With
Thanksgiving (in the US) behind us, and after being stuffed to the gills for a
week and probably a few pounds heavier from the over-indulgence, we are embarking
on the month of prep for a joyous time of year! At least I hope for everyone
this season will bring happiness and joy.
 | |
| My Dog Dressed as a "Dog Reindeer" (He won the contest) |
As we
quickly approach the end of 2013, I want to take the time to reflect back on
what I’ve done in the way of my writing. Not much!
I started
last holiday season off with the first episode of a serial and had the
subsequent episodes follow. The venture was a departure from what I normally
write and I was disappointed by the way it was received. Due to pricing
constraints with third party retailers, the price couldn’t be lowered, so I
made a decision and fortunately my publisher agreed to the stories would be
consolidated into one book. Christmas Eve, the entire story will be released
with the final episodes added. Writing the stories was meant to be like a
television series, or a comic book with new adventures happening for the main
character. Sadly, the readers I pitched were interested, but the cost didn’t
make sense or they said they didn’t want cliffhangers.
Before I
made the change to consolidate, I started reading reviews on Amazon with other
books that were set up similarly. Not good reviews. The readers were speaking
loud and clear—they didn’t like the concept. Romance readers like their HEA or
HFN!
Okay, drop
back and punt. So I pose the question—do you make changes to suite your
audiences, or say screw it and write your way and forget what anyone says? Don’t
get me wrong, I didn’t deviate from the story line, but the delivery I changed.
I refuse to compromise on writing to the masses like that because my stories
and characters dictate what gets written, but I’m talking about trying
something new. If it fails, would you rewrite and change the method of
delivery?
With all
that posed and said The Misadventures of
Dick Grewcock with his new and updated final cover releases from Secret
Cravings Publishing. Dick’s adventure actually begins on Christmas Eve so I
find appropriate. As you can see from the tagline, Dick the computer geek has a
few interesting adventures.
 |
Tagline: Vampires, Zombies, Voodoo and a possible UFO
sighting...take a wild ride with the computer geek on an impossible mission not
to lose his humanity.
Blurb:
Dick Grewcock is a computer geek
wanting more out of life. Yearning for a girlfriend, he takes steps to make his
dream come true. Vampires are handsome, powerful, and have women falling over
them—everything he’s not. Becoming one wasn’t an easy task and he had to find
an real vampire willing to turn him.
Christmas Eve, he begins an
impossible mission for his boss. Before he starts, a cute spitfire woman just
as geeky as him walks into Vampires ‘R Us and life changes. He could have
everything he wanted—a pretty girlfriend and a great job—if he could just
convince her.
Noelle St. Nicholas is on a mission
to save her home and won’t take no for an answer. The only one who can help her
is Dick, the nerd staring at her and looking really weird.
Follow the adventures of Dick
Grewcock to find true love without losing his humanity.
Until next
month . . .
Cynthia
Arsuaga
Erotic Romance Author
Blog: http://romanticwordsbycynthia.blogspot.com
Website: http://cynthiaarsuaga.weebly.com
Publisher Page: http://store.secretcravingspublishing.com/index.php?main_page=products_all&filter_author=1&zenid=7ea916acb5075615d6f30b6f25e77c3e
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CynthiaArsuaga?ref=tn_tnmn
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#%21/CynthiaArsuaga
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4715026-cynthia-arsuaga
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/cynthiaarsuaga/
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/cynthia-arsuaga/30/101/49b
Vampire Book Realm: http://www.vampirebookrealm.com/cynthia-arsuaga.html
Amazon Author Central: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/profile?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0
Website: http://cynthiaarsuaga.weebly.com
Publisher Page: http://store.secretcravingspublishing.com/index.php?main_page=products_all&filter_author=1&zenid=7ea916acb5075615d6f30b6f25e77c3e
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CynthiaArsuaga?ref=tn_tnmn
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#%21/CynthiaArsuaga
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4715026-cynthia-arsuaga
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/cynthiaarsuaga/
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/cynthia-arsuaga/30/101/49b
Vampire Book Realm: http://www.vampirebookrealm.com/cynthia-arsuaga.html
Amazon Author Central: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/profile?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0
I think we all have to write to our audience to some degree. However, bending the rules works out great at times, and suddenly readers decide they like what you've done. I think it's a balance of what they want and what you like.
ReplyDeleteCynthia, this sounds like a cute story, and maybe more geared to the YA audience.
ReplyDeleteIt's scary making a decision like what you're making Cynthia. Good luck!
I write the stories that come to me and figure there are readers out there who will like my particular style of story craft. I know I can't please or entertain everyone, but I do give it my all. Best luck, Cynthia.
ReplyDeleteI changed the ending of my 3rd book to fit the HFN format, since I didn't think any publisher would accept the original ending. My heroine threw a fit and 'yelled' at me for weeks, every time I opened that document. Finally, I polled my beta readers and they liked the new ending better. 'Keri' settled down after that, though she's still not entirely happy LOL!
ReplyDeleteAnother hazard to being a writer...Lots of luck...
ReplyDeleteYour dog is so cute. I love the premise of your story. It sounds very creative. I admire that you tried something new. Sometimes a new twist works with readers and sometimes not.
ReplyDeleteI write the stories I want to read, but I do try to keep up with the market and I've tweaked story lines to fit the market at times. But you can't really write to the market totally because it changes all the time.
Best of luck with the book. Great cover.
How frustrating. I'm glad that you are finally getting to put the whole story together and I hope that everyone sees what a great book it is.
ReplyDeleteI like pushing the envelope but I know that for right now, I'm writing and marketing to a romance audience so the HEA or HFN is going to be part of the deal. So far I haven't been brave enough to market outside the romance arena but that could happen:)
ReplyDelete