Category Archives: Author Advice

Being an Author is a Full Time Job

Posted on December 21, 2015 | 5 comments

Today I needed to sit back and come to the realization that being an author is a full time job.

When I already have a full time job, and a part time job that becomes a full time job in November and December, I need to take a deep breath and realize that something’s gotta give.

If there are 168 hours in a week and I have three jobs that take 40 hours a week, plus I need to sleep eight hours a day… well, if you do the math, we come up short.

That is why I haven’t been blogging all that much, and while I love popping in and chatting here, I need to be realistic.

Now that I am a published author I have things like editorial deadlines, appearances, and marketing all on top of my daily 500-1000 words a day writing goal. (Plus, of course, the full time job and part time job that pay the bills)

That is an awful lot to keep up on.

When ASHES IN THE SKY was pushed back 6 months, I realized that I wasn’t writing for myself anymore. There are people out there in the world waiting to read my next book, and when it doesn’t make the original pub date, there are a lot more people than just me disappointed. So-even though the ASHES delay was out of my control, I need to make sure I make every deadline to keep my books moving on schedule.

So, as you might have guessed, blogging is one of the things that’s gotta give. But I won’t be abandoning this site. I still love it here. I just can’t commit to a schedule. While I love a challenge, adding another thing on to what I “have to do” would just be insanity.

I will be popping in to provide words of wisdom, or to laugh at my idiocy. Because hey, the therapeutic value of coming here and hanging out totally has its value too. I will try to pop in at least once a week, but if I don’t make it, blame the aliens.

Back to the trenches I go.

Now that ASHES IN THE SKY is complete, I’m working with my editor on book three of Fire in the Woods. (Yes, already. Can you believe it?)

Plus I am plugging away a scene at a time trying to finish book one in my new series.

Yes, writing is a full time job. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

5 Comments

Posted in Author Advice

Tagged ashes in the sky, blogging, editing, fire in the woods, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, managing multiple jobs, managing time, multitasking, writing

An Author’s Work Is Never Done. No, Seriously… It’s not. You have NO idea.

Posted on December 14, 2015 | 5 comments

As I squeezed out the final edits of ASHES IN THE SKY, I was ready to sit back, relax, and coast through the holidays. Wow, was I looking forward to taking a break, relaxing with my family, and maybe even finishing my new book!

But my bubble popped when less than a week after handing in the final copy of ASHES to be sent to the formatter, the developmental edit of Book Three of FIRE IN THE WOODS appeared in my email.

I was floored. The developmental edit is usually the most time consuming, and while it is not as tedious as fine tuning, it will definitely suck up most of your life. And my due date was only forty days away.

Goodbye, Christmas break.

After a discussion with my lead editor, we decided that another month would not hurt the schedule. Where that did not leave me “off the hook”, it did certainly take some of the pressure off. Especially since some of the changes were going to be extensive.

So I dug in, getting about a quarter of the way into the manuscript… before the final formatting proof of ASHES IN THE SKY came back. [head hits desk]

Yep, it’s a funny business like that.

Subtract one week from that extra month of editing, because I now needed to re-read book 2 word by word to make sure there were no problems.

Thankfully, I have finished that proof as of this post. I’m not sure if I’ll have to look at it again since I did require some changes.

So, for now, I am back to those developmental edits.

If anyone tells you being an author is easy, let me know their name.

I will write their character into a book and Torture them a little.

Hey, it’s the least I can do. {smiles}

You can find Fire in the Woods at all these awesome bookish places!

Catch up with me on social media!

5 Comments

Posted in Author Advice

Tagged ashes in the sky, editing, fire in the woods, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, writing

Rekindling your writing mojo after taking an unplanned hiatus

Posted on December 8, 2015 | 2 comments

I’m a stickler for goals. I love them.

I love achieving them more.

But sometimes life gets in the way, and goals need to be realigned.

