodontist waiting room, or …. Well, you have plenty of those moments, right?

But I do want a story. Character. Conflict. Short stories and novellas can deliver them in bite-size chunks.

As an author, I’d always been a little awed by short story writers. In just a few pages, they set up a conflict, shape a character and deliver a twisty ending. And don’t get me started on song lyrics — whew, a complete story in less than four minutes.

Writers often seem to fall into one camp or the other — long or short — without much cross-over. I figured I was firmly in the "long" camp, concentrating on novels. I’m one of those authors who loves writing twisty, multiple suspects, numerous red herrings and a few subplots just in case things aren’t complicated enough already stories.

I was going crazy with the day job this summer, trying to finish a story to turn in to my editor, when a funny thing happened. A character from The Professor cleared his throat and said, "Get over here and pay attention."

And I discovered novellas can be fun to write.

Why Novella

Novellas fill that gray area (or whatever shade you want it to be) between short story and novel. While I usually write complex subplots, with this novella, I stripped those out to focus on the central story and theme. In Honor Code (A Mystery Novella) the story revolves around the way the main characters choose to live their lives — their code of honor.

Or lack of one.

The layers of complexity in a novella must serve multiple tasks, both driving the story forward and defining the characters. The romance in Honor Code is a subplot to the suspense, but I found a theme in mature love that I really want to explore in another story.

Hmm… maybe another novella….

What do you like as a reader or a writer? Long or short? Giving secondary characters the stage for a while? Or would you rather focus on the main character, the primary plot?

Takeaway Truth

Thanks for visiting, Cathy, and good luck with your novella and your novel. May you have great success with the short and long forms.

Colin Firth Shines in The End of the Affair

The End of the Affair is available as an audio book with Colin Firth narrating. Colin Firth has a voice that's inviting and rich with emotion. It lends itself to the erudite inner ramblings and recollections and roiling emotions of this story.

Mr. Firth shines as the narrator of Graham Greene’s familiar story which has been presented to the public in just about every form from print to stage. He does an amazing job with the various British regional accents. When the viewpoint character, Maurice Bendix, talks about writing, there is an authenticity that writers recognize.

I've always found this story a bit depressing -- painful even -- because, after all, it's the story of a love affair that ended as most illicit love affairs seem to do. The inner emotional landscape of the viewpoint character is discomfiting yet absorbing, and as absorbing as it is self-absorbed as he mentally catalogs his memories and autopsies his emotions, attitudes, and thoughts.

Takeaway Truth

Although set in London during and shortly afterward WWII, the story is as old as time and just as relevant today as it was then, and it is beautifully and skillfully narrated.

Parents: Texting & Teens Behind The Wheel

I was coming home from the doctor the other day. My husband was driving, and we were in his big Ford pickup. We were on the Beltway, overtaking a Nissan in the lane parallel to us. That car suddenly surged over toward us.Fortunately, my husband was able to move over to avoid a collision.

I looked down at the driver -- a teenage girl who was texting. At 65 miles per hour! Had she hit us, not much would have happened to us, but I fear at the very least, her little car would have been totaled. I shudder to think about what would have happened to her in such a small car.

Stats

In 2010, statistics released by the U.S. DOT showed 3,092 people were killed and an estimated 416,000 injured in a motor vehicle accident involving a distracted driver -- that means a driver texting or talking on the cell phone.

Sending or receiving a text takes the driver's eyes off the road for about 4.6 seconds. That time is the equivalent of driving the length of a football field at 55 mph while blindfolded.

About 20% of drivers text while behind the wheel. Of the age group 18-24, that percentage increases to 66%!

I think the time has come to do something about this. Campaign for your state to ban texting while driving. I'd like to see an end to cell phone use while driving too. It's just got out of control.

Parents, An App To Help

If you're a parent with a teen driver, first set a good example by never texting and driving.

Second, sign up for a monthly service that disables texting and other functions when the user is driving. tXtBlocker is a highly customizable service that will do this, only permitting incoming and outgoing calls to present "safe lists" and emergency numbers.

