Last Chances
Last chance to win a free general pass to RomCon in June. Details
here . All you have to do is submit your name in comment form and mention RomCom. The deadline is midnight Sunday, May 27. The pass is valued at $149.00! Shannon Baker was last week's winner.
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The deadline is approaching for the Colorado Gold writing contest as well. If you would like to get your writing in front of an agent or editor, don't miss this chance. Details
here . Deadline for submitting is midnight June 1.
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I have a question for all you readers out there. But that's later. First I want to explain why I'm asking.
This week I attended a workshop (which was really a two hour infomercial for this person's $175.00 workshop) about e-publishing. She has two very successful romantic comedies out and a third to be released this summer. If you judge by money, she's doing VERY well. Better than most traditionally published authors by far. I should also mention that I haven't read her stuff. She may be the best writer since Nora Roberts in this genre. I don't know. It's not something I generally pick up.
But I digress. Here's what she's done. Her first book came out and by some quirk of fate, she got a plug on some big media outlet and the book took off. When the second book came out, she noticed sales were good but not as good as the first. She also noticed a lot of emails saying in her love triangle, she picked the wrong guy for the heroine to end up with. So, what did she do? She rewrote the book and issued it with an alternate ending. It was a hit.
Now, when Fifty Shades of Grey (which I also haven't read and I'd be interested in comments from those who have) came out and was a HUGE success, she thought. Aha!! Mommy-Porn. I can do that, too. So she rewrote the books AGAIN as erotica. They are to be released this summer.
Okay, here's the question--WTF? Is this something you as a reader want? The same story rewritten to catch each wave? Does it bother you? Or is it just me? I may be way off on this but it seems like a cheat. Because these books are epub'd, she can have them out in 48 hours. I'm just surprised she hasn't issued a version where the characters are vampires or mind-reading waitresses.
If you think I'm wrong in my take, let me have it. I've been criticized by the best (Mario and I are in the same critique group, remember.) I really want to know what you think.
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One last thing. I had a conversation about inspiration with my doctor (who is also a friend) and I told her about this Nike ad I cut out from a magazine decades ago. I've kept it pinned on a bulletin board ever since. Her reaction was so positive, I decided to share it on FB. Now, in case you're one of the dozen people left on earth who isn't on FB, I'm sharing it with you. If you click on the picture, you can read it easier.