I’m currently 70,000 words into a 50,000 words YA science fiction novel. Yup, that was right – 20,000 words over goal, and I probably need another 15-20,000 to finish.

This was problem #1: I carefully planned out when I needed to finish my novel before my edits came back for ASHES IN THE SKY. Yes, I achieved my 50,000 words on time… but when I got there, my story wasn’t finished. So I kept writing—Even took a writer’s weekend in hopes of finishing the book before I needed to start editing again… but even that only got me smack up against the beginning of the climax, where my main character is staring down at her worst nightmare come true.

A very BAD place to stop writing.

At the most important place in my novel to KEEP WRITING, I was forced to stop for a two-week marathon run of editing, which in of itself would have been fine. But then life problem #2 happened. A huge project at my day job had me working through my precious lunch breaks, and even far into the evenings, leaving my precious characters stagnant, facing horrible trauma and impending doom for an additional two weeks.

An entire month without writing something new

It was a month to the day when I finally got back to my story, and I sighed seeing where I had left my characters. So I did the only thing I really could do.

I opened up to page one, and I did an editing run.

You should always finish your book before editing! Yes, this is true, but after being away for so long, I needed to re-familiarize myself with the characters, the plot, the tone, and the voice (Especially since I had spent a few week’s back in Jess Martinez’s quirky head)

The deep edit on those 70,000 words took about a week, and even then, I found myself at a loss when I came to the end.

Was this book still inside me? With the kind of tension build I created over all those chapters, would I be able to deliver the goods in the climax?

I knew I had to shake it off, but instead, I kept going back to earlier chapters and revising something else.

Then, finally, I got back to the last scene that I’d written a month ago. That first sentence was the hardest sentence that I’ve ever written. It took me about an hour to type 100 words. Horrible.

Welcome back, muse!

But then the magic muse finally took hold. The characters reignited in my brain. I jumped back on the rollercoaster, ready to sprint to the finish line with them.

Yes, I am excited about this story again. I’m excited to get it out in the world.

All I had to do, was force myself through those pesky 100 words to get myself started.

Yup, feels good to be hanging out with imaginary people again.

You can find Fire in the Woods at all these awesome bookish places!

Catch up with me on social media!

2 Comments

Posted in Author Advice, General Writing Tips

Tagged ashes in the sky, Cable, editing, Fire in the Woods book 2, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, writing, writing slump

One Stop for Writers – Something New from the Authors of the Emotion Thesaurus

Posted on October 9, 2015 | 5 comments

We all know just how much sweat, courage and persistence it takes to write a book and then release it into the world.

Writing is tough, isn’t it?

I mean, who says I can’t use the word “sad” fifteen times on the same page?

My character is SAD Dangit!

Ha!

I don’t think there are too many authors out there these days that have not heard of the Emotion Thesaurus.

Mine always sits snug at my side while I’m editing. That’s why I’m kinda excited about One Stop For Writers.

This site, coming to you from Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman, authors of The Emotion Thesaurus, and Lee Powell, creator of Scrivener for Windows is being touted as a “powerhouse online library is filled with one-of-a-kind descriptive thesaurus collections, tools, tutorials and much more, all geared to provide the resources you need to strengthen your prose and write more efficiently.”

Normally I wouldn’t give something like this a blink, but I’ve learned to trust Becca and Angela. Because woe to anyone who tries to steal my Emotion Thesaurus.

So that’s why I’m helping to spread the news on this new site. If you are a writer, hop on over and give it a look. You might be glad you did.

Writers Helping Writers is hosting the Launch Week festivities (October 7-14th)! If you know Angela, Lee and Becca already, you probably can guess there will be some great prizes, and probably a bit of paying-it-forward too.

Have fun and good luck!

5 Comments

Posted in Author Advice, Biggest Mistakes New Writers Make

Tagged angela ackerman, becca puglisi, emotion thesaurus, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, lee powell, one stop for writers, scrivner

The development of a writer: Are you getting any better?

