Claudia Del Balso, Writer

Including Humor in your Writing

2012-01-25T12:10:00.000-05:00

You don’t have to be Mr. /Mrs. Happiness, a clown, or a comedian to inject some humor into your writing. Whether you’re writing fiction or non-fiction, a dose of humor can be a breather in some of the more serious or sad scenes/chapters. In my previous posts, I talked about finding inspiration in pain and difficult situations. What about funny situations? For instance, Kathryn Stockett’s, The Help, offers great comic relief in some of the chapters that were loaded with controversy. How often do you use humor? Can you think of other books that use comic relief?

I don’t recall the source of these tips; however, they’re right on target.

1. BE STRATEGIC. Don’t scatter jokes willy-nilly; instead, think of humor as parenthetical information. Many nonfiction writers find the best places to integrate humor are in titles, sidebars, visual illustrations or cartoons, and anecdotes to illustrate their points. For a great example of the use of visual humor, see Roizen and Oz’s You Staying Young.

2. USE IT SPARINGLY. Unless you’re writing about an inherently funny topic, you should limit the humor you use to selective references. Its purpose is to grab the reader’s attention and help you make points in creative ways. Don’t confuse the reader by coming across as a comedian.

3. KEEP YOUR FOCUS IN MIND. Be sure your use of humor doesn’t distract from or demean the true purpose of your project. Have someone read your manuscript and then give you a candid critique with this in mind.

4. LET YOUR READERS KNOW YOU’RE LAUGHING. When using humor in writing about a difficult subject—your own illness, for example—your first responsibility is to give your readers permission to laugh. Find subtle ways to let them know that not only is it OK to laugh, but you want them to.

5. STEER CLEAR OF SARCASM. This humor style may work in some arenas, but many readers find it hurtful and mean, and because it often relies on tone, it can be especially hard to pull off in writing. Sarcasm is a tool most of us pick up at a young age as a way of feeling better about ourselves by putting others down. I recommend leaving it there.

As writers, it’s up to us to use everything we can to make sure we lasso our readers and keep them in the corral. Don’t let fear of being funny on the page hold you back. Remember the old saying: “If you can get them to open their mouths to laugh, you can get them to open their hearts to learn.” And that makes for effective writing.

Cold Weather, Warm Thoughts

2012-01-18T23:25:00.000-05:00

Last week I was forced to take a break from blogging. This week was almost a repeat but a very dear friend of mine told me, and I’ll paraphrase, “The human soul tends to find inspiration in pain rather than in happiness.” His words touched me. That’s when I remembered that last March I wrote an article titled, The BeautifulProcess of Writing from Pain, which talks about writing as a catharsis.

The second week of January proved to be a challenge for me professionally and personally. On top of that, we had a snow storm that lasted two days (And this is only our first one this winter!). The fluffy blanket outside only helped me find excuses for not writing.

My friend shared that he writes (poetry, blog posts, stories) even when there’s turmoil in his life. He’s right! I think of Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Carver, and J.D. Salinger to name a few that found solace in their writing even when their lives needed to be re-written.

In the past I’ve found inspiration in the falling snow. So why not do it again?

Do you find solace in writing? Do you get inspired by challenges?

I will be back next Wednesday!

2012-01-11T22:48:00.000-05:00

Hello Bloggie Friends,

I regret to inform you that due to circumstances out of my control I won't be posting an article this week. However, you'll see me around next Wednesday. Promise.

Have a productive week and keep on writing!

Getting Back to Business

2012-01-04T21:50:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year Bloggie Friends!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. Slowly but surely, a lot of us are getting back to business, writing, that is. I know some of you published your book(s) last year. How did you market it? Did you go with an agent? Did you do it yourself?

I received this article via e-mail and I want to share it with you.

It used to be that promoting a product was an expensive undertaking, one that required excessive amounts of funds for television or radio advertising, or slightly less for publications of the paper variety. And promoting books, in particular, meant making deals with booksellers to get top placement in their stores.

Authors, of course, would have to go on multi-city tours of their home country and even the world in order to give interviews to television, radio, and newspaper/magazine reporters, as well as host signings. This was both an expensive and time-consuming process. But these days things have changed dramatically. Not only can writers publish and sell their own eBooks (or paper books) online; they can also promote them in a number of ways that are far less expensive or even free. Here are a few to try.

1. Build a contact list. Whether you get contacts through your website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or any number of other social networks, you can use the strength of numbers to promote your book. Post messages with excerpts to drum up interest, offer deals for followers, and encourage "friends" to become brand ambassadors, bringing more people on board to enjoy the same benefits of membership that they do, as well as hyping your book online and in real-world settings.
2. YouTube videos. Videos to promote books have become something of a sensation on YouTube, with offerings for books like "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" and "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" topping the list for views. Some of these "trailers" have high enough production value to make it look like a movie is actually in the works, while others are student-project level. But it's an innovative and trendy way to promote your book (all you need is a video camera and a few willing friends). Although well-known and high-paid authors often do something similar for television, their ads tend to contain nothing more than some flashy graphic text and the author spouting one-liners. The YouTube versions are more like full-scale movie trailers.

3. Giveaways. While giving away your work for free might not sound very appealing, it is a good way to bring in new readers. So give away a few copies to loyal fans and offer freebies to the first, say 50 new members who sign up at a set time and date. You'll probably get hundreds of new accounts that will hopefully make up for the number you gave away and then some.

4. Contests. There's no better way to get people to give you contact information than to hold a contest. In the publishing arena there are many ways you could go with this. You could ask readers to provide potential names for an upcoming book (with a free copy and a mention in the book going to the winner). Or you could ask them to send in character sketches and then work the winning entry into a future project. You might even hold a contest for a couple of lucky readers to win a trip to join you at a book signing. There are so many possibilities and all of them should net you new readership.

5. Listen and respond. Communication studies have shown that the best way to keep a relationship going is to ensure open channels of dialogue. So when readers comment you need to make an effort to reply. This will endear your fans to you and keep them coming back for more, as well as encouraging them to talk you up to everyone they know.

Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com

Writing Goals for 2012

2011-12-28T23:50:00.002-05:00

A lot of people wait until New Year’s Day to set some goals. Why wait? Why not start now?

Start the new year off with this mantra: Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha
Om Guhm Guh-nuh-puh-tuh-yea Nah-mah-hah
The mantra above is traditionally chanted to start new endeavors with positive energy and to remove obstacles.

If chanting is not your thing, then create your own mantra. Before you start writing, repeat a positive thought a few times. This will inspire you and empower you on your creative journey.

For instance, I created my own: “I am patient with myself so that my writing can manifest effortlessly.”

I found some wonderful affirmations that you can apply to yourself or your writing.

'I am truly a gifted artist'

'Through the use of a few simple tools, my creativity will flourish'

'My creativity always leads me to success'

Remember to set attainable goals in order to avoid disappointments. Be kind to yourself and use your creativity for the greatest good of all concerned.

Do you have any affirmations or mantras you repeat daily? Is writing a continuing goal?

