They stole my story!!!

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com

There you are. It’s a rainy evening and you’ve written over one thousand words in the current work-in-progress. You’re winding it down for the day. A little surfing at your favorite online bookseller is in order. You can download a new book and tottle off to bed to do a little reading.

Not so fast. There is YOUR cover on someone else’s book! 

Okay, okay. You know everyone and their sister is buying cover stock from a very limited available pool of quality stock. You just have to grin and bear it and remember you bought that cover stock because the guy is pretty sexy. 

So you scroll a few more pages and then it happens. Holy crap! SOMEONE STOLE YOUR TITLE!!!  

Well, it’s not exactly your title. Your title’s The Alpha’s Broken Finger and this - this - this THIEF used The Alpha’s Broken Toe. And you can't copyright titles and names. But dammit! That’s awfully close. And both stories are about how his mate, be that mate male or female, saves him.  

What the heck is going on?? Is this something serious or did we simply inspire another writer? Haven't we all gotten inspiration from someone else somewhere along the line? Who hasn't read a story and been blown away by a particular turn of a phrase and then had it creep into our usage? 

Plagiarism is a risk we all take when we publish a book. While I wrote the above tongue-in-cheek, the theft of intellectual property is no laughing matter. The honest among us have all seen covers and stories so similar to our own that the hair on our arms raises in alarm, disgust and anger. It’s not a good feeling. So what do we do about it?

The serious among us view our work as both creation and business. There are steps we can take if we’ve been pirated (DMCA letters) or suspect plagiarism (an attorney versed in the applicable laws).  One of the sad truths about this business is it’s stacked against the author. We do the work of creation and everyone makes a profit on our backs.

I could let the ugliness of theft stop me from writing, but I won’t. I could put my money into lawyer fees (and if seriously pissed off I will). I submit DMCA letters albeit in a lazy fashion. For better or for worse I’ve accepted the risk because I believe Karma exists.

If we accuse another writer of plagiarism and it turns out to be a weird coincidence, we’ve gained an enemy, one unlikely to ever forget. And do we want to apply the stigma of plagiarism to someone else who may have simply had a similar idea? How would we feel if we were unjustly accused of such a thing?

I know that sooner or later savvy readers will catch on and avoid suspect “authors.” The problem of deliberate, premeditated theft is so pervasive that even with a hundred thousand keyboards raised against it, it’s not going to go away. And that’s not right and that’s not fair.

The best thing I can do is put my energy into writing the next story and not dwell on the inequities of this business. I could allow it to discourage me, but I won’t. I do what I do for the honest readers and there are enough of them left to keep me going. And that will just have to be good enough until karma kicks butt.

Rayne
rayneforrest.blogspot.com

(This is a modified version of a post that was written for another venue in 2015.)

Science fiction romance
Time travel romance

Sustainability (IWSG)

Sustainability is something authors must strive for if they want to achieve the creation of a body of work. It's something I struggle with as Rayne Forrest. When I began, it was easy. Now it's not. 

I still have the desire to write, but I'm no longer willing to spend hours sequestered with the computer as my only company. There are simply too many other things that require my presence. 

At this writing, I have seven books that need to be published as second editions. I didn't set out to be an indie author, but there's really very little choice these days as I no longer trust publishers. Based on sales numbers, I even wonder about the last one I was with. That's number of units sold, not dollar amounts, by the way. 

In less than five years I plan to "retire" from the workforce. That doesn't mean I'll sit on my ass all day. I'm looking forward to some traveling, expanding the work on my genealogy, and applying for DAR membership. And yes, being able to write. Until then, I fear I will continue to grapple with sustainability. 

I can't change much of what is happening in my life. I can only ride it out and make time when I can. But what I can do, and will do, is not whip myself over those things I can't control. 

Perhaps that's the real key to sustainability. Accepting the ebb and flow of life and time, and making the best of every opportunity. 

Rayne
Rayne's bookshelf

Across Time - sci fi romance available at Amazon

IWSG: Voice

Insecure Writer's Support Group

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

The writer’s voice. We read about it, talk about it, angst over it, and yet we struggle to define exactly what it is. I once read where voice is a literary term that describes a writer’s style (style being defined by the use of character development, dialogue, syntax and diction).

