Monday, July 24, 2017

So How Does This All Work?


And the question is, what do we do?

Interesting question considering that the word publishing is in our name. 

But, simply put.

1)  We partner with you to publish and promote your book.

2)  We have writing competitions for young and not so young writers.

and lastly, we offer scholarships to young writers.

It’s really very easy. We don’t have a genre focus and want only to help authors see their writing dreams come true. If your manuscript isn’t ready, then we have services, listed on our website that will help you. If you need help, then we’ll help you. But remember, the book is yours and therefore – you have the last word.

How does all this work? We again, easy – you just email your manuscript to us at breakingrulespublishing@gmail.com and we’ll review your work. Once we have found your manuscript to be something that we’re interested in – we then present you with a contract – we ask for a blurb about the book, an authors photo, a cover photo and we’ll help you create your cover or send a pdf copy of your already prepared cover. We’ll ask you for your acknowledgment page and then we’ll get to work on formatting your book. And lastly, we’ll ask you for a list of, up to, 100 emails that we can send out an announcement and help to start the promotion process. Just before it’s complete we’ll present it to the world for pre-sale. Next, we’ll look for possible signing locations, local books stores, place you in our quarterly magazine, "The Scribe," add you to all of our social media, blogs, newsletters, and libraries that will be open to taking on your book.

 
So – ARE YOU READY? All you really need to do is finish your manuscript and send it to us. After that, we’ll work with you to make it as successful as we can.


If you have any questions, please feel free to email us. Again, we would be happy to help.

www.breakingruleswritingcompetitions.com

breakingrulespublishing@gmail.com

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Aren't you tired of waiting yet?

Aren’t you tired of waiting yet?

So here’s the deal. You have this story rolling around in your head, so you got up at 5a and spent your early mornings, evenings and weekends just writing your book. You struggled with your day job, your family and friends, because you thought that you could, you wanted to, and knew that you had something to say, so you wrote. Even though no one thought that you could do it. Let alone get published.

After spilling your insides all over the pages in front of you, copying it over to your computer and going through the editing process, you think that you’re finally ready. That you have just written the next great American novel. And you just may have.

Next step – you hit the library and look up how to get your first book published. You take out all the books you can that are related to the subject, hoping that some of it would set in and you’ll be able to finally get your book published, make your first million, become famous and live the life you were born to.

What do you learn? Well, you learn that you need an agent and that you need to write a query letter to get an agent. So, back to the library to find out how to write this all powerful letter that will change your life. Again, you check out all the books that will show you how to get it done. And so, you sit down and start to write to all the agents that you’ve found online. And then, you wait.

While you’re waiting for a response, you start on another novel, you go back and edit the first one, hit the beach (because all great novels are written at the beach) you drink lots of coffee and run your fingers through your hair. Be careful you may just pull it out. AND, you search online trying to find more agents to send that all magical letter to. And still, you wait.

Ouch – you got 15 letters back all in one day. And guess what? They were all no’s! But you keep that positive attitude and continue to send those letters out. You even think that maybe it’s time to go directly to the publishers. Again you head back to the library to see what you can find out about what your letter should say to the publisher. In the mean time, more of those agent letters come back, and yep, they are all no’s. So you send out the publisher letter and hope that you’re able to connect with someone at Random House. That the person you connect with is going to be the one to help make all of your dreams come true.

And what happens next? Shit, SHIT, Shit! More no’s! So you try again and continue to send out letters, continue to write your next book and deal with all the negative attitudes around you. Unfortunately, the cycle goes on and on and on. Apparently never understanding that expecting a different result from the same action is the definition of insanity.

So I ask you. Aren’t you tired of waiting yet?

What Breaking Rules Publishing is offering you is for you to be a part of making your dreams come true. We are offering to partner with you to say, we’ll publish your book. We’ll work with you to get you a great marketing plan. We’ll get your books in the books stores and we’ll do all that we can to make sure that you and your book get out there and are sold. Together – did you hear that part? TOGETHER we will get it done.

Breaking Rules Publishing isn’t going to just publish your book and let it sit there. Tossing it back in your lap and saying, “here you go – you’re on your own now!” NO! We are here to help you and work with you to get your book and your dreams moving.

Why are we doing this? So here’s the story. Our founder, Christopher Clawson-Rule wrote his first book 16 years ago in just 3 months. Yes, he worked hard to get that done, and then he did exactly what every other author does. He started writing letter and continued to get no’s. He did this for six years until a publisher took him on. And guess what? They didn’t exactly what was mentioned above. Toss the book back at him and said, “here you go – you’re on your own now!” Oh and the great news, when he did sell his book, he only got about 20% of the price of the book back in royalties. Certainly not the millions that he was hoping for.