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND BEST WISHES FOR 2012!!!

Let the holidays inspire your writing

2011-12-21T23:37:00.001-05:00

Most of us agree that finding time to write during the holidays is almost impossible. We’re either traveling or entertaining so writing takes a back seat. So I say to you, why not combine both?

Here are four problems and possible solutions:

1) No quiet time – Why not give Christmas carols a chance. Use them to your advantage as background music while typing a few lines. Who knows? You may write a poem or a story with a holiday theme.

2) No energy to write – Treat yourself to something sweet. Why not bake some cookies? Spicy gingerbread man cookies are fun! A little sugar indulgence should energize you to write at least half a page.

3) Not feeling the holiday spirit – Read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. If his famous character, Ebenezer Scrooge doesn’t inspire you, perhaps Dickens’s poetic and humorous style will.

4) Writing has gone out the chimney – Don’t expect Santa to push it back down the same way. Ask a family member or a fellow writer to brainstorm ideas with you. It could help if you have a glass of eggnog, sparkling wine, or sangria while discussing your story. With technology being so accessible nowadays, you could even do it via Skype, webcam, Facebook chat, or the good-old telephone. (Note: Don’t write, drink and drive)

Do the holidays inspire your writing? Are you productive over this festive time? What other solutions would you suggest?

HAPPY HOLIDAYS BLOGGIE FRIENDS!!!

The countdown begins!

2011-12-14T23:11:00.003-05:00

In the spirit of Christmas and with only twelve days left to this celebration, I wanted to write a checklist that we can use when revising our work (hopefully before we open our gifts).

1) Read, read, read! You can get inspired, emulate style, and learn more about your genre by reading someone else’s work.

2) Read your story aloud.

3) Have a fellow writer read it.

4) Strengthen your scenes by being an actor and playing the main character (or any character you may think is weak). Relive the action in your head.

5) Polish your dialogue; make sure it flows and it’s not contrived.

6) Check the tone. This means the author’s attitude toward his subject: grave, amused, scientific, intimate, aggrieved, authoritative, whatever.

7) Make every word count; that means use strong verbs and adjectives.

8) Keep in mind the story arc. The purpose of a story arc is to move a character or a situation from one state to another.

9) Let the plot guide the story. A short story must immediately pull the reader out of her world and drop her into the world of the story.

10) Put your work away for a few days and then come back to it. Tired eyes never see mistakes.

11) Punctuation is everything, period! Be mindful of your commas, semicolon, and especially those exclamation marks; they’re not Christmas tree ornaments.

12) Edit, edit, edit! You can never do enough editing. Any good writer knows that editing is at the top of the list, like the star at the top of the tree.

Do you use a checklist? Are you counting your days to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, or getting published in 2012?

From Holiday Blues to Holiday Muse

2011-12-07T21:09:00.001-05:00

Inspiration is all around us during the holiday season. As writers, we encounter a plethora of subjects to write about, from something as trivial as grocery shopping to something more complex as family reunions. However, that has not been my case. I have not produced anything new in months. Just editing! (sigh). I need to find my holiday muse, pronto! I wonder if writing a letter to Santa Claus would count. “Dear Santa, I’ve been a bad writer…I don’t need anything this Christmas. Just bring my muse back, or some egg nog.”

How’s your writing coming along? Do you get the blues during this festive time?

GIVEAWAY!!!

2011-11-30T23:51:00.002-05:00

Hi Bloggie friends,

Do you love freebies? I know a lot of you enter contests. Christmas is around the corner and you could give yourself or someone else the gift of reading.

Author Mary E. Martin will be launching her new book this month and to celebrate she’ll be giving away kindles and free copies of her book and e-books.
All you have to do is join her Twitter party on December 3^rd and her Facebook event on December 12^th

For more information you can visit her site at http://remembrancetrilogy.com/enter-to-win/ or click on the promo on the right-hand sidebar, here on my blog.

Congratulations to Mary on her new book!
Good luck to all participants!

Substance Books

2011-11-23T23:01:00.001-05:00

Today I am interviewing Hajni Blasko, Online Book Publicist, Search Engine Marketing Specialist and the creator of Substance Books.

CDB: How did you come up with the idea of Substance Books? HB: I've had book fetish all my life. While working in corporate marketing in the late nineties I began to monitor traffic flow on the internet and I realized that it could be directed in certain ways. When I left the corporate sphere, I knew I wanted to work in publishing and Substance Books came about as a way to tie together my love of books, my strong belief in networking and my knowledge of computers. The idea of an online search engine marketing network grew organically from these three components.

CDB: I know you just celebrated your tenth anniversary in the business; did you ever imagine such a milestone? HB: I always had high expectations for the company's success. However, I never would have foreseen that search engines and social networking would eventually have the overwhelming influence on web traffic that they possess today. Nor would I have guessed that after ten years Substance Books would be the only book marketing network focused on search engine optimization. So far as I know, no one else has explored these avenues.

CDB: Looking back through the last decade, what insights do you have about authors and entrepreneurs in the publishing industry?
HB: Often when I ask successful female entrepreneurs about their achievements, they say something like, “I was just lucky,” or “It's because I work with a great team,” or in the worst case, “I was just lucky to work with a great team.” Men don't say this. It's important for women, just as much as men, to recognize their own hard work, drive, skill and talent which go into their successes. I think it's very important for all authors to recognize the amount of effort they put into their books, especially in an industry where success is so difficult to quantify. It's essential for authors, as entrepreneurs, to have complete confidence in themselves and their work if they are to effectively promote their titles.

CDB: Hajni, could you elaborate on the term “Online Book Publicity”? HB: Online book publicity is an umbrella term for various forms of book publicity that take place over the Internet, including social networking, search engine pay-per-click advertising, organic search engine optimization and branded web promotion. I do a little bit of all these things, but what I am mostly about these days is marketing through organic search engine optimization to increase online exposure. I believe it's the most cost-productive publicity technique when it comes to generating book sales.

CDB: When you say “Search Engine Optimization”, what do you mean? What should authors optimize their online presence for? HB: Online content, whether websites, facebook pages, twitter feeds or any other platform, should be optimized to the audience first and search engines second. The main objective is not just to be number one on Google's results page, but to make the site visible to people who are looking for titles like yours. Readers are most likely to consider genre when searching for books. When a book appears at the top of search results for its title or the author's name, it's dependent on people already being familiar with the book or author, which doesn't promote the book to a new audience. We aim to expose titles to people who have never heard of them before but are interested in buying that particular sort of book, thus increasing the book's visibility a new potential readership.

CDB: Who are your ideal clients? HB: The best characteristic in our clients is motivation. Ideally they make the effort to produce the best possible publications and then actively follow them up with consistent efforts to promote their books. I take great satisfaction in representing clients who are enthusiastic about collaboration with other authors and industry professionals. Communication with audience and others in the industry is key; this means more than just posting cute cat photos on facebook. Our authors can write in any genre and come from anywhere in the world; what matters is that they have strong titles with high marketability.

