Author Archives: Lucy

Quick and Dirty Publishing Tip #12: Meet New People

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Tips to getting your manuscript out there in the world. In no particular order…

As a group, most writers are fairly private people. Their job requires a lot of time in front of a computer, and naturally this leads to a lot of alone-time. That’s why social media works well for a lot of authors. But when it comes down to actually getting published, it can pay to get out there and do some good old-fashioned networking.

Writing conferences can be wonderfully helpful. They can inspire you to get cracking on your next draft, or teach you how to finally finish that pesky edit. They can introduce you to the people that will shape your career. And most importantly, they help shake things up a bit.

So if you’re an aspiring author, look up your local writing conference. A quick internet search will help you find the conferences in your area!

Quick and Dirty Publishing Tip #11: Embrace Social Media

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Tips to getting your manuscript out there in the world. In no particular order…

Even as an aspiring author, honing your craft and chipping away at your first manuscript, it’s important to start connecting with other writers, agents, and publishers. It doesn’t have happen all at once, and it doesn’t have to happen in a big way, but there’s a great community out there, and it can be really supportive.

A great place to start is GOODREADS, which is really a great resource for any avid reader. It lets you keep track of your to-read list without going through tons of Post-Its (if you’re like me), and it’s an opportunity to start following your favorite authors, and connecting with your reading-inclined friends. Once your book is published, you can become an author on Goodreads, and start connecting with your fans.

It’s important for every author to have a “home” on the web, and my favorite site for this is WORDPRESS. It gives you a lot more control than Blogger, and looks a bit more professional, even if you don’t buy your own url. Whether you doing a review blog or a professional author page, WordPress is a good place to start.

Oh course, no one can forget TWITTER. A lot of people hate it, but if you pace yourself, and follow people you genuinely want to hear from, it can be a pretty cool place. You have to let go of the need to stay completely up-to-date on things…you’re never going to catch all of someone’s tweets. But it can be a great way to meet fellow book lovers.

And finally, FACEBOOK. It’s a tricky tool. It works really well for big-name authors and series, and pretty good for review blogs. Kind of like having a website, it can be a great “home” on the interwebs, but it’s inherantly harder to find new people on Facebook, so it shouldn’t be the only thing you do.

Don’t feel you have to use all the social media sites out there. Pick the ones that feel most comfortable to you, and if you feel like branching out later, you can.

Next time…get networking!

Quick and Dirty Publishing Tip #10: Rounding Out Your Proposal!

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Tips to getting your manuscript out there in the world. In no particular order…

Last week we started talking about proposals. Lets continue!

After your synopsis and marketing plan, you have to include a SELECTION OF YOUR BOOK, usually roughly the first 50 pages or the first three chapters. Always include sequential chapters when submitting works of fiction, unless otherwise specified.

Always make sure include a list of COMPARATIVE TITLES, and how your book is different from similar books out there. This not only proves you know your genre, but gives you a chance to highlight what makes your book unique.

Finally, just like in your query letter, you’ll need your CREDENTIALS. Your writing and publishing history, any relevant degrees you’ve earned, and generally anything that makes you more qualified to write your book than someone else. This is more important for nonfiction, but is still important for fiction. Publishers want to know why you write what you write, and if your background will help to sell the book.

Proposals vary depending on genre, market, and individual publisher, so always do your research before sending anything out!

Next time…get social! 

Quick and Dirty Publishing Tip #9: Prepare Your Proposal!

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Tips to getting your manuscript out there in the world. In no particular order…

Before you start submitting your work anywhere, it’s good to have a basic proposal prepared, in addition to your query letter. You may need to change it for specify places, but at least you’ll have the skeleton in place.

You always want to begin with a SYNOPSIS, usually about a page long, of your whole book. This is not a place to worry about spoilers; give them the facts, even if that means revealing things about your story. Editors are looking for a well-crafted book, not just a well-crafted beginning.

