Tuesday, October 18, 2011

My Guest, Mystery Author, Marilyn Meredith, Tells Us About Changes in the Writing World

THINGS KEEP CHANGING IN THE WRITING WORLD, according to my guest today, Mystery Author, Marilyn Meredith. Here's what she has to say:


Marilyn Meredith

I’ve been at this longer than most and I’ve seen a lot of changes in the writing world, enough to know that nothing ever stays the same.

When I first started writing, I did it in long hand then transcribed it on a typewriter. So I would have copies when I began with a new page, it was paper, carbon paper (had to be sure to put it facing the right direction), and another piece of paper. It was awhile before copying machines came along.

When sending out a manuscript, I had to have two boxes, one with my return address and postage to put inside the larger box so that my manuscript would come back to me if it was rejected. After all, I didn’t want to type all 500 words over again.

Eventually, I would have to retype the manuscript, though, because after being sent out and returned from about five different publishers, it would become rather shop-worn: bent pages, coffee stains, and smelling like cigarette smoke. When I retyped I often also rewrote. (By the way, my first book was rejected nearly 30 times before it found a home.)

Electronic typewriters came along, ones with a correction ribbon. Oh, what a wonderful discovery. By this time, there were also outfits that had copying machines, so for about 5 cents a page, I could get a copy of my manuscript.

Personal computers were the biggest gift to a writer yet. My first one had two places for floppy disks—and these were big and really floppy—one was for the program being used, the other for your story. Neither held very many words. To learn how to use it, the fellow who sold it to me had to come to my house—he also received a lot of phone calls from me.

I have no idea how many other computers I’ve had since then—each one far better than the one before it. You could even have your own printer, copier and fax included.

The next great change was the Internet and email. Sending a whole manuscript via an attachment to e-mail was wonderful! Think of all the paper I saved. Wow!

The first notion of e-books came along about then—10 years or so ago. I had an e-book published before there was such a thing as an e-reader. Not only did that mean anyone buying the book had to read it on a computer, but purchasing it was not easy. The Rocket e-Reader came along and it was great. Ebooks were easily purchased and downloaded. And of course everyone knows how the ebook revolution has taken over with all sorts of eReaders available. Not only that, people can publish their trade paperbacks and their own e-books in various ways

I recently heard that for 150 ebooks are being purchased for every 100 paper books.

Change is coming faster than ever before and it makes me wonder what’s next.


Bears With Us by
Marilyn Meredith
 My latest book is Bears With Us and Deputy Tempe Crabtree has her hands full when bears turn up in and around Bear Creek, a young teen commits suicide and his parents’ actions are suspicious, a prominent woman files a complaint against Tempe and her preacher husband Hutch, a love affair from long ago comes to light, and a woman suffering from dementia disappears.

Available from the publisher as a trade paperback and most e-book formats at: http://mundania.com/book.php?title=Bears+With+Us/

The link at Amazon is

http://www.amazon.com/Bears-Us-Marilyn-Meredith/dp/1606592645/


All my books are available as trade paperback and e-books. You can see what I have on my website: http://fictionforyou.com/

My books are also available at Barnes and Noble, and can be ordered through your favorite independent bookstores.

Marilyn Meredith is the author of over thirty published novels, many award winning, including the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series. Writing as F. M. Meredith, her latest Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel is Angel Lost, the third from Oak Tree Press. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, Four chapters of Sisters in Crime, including the Central Coast chapter, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. She’s also a been an instructor at many writing conferences including the Maui Writers Retreat, Central Coast Writing Conference and many others.


Visit Marilyn online at http://fictionforyou.com/
and her blog at http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/.

Please leave a comment for Marilyn. Maybe you'd like to mention if you've noticed any changes yourself.

Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Really Roughing It

I'm sitting on the deck of my cottage in the Northwoods. Inside, along with electricity and running water, I have basic cable TV with remote control, VCR and DVD players, a laptop computer, an iPhone from which I can get email and connect to the Internet, or in the alternative, connect the iPhone to the computer and read it all there. On the end table by the bed sit my hands-free landline phone and clock radio. The kitchen contains a small stove and refrigerator, and running water. The bathroom boasts a toilet and shower.

Coming Soon
Forever Young-
Blessing or Curse
My husband fishes from the pier or takes his motorboat out when weather is permitting. So far on this trip, weather is very much cooperating.

From the campground further down the road, I can see a Fed Ex truck coming out.

Did I mention all the great restaurants nearby, and the casino a little too close for my pocketbook?

It's a wonder in the midst of all this hardship I can actually find the strength to sit down and get any editing done on my thriller, Forever Young-Blessing or Curse. Despite the enormous odds, somehow I'll have to manage.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Tell Us How It Got There

On one of my many walks, I happened to notice a hole in the window of a new house that was for sale. I had a few ideas of how it could have gotten there, but I thought I'd ask you to tell me and everyone how you think a hole in a window could have happened.

