Winners and More Winners

**steps up to microphone**

**horrific ear-bleeding reverb and an instant jump back**

**shading eyes with one hand, squinting into the darkened auditorium, giving the sound man a pathetic whimper**

**timidly reaches out one toe, an inch, two, sets down foot and nears the microphone once again**

VICTORY!

"Ladies and gentlemen and awesome Writer Off the Leash readers, I am proud to announce the winners of the OUT OF THE FRYING PAN signed-copy giveaway. And the winners are --"

**excessive drum banging and crashy-crashy cymbal slams**

MARTHA PEACE  and  LORA YOUNG

WOO-HOO! A huge round of applause for our intrepid winners. 

And before your pouty lower lip drops to the ground because you didn't win, you get another chance to snatch up your free signed copy of OUT OF THE FRYING PAN. This time there's a giveaway over on Goodreads. Here's your chance . . .

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Out of the Frying Pan

by Michelle Griep

Giveaway ends September 30, 2016.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

The Emotional Journey of Writing a New Book

I sat down to write a new book this week. Sounds easy enough, right? Park your booty on a chair, whip open a laptop, and start pounding away. It used to be like that when I didn't have deadlines looming over me like a great black cloud of doom. But the writing process changes when you're no longer doing it simply for fun. Here's an infographic to explain it (and as always, feel free to steal it you like) . . .

Pros and Cons of Small Press Publishing

Listen up, class. We've covered traditional and independent publishing, but don't zip up your backpack yet. There's more to talk about before you're dismissed.

Yeah. School started.

But since I've had experience with small presses also, I figured I'd throw them into the mix.

The Pros of Small Press Publishing

The competition is less fierce.
The biggest advantage of signing with a small press is, well, that you get to sign a contract. Smaller publishers are more willing to take chances and risks by signing no-name or lesser recognized authors. It gets your foot in the publishing door.

They cover the up front costs.
All the expenses of producing a novel are covered by the publisher, not taken from your piggy bank.

The bragging rights to say you've been published.
While it's true that indie publishing doesn't have the stigma it once did, it's still somewhat of a badge of honor to say you've been published by a traditional press.

Royalties could be higher.
Not every small press offers this bonus, but a lot do. Smaller publishers are more apt to share the profits with you.

The Cons of Small Press Publishing

Little to no advance.
The flip side to perhaps getting a larger royalty is that there is usually no advance whatsoever.

Low budget often means a cover you might not be proud of.
Because a small press has smaller operating funds to draw from, top designers are beyond their budget. That means you might not get the quality cover you were hoping for.

Little or nonexistent marketing.
You're more than likely going to have to toot your own horn in the marketplace.

Sometimes small presses go out of business.
The risk in going with a small press is that who knows how long they'll stay in business. And once your book has been published and dropped, a bigger press will not pick it up again. You'll be forced to self-publish if you want that title back out in the public arena.

There you have it, folks. The most information I can give you based on my experiences. I've done all three, and honestly, traditional publishing is my favorite. Not to say that the other two choices are bad. I'm just saying what works for me. Your needs and desires could very well be different.

But here's something that's still the same . . . your chance to snag a free copy of OUT OF THE FRYING PAN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pros and Cons of Indie Publishing

Yesterday I tackled traditional publishing, so it's time now to kick the ol' pigskin down toward the indie publishing goalpost. Slap on a helmet and some kneepads. Here we go . . .

The Pros of Independent Publishing

You da boss man.
You call all the shots, from the cover design to the price. Go ahead and parade around in crown, oh king of the publishing realm.

You own the timetable.
You want to put your book out next week? Go for it. You don't have to wait for a marketing department to meet.

There's no one to tell you no.
Goodbye rejection. There's no one to tell you that your book isn't good enough.

Profit.
The money is all yours. You don't have to share it with anyone. Okay, that's a lie because Uncle Sam will still have his palm out, but the rest is yours.

A sense of accomplishment.
Putting together a book from start to finish is a feather in your cap because it's not a small thing. You get it done and you feel like a champion.

The Cons of Independent Publishing

You bear all the risk.
If that book doesn't sell, you're the one who takes the hit, right in the pocketbook, depending of course on how much you put into this little venture in the first place. And speaking of that, to put out a serious product, you need to invest some cashola in editing and cover design.

There are more decisions to make than you realize.
Where's the best deal on a cover design? How do you know what the best design is? What's an isbn? Where are my socks? These and a bajillion other questions relentlessly pound you over the head.

Formatting can be a headache.
There's a trick to formatting for Kindle and Nook and iphones and whatever other electronic devices are out there. Don't ask me how to do it. I passed that hot potato off to someone else.

Marketing is all on your shoulders.
You are the marketing team. Yeah, so you got your book on Amazon, you and 3 million other titles. How is a reader going to find your book? How are you going to get your book in front of readers?

Quality is all yours, baby.
I cannot emphasize this enough . . . perfection is key. Do NOT put out a book that you will be ashamed of years down the road, one with a schlocky cover and typos galore.

