Introducing Fierce New Member Carly Carson

Here at Fierce Romance, we're happy to be adding another new member to our group, Carly Carson!

Welcome, Carly!! Please tell us about yourself and your story.

Carly: “Writing is like dancing. You’re never really ready, but at some point, it’s just your turn.”

I am paraphrasing a guy from Dancing with the Stars. But his words express a truth that has made a difference in my writing career. I don’t mean if you just sit around and wait, your turn will come. But if you’ve worked hard, and written a story that you think represents your best work, then you must get up on the stage. You must send it out – to a contest, an agent or editor, send it somewhere! That’s how you get in the game. That’s how I got my first story published. It’s called Scarlet and the Sheriff and here’s the blurb:

Fleeing a cheating fiancé, Scarlet breaks down on the Fourth of July in a sultry Southern town where the Sheriff is even hotter than the firecrackers. With no car and no money, she finds teasing the Sheriff a fun way to pass the time. Unfortunately, the Sheriff holds all the cards when he receives the warrants for her arrest issued by her ex. Now Scarlet has to dance to his tune – and the only song he wants to sing is about hot sex.

Click here for an excerpt and reviews!

Carly's advice to unpublished authors: Once you’ve sent your query or story out and gotten a contract for publishing, is it time to climb off the stage and relax? Nope, no way. It’s time to get on another stage. Now you have to think about promoting your work. This brings me to what I wish I had known before publication, and what is my most important piece of advice for writers. Get your domain name now. Not very sexy advice, I know. But if you want to be successful, recognize that this is a business. Enjoy the creative writing part. But don’t lose sight of the mundane business part.

Decide what name you wish to be published under. Do a bit of research. Make sure your name is not already in use by someone else, it’s not a serial killer, etc. Establish it wherever you think you might need it (with an email account, on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc.) Domain names cost $10/year and are available at GoDaddy, Register.com and other places. A word of warning, however: Do not google your intended name all over the place. There are firms who will scoop up a name that appears frequently on the major search engines and then offer to sell it to you – even if it’s your own legal name - for money that you don’t want to spend. (This is their business! Don’t build your own trap.) Doing this work to establish a name early on will save aggravation later. Then start thinking about your website.

What am I working on now? I have an offer on a completed futuristic. I’m working on another contemporary that’s been requested. Finally, I’m pitching a romantic suspense at a writing conference this weekend. All I need are more hours in the day!

You may have noticed there’s more than one romance genre hiding in that list. I don’t recommend doing it that way, because it seems better to build a name in one genre before maybe moving on to another. My hopscotching is partly a result of contest wins and partly because I like different genres. At least they are all romances and I try to be grateful for that! I will always write romances because I love building that relationship between the hero and the heroine.

If you feel like responding to a mini-survey, please tell me this: What forms of promotion entice you to buy a book? Recommendation of friend, cover, blurb on back of book, a review, have read and liked the author previously, read about it online. Something else? Those who comment will be entered to win an ebook download of Scarlet and the Sheriff.

Thanks so much for having me. I’m thrilled to be joining the group!

Nicole: And we're thrilled to have you join us, Carly! Congratulations on your latest sale!