CDB: What can authors expect from Substance Books? HB: We provide authors with international exposure to potential book buyers. Authors can expect the support of a publicity team who will guarantee their titles' exposure on the global online book market. We also supply our authors with helpful advice and information on the latest developments in web and book publicity. Representation with Substance Books gives writers the opportunity to network with hundreds of other authors and take part in free organized marketing projects, such as our review exchange initiative and free gadgetized facebook pages.

CDB: Where can my fellow bloggers and authors find you? HB: Naturally, we have a number of online locations:
Our website: http://www.substancebooks.com
Our facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/bookpublicity
My own facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/hajni.blasko
My email: publicist@substancebooks.com

And if ever in doubt, you can enter “online book publicity” into any search engine. We'll show up among the top five players.

CDB: Hajni it’s been a pleasure talking with you. Thank you for answering my questions. Congratulations on your tenth anniversary and much continued success. HB: Thank you Claudia.

The Million Dollar Question

2011-11-16T21:38:00.000-05:00

Finishing your first novel is quite a feat. You announce it to your family, friends, and fellow writers. However, you're so excited you've forgotten the million dollar question: Will my book get published?
A lot of my bloggie friends are writing or just finishing up their first novel, and I applaud them for their diligence and dedication. So, I want to share what an anonymous writer asked the experts at theWriter's Digest about publishing his/her book.

Q: I have the first five chapters of a novel written, and I think they’re reasonably good. It would be nice, however, to know if I even have a chance at getting the book published once it’s completed. Is there any place I can submit what I’ve written to have it looked over, or should I go ahead and find an agent?—Anonymous

A: Hold off on looking for an agent just yet. Many people begin writing a manuscript and, after they’re a few chapters into it, get excited about what they’ve written so far and feel overjoyed about the healthy direction of the plot. But the challenge of writing a manuscript doesn’t fall in the first 10,000 words, where ideas are easier to find than a Starbucks. The challenge resides in the middle and end of the book. That’s the tough part. That’s where you prove you haven’t lost focus or the excitement you developed in the first five chapters. Dedication is what can separate you from the rest, so finish the manuscript and prove you have something of quality. Then an agent is more likely to listen.

If you want expert advice on the prose you’ve already compiled, you can find critique services on the Internet and listed in the classified ads of your favorite writing resources (I'm sure that plug will garner some "thank yous" from our ad folks). But carefully research the services and people you’re considering—check credentials and references to make sure they’re legitimate. And make sure you know what you're getting for your money. You don't want to have unrealistic expectations, but you also don't you want to set the bar too low. The more information you have going in, the more likely you are to be satisfied with the results.

Virtual Book Tour

2011-11-09T11:13:00.006-05:00

Today I’m speaking with author Jo Linsdell who is touring the web over November and December 2011, in a promotional tour for her book Italian for Tourists.

CDB: Jo, what inspired you to write this book? Have you written one about England?

JL: So many people told me I should write it that I decided maybe it was a good idea.... and it was. The Italian for Tourists project started out as a simple e-book and through public demand became available in print, kindle, nook and most other electronic formats.

Inglese per Turisti (English for Tourists) will be released in spring 2012. Again, lots of people asked for it.

CDB: What results do you expect from the virtual tour?

JL: This tour is to keep Italian for Tourists 'fresh'. It's been around for a while now and I often do tours to promote it in order to keep sales constant. A tactic that so far has worked well over the years. It's also an opportunity to let people know that the book is now available in various formats. It can even be purchased from the ibookstore on www.itunes.com and downloaded to iphones and ipads now.

Timing is perfect for Christmas shoppers too ;)

CDB: Do you know statistically what region or age group is the largest fan base?

JL: The book appeals to all ages (probably because it's simple and easy to use) and as for regions, I'm quite international. A lot of my fans are in India and Japan but the book is selling well all round.

CDB: Although your book is “tourist friendly”, can students and professionals benefit from it?

JL: Definitely! I've even made a homeschoolers kit to be used with it which can be downloaded for free from my website www.JoLinsdell.com. It's a short ebook containing exercises to practice the Italian learnt and all answers can be found within Italian for Tourists.

The book contains a pronunciation guide and takes the language back to the basics making it ideal for beginners learning the language.

CDB: Do you think you’re helping the tourist industry in some small way by promoting Italy in your book?

JL: Italy is one of the worlds top tourist destinations and so doesn't require any help from me ;) That being said, I love

Italy

(I came here for 3 days and ended up staying... but that's another story) . I try to share my enthusiasm for the Country, culture, people and language in any way I can.

By creating a book that makes it possible for anyone to learn the basics of the Italian language and therefore help them get more from their visit to

Italy

, I might be helping convince more tourists to come here.

CDB: Thank you for stopping by and all the best with the virtual tour and your book.

For more information about Jo Linsdell and her book, please visit her website at www.JoLinsdell.com or write to her at jo_bins@yahoo.com

Purchasing Links:

http://www.amazon.com/ITALIAN-TOURISTS-Pocket-Jo-Linsdell/dp/1409278263

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/italian-for-tourists-pocket-edition/4684563?productTrackingContext=author_spotlight_399848_

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/jo-linsdell

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/jo+linsdell/italian+for+tourists3a+pocket+edition/6804517/

http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/italian-for-tourists/id452170721?mt=11

Writing in Fall Mode

2011-11-02T22:38:00.001-04:00

Fall is finally here and while I should be inspired by the crisp air, carved pumpkins, and sunset-kissed foliage, work has once again robbed my inspiration. November is a chaotic period for me. Somehow my writing is “falling” faster than the yellow leaves and my stories are not ready to be gathered. What can I do to get in full writing mode?

For instance, NaNoWriMo started this month and a lot of you are busy typing away, trying to meet the deadline. Participating this year would have been impossible for me, so I applaud those of you who are partaking in such demanding project.

Do you find autumn to be the perfect time to finish or start your writing projects?

Getting your manuscript in bed with an agent

2011-10-26T23:43:00.000-04:00

When I started writing, I thought agents were a thing of the past with the booming of self-publishing. Last year, however, a friend and fellow writer asked me to help her get an agent for her latest manuscript. I put her in contact with one but, unfortunately, their phone conversation led nowhere. She never told me what they discussed or why her manuscript was not considered. Do we have to do back flips in order for an agent to love our MS the way we do? According to Agent Tina Wexler there are some things you can do to help yourself get noticed. In an article I found, Ms. Wexler provides these great tips:

1. Write a really amazing query. Take your time, try describing your work multiple ways until you find the best approach, read successful queries online and have as many people as possible read yours so that you’re certain it makes sense and is a shiny apple.

2. Demonstrate knowledge of an agent's list. This doesn’t mean you have to read every book they’ve ever sold, but by showing them you know a bit about who they represent, you’re telling agents you’ve done your research on who to query.

3. Do your research on who to query. Period.

4. Write a really amazing manuscript. Take your time, put your work through multiple revisions, read published works in your genre, and consider joining a critique group or finding a writing partner whom you trust who can help make your manuscript a shiny apple.

