It is amazing the amount of work that goes into a novel. It is also so amazing that an author never know if he has a salable product until he is finished. Now, it is interesting to see how some authors obtain sales before they ever start. If other authors have information on how to do this, it would be great to hear from them.

Writing contests are interesting in many ways. The feedback can be great or terrible, but in any case can give you a point of reference as long as you are true to yourself and not allow another person’s point of view ruin what you have good working for you. Again, at other times, if you hear the same criticism coming from several people, you might need to ask yourself if you are the one being bullheaded.

In deciding how to react to criticism I think it helps to really know your own style of writing. What makes it different from or similar to other writers? In order to stand out, I think we all agree it has to be original in several ways. How do you approach point of view? Is it different from others or a copy cat of many others in the marketplace? What is particularly different about your voice? Can you identify it? If you can, perhaps you can expand on it.

The one item I noticed from most people doing reviews in contest is that it appears to be coming straight out of a text book of how to judge. The problem is that most of the great authors that are best sellers never play by those rules. If you don’t think so, simple obtain a few of the top sellers and do your own review. Point of view jumps are very common. Writing in a passive voice is very common. I hope you understand what I’m saying. These authors are very aware of the rules, but don’t listen to them. Their object is to tell the story and make it interesting. They get away with breaking the rules because they can.

I’ve also heard that the main reason to enter a contest is to get in front of a certain editor. It is hard to believe that an editor is not looking for the next book that will make money for the publisher. There are other ways to get in front of them. While they say they are not taking submissions, they are still interested in looking. And when it comes to getting in front of an agent, they are almost always open for submissions without going through a contest.

And the last part in deciding if the contest route is good for you is the cost. With the money spent on entering many contest, the same money could possibly be spent with a professional coach that could help polish your novel and give you a wealth of knowledge to advance your career.

Still I know it is exciting to see your name on the list of finalist or as the actual winner. I have won before on a contest and walking up on stage is very exciting to accept your award. But when it comes to actually getting you published, I still have my doubts. And as many aspiring writers will still enter some contest hoping for the best.

With all of this said, the pathway of each author will be different. And in truth, it might take a little of all of the efforts to find the magic bullet. Still it is a business decision in how to spend your money and your time every author needs to address.

Johnny Ray

Keyword Density Discussion Led by Johnny Ray
I know this is always a debated point and the relevance is questioned by many professionals so I thought I would collect the thoughts of many people much smarter at this than me. How important is it for the exact number of keyword or phrases to appear as a percentage of the total words in the article? Can it be too little or too much? I think we can all agree with a yes, but the question is, what is the best number?
I’ve heard the ideal keyword density for the primary words or phrases can ranges from 2% to 20%. I’ve also heard that the first paragraph and the last paragraph are the most important. And as always highlighted headings and relevant links are paid additional attentions. With the various search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN analyzing keyword density differently with their own unique search algorithm, the process of adjusting is a never ending process.
With many different keyword density tools available to identify the search terms that your competitors are using on their pages, and meta tags or links you can quickly correct your own plan of attack. That is if they are obtaining the optimum search value. But by using the density tool on your competitor's pages you have better information on planning the density on your own pages.
What are your current thoughts on keyword density? If you have relevant sites to share, please do.
Johnny Ray
www.sirjohn.org/seo

Making the readers love the characters of a novel is perhaps one of the most exciting parts about writing. So, why do writers make them so unlovable from the start? Yes, writers want them to grow and be fully dimensional. And some characters are meant to be unlovable. But, the questions remain on how to make the characters interesting enough for the reader to care about so that the pages will turn.
The reader has to have expectations that the characters can be redeemed. Even as bad as the worst character is, there is always some good trait. Readers want to know why someone turned out so bad. What are the motives and reasons for such actions? In short, a good writer instills a curiosity in the reader to keep reading to find out—why?
To keep those pages turning, the characters have to be unique, but conform to certain standards that everyone adheres to. The reader wants to become that character for a while and want to be known as the beautiful lady or handsome gentleman for a while. They want to know they can face adversities and overcome them. They want hope. It is when the writer gives them none, they close the book.
An interesting book to read and follow the advice in building characters is “How to make people like you in 90 seconds or less” by Nicholas Boothman. It is a great book that belongs on all writers desk.
Johnny Ray