Please give a short scenario of how the hole got there - a sentence or two, or if you wish, 1-2 paragraphs.
Later, I'll tell you my theories.


If you like romantic suspense,
Killer Career is 99 cents on
Kindle and Smashwords,
$13.95 in print

Thriller - Forever Young-Blessing
or Curse - almost ready!

Mystery - Two Wrongs coming out
again soon!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

This Week's Lineup

I'm still working on Forever Young-Blessing or Curse, so I'm not blogging as much. I still managed to get a few posts in, if you'd like to check any of them out.

My 2nd monthly post at The Blood-Red Pencil -
http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/2011/09/leave-tip-today-on-blood-red-pencil.html

My blog at Acme Authors Link inspired by a Sold sign -
http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com/2011/09/sold.html

My guest, RJ McDonnell, rock & roll series mystery author. That's not all he does -
http://spunkyseniors.blogspot.com/2011/09/rj-mcdonnell-senior-tweener-fulfills.html


Morgan Mandel

Killer Career is 99 cents on
Kindle & Smashwords.
Also in print at Amazon.

Forever Young-Blessing
or Curse Coming Soon

Two Wrongs to be re-
released soon.

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Where I Am Lately

You're welcome to make comments at any of these blogs, even if not on the date I originally posted -

At the Acme Authors Link, tell us what your favorite social network is -
http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com/2011/09/whats-your-favorite-social-network.html

On Monday I did a blog about Mishaps and how to use them to advantage in manuscripts. I asked people to mention theirs, and got some unusual responses at
http://makeminemystery.blogspot.com/2011/09/mishaps-by-morgan-mandel.html

Here's a fun blog called Save the Goober, where you get to show how to fix a mangled manuscript excerpt -http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/2011/09/save-goober.html

At Spunky Seniors, you can see a blog about me and my pit bull at
http://spunkyseniors.blogspot.com/2011/09/spunky-senior-morgan-mandel-owns-pit.html,
among other blogs from seniors. Thursday, Sept. 8, will be a post where I feature one of my favorites, The DanZman. If you sign up for emails, you won't miss any of the posts there or you can just drop by http://spunkyseniors.blogspot.com/ at any given time to see what seniors are up to.


Thanks,
Morgan Mandel
Killer Career still
99 cents on Kindle
and Smashwords.
Also in print for 13.95

Two Wrongs to be
re-released soon.

Forever Young-
Blessing or Curse
also coming soon.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Spring Fling 2012 Conference

Get in on the great early registration discount for Spring Fling 2012 conference.
I will be one of the presenters at this conference, speaking about Blog Book Tours!
Here is the information:
2012 SPRING FLING WRITERS' CONFERENCE
Chicago-North Romance Writers of America
April 27-28, 2012
Hoffman Estates, IL

Early Registration opens September 1, 2011
FEATURED SPEAKERS
New York Times best-selling authors:
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Mary Balogh
Simone Elkeles

*Over 30 workshops, many presented by NY Times bestsellers, RITA award winners and multi-published authors. http://www.chicagospringfling.com/workshops.php
*5 Publisher spotlights

EDITORS
Martin Biro-Kensington Publishing
Tera Kleinfelter-Samhain Publishing
Megan Long-Harlequin
Shauna Summers-Ballantine Bantam Dell
Tessa Woodward-Avon Publishing

AGENTS
Ginger Clark-Curtis Brown LTD
Cori Deyoe-3 Seas Literary Agency
Scott Eagan-Greyhaus Literary Agency
Sara Megibow-Nelson Literary Agency
Paige Wheeler-Folio Literary Management, LLC.

*Agent/editor appointments provided on a first registered first served basis.
*Agents and editors subject to change.

Early registration from September 1-October 31, 2011.
RWA members: $164
Non-RWA members: $174

Regular Registration opens November 1, 2011
RWA members: $184
Non-RWA members: $184

For more information about Spring Fling 2012 and to register for the conference please visit:
http://www.chicagospringfling.com/
Questions? Contact us at: conference@chicagonorthrwa.org


It would be great to meet you there!



Thursday, August 18, 2011

I Have A Cover For Two Wrongs!

After collaborating with my cover artist, Stephen Walker of S.R. Designs, http://www.srwalkerdesigns.com/ ,
he constructed a great cover for the re-release of my reverted rights debut mystery, Two Wrongs by Morgan Mandel.

A boy's sister is murdered and he knows who did it, or does he?
Prison can turn the most innocent man into a killer. What happens when the person testified against is free?

This novel is set in Chicago when Marshall Field's was still Field's, with references to the Big Tree, Walnut Room and Frango mints during an era when basketball was king.
Lots of Chicago references, including my alma mater,
DePaul University.