5. Be nice. Agents, like most everyone, want to work with people who are personable. This does not, however, mean “Fawn over the agent” or “Send a bushel of apples to the agent.”

6. Ask questions. Be a part of the conversation. Agents want critical thinkers who take this getting-published thing seriously. There’s plenty of fun to be had, but remember, this is a business, not a hobby or a get-rich-quick scheme. Agents want hard workers, writers dedicated to their craft who view getting published as the first step of a long journey, writers whom they will want to be with on that journey.

Do you have an agent? How hard/easy was for you to get one? Any tips for my readers?

Phenomenal Woman

2011-10-19T23:25:00.002-04:00

Some of my fellow bloggers are poets, many of them are women, a lot of them are courageous, and some of them are cancer survivors. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month so I want to share a beautiful poem by Maya Angelou.

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Maya Angelou

Did Your Manuscript Pass with Flying Colors?

2011-10-12T21:51:00.002-04:00

A lot of you are getting ready for National Novel Writing Month better known as nanowrimo. Some of you continue to work on your manuscript. What important factors do you keep present when writing your MS?

I think everyone can agree that editing is vital no matter what part of your MS you’re writing.
Here are some of the things I keep in mind:

1) Don’t be too obvious by explaining too much.

2) Make sure your diction and dialogue are believable.

3) Be sure you have a plot and an emotional arc.

4) Arouse curiosity by keeping your reader wondering, yet engaged in the story and/or characters.

5) Choose your verbs and adjectives wisely. They have to help the story move along.

I know there are more elements that we can include in this list. Is there anything else you can add?

Just pretend your MS is a student that needs to pass a test before sending it off to a publisher.

Are You a Tough Judge?

2011-10-05T21:34:00.002-04:00

Not long ago someone recommended a book. She raved about the plot, originality, and theme. So, I eagerly checked it out from the local library because I trusted this avid reader. Bummer! I couldn’t finish the book and I returned it (thank goodness I didn’t buy it). I try not to be a tough critic because I know how much effort, time, and energy is dedicated to writing a book. I know literature is subjective, but who or how many people decide on what makes a bestseller?

How do critics do it? I am not sure I would like to be in their shoes, especially if the book is written by a fellow writer or blogger.

Have you critiqued any books professionally? Are you a tough judge? What do you take into account in order to consider it a great book?

Book Publicity's Digital Decade

2011-09-28T18:30:00.003-04:00

Today’s interview with Ms. Hajni Blasko, creator of Substance Books, was conducted by Samantha Rideout, Assistant Editor at Reader's Digest.

Hajni Blasko started the world's first online book publicity network, Substance Books, in February 2001. Ten years later, she remains a pioneer in this emerging field.

What exactly is online book publicity? What does it involve?

HB: Online book publicity is an umbrella term for various forms of book publicity that take place over the Internet, including social networking, search engine pay-per-click advertising, branded web sites, and link exchanges with other web sites and online press releases. I do a little bit of all these things, but what I am mostly about these days is marketing through search engine optimization and online exposure, because I believe it's the most cost-productive publicity technique when it comes to book sales.

For those of us who haven't heard of it, what does search engine marketing mean?

HB: It means making sure that your title appears within the top search results on Google and other major search engines. This way, your title shows up in the “organic” search results, not just the area where the paid advertising goes. After all, 93% of all web traffic passes through a search engine, so if you want people who don't already know about your book to discover it; this is the way to go. The key to good search engine marketing is finding the appropriate key phrases that allow book buyers searching for their favorite genres to find our titles.

The web and its users have evolved a lot over the past ten years. How has online book publicity changed?

HB: When I first started Substance Books, online book publicity was unheard of, so I didn't have any similar companies to model myself on. In fact, I didn't even know what professional title to give myself — I thought of “online book publicist” one day in the bath. I learned by trying different things and seeing what worked. I started off by featuring the authors together in one website, to give them more publicity power than they would each have individually. Over time, this website got a lot of visits, which made it crawl up higher on search engine results. Eventually, I figured out how to get even better search engine results using SEO techniques. There are a few more online book publicists out there now, but I think I'm the only one who offers search engine marketing along with other services.

How will you be celebrating the 10th anniversary of Substance Books?

HB: I'm offering a $20 listing fee discount to any new clients who are members of our Facebook page. http://www.Facebook.com/bookpublicity

Social networking is very “in.” How can authors and publishers use it to their advantage?  

HB: Authors can use Twitter and Facebook to brand themselves, meet other authors and disseminate information about book signings and the like. But I need to emphasize that it's one tool among many for gaining online exposure for your title. It might be fun to spend 20 hours a week on Facebook, but if you want a return in the form of book sales you must spend your time intelligently. Facebook is working hard on improving its own search-engine usability and capabilities, so it is extremely important to know how to manage your Facebook collateral. For this very reason we are offering free customized Facebook pages to our authors, designed to bring the right book to the right audience.

What should a book's website or Facebook page look like?
HB: I believe that all authors and publishers should have a website which is search engine optimized and up to industry standards. Amateurish websites and bare-bones Facebook pages are no longer good enough; the online competition is too stiff. Applets, RSS feeds and iphrames are basic components of a professional Facebook page. This is why Substance Books has also been offering website design and makeover services for the past five years. If you have a mystery thriller, your website should be as good as Dan Brown's, because that's your online competition.

How does online book publicity fit in with more traditional kinds of book publicity? Do you see it replacing book fairs and so on?  

HB: No; I think there will always be a place for traditional exposure to readers and the press, even though online publicity is becoming more and more important. Ideally, the two forms of publicity would create a synergy together. That's why I participate in BookExpo America every year and look forward to the London Book Fair next year.

Do you have any final advice for authors and publishers who are interested in online publicity?  

HB: Just that they should focus on their main objectives. For example, if your objective is sales, then targeting the readers who love the book's genre is probably going to sell more books than scattering ads for your book all over the Internet. And a few loyal readers are worth more than a whole lot of one-time visitors to your website or your distributor. It's not so much about the quantity of exposure you get; it's about the substance of the exposure.

For more information contact: Hajni Blasko at: publicist@substancebooks.com

Do You End With A Bang?

2011-09-21T21:14:00.005-04:00

Whether you’re writing the end of a chapter or the end of a novel, you must take into account what the reader will take from that ending. Will it make an impact on him/her?

So let’s talk about chapters.

When you’re writing chapters, don’t lose focus of your writing. Some writers focus on where to insert the next break. Once you’ve written your first draft, you can come back and decide on a suspenseful scene or interesting point that’ll keep your reader wanting for more, a cliffhanger if you will.

You may start a new chapter when the story needs a shift in time, place, point of view, etc. By doing this, you’ll stimulate your reader’s mind. It can also refresh your reader’s eye after a long interval in one setting or situation. When you end a chapter, you’re also adding continuum and pacing; both of which are essential for balancing suspense to your story.

Be brave! Break your chapters in the heart of the action. I know, it’s a tease but it works. This will keep readers interested in the saga. Just remember one important aspect of this technique: don’t do it at the end of every chapter as this will definitely bore your readers. Do it for effect.