There are probably other such services, but I just read about this one so it's fresh in my mind.

Price is based on a monthly subscription starting at $7.00/month. There's a family plan that covers everyone for $10.00. Plug the search string "text blocker" into your favorite search engines or inquire with your cell phone service provider.

Takeaway Truth

Don't wait for something tragic to happen. Do something now to remove the temptation of texting and phoning while driving.

The Right "Write" Attitude

Rolling with the punches inspired this article because I'm still sick and supposed to be taking it easy. Sometimes you just can't go about business as usual. You just have to take a step back whether you want to or not.

Today, let's talk about the way you respond to your audience. When your work is put out into the world, you'll sometimes receive unanticipated responses from that audience.

(This article previously appeared in Writing Hacks, my subscription newsletter for writers. Subscribe today if you want to read articles like this as soon as they are published.)

A lot of authors indie publish a book and wait for the bucks to roll in. They're stunned when their book doesn't sell. A month passes, and they want to weep when they see their sales report. They get depressed. They begin to question their writing and their writing career.

A lot of authors indie publish a book and wait for accolades to be tossed their way. When they immediately get a scathing 1-star review, they're devastated. Weeks pass, more bad reviews appear even though they also have a few excellent 5-star reviews. Each bad one is like a knife in the heart. They get depressed. They begin to question their writing and their writing career.

Tempered and Tough

Most of these authors I've described above have not been in the trenches for years on end -- writing, submitting to NY editors and agents, and getting rejected over and over. Or, they've never had a book come out from a publisher and had it trashed by "real" reviewers, meaning those hired by a periodical to write journalistic reviews, not casual readers posting reviews.

The problem with these authors who are having their hearts broken is that they haven't been toughened by years in the trenches. I've been doing this for more than 20 years. Just as steel is made stronger by heat-tempering, so is an author by being roasted alive on a fairly regular basis.

I have some advice for all of you who aren't selling like you wish or those who are getting savaged by heartless reviewers. Consider adopting these characteristics for the new year.

7 Tips For Attitude Adjustment

1. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

If you're in this to make some quick bucks over a short time frame, then you're in the wrong business. From the moment you begin indie publishing, you must know that you're in it for the long haul. It will take time to build an audience and name recognition and begin selling steadily each day.

2. Learn everything you can about marketing and promotion.

Pick and choose among the many avenues and do what you can do without sacrificing the writing.

3. Write and keep improving.

4. Strive to publish at least 2 books a year to keep growing your audience satisfied.

5. Learn to ignore bad reviews because you will ALWAYS get them. There's no avoiding them. Just read some of the scathing reviews the biggest names in romance get -- like two of my favorites, Susan Elizabeth Phillips or Linda Howard -- and you'll realize that there are a ton of people who don't like the 2 most popular names in the genre! So if people don't like your books, then you're in good company.

6. Focus on the good -- making sales however few they may be -- and adopt the attitude that tomorrow will be brighter and keep trying.

If you sold a book this week, then rejoice! Careers are built one book at a time; one sale at a time.

7. Don't look at other authors who are doing well and envy their success. For heaven's sake, don't try to sabotage your fellow authors because they're succeeding, and you're not. What goes around; comes around.

I've been a professional writer -- meaning earning my primary income from writing -- for a couple of decades. I had a lot of lean years even when I was selling regularly to NY. There were more years when my writing income came from freelance clients not from books. I just didn't give up though, and finally all the hard work paid off. A lot of people might look at me and say that I made it big in less than a year, but they don't see that other 20+ years of work and dedication.

Takeaway Truth

No one has it easy. You either pay your dues in the beginning, along the way, or just when you think you're going to get the big break. No one gets off scot-free, but you can make it easier on yourself by adopting the right "write" attitude. That attitude adjustment will help you be less vulnerable to stinker reviews, and it will also keep your motivation ramped up.

What To Do About Copyright Infringers

One of the biggest problems facing those who work in the Arts is copyright infringement. File sharing just about killed the music industry before trade organizations stepped in and tried to stem the rising tide of piracy.