I’m a simple girl. For me, voice is where the ‘telling’ of the story and the ‘showing’ of the action blend. The more seamless the blend, the better the finished story. Voice is each author’s unique and individual style of bringing the reader inside the story to the same place as the author.

A writer’s voice will show some of their inner character and personality. The characters created often reflect some of the writer’s attitudes. How can they not? Laying yourself bare for the reader isn’t easy. It’s a gradual process, one you can move through at your own pace.

When a writer is just starting out, everyone encourages her/him to develop their voice. The only way to do that is to write so the voice can emerge and develop. The time it takes to do that is another reason aspiring writers get so frustrated with the industry. It takes as long as it takes, so be patient. Remember - there are no worthwhile shortcuts to success.

Over the years, my voice has matured. I see it as a matter of gaining confidence - I’m no longer afraid to sound like myself. Having the reader come and sit in the same spot from where I wrote the story is no longer scary.

Whether it’s conscious or not, everything we do as authors strengthens our voice. Making each story better than the last is ingrained in our psyche. We constantly strive toward that goal, collectively and individually. We nurture our voice, and our ultimate reward has nothing to do with money.

It’s reading a book and, at the end, saying, “Wow. I wrote that.” 

Rayne

rayneforrest.blogspot.com

IWSG: We Must Respect Our Own Worth

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

The Insecure Writer's Support Group

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com

When I first got into this crazy business of publishing, as opposed to writing, I was stunned by some of the ideas put forth as “truths.” But being a newbie, I ducked my head and kept writing. It didn’t change the real truth, one that too many writers either forget or never figured out. One very serious problem I’ve witnessed over and over throughout my years of being a published author is that too few of us realize our own value. This must change - and it is changing.

There is no one more important to the publishing world than the author.

The entire publishing industry rises and falls with those authors willing to publish their intellectual property. 

Without the author, there are no stories.

Without the author, there are no books.

Without the author, there are no readers.

Without the author, there is no publishing.

Each and every one of us is absolutely vital to our industry. There are no exceptions.

Each and every one of us has something so unique to offer that only the individual can provide it.

Each and every one of us is deserving of the respect of our peers and our publishers. We are created equal and that equality has nothing to do with sales numbers.  

Each and every one of us is entitled to the protection of copyright.

It’s 2016. Publishers need authors far more than authors need publishers.

Let us always remember: Authors are the publishing industry.

We must respect our own worth. 

Rayne
Website

IWSG - Writer's Block - an ending or a beginning?

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com

Writer’s block are two words that strike dread into the heart of many a serious writer. You had such a great idea so what the heck is going on? You sit in front of the screen and stare. You want to write but the words won’t come.

Having suffered from this malady only a handful of times in my so-called writing career, I’ve reached a few conclusions, at least where I’m concerned.

I’ve concluded that sometimes I simply need a break.  It’s time to go blog, play on twitter, even watch television. I get busy on something else and stop obsessing over a daily word count.

My day job frequently wears me out and I don’t have energy to spare at the end of the day. I might go through a period where my life is on a social merry-go-round. Or like now, caring for my mother is taking my energy. It is what it is. 

Even when I’m not writing I’m thinking about writing. I know from experience the wheel will turn and I’ll be back at the keyboard, banging away.  

The main thing is to never give up on anything you want to have in your life. Let yourself rest if necessary, but always hold fast to the knowledge that you can find your way back to the things you love to do. Writer’s block is certainly scary, but it doesn't have to be an ending. It can be a chance to reboot, and an opportunity for renewal and regrowth. 

Search yourself for whatever is keeping you from the keyboard. Be honest about it to yourself. Don't hide from it, but learn from it instead. Write it into a story and render it unable to distract you from your path again. 

They say knowledge is power. Knowing yourself, and conquering those things which hold you back from your goals, gives you the power to achieve them.  