Now that you have these pointers, get going and finish/edit your chapters!

Writing for Children in Mother Language Competition

2011-09-14T15:44:00.005-04:00

Dear Bloggie Friends,

Calling all children’s authors! I am happy to share with you an interesting, challenging, and colorful competition. I spoke with Happie Testa, co-owner of Rainbow Caterpillar Bookstore and she is proud to launch the Rainbow Caterpillar Award for Writing for Children. The prize will be awarded to the best story written by a Canadian citizen or resident in a language other than French or English. She said, “By encouraging writers to write in their mother language, we want to help create a vibrant literary production for children in foreign languages, but with a uniquely Canadian perspective.”

Submissions are due on October 6th and the guidelines are available online at http://www.rainbowcaterpillar.ca./ The winning story will receive $750.00 (CDN) and publication in a collection of all winning submissions. There will also be 10 honorable mentions in different languages with publication in a collection of all winning submissions.

The award will be presented in conjunction with the Canadian Ethnic Media Association (CEMA) at the Association’s own 33rd Annual Awards Gala. CEMA is an organization dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the value to Canada of the ethnic media in creating an understanding of Canada and Canadian citizenship, and the retention of cultural links with countries of origin; http://canadianethnicmedia.com/

About Rainbow Caterpillar Bookstore
Rainbow Caterpillar Bookstore sells children’s books in a number of languages from around the world to meet the needs of Canadian parents who want to teach their children their own mother tongues and raise them in a home language other than English and French.

It is to support them that Rainbow Caterpillar already offers nearly 100 titles in Italian, Spanish, Gujarati, Farsi, Arabic and Chinese and more languages are added on request of parents. The products range from old-fashioned fairy tale books to interactive talking books, books with CDs, DVDs and even games that make it fun and easy to keep home languages alive without focusing on direct teaching, but on learning by living.

For more information call: Happie Testa at 647-975-8800 or visit http://www.rainbowcaterpillar.ca/

Call for Submissions: An Anthology of Dating Stories

2011-09-07T10:30:00.003-04:00

Photo courtesy of Dr. Erin Vollick (Book cover of anthology)

Interview with Dr. Erin Vollick

Erin, first of all, I want to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be interviewed for my blog.

CDB: As you can imagine, a lot of my fellow bloggers wear different hats like you. I’m curious, how do you manage your time between being a busy Director of Communications, a writer, and a new mommy? Is there any time left for Erin?

EV: Ha! Very little! Being a new mother is quite literally the most transfiguring experience of my life. But, like a day job (that constantly runs waaaaay overtime) it’s very difficult to find time to write, let alone put my laundry away, clean my house, etc. But things that are important always have a way of getting done…. And somehow, I still manage to read a ton of books!

CDB: You now work for Inbox Communications; did your writing skills help you land this job? What type of writing do you do for them?

EV: I met the President and CEO of Inbox Communications during my Masters degree in Creative Writing at Concordia University. We were in the same small cohort of writers, so you could definitely say my writing skills got me the job! I do all sorts of writing for Inbox: reports, blog entries, proposals, you name it, although my job is about a lot more than just writing. The writing project I’m most proud of for Inbox is the monthly astrology column I’ve started for the company, geared towards communications professionals—it’s so much fun!

CDB: In your first novel, The Originals, you talked about nuclear warfare, politics, survival of humankind and friendship. Do you think being a new mom has affected your writing style? Do you write about lighter subjects nowadays?

EV: Funny you should ask me that… A friend of mine just sent me a children’s book called “Night Cars” as a present for my son. The book was written by Teddy Jam—A.K.A Matt Cohen—winner of the Governor General’s award for fiction. Matt just happened to be my mentor in undergrad, and the reason I’m a published author today… And I had no idea he even wrote children’s books. I understand why Matt would want to be a children’s author as well as an adult fiction writer, though. When you have a child you begin to filter the world through two consciousnesses—your own and the children around you. My first novel skirted (okay, landed on) the YA genre. It was important to me that I write something that would speak to the generations coming into their own, taking their places in the world, and it’s a genre I think I’ll be revisiting shortly.

CDB: I learned through the Quebec Writers’ Federation that your latest project is an anthology of dating stories. How did you come up with this idea?

EV: My friend and former colleague at McGill University, where I completed my PhD, had an idea with another friend of hers for writing down a bunch of their funniest and most awful dating adventures. These two hilarious women brought me on board, as, at the time, we were all dating quite widely. The idea simmered between us for years until recently, when it just seemed like the right time.

CDB: Is this a joint project? What prompted you to co-author this book?

EV: My fabulous co-conspirator, co-editor and dear friend is Dr. Stephanie King. She has some of the funniest dating stories I’ve ever heard. She has dated a lot, and dated in interesting ways—unlike me, she’s part of a community that promotes and accepts matchmaking and blind dates as par for the course. With her dating history and my publishing know-how, we figured we could get this very ambitious project off the ground. We also went through our PhD program together, so we know how each other thinks and works.

CDB: You are also looking for submissions from female writers. Can anyone participate or is this geographically restricted to Canadian writers?

EV: We’ve actually already accepted submissions from contributors living in the United States, and we’ve received international attention from our call for submissions—we’re definitely not limiting the anthology geographically. For now, though, we are only accepting stories by women—because thematically, we’re interested in women’s experiences for this collection (although the gender of their partners is completely up to them!). We’ve been approached by men who are interested in sharing their dating stories, however, which is absolutely amazing! To those men I’ve said that once we get this one off the ground, we might try to cobble together a collection of men’s dating stories as a companion to Naked People Behaving Badly.

CDB: In your opinion, what would make a good story?

EV: What would make a good dating story? Something honest and genuine. Something bizarre. An anecdote—an experience that stands out in your mind.

CDB: What do you want to tell women through this anthology?

EV: I don’t actually want to tell women anything. What Stephanie and I are trying to do is hold a mirror up for women to see their experiences through new eyes. Dating—especially when you’re no longer in your twenties—is hard, and sometimes scary, and very often disappointing even when it’s hilarious. What I’d personally like to do is create a book where women can learn something about what their experiences mean to them—that’s what happens when a group of women sit down and share their stories over dinner or a drink. That’s the kind of experience we’re after with this anthology.

CDB: Would you please give us more details about submission guidelines?

EV: Basically we’re looking for ‘real life’ stories. Though we’re accepting fictional submissions, we’re really just looking for honest to goodness real-life dating adventures. Like the time that guy puked all over your shoes on the first date. Or the time you went on a date with a guy you’d met at a party only to realize you didn’t recognize him, because at the party he’d worn a wig, while the guy waiting for you at the coffee shop with that expectant look on his face is b.a.l.d. We’re trying to keep the concept, and our expectations, wide open, so that our submissions are as wide-ranging as possible.