The notion that he had just published his book was amazing. Now, he was a writer, an author. He was excited and over the moon, thinking that he was going to start to make his millions. And like most, it didn’t happen. For years he continued to do the same, write, publish and try his best to market his work on his own. Then it all hit him. This entire publishing process was crap. And he didn’t want any other writer to have to go through the same situation that he did. To feel that same doubt and wonder when their break was going to come.

So here we are. Now WE are waiting. Waiting for you to send us your manuscript. We’ll help you format it, publish it, and help you market it. We are even turning the table on the royalties’ situation. We are offering you 30% back, after printing, until you reach your first 200 books. After that, you jump to 70%. If you’re not saying, “NOW WE’RE TALKING” then you’ve missed the point.

And here boys and girls is my last SO – So, aren’t you tired of waiting? Aren’t you tired of writing all those letters? Aren’t you tired of getting all the no’s back and aren’t you tired of putting your dreams on hold?

Take the leap – send us your manuscript and let’s get started making that dream of yours come true.

Breaking Rules Publishing is now accepting manuscript submissions.

Need help? Just get in touch with us and we’ll do all that we can to help you out.

breakingrulespublishing@gmail.com



Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Authors and books on our website - take a look.

Authors and books on our website 

Take a look

www.breakingruleswritingcompetitions.com

K.C. Brinson


J.D. Norton Chronicles - Destiny 
by K.C. Brinson 
Pre-Sale $10

The Year is 2040 and the planet is in dire straits. All of the world's nations have joined together to form into one world order. Three people in the World Organization hold absolute power, while corruption has brought humanity to the brink of destruction. 

It will take a group of three of history's most brilliant minds accompanied by the leader of the Resistors, an underground Junkpunk civilization. The Resistors have survived persecution and now have a mission to reclaim their rightful place among civilization while saving humanity and the world in the process. 

Join Lucille Calhoun, Lady Renee Grey, and J.D. Norton in this Sci-Fi/Fantasy adventure of time travel and World Order conspiracies. While working with the cooperation of the Gods of the Galaxy, they also find themselves working in subterfuge under the radar of the Gods in order to root out an evil entity in their midst.


Arthur Padilla


A Kris Medford Mystery -
The Sides Of The Same Face 
by Arthur Padilla
Pre-Sale Price -  $10.


Kris Medford arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico shortly after she agrees to take a job running a small family foundation. She finds herself quickly embroiled in a situation where a mysterious man is coming for her and is intent on finding the answers he has been paid to get. Without a real plan or any real understanding of how she finds herself on the gun end of a sinister character,   Kris comes face to face with Brian Fielding. When she is actually confronted and captured by Brian she explodes and her real potential is both frightening and revealing. Her actions and the confusion she causes put Kris on the radar of a silent group of underworld "do-gooders." This group of women actively identifies and recruits women, worldwide, who present with certain gifts and they want Kris for reasons Kris would not even understand. In the end, what seems like mishap and circumstance, results in the larger understanding that Kris and all the women involved have been intentionally manipulated to be part of this group. Kris finds her power, her strength, and her capacity as she confronts her nemesis in Brian, while wrestling her own internal demons. 

Jay Helwig


Mr. Jay Helwig has mastered a lovely book of poetry based on the impressions of Emily Dickinson. 

Brit Chism


Mnemosyne's Daughters by Brit Chism - $15.

Another exciting component to Mr. Chism's book "Mnemosyne's Daughters" is that he is donating ALL of his royalties from the sale of this book to the Breaking Rules Publishing Young Writers Scholarship Fund - specifically to young LGBT writers in St. Petersburg. Breaking Rules Publishing will match Mr. Chism's generosity and respond in kind.

ALL proceeds from the sale of Mr. Chism's book "Mnemosyne's Daughters" will go directly toward the Breaking Rules Publishing scholarship fund.

Thank you, Mr. Chism, for your amazing generosity and support of the LGBT youth in St. Petersburg.


Mnemosyne's Daughters by Brit Chism -

The impetus for stories comes from the Muses. Old myths, many of them five thousand years old, provide a seed of truth, a plot, a glimpse of the character that can be developed in a modern context. Societal structures, patriarchy, family, religion, cultural norms and mores, and women’s hopes and goals shape these stories and push and pull these female protagonists into their arcs.

The reality for women in the twenty-first century is that fully half the households in the U.S. are headed by a single, working mother. One in three women are raped. Millions across the globe migrate to escape war, famine, and destruction of their environment. All face discrimination based on gender. I have no interest in writing escapist fiction with a happy ending. I do, however, want to tell gripping stories about the truth of women’s lives.

