[Dipdive] Black Eyed Peas Video+Audio » Oprah Feeling / I Gotta Feeling Live at Oprah’s 24th Season Kickoff Party October 23, 2009
Melbourne Miracle Baby Survives Train October 18, 2009
Have you heard about the Melbourne Miracle Baby? A 6-month old baby was in a stroller that rolled in front of a train. The stroller protected the baby as it was pushed almost 100 feet. This story chokes me up every time I see it. If you want to see the story for yourself, click play.
Romance Writers Gone Wild August 13, 2009
Ever Wondered what happens at the RWA National Conference? I just posted an article at www.AWritersTools.com that will give you the lowdown.
Train Station Dance # 1 – Liverpool July 1, 2009
This video is also known as “The T-Mobile Dance.” I just think it’s really cool, and I don’t know about anyone else, but I would dearly love to be a part of something like this. I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.
Train Station Video # 2 – Antwerp, Belgium June 30, 2009
Here is the second video of dancers dancing in a Train Station. Can you imagine how incredible it must be to see something like this in person. It happens in a minute, and then is gone a few minutes later.
Supposedly, this one was done for an audition of some sort.
This Song Rocks: (Bright Eyes “First Day of My Life”) June 12, 2009
I first heard this song in the movie “Elvis and Anabelle” and really liked it.
Paychecks Publishers Never Talk About May 13, 2009
Paychecks Publishers Never Talk About
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Have you ever wondered, “How much will I make on my first book?” How about, “How much can I expect to get for a book advance?” Of course everyone has wondered, “When can I quit my day job once I’m published?” Sadly, the truth is it may take YEARS for you to make enough money as a published novelist, and exact answers are hard to find. What one publishing house is willing to pay for a first book, another may not be. Truth be told, one publishing house editor once revealed to me that most “first books” do not sell more than 100 copies. At 6% of retail on 100 books (let’s say $6.99 per book), you could probably expect to make as little as $45. (Ouch.)
However, there is a ray of hope in this dismal situation. Brenda Hiatt’s website (www.BrendaHiatt.com) has a section she calls “Show Me the Money.” In this section, Brenda has interviewed hundreds of romance authors about the different books they’ve published. Her results include how much authors have received for advances and earn-outs. The end results were fascinating.
Following are three tables displaying the “Top Ten” for Average Advances, Earn Outs, and Commissions. With these handy little charts, you can see where you may want to submit your book first, and how much you could hope to make.
Top 10 Publishing Houses For
Average Advance (First Book)
| Publishing House | Average Advance (1st Book) |
| Avon/HarperCollins | $17,000 |
| $12,000 | |
| Tor/Forge | $11,000 |
| Dutton/Signet/NAL | $9,200 |
| HQN | $8,500 |
| Berkley/Jove | $7,800 |
| St. Martin’s Press | $6,600 |
| Grand Central Publishing (Warner) | $6,500 |
| Harlequin Superromance | $5,000 |
| Silhouette Desire | $4,500 |
Top 10 Publishing Houses For
Average Advance (Subsequent Books)
| Publishing House | Average Advance (Subsequent Books) |
| St. Martin’s Press | $40,500 |
| Dutton/Signet/NAL | $30,000 |
| HQN | $20,500 |
| $19,000 | |
| Bantam/Dell | $16,000 |
| Tor/Forge | $14,000 |
| Dorchester/Leisure | $13,000 |
| Grand Central Publishing (Warner) | $13,000 |
| Red Dress Ink | $12,000 |
| Berkley/Jove | $8,100 |
Top 4 Publishing Houses For
Highest Print Royalties
| Publishing House | Highest Royalties for Print Books |
| Medallion Press | 10% |
| Five Star/Thorndike (hardcover) | 10% |
| Avalon | 10% |
| Cobblestone | 10% |
Top 10 Publishing Houses For
Average Earnings
| Publishing House | Average Earnings |
| Avon/HarperCollins | $23,000 |
| Harlequin Superromance | $18,500 |
| Silhouette Special Edition | $17,500 |
| Silhouette Desire | $16,500 |
| Harlequin Intrigue | $15,100 |
| Harlequin Blaze | $12,500 |
| Silhouette Romantic Suspense (SIM) | $12,000 |
| Harlequin Historical | $12,000 |
| Steeple Hill (Love Inspired) | $10,900 |
| Berkley/Jove | $8,400 |
Top 10 Publishing Houses For
Highest Total Earnings
| Publishing House | Highest total Earnings |
| Harlequin Superromance | $40,000 |
| Avon/HarperCollins | $35,000 |
| Berkley/Jove | $32,000 |
| Harlequin Intrigue | $26,000 |
| Silhouette Special Edition | $23,000 |
| Silhouette Desire | $23,000 |
| Harlequin Historical | $19,000 |
| Steeple Hill (Love Inspired) | $18,000 |
| Kensington/Zebra | $17,800 |
| Harlequin Blaze | $15,000 |
Ms. Hiatt’s interviews also show that you can hope to negotiate the following for your first romantic novel:
· Advance for a first book = approximately $4,000
· Average Advance for subsequent books = $7,000
· Royalties = 6% to 7%
· Total Average Earnings Per Book = $9,000
I guess that’s why published writers always say “We don’t do this for the money. We do this for the love of writing.”