As soon as I change the introduction, do a read through and insert a teaser at the back, I'll tackle downloading it onto Kindle and Smashwords. Hopefully, this can be done sometime in September, by October at the lastest. It may also coincide with the release of my new thriller, Forever Young-Blessing or Curse, which is in the editing stages.

I'll let everyone know!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Authors, Be Aware!

Money's tight, so we all need to be alert. I noticed an email ad from Kohl's about free shipping, with no purchase limit, along with 15% off. I then remembered I'd also received a mailer ad containing a 20% off code. I knew what I wanted to buy, so I went online and completed the transaction. What would have been a $51.00 charge became $35.36.

Many readers are out of jobs, or making less money than before. They're looking for deals also. Authors need to be aware of this trend. If you're publishing a book on Amazon Kindle or Smashwords, don't overcharge. Unless you're super-popular, you won't make many sales.

Or, maybe you're entering into a contract with a publisher. If so, think about that publisher's record with ebooks. Are they usually overpriced? What percentage of the sales will you get? Would it be worth it to keep the electronic rights if the publisher will allow it?

The majority of readers still want print, but the tide is still turning. While it does, and probably afterwards, overpriced ebooks don't sell as well. People still want to read, but they're looking for bargains. I know I am.

My current romantic suspense, Killer Career, is priced at 99 cents on Amazon Kindle and at Smashwords. I plan to put Forever Young-Blessing or Curse up at $2.99 at first. I have two backlist books I'm getting ready to also transfer over, and don't plan to go higher than $2.99 for any of them.

What are your thoughts about ebook pricing and book trends?




You can also find Morgan Mandel at
http://facebook.com/morgan.mandel
http://twitter.com/morganmandel
and other online spots.

Tuesday, August 09, 2011

In the Mood

My friend, Debra St. John, and I were discussing writing and editing our manuscripts. We both agreed we  get a lot more accomplished if we're in the right mood.

Some people may consider it a copout, but if I'm too tired or too rushed, I can't give my manuscript the focus it deserves.

But what if I'm never in the mood?

Sometimes it's not easy to psych myself up to get back into the mood once I'm out of it.This started to happen after putting aside my work in progress to clear the basement after the recent flooding.

I wanted to get the editing of Forever Young-Blessing or Curse started again, but part of me said I didn't, mainly because I'd gotten out of the habit of being in the mood.


After setting aside a block of time with no interruptions, I went to the manuscript and began editing and kept at it. Soon I was back in the mood, getting into the flow where I wanted to be.

I'm not done yet, but I'm getting there. I used some trickery to get back into the mood, but it worked.

What about you? Do you have to be in the mood to write or edit? Do you sometimes trick yourself into getting back into the mood?

Monday, August 01, 2011

My glam shot

Lots of laundromat visits since the basement flooded over a week ago. I'm still cleaning up the mess of waterlogged items amassed from living in the same place over thirty years.

The good news is I finally had time to do more editing on Forever Young- Blessing or Curse today. Also, soon the basement will look better than it has in years!



Morgan Mandel

Thursday, July 28, 2011

RAIN is a four-letter word

I know lots of four-letter words that I won't list here. During the winter, SNOW is one of them.
These days, I've added RAIN to my list.

All week it has kept me from doing the edits on Forever Young-Blessing or Curse.

After what might be described as a drought, rain came down in buckets last Friday night and more is predicted. That's not good news because our basement took in 6 inches of water while we lay in bed unaware of the floodgates being opened. Lots of throwing out of Christmas items where the dye ran, plus other wet items, some that should have been discarded years ago. A horrible way to clean out the basement which needed cleaning!

Treasures found were photos in a waterlogged Rubbermaid container, which I rescued after many tedious hours of separating them to dry. It was worth the effort to bring back such memories.

I'm very disappointed that the Rubbermaid containers turned into flotation devices and tipped over with lids coming undone. I'd thought they would be more secure.

I keep telling myself it could have been worse, since many people threw out carpeting and other items that got ruined, and we don't keep anything really fancy down there.

With the forecast of more RAIN this afternoon and  tonight, the DH and I are hoping it won't be visiting our basement! If it does, it won't find too much left to get wet.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

My Post Tip - Please Plus


Morgan Mandel

Google +  (Google Plus) is still in its infancy, yet already has millions of members. This network may have a huge impact on SEO, if it doesn't already. Since that may be the case, if you like a blogpost somewhere, and happen to see a plus sign in the tray at the bottom of that post, please click the plus sign. I believe pluses will have the effect of bringing it to the attention of the millions of Google Plus members,

Plus your post yourself first. Never lose an opportunity.

