How to Romance me...

(Keep in mind that I have not done a call for manuscript submissions -yet.)

There are two books in the cooker, so to speak, nearly done and ready to be published. And a third project very near and dear to my heart (yes, you Uncle John).

Recently, three extraordinary queries landed in the Cactus Rain submission box. I have no idea how these new three found Cactus Rain. We have not shelled out big bucks for SEO for the website and I've been unusually absent from my usual treks across the internet in my usual haunts. All I can figure is that Joyce, my wonderful-can't-live-without-her web designer, did her usual stellar job on creating http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/ so that it would be found.

At any rate, of the three new queries, one is the best query letter I've ever seen. One had no query letter and launched head-long into an extended elevator pitch that had me smiling by the third paragraph. The third has an intriguing story, but said something that really got my attention in a recent email.

So this year for Cactus Rain, not yet two years old, is looking quite good. Trust me, ask anyone who knows me, I ain't that easy to impress...but these three certainly got my attention. They will each hear from me shortly.

Remember when...?

Do you remember when I posted daily? I seemed to have less trouble posting every day than I have aiming for a weekly post. Last year was horrendous, personally, for me. The good bit was, of course, getting Cactus Rain Publishing off the ground after working toward that end for five years.

I've been in California for a funeral and it was wonderful to be with my family again and at home. It was a chance to revalidate me and the Cactus Rain project with family.

Let me recap where Cactus Rain is: The debut novel, The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister (by Glyn Pope) is doing awesome. The reviews are great and we're waiting for one promised from the BBC. It is still being considered for adaptation for the stage. It has been published in ebook form for Kindle, Nook, iPad, and Sony reader by Coyote Moon Books.

You can see the cover art on the Cactus Rain website (link on the sidebar to the left).

There are more that I simply haven't had time to preview. I know that waiting for an answer is difficult, but then again that is part of the industry process. Nothing happens fast in this industry.

Keep writing, rewrite and edit after you get the first draft completed. It definitely shows when you do it the other way around. The story simply is not as dynamic when edits are done during the first draft. (A word to the wise.)

Cactus Rain Publishing publishes debut novel

Cactus Rain Publishing is a boutique publishing company in central Arizona, USA. Its mission is to bring the world to readers -- one book at a time -- by publishing the finest English language novels by authors from around the world. The writers write in their native language; British English, Colonial English, and American English.

Nadine Laman, owner of Cactus Rain, says, "We heavily vet our books and work closely with our authors to cultivate their voice and story into a uniquely enjoyable reading experience."

The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister, by Glyn Pope (France) is the debut novel for Cactus Rain.

Doctor Latymer arrives on a council estate in Leicester, England, full of hope and the innocence of youth. He quickly becomes the local miracle worker. But without a grasp of the realities of life, he sets out to right injustices that he doesn't fully understand. In the process, he unravels the delicate balance between rich and poor, and the struggling post-WWII British economy still reliant on rationing and the black market.

Cactus Rain's books are perfect for readers who want novels that bring new reading experiences.

The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister goes on sale November 1, 2010. Order your copy direct from the publisher, http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/.

http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/pdf/PressReleaseNov2010.pdf
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24-hour day

In my recent newsletter, which posted today on my website, http://www.nadinelamanbooks.com/, I wrote about the 24-hour day quote I often use.

It is quite simple to me that we have the same length of day as do the people we admire, our heroes in history and those around us in our daily lives.

My kids grew up hearing this. (Yes, they still talk to me!)

It isn't meant to do anything other than to inspire people, myself included, to think. Nothing is impossible if we truly want to achieve it.

It is unlikely and certainly unusual that someone as dyslexic as me would write a novel. Much less that I would write three, and they are fairly well received books. Even more unlikely is that a dyslexic person, the class dummy who was sometimes put in the re-tard class, would start a publishing company.

But I did that too. The debut book is at the printer. It will carry a publishing date of November 1, 2010. For those who know these things, that is a holy day in my religion. (It just worked out that way, but I think it is a good thing.)

The debut novel is The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister, by Glyn Pope.

I hear a lot of people say they want to write a novel, and some even start, but it is never done. I don't know what they're waiting for. My blog and hundreds of others tell how to write. There are probably thousands of books and courses on writing well. (Yes, it is more than taking a grammar class ~ sorry.)

So the point is, quit talking and start doing (didn't Yoda say that in StarWars?).

Nadine Laman http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/

The Brown Wrapper Is Gone!

