Totally NOT recommended!

Susan Gable said:

If you want to know the "real secret," lean a little closer and I'll tell you. For FREE!

Hard work. Learn your craft. Write a good story.

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LOL! That’s the secret! I thought it was ghostwriters, and using one of Megan McCafferty’s books as a template.

Wow, I hope no new, hopeful writers get suckered into buying it. Her 'formula' of knowing exactly what goes where in ANY romance story sounds eerily like the 'fill in the blank' template she referred to in her ad. Doesn't that just seem like it would overflow with originality and spark. . . Yeah, this is another one of those buyer beware things, and thanks for posting about it here Susan. Hopefully it'll spare a few newbies a hard lesson learned.

$197? pfft. i'll sell you *mine* for a mere $196.99, a saving of one cent! any reasonably frugal pursun can see the inherit smartitudalliness of *that* surely, right, no, eh, etx.? and be it known that i can only offer this incredible, once-in-a-lifetime savings because i've got low overhead and *not* flashing cash around on fancy websites and name-dropping.

only a 100 copies available at that price? hm, that's still almost twenty thousand dollars. not bad for a hack, not bad a'tall.

there are several fill-in-the-blank programmes out there already, no need for another one, i reckon. here's a brief conversation a talentless hack should have inside their own head:

chick on a stick (only because that rhymes): you know, i could really use some help.

voice of reason and conscious: true. you should work harder.

coas: i work hard enough already, i--

vor: apparently not.

coas: shut up, you! like i was saying, i work hard enough already and it hasn't gotten me anywhere. maybe this is just the kick i need to get things started.

vor: maybe you're just not a good writer. i mean, it's been ten novels and no one's--

coas: shut up, you! no, it's not me, it's the stories. they're too good, too avant garde to be grasped by mere mortals. remember how i likened the rogue pirate with a heart of gold to jesus' life? tell me that wasn't brilliant!

vor: it wasn't brilliant.

coas: oh, pshaw! how wasn't it the best thing ever?

vor: for starters, it's not an original idea, so--

coas: what *is* an original idea?

vor: let me finish. it's nothing *like* an original idea. it's basically ripping off someone's life, changing the names and some specific things, but it's not original, nor is it remotely creative. maybe that's why you've been rejected so many times, because you're just not being creative enough.

coas: it's romance! creativity has got nothing to do with it! my problem was i was *too* creative, when obviously all those goobers reading smut in their bath tubs want is the same-old-same-old.

vor: ah, well, actually--

coas: yep! that's what it is i tells ya. there's a formula, a template, a way of doing things the readers demand, and any variation is death to the work.

vor: being creative is a good thing, but you've not been that. you're wanting to take every short-cut and way-out. you've not even read more than two romances and you think you know what it's all about.

coas: oh, it's all the same stuff, trust me.

vor: i don't think it is--

coas: why are you always so negative, voice of reason? i've got this golden opportunity to really make something of myself here and all you can do is find fault with my master plan. why is that?

vor: because it's not even *your* master plan, it's someone else's. you can't even be creative in that. everything you do is derivative of something else.

coas: but that's what they want!

vor: it would seem that that isn't the case. all i'm saying is that if it's a good story, someone out there will buy it. you've just got to put the effort and craft into it.

coas: you just don't get it, do you? no wonder my voice of reason sounds like a man! (heh heh heh, sorry, ladies, i just couldn't resist.) the point is this system will give me a sure-fire guarantee to get published. all i have to do is fill in the blanks.

vor: and you call that creative?

coas: i call that a paycheck and a publishing credit.

vor: assuming it even works, which is likely not to happen. and assuming it works, you'll be known as a talentless hack who has to rely on someone else's cheesy 'blueprint' because you're not good enough to cut it on your own merits.

coas: hey, whatever works.

vor: then, essentially, by filling in the blanks, anyone can be a writer?

coas: well, i wouldn't go *that* far....

vor: obviously there are genre conventions that need to be adhered to, but beyond that, you'd have a computer template do all the work for you. why isn't that going 'that far'?

coas: for starters, *someone* has to plug in the names. then someone has to pick all the criteria for filling in the blanks. i'm sure it's a lot harder than it sounds.

vor: i doubt that. sounds pretty simple to me.

coas: it's no different than reading a 'how-to' book.

vor: uhm, no, i don't think that's quite right--

coas: it's just a more direct path to giving romance readers what they want, what they expect, and what they demand. originality doesn't exist. creativity, well, that's just a way to fake people out, all it is is misdirection and layering junk on top of one another. there's a template out there, she knows it, and for two hundred bucks so will i.

vor: i think i'm just going to crawl into your cerebral cortex and die now.

coas: sounds like a plan... a master plan (wink wink).

vor: good luck with your lack of, well, lack of everything.

coas: thanks. oh, and, hey, good luck with that whole dying thing.

vor: i'm outta here.

coas: luv and kisses!

How sad - you know there are people out there who will pay for this cr....! Too many people still say, "Yeah, romance - it's a formula, right?" I am also amazed at people who will take classes on how to write a novel from someone who's never published one! I have a friend who publishes a magazine and teaches a class on novel writing at a very well-known writing convention. The kicker? Not only has she never sold a novel, she's never even written one! I'm not sure how she got to teach the class but it makes me ill.

Susan has the right idea. Write, re-write, submit and start a new book. AND I might add - read widely in the genre. I'm judging submissions for my RWA contest right now and am appalled at the poor quality! I can tell some of the entrants haven't read a romance in a while - if ever. I mean, how hard can it be to write one, huh?

I may never make a lot of money on my books, but at least I can sleep nights knowing they are all MY WORK!!!


Carlene

an industry weeps...

And don't you love the gem-like prose she used to craft her pitch? (Susan, I followed her FAQ to discover that her book is printed by LBF books under the pen name of Morgan Leshay.)

I was also tickled by the "most first-time romance advances start at around $3000" along with "don't you want to have time for family and friends while you enjoy the glamorous, well-paid life of a romance writer?". I'm sure Susan can attest to the fact that she mostly just lies around eating bonbons and being fanned by oiled seminude men, as do all successful romance authors .

Hmm, makes me wonder why I became an editor instead...

Wow!

I guess if I just plunk down that $175 or whatever it costs, then in order to be a successful romance novelist, I wouldn't have had to do stupid, useless things like:

1) Get a bachelor's and master's in English Literature/Creative Writing;
2) Read at least 200 novels a year to keep my literacy level up;
3) Write an average of 1700 crisp, high-quality words a day until I have a completed manuscript; (takes anywhere from 3-5 months)
4) Do at least 3 complete edits/rewrites of said manuscript before sending it out to beta readers;
5) Do another rewrite after beta-readers are finished;
6) Query 100-plus agents; land an agent;
7) Make agent's required changes;
8) Wait for agent to submit ms. to editors and get replies (anywhere from 1 week to 1 year; I am at this stage now with 3 different books).
9) Pray for an editor to buy one of these books!

Boy, if I knew I could have bypassed the above 9 steps and become a published romance novelist in three days, I never would have even bothered with going to college. Sheesh.

I am published through a small press publisher (LBF Books) where having an agent wasn't required. The title of the book is REDEMPTION, and I published it under the pseudonym Morgan Leshay (www.morganleshay.com). The book has garnered some fabulous reviews. You can see some of them at Amazon.com or you can read most of them from the "news" section of Morgan's website.

I opened the F/Q and this is the Publisher and Book.
I for one will not pay that much. I feel everyone has their own unique style of writing and I feel to use a step-by-step guide from another's style would take or kill a person's unique style.

i think my life is complicated enough without my wife finding me with a bunch of oiled up half-naked dudes. ...although the thought is intriguing.... no! must... banish... homosexual... fantasies.... must... write... romance? hm, maybe not the most balanced recourse in the world, eh?

oh, well, such is life, i reckon. i took a total of one 'creative' writing course in juniour college, found it an utter waste of time. these classes like this woman's probably won't hurt anyone, really, not if they're serious about writing, but, like i always said, you can't teach talent.

You go, Susan! Thanks for sharing the "trap" with us! *Is it any wonder I try to make sure she doesn't smack me upside my melon?*

Thought #1 -- OMG!

Thought #2 -- Why didn't I think of it first? (just kidding...)



Thanks for an eye-opener, Susan. I NEVER would have thought someone would do this, but I should. Definitely worth passing around as the bunk it is. Sheesh.

(ETA-May I pass around the text of your post to some other groups, with attribution? Otherwise, I'll just pass along the link. )

Susan Gable said:

Have you done something that warrents a smack upside the head? <G>

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Ummm...no? Does procrastination involving my current WIP render the need for a smack?

Susan Gable said:

Now get back to work. <G>

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*rubs head and pouts* Yes, ma'am.

On an up note I did get about 2k words in between last night and this morning.