I was asked this question by a co-worker earlier this week: "You write romance novels. What kind of research do you have to do?"
Part of the research I was discussing with him at that time involved the current story, but there are also pages like this that I save to my bookmarks and go back to when I'm questioning whether I'm doing enough: http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/06/10-free-or-mostly-free-book-launch-strategies/?utm_campaign=BB1326&utm_source=BBeNews&utm_medium=Email (It's all about ways to launch a book that won't take away the IRS refund that needs to go into house repairs this year, which is the only source of income that I have that doesn't have to go to paying the monthly bills.)
Of course, since Kelly Starbird is taking some of her lottery winnings and scratching some things off her "bucket list" for "A Wild Tiger's Heart", there are also research sites about the places she's visiting - many of which are on my OWN "bucket list". I have web sites saved about Blarney Castle (which my co-worker has been to visit himself), spooky places to visit in Scotland, Stonehenge, Paris and other French places to visit, Italy.........
As I visit these web sites, getting solid ideas of the things I need to be doing to promote sales for the books I intend on eventually selling for other authors or for solid visual descriptions for the places my characters are visiting, I also find links to other interesting things to research. I've often wondered if I may have missed a call to be a genealogist at times like these, as some of the links I follow bring me to sites that have information about distant ancestors that I've located while tracing my own family tree. One of the thoughts that I've had more than once is simply this: Would I be making more than my current wage if I offered my research services for a fee to those who want to trace their family tree, but are as frustrated as I got with Ancestry.com when my lines petered out?
If you don't like doing your own research as a writer, I would suggest you get to know someone who likes to spend their days off in the library. Watch for that person who always seems to be lugging a laptop into a closed space (like the Portland Public Library's Maine Room, where all their records for Maine history are kept) and strike up a conversation. For $10 per hour, I'd be willing to set aside the research I'M there for in order to find something that YOU need........
Part of the research I was discussing with him at that time involved the current story, but there are also pages like this that I save to my bookmarks and go back to when I'm questioning whether I'm doing enough: http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/06/10-free-or-mostly-free-book-launch-strategies/?utm_campaign=BB1326&utm_source=BBeNews&utm_medium=Email (It's all about ways to launch a book that won't take away the IRS refund that needs to go into house repairs this year, which is the only source of income that I have that doesn't have to go to paying the monthly bills.)
Of course, since Kelly Starbird is taking some of her lottery winnings and scratching some things off her "bucket list" for "A Wild Tiger's Heart", there are also research sites about the places she's visiting - many of which are on my OWN "bucket list". I have web sites saved about Blarney Castle (which my co-worker has been to visit himself), spooky places to visit in Scotland, Stonehenge, Paris and other French places to visit, Italy.........
As I visit these web sites, getting solid ideas of the things I need to be doing to promote sales for the books I intend on eventually selling for other authors or for solid visual descriptions for the places my characters are visiting, I also find links to other interesting things to research. I've often wondered if I may have missed a call to be a genealogist at times like these, as some of the links I follow bring me to sites that have information about distant ancestors that I've located while tracing my own family tree. One of the thoughts that I've had more than once is simply this: Would I be making more than my current wage if I offered my research services for a fee to those who want to trace their family tree, but are as frustrated as I got with Ancestry.com when my lines petered out?
If you don't like doing your own research as a writer, I would suggest you get to know someone who likes to spend their days off in the library. Watch for that person who always seems to be lugging a laptop into a closed space (like the Portland Public Library's Maine Room, where all their records for Maine history are kept) and strike up a conversation. For $10 per hour, I'd be willing to set aside the research I'M there for in order to find something that YOU need........
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