Tag: self publishing

Book Cover: Breaking Bread

~ Meg ~ 32 Comments

I had hopes of doing my own photography for the cover but I couldn’t get it right. Fortunately, my graphic designer found an image like the one I was trying to create. I hope the black background and the ripping of the bread conveys the slightly sinister feel I wanted to conjure. This is the final task before the book is ready for release. Then, I have to adjust the manuscript’s format, upload it and the cover onto the Kindle website and within 12-24 hours the e-book will be available for purchase. The paper version takes just a wee bit longer. Stay tuned!

Breaking Out the Blurb

~ Meg ~ 54 Comments

Adventures in novel writing…

I feel like I’ve been working on Breaking Bread forever! But at last I’m finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. As long as it’s not an oncoming train… and frankly the way the past year has been? That could very well be the case.FullSizeRender

I’ve reached that stage in novel development that I like the least — writing the synopsis, or blurb that goes on the back cover of the book and in the description on the Amazon page. How do you distill 85,000+ words down to a few sentences or a short paragraph? And write those sentences in such a way as to suck your potential readers into buying your novel? Ugh. It’s agonising!

Why is it so hard? Fellow writers, do you struggle with this part, too?

The blurb needs to convey the mystery, the suspense, the drama of the book without giving away the details or the ending. It also has to be concise and attention grabbing. I either end up with three sentences or an entire page. Finding the happy middle ground is elusive. So as I work on the blurb for my fifth novel, Breaking Bread, (and yes, I’m going with that title – more about that in another post), I rant, I rail, I stomp and I curse. That is ridiculous, right? Temperamental artist stereotype, right here! (She says throwing herself onto her Victorian fainting chair.) After I’ve had enough wallowing and whining, I get angry. What?!? Angry, you say? How does that help?do-not-keep-calm-anger-is-an-energy

This is not the path I would recommend to you all, but for me, getting angry energizes me. It sets me on fire and it feels kind of good. Maybe that makes me a dangerous psychopath, or possibly The Incredible Hulk’s previously unknown twin sister, I’m not really sure. Whatever the case, anger makes me feel alive. Once I get the frustration out of my system, I can move on, rejuvenated.

I nailed that blurb today. And if I didn’t nail it, I want you to tell me. Here it is below. All suggestions are welcome.

Breaking Bread, Book Five in the Bucks County Novels

Maya Kaminski has achieved her dream of owning a French bakery cafe, even though her family opposed her every step of the way. It hasn’t been easy, but her hard work and dedication have paid off —the business is thriving and she’s slowly getting ahead. Just as things seem to be going her way, her childhood friend, Brad Logan, moves back into town and with his recent inheritance, buys Maya’s building, intending to help her out. However, Maya is so used to relying on herself that it’s a struggle to accept help from anyone, let alone a man with whom she finds herself falling in love. When the cafe comes under attack, first by what appears to be petty mischief but quickly escalates to dangerous sabotage, Maya will need all the help she can get to save her business and her life.

(‘Keep calm’ image credit: farenheit211)

What the Judge Had To Say…

~ Meg ~ 39 Comments

I received the judge’s feedback from my first place win in mainstream fiction in The 2017 Writer’s Digest E-book Awards. There is a rating system 0-5 with 5 being outstanding and 1 meaning it needs work. Three Empty Frames scored 4 in five of the categories and 3 in the remaining category. And I think this commentary from the judge is really positive!

THREE EMPTY FRAMES by Meg Sorick presented a great plot, dialogue, and tone. A young lady, Jennifer, tries to find out the mystery of her mother’s past by only the events to go on from mom’s journal. I was highly interested in this story and loved the twists and turns. The plot points were in the right place to keep me turning the page. I loved the romantic aspect to the novel between Jenny and Tommy—a nice contrast to Jenny’s mom’s background. Although the plot and characterization were nicely done, I wanted to see more: setting and emotion that would connect me even closer to the main characters. There were a lot of characters, but good attention was focused on the main characters enough to create nice character arcs by the end of the novel. Small mention about the formatting of texting back and forth: it could have been formatted a little differently because it was a little confusing who was talking (after the first person’s text came through). Spacing between story and the texts were done well. I just wasn’t sure who was talking some of the time and had to re-read parts. Overall, the author incorporated the mystery, romance, and energy of the story very well, and I enjoyed reading this book. –Judge, 5th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published eBook Awards.