You’ll also need a MARKETING PLAN which focuses partially on what you can do for your book (through social media or your own channels), but also any ideas you have for what the publisher can do. You know your book best, and if you’ve got some great marketing ideas, they want to hear them.

Next time…more about proposals!

All Good Things Must End

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Well, in just a few all-too-short hours, the tour will be over. Take this last chance to enter the giveaway; we’ll be contacting the three winners sometime next week!

Don’t forget to check out the last stop on the tour!

If you’re interested in being a stop on future RainTown blog tours, or are a reviewer interested in ARCs or review copies, drop us a line at online@raintownpress.com

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Cover Reveal

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Today we’re happy to bring you the covers for our next two titles, Wax, by Phil Duncan, and The Last Burning of New London, by Danielle Myers. Neither has been officially revealed, until now!

Coming October 2012

Wax
By Phil Duncan
Ages 10-15

Designer: Cory Freeman

Yancey Muncey is dead. Or, he was. Raised from the grave by the shadowy figure of Dr. Blankenship, Yancey is now back in high school, hanging out with his best friend, and working up the nerve to ask the girl of his dreams to the upcoming Halloween carnival.

But not everything is the same as it was before: Yancey’s eyes are yellow, his skin is blue, and he’s indestructible. As if that weren’t bad enough, Dr. Blankenship has made it his life’s mission to hunt Yancey down. Because the only reason Yancey is alive again is to help the good doctor destroy his rival.

An average boy with a new lease on an extraordinary life, Yancey must battle high-trained security and high school bullies in his quest to get back to normal. What’s the worst that can happen after all? He’s already dead.

Coming January 2013

The Last Burning of New London
By Danielle Myers
Ages 13+

Designer: Erin Clarkson

London Ruins is the head of a post-apocalyptic empire that spans across all theinhabitable land of Western Europe, and survives under the rule of Donovan, a reclusive, self-serving monarch. Donovan’s Royal Task Force carries out the assignment of eliminating all who oppose him by burning them alive within their houses. One group stands up against him, a legendary group of rebels called The Flames whose members are never seen, never heard, their actions only known after they have vanished.

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 Bloggers: Interested in receiving ARCs or being part of the blog tours for either of these books? Drop us a line at online@raintownpress.com.

Behind Visibility: Cory, the Mastermind

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Here we have an exclusive interview with the owner and head publisher of RainTown Press, Cory Freeman.

How did you discover Visibility?

The first time I saw Visibility was on a table for Bowler Hat Comics, a great Portland indie comic publisher, at Wordstock, Portland’s big literary festival. Bowler Hat was in the process of restructuring their organization, and the owner, Bo Johnson, knew about RainTown Press, and asked me if I was interested in taking over the management of Visibility. We were just wrapping up production on our first book, Spartacus and the Circus of Shadows, and were looking for a second book to add to our list of titles. Since our focus is on middle grade and young adult literature, it seemed like a natural fit for our press. The themes of the book were also intriguing. I mean, what’s not cool about a teenage girl with super powers? It was kind of an easy decision. 

With this publication of Visibility, what changes did you make? 

The physical book, designed by Bowler Hat Comics, is very cool looking, and the illustrations are well done. It’s sort of a hybrid between a traditional novel and a graphic novel. However, since we already have the remainder of the originals (which are available on our website, by the way), we decided to take a whole new approach with our electronic  version. We felt the story was strong enough to stand on its own, without the illustrations. We gave it a more modern cover, more in line with what you might see on bookshelves today.

The physical book is still a great companion piece to the electronic version. We even have a few left in stock that are autographed by the author, in case people are interested in that aspect of owning a physical book. As a promotion, I would like to extend an offer to readers: present us with proof that you purchased the e-book of Visibility, and we’ll send a copy of the original book for just $5 plus shipping ($8 total).

What a bargain! So tell us, what other books can we expect from RainTown this year?

