When is on Online Story Considered Already Published
Or...The Dragon answers a common publishing question

I participate in a variety of online writing groups. Several times a month I see a variation of the question "Can I post my work on my blog and still ask a publisher to accept it later?" The answer depends on whether or not your blog is available to the public. Most publishers aren't interested in accepting work that has already been published and made available to the masses; therefore, publishing your masterpiece online is not a wise move.

If you have a short story to tease readers and build an audience with, by all means, post that on your blog. (Do not expect publishers or magazine editors to have an interest in it later.) If you have a single chapter or a single scene out of your WIP that you'd like to tease an audience with, by all means, post that on your blog with directions on how to order the rest of the novel that a publisher has made available on Amazon or B&N, etc. But if you have an entire work that you'd like to make available, I advise posting it in a manner that is password-protected. By limiting the audience to a fan group or password-protected section of a Web site, you make publishers feel better about buying the material later.

I have a fun-n-frisky paranormal romance novel set in Naples, Fla., that I'm posting in an invitation-only YahooGroup called Sandy's Vampire Sunrise Group. I have the serial novel "hidden" there so my fans can read and enjoy the story (for free), but the publisher can still publish the thing later in the year with no worries. Of course, the published version will have edits and fixes and improvements, but the raw story is doing its job of keeping fans entertained and laughing for the summer.

If you'd like to get in on the fun and read a free (and fun, spooky, tense, humorous) story, do the deed below.

Subscribe to sandysvampiresunrise

Powered by us.groups.yahoo.com

Enjoy!
"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."
Tags: vampire, publishing, online, blog, paranormal romance

Choices Meant for Gods Isn’t the Only Thing You Can Read From Me
Or…have you been following the vampire romantic comedy?

I’m working steadily away at proofing my galleys for Choices Meant for Gods this weekend (and figuring out how to write HTML code to put together my website to give myself a break from reading reading reading), but it occurred to me that all you visitors could be reading something fun, light, not-epic, and downright vampiric (at times) right now if I just reminded you to sign up for it.

Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sandysvampiresunrise/join and sign up to join the free group that’s reading Saving a Vampire from the Summer Sunrise. (And if that title doesn’t tell you that this is a fun little romp through a Florida setting, I don’t know how else to convince you.) You’d never expect to find a vampire in Naples, Florida, would you? Welcome to my insanity. If the feedback I work with to write future scenes is any indication, the folks reading along so far are enjoying it.

The next scene goes online tonight and we learn how Nathan (vampire) reacts to Katy’s revelation while they're sitting on the hood of his BMW Alana. Yeah, see, the vampire drives a BMW Alana. This is the sexiest serial novel in history. ;)

“Some days, you just want the vampire to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, vampire, vampiric, romantic comedy, Naples, Florida, Saving a Vampire from the Summer Sunrise, Naples, Florida

Serial Author Didn’t Kill Me!
Or…How The Dragon author stays alive as a soap star

Regular visitors to The Dragon may remember that Jamieson Wolf developed a character for me in his serial novel Hunted at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hunted/. Believe it or not, I haven’t died yet. In fact, and I don’t want to give away the ending for those of you interested in reading the completed story now, I ended up with a fun role!

Hunted is (was) a suspenseful tale that walks the line between glorifying and mocking those soap dramas we love to hate. You remember Whoopie, Sally, and company in Soap Dish? Okay, you’re on the right track now, but toss in a creepy paranormal element, some blood and guts and gore, some twists and turns, and you’ve got a better idea of what Jamieson has created. The story is complete now, so if you were merely waiting until you had a whole story to read, well, wait no longer. Jog over to the yahoo group and read all 55 scenes before Jamieson dives into his next serial novel, Electric Red, which should be any day…

And if you want a vampire serial novel to read, why, you’ve come to the right paranormal venue, haven’t you? We’re only up to scene 13 in Saving a Vampire from the Summer Sunrise, and you can go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sandysvampiresunrise/join to click into that group and get caught up. That fun little romp just goes to show that you can’t let life dictate what path you’re on…even if you’re the undead. Nathan and Katy await your arrival.

In other writing news, I don’t have a release date for Choices Meant for Gods to post on The Dragon yet, but we’re still looking at the month of March. I’ll be sure to plaster the news all over The Dragon as soon as I know something. Thanks for checking in!

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: dragon, Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, vampire

Roundup at The Dragon
Or...Do you remember what all's going on?

I thought I'd take just a moment to give visitors a summary of what all's happenin' around The Dragon and Choices Meant for Gods in case you don't have time to...oh, you know...read all the archives.

First, Choices Meant for Gods is in editing this month at ArcheBooks Publishing, so it looks like we'll have a release date in March! Folks, that's fantastic news!

Second, if you're a member of the Saving a Vampire from the Summer Sunrise group, I'll post Scene 11 for you tonight. If you're not a member of that group, FOR SHAME! This is a fun little romantic/comedic/thriller romp through Naples, Florida in which even vampires learn that you can change the path Fate set in motion for you... You can join up by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sandysvampiresunrise/join. See you on the beach!

Third: The Grammar Guide I promised about quotations and punctuation will be posted tomorrow. Promise promise promise.

