Optional question of the month - Have you ever pulled out a really old story and reworked it? Did it work out?
I’m actually working on an old story right now. I have two stories completed one half finished for my Four in Darkness book. I had two other ideas, but the ghost one just isn’t working. (Which is a shame as it had a great ending.) So for the 4th story, I’m rewriting a story I put together in my 20s called The Frozen Soul. This one will be The Alien. (The others are The Vampire, The Werewolf, and The Shark.)
Our big announcement today:
The Insecure Writer’s Support Group Twitter Pitch Party!
July 27, 2017
8:00 am to 8:00 pm Eastern Time
All writers and authors are invited to participate in our very first Twitter Pitch. Invite your writer friends and your publisher/agent.
Create a Twitter-length pitch for your completed and polished manuscript and leave room for genre, age, and the hashtag. On July 27, Tweet your pitch. If your pitch receives a favorite/heart from a publisher/agent check their submission guidelines and send your requested query.
Many writers have seen their books published from a Twitter pitch - it’s a quick and easy way to put your manuscript in front of publishers and agents.
Rules:
Writers may send out 1 Twitter pitch every 1 hour per manuscript.
Publishers/Agents will favorite/heart pitches they are interested in. Publishers can either Tweet basic submission guidelines or direct writers to their submission guidelines. (Writers, please do not favorite/heart pitches.)
Pitches must include GENRE/AGE and the hashtag #IWSGPit. (See site for list.)
Please join us on July 27!
We have some great new swag up at the site - now you can buy mugs and erasers, too. Visit the Swag page.
Print - $60
Ebook - $30
Combo - $75
I’ve formatting hundreds of books for Dancing Lemur Press LLC and clients. Custom work and fast turnaround. See Spunk On A Stick for full details.
Think you might join us on July 27?
66 comments:
The IWSG Twitter Pitch event sounds interesting. Shame I'm not on Twitter :-( I'm beginning to think I should look into it as so many writers seem to use it as one of their main social media outlets.
Good luck with your new project on an older writing. Also thanks for the tips. They prove to most valuable to writers.
Have a happy March.
Yvonne.
At least you can sense when something isn't working. Sounds like you have some other projects from the past that might work!
Awesome that you're reworking something old right now. And the pitch party sounds like a great opportunity for some people in the group.
A Twitter pitch sounds like fun! I'll check it out. Love learning new things.
Congrats on the new stories. Does hurt just a little to shelve something, but maybe later. That's what I'm hoping!
Oh a twitter pitch... I'll have to think about it. I don't know how you do all you do, Diane. You da bomb!
Great idea ti rework old books/projects. I've never done this with books, abut often do it with art. Hugs, Valerie
Fantastic to work on old stories! Such awesome things are coming from the IWSG. :)
The Twitter Pitch sounds like it will be a blast and productive. Also sounds like your unfinished stories are coming together with some fun twists. Too bad the ghost story didn't work out.
Like you, I'm thinking about ordering that mug even though I have too many already. Those are great prices for book formatting. I'll pass it on.
Congrats on #4 and the opportunity to re work an old story. Best wishes with the "re-write!."
I'm not on Twitter...yet. I tried it when it was in its infancy and got some weird tweets. Scared me off, but it is probably more secure with better filters? I hope.
I'd love to have my memoir ready to pitch by July 27. This deadline may help me move on with the ms. Thanks for all you do at IWSG!
Congrats on having so many books completed (or half-completed) and resurrecting an old story to add to the group! It's really nice that you do formatting for people. I hope you get a lot of takers! Have a great Wednesday!
Ellen, a lot of people are.
Bish, it's a juggling act.
Karen, be happy to!
Mason, it had the best ending, too.
Thank you, Susan.
Lexa, now that I'm not insanely busy, I hope so.
Most of my old writings are good for a few laughs (no, they weren't meant to be humorous), but there have been a couple that yielded a nugget worth saving. I'm very interested in the Twitter Pitch.
July 27th is really planning ahead! Sounds like an interesting and useful concept. I'm usually on vacation about this time. Still not sure what I'm doing this summer though.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Good luck with rewriting your 4th story, Diane. I am excited for the IWSG Twitter Pitch Party on 27th July!
I hope your rework works out! I'm not very pitchy when it comes to Twitter, but I bet you get a lot of participation in the event. I know a lot of people who enjoy those.
I participated in pitch madness forever ago, and it was such a rush! I hope anyone who hasn't tried twitter pitching will take a chance on this. SO much fun. =)
Happy March 1, Di.
The twitter pitch sounds like fun.
Good luck with your Four in Darkness book. It's great that you're working on an older story. I already want to read it.
Maybe I'll have something ready for the Twitter pitch. Sounds like fun. Must get busy.
I think it's great that you're working on an old story now. :)
So much going on! Love that you're still working on older stories. It gives me hope.
Diane have you considered making the ghost story into a short novella? Maybe 70 pages or so. Shame to not use a great ending.
I love the idea of this Twitter pitch. Could someone put together some sample pitches for those of us who are Twitter newbies when it gets closer perhaps?
Oh, you know I love ghost stories, LOL. You should finish it.
Will probably need formatting at the end of the year and I know you're good!
Best wishes for your rewrite and for your formatting side of the business.
I've never heard of a Twitter Pitch before. What a great way to get the word out about your book. I hope you'll finish that ghost story one day.