Posted on October 2, 2015 | 6 comments

I just had a realization that has me bashing my head against my keyboard.

I think I might be a better writer now, then I was a year ago.

How did I come to this epiphany?

As some of you have noticed, Ashes in the Sky is late. Ashes, Book Two in the Fire in the Woods Series, is now (I think) on its third editor (Maybe the fourth. I’m losing count.)

This is both good, and bad. It’s good, because I am getting extra eyes on the book, and each of the umpteenth editing rounds I do, the book gets infinitely stronger. (It’s not the editing rounds that are making it late by the way. Publishing is a fickle business. “Things” happen.)

So what’s got bugs in my bonnet?

I jut started my final (I hope) round of edits before the proofread. Since this has been through SO MANY editing rounds, the novel should be pretty near perfect, right?

It’s not.

I’ve already gone through the entire manuscript and accepted, rejected, or revised according to the editor’s suggestions. The hard part is over.

Today, I started reading from page one, giving one final check before the proofread.

Here is where the banging my head part comes in.

I’m stunned at how many changes I am making, and I’ve only gotten through the first fifty pages of so.

I see things I didn’t see before. I am finding sentences that could be stronger. I’m replacing lazy verbs with robust ones. I’m finding paragraphs that don’t read quite right, and making them flow. And I even found a scene that had to be completely re-organized to make it make sense chronologically.

Could it be that I am incredibly picky and hard on myself?

Well, yes. If you’ve been hanging out here for a while, you already know that is true. But I think the BIG difference is that I finished this novel November 2, 2014. That is almost a year ago, and since then I have completed two more novels. You always hear that practice makes you better. I think this is the case here.

Now that have two more novel’s worth of experience under the keys on my keyboard, and I am unwilling to let ASHES go to press when it’s not as perfect as I can get it.

Will it ever be perfect?

No, of course not, but I’m working darn hard to make sure it lives up to who I am now as a writer, and not who I was a year ago.

This kinda makes me nervous to think that I have three more novels that I completed BEFORE the contract offer for this series that I left on the back-burner to edit and submit another day. I shiver to think about the editing of those. I might have to set them aside as learning experiences.

Or maybe use them as 80,000 word detailed outlines, and start over from scratch.

Has this happened to you? Do you see yourself developing the more you write? Try reading something you wrote a long time ago, and let me know what you see.

You can find Fire in the Woods at all these awesome bookish places!

Catch up with me on social media!

6 Comments

Posted in Author Advice

Tagged ashes in the sky, editing, fire in the woods, I'm a better writer than I was a, improving, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, strenthening

Newsletters. Are they really worth all the effort? Part 1

Posted on September 21, 2015 | 7 comments

The big buzz out there in marketing land right now is newsletters.

I’ve heard of newsletters before. I even have a newsletter signup in my sidebar, but I haven’t really promoted it on my blog. After all, you read me here every week. Why would you want to get my newsletter?

Admission of guilt: The truth is that even though I had a sign-up, I hadn’t actually ever written a newsletter – so I wasn’t all that worried about it.

Anyway, a few months ago a friend of mine linked me in to a group of sci-fi authors that were joining forces for a massive newsletter promotion. I figured for an entry fee of $10, the worst that could happen was I’d lose ten bucks. And the best thing that could happen was I’d sell a few books, or one of my wonderful 15 newsletter subscribers might win one of the three Kindle Fires or the gift cards they were giving away. So I joined up.

And then the learning process began.

Before the promotion went out, I did something I’d never done before. I felt bad that I only had 15 subscribers to add to the “pool” that would be getting this massive promotion. (Some of the authors had thousands—one had 22,000 subscribers. Crazy)

Anyway, I wanted to pull my weight, so I got on my biggest fan-based social media (Instagram) and announced I had a newsletter if anyone wanted to sign up.

Imagine my surprise when 50 people signed up over the weekend. Say what? That was score number one that I could have achieved at any time I wanted. I just had no idea that anyone would even be interested!