The stories can be postcard fiction—think of telling us about a date you went on in a single paragraph. They can be longer, too—up to 12 pages double-spaced. Stephanie has also started taping stories in the Montreal region. She realized she had a ton of friends with stories, but none of them were writers or felt like they could get them down on paper, so she’s been taping the stories and transcribing them. The thing is, we’re not looking for polished gems—we’re after that unbelievable story that you can’t wait to tell your best girlfriends about. And we want to hear it the way you’d tell it to her.

FYI: You can find our revised deadline and Call For Submissions on our brand spanking new website: http://fromthedatingtrenches.com

CDB: Erin, thank you so much for sharing this wonderful opportunity with my readers. I wish you much success in your new career and your anthology.

EV: Thank you so much, Claudia!!!

The Write Place

2011-08-31T23:15:00.005-04:00

Tonight I attended the launch of the Canadian Writers Society newspaper, The Write Place. Rosalie Avigdor, Founder and Publisher, of the quarterly newspaper welcomed writers and readers alike. She said that her vision started with the founding of The Canadian Writers Society (CWS) in 2004. The purpose of this newspaper, in addition to entertaining the reading public, is “to benefit fledgling writers, by publishing their work and giving them tips on how to improve their writing.”

In this issue there’s an interesting and inspiring article titled, The Art and Business of Mentoring, by author Steven Manners. Montreal author David Reich (who’s also a great story teller) shares his short story, The Almost Perfect Crime. Christina Manolescu, Founder of Invisible Cities Network, wrote a wonderful article on how to self-publish your book. These are only a few examples of Volume 1, Issue 1 of The Write Place.

They are now accepting submissions for their December issue:
Short stories: 500-2000 words
Postcard stories: 250-500 words
Poetry: 3-50 lines
Book Reviews: 500-525 words
Articles (by experts in the field): 500-1000 words
Letters to the Editor: 50-250 words
Advertisements: increments of 1/8 page (contact them for rates)

You may submit by:
e-mail: the.write.place@hotmail.com (Subject line: Submission)
fax: (514) 383-6683 (with a cover page)
snail mail: The Write Place, c/o 9770, boulevard Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec H3L 2N3

For more information visit: http://www.canadianwriterssociety.com/

This is a great opportunity to publish your work and/or to improve your writing. Whether you’re a reader or a writer, you’ll benefit the same. Enjoy this altruistic community-oriented newspaper and be part of it.

Divine Guidance or Plain Brilliance?

2011-08-24T23:36:00.003-04:00

I believe some people are born with a pen in their grip, you know, those whose writing is as easy as breathing. And, there are some that have to learn the process and hone this craft through extensive practice. I fall into the latter group. When I first started writing, I wanted to be brilliant. Why couldn’t I be like Woolf, Steinbeck, or Hemingway? Thank heavens for my supportive mentors who’ve encouraged me to continue writing even when I felt like quitting. They kept pushing me (and still do so) to improve my newly acquired skill. My childhood friend and my sister are my number one fans, and I’m grateful to them. They believe in me, in my writing, even when I doubt myself.

Lately I’ve experienced something really peculiar: I feel as if someone is whispering in my ear the right words. As I stop to search for a specific word, one that will make an impact in that sentence or paragraph, it pops in my head and travels to my fingers. I don’t know if it’s something visceral, divine, or pragmatic. I’d like to think it’s divine or spiritual. Imagine! Being surrounded by the spirit of the great Masters whispering the right words in your ear.

I wish I had the answer to that, but since I don’t, I’ll just keep honing my skill. In the end what matters is that you love what you do, hence creating brilliant stories.

Has writing come easy to you?

What Type of Blogger Are You?

2011-08-17T08:49:00.002-04:00

Blogging is fun but being a serious blogger demands a lot of time and energy. Have you experienced low readership? How about losing followers? Well, this may be due to a lot of factors. If you want to have a successful blog then you have to follow these five key blogging tips.

1. Return the favor.
If fellow bloggers read your posts and leave comments, why not do the same for them? Acknowledge their comments by replying directly on your post or via email. Then, visit their blogs, read their latest articles and leave a comment.

2. Be consistent.
If you post once a week, choose the day of the week that provides you some extra time to do so. Otherwise, let your readers know your posting schedule so they can visit you on that/those day(s). And when you take a hiatus, a sabbatical, or vacation let your readers know. They'll appreciate it and they will resume readership on the date announced.

3. Focus on the purpose of your blog.
Try not to post topics unrelated to the central idea of your blog (unless that's your purpose). Doing so will only confuse your readers (especially new followers who are not yet familiarized with your blog).

4. Be Brief.
Articles that are too long discourage readers. Remember blogging is not a job for some of them. Therefore, they only have a time frame dedicated to this activity.

5. Be respectful.
Avoid sarcasm, scathing comments, and egocentrism. Readers want to learn, have fun, and most importantly, connect with other fellow bloggers.

Can you think of other helpful tips? How serious are you about blogging?

The Perfect Equation: Reading + Reading = Developing Your Own Style

2011-08-10T08:24:00.003-04:00

You may be questioning the title of my latest post. Well, I got inspired to write about it because I am reading Ernesto Sabato’s The Tunnel, whose controlled and factual style, I find fascinating.

One of my mentors once said that writing cannot be taught, only learned. He further explained that a writer can only learn by reading and writing. Lecturing about style was not enough, he told us. Each writer develops his/her own writing style by reading a lot of books, he then added. You can learn from the Masters but you cannot duplicate their style.

Well, it turns out he was right. I’ve noticed (and my mentors, too) that my style has evolved since I started writing and continues to do so. I owe it all to the many books I’ve read and my mentors, of course. When I write, I fuse different styles and make them my own, always keeping in mind what works better for the story.

Do you think your writing style has changed over time? Whose style do you emulate?

It’s my character!

2011-08-03T20:16:00.001-04:00

Writers usually get inspired by real people in order to create their characters. But how about finding inspiration in another author’s characters? Have you ever found inspiration in a literary character that you thought was either lovable or despicable?

Did you know that characters are protected by copyright? If a character has a certain physique, (or any marks such as very original tattoos, scars, etc.), a unique name and/or distinct personality, especially when the character is well-known such as Frodo in Lord of the Rings or Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye, they belong to the copyright holder, and you can’t use them without permission. Character names can even become renowned to guarantee trademark protection.
This doesn’t mean you can’t be inspired by someone else’s work. Just make sure you add your own style and idiosyncrasies that will make these characters your own.

Which TV or book characters have served as your muse?

A Handful of Writing ''Don’ts''

2011-07-27T19:13:00.001-04:00

Jon Sternfeld, an agent with the Irene Goodman Literary Agency representing literary fiction, says that even though these are not his personal query pet peeves, he knows they’re basic red flags that all agents he knows despise.

1. Formality—you’d be surprised to hear that simply how the query looks hugely affects the reader’s opinion of whether or not the project is worthy. Besides just basic letter formatting, even in e-mail it should be formatted properly, there’s a tone a writer must strike. Avoid the three C’s: too casual, too colloquial, too cute and anything else that tries too hard to "stand out." The material itself should be what stands out and no agent wants you be cute about it.

