CONGRATULATIONS TO MELISSA BLUE. YOU’VE WON A COPY OF MAKE U SWEAT!

Sidenote: Amazing how we can procrastinate when we have something that just absolutely, POSITIVELY MUST be done. The grand total sticky note count was around 80. I faced my worst fear: I turned in a book with an unfinished scene. This is something I’ve been positively PARANOID about and I did it. Not only did I do it…I did it in the middle of a sentence. Not sure what I was smoking when I was finishing up the book but it must have been some good sh*t!

(SIDENOTE TWO: If I say “YOU” I mean you in the general sense)

JANE ASKED: What kind of rules should be broken?
I’m not sure about any other genre, and this is where writing in a vacuum can be your friend, but Romance Writers *seem* to cling to rules like a life raft after the boat’s exploded. Not only do they cling to them, they share them, like a cold. (And I”m speaking in the most GENERAL sense). Once upon a time, I was a rules girl, then I started writing/querying. Being a *nice* girl won’t get you noticed. So don’t do things like send one query letter at a time, because again, the law of averages dictates that the more you send out, the better your chances are of getting noticed.

BERNARD ASKED: One thing, Amy, I read on more than a few blogs an opening like: ‘FORBIDDEN, is a futuristic erotic romance in the vein of X-Men meets Bladerunner’ gets you a direct pass to the slush. When you were doing a lot of query letters, did you always do a comparative sentence?

My apologies Bernard! I didn’t see this. Funny enough, I normally don’t do this — though I did say that The Big Girl’s Guide was a “Southern style You’ve Got Mail” — I think this is one of those ‘rules’ things you have make a judgment call on and just take a chance. That said, I do HIGHLY Recommend reading “Save the Cat” by Blake Snyder who advocates NOT using a comparative sentence like I used for Forbidden. And for what it’s worth, Forbidden is probably one of the most difficult manuscript concepts I’ve ever had to try and nail down. With that particular manuscript, which actually ISN’T erotic romance, but futuristic/urban fantasy, it worked out okay. I had a rec. to my agent, she requested a partial, then twenty-four hours later, requested to see all of what I had written.

And speaking of rules, AFTER I queried Holly, I read an interview where I found out she didn’t like multiple first person POV’s. If I’d known that beforehand I might not have queried her and found an agent who loved my book as much as I did! I’m not saying do whatever you want willy-nilly but I think sometimes you have to gamble smart. Decide if it’s worth the risk.

Now, a little on setting tone in your query letter–this also ties into writing a hooky blurb.

Tone should give the agent/editor/reader a feel for what they’re going to find inside. This is where picking good descriptors and putting them to work come into play. Back in January I was asked by my editor to come up with a blurb for next year’s book (for sales and marketing). I was anxious to get started on the book but hadn’t actually given it tons of thought. Luckily, I had the title, but the blurb for SCREWED (now known as HITTIN’ IT) was definitely a learning experience. I struggled to convey sexy and funny, then finally went to my critique partners for help because what I’d come up with wasn’t sexy or funny. Here…see for yourself:

Will Collier is a hitman on a mission. Just a few more jobs and he can officially retire. Preferably to someplace warm and sunny. He’s spent way too many years being all business, and now he’s ready to cut loose—or at least try and learn how.
He might be tall, dark and dangerous, but he’s got a lot to learn about the ladies.

Unfortunately, someone else wants to stop Will also—permanently.

It doesn’t completely suck but it’s not great either, and of course, the funny factor is totally missing.

Here’s what I ended up sending my editor (after four or five drafts and running it through the critique-o-meter):

Everybody has a dirty little secret.
As a professional hitman, Will Collier has more than most. But the one that haunts him has nothing to do with the lives he’s taken and everything to do with the love he ain’t makin’.

Sometimes what you know can get you killed.
Sabrina Walker is intimately familiar with the havoc that Cupid can wreak. And the Bohemian beauty is determined that love will never get her in its sights…until she lays eyes on Will.

Sometimes what you know can save your life.
With Will’s killer instincts and Sabrina’s street smarts, together they’ll outwit the hired gun on their tail and learn that some secrets are better when shared.

MUCH BETTER! *g* While you might not actually write the blurb part of your query like this, I think it definitely conveys how important word choice is.

O’course, then I ended up writing two novellas instead of one so it was all moot and I have NO idea what will end up on the back of the book!

Leave a comment or ask a question. Once again I’ll be giving away a copy of MAKE U SWEAT (or any from my print backlist) next Monday.