That, in of itself, was worth the $10.00! I only wish I’d known sooner!

So take away number one is that it doesn’t hurt to ask. You might be surprised how many people might actually be interested in hearing from you in a newsletter.

I’m going to split this into two post so I don’t take too much of your time, but you might find the rest of this story very interesting. I know I did!

You can find Fire in the Woods at all these awesome bookish places!

Catch up with me on social media!

7 Comments

Posted in Author Advice, Biggest Mistakes New Writers Make

Tagged fire in the woods, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, Newsletters, what do I put in a newsletter, what good are newsletters, why newsletter

Writing (or not writing) in Omnipotent POV (Or is that Head Hopping?)

Posted on September 18, 2015 | 10 comments

I recently was contacted by a friend who I did a beta read for, asking for help.

She wrote her manuscript from an “omnipotent” point of view, which means you are inside every character’s head, and hear all their thoughts.

Apparently I was not the only one who cautioned her against this. She asked for tips on how to fix her manuscript to not make it sound like “head hopping”.

As I typed up my lengthy response, I figured it might be beneficial to others as well. Hope this helps … and before anyone starts yelling, remember that SEVERAL beta readers had told her that the head hopping in her manuscript was jarring.

This was my response:

Omnipotent POV is very hard these days. In my opinion, it is a very “old” kind of writing. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Many classics are written in this fashion. The problem with omnipotent in contemporary writing is that readers have become accustomed to a deeper experience. And from what I’ve seen, the deeper the better. This can only be done effectively with one POV per scene. More than that and the reader gets confused, and it is harder for them to immerse themselves in the story.

When I was trying to defend my own Omnipotent manuscript a few years ago, (a mutual friend) recommended a romance novel to me, written by a best selling author that had sold a gazillion copies. I read it, but to be honest, even though she was trying to help me defend omnipotent, it made me completely change my mind. The “head hopping” was far more distracting than I ever thought it would be reading a professional book.

All this to say… that most (not all) publishers will be more comfortable with third person or first person POV, and having only one POV per chapter (or a scene break, but I personally prefer one per chapter

Has omnipotent been done? Of course. Has it sold? Yup. Is it as good as deep POV from a single character? – debatable, and depends on what you think is good. From what I have seen, It looks like the people doing it are well established, and publishers (and readers) will buy their books no matter what.

For newbies like us, you might want to be cautious.

However, if you love the omnipotent, and think you NEED it, go for it! It might end up excellent. You could start a new trend.

(Note: I did show her in her novel that almost every scene cold have easily been written in one character’s POV, or switching up with a scene break)

Just do so with caution, knowing that it could potentially be an instant deal breaker for some pubs and agents. (As any POV could be, but more so than the more accepted methods these days.)

I did read an article written by an agent last year (cannot remember who is was, sorry) that said that omnipotent was “lazy writing” and put it out there in the category of manuscripts with show verses tell issues

Will everyone think that way? No, of course not.

Again, this is just to make you realize what you might be up against. If you do choose to do omnipotent, it needs to flow fluidly from one character to another so it is not jarring. I think this is something that will just take a lot of practice until you get it right

Best of luck whatever you decide!

Catch up with me on social media!

10 Comments

Posted in Author Advice, General Writing Tips

Tagged Head hopping, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, narrator, omnipotent point of view, POV

Wrap Up! Get your manuscript past the gatekeeper

Posted on August 31, 2015 | 6 comments

Get past the gatekeeper

Special Thanks to author Donna Galanti for spending the past ten weeks with us (Wow has it been that long?)

It has been really interesting hearing from someone who sifted through an agent’s slush pile, and listening to the actual comments she made, as well as the suggestions to avoid these mistakes.

In case you missed any of Donna’s great advice, here is a wrap up of all the great tidbits she offered and links to each topic. This will also be made a permanent page under writing advice so everyone can refer to it again.

I hope everyone found this series useful!