The last thing I want to mention about independent publishing is that very likely you're not going to sell more than a hundred or so copies of your one and only book on the market. Indie publishing is a numbers game, meaning the more books you produce, the more you will sell, especially if you do a series and the first book is put out there for free. If you're not planning on whipping out a book every three or four months, then you might want to rethink the whole indie scene.

But here's something that's a no-brainer . . . enter to win your signed copy of OUT OF THE FRYING PAN, a zany romantic mystery.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pros and Cons of Traditional Publishing

Occasionally people walk by my cage and rattle the bars, which is generally followed by either:
    A) Throwing me some food despite the
         don't-feed-the-writer signs
    B) A blinding light of a flash from an iphone
    C) Asking me a question

And today we're going with "C" because I was recently asked:

"I'm doing a lot of research regarding publishing independently or traditionally. 

I was wondering if you had any advice on publishing?"

So pull up a stool, Grasshopper, and let's have at it, shall we?

There are no quick answers to this whopper because there are pros and cons to each. I know because I've done both, garnering me the hybrid badge on my Girl Scout banner. I can fill you in on what those pros and cons are but ultimately it's up to you to decide which path is best for you.

Today we'll tackle the traditional route. Stay tuned tomorrow for an indie discussion.

The Pros of Traditional Publishing

You don't foot the bill.
Big publishers pay big money to edit, hire a cover designer, figure out a marketing plan, and dole you out an advance. They take the monetary risk, not you.

Stress free, baby.
You don't have to worry about isbn's or formatting or what the best price to offer the book should be. Quality control is handled (for the most part) by the publisher because their name is riding on this little venture every bit as much as yours.

Marketing.
Yes, you still have to do some marketing, so don't get all giddy on me. But the thing about traditional publishers is that they're usually well established in the industry, getting you in to bookstores and such.

You feel like a rockstar.
Signing with a big deal publisher is, well, a big deal. Like it or not, it's still seen as a validation of your writing skills.

You're not alone.
You work as a team with your editor and marketing and sales directors. They're great sounding boards when you need advice.

The Cons of Traditional Publishing

It's super freaking hard to land a contract with a traditional publisher.
There are gatekeepers with big pointy teeth that wield a huge rejection stamp. More often than not writers are turned away based on their writing or what's hot on the market or what the acquisitions editor had for breakfast that day.

You have to share the profit.
Remember when I said the publisher takes the hit on covering all the upfront costs? Yeah, before you go all happy-ballistic-jumpy-feet over that, the flip side is they'll also take the lion's share of the profit. Usually you'll get 15% of every sale.

Lack of control.
While you sign away all your anxiety because the publisher is handling all the decisions for you, you also sign away your control. Oh, you don't like the cover? Too bad, buttercup. What...you think the copy is a little lame on the back? Yep, that's a publishers final call as well.

You could seriously turn gray before your book hits the shelves.
There are long lead times with trad publishers because of volume and quality control. My manuscripts go through 3 edits before the green light sends them on their way. My book coming out in October was signed in July, as in last year, which makes it nearly a year and a half before becoming available to the public.

And that's the skinny on traditional publishing. Love it or leave it. Personally, I love it. I've got a great relationship with my current publisher (Barbour). But that's not who put out OUT OF THE FRYING PAN, which was a small press . . . and that's a whole different list for another time.

But don't miss out on your time to enter the drawing for Frying Pan here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Writerly Pep Talk

Here are a few nuggets of writerly wisdom for you to savor . . .

Take risks with your writing. Just make sure you run it by some critique partners before showing it to the world. Sometimes you'll crash and burn. Other times it will be awesome.

Write the best you possibly can. Sure, over the years this will change, but today just write the best you can for today.

You can't edit a blank page. Write something. Anything. You can always go back and fix it later.

Enjoy where you're at right now, be it rookie wannabe writer, a mid-list author with questionable sales, or a rockstar of the publishing industry. There's always something to strive for no matter what level you're at, so take a deep breath and live in the moment.

Write like you because you are you. You're not J.K. Rowling or Vince Flynn. Be you.

Those are ll the things I did to write Out of the Frying Pan. Snatch up your $7.95 copy at Amazon or take your chances and enter the Rafflecopter drawing.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

How Average of a Reader Are You?

I just spent a long weekend in the North Woods of Minnesota. I packed 5 books to read. You know how many I got to? About a quarter . . . of one. How pathetic is that? I thought it was pretty schlotzy of me not to devour more pages because surely the average reader in America would’ve gone through that pile, right?

Actually, no. The average reader in America finishes 12 books a year, according to a report from Pew Research.

So far this year I’ve read 8, but one of those was a 3 in 1 book dealio, so really I’m at 11. It’s only October so I figure I’m going to be above average.

How about you? Will you hit that goal? And may I make a recommendation for you to read?

Out of the Frying Pan released last week (you saw that one coming, right?). Pop on over to Amazon to snatch up your copy or try your luck here on the Rafflecopter Contest.

a Rafflecopter giveaway