Tell Me Something Tuesday: 12.19.2023 (Phone Apps)

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I'm not sure I could live without any of them. LOL. But the ones I tend to use the most are my social media apps--Facebook, (especially messenger) Twitter, Instagram. My banking apps and email. And I'm always playing either Monster Busters or Solitaire Grand Harvest. 

What are your must have phone apps?

Thursday Thoughts: Social Time Suck

 

As authors, we're often told by our fellow authors, industry professionals, marketers, promoters, bloggers, readers and a host of other people that we have to be on social media. That we need to have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Goodreads, and whatever new site pops up every so often. We need to post multiple times a day. We need to stay on top of all the new trends while being "real" and honest and commenting on large world events -- or even smaller conflicts within our community. 

Well, I'm here to ask WHY? Why do I need to do all of that stuff? I'm an author. My job is to write, isn't it? Shouldn't my focus be on writing books for people to read? Yeah, but... how will people know about your books if you're not on social media? 

Let me be clear that I'm not against social media. Just the opposite. I actually enjoy it when I'm using it organically and for fun. But when I'm actively trying to engage with readers or create content with the goal of garnering engagement, I find myself hating it. I come to loathe logging into my accounts. And spending so much time creating content, posting content, and then monitoring engagement takes valuable time away from the three things that are way more important: 

1. My family

2. My health

3. My writing

So, again, I find myself asking WHY? Why do I need to do all of this extra stuff? And the answer is: I don't! Do you know how freeing that is?? I don't have to spend hours every week scheduling engagement posts across all my social media platforms. I don't have to create content for my readers. And you want to know why? Because my books are my content. 

I write and publish books to entertain readers and engage with them on a deeper level. Does this mean I'm going to quit social media all together? Of course not. But instead of focusing on all the various platforms, I'm going to focus more of my time and effort on this blog, my newsletter, and writing my books. I'll share my blog posts to my social media profiles, and I'll post when I have something fun to share, but I'm no longer posting daily / weekly memes or questions. And you will never see me dancing on TikTok!

Goodbye social media time suck!

Got thoughts about this topic? 

Share them in the comments below.

YELLOWFACE by R.F. Kuang: Worth the Hype?

Thanks for checking out my new blog feature, Worth the Hype? I'm hoping to have a new post every Wednesday where I'll discuss and sorta review books I'm reading. Up first...

YELLOWFACE 

by 

R.F. Kuang

This is very far out of my normal reading realm. I'm a hardcore YA reader, mostly paranormal, dystopian, and thrillers. On the adult spectrum, I tend to read a lot of horror and romantic suspense. So, for anyone who knows anything about YELLOWFACE, you know this doesn't tick any of those genre boxes. LOL. 

But, I've heard so much about this book on Twitter. Authors I love were tweeting about how amazing this book was and how, if you're in the publishing sphere, you must read this book. In fact, a thread by author Diana Urban, which can be found HERE is what ultimately made me go buy this book. 

When I tell you I was hooked from page one... this book takes you on one hell of a rollercoaster ride through publishing, social media, "cancel culture," representation, author jealousy, and the loneliness that is writing. So many times while reading, I was simultaneously nodding along and cringing. I laughed and gasped and for each new "thing" the protagonist faced, I was easily reminded of an actual Twitter dust-ups that've happened. The reality in this fictional tale is mind-blowing. 

So, is this book worth the hype?

I did feel like the pacing near the middle sagged a bit, but that didn't really alter my enjoyment of this book. I was too invested by that point, and I had to know what would happen. And I really did NOT see that ending coming! I'm left with quite a few questions, which usually bugs me in fiction, but I'm oddly okay with that this time. I know this is a book that will stay with me, and I'll think about for several days. I really hope there might be a sequel. *fingers crossed*  I'm going to be recommending this book to everyone I know, too. 

Have you read YELLOWFACE? If so, what did you think of it? If not, do you plan to? Share your thoughts in the comments :) 

Anaiah Press: Upcoming Events & Pitch Contests

I've got some exciting news! As you all know, I'm the Managing Editor of the Surge Imprint (YA/NA) at Anaiah Press. I've really enjoyed my position, interacting with some wonderful authors, and working daily with the fabulous staff. So, now I'm super happy to announce that I'm also taking over as Managing Editor of our Romance Imprint!

That's right -- I'm now on the hunt for adult romances in addition to YA and NA novels. Stay tuned for a post that will outline my romance wish list :)

Now, on to some even more exciting news. Anaiah is busy hunting for some stellar manuscripts to add to our line up. In an effort to do that, and to help all you aspiring authors skip right over the slush pile, we're hosting and participating in some fun pitch contests. 

January 20th - January 25th

YAtopia Blog Pitch

Anaiah Press is on YAtopia blog accepting pitches for YA, NA, MG, PB, NF, and adult manuscripts. You can pitch your book directly to our editors in 50 words or less. If you catch our editors' attention, they'll comment with instructions on how to submit directly to them. 

You can find the contest HERE.

January 24th & February 28th 

Facebook Four Sentence Friday Fest

That's right. Every fourth Friday of the month you can pitch your book right on our Facebook page. The rules are simple:

1. Post FOUR SENTENCES on the Anaiah Press Facebook page. These four sentences should tell us about your manuscript. 

2. Please remember: your manuscript must be finished, polished & currently unpublished.

3. If interested, editors will like or comment on your pitch with instructions on how to submit. 

February 5th

#AdPit Twitter Pitch Party

The wonderful Heidi Norrod is hosting #AdPit on Twitter. For full details and rules, go HERE. It's in the same vein as #pitchMAS and #PitMad, except this time, it's for adult manuscripts and non-fiction manuscripts only! So, I'll be on the hunt for some clean, Christian friendly adult romances. I'm sure Senior Editor, Jessica will be stalking the feed looking for some non-fiction for our Inspirations line!

February 19th

Flirting with Romance Blog Pitch Party

We will be spending the entire day at the Flirting with Romance Blog taking pitches for adult romance manuscripts. I'm really excited to find some romantic suspense! More details about dates, times, and pitching rules will be posted as they're revealed. 

Polish Your Pitches - It's #PitMad Time!

Tomorrow is January 8th and it's the ever crazy yet exciting event known as #PitMad. Twitter will be abuzz with authors pitching their novels in the required 140 characters or less -- which is really hard to do! Agents and editor will be trolling the feed looking for the best, most intriguing pitches, and then making requests. It's going to be a TON of fun.

And of course, I will be stalking the feed, looking for some new YA and NA for Anaiah Press. So, I thought it would be much less chaotic for me to outline exactly what I expect during this party.

It's simple, I promise!

If I favorite your #PitMad tweet tomorrow please do the following:
1.  Send me a query letter and first three (3) chapters of your novel pasted into the body of the email to: karaleigh.miller (at) anaiahpress (dot) com

See? Told you it was easy :-)

A few things to please keep in mind:

• Don't participate in this event if your manuscript isn't finished, edited, and polished.
• Anaiah Press is a Christian fiction press and we only accept stories that contain themes of inspiration and/or faith (religious themes do not need to be overt) so if you know your story won't fit and I request it, please don't hesitate to send me a polite message stating you're not submitting for this reason.
• Despite popular belief, you don't have to submit to every single agent, publisher, and/or editor who favorites your pitch. If I request materials from you, but your dream is to land an agent, then by all means, feel free to politely decline my request. I'm an author, too. I understand how it goes. But please, please do not send your query if you have no intentions of seriously considering an offer from us.

Happy pitching, Twitterverse! I know it will be Happy Hunting for me :-)

The Official Ass of #PitchWars

Remember that part in Shrek where Donkey jumps up and down screaming, "Pick me! Pick me!"? No? Well, here's a refresher for you:




I feel like poor Donkey. A single ass among thousands jumping up and down, waving my arms, screaming and shouting: PICK ME!

I'm going to guess that won't get me anywhere. *sigh*

When being obnoxious fails, (and it fails often, trust me) I fall back on my ability to reason logically. So, here are the top 5 reasons why YOU should PICK ME to be your mentee.

YOUR PERSONAL BITCH.

5.  I will be your bitch.

Yes, you read that correctly. I will be so damn grateful and excited to be picked that I will be your bitch. You want me to fetch you coffee and scones? Done. You want me to read a dissertation about the reproductive cycle of slugs and write a synopsis of it? Done. You want me to troll Twitter and spy on the other teams? Done. You want me to post embarrassing pictures of myself for your amusement? Done.

You name it. I'll do it.

(Disclaimer: This offer is reserved specifically for the mentor who chooses me.) 

4.  I'm an editing freak.

I mentioned this on my Mentee Bio, but it bears repeating.

I LOVE EDITS!

I love getting them, reading them, doing them. I love having someone else read my work, point out its weaknesses, and then work with me to rebuild it. Sure, edits can be tough sometimes, but I 100%, wholeheartedly believe in the editing process.

If you pick me, I will work my ass off until my manuscript is as great as it can be.

3.  Good Cop. Bad Cop.

Confession time: I suck at talking smack.

Sorry, but I do. However, I'm VERY good at being nice to people. It just comes naturally to me. So, during #PitchWars, I can go about being nice to everyone and then my mentor can sneak up and smack talk the crap out of our competition! They'll never see us coming. It'll be like playing Good Cop, Bad Cop.

(Side note: I'm not implying that my future mentor isn't nice. I know better than that. I'm simply acknowledging that my mentor will have certain skills that I do not possess. Any good partnerships works off of each other's strengths right?)

2.  I'm a ton of fun!

Seriously. I have a fantastic sense of humor. I wouldn't have survived my childhood otherwise.

Example: When I was a teen and I went on my first date -- which was actually just a bunch of us getting together to go to a movie, but a boy I really liked was picking me up at my house therefore it was a real date to me -- my father stood at the front door and watched, like any good father would, as I walked to the van with said boy. Just as we got the side door open, my father yelled: "Bring her back a virgin!"

True story.

It takes a lot to offend me. (Translation: You have carte blanche to say anything to me in jest and I will laugh. Guaranteed!)

1. I'm an ass.
There. I said it.

Yesterday when I was obsessing over perfecting my non-creepy, non-stalkerish personalized mentor queries, I completely forgot to include my email address or any social media links.

So any mentors who get a letter without that information, it was me.

Yup.  #EpicFail

Sure, it's embarrassing, and sure I'm worried that this might affect my chances at getting picked, but, I think this says something important about me: I'm not afraid to admit when I've made a mistake. I can own it. Fix it. Learn from it.

And isn't that what every mentor wants? A mentee who will learn from this process?

Twitter Pitch Workshop

Entranced Publishing has had so much fun with their first ever Friday Frenzy event, but we know some of the authors felt a little overwhelmed, having to condense a whole query down to 140 characters or less. That's why, for the next two weeks, the Entranced Publishing authors are banding together to bring you Friday Frenzy Twitter Pitch Workshops!

Here's how it all works:

1.)  You post your potential query in the comments section using this formula:
                         Name:
                         Title:
                         Genre:
                         Query (less than 100 words):
                         Twitter Pitch(es):

2.)  I give you feedback on it.

3.) You give feedback to two other people who have posted their queries - remember what goes around comes around!

Here's the bonus: I'm not alone in hosting this workshop! Some of the other lovely Entranced Publishing authors are doing it, too. So jump on over to their blogs and offer your support to Twitter pitching authors like yourself!

ST BENDE
MELINDA DOZIER
ANA BLAZE

Feeling a little overwhelmed? Not sure how to proceed? That's okay. Hop on over to the wonderful Louise D. Gornall's  blog where you can find some very useful tips, tricks, and sample pitches!

Don't forget to follow @EntrancedPub on Twitter so you can pitch them your book during this weeks #FridayFrenzy!

Have fun and happy pitching!