Introduction: Score! You guys are going to love this next series of Monday writer’s-help posts! – Get Your Manuscript Past the Gatekeeper

#1: World Building

#2: Uneven Narrative Flow

#3: Those pesky Unnecessary words

#4: Does your manuscript have CONFIDENCE ISSUES

#5: Where’s the Beef? Is your dialog too beefy?

#6: Hook ‘Em and Hook ‘Em Good!

#7: Let’s Talk About Character Development Part 1

#8: Character Development Part 2

#9: Pacing and Tension – Too Much or Too Little? Part 1

#10: Pacing and Tension – Too Much or Too Little? Part 2

Now go. Work on making every scene the best it can possibly be! It may help you get past the gatekeeper.

About Donna: Donna Galanti is the author of A Human Element and A Hidden Element (Imajin Books), the first two award-winning, bestselling books in the paranormal suspense Element Trilogy, and the middle grade fantasy adventure series Joshua and The Lightning Road (Month9Books). Donna is a contributing editor to International Thriller Writers the Big Thrill magazine and blogs at Project Mayhem. She lives in Pennsylvania with her family in an old farmhouse. Visit her at www.donnagalanti.com.

About Joshua and the Lightning Road:

Twelve-year-old Joshua Cooper learns the hard way that lightning never strikes by chance when a bolt strikes his house and whisks away his best friend—possibly forever. To get him back, Joshua must travel the Lightning Road to a dark world where stolen human kids are work slaves ruled by the frustrated heirs of the Greek Olympians who come to see Joshua as the hero prophesied to restore their lost powers. New friends come to Joshua’s aid and while battling beasts and bandits and fending off the Child Collector, Joshua’s mission quickly becomes more than a search for his friend—it becomes the battle of his life.

6 Comments

Posted in Author Advice, Biggest Mistakes New Writers Make

Tagged Donna Galanti, gatekeeper, get out of the slush pile, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, Slush pile, what is the slush pile

Get Your Manuscript Past the Gatekeeper #8: Character Development Part 2

Posted on August 3, 2015 | 3 comments

Based on personal experience as a first-reader intern for a literary agency, I’m sharing what can get your manuscript past the gatekeeper (the intern!) and into the hands of the agent.

Here are some notes Donna presented to the agent after reading a manuscript:

“The reader should have felt sympathy for the character. But we spend so much time in his head, and not enough time watching him act or react. He is always telling us what he wants, thinks, hopes for, and the same thing over and over, perhaps expressed differently, but the same idea or concept. Therefore, he often comes across as whiny and not all that capable. We need to see him go from hapless tween to reluctant hero to hero.”

Could your characters be one-dimensional?

Ask yourself:

Are your characters people we are being told about? We need to get a sense of their personality or what they fear, or what they are capable of from an emotional or physical standpoint. We can’t see this if mostly the narrator tells us.

TIPS: *The kinds of characters that have a history, actions, and reactions are the most well-developed – and the most enjoyable to read. Using the senses to show character is a great way to do this.
*Is your main character always having one emotion or the other? Like being shown as either angry or super sad. How else can he feel? Show him feeling other things. Look for repetitive sections where he is telling us what he feels and change to action. SHOW him reacting vs. TELLING us what’s in his head.

*Ground the reader in the beginning to a character’s description. When a new character enters the story describe them most richly upon entrance.

*Do a global search for your characters actions. Is your character always throwing their hair back? Snapping their fingers? Tapping their feet? Chewing their lip? You need to mix it up a little bit.

Now go. Work on building characters to care about! It may help you get past the gatekeeper.

About Joshua and the Lightning Road:

3 Comments

Posted in Author Advice, General Writing Tips

Tagged agent, Donna Galanti, editing, gatekeeper, how to get out of the slush pile, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, Joshua and the Lightning Road, Manuscript, Slush pile

Get Your Manuscript Past the Gatekeeper #6: Hook ‘Em and Hook ‘Em Good!