Sleuthfest Conference

Last week there was some discussions about Jill Marsal's new agency. I just returned home from Sleuthfest and met Jill there. She was very generous with her time and answered many questions for me after a cocktail party by the pool. Yes, it is still warm enough to swim outside in Palm Beach, Florida.

Her new office is about five miles from her old one and she will be busy this week setting up shop. I miss this area. I learned to surf close to there.

She is interested in thrillers and her partner is interested in romances. She told me she had many contacts in New york and being in
California is not a problem in placing her work with major publishers.

I have talked to many agents and she is one of the most friendly and intelligent agents out there. She took the time to hear what I wanted in a career instead of just what I had written recently. She asked to see my work and I have my fingers crossed. she wold be a pleasure to work with.

The conference was great and I also received request from four other agents. Donna Bagdasarian has a fantastic sense of humor and full of energy. She pulled into a meeting room and asked me about my work. She asked for a full on the spot. More fingers crossed.

Nicole Kenealy is with the Aaron priest Agency and very hungry for new authors. She also wants thrillers. She asked for a partial. She is a lot of fun to be around.

Josh Getzler is with Writer House. He is a super nice guy and very easy to talk to, especially if you like baseball. He also asked for me to send him something.

The two editors,Neil Nyren and Toni Plumer, were fantastic. I had lunch next to Neil. He asked what I was writing and showed interested in me. However, I know he never handles anything without an agent. Hopefully, one day that will change and I hope he remembers us meeting there. I can tell it would be fantastic to work with him. The same is true about Toni. She showed an interest that I found very refreshing. Her company, St. martin would be one of the publishers i would love to write for.

In other words, listen up everyone, next year you need to make this conference.

Johnny ( Sir John) Ray
www.sirjohn.org

I think one of the best times in a writers life is when he meets another writer that has accomplished so much--like Janet Evanovich. She had great words for the writers in the Florida Writers Association. Get the first chapter completed and move on. She said to quit rewriting it until you wear yourself out. It makes sense to me. She is also the inspiration I need to write my first romantic comedy. This will be intersting, but something I think will help me to be a better writer. This group of writers is fantastic and very suportive. I was extremely honored to win the Royal Palm Literary Award for best thriller in 2008 sponsored by the FWA.

Novelist Johnny Ray's reflections on Dialog.
One of the great exercises in creating fantastic dialog is simply going some where and listening to what they say and how they say it. I recently did this and learned two things that I found very interesting. First off, when asked a question, most people never directly answer it, but beat around the bush. The next point is that most people try to talk over the other person. It would be great to learn how to make two people talking to each other at the same time appear on one flat piece of paper.
If anyone knows of an author that has mastered this technique, I would love to read some of that author's work. Let me know what interesting experiences you have had in observing others talking.

Novelist Johnny Ray's thoughts on life. It's interesting to see how life changes when you have to go to the hospital for a small surgery - I had my gall bladder taken out. However, all is looking better now and I hope to get back to work on my next novel soon. I would like to thank all of you that have been so supportive of me the last two weeks.

The experience made me think about how much emotions and thoughts that a writer needs to express through his characters. This is what is needed to make them come alive. The use of dialog that sounds natural and conveys their inner thoughts is a gift that is hard to learn with out actually forcing yourself to do so. I have heard of this lesson in writing before and plan on doing it in the next few days. It is simple, you take a notebook with you and write down word for word what people say. While I am healing it would be great to try this.
It would be great to see how other writers work on dialog, so leave me a note.

Johnny Ray