Sunday, October 10, 2010

Fall Musings


A hardy YeeHa to Equestrian Ink for its 100th member!

I've thoroughly enjoyed joining the other riders and writers on the blog. Postings have made me more conscious of my own horses and my behavior toward them. Since I'm a better writer than rider, I'd like to invite members to ask questions or mention topics that they'd like to see addressed about writing. As a group, we have lots of experience to share, and I'd be happy to answer them.

Speaking of sharing: to plug reading and books (some of which are my books, of course) I wanted to mention two contest/giveaways. Christmas is sort of around the barn corner, and books are a great gift. My (and Linda's) agent is having a contest/giveaway of kids and romance novels at http://ncliterary.blogspot.com/2010/09/contest-delayed.html

An author friend of mine is also having a giveaway of kids horse books at


Keep reading and writing, and enjoy this beautiful fall!

5 comments:

Linda Benson said...

Yay! I think it's very cool that we now have 100 followers, too. Welcome everyone!! Thanks for posting the links for contests to win books, Alison. I think we have a lot of readers here, besides riders. Hopefully both ;-)

Leslie said...

Writing. I get hung up sometimes on the manuscript prep instead of just writing.Wondering if I'm being too anal about that or does it really matter that much? I mean I know it needs to follow guidelines but...

Also,is it that difficult to find agents to represent a work once you get that far?

I read horror stories then I see tons of celebs, and what I consider non writers, putting books out there right and left.Most ghostwritten I suppose.I realize a famous name sells but what about well written pieces with a good story? I'm sitting here listening to Hilary Duff talking about a book she wrote? I'm saying to myself WHAT? She's not the only one,I just happen to see her on a morning show at the moment.

I really enjoy EI because it covers horses and writing.Always diverse topics too.Happy to see it progress in a positive direction!

Alison said...

Great questions, Leslie.

About Celeb authors--when Snookie got a book contract, I gave up obsessing about the craziness in the book business.

Manuscript prep is important--your work must be polished and professional. Agents want a completed manuscript, and it needs to roughly be an appropriate length for the audience you are trying to reach.

Today, you not only need a well-written story, but one that catches an agent's/editor's attention. What do they want? That is the million dollar question!

I hope some of the other authors chime in, and I will be glad to respond to any other questions.

Hang in there!

PS Publishing with a mainstream publishing house is a very frustrating experience. You need endless determination!

Susan said...

Congratulations on your 100th follower. I have been getting discouraged about getting my own book publicized, and not finding the time to work on my next one, but you guys are inspiring.

Alison said...

Hi Susan, see my previous note on endless determination. Add to that endless patience and a tough skin to deal with the rejections. I've published over 60 books, and just got a rejection (again). It happens to all writers (except the celebrity and superstar writers.) My philosophy is to grieve and move on-send it out again, work on another project, revise that project. Also, sometimes having too much time to write is worse than not enough. It's easy to avoid a project. I teach as well as write; I find my teaching keeps me balanced and interested in others. Writing is a lonely job with few kudos. (Unless you're one of those superstar writers, which few of us are!)
Don't give up!