Rayne Forrest

Rayneforrest.blogspot.com

Finishing the Work-in-Progress - IWSG

January 6, 2016

Picking up the Career Pieces

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com

Happy Epiphany! Today marks the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas, sometimes called Twelfth Night, and the historical arrival of the Magi bearing gifts. Many people leave the Christmas decorations up through Epiphany. I’m not usually one of them although if I can’t get to un-decorating on New Year’s Day, I’ll wait until after Epiphany.

The word “epiphany” means “revelation.”  Well, I’d like to have an epiphany as to why it’s been so difficult for me to pick up the pieces of my writing career. Publishing houses aside, that is. I know those reasons and they start with I’m the one doing the work and someone else is making the money.

I hold the rights to all the Rayne Forrest works, save two, and I think that’s a good thing. I’ve been indie publishing the stories and it’s a lot easier than a publisher would have you believe. So why the hesitation in finishing the new work-in-progress? It’s currently at 12,000 words and if I applied myself, I could finish it by the end of the month. I don’t have writer’s block on the creativity spectrum, so what is it?

Finding that answer is something I need to work toward in 2016.

Rayne

www.rayneforrest.com

http://twentysixkeys.blogspot.com

www.twitter.com/rayneforrest

Looking ahead in 2016

Celebrating a New Year is a mixed bag for me. I suppose that's because I don't view a day on the calendar as the magic start to a chance for a "do over." January 1, 2016 doesn't dump us out at the same spot January 1, 2105 did. We've moved forward to a different place. There is no "do over." There is only "do." What do I want to do in 2016? More appropriately, what do I want to accomplish in 2016?

Much of the same as in 2015 so it seems. The plan is to keep chipping away at the manuscripts until I can get each of them back out in the world. With any luck, a new story or two will get finished. It's not like I don't have them started.  

I still have the day job to contend with, but I'm counting down the days until I can retire. Six years seems like a long time, but time flies. Case in point is we've just entered 2016. How did that happen? 

This new year may also be the year I do the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I've thought about it several times so maybe it's time. We shall see, come April. 

January 4 marks a year since A Hero's Bargain went out as an indie release. I've always loved this story. Ryder Vaughan doesn't seem to be hero material, but in the end, he reaches within, makes the hard choices, and carries them through. I bought the cover for A Hero's Bargain and it's what convinced me I had to learn to make my own. 

I joined the Insecure Writer's Support Group in 2015. It's a monthly blog hop where writer's share thoughts and experiences. I'm not sure I'm insecure, I rather think it's the opposite, but connecting with other writers is important. I'm pretty sure I'm going to stick with the IWSG through 2016. 

Yes, I do have some things to think about in the New Year. Not to do over, but to continue. There's nothing magic about it from where I sit. It's just life. I'd best be about it and not let a Saturday get away from me. 

Rayne
http://rayneforrest.blogspot.com

IWSG- Try a Little Tenderness

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com

Ooh, she may be weary, young girls they do get weary…

I’m dating myself with a song reference from Three Dog Night. It was a big hit in 1969, and is actually on my “car” playlist. Is it because I get weary? Probably.

There’s a good kind of weary you get when you play hard, or even work hard at something you enjoy. It’s the kind of weary that makes you happy and grateful. You fall into bed at the end of the day with a smile on your face.

But there’s a different kind of weary, the kind you get when confronted by the worst of life. Funerals, divorce, illness, friendships gone awry, betrayal. There’s not a lot to cure that kind of weary, only time.

We’ve all been on both sides and when bad things happen, and we’re searching for answers, I think we forgot one important thing. We forget to be kind to ourselves. Instead, we blame ourselves and try to push through being weary to do more.

It’s nearly impossible to write your best prose when weariness sets in. Sure, some people can really tap into how bad they feel and spew it all over the page. It’s not something I like to read so I don’t do it. If I’m exhausted, I try a little tenderness on myself.

I’m not afraid to turn off the computer and rest. When I need it, I take time to get my head back on straight. I’ve learned that if I want to write a good story, I’ve got to take care of myself. And I learned it the hard way when my husband had cancer, so I’m not just pontificating.