Posted on July 20, 2015 | Comments Off

Based on personal experience as a first-reader intern for a literary agency, I’m sharing what can get your manuscript past the gatekeeper (the intern!) and into the hands of the agent.

There’s probably nothing more frustrating to a slush pile reader than the anticipation of a story with a great hook, but then the author doesn’t follow through.

How can we keep this from happening, Donna?

Is your story more than a good idea? It must be a great story that is executed on. Remember, a story is a promise to be kept if you want to keep the reader reading.

Donna’s notes on an actual manuscript plucked out of the slush pile: “I so wanted to like this book! It has a fun premise and if executed well could be a book that boys and girls alike enjoy. It’s a fresh concept with lots of potential for action and adventure combining futuristic technology – BUT I needed more of a reason to care about why this story is being told. I needed to be engaged and I wasn’t. The story fell apart and its promise was never delivered on.”

Wow! Wouldn’t you just want to smack yourself upside the head if this was your manuscript? Yikes! Help Donna! How can we make sure this doesn’t happen to us?

Okay, troops, ask yourself: Does everything happen with a purpose in your scene?

TIP: Outline the purpose of each scene/chapter and connect it to the story arc and character arc to strengthen the story and move it along. Everything your characters do must have purpose and consequences.

Specifically, write out for each chapter: Main character’s goals of each chapter/scene What the main character discovers in each scene and how it propels him/her forward What we can learn about other characters in each scene through dialogue and action World building goals for each scene Outer turning point: in each scene which things change that everyone can understand Inner turning point: in each scene which the scene’s point of view character also changes as a result

Outline this for each chapter and you will have a guide to stay on track with your story’s promise!

Do your characters have a special condition? Are they a burn victim, blind, or an amputee? If so this must play a role in the story. Don’t offer it to us as a promise to be part of the story and not deliver on it.

Now go. Work on making that hook follow through with each scene! It may help you get past the gatekeeper.

About Joshua and the Lightning Road:

Comments Off on Get Your Manuscript Past the Gatekeeper #6: Hook ‘Em and Hook ‘Em Good!

Posted in Author Advice

Tagged agent, Donna Galanti, editing, editor, hook, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, Joshua and the Lightning Road, sluch pile, sumbission

Category Archives: Author Advice

Being an Author is a Full Time Job

Today I needed to sit back and come to the realization that being an author is a full time job.

That is an awful lot to keep up on.

Back to the trenches I go.

An Author’s Work Is Never Done. No, Seriously… It’s not. You have NO idea.

Catch up with me on social media!

Rekindling your writing mojo after taking an unplanned hiatus

I love achieving them more.

A very BAD place to stop writing.

An entire month without writing something new

Welcome back, muse!

Catch up with me on social media!

One Stop for Writers – Something New from the Authors of the Emotion Thesaurus

Ha!

The development of a writer: Are you getting any better?

How did I come to this epiphany?

So what’s got bugs in my bonnet?

It’s not.

Here is where the banging my head part comes in.

Could it be that I am incredibly picky and hard on myself?

Will it ever be perfect?

Catch up with me on social media!

Writing (or not writing) in Omnipotent POV (Or is that Head Hopping?)

I recently was contacted by a friend who I did a beta read for, asking for help.

This was my response:

For newbies like us, you might want to be cautious.

Will everyone think that way? No, of course not.

Best of luck whatever you decide!

Wrap Up! Get your manuscript past the gatekeeper

Get Your Manuscript Past the Gatekeeper #8: Character Development Part 2

Could your characters be one-dimensional?

Get Your Manuscript Past the Gatekeeper #6: Hook ‘Em and Hook ‘Em Good!

Is your story more than a good idea? It must be a great story that is executed on. Remember, a story is a promise to be kept if you want to keep the reader reading.

Okay, troops, ask yourself: Does everything happen with a purpose in your scene?

Outline this for each chapter and you will have a guide to stay on track with your story’s promise!

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