#ballet noir

[dropboxofcuriosities]

Elle dansait avec la Bête, mais sans espoir de conte. Juste pour la fièvre, le satin et le goût du flou. — Cabaret de brume, 1920

[veri-berri]

☕️🩰🍷🚬

The blorbos of my blorbo cinematic universe

[carolinemillerbooks]

New Post has been published on Books by Caroline Miller

New Post has been published on https://www.booksbycarolinemiller.com/musings/perchance-to-dream-13/

Perchance To Dream 13

(More wisdom on self-publishing) He is a veteran of self-publishing. Even when small and mid-sized presses published my novels, I read his column in the local writers’ newsletter.  His advice was useful for everyone.  Having decided to self-publish my upcoming memoir, Getting Lost of Find Home, I decided to contact him. He’s retired so I won’t reveal his name, but I will share his advice. Self-publishing to-do list. 1) Before publishing a book, contact local libraries and offer to speak on topics of interest. 2) Check independent living retirement centers.  Some of them welcome guest speakers. 3) Keep an eye out for conferences on memoir writing.  Share a book sale table with another author. “Don’t bother with national events with big-name authors. You’ll end up in a corner by a bathroom that isn’t open…  have a bowl of Red Vines to draw in the sugar addicts.” (I’ll add: Avoid chatting with your tablemate.  Reach out to passersby. When pitching my mystery/romance novel, Ballet Noir, I’d look for a burly guy to stroll by. Then, I’d call out, “Hey mister, you  look like you’d enjoy a good book on ballet.” Laughter always drew people in.  I sold books and so did my tablemate.) 4) Twitter’s #writerslift won’t sell books, but it’s a free place to network with writers to swap information. 5) Seek a review with the local newspaper, of course.  But don’t forget neighborhood presses and pertinent newsletters. 6) When the book is published, hit the bookstore circuit but don’t fly solo. Ask other authors to join you.  The mix of their friends and your friends makes for better sales. 7) Look at TweetYourBooks.com to run some inexpensive ads.  “Don’t spend much.”  The return on investment isn’t great. 8) “Always do your own PR.  Anyone who says they’ll do it is lying.” I agree.                                                                          … Reams of advice on book marketing exist on the internet. Bear in mind, it’s a tulgey wood of scams and snares. Network with friends and fellow writers instead for solid leads. Above all, develop a contact list of people who might help.  When I have more self-publishing tidbits, I’ll share under this blog series, “Perchance to Dream.” Anyone with advice to offer, please chime in.   

[carolinemillerbooks]

New Post has been published on Books by Caroline Miller

New Post has been published on https://www.booksbycarolinemiller.com/musings/writing-publishing-agents/perchance-to-dream-9/

Perchance To Dream 9

For a year, I’ve searched for an agent to represent for my memoir, Getting Lost to Find Home. For the past two months, the manuscript has been under review with a London office.  A few days ago,  I emailed the agent to ask if the submission was still under review. As yet, I’ve received no response, and  I’m beginning to mull over my father’s advice.  Sometimes, it’s wise to   “cut bait.”   To publish my book without an agent leaves me two options.  I can submit it to an academic press or self-publish under my imprint, Rutherford Classics.  An academic press has all the disadvantages of working with a major publisher and none of the advantages. The author loses control over the work, including a choice of a book cover. Working with a major publisher offers the lure of a review in the New York Times, however. An academic press has no such lure. Like gossip, which is a mainstay of a community, critical approbation is the lifeblood of the publishing world. Without reviews, an author must be content with positive comments from friends. One values these comments, but they don’t burnish a literary reputation. Working with small-to-medium presses has the same disadvantage. I’ve published with 4 and in terms of effect, it felt like not publishing at all.  Hybrids aren’t an option, either. One hybrid recently approached me with a request to revive Ballet Noir.  I declined, seeing no advantage in bearing the expense of repackaging my book. Let those interested in a good, paranormal romance reap the benefit of Ballet Noir at it is and at its reduced price. It must follow as the night the day, then, that my best recourse is to self-publish my memoir– no matter the attendant stain which suggests it wasn’t good enough to attract a publisher.  Readers of my blog can judge my skills.  A majority has have been with me for many years. A person can linger too long on Rejection Road, though I am conscious I have been in the best of company. What I also hold in common with these predecessors is the confidence that I have a story to tell.  And so I must move on. A friend nudged me the other day.  “When is your memoir coming out?  I want to read it!”  Frankly, I do, too. But to lay down a dream is difficult until another takes its place.  At last, I am ready and am happy to admit  I’ve begun to imagine my book’s cover and its interior design.  A year may pass before Getting Lost to Find Home appears in print, but it will appear. I hope those who have followed my quest for an agent won’t be disappointed by the outcome. We’ve learned so much together and that’s made the journey our reward  

