The Writing side
Tracey’s Tips
 
*Always be polite. I know this sounds simple, but remember editors and agents are people too.

*Keep your query letters to one page. Click here to view article on query letters.

*When an editor or agent asks to see three chapters, send in the first three consecutive chapters. If you think that chapter five, six and seven are better than one, two and three than perhaps you should consider rewriting the beginning of your novel.

*Study the market. Don’t send a paranormal contemporary book to an editor or agent who only wants historical romance.

*Send the requested material the way it’s been requested. If an E or A wants you to snail mail them a proposal, first three chapters and a synopsis, don’t email it to them unless they’ve asked you to do so. And don’t send extra chapters thinking they’ll read ahead, these are busy people, if they want to see more, they’ll ask for it. And always included an SASE so they can respond to you.

*Study the market. Don’t send a paranormal contemporary book to an editor or agent who only wants historical romance.

*Send the requested material the way it’s been requested. If an E or A wants you to snail mail them a proposal, first three chapters and a synopsis, don’t email it to them unless they’ve asked you to do so. And don’t send extra chapters thinking they’ll read ahead, these are busy people, if they want to see more, they’ll ask for it. And always included an SASE so they can respond to you.

*Remember this is a hurry up and wait business. An E or A might be excited about your manuscript and want to see it right way, but it could take upwards of three-six months before you hear back.

Useful websites
www.rwanational.org
www.publishersmarketplace.com

My can’t live without Resource books

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
First Draft in 30 Days by Karen S. Wiesner
A World of Baby Names
Snoopy’s Guide to the Writing Life edited by Barnaby Conrad and Monte Schulz
Costume in Detail women’s dress 1730-1930
The Writer’s Guide to Everyday life in the 1800’s
Writing from the Inside Out by Dennis Palumbo
Guide to Wine
The Pocket Idiot’s Guide to Choosing Wine
The Flip Dictionary

Most frequently asked questions

How long have you been writing? I’ve been writing for over twenty years. I started when my oldest son was born back in 1983!

How long does it take you to write a book? My first book took over a year to write. That manuscript is still sitting in a box in my office. Mountain Jewel the first book I sold took about nine months to finish. When I wrote the Women of Surprise series for Avalon books I had a year to write two books.  The first in the series was completed when I sold. Shorter books take about four to six months and the longer ones I’m working on now take about nine months to a year to complete.

Where do your ideas come from? My ideas come from places that I’ve been. My first book Mountain Jewel is set in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. My husband and I had taken our sons on a rock hunting expedition to the old Garnet mines. While there I discovered that a long time ago high quality garnets could be passed off for rubies. And out of the blossomed an idea for a historical romance about smuggling gemstones.

A Surprise For Abigail, Lydia’s Passion and Making Over Maggie came about because I spent a lot of time in the Catskill Mountains when I was a kid visiting my grandparents who lived in Westerlo, NY. We always traveled through this little town called Surprise. Seriously, if you blink as you’re driving through you’ve missed it! The protagonists in the books are very loosely based on my sisters’s personalities. I had a lot of fun writing the series.

The wine series I’m creating right now came about while on a wine tasting tour in Livermore, CA. A group of us were standing around waiting for the bus to take us to the different wineries and passed the time by coming up with book titles based on wines.

How do you handle your research? For my historicals I visited museums in those areas, used books written about that time period. Since this was sort of before computers and the internet, I spent a lot of time at the local library.  Now, though, you can pretty much find most things you need on the internet. Although, I still like to visit the places where my books are set to absorb the feel for the area, and I take a lot of photos so I have something to reference when I get home.

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?  Keep writing. It took me over ten years to get published after I started writing. Now granted the first two books did not deserve to see the light of day, (check the box in my office) but by the time I’d written my third book I knew I was on the right track.

If you believe in yourself and the manuscript you’ve written then keep persevering. This is one of the toughest businesses to be in. There will be a lot of rejections and yes, even if you’re multi-published you still get rejected.

Join a writers group. Attend conferences. Use the internet to find a group or conference that would best suit your writing style or genre. Don’t be afraid to ask authors questions. Most times we don’t mind answering a quick email, and most writers I know love to talk about writing!

What kind of promotion do you do? I have a website which I’m hoping to keep updated with all kinds of new information. I attend conferences, do library talks, book signings; I’ve presented workshops, and sent out newsletters. With the internet it’s easier now than it’s ever been to do promotions. Book trailers, flash media and email promotions are really just a click away.

Who are your favorite authors?  I just read The Angel by Carla Neggers, by far the best book she’s ever written. I enjoy reading Jane Porter, Jill Marie Landis, Susan Wiggs, Dianna Love and Karen Kelly.

What’s next for Tracey J Lyons?  Well, if the stars and planets are in alignment I’m hoping to have some news to report on a new book deal in the near future. I’m working on my wine series and continually adding new information to my website as I mentioned in the above question. At some point I’m hoping to work on another historical manuscript. Historical Romances are still my first love.

What’s the best way to contact you? My email is [email protected] or you can use the one supplied on this website. But you’ll get a quicker response if you use the aol one.