Fourth: The online writers group I belong to has prepared a Valentine's Day gift for ya'll called Love is in the Air. Several of us wrote fiction pieces of love and romance, and our resident soul mate guide, Dorothy Thompson, who is a syndicated columnist for matters of the heart, has included some articles as well! I'll be posting information on how to get your hands on this free eBook later this week.

And that might be all the news that's fit to print today. If I come up with more, I'll let you know.
"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."

Tracey’s Saving Vampires!
Congratulations to our positive and glowing vampire winner

Early on with this blog, I stated we’d be staying positive and glowing. We will.

You’ve probably also noticed a trend or theme to the articles here. Grammar Guide, Word of the Day, a visit from author Jamieson Wolf, mentions of books, music, Charlotte and Anne Bronte (Anne got her own article on her birthday this past week), etc. Basically, we’re staying focused on writing and entertainment from healthy stuff (and you can argue whether or not pop music is healthy on your own time – I think it’s saved me on more than one occasion).

Today, our injection for the entertainment milieu is an announcement!

Reader Tracey Monaghan will debut in Saving a Vampire from the Summer Sunrise tonight in Scene 6 at the Yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sandysvampiresunrise!

Congratulations, Tracey!

She entered a contest with the reading group, and I pulled her name from the proverbial fishbowl Monday night. Now she’s got a leading role in a romantic/comedic/thriller serial novel online that promises to take readers for quite a spin through Southwest Florida before it’s done. If you’d like to see Teresah (Tracey) enter this fabulous fantasy, you can sign up to read the story along with us by clicking on the link to join the group. A teaser of Scene 1 appears on this blog in the January archives as “Saving a Vampire from the Summer Sunrise”.

Enjoy!

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Saving the Vampire
How to get to the Yahoo group

If you're checking in to see how to get to the Yahoo group, here's the scoop!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sandysvampiresunrise

Even vampires can learn lessons of the heart...
...like how to alter a destructive course, once it's already set in motion.

Join us in the reading of
Saving a Vampire from the Summer Sunrise
An exciting serial romantic thriller from the author of Choices Meant for Gods!

Sandy Lender takes you on a fabulously fun romp through the beaches of Naples, Florida, with Nathan Tearnshaw and Katy Crawford and various vamps and tramps (and other good folks, too) in a comedic action-adventure romance that will leave you breathless...and possibly bloodless!

Sandy is posting Scene 2 tonight!
"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."

Vampires and Werewolves and Ghosts, Oh My!
Saving a Vampire from the Summer Sunrise

Even vampires can learn lessons of the heart...
...like how to alter a destructive course, once it's already set in motion.

Let me take you on a fabulously fun romp along the beaches of Naples, Florida, with Nathan Tearnshaw and Katy Crawford and various vamps and tramps (and other good folks, too) in a comedic action-adventure romance that will leave you breathless...and possibly bloodless!

Sign up at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sandysvampiresunrise to join this free group that's reading Saving a Vampire from the Summer Sunrise! And win a starring role as a pivotal character in the story if you sign up by the January 15 contest deadline!

(A scene from the story so far is posted below, just to give you an idea of the treat you're in for!)

Welcome to Naples, the last place on earth you'd expect to find a vampire!
Nathan and Katy await...

"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."

Saving a Vampire from the Summer Sunrise
Copyright January 2007
By Sandy Lender

Scene 1
It seemed a strange thought to have flash through her mind before death: Why did he cheat on me with her? Katy could feel gravity and inertia and centrifugal forces wrenching her about the back seat of the cab, could feel Millie’s Juicy bag suddenly impact her head like a cannonball, could feel shards of glass shredding her shoulder, but the thought in her mind wasn’t for safety or fear or “what could I accomplish if God would just grant me one more day?” No, she had to think of that ridiculous bimbo with her obnoxious laugh and fake nails and bleach-blonde hair…

The cab spun to a stop on its side.

Millie groaned, and Katy realized, with some surprise, that they must both be alive. No one could experience such pain if dead. She heard music from her MP3’s earpiece, static-like and coarse somewhere in the back seat playing Transcendental Mental, and she silently mouthed, “Thank you, Simon, I need something light right now.”

Aloud, she heard herself moan: “Sake’s alive, Mill, I hurt.”

Then a pair of hands settled on her, seeming to shape into solidity as they fixed on her waist, lifting her effortlessly up out of the wreckage and into the blinding headlights of the car that had struck them. She felt herself cradled in a man’s arms and the scent of a spicy, almost floral cologne drifted over her.

She heard voices, people yelling, and someone’s footsteps pounding toward her. “Nathan, what are you doing out here?” a man demanded.

“Just get the other girl out of the cab. The tank’s been compromised.”

“Nathan Tearnshaw!?” some wild voice exclaimed. “Oh my God! It’s him! It’s Nathan Tearnshaw!”

“Please give us some space,” a woman called out now. “Everyone, please get back. This is the scene of an accident. The car could explode.”

Katy’s eyes shot open wide. “Millie!”

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Sign up to join the Yahoo group reading this story at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sandysvampiresunrise today!

"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."