It’s important to me to do the best I can on each story. I’ve found that if I stay tapped in to how I’m feeling, I write better. I plot better. I set the scene better. It really pains me to spend an evening writing only to have to go back the next night and delete what I wrote. It doesn’t happen often because I’ve learned an important truth - weary doesn’t make for a good writer.

Rayne

www.rayneforrest.com

www.twitter.com/rayneforrest

IWSG - It's Tough to be a Writer Today

The Insecure Writer's Support Grop

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com

Being a writer today is challenging. It’s gotten so writing the story is the EASY part. These days you need to be your own proofreader, editor, cover artist, publisher and marketing specialist if you want to gain traction. If it sounds a bit daunting, that’s because it is.

The sad truth of it all is that in today’s publishing climate, you no longer have the luxury of simply writing the story and moving on to your next piece of inspiration. You have to take the time to learn how to edit, how to create a cover, and how to set up accounts at the various online booksellers and upload a finished product. You have to market your book yourself, which you’d be doing anyway even if you used a more traditional publisher.

When I started out, way back in 2003, self-publishing was still a taboo topic. One simply did not self publish. Hell, back when I started, epublishing wasn’t accepted. The “big girls” at the Romance Writers of America (RWA) did everything they could to stop the jagernaught only to discover they couldn’t. Digital publishers sprang up everywhere and only a few of those original companies survive today. But that survival is threatened by the indie writer.

I’ve benefited greatly by being published through a select few digital publishers. I learned how to edit, which is vitally important. I learned what I like for a cover (and sadly rarely got it).  We learn or we stagnate.  I had the bulk of my work with Whiskey Creek, but they sold to some company no one had ever heard of and tried to force everyone to sign on. Oh, no. So my books went down with the ship. Now I have the chance to see that it doesn’t happen again. Been there. Done that.

And I’m not alone.

Having had publishers 1) file bankruptcy, 2) disappear 3) sell the business, I can attest to the fact a reversion of rights clause isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on or the space it takes up on the monitor screen. Writing a coherent story with good characters and a decent plot takes a lot of time. That’s time not spent with spouses, children, family and friends. Getting screwed by a publisher isn’t any fun and that leads me to why it’s tough to be a writer today.

I’m not alone in seeing indie publishing as the only viable way to avoid getting screwed when it comes to publishing rights. It’s not that I WANTED to become my own editor, cover artist, publisher and market specialist, oh no! I want to write. I want to immerse myself in a world I’ve created and fly! But the good old days are over.

It’s tough to be a writer/proofreader/editor/cover artist/publisher/market specialist today. 

Rayne Forrest

www.rayneforrest.com

www.twitter.com/rayneforrest

IWSG - The Sisterhood Myth

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com

I’ve been around a while, and outside of a handful of authors, I’ve not made lasting friends. I accept the reason for this lies mostly with me. It’s difficult to work full time and have a writing career. No, I’m not whining. It is what it is. But something else it is rings just as true, at least for me.

Back in the day I wrote a book and made the mistake of telling people about it. “Get it published!” they said. So I set about to finding out how to go about it. Fast forward to joining the RWA and an online paranormal chapter.

I asked a simple question. Many, many, many of those “mentors” told me where I could to buy a copy of their book, which, they assured me, held the answer. That’s not mentoring. That’s hawking your wares. (Funny how so many of them had a book on the topic of my question, which happened to be non-writing related.) To this day there's one woman whose books I will not purchase because of her cavalier attitude toward a newbie. 

As writers, we might think we don’t owe another like-wise engaged individuals a thing. They’re taking sales away from us. Why should we help them do that?

It goes a lot deeper than being a writer. We owe each other common courtesy and kindness, especially to someone who is floundering along the side of the road. It’s never in our best interest to bolster ourselves and our bottom line at the expense of another.

So here’s my kernel of wisdom for this IWSG post: Pick your friends carefully. Remember the Golden Rule and treat others the way you want to be treated. That newbie you can help might be able to do a good turn for you one day. 

Rayne Forrest

http://www.rayneforrest.com

www.twitter.com/rayneforrest