Look! http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/

Cactus Rain news

Before the press release goes out about the launch of our boutique publishing company, I thought I'd mention it looks like we might be ahead of schedule on the publication of our debut book, The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister.

Author Glyn Pope gets the credit for the title. I admit, I wasn't sure I'd ever get the spelling right, much less say it without getting my tongue twisted after months of calling it "Doc."

Glyn is quite brave to go with an unknown publisher. Even more daring is to try a new system where there are no royalties. Yes, that's right. No royalties.

With Cactus Rain the author gets all the income above expenses. By our calculations, that should equate to more than royalties would normally work out. Expenses are set and except for pre-agreed upon unusual expenses, there will be no surprises to any of us.

How's that for a novel idea?

TOP SECRET

Some time back, I posted a screen shot of the draft for the Cactus Rain website. (Link at the bottom).

We are just about to launch the site - any day now, perhaps even tomorrow. I'm just about to burst with excitement. There have been so many details to get to this point. In addition to all the particulars of starting any small business, there has been many tasks specific to publishing.

I've had a lot of help along the way. From strangers on the phone explaining the Pinal County sales tax requirements (I was in Maricopa County), to Joyce my right hand in much more than website design, and friends who helped or encouraged me along the way. And Jean who mentored me and laughed a lot. Thank you everyone. You mean the world to me.

At the time I'm writing this, www.CactusRainPublishing.com points to my website. Sometime in the next 24 hours it will be launched and point to the new website. Once it launches, feel free to tweet, facebook, tell your office mate, and all your reading friends about Cactus Rain Publishing.

The galleys have arrived for Cactus Rain's debut book, The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister by Glyn Pope (France).

http://nadinelaman.blogspot.com/2010/05/why-are-books-so-expensive.html

The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister

Glyn Pope and I've hinted for months now that his book, The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister, will be the debut novel for Cactus Rain Publishing. It is his third novel.

Their could be some sanity questions regarding going with an unknown publisher. I think, though, Glyn is fine with his choice.

This still isn't the official-official announcement of "the deal." I'll get to that when the CRP website gets launched. More on that at a later date.

Let's talk about what it was I liked about "Doc" that made me offer Glyn a contract. I like the title, but it was a long time in coming and we had a [different] working title for about 6 months (longer for Glyn).

I wasn't requesting submissions at the time Glyn queried his book. (Honestly, people need to work on their query letters. Even I'm getting more picky about that - just a tip for aspiring writers.)

What I liked about Doc: Glyn was certainly enthusiast about Doc. He pitched the project with all his heart. That got my interest right away.

Another thing in reading the ms was that he really put the reader back in time to post WWII, England. The story was 100% believable. It fit with what I knew of history, meaning it wasn't heavy laden with historical facts for history geeks; it was readable for a general audience.

The characters were well developed and there was a good balance of secondary characters for the main characters to stage with. He balanced age and youth, wealthy and regular (normal) people. There was greed, innocence, and the vicar was funny. Basically the characters mirrored real life quite naturally; nothing was forced. There was a good amount of dialogue, which is a commercial element too.

Certainly there was a need for rewrites and I'm sure I must have seemed demanding at times, but Glyn always got to work and did them without complaining or arguing. Let's face it, arguing with one's publisher is a fast way to get dropped.

There were formatting issues which I probably won't have time to deal with in future acquisitions.

Overall, Glyn's attitude and his writing carried the day and here we are 9 months later sending the galley to the printer.

I've turned down far more mss than I've accepted. Two broke my heart because I thought the themes had great commercial potential, however the writers thought they knew everything and that a first or second draft was ready for print. Um, NO!

There's a bit of a glimpse inside Cactus Rain acquisition mindset and a really quick peek at Doc. Congratulations, Glyn...we're almost there!

A Rose by Any Other Name...

The rose bit might work for roses, but it doesn't work for genre definition.

It has been a busy week at Cactus Rain Publishing. My day job allowed me only a few minutes in the evenings to attend to Joyce's emails (http://www.designbyjoyce.com). We have been through seven test pages just to get to the point of having a fairly decent (awesome) opening page from which she can build the website template for Cactus Rain Publishing.

Now we have some working links and back pages to the site. I'm getting jazzed as this takes shape. In polling the Cactus Rain authors, the general opinion is thumbs up. Now how many authors get input or even sneak peeks at their publisher's website?

For those who are curious, I'm using the site at the link below to define the genre for the titles on the Cactus Rain Publishing site. If some of you are having trouble deciding what genre you write, look here. http://agentquery.com/genre_descriptions.aspx There are tons of these lists on the internet, but this is the one I've used from the beginning. If you are thinking of querying Cactus Rain, then use this genre list when specifying your genre in the query letter.

I've seen query letters where the writer has no sense of what genre they have written, for example, historical-horror-fantasy. Nope, don't go there. For one thing, historical and fantasy don't actually go together. Pick one.

I write, as I've said before, literary fiction. It is one of the hardest genre to pitch (and sell) to an agent and publisher. People want fast reads, like adventure or thriller, things that skim the cream on the top. The storylines cover short time periods and the voice is quick - page turners. Literary fiction is a meandering style. It is more sensual in the exploration of the characters and setting. It isn't a mindless diversion from real life.

If you're the type who plans, then start with the genre and write from there. For those who are even more of a business planner, research the market and try to anticipate where it will be three years from now - there you go, a nice little weekend project - or maybe not.

Just so you know, this is post number 299! Not bad for someone who didn't want a blog. I let the first anniversary of First Draft (April 2009) pass quietly.

Inside Scoop

We will be 'rolling out' the test pages of Cactus Rain Publishing's website soon. I need four or five people (don't have to be in the US) who check their email daily and want to give feedback on the test pages.

Email me if you're interested. Sorry, no pay, but you can have bragging rights!

Quality vs Quantity

"It would be nice if the quality of book mattered rather than just what you can afford, with respect to exposure on Amazon, one said."

I've taken the above quote out of context, because I want to discuss the topic of quality. This is why I'm so picky about what Cactus Rain will publish. This is a quote from an article I'll link at the bottom, for those interested in the whole article. The issue [to me] isn't about Amazon, it is about having the money to "buy your way" to success.

There is no doubt in my mind that everyone can think of a book they've read that they couldn't finish because it was simply bad writing, or at best needed a few more rewrites and edits.

It amazes me, and a know a few people who do this, that anyone would continue reading a book they didn't like - this is probably left over from childhood when we were told to clean our plate (finish what we've started).

Writers labor hours, months - or more likely - years to get their ms into marketable shape. I can think of only a few who crank out books like rabbits have babies.

There are some publishing companies that will publish anything for a fee. It is simple to understand how the established publishers feel about them when the pros spend time and money to make sure books with their logo are quality works. This is only what readers deserve, the best book possible.

I like the good old fashion way a book rises to popularity because it is good, not because of the money behind it. Maybe I simply don't think it is fair for a really good book to prematurely fall into obscurity because someone with a lesser book can afford more advertising bling.

Seems to me that buying-in is a hollow reward in the end. That's the way I see it. What do you think, would you rather your book is a bestseller, regardless how it got there?


Link: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/43488-new-amazon-program-spurs-complaints.html

Where's the purse?

There is a saying in fiction: "Dropping alligators over the transom." I've been told it doesn't make sense except to American's. (I'm not sure young Americans have any idea what a transom is either.)

My explanation is this: Prior to air conditioning, buildings had a small window above the door that could be opened. With the exterior window open, perhaps a fan or two, and the transom open the room could be tolerable with the cross ventilation and the door could be locked.

Obviously, alligators are not going to get into the locked room unless someone heaves them through the transom. The point is, writers shouldn't drop solutions to problems in their ms out of the blue.

On that note, my friend from England was here and read to me several scenes from the book she was reading. It was an English book, so it was grand to hear it read in English, complete with the appropriate dialect for the characters. Through several scenes in a cursed camping trip, the grandmother clutched her purse - no mater what the disaster was. She even fell in the wet ground and slipped toward the cliff - clutching her purse. When the worst yet (in the story) disaster struck and everyone barely escaped with their life, there was no mention of the purse. Had it gone over the cliff in the caravan (camper) or did the old woman manage to take it with her as she jumped and fell to the ground?

That still bothers me. What happened to the purse? I know it is insignificant in the big picture of the storyline. But the author had made such a point of mentioning it with every mention of grandmother, that I can't believe the editors at the publishing house (traditionally published, so there were editors) didn't catch that.

It would be easy to fix. After safeguarding the purse with such determination, one of the family could have a peek and fine there was nothing in it, or her false teeth (not sure she had false teeth, I'm just making this up) or it could have been lost when the caravan went crashing into the sea and some mention of what was in it.

This is the type of thing that I'm very particular about with the Cactus Rain writers - just ask them. This is why having good beta readers is so important. Perhaps it wouldn't matter to an agent or an acquisition editor at some big publishing house - it seems not to have mattered in getting this book published. But why take the chance? I think it was sloppy writing. What do you think?