2. Opening lines of the MS—Work like mad on that first paragraph of your manuscript. Sadly 98% of the queries don’t get read past that. I’m not a fan of dialogue as the opener (though my more commercial fiction colleagues say this isn’t such a no-no). Nevertheless, I tend to delete manuscripts that open with a line of dialogue (esp. one with an exclamation point) and those whose opening line “dumps” exposition. Both of these let me know that you don’t quite have the hang of en media res or of disguising exposition.

3. Clichés in plot summary—Argh. These are way more common that you’d think in query pitches: "thought she had it all," "will stop at nothing," "must risk everything"—these should be reserved forpopcorn flick trailers. When I spot them, I recognize a lazy writer at work and delete. Beware.

Of course, there are more, but these three are sure-fire ways to get your query deleted before you’re even given a chance. With email querying now the norm, agents are more saturated than ever with pitches. Avoid these and at least you’ll get a fair shake.

Excerpt from an article posted by Chuck in the Writer’s Digest, February 2, 2011.

Metamorphosis: When the student becomes the teacher

2011-07-19T17:55:00.004-04:00

We take writing classes/workshops to hone our craft in order to make us better writers, and perhaps, (secretly hoping) to become the next Steinbeck, Poe, or Hemingway. We trust our professors and mentors because they’re knowledgeable, but most importantly because they were students once. Who better to understand what we’ve been through but them? But what happens when the student becomes the teacher? I’ve asked myself this question, especially lately, at my writing class. Let me explain. I've taken quite a few writing workshops and at a recent writing course the material covered in class was something that I've already studied. The teacher was helpful, approachable, and made the students feel at ease. All my mentors have taught me something but the mechanics of writing are always the same but with a different spin. So I wonder, how many times can you paraphrase the basics without sounding redundant?

I shared my concern with a fellow writer and she said, “You should be teaching a writing class.” Her kind words strengthened my shaky confidence. Like most writers, I am my own worst critic. I sometimes doubt my editing skills even after I hear praises from my fellow writers. I may not feel ready to teach a writing class, but I am certain of the knowledge I’ve acquired thanks to all my mentors.

Is my friend right? Can I take a leap of faith? Have my teachers passed on the torch without me being aware? Have I metamorphosed into a teacher?

How about you? Have you ever been in a similar situation?

Creating Powerful Content That Will Help You Sell Books

2011-07-10T12:55:00.001-04:00

Dear Bloggie friends,
Last week was a bit crazy for me so I had no chance to write a post. I got this interesting article via e-mail.

These days it's a must that every marketer create fresh, enticing content. While not everyone uses the term "content," it still comes down to creating words, tweets, blog posts, etc. - and whatever content you create, it means extra work for you. How can you keep up with your marketing, social media, and your content creation? More importantly, how can you create compelling content that readers will not only want to read, but that will also encourage them to buy your book?
For years, I've been creating all sorts of content. Whether it's blog posts, tweets, Facebook updates, white papers, or HuffPo posts, it's all about crafting helpful information people can use and messages that will drive users back to our website. The idea isn't just to push something out there, but to push it out consistently. The best way to generate content is to stay in close touch with your industry. Keep apprised of your marketplace, industry news, and changes to your field because all of this can help to spark ideas. If you're scratching your head wondering how to do this, here are some quick tips to help turn you into a content machine.

1) Networking: You should be networking with other experts in your market. Getting to know other voices is very important not just for networking, but also for idea generation. Ideas and inspiration come from everywhere; sometimes they come from tweets you've seen, other times they might come from blog posts you subscribe to, or Facebook accounts you are a fan of.

2) RSS Feeds: Once you identify your network of experts, subscribe to their blogs. I find that staying immersed in your industry will help to percolate ideas.

3) Tweets: As I mentioned above, following experts in your market will really help not only for networking, but also as you're building your knowledge base.

4) Newsletters: Many experts have newsletters. You should be subscribing to all of them. Newsletters are also a great way to gather fresh, new content ideas.

5) Guest blog posts: Inviting other experts as guest bloggers on your website is a great way to generate content. Not only that, but it's a fantastic way to connect to new people in your industry. Guest blog posts also help to bring in fresh readers, especially when the guest blogger helps promote the blog to his or her community of readers.

6) Your book: If you've written non-fiction (and even to some degree with fiction) you should be able to excerpt pieces or portions of it and syndicate it online. In some form or fashion, Red Hot Internet Publicity has been pushed online. Whether it's in blog form, a tweet, syndicated article, or a Facebook update, I have broken this book into a million little pieces all being used as content.

Once you have a good content strategy, now it's time to plan for your content. I recommend that you take time once a week to do this. Sometimes I'll skip a week, but I always make it up. If you're new to this, treat your content strategy like your new workout routine. At first it won't be easy, but you have to keep up a regular pace until it becomes part of your marketing regimen.

Keep your content organized by collecting this valuable content in a folder, either electronically or in a paper file. If you're gathering information electronically, I would suggest using something like Evernote (which I love!) or OneNote. Evernote has a great app for both iPhones and Android so if you see something or get content inspiration while you're away from your computer, you can add it to Evernote and it will sync up to your main file. Tres cool - that way you can get to it quickly and easily. Once you have identified various ways to gather content and you've started building this content, you'll start to see your platform really growing. The more you push out there in the way of information, the more will come back to you in the way of readers and buyers.

How does content help you sell books? The more of an authority you are, the more eyes you will get to your message - and the more eyes you get, generally the more buyers you get. Also, I believe that information builds trust and these days, whether you're buying a book or something else, consumers want to buy from people they trust. Building trust is a big piece of what we do, and content creation is a part of this strategy.
Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com

Making Time for Writing without the Guilt

2011-06-28T21:39:00.000-04:00

It’s summertime! Sunny and warm days inspire us to spend some time outdoors, enjoying nature. But do outdoor activities inspire you to write? In my personal experience, writing is as whimsical as the weather in Montreal. Last year I was typing away and producing almost a story or two per week. This year I’m involved in different projects, leaving me almost no time for my writing. However, I’ve decided not to feel guilty about it because it stresses me out. And when I stress I definitely cannot write.

So here are some tips that work for me (without the added guilt):

• Forget about schedules. Not everyone can adhere to them. Go with the flow, especially if you’re the free-spirited type.

• Carry a small notebook with you. You might get inspired while riding the metro, the bus, or just strolling down the street. Jot down ideas as they flutter in your mind.

• Make some time for quiet time. It could be sitting on a park bench, indulging in a bubble bath, going to the library, and / or even at your place of worship.

• Join a writers’ group. Writers feed from each other’s energy.

• Register for a writing workshop. It’ll get your writing juices flowing.

Writing should be fun, not stressful. So go out there and enjoy your summer….your writing will soon follow.

How Your Writing Can Help you Land a Job

2011-06-18T23:24:00.001-04:00

Three weeks ago I had a job interview.
My writing played a key role in getting me the job. The two interviewers told me that creativity was paramount for this position. Who would have thought that my published stories would get me the job? The interviewers told me they were impressed with my writing accomplishments which also demonstrated passion and determination (Let me add that this job is not in the writing field).