We’re very excited about the books we have coming out. In October we have Wax, by Phil Duncan, which is sort of a middle-grade Frankenstein story (don’t call him a zombie, he hates that). Then in January we have Danielle Myers’ futuristic stand-alone, The Last Burning of New London, which is about a gang of rebels trying to bring down a corrupt government.

In Spring we’ll be bringing you Artemis Dreamt, by Crystal Beran, which is a contemporary novel with a hint of magical realism. And finally, next Summer will see the release of Devil’s Fire, by Kiersi Burkhart, the first in a YA paranormal trilogy. After that, well, I’m not at liberty to say…yet.

Sounds intriguing!

Now for something a little different…Growing up, who was your favorite super hero, and why?

Well, I don’t want to age myself here, but when I first made the transition from reading Huey, Dewey & Louie (as well as the Archie comics), the next series of comics I got into were The Fantastic Four. I loved the idea of a group of superheroes, and  Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, Thing, and the Human Torch satisfied that need. My favorites of the bunch were the Human Torch, and Thing; probably more so because of the sheer raw power of the character. He as just this massive, powerful hulk of rock. I thought that was cool.

If you could be a super villain, what would your master plan be?

I would be an altruistic anti super villain. I would take down corrupt governments and organizations. On the surface, I would appear to be the bad guy to the people I was trying to take down, but my ultimate mission would be to make the world a better place
Reminds me of a certain Horrible villian and a certain sing-along blog…

So, what super power would you have?

I’ve thought about this a million times since I was a kid. I have a Top Three:

1) I would have the ability to become invisible so I could be unseen in any environment or situation (maybe this is why Visibility spoke to me).

2) I would be fluent in every language so I could travel anywhere, fit in with the people, and be able to infiltrate any evil group.

3) I would like to have the ability to read peoples minds, so I would always know what they really thought, even though they may say something different. This would enable me to never be deceived, because I can’t stand being lied to.

Sounds like you’d be an asset to any superhero team! Thanks for talking with us today, Cory!

Check back later today for a cover reveal!

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Cory is the owner, founder, and head publisher at RainTown Press. He even dabbles in design, and has been known to do some writing in his spare time. His favorite book is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and he’s always in search of the next Youth in Revolt.

Behind Visibility: Sarah on Superheroes

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All superheroes have one thing in common, and it isn’t spandex. They’re aliens. Maybe they’ve never been to outer space; maybe they’re human mutants, or “chosen” by some force, or the extremely lucky owners of some magic artifact/scientific marvel/humongous fortune that gives them access to everything they need. Or maybe they just got bit by the right bug. Whatever their origin, they aren’t “us” any more. They can pass, maybe, but they don’t fit.

But feeling exiled from humanity isn’t just a superhero thing. Any vet who’s been in combat knows what it’s like. Diabetics and celiacs know; so do cancer survivors. Any gifted kid who made it through high school without finding out why she always felt so out of place knows. Dyslexics know. Every teen who’s realized he really likes guys when all his friends are going girl-crazy, or who’s discovering that he just isn’t attracted to anyone that way, knows. If you’re too fat or too skinny, scare too easily, have a weird laugh, seem to be the designated loner at school or work, don’t speak the language or can’t pronounce it right; if for any reason you aren’t an “acceptable” friend to the people you desperately want to be friends with, then you know. Something happens, something breaks or grows or changes, and suddenly you don’t fit any more. And you think, This isn’t fair. Why is this happening to me? What do I get for going through this? If you’re any brand of comic book geek, you think, Why couldn’t it be something I could use, at least? Why not wings, or breathing underwater, or psychokinetic powers?

