In today’s post I will give you a publishing overview. Let’s say you’ve written the next great American novel. You’ve shared it with a critique group, applied feedback from beta readers, and had it professionally edited. What’s next? This publishing overview post will introduce three kinds of publishing: traditional, hybrid, and indie (formerly known as self-publishing). Traditional Publishers Traditional publishers are businesses that procure, produce, and promote written work. They have a team of experts for everything from cover design and editing to marketing and distribution. Most traditional publishers work with literary agents who pitch manuscripts that fit a particular publisher’s needs. The author signs a contract with the publisher…
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Author Readings
Author readings don’t have to strike fear in your heart. This post will talk about why, where, and how to have a successful reading. Why Writers tend to shun the spotlight. But the reality is writers are responsible for marketing their own work. To be successful, you have to put yourself in front of your target audience. Nonfiction authors reach their audience through interviews, articles, and presentations. Fiction authors will write short fiction, enter contests, do interviews, and yes, read portions of their work to live audiences. Reading short work aloud in public is great practice for when you publish that novel you’ve been working on. Where So, where does…
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Rejection is Inevitable
Whether you are pitching articles, fiction, or complete manuscripts, some degree of rejection is inevitable. Don’t get discouraged. You have something to say. It takes time to find the right market, agent, or publisher. Rejections are an indicator that you are producing and submitting work. That’s a good thing. Submit Three months ago, I climbed aboard the submission merry-go-round. My manuscript was ready. I researched agents who would be a good fit, crafted a query letter and synopsis. I submitted to five agents the first week. Four the second. Five the third, and so on. Rejections trickled in. Waiting for an agent’s response is kind of like that Christmas Eve…
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Unfinished Projects
Today I want to talk about unfinished projects. While this blog is directed at writing projects, it can be applied to projects ranging from crafts to home improvement.. With three unfinished manuscripts, half a dozen unfinished short stories, and a pile of notes on projects in the development stage, I’m an expert on unfinished projects! The first step is to identify why you don’t finish your projects. Once you identify the why, you can tackle the how. The final step is to actually complete the work. In this post I will talk about the three barriers that prevent me from finishing a project: distraction, boredom, and fear. Distraction In a…
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Enter Writing Contests
Beginning, emergent, and published writers should enter writing contests. No matter your experience, contests are a way to hone your skills. Beginning writers will benefit from attention to SPaG (spelling, punctuation and grammar rules). Emergent writers can focus on crafting an entry to meet the requirements of a specific contest. Published writers will produce the most polished work possible including elements of tension, conflict and character arc. Why Enter? Writers at all levels suffer from imposter syndrome. Entering a writing contest is a way to validate yourself as a writer. It’s a way of saying I can do this, I’m a writer, too. Contests come with expectations including quality, word…
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Do As I Say
Flex your writing muscle. This is definitely a case of “do as I say, not as I do.” In February I suffered a personal loss. Writing took a back seat to making final arrangements, commiserating with and comforting family members, and notifying the appropriate people and agencies. In March the Coronavirus turned the world upside down with its shelter in place orders, social distancing, and constant stream of deadly statistics. My writing routine suffered. Atrophy and Entropy My writing muscle is in a state of atrophy. In other words, by not pushing myself to write regularly, the quality of my writing is diminishing, to say nothing of the quantity. So,…
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The Power of Story
Stories bind us together. The best stories, whether real or imagined have a vulnerable character exercising extraordinary courage. Here is my friend’s latest: The other day some ants came into the house. But I didn’t mind because they are the only visitors I’ve had in weeks! What makes this story so memorable is the universal connection we feel during this pandemic. From this two-sentence story we learn my friend is a very social person and that the restrictions placed on us during the pandemic have made her lonely. Vulnerability and courage are definitely on display here! You have to know that my friend takes great pride in her house and…
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Vocabulary, Building Blocks for Writers
Vocabulary is a fancy term for the words you use. Since words are the writer’s building blocks it makes sense to build a large vocabulary. So how do you do it? Building Vocabulary Vocabulary can be specific to a profession, art form, or region. For instance, to a student, the word site will probably refer to a website, but to a biologist or archaeologist it will refer to a location. Medium to an artist is the material they use to make their art, but it can also be a psychic leading a seance, a size, or the way information is transmitted. And then of course, different regions have their own…
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Treat Yourself
A writing retreat pays big dividends, and it doesn’t have to take a bite out of your wallet. Do you have access to a cabin, a condo, or a room over the garage? You could sign up for a Costa Rican retreat with daily writing, critique, and personal coaching sessions at a couple of thousand dollars per person. Or. . . create your own retreat for next to nothing! That’s what my critique group did. Share the Load One member generously offered her time-share condo for the weekend, another made sure we had enough snacks to keep us going, and two members provided meals. Everyone was responsible for their own…
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NaNo Prep
NaNoWriMo is just around the corner. What’s that you ask? It’s shorthand for National Novel Writing Month. Each November since 1999, participants have attempted to write a 50,000 word novel. That’s a lot of words! Resources: Word Tracker NaNoWriMo’s website at NaNoWriMo.org is chock full of helpful resources. There’s a word tracker to show progress toward your word count goal. It’s set up as a graph. With days on the X axis and word count on the Y axis a target slope gives you a daily word count goal. Your actual progress shows where you stand in relation to the target slope. If you write every single day with no…