I love the idea of the twitter pitch party!
When I (finally!) get to the point of pubbing, I'll be looking you up :)
The sound of your rework sounds really interesting. A vampire, werewolf, shark and alien? Hmmm...my mind is spinning with possibility. I bet the twitter pitch will be amazing :)
Thanks for setting up the Twitter pitch party!
I just realized the twitter pitch event is on my youngest's birthday. Hmm. I still want to participate, but it might not be every hour.
Thanks for letting us know about the swag and the formatting!
Good luck on all your writing!
I admire your work ethic!
Those stories sound right up my alley. :)
Heather
Ooh, those are great prices - especially for someone with your experience. I'll spread the word.
Maybe you can use that great ending something else some time.
Wow, so much information. Good to know about reworking old stories. The twitter pitch party looks like a good way to test the waters. Good to know the formatting prices.
Loni, I have fun participating with DLP.
Stephen, I just need to fix the saggy middle. If I do that, I might make it Five in Darkness.
Gwen, thank you! Be happy to.
Jen, kill those suckers.
Tyrean, fortunately we gave it a big window.
You've always got so many irons in the fire. Impressed and inspired!
That's good pricing for ebook formatting. Not something I'll attempt myself, but who knows, I may (cringes) someday self publish that drawer project. If I ever get the first chapter fixed. I will definitely be calling on you.
So many exciting things with IWSG. I don't have a twitter account, I'm far too loquacious for short sentences.
Its too bad one of your story picks didn't work out. You seem to have embraced the adventure of recreating a forgotten story. Seems like fun, if not what you planned on. Awesome that you did not let the hiccup hold you back.
Sounds like you have some cool stuff happening.
Happy IWSG Day!
Juneta @ Writer's Gambit
I like the titles of your four-some stories. Good luck with them.
Good luck with the old story you're working on!
IWSG Twitter Pitch. Really? I'll have to look at that if I have time. As you know I'm busy road trippin' across Outback Oz.
The Twitter Pitch will rock!
Thanks for the info on format pricing.
My really old stories are too embarrassing for a book, but they're pretty humorous (though that wasn't my intent). I'm glad yours is worthy of public consumption, Spunk.
It's too bad that the story wasn't working out. Maybe you'll find a way to rework it into something else :)
Sounds an interesting book Diane.
Good luck with the story! And the twitter pitch sounds like a great opportunity. :)
I love the new stuff you're working on. The shark will be the most anticipated release when it comes out! The pitch party should be fun. They are fun to participate in and super fun to watch all the pitches go up.
Good luck with your manuscript! It's fun when you get to revisit old ones. Thanks for the info on your formatting services. I'll keep that in the back of my mind.
The IWSG Twitter Pitch Party sounds awesome! What a great idea! I'll definitely help spread the word.
Maybe you'll figure out the ghost one at a later time. Sometimes stories aren't ready to be written. :)
That's cool about the Pitch Party.
That's an inspiring idea since Twitter is a great place to connect with people. I'll try and participate. As a non-writer I imagine you come up with all kinds of ideas that you can can reuse
I'm definitely down for the Twitter pitch session! Hopefully a lot of good agents and editors will take part. I've participated in quite a few that were trolled by vanity presses and scam agents, so if you guys need an "author beware" post beforehand, drop me a line!
Sounds like you've got a lot of wonderful stories bubbling in the kettle.
Enjoy your Sunday.
Sounds like an interesting bunch of stories you're putting together. I'm mulling over taking part in the pitch party, but I'll definitely promote it!
The Twitter pitch party sounds interesting. Will have to mark my calendar. Have a great week!
Actually, I DID rework something--it was a book I wrote and submitted back in 2005 that was rejected constantly. I always liked the characters but I really didn't know what to do with it. But then in 2013, I decided to rework since I had a better idea of what was wrong with more writing experience. I ended up rewriting about 45% of it. Submitted it, finally sold it, and it became a #1 Amazon best seller in series romance! Fiancé by Fate is the name of the book, but it was originally called Anything for Love. LOL
Happy Monday, Di!
How are the rewrites going?
Diane, I wish that I had stories from my 20's that I could take out and look at with a fresh "decades-later" perspective.
Back then, besides reading up a storm, I was busy writing those 'angsty' post-teen poems.
That's the disadvantage of being a "late bloomer" in the writing department...
Always exciting stuff going on in your creative life...hard work too!
The stories sound great. I hope to hear more about them. :-)
Anna from elements of emaginette
I think it's great you're having a pitch party. Also good to know about your formatting and layout pricing.
You know I bet if you're just setting your ghost story aside, when you come back to it at a later date, it will click.
Have a sunny, colorful day.
What a neat service you offer in formatting. Good luck with working on your old story. I'll have to check out your Four in Darkness book. Found you through the IWSG. I'm currently writing a mystery/thriller novel but also have some fun with my blog for shorter, real-life accounts. Have a good week. http://www.dianeweidenbenner.com/iwsg-chicken-or-the-egg/
Glad you are able to rework an older piece and that it is working! Awesome!
The Twitter Pitch Party sounds interesting. Thanks for sharing. :)
~Jess
That Twitter pitch sounds awesome. Would be good for some people...I'm sharing to my other group about this.
Happy Monday, Di.
And I echo, Diane W. Formatting is a great service to offer.
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