Is the RWA Conference Worth the Price? March 16, 2009
As Seen From a First-Timers POV
Having been one of many first-timers attending 2008 the RWA Conference in San Francisco (RWA standing for Romance Writers of America), I have been asked by other first-timers one simple question…“Was it worth it?”
“Was it worth it?” I think as I consider my four-day adventure. “Was it worth the more than $1,000 price tag for registration, hotel fees, and travel costs?” My answer is a resounding YES, and here are 20 Reasons Why:
- No kids and no husband for four full days! (Do I really need to go on? Yes? OK…)
- More then 2,000 women excited about romance. (How liberating…and how energizing. You’ll come back inspired and ready to tackle that manuscript.)
- You get to meet all of your favorite romance authors, get their autographs, and even get pictures taken with them.
- You will be surprised to find that the biggest Bestselling Romance Authors are just like you. (Some have day jobs, families, writer’s block, editor denials…the list goes on and on.)
- Hundreds of free books from each publishing company, as well as…
- Another dozen free books just for registering, and attending the luncheons, plus
- An onsite bookstore with tons of books about Romance Writing that you will not find in your local bookshop, AND
- Discounted shipping to send your books home (instead of toting them through the airport).
- A chance to meet and pitch to editors face to face…
- Or stalk editors if you didn’t get an appointment (not that I did this…
), - As well as find an Agent.
- A chance to meet other first-timers new to the romance industry (great to know you’re not alone),
- And a chance to meet other published writers more then willing to offer you hours of free advice on breaking into the industry (…advice which needs to be taken with a grain of salt).
- The realization that you are never too old to break into the industry,
- …or too young.
- Dozens of workshops to choose from for wherever you are in your writing career.
- A chance to hear Editors pitch to you exactly what kind of stories they are looking for,
- The Goody Room (where you can find tons of great free gifts from hundreds of published authors),
- The Midnight Madness Bizarre (where you can help support other chapters by purchasing really cool stuff for really cheap),
- And of course, the chance to see the City when you are not at the conference.
There are many other reasons, of course. However, I listed some of the biggest realizations that I made, although I was also lucky enough to find my new critique partner in San Francisco (a HUGE bonus for me). So, no matter what you are looking for, be sure to go to at least one conference in your writing career. It will change the way you look at the Romance Writing Industry forever.
A WRITER’S TOOLS: Knowing IF “You’re Just Not That Good” at Writing March 10, 2009
Recently, while watching the movie “He’s Just Not That Into You”, I had one of Oprah’s Ah Ha Moments. In the very beginning of that movie, the narrator discusses the concept of how women comfort each other when men go M.I.A. They tell each other, “It wasn’t you; he just wasn’t ready for a serious relationship,” “He’s just intimidated by what a strong woman you are,” and “He’s mean to you because he likes you.” Yet, what they should be saying to each other is… “Run!!! Run for your life!!! He is not worth it!”
This kind of lesson has a crossover into our lives as writers. Unpublished writers often wonder, “Why am I not getting published? Why do I keep getting rejected?” Yet your friends and family tell you, ““OMG, this is so good; it is the next bestseller.” People closer to the industry will tell you, “That type of book is no longer trendy,” and “Publishers are no longer buying your genre.” What they should probably be saying is, “This piece just isn’t good enough…but it could be with more work.”
So the question becomes, can you really trust your friends and family to give you the cruelest, most honest opinion possible? Or are they more likely to tell you words that comfort, like the women in “He’s Just Not That Into You”?
If you really want an answer to the question “Am I good enough”, there is a place online where you can go and get your work judged: You need Helium…dot com. This website has four different ways of telling you if your writing is good enough. Those ways include:
- Judgment by your peers. In this writing community, you pick a topic you want to write about and submit your work. Other website writers on the website will then judge whose work they think is best without any fore knowledge of author identity. On a day-to-day basis, you can see where your articles rank among your peers and which pieces could have benefitted from more revision. Furthermore, other writers can provide comments on your work, which can be valuable feedback should you wish to update and improve your article.
- Payment for your work. Whether your article becomes number one, or number twenty, you still get paid for each article. However, due to the variation in article payments, you will soon see which of your topics did best, and which ones did nothing. In a very short period of time, you will be able to determine where your expertise excites readers, and where it is ignored.
- Weekly Contests on a variety of topics. Each contest offers $25 compensation for winning articles. The winner is chosen by the anonymous ratings they get from other writers, the number of high ranking articles they write in a specific category, and being in the top 55% of the ratings. Again, your work is judged by writers making the feedback impartial, and any victory sweeter.
- A Writer’s Marketplace where you can sell your articles. At Helium.com, there is a Writer’s Marketplace where magazine companies post assignments and compensation amounts. Like the contests, writers compete, and then the magazine company purchases and publishes the article they like best. This is a great way to know if your writing is magazine-worthy or not.
So what are you waiting for? If you this is a question that’s been plaguing you, sign up for a profile today and begin e-publishing your own work. In no time, you’ll have an answer.