“Medea Royal” began this journey for me several years back. Others: Jocasta, Eurydice, Katya, Mnemosyne, Alice, Claire, etc. seemed to push forward in my creative imagination waving their raised hands, “Me next!” they shouted from my dreams.

The cost for this book is $15 - plus shipping and handling.


Christopher Clawson


Waters Edge by Christopher Clawson - $13 .                                    

Waters Edge is the next installment in the Matthews Family saga.
 
Tristan and Boston Matthews desperately need of a vacation, in no time they find themselves in Madeira Beach, FL. getting more than just some time away. Each has their own back story and challenges to bear, neither expected to find happiness, or their future on a quiet beach in Florida or with the girl and boy next door. Their summer neighbors, Seamus and Claire Waters, father and daughter, have their own demons to deal with, yet quickly the two brothers jump feet first into love stories and memories that would last a life time. Using the beach, water and sunsets from the Gulf of Mexico as its back drop - Waters Edge has real life characters as the Matthews brothers develop their own story of family, love, sex, betrayal and death. Tell me, what will you find on the water’s edge?




Bless Me Father – by Christopher Clawson - $15

Noah Matthews, husband, father of five and art professor, has a cross to bear.
Sexually abused as a child, he was led into a challenging life. After his first confession to Father Vincente Connetti, an equally cursed man, the two became friends. Both, in the end, help each other through their pasts. Vincent, who never allowed himself a life, changes his vocation and abandons his collar.
 
Noah employs David, a young model driven by urges based around his sexual appetite for men, for his life drawing class. Showing his true colors,
David proves himself and makes Noah and Vincente relive the nightmares of their youth in the most lamentable fashion possible. 
Colorful and endowed with realistic characters, Bless Me Father paints a paradigm of honesty, friendship, and morals with sex and violence aplenty.

The cost for this book is $15 - plus shipping and handling. 






Make Time to Write: 10 Tips for Daily Writing By: Courtney Carpenter


We were hoping to create a blog entry that would help you get motivated to write more often. While searching the WWW we found this article by Courtney Carpenter. Instead of taking the time to recreate the wheel and the notion, we figured it would be just as effective to just share what Courtney has already said. We hope that you find this helpful. 
Make Time To Write: 10 Tips For Daily Writing 
by Courtney Carpenter
Writing takes commitment, self-discipline, and desire. Don’t let other distractions get in the way of your writing goals–set aside time every day to write. When you are tempted to make up an excuse as to why you can’t write today, stop yourself. Only you can write the rest of that chapter you’re working on or meet your deadline. Remind yourself why you are passionate about writing. Plus, look at these 10 tips for writing motivation from Writer with a Day Job by Aine Greaney.
10 Tips For Daily Writing  
  1. Make a date with yourself. Yes, I know your schedule is jam-packed. But you deserve a writing rendezvous with yourself. We owe ourselves some creative, meaningful time in our lives. So make a date and keep it. Oh, and show up on time.
  2. Right brain. Right time. Is there a time of day when you’re naturally more whimsical, more in tune with your inner or imaginative self? First thing in the morning? Last thing at night? Right after your morning yoga? Immediately after your lunchtime jog? Sitting at your son’s hockey practice? If there’s a time when you believe that writing will come more easily, make this your daily writing time.
  3. A clean, well-lit place: It doesn’t have to be a custom-designed artist studio with an ocean view. But your daily writing spot needs to make you feel comfortable and happy, and it needs to match your personality. Even if it’s just a table in the corner of your shared bedroom, this spot should make you feel free to be yourself. It should fit the creative you. At a minimum, make sure that your writing spot is free of any negative associations or memories.
  4. Tell your family or friends. You may want to be a mystery writer, but you don’t have to a mysterious writer. Because it’s a new surprising side of you, because it’s a new person that your family may not have encountered before, you may be shy about saying to your family, “I’ve started writing.” Quite simply, it may make you feel vulnerable. Or you may feel that it sets some kind of expectation for blockbusters or huge advances, or that you’ll start to walk around talking to yourself. Or you may fear that your friends and family will see this as time away from them or a set of shirked household duties. Actually, it will. Beginning a writing life means sacrificing or cutting back on other things, including your social life. But share your writing dream with your family, friends, or roommates. A real friend will support you. A fake friend will laugh, tease, condescend, or try to discourage you. Or worse, these friends or family will make it all about them (“but what about our Thursday night movie?”). Believe me, every writer needs a cheerleader or two or three. Also, rearranging your schedule to find some writing time will require the support and cooperation of the other people in your household.
  5. Same time. Same place. Set up a place where the writing is going to happen. By going to that same spot with the same view and smells and general feel, you give yourself some sensual and spatial prompts to start writing. Yes, we’re Pavlovian creatures, and this is especially true in writing. “Oh right,” you think, as you sit in that plastic seat inside your usual window at McDonald’s. “I’m here. So it must be time to write.”
  6. Switch off all electronic communication. Take this as fact: email, iPhones, Blackberries, text messaging, and any other electronic-messaging system are the enemies of writing. First, all that time spent reading and responding to messages eats into your precious writing time. And second, those bleeps and pings and newsy emails distract you into completely different mental space—a place far away from your writing mind. However hard it is, even if you are chained to your work or personal electronic device, switch it off. All those messages will be there when your writing time is over and complete.
  7. Write naked: Say a prayer to the writing gods. Develop a pre-writing ritual that works for you—even if it means wearing a Stetson hat or writing naked (not in McDonald’s, please!).
  8. Set a daily quota or word count. As you look at that calendar or day planner, you may automatically allow a time to writing—a half hour or fifteen minutes or an hour. This works in terms of finding and assigning a regular writing time. But when I’m starting a new project or a first draft, this never works for me. Quite simply, it’s just too easy to say, “I spent a half hour at my writing desk today.” But that half hour doesn’t count if half of it was spent checking the online headlines or just gazing at the computer screen. Make your writing slot work. Set a word quota.
  9. Praise! Alleluia! Keep a little calendar about your desk or, at the end of your writing session, open up your online calendar or online to-do lists to record today’s completed word count. It will serve as a time sheet—and a rewards system to praise yourself for your excellent discipline.
  10. Allow yourself to write badly: At least for the early drafts, you need to just write. If you stop to judge, edit, delete, and rewrite, you will be spending all your time playing reader or critic, not a writer. Trust me, you and your work will have enough critics later when you finish your final draft and put it out there for public consumption. But for now, for these early drafts, be gentle with yourself. Love your writing. And above all, trust where it’s going.
As writers, we are horrible, and horribly hard on ourselves. We stop too often to censure, edit, and worry what the readers, the publishers, or the critics might think. Love yourself. Give yourself a break. Keep writing.

