Carmen DeSousa

First of all, let me preface this post by saying I'm not complaining, and by no means do I expect anyone to feel sorry for me. Prior to publishing my first book, I'd written four novels and had two on the way. The reason, all I did was write. I'd just walked away from a fourteen-year career, both of my kids were still in school, and hubby worked a full-time, drive-to-work-five-days-a-week job. Money was tight without my income, so even if I wanted to do something, there wasn't much I could do. Fast forward six years, both of my sons are out of the house, the oldest just graduated from UCF, the youngest moved in with his cousins and plans to start UCF next fall, and hubby has a new position in his job that transported us to Pittsburgh, PA. I'm officially an empty-nester. I don't have to drive my sons to school, pick them up, drive them back to school for football practice or drama practice. I don't have to make big meals and clean up after ...

Thankfully, when I decided to start my career as a full-time author, I had a few things working for me. First, I'd spent years in sales and marketing, so I knew the importance of building a brand. Eighteen months before I published my first book, I'd already started all my social pages, connected with many like-minded authors, and of course, met other avid-readers who shared my love of reading.  Second, through my ventures, I also met a publisher, which certainly made it easy for me, since I had someone who knew all the ropes when it came to publishing. But, I still needed sales, and let's face it ... even though I met a lot of great people, that would only take my career so far. I needed to meet the masses.  So, I set out with a plan to meet the avid-reading community. That's not as easy as it sounds. Honestly, as I look back, I can tell you the number one way I met readers was through Amazon's Kindle Select program. By offering my firs...

In the past three years, I've done what I never thought was possible. I've published fourteen books, and I've been so close to Nicholas Sparks on the bestseller list that I could shake his hand ... even  while the book I sat next to was in the theatres. I make enough money to eat and put a roof over my head. I absolutely LOVE playing on social media, chatting with my friends, meeting new ones. I now have a great team of editors and beta readers. My previous life I was in sales and marketing, so I know how to launch a book and make it a bestseller the day it releases... So, why would I want an agent? That question wasn't really rhetorical. It's a real question, because I do want an agent! Prior to publishing my first book, I spent every spare minute of my time writing or socializing on social media. See, I knew that even though I wasn't a published author, I needed to build my brand. I had my first cover designed before I even submitt...

I don't believe in Writer's Block! Why? Because it's no different than walking away from a jigsaw puzzle. Sometimes your brain just needs to reboot. As a teenager, my grandmother and I would spend hours working on the puzzles. Sometimes we'd sit too long, the tiny pieces blurring before our eyes. Then, we'd finally realize we needed to walk away. Get something to eat. Watch one of her soap operas. Funny thing is... The moment we sat back down, our eyes would immediately land on the elusive piece that would lead to more pieces. Writing is similar, as in, sometimes we need to step back. Do something else. My suggestions: Work on the book description. Write a character interview. Work on another book. Or my favorite, READ! I read two to three books a week, even when I'm writing. Not only does it provide an escape from everyday life, it gives my brain a chance to reboot. In no time, my characters will scream out to me to pay attention to t...

My idea of a cliffhanger... ;) Rarely will I comment on a review on Amazon or Goodreads, simply because authors are warned not to. However, every once and a while, if the reviewer's comment sounds lucid and respectful, I'll speak into their comment, just because I am selling a product, and I feel I should be willing to stand behind it, which I am! One such case was about cliffhangers. First of all, let me be the first to assure my avid-reading friends that I HATE cliffhangers! And I don't write them.  But, in one of my books, I decided to warn readers that because the book was a prequel, it does have a cliffhanger-like ending, but in my opinion, it really doesn't. I'll explain that in a few seconds. My beta readers suggested that I remove the disclosure, that after reading the story, I didn't need to apologize for the way the book ended, because it was a perfect ending. Well, I didn't listen. I kept the disclosure in the first part of the b...

I'm sure this has been done before, but when the idea hit me, I didn't even look to see what other authors' rules might be, since these are my rules, and I think they make sense. I'm reminded of some of these common courtesies every time I log on to Twitter and someone who hasn't even taken the time to follow me back sends me a direct message to buy their book. Or, if I haven't even met them, sends me an @ message demanding I check out their book . So ... here're a few rules of Write Club you might enjoy passing along. The first rule of Write Club is: You talk about Write Club: with your muse, with your beta readers, with everyone you meet if you're talking about the love of writing and reading.  The second rule of Write Club is: You do not talk about Write Club only to say: check out my book, buy my book, you just followed me on Twitter, so go read my book.  The third rule of Write Club: Someone yells stop, goes limp, taps out, th...