Continuity Counts – Updating a Short Story to Match a Novel by Kitty Bucholtz
October 9, 2013 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as It's Worth It, Kitty Bucholtz, Romancing the Pages, self-publishing, short story, Superhero in Disguise, Unexpected Superhero
When I worked in the film industry, I once had the happy job of assisting the script supervisor for a few days. As a writer, I found it fun and interesting to see what went into making sure we ended up with hundreds of little pieces of film that could be edited into a continuous story that made sense. Especially fascinating when you consider that you shoot scenes completely out of order.
With that in mind, I tried to make sure that my novel Unexpected Superhero (published in May) didn’t contradict anything I wrote in the short story “Hero in Disguise” (published last September in our Romancing the Pages anthology). Even with all of my notes and highlights, it seemed to me that there were still a few things that wouldn’t make quite as much sense as I intended (grin!) if you read the two stories back to back.
I’m publishing the short story myself next Tuesday (Oct 15) as an ebook. When I read it over again, I knew I wanted to make some changes. For one thing, I’d decided that all of the titles for the stories in the Adventures of Lewis and Clarke series would have the word “superhero” in them. So the new title is “Superhero in Disguise.”
But more than that, I wanted the tone to match better. We put together Romancing the Pages as a romance anthology, and my short story matched that tone when I wrote it. But the overarching series story in my head is definitely more humorous urban fantasy. So I went through the short and made changes with that in mind.
As I did so, I was pretty sure I was finding some inconsistencies in how Tori, the main character, perceived her unusual abilities. The short is going to be permanently free as a promotion for the series, so I was hypersensitive to the fact that someone could conceivably read the short and immediately buy and read the novel.
It took a few days and a lot of sticky notes, but I think I managed to smooth it all out. (I hope so! LOL!) I’m trying out a new cover style to see how readers react. It may take some time to find the best way to present this series in terms of book covers, but I’m finally beginning to relax about that.
One of the things I’m beginning to appreciate about self-publishing is not only how I can learn to be flexible and make changes when things don’t seem to be working as well as I’d expect, but also how that mindset is influencing the rest of my life. While I’m in an incredibly stressful situation in life right now, I’m noticing that I’m calmer and looking for alternative solutions every time something doesn’t work out.
It’s nice when you can find that growing in one area of your life can provoke growth in other areas, too!
Kitty Bucholtz decided to combine her undergraduate degree in business, her years of experience in accounting and finance, and her graduate degree in creative writing to become a writer-turned-independent-publisher. Her first novel, Little Miss Lovesick, came out in 2011. Her new novel, Unexpected Superhero, book one in The Adventures of Lewis & Clarke humorous urban fantasy series, is now available in print and ebook format. Love at the Fluff and Fold, book one in The Strays of Loon Lake romantic comedy series, will be released later this year. Her short stories can be found in the anthologies Romancing the Pages and Moonlit Encounters, available in both print and ebook formats.
0 0 Read moreNew Year, New Writing (Calls for Submission)
December 31, 2012 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Calls for Submission, January 2013, Louisa Bacio, OCC/RWA., short story, Writing Goals
Cosmo Red Hot Reads from Harlequin feature contemporary, fun, sexy stories for today’s fun fearless females!
- She is the Cosmo woman: fun, fearless, female
- She is independent
- She does not need a man to make her life complete, but he is the icing on the cake
- She’s adventurous and daring both in the bedroom and out!
- She values her female friendships
- She is focused on her career
- Our heroine (and hero) grew up with reality TV, texting, online dating
- She is most likely in her early to mid-twenties
- The heroine drives the story
- Sexy romantic relationship with a satisfying ending
- Love scenes are frequent, fun, detailed, fantasy-oriented and push the envelope
- A strong conflict
- Fast-paced, snappy dialogue, witty repartee
- Strong female lead
- A hero that you want to spend the weekend in bed with
- Fresh, contemporary voice
Theme: Goosebumps Galore!