My Google Plus address is morgansplus@gmail.com if you belong also and want to connect.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Everywhere


Forever Young
Blessing or Curse

 I've been everywhere lately, and not here as much. I'm still working on my edits for Forever Young-Blessing or Curse and am amazed how much can still be changed. when I thought before it was right. (g)

Also, I've been pushing the new Spunky Seniors blog at http://spunkyseniors.blogspot.com/ for the 50 and over crowd, or those who are just curious to see how our minds work.


Then, to top it off, I've also created a new Facebook Group, called, guess what? Spunky Seniors, also for the 50 and overs and wannabees (yes, there are some), at https://www.facebook.com/morgan.mandel#!/groups/spunkyseniors

So, I've been busy, and now must get back to my editing so I can get my book out!

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

A New Blog Called Spunky Seniors

I'm excited to announce my new blog especially for and about seniors. It's about all kinds of fun things seniors are doing these days.

I've got some great pictures from these bloggers to go with their posts as well.

July 7  - Maggie Toussaint goes kayaking.

Here's the link for Maggie's post -
http://spunkyseniors.blogspot.com/2011/07/spunky-maggie-toussaint-kayaks-in-rice.html


July 14 - Pat Bean goes skydiving.

If you're 50 or over and are spunky in some way, I'd be very interested in what you do, and would love some jpegs about it also. Or, maybe a family member or friend, or famous figure strikes you as a spunky senior. I'd welcome a post and pic or two on that also.

I'm keeping the posts short, 3-4 paragraphs are ideal.

Email me at morgan@morganmandel.com with Spunky Seniors in the subject line if you're interested. In the meantime, no matter what age you are, you may wish to come over and see what our spunky seniors are all about. I've also got a button on the blog for you to follow by email, which is handy for reminders. So far, Thursdays will be the only day a new blog will appear, so people can appreciate the contents all week.

Morgan Mandel

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Blessing or Curse

I've finished one of the stories in Blessing or Curse - A Forever Young Anthology. This one is the tale of Consuela who caretakes her husband, Diego, who suffers from Parkinson's Disease. This tale strikes home to me since my own dear mother suffered from this debilitating disease before she passed on.

In Blessing or Curse you'll learn whether the Forever Young pill was a good or bad thing for this couple.
I'm off now to work on another of the anthology stories.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

In Capable Hands

Forever Young- Blessing or Curse


Forever Young - Blessing or Curse is now in the very capable hands of my editor, Helen Ginger. Hopefully, she won't find too many things wrong with it, but I'll find out. (g)

In the meantime, I'm getting some blog posts ready ahead of time for when I do my Blog Book Tour, and also blurbs to describe the book. It's a busy, fun time!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Will Today be the Day?

I'm wondering if today will be the day I finish editing Forever Young-Blessing or Curse. I'm getting very close.

However, the DH is also home today. He's already got plans for grocery shopping, going to lunch and a few other projects, so maybe it won't be the day.

I'll let you know when it happens.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

It's Worth the Bother

I'm on my second personal edit of Forever Young - Blessing or Curse. I'm finding the experience very intense because not only am I reliving what happens in the story, but I'm also checking every little detail to make sure it's filled in and done in the best way possible.

Editing can be fun, and editing can be drudgery. From minute to minute, my feelings change on which it is for me.

I typed it all out single spaced so I could catch the mistakes and mark them in pen. That works fine, except for then having to go back to the manuscript itself and make the changes. I discovered it's way too easy to go through about ten typed pages and mark the corrections. Trouble is then it's a real pain to go to the manuscript itself and make the changes permanent. For my peace of mind, I'm doing only a few pages at a time now instead. I despise the minutiae!

After this, my manuscript is going over to my real editor, Helen Ginger for an even more intense going-over.

Fingers crossed that the Kindle and Smashwords editions will be ready some time this summer. Then I'll tackle Create Space, another project. I'm glad the front cover is already done, but the back is laying in wait for me. I'll need that before Create Space can publish it. So many details, but I'm chugging along. It's worth the bother.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Fly Like an Eagle?

I saw many eagles while I was on vacation in Wisconsin. They're graceful birds, but also puzzling.

While I walked Rascal one day, I noticed an eagle being chased by a smaller bird. You'd think the eagle, being so much bigger, would have turned on the smaller bird and attacked it. Instead, it put up with the harassment.

The incident reminds me of what's happening now in the publishing world. The smaller birds, i.e., indie publishers and small publishers, are chasing the eagles, i.e., traditional publishers.

The smaller birds are gaining. The big birds are only starting to realize they are threatened. For the most part, they're still going about their usual business, as if no threat is involved. Maybe they don't think there is one.  Or, maybe they can't find a way to get rid of the pesky little birds, the ones they thought wasn't so important but really are.

And what about the authors published by the traditional publishers? Some are having second thoughts about going the same route as before. They're not sure if flying like an eagle is the best choice.

I'm one of the small birds right now, but each author needs to decide what's the best flight path. The great thing about this whole phenomenon is there is a choice.