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Guest Blogger - Brit Chism - The Generative Life of LGBTQ Pinellas

The Generative Life of LGBTQ Pinellas

Cindy Lauper's "True Colors Fund" is a national pioneer in raising community awareness of homeless LGBTQ kids. Florida has 5,700 of these "throw away kids" who face homelessness after their family of origin threw them out. It is estimated that nationally 1.6 million kids sleep in the streets. Forty percent of these, a disproportionately high number at 640,000, are LGBTQ. In Pinellas County, a cooperative effort is now addressing this problem.

Christopher Clawson Rule of Breaking Rules Publishing,(www.breakingruleswritingcompetitions.com) and his husband, artist David Rule are leaning into the work by offering educational opportunities in the development of language and writing skills. It is shocking that if a child cannot read and comprehend by the time they are nine-years-old (leaving the third grade) they have little chance of success in traditional schools.
The effort, on a local level, brings together Metro Wellness and Community Centers, and Family Resources, Inc. with Prism Transitional Living to offer transitional housing, clothes, food, learning opportunities, and other services, including some basic medical care, to this vulnerable population.   
Buddhism encourages its practitioners who try to follow the Noble Eightfold Path to work for the good of others and to respect life. Erik Erikson, the developmental psychologist, calls it "generativity" when adults strive to produce and rear the next generation and to be creative in one's life and work. John Kotre, a Buddhist practitioner, and writer translate the Japanese sedai-keisho-sei that you receive something from the past, you create something out of it, and you pass it on to the future. Or, in the words of Erikson, "I am what survives me." Generativity plants an orchard or vineyard that one farmer may not live to enjoy the produce from, but generations that come after them will eat the fruit of their labor. It includes any activity that contributes to the development of others and to the life of the generations. Like Moses, who wandered and toiled in the desert, did not live to enjoy life in the promised land, but his efforts rewarded later generations.
This activity, according to Erikson, gives rise to the ego strength called, "virtue of care." If we are successful with this, we are generative, not stagnant and self-absorbed. At the end of our life when we look back and ask, "Is it OK to have been me?" we can answer, yes. We have ego integrity, and we are not in despair.
In the words of an African proverb, "The world was not left to us by our parents. It was lent to us by our children."

They need money to support the work, and they need volunteers to donate some time. Telephone numbers: Stacy Welton @ 727 521 5203, and Nicole Leslie @ 727 552 1011. More information: http://www.watermarkonline.com/?s=prism+program.

Have you taken a moment to check out the most recent issue of  The Scribe or Horror magazines. The Scribe Magazine - October 2020 Issue $1...