Submission Deadline: January 5, 2013

Release Date: May 25, 2013. While this deadline is really soon – more for those almost done, they also have an YA Fantasy & Adventure call due March 23.
Note: at its base, every story within the Young Adult section should involve issues important to young adults—these can be directly related to the storyline or sub-plots that they young adult tackles along the way. No topic is considered taboo as it relates to this age group; however, sensitive topics require sensitive treatment, so please keep that in mind as you craft your stories.
Caveats:
Riverdale Desire is our erotica and erotic romance imprint. We are looking for works of fiction from 50,00 to 65,000 words that explore either the erotic journey (erotica) or the quest for satisfaction with a happy ending or at least a happy–for-now ending. We will consider anthologies as well as novellas of between 20,000 and 40,000 words.
Riverdale Truth is our erotic memoir imprint. We are looking for true stories of erotic exploration and adventures from midlife dating to the life of a swinger. This is nonfiction, but we will consider anonymous memoir. We will consider anthologies as well.
Riverdale HSF is our horror, science fiction and fantasy line. We are looking for game- changing fiction in these categories. If anyone has ever read anything like your book before, we don’t want it; we want you to blow us away.
5 Tips to self-publishing your mother never told you by Jina Bacarr
November 11, 2011 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Amazon, Bob Mayer, Cinderella, Confessions of a Podcast Goddess, Dr. Debra Holland, hunter, J.A. Konrath, Jackie Diamond Hyman, Marie Force, nook, rules, self-publishing, short story, SmashwordsPsst…have you heard? Everybody’s doing it. Self-publishing.
It’s hip, it’s cool…it’s like winning the lottery.
Right?
Hmm…maybe. Maybe not. It’s the wild, wild west out in the land of Amazon, Smashwords and Nook. All you need is a dusty, old manuscript from under your bed, a sexy cover and a few .html codes and you’re dancing with the stars.
Oh, what fools we writers be.
It ain’t that easy.
Here’s the deal: You’ve written a good story and your manuscript is in the best shape possible–critique groups, professional editing, etc. Now what?
No doubt you need a good cover and nearly flawless formatting, but don’t give up if you haven’t gotten it all together. Before you push that old manuscript back under the bed with the dust bunnies, it is possible to hitch your wagon to the self-pubbed stars and join in the land rush…or should I say, digital rush.
I did it. I self-pubbed a holiday novella and a short story. There are many blogs that can help you with various aspects of the biz, from J.A. Konrath to Bob Mayer’s Write It Forward (I highly recommend both!), but here are a few tips I’ve learned along the way.
Jina’s 5 tips to self-publishing:
- I formatted my manuscript myself with help from Marie Force’s blog–I especially found the info about “tabs†and indenting .33 on the first line helpful.
- I bought my cover art from Dreamstime.com They have quality photos and high resolution. You can choose from 12 million photos available on their site.
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Be prepared to spend time learning how to format. It’s a high learning curve, but I’ve found both the Amazon (short video) and Smashwords guides to be helpful if you’re willing to make the effort.
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Be realistic about your goals. No one can predict how a book will do, but reading the Kindle forums and following other authors can give you an idea of how they’re doing. I follow OCC’s Dr. Debra Holland’s blog–she’s been open and forthright about her experience in self-publishing and her sales. Another OCC author, Jacqueline Diamond (author of 90 novels), has recently self-published books from her backlist and knows the value of promoting her books (she made the top 100 in Regency on Amazon).
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Write another book or story right away. Quality and quanity are both important in self-pubbing. You need product to sell. Imagine if a shoe store opened and all they had to sell was one shoe style?
Which reminds me of Cinderella and her glass slipper.
Putting your self-pubbed book out there is like Cinderella going to the ball. She had a team of cute little mice to make her dress (editing, cover and formatting) and a fairy godmother (Amazon, Nook and Smashwords) to make the magic happen.
She also had the moxie to get to the ball. That’s where you come in.
Be like Cinderella. Don’t be late to the self-publishing party.
You’ll never know if the glass slipper fits until you try it.
Best,
Jina
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