That’s why I like the not-quite-superhero stories best. The ones where the powers aren’t free or don’t quite fit, where learning how to use them takes a lot of work, where the “lucky” hero can’t seem to adjust. Maybe the power wasn’t wanted to begin with, or maybe it was meant for someone else and the hero feels like a permanent understudy. Maybe she can use it to make entire cities safe, but can’t make it pay the rent. Maybe it’s a relationship deal-breaker. Maybe he tries to stomp it down and pretend it doesn’t exist but it keeps coming back, creeping into his dreams, staring him in the eye until he blinks. That’s the sort of hero I can relate to. That one could be any of us. The fact that they do usually win, even with all the setbacks, stops looking trite and starts to look a little like hope.

To some extent, every gift comes with a curse. I think—or at least would like to think—that it works the other way around, too: every curse comes with a gift. There’s always a flip side. What makes you different is just like everything else that doesn’t kill you: it can make you stronger, as long as you work to see it for what it really is, and then to master it. As long as you don’t give up.

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A one-time member of Mensa, Sarah Neufeld loves solitude, literature, and travel. She is a true advocate of the graphic movement in literary circles, and draws on Japanese manga in particular to inform her writing. She currently resides in Portland, Oregon, and works as a freelance Japanese translator. When she isn’t busy writing, Sarah can be found learning new languages, hiking the urban forests around Portland, and enjoying manga over a cup of tea.

Enter the Giveaway!

Behind Visibility: Interview on Cover Designer

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Here is an exclusive interview with the cover designer of Visibility, Erin Clarkson.

What themes were you keeping in mind when you were designing the new cover for Visibility?

The strongest image that stuck with me after reading Visibility was this girl of shadows. I know the book is about superpowers, but I kept thinking of what it would be like to be an invisible teenager, and how lots of teens can be/feel invisible without any kind of super power. Also, the fact that Natalie uses sonar to see when she’s invisible was really a cool image concept. So when I first started searching for images I looked for things like “shadowy girl” and such. That was how I came across the image of the girl’s legs with the misty blue background. The other thing that I wanted to include was the blue eyes, because that is the one thing that Natalie and her mom have in common. I also thought that the combination of the eye, the ultimate expression of seeing and being seen, combined with the shadowy figure, really expressed Natalie’s struggle to find her identity as an invisible girl.

Were you going after a specific feel?

I definitely wanted to move away from the superhero/comic book theme that was established with the illustrationed publication of the book…[Visibility is] about a girl and her mom who have super powers, but it’s more about Natalie figuring out who she is. She’s spent her whole life overshadowed by her mom, even at her own birthday parties, and then she discovers that she’s inherited her mom’s awesome power and she has to figure out what that means for her. She knows that she doesn’t want to be her mom, so she has to forge her own path. So I wanted to focus more on Natalie and her struggle to be seen and be invisible.

This cover was designed specifically for e-only distribution. How did that affect your approach to the design?

When you are designing the jacket cover for a hardcover book you have to think about how the image you use will work across a wide canvas, stretching maybe even to the inside flaps of the book. With an ebook you only get to design the front cover, not the whole cover spread. This both makes the task easier and harder. Easier because you have a smaller space to design and you can use smaller images, but harder because you still have to imagine the image spreading beyond the edges of the cover. A cover design should press beyond the borders of the page, encompassing both the book and the intangible sense of the book. An ebook cover has to do all of that in a 6×9″ space.

Have you designed any other covers for RainTown Press?

Yes, I also designed the cover for the upcoming winter release The Last Burning of New London. That cover was very different from Visibility, but a lot of fun.

And, of course, do you have a favorite super power?

My favorite traditional super power would probably be flight, but I’m a big fan of Aquaman and his ability to breathe underwater.

Pretty tempting, I have to admit! Erin, thanks so much for chatting with us!

Check back Friday to see another of Erin’s covers!

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Erin Clarkson is a jack-of-all-trades at RainTown Press, doing some design here, some editing there, some marketing everywhere. In addition to her work on Visibility, she’s also done the interior and cover design for RainTown’s Winter release, The Last Burning of New London, by Danielle Myers.

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