DMCA

Authors who want to make a living selling their work are now facing a similar horde of pirates and file sharers. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is supposed to provide protection for us, but it's meaningless until the government actually starts prosecuting people who are taking our work and uploading on servers for others to download for free.

You, Rights Owner

You, as the rights owner, are supposed to send Takedown Notices when you discover someone has infringed your copyright in order to protect your copyright. If you don't, then that free file will be duplicated on countless servers worldwide. You also may face the problem of an ebook seller pulling your legitimate books because someone has decided to take that free file, slap their name on it as the author, and upload it somewhere.

Full Time Job

Catching these bad guys is a full-time job. You can send Takedown Notices, and/or hire someone to do it for you. I do both. I use MUSO.com to act as my agent. Their software scans the Internet and when an illegally offered file is found, they send me an email. I go look at it, and either say, yes, it's illegal, take it down, or I say no, it's authorized. If I click Takedown, they send notices to the website owner, the host, etc. and stay with it until it's down. Some slip by them. I have Google alerts in place that catch some.

MUSO Helps

MUSO now sends you a list of Google Search Engine Results Pages that show websites that offer your book for free. The pirates hate this because if they're removed from SERP's, that hurts their business. People find them because of searches.

If you've done nothing about dealing with this problem, you need to wake up and take action. Here are some resources to educate you and show you what to do and who to contact. Print this for a resource list or bookmark since it will be archived here on SlingWords.

Educate Yourself

1. Learn about Content Theft At These Websites

2. Plagiarism Today: http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/

3. CopyNot: http://www.copynot.com/

4. U. S. Copyright Office: http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-infringement.html

What To Do; Who To Contact

1. Sample DMCA Letters: http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/stock-letters/

2. DMCA Contact Information: list of websites for just about everyone from domain hosts to search engines. http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/dmca-contact-information/

3. Google List of Infringing Domains or Websites: the bad guys who may have your book posted for free -- 158,000+ on this list. http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/domains/

Report Piracy

1. Disney Company: tips@disneyantipiracy.com

2. National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center), the U.S. government's clearinghouse for investigations into counterfeiting and piracy — crimes that threaten the public's health and safety, the U.S. economy, and our war fighters.
http://www.iprcenter.gov/referral

3. Romance Writers of America: reportpiracy@rwa.org

4. Authors Guild: staff@authorsguild.org

5. eBAY: http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/vero-rights-owner.html

6. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/?id=208282075858952

7. Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/about/copyright/

8. Twitter: https://support.twitter.com/forms/dmca

9. Apple/iTunes: http://www.apple.com/legal/contact/

10. Google: http://support.google.com/video/bin/static.py?hl=en&ts=1284043&page=ts.cs&rd=1

11. Royal Canadian Mounted Police deal with it in Canada: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/fep-pelf/ipr-dpi/guide-eng.htm

Takeaway Truth

If you feel your copyright has been infringed, don't ignore the issue. Take action. Make this one of your 2013 professional goals.

Entertainment Biz Can Suck

Did you see the news about the lowest grossing film of 2012? Playback, a horror film starring Christian Slater, had that dubious honor. In real life, Mr. Slater sounds like a man who has come to grips with his past and moved on down the road so he can probably shake off the negative results of this disconcerting news.

When my husband told me about this, I couldn't believe it because Christian Slater is a wonderful actor. He had a great series in 2008, but My Own Worst Enemy was on network television where it didn't stand a ghost of a chance of surviving. He needs a series on USA Network or TNT -- one of the cable channels that offers out of the box entertainment. Give him a role like in Burn Notice or Leverage or Royal Pains.

Playback

Now, I haven't seen Playback and know nothing about the script, the production values, or anything. I just know that Mr. Slater brings his talent to the role -- no matter how poorly written. I've seen him in some pretty awful movies -- meaning badly written with no transition, characters and story lines that make no sense, etc. -- and he is the best thing in those movies.

Playback, which cost $7.5 million to make, was in only 1 theater for 1 week. It grossed only $264.00 in that week. To me, it sounds as if the film had no distribution deals in place and received no promotion which means the company that made it simply "threw him under the bus."

