Today we’re going to shine our spotlight on Sherry Terry, purveyor of steamy romances. Once upon a time, in a historical period, Sherry served in the Navy as an Aviation Storekeeper. Now though, she reads historical romances when she’s not writing. She enjoys pretending to be a vampire by staying up all night and sleeping during the day.
Welcome Sherry, let’s get right to it, shall we? How long on average does it take you to write a romance book?
That depends. If it’s historical, at least a year. A contemporary can take several weeks. Then I send it to some trusted people who critique it, one more round of edits, and then it’s done.
I would imagine historical romances are a bit more research intensive. What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Join a writing site that has critiquing. My personal favorites are Scribophile and Critique Circle. Interact with other writers and post your work for critique. It’s free, and you can learn a lot. Learn how to take criticism and grow from it. Grow a thick skin. Rejection will be the order of the day when you submit your work for consideration. And last but not least, keep writing. Never give up.
All great advice. Do you think that the cover plays an important part in the buying process?
Yes! When you publish a story and it goes out into the world, the cover is the first thing a reader sees. You get one chance to make a good first impression. Don’t let it be a cover you slapped together yourself unless you know how. Invest and pay a professional for a good cover.
Yeah, it’s important to show your work in the best possible light. Along with the cover, there’s marketing. What marketing strategies do you find most helpful? Any resources you would recommend to other authors or aspiring authors?
I find that interacting as a real person on social media is much better than just posting ads. I use Facebook and Twitter with profiles set up for writing related things. I post random stuff, thoughts, what I had for dinner, pictures of funny or beautiful things, favorite songs, and the like. Mixed in with that are ads for me and other authors.
I think thuderclaps are a good idea, even though I haven’t done one yet. My best advise on marketing strategies is not spamming. Posting nothing but ads is boring and will lose you followers and fans. I did an article about this called, Author Branding and Marketing 101 that received a lot of attention.
So don’t be annoying, be a real person. I can do that. Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors.
I don’t read as much as I used to. My favorite authors are Stephen King, Kathleen Woodiwiss, and Victoria Alexander.
Sherry Terry lives on Red Bull and sarcasm in a small town in Texas with her hermaphroditic cat named, Hermy. As a single mother, she put herself through college and worked as a Radiologic Technologist for almost twenty years before she gave it all up to be a bum. In her Champagne wishes and caviar dreams, she spends all of her time writing the next greatest romance novel to hit the market. Her blog is dedicated to helping aspiring writers with how-to articles and awesome research links.
Please feel free to friend her on Facebook
Follow her on Twitter
Take a look at the inspiration for her stories on Pinterest
And visit her blog,
My publication: Voyeur in the Mist