[carolinemillerbooks]

New Post has been published on Books by Caroline Miller

New Post has been published on https://www.booksbycarolinemiller.com/musings/writing-publishing-agents/old-junk-repackaged/

Old Junk Repackaged

The contest was in high gear, so she was casting her net for votes to be crowned a top book reviewer.  I’d recently joined the writer’s group and after reading a few of the woman’s blogs, I decided to help. Hitting the “like” button, I also added words of encouragement. She didn’t win the contest.  A bigger fish was in the pond but the encounter left the pair of us friendly acquaintances.  Over the years, my book blogger friend has grown her audience enough to be invited to prestigious publishing house events, a tribute to her hard work and dedication. She and I have never met but we wave to one another across the internet from time to time.  I’ve also given Elizabeth’s blog an occasional plug, as I’m doing now, and as she’s featured some of my novels in her reviews. Each of us knows that similar to the first breath after a deep dive, a little kindness revives the spirit. Much of the writing world is a tulgey wood where scammers abound. They wait, tick-like, eager to attach themselves to a dream, suck it dry, and having gained their profit,  leave the dreamer choking on the dust of their empty promises.    Honest brokers exist, of course.  To distinguish them from the frauds takes a degree from the school of hard knocks. Artists are easy marks as they are so eager to believe. Writers who are early in their careers should join Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).  It’s free to scribblers of any genre. What’s more, their repository of information is large and almost as bewildering as a stroll through the Smithsonian’s archives.   Recently, I braved their files to learn about hybrid publishing.  A company of that ilk had pitched me about republishing my 2016 paranormal romance novel, Ballet Noir. I was surprised. All four of my books continue to sell, despite the passing years, but do so at a pace slower than the flow of maple from trees tapped in deepest winter.  Why would a publisher want to repackage Ballet Noir? SFWA gave me a clue. A hybrid publisher is similar to a vanity press.  Both are expensive services because the author shoulders the publishing cost and up fonts the profit. The difference between the two is that hybrid publishers are selective, refusing to work with an author simply because that person can pay the fee, which touches $8,000. Their cachet is their selectivity. It vouches for the quality of the writing. As such, these agencies claim to have enough muscle to place their inventory in bookstores and libraries. But there is no guarantee. A few hybrids enjoy a degree of credibility in the industry because they produce quality works which big publishing houses overlook.  SheWrites is one. They are careful to make authors no promises about their representation, however.  At best, they claim their books are “eligible for reviews.”  I had to shrug when I read that. What book isn’t? For $500 anyone can purchase a Kirkus review which, if it’s good, carries clout.  What I saw among their listings were books endorsed by other writers, rather than reviewers, and all of them were unknown to me. My research on hybrids was cursory, I admit.  Even so, I saw nothing that would encourage me to republish Ballet Noir with a hybrid. Frankly, the venture looks like old junk in a new package.

[carolinemillerbooks]

New Post has been published on Books by Caroline Miller

New Post has been published on https://www.booksbycarolinemiller.com/musings/thoughts-of-high-crimes-misdemeanors-and-a-faux-pas/

Thoughts Of High Crimes, Misdemeanors and A Faux Pas

Needing a break from all the heated political debate, I kicked off my shoes yesterday and sat down to read the latest edition of Town&Country.  I wondered how the beautiful people avoided ill-tempered frown lines? Naturally, I didn’t expect to see  Donald Trump among those in that blue-blooded register. Nonetheless, a few pages into the magazine I saw him, our 45th President, standing shoulder to shoulder at Buckingham Palace with the Queen. Despite being in his company, Her Royal Highness seemed unruffled.  Her diamond crown sat squarely on her head, and she was wearing the blue sash of her personal creation, the Victorian Order of Queen Elizabeth 11. I admit the scene looked well composed until my eyes fell upon the row of Burmese rubies encircling Her Majesty’s neck. (“The Red Carpet Appearance,” Town&Country, February 2020, pg. 52.) I blinked, of course. Having researched the meaning of gems for my novel Ballet Noir, I was aware that rubies are prized for their power to ward off evil. “I knew it!”I cried aloud and then thought better of it. Would Her Royal Highness really mean to offend to Donald Trump? I doubted it. The rubies, I surmised, were simply her favorites. Of course, I can’t be certain. The rules of etiquette do change with the times. Men are no longer obliged to open a door for a woman or rise from a chair when she enters a room. And there’s so much new ground to be covered regarding the computer.  Is sending an electronic sympathy card gouache or permissible, one wonders. Turning the magazine’s page,  again, I discovered an article that promised to answer some of my questions–advice from a Greek Princess who moonlights as an expert on the subject of etiquette. (“When in Doubt…Ask a Princess!,” by Danielle Stein Chizzik, Town&Country, February 2020, pg. 42.)   Someone had queried her about food allergies. When invited to a dinner party, was it permissible for a person afflicted with an allergy to bring a personal dish to the soiree? The princess had no doubt on the matter. A guest never brings food to a dinner party unless the restrictions are life-threatening. End of story. Naturally, I paused to wonder how the Princess came to hold so firm an opinion. Did she read of this restriction in the Bible? Or did her authority sprang from more ancient wisdom, the pages of the  Iliad or Odyssey, for example? Perhaps Sophocles mused about the food taboo in one of his plays?  Or, she might have found it among Plato’s Dialogues. Even so, I had no knowledge of it. After further rumination, I decided the opinion originated with the princess who, after all, had recently written a book about etiquette for modern times. It occurred to me then that if her opinion were committed to print and left unchallenged, it might harden into a canon.  Decades into the future, I could imagine people with food allergies being condemned to sit hungry among dinner guests while peanuts and shellfish passed beneath their noses, their stomachs grousing like discontented cats. I think it best to nip such a canon in the bud. In the case of a diet restriction, my advice is to consult with the host or hostess. Of course, I wouldn’t be surprised if people ignored my suggestion. I’m not a princess.  All I can offer is common sense.

[carolinemillerbooks]

New Post has been published on Books by Caroline Miller

New Post has been published on http://www.booksbycarolinemiller.com/musings/writing-publishing-agents/barnes-and-nobel-sale-so-easy/

Barnes and Nobel Sale So Easy

Courtesy of barnesandnobel.com “You made it so easy.”  The woman on the other end of the phone laughed.  She was referring to an email I’d sent to friends about Barnes And Noble’s holiday 20% discount  on my books. I sent the message more for vanity than for sales.   I was tickled to see my nov...

[carolinemillerbooks]

New Post has been published on http://www.booksbycarolinemiller.com/musings/writing-publishing-agents/parting-sweet-sorrow/

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

The time has come to begin the third rewrite of my memoir. The manuscript has laid fallow for a month, so I will look at it with fresh eyes, correcting imperfections and doing my best to serve my readers. When it reaches print, it will be the best effort I can make at this stage of my writing...