Capricious Powers That Be

Why? Who the heck knows? That seems to happen a lot in the movie business and in the book publishing business too.

It seems that Mr. Slater just can't get a good role in a well-written movie nor can he get the support of the studio in terms of distribution and promotion. It reminds me of authors who write their hearts out and have books published that get panned by reviewers, ignored by readers, and remaindered at the end of the year while the author gets orphaned by the publisher.

Takeaway Truth

It just goes to show that the entertainment business is capricious and can suck for those who are established as much as for those who are unknown and trying to get established.

Decisions: What To Write Next

I've heard a lot of writers say: "I just can't decide what to write. I've got all these great ideas, but I can't figure out which one to work on. I want to pick the most marketable idea, but I end up confused."

(This article previously appeared in Writing Hacks, my subscription newsletter for writers. Subscribe today if you want to read articles like this as soon as they are published.)

Part of the problem is that they're trying to second-guess or predict the market. Will vampire books continue strong or should I switch to a fantasy elf book since The Hobbit is coming out at the movies? Or maybe I should write Martian werewolves? Will Romance be just as popular next year or is Mystery going to be the hot new genre?

Indecision Leads To Writer's Block

Never try to write to the market. Write the story that's keeping you awake at night and captivates your imagination in the daytime.

If you still have an embarrassment of riches in the form of story ideas or premises, and you truly cannot decide between all the options, then an off the wall decision may be required. You can engage in some fancy psychological charts and processes to arrive at an objective decision or use my simple method.

K.I.S.S Decision Process

Yep. Keep It Simple Sweetheart. This Decision Process is a no-brainer, and it works because it gets you moving on SOMETHING!

1. Write down each idea on a slip of paper.
2. Put them in a bowl.
3. Have your spouse or your kid or your neighbor draw a slip of paper from the bowl.
4. Whatever it says is what you will write next.

Believe it or not, this really works for people who can't decide because they're confused by marketing decisions or other concerns that make them always second guessing themselves.

The Ground Rules

1. You must agree to write the idea that gets drawn so only put in ideas you really want to write.

2. You must get someone else to draw the name just to keep you honest.

3. You must tape the slip of paper over your work desk or monitor so you can see it each time you sit at your computer.

4. You must take action immediately. The key to goal achievement is taking immediate action. List the steps needed to write the book from beginning to end and block out the time on your calendar. Do it now.

5. You must save all the other slips of paper for future use. If you get a new idea, don't stop to mull it over or make notes, just write the idea on paper and add it to the bowl.

6. You must agree not to work on any other ideas until the first idea is finished.

This works because you're separating all the confusing marketing information from the creative process. You want to get it written before you worry about marketing.

This removes the confusion and emotion and all the other factors that have tied your hands in the past. This allows you to move forward, focusing on the idea you drew without losing clarity of purpose, because you now have your work in progress defined.

Takeaway Truth

Stay on task. Stay focused. Keep your thoughts on the work at hand. Keep your eyes on the goal.

Auld Lang Syne

"Should old acquaintance be forgot, and days of auld lang syne?"

Thus begins the song many of us sing at midnight every New Year's Eve. Auld Lang Syne , literally translated as "old long since," or idiomatically as "long, long ago" or "old times" or "days gone by," was a poem written by Scots poet Robert Burns in 1788.

The words were later set to the tune of a traditional folk song. About 200 years later, in the United States, England, and Scotland, holiday gatherings had guests joining hands at midnight and singing Auld Lang Syne to say farewell to the old year and welcome in the new.

Canadian big band leader Guy Lombardo was credited with popularizing the song for New Year’s celebrations in the U.S. via his annual radio broadcasts beginning in 1929 and eventually moving to television New Year broadcasts. The song became his trademark, and he recorded it a few times.

Today, the song is well known in many countries, and is not sung just for New Year's. It's not uncommon to hear it at funerals, graduations, or farewell ceremonies. The Boy Scouts in many countries close their jamborees with it.

Takeaway Truth

So, let's "... take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne." Happy New Year!