I'm so happy to be able to host Deb Hanrahan here at Booktacular today! I've got a quick guest post from her, and then below will be my review of her YA novel, Changing My Wardrobe. Enjoy!
Starting Out As A Writer – 5 Things You Should Know
When I completed Changing My Wardrobe, I was naïve enough to think, “Yay, I’m done!” Little did I know that it was just the beginning. Over the next year, I learned a lot but also wasted a considerable amount of time and money. So I would like to pass along the five things that I think every new writer should know.
1. Someone else needs to edit your manuscript, but you can proofread it yourself. It is essential to have another pair of eyes look at your story and try to find any plot holes, character problems, timeline issues, point-of-view slips, and tense inconsistencies. This doesn’t need to be done by a professional but should be done by someone who reads a lot and is brutally honest. Although, a professional could help you fix the problems and not just point them out to you.
In my humble opinion, proofreading or line editing can be done by the author, but spell check alone won’t cut it. I like to look through my manuscript one item at a time. For instance, I will look at every comma, then every apostrophe etc. After punctuation, I look for common word mistakes like here vs. hear, and there vs. their. I use The Elements of Style by Strunk and White as a reference (according to On Writing, so does Stephen King.)
2. Writing is going to cost you something—money, time, your ego, your soul…. Even though the cost to actually write a book is minimal, the cost to publish it can be high. Trust me, whether you plan to query agents or self-publish, you will pay. If you don’t have a lot of money, plan to spend your time, and if you don’t have a lot of time, plan to spend your money.
3. Make peace with social media. If you want readers to find out about your book, you will need to become a social media expert. You must have a blog/website, a Facebook page, and a Goodreads account. These three things are essential. You might also want to consider using Twitter, You Tube, Tumbler, Pinterest…you get the idea.
4. Choose your brand name carefully. When you are setting up your various social media accounts, you should use your author name. It takes a long time to amass a following, and if you need to change your name down the road, you might lose followers. I made this mistake with my blog. At first, I used a pen name for my blog address, and when I recently changed it to my author name, I lost my Google ranking.
5. If you want to write for a living, you will need to work at it every day (or nearly every day.) Almost all popular authors have more than just one or two books out there. So, like anything else in life, writing takes work, dedication, and patience—lots and lots of patience.
Incoming freshman, Lindsey Ames, wants to take Italian, and she wants to join the National Honor Society.
She wants a new image, and she wants better clothes.
She wants Avery to stop tormenting her, and she wants Marco to ask her out.
She wants Jocelyn to go away, but she wants Grouper to be happy.
She wants to save Teeny's reputation, but she doesn't want to lose everything.
Will Lindsey find the courage to stand up to her enemies before it's too late?
Published : May 16th, 2011
Publisher : Philyra Publishing LLC
I went into this book a little hesitant. I like books that deal with real issues, but for some reason, I wasn't sure this was going to be the book for me. Nevertheless, I decided to try it, and I'm glad I did.
Lindsay is the girl who I wished I was in high school. She focuses more on her grades than boyfriends, and while she doesn't have many friends, the small group she does have are fiercely loyal and protective of her.
There's also a bully in school, a girl named Avery. Avery has a tough mother, and she takes it out on Lindsay and her friends. Throughout the book, Lindsay gathers the strength to finally stand up to Avery and tries to put Avery in her place.
Lindsay, as a character, didn't really make me fall in love with her. I was so angry with her for the way she treated Jocelyn. How did the things she was thinking make her any different than Avery? However, I was glad that Deb Hanrahan showed that, because I think it was important for it to be shown that it's easy to fall into the bullying spiral when one person doesn't conform to what YOU think is the norm. Granted, Lindsay never said the things she was thinking, but that didn't make it okay.
I would like to point out though, that in my opinion, even before the shocking ending, Cal was just as guilty of being a bully. He may not have ever picked on Lindsay or tormented her the way Avery did, but he just stood by and laughed while his girlfriend was a horrible person. In that way, he was just as guilty as her.
And since I mentioned the ending...Wow. I was not expecting that at all. I honestly sat there with my mouth hanging open for a good 10 minutes after I finished. All of that, all of the horrible things that happened in the book, all to come to that point.
I really liked Changing My Wardrobe. I think it painted a realistic portrait of high school and the bullying that occurs there. Bullying is a very real and important issue occurring in the United States right now, and if more kids read books like this one, they would be able to see the negative effects and how something as simple as calling someone a "little mouse" can quickly get out of control.
Thank you so much to Deb Hanrahan for providing me with a copy of Changing My Wardrobe for review.
4 shelves. Definitely worth a read.
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I am a member of Reading Addiction Blog Tours and a copy of this book was provided to me by the author. Although payment may have been received by Reading Addiction Blog Tours, no payment was received by me in exchange for this review. There was no obligation to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own and may not necessarily agree with those of the author, publisher, publicist, or readers of this review. This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255, Guides Concerning Use of Endorcements and Testimonials in Advertising*