Fellow writers, don’t underestimate the power of your writing or your creativity. You can add this valuable skill to your *curriculum vita.

Let’s not forget that typos are detrimental to your résumé, especially when you’re applying to a position in the writing industry. A dear friend and fellow writer pointed out that the term curriculum vitae is plural. She said that a lot of people often misuse this Latin-based word. Vita in both Italian and Latin mean 'life', so it is only logical to keep your CV alive by avoiding typos. Isn’t it wonderful? We always learn something new, and learning is power.

Have you ever used your writing as means to getting a job?

* According to Dictionary.com, the definition for curriculum vita (singular), vitae (plural) is a brief biographical résumé of one's career and training, as prepared by a person applying for a job.

Plot Development

2011-06-13T12:44:00.000-04:00

A lot of you may already know about plot development. However, I would like to share with you some new pointers I learned from my writing teacher and poet, Ilona Martonfi, founder of the Yellow Door and the literary events at the Visual Arts Centre. She's teaching a workshop called "Start Writing Your Book" and we started with a great exercise on plot.

She said that every character wants something. This "wanting" is the basis of plot. As opposed to life, plot has an ordered structure, continuity, and careful selection of relevant and discarding of non-relevant information. For instance, characters may want:

to escape
to retrieve something
to stop something
to win something

In a story arc, the character moves from one position, meets challenges, hits a seemingly unsolvable crisis, and resolves to a changed position through the storyline. This may be a fall from grace (which is often a tragedy), a hero's journey, or simply how a character confronts and overcomes challenges, often finding new strengths. A short story usually has one arc. A novel may have multiple arcs.

This pointers have helped me save some stories that needed editing. Now I know why: my character needed something...and this was lacking.

Do you usually pay attention to your characters' needs?

So now that you have some pointers on how to edit your wonderful short story, I invite you to be daring and enter your story in the Writer's Digest Short Short Story Competition Good luck to all of you!

The Future of Publishing

2011-06-09T08:58:00.000-04:00

Last night, I attended a writing workshop to help us finish our book. One of the participants said she'd been considering self-publishing. I told her one of my friends and fellow writers had opted for that choice. So in light of that conversation, I'm sharing an excerpt from a longer article from The Book Marketing Expert Newsletter. I hope everyone who's trying to publish finds this information helpful.

A lot of people claim that traditional publishing is broken and will eventually die. I disagree. Much like the changes that have occurred in the past in publishing, the big six will survive and so will agents. I do not have any insider knowledge or hidden agenda, nor do I profess to know everything about publishing. Not by a longshot. But I do know how to read the signs of this evolution or revolution, depending on which side of the fence you are on. I believe there have been many signs. Here is how I foresee they will do it.

Self-publishing: In the very near future, all of the houses will spend some of their equity on self-publishing. In order to survive, they are going to have to reinvent the way they do business. This means digging into the self-publishing arena. It's rumored that two major houses are already doing this, and there are likely more to come.

Hay House, for example, has already lent their name to Balboa Press which is their self-publishing arm. I have no experience with Balboa so I can't speak to their process, but I do know that part of their sales pitch to authors is that a successful book published with Balboa will be considered by Hay House for republication. Does this actually happen? I don't know, Balboa hasn't been around long enough to show a track record. If publishers get into self-publishing, does that mean they won't be publishing traditionally? Not at all. The traditional model won't go away, but with publishers becoming more and more risk-averse, the model has to change if they're going to survive. And, let's face it, while the number of bookstores is declining, opportunities to sell books and flood the market with books continue to increase.

Direct to consumer: While some publishers are dabbling in this, I'm not clear how successful they will be. Consumer engagement on e-commerce sites such as Amazon, etc. will significantly change the way we buy. What does this mean? I think you're going to see a lot more social buying in the future. Social engagement, consumer recommendations, etc.

We're already seeing a lot of this, but I believe we'll see much more of it. Can publishers offer this? Yes, they certainly can, but first they have to overcome the hurdle of consumer awareness. Consumers don't know publishers, they know authors and they know the big e-commerce sites like Amazon, et al. Direct to consumer is great, but when you've been a behind-the-scenes entity for so long, the awareness process can take a while.

Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com

The Thin Line between Fact and Fiction

2011-05-31T21:27:00.001-04:00

Photo taken by Claudia Del Balso

When writing our stories, we usually get inspired on facts, true events, places and people we know. The question is, where do we draw the line between fiction and non-fiction?

One of my creative non-fiction short stories is based on my visit to Ernest Hemingway’s house in Key West. My mentor told me to be careful with overdoing the dialogue to avoid crossing into fiction. I had to keep it true (even if I had paraphrased) to what was really said. He also advised me to go easy on the minutiae: you can incorporate facts and any research without overwhelming readers with boring details. When writing non-fiction, you can reword conversations or change names without altering the facts. This is what I am doing in my latest story set in Istanbul, hence the photo above.

When using facts, don’t forget that your readers have to find the material informative, yet entertaining.
You can also use your sources by including them in the form of dialogue, background description, or three-dimensional scenes.

The material doesn’t have to sound like a university research paper. Be wise on how you weave the facts into the story.

One important piece of advice: you have to be a credible author. Your readers will know if your facts are accurate even if your story is fiction. A perfect example of this, my short story “I Am a Woman,” is a complete figment of my imagination. The story is set in Africa and even though I’ve never been there the facts were definitely there. I did extensive research and I knew I had succeeded when one of my readers, who happened to be African, told me she was impressed with the accuracy of the details. She was convinced I had been there.

Remember, just because it’s fiction doesn’t mean it can’t sound real. Doing research can inspire you to create the perfect story.

It Loves Me… It Loves Me Not

2011-05-23T22:31:00.003-04:00

While vacationing, my writing took a backseat even though a plethora of muses surrounded me. The best part is that I did NOT feel guilty at all for not jotting down a few ideas. I figured they would all pour out once I got home. But now that I am home, my writing is still in the backseat. The ideas are floating in my brain, but I’m having a hard time putting them down on paper.

I haven’t produced a new story in awhile. Last summer, I was producing and editing so many stories that I felt guilty for abandoning other projects. This has left me wondering if I still love writing as much as I did last summer. And does writing still love me?

So I decided I would edit the photos from my trip which fueled my inspiration to write this post. My next step is to write an outline for one of the stories that has been percolating in my head.

The two photos you see here are just a glimpse of the bigger muse. Can you guess where this is?

Tip of the Day: Begin with a Bang!

2011-05-16T08:42:00.000-04:00

Dear Bloggie Friends:
I am back! I had a wonderful vacation and I didn't want to come back :(
However, reality calls and I have tons of work waiting for me. So, this will be a very short post, actually a helpful tip from Jeff Rivera.

You Know Your Query Letter Sucks When - You Haven't Begun with a Bang

"How come Daddy? How come?" That's probably a three-year-old's favorite question and it forces the parent in the crutch of a busy day to stop what he is doing and think for a second. "Hmmm - Yeