Weekends and Workshops

Hope you all had good weekends. Mine was fine. I had a RWA board meeting on Saturday (I'm VP of the New England chapter) and on Sunday night, as I mentioned before, I went to see Bauhaus in concert. What a great show. Peter Murphy's voice was as amazing as ever.

Worked on WHAT, NO ROSES?, of course, as well. It's shaping up nicely, I must say. I'm looking forward to finishing and passing it in!! Sooooon. Soooo soooooooon! I also can't wait to see what they come up with for a cover. I've had good luck on covers so far, but I'm always nervous before I see them. It's BS when people say, "Don't judge a book by its cover." I always do it! I will totally buy a book if it has a cool cover. And I know others do as well. Plus the cover does so much to define the book. For the record, I told them I wanted it to look like the Chicago movie poster. Not that my opinion counts much. We'll see what they come up with. The book is part of a multi-author series of comedic time-travels, so they have to do something thematically that will work for more than one book.

BTW the first book in the Vintage Romance series is Naomi Neale's "I Went to Vassar for This?" which comes out in June and sounds adorable.

So this week I'm going to be doing a workshop on the Romance Divas website. Be sure to stop by. It's called "What to Expect When You're Expecting...A Book Contract!" Here's the blurb:

It's the moment a writer remembers forever. You pick up the phone and there's an editor on the line saying they love your book. Better yet, they want to publish your book! Suddenly, for one brief, shining moment, all your dreams have come true.

Or have they?

Once a writer sells, she's instantly thrown into a whole new world of trouble. Now, instead of worrying about margins and POV, she's got to deal with contracts, covers, revisions, publicity, etc. It's enough to make your head spin!

In this workshop, Dorchester and Berkley author Marianne Mancusi takes you down the road of publication. From the moment you get the call to the happy day your book hits the shelves, she'll explain what you can expect to happen. You'll learn about contract negotiations, advance payments, revisions, galleys, covers and cover quotes, promoting, option clauses, and more. She'll also discuss editor etiquette - how you can develop a good working relationship with your publisher that will last for years to come.

This is NOT just a class for those who have already gotten the call. This is a class to prepare you for that day, so when it happens, you won't have to scramble.

I should be posting the first lesson in the forum section this afternoon or evening. Please stop by and ask questions so I don't feel all lonley! :) You have to register, but it's free and it's a great site anyway with tons of good writer resources! So what do you have to lose?

Marianne