Cactus Rain eBooks

It isn't likely that Cactus Rain will publish eBooks. Once the book has been transformed into eBook format, the cost is relatively low from there on out. So why is there a price war on Amazon with several large publishers and Kindle books?

Like I wrote in the previous post, books are the product that pays the company expenses. So eBooks have to pay for the staff, furniture for the staff, electricity and everything else used to run a business so the eBook can be produced. The whole idea of being in business is to turn a profit. Publishers generally are not charity enterprises.

Remember way back when video formats came out with VHS and BetaMax? Every government office I worked in had a video machine and they were all Beta. The cassettes were not interchangeable. At least the new BluRay machines will play the old DVDs.

While we embrace technology in many ways there is still an awe associated to my 100+ year old books on my bookshelf. There is something about the aging leather cover, the vivid lithograph pictures, and the print - typeset, mind you - on the page that no StarTrek technology can emulate.

Social media, eBooks, phone apps, all of it is fun...but does it deliver a lasting product? Will anyone run the tips of their fingers over an eReader in a hundred years?

I have a resource for the authors who want their books eFormated and distributed. However, every time I've given in to peer pressure the results have disappointed me. Mostly I've been disappointed that I didn't stand on my convictions. I always come back to the thought that it was The Emperor's New Clothes. (If you don't know that children's story, go buy the book. Don't borrow it, you need a copy to keep.)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/7734166/The-majority-of-Britons-are-still-wedded-to-CDs-DVDs-and-books.html

If it wasn't late, I'd draw the Cactus Rain logo cactus with an eReader...just for this post.

Why are books so expensive?

People see books at boot sales (garage sales) for a few pennies - certainly $1.00 would be the top price. In bookstores the retail price seems high in comparison to buying them used or borrowing from a friend makes us stop short.

Libraries buy 2 - 3 copies of the best sellers at a discounted price and hundreds of people read them, but there was only 2-3 purchased and that means only the revenue from 2-3 came to the publisher and eventually to the author, if the advance had been met.

All of that expected loss revenue is factored into the list price of the book - exactly what I did when I priced my books to go onto Amazon.com. (BTW, my books will be on sale on my website in June for my birthday gift to you.)

It is far too complicated to talk about wholesale pricing with co-ops in bookstores without making this a long post (and online retail is another set of formulas). Leave it to say for now that the math would make any reasonable person's head spin.

Even when large advances are not paid, there is still the staff to pay, electricity and plumbing, building rent or mortgage payments with property taxes, building insurance and all the employment taxes, the computers, the special equipment plus the standard copy, fax, printers, water coolers and furniture... to be bought or paid for in any business, even publishers.

Since there are few bestsellers in comparison to the number of books published in a year (estimated by one source as 20,000 a day), those are the ones who carry the weight of the budget. Without them, risks couldn't be taken on debut writers or new twists to old genres.

In today's publishing industry the digital explosion has meant that not only are print book formatted by experts in fonts and layout, but digital books (eBooks) require a unique layout. (Yes, I know there are some who think a pdf version of the print book is an eBook - it isn't exactly so.)

And there is a web presence element that is in the budget of any business, especially publishers. Joyce, my web designer, and I have been working for months on the website for Cactus Rain Publishing. We started last fall. After we drafted two designs then we had to have the logo designed professionally. Joyce helped and there is a blog on that somewhere. Laura did the graphic design work on the logo.

This past weekend Joyce and I worked on the fourth draft of the website template. We have spent hours of conversations and emails discussing what the site needed to achieve and how it should function.

Above is the tweaked version four. What do you think?

Road Trip

Some of this week's posts are prewritten since I am going on a road trip in search of, among other things, photos of the desert rain for the Cactus Rain website.

Granted [the State of] Nevada has us beat in the mountain department, but Arizona is full of mountains and ranges -- and the Mogollon Rim leading to the plateau that is home to the Grand Canyon and others.

We have rock mounds made of granite boulders, some with petroglyphs on them. Four miles from our house is a small (by standard) extinct volcano with whitish pertoglyphs on the black rocks - breath taking.

I'm heading south to the Tucson area and beyond. I will be exploring the southern mountain ranges - from the road, not hiking alone.

I'm looking forward to the trip and rather write about beautiful Arizona than the publishing industry, which is quiet right now.

Look at the blogs and industry news services, most of the 'news' is about eBooks and their host of readers, or fortune telling the future of the industry, which is silly. How could anyone have imagined ebooks 20 years ago? (Okay, StarTrek did, but we didn't get our hover cars, much less personal sized shuttles, who knew we would get their hand held communicators and desktop computers?)

The industry is quiet, busy setting their 2010 Christmas catalogue (yes, really) to debut at the BookExpo America coming in a few short months.

I'm enjoying this down time - perfect timing for a road trip. All the Cactus Rain writers are busy with rewrites adding a variety of adjectives to my name, heh heh heh...but so far, in the end, I am redeemed.

Happy writing my rainbabies and contest writers. Dazzle me when I return.

What is Cactus Rain?

Cactus Rain is a boutique publishing company. It is registered with the Arizona Corporation Commission. That makes Cactus Rain a small press.

Cactus Rain publishes international fiction for the American market. The stories are inspiring as well as entertaining. The writing is strong, the characters are often ordinary people on a quest that leads to a heroic act.

Cactus Rain is not a DIY company. It is a new concept, taking the best from the existing models.

There is a vetting process. The specific submission details will be on the website when we finish building it. A query letter and synopsis will be required. There will be no electronic submissions, at least for now. If a full or partial manuscript is requested, that can be submitted electronically in MS Word or WordPerfect.

There is no set-up fee. There is no advance. There are no royalties. What? No royalties? Royalties means the profits are split with someone.

It is a very simple concept. Once an ms has been accepted, it is formatted, given an ISBN, and a cover at no cost to the author. The author pays for items like the US Copyright fee - and keeps the copyright. With the ability to print any size run, there is the ability to control cost and inventory to meet the demand for the book rather than large stacks of boxes of books sitting in storage.

When books are needed, the author pays the cost to print the book, plus a little something for me to recoup my expenses, then keeps the profit when the book sells, minus expenses like PayPal fees.

The books will be listed in the Cactus Rain catalogue and on the Cactus Rain website and [probably] Amazon.com. The author can sell books from their website or out of their car. As the catalogue builds, other means of distribution [bookstores] will be pursued.

It is all a process - creating a business, developing a website, all of it. More information will be forthcoming. Submissions will be accepted in early 2010.

Why did I create a publishing company when I have one of my own for my books? Simple. I am tired of writers who are not with a traditional publisher barely making any money for the hours invested in writing a novel. Being a person of action, I created a company that does for others what my company, Nadine Laman Books, does for me.

Winter Preparations

All the Arizona periodicals have pictures of the fall colors. Some of the neighbors have been busy closing their cabin for the winter. I hear others out cutting wood.

We have been in a mood of cleaning the garage (not me), rearranging furniture in three rooms (not my idea either, but I love the results), and getting set for a comfortable winter. I've been looking for lily bulbs, but always get pointed to the tulips. Almost everything here in the mountains strikes me as comical.

It isn't so funny to give readers tulips when they are looking for lilies. I've been thinking a lot about the list I want to build for Cactus Rain as I wash windows (my idea) and clean rain gutters of pine needles. I'm aiming for the top end of the 'mid list' and expect that my writers will go on to great things.

It is exciting to redesign the wheel in a way that makes sense for a modern world. Besides the technology advances, publishing hasn't changed much for 150 years. I think it is about time for that change. Don't you?

Cactus Rain Publishing

If you read my October newsletter, you know that I'm launching Cactus Rain Publishing. The letter came back from the Arizona Corporation Commission approving the Limited Liability Company for Cactus Rain Publishing. All that is left to do officially is to publish the legal notice in the newspaper, then file the affidavit of publication with the AZ Corporation Commission.

Cactus Rain Publishing is a boutique publisher specializing in distinctive voices in novels for adult readers. Cactus Rain Publishing is going to reinvent the idea of a small press. In the search for the highest standard in writing and publishing, both the work and author will be vetted. Most of the writers will be foreign authors writing in English, but there will be other surprises on the website once it is launched.

The writing will be fresh and unique for an American publisher. And the writer will actually make money for the hours, weeks, years of work to bring a story to life for the enjoyment of their readers. No lit agent required, but the query letter should be stellar and make me ask for a one page synopsis.

Joyce (DesignByJoyce.com) has started working on the CactusRainPublishing.com website. Currently the URL redirects to my personal website. Just wait until you see what she is doing! OMGosh!

I have bids for the logo. The contract is back from the lawyer. And I'm working with the debut author to begin the 2010 catalogue. There will be online sales and I'm working on securing real distribution with a distributor who has impressed me for years.

So that's my excuse for not having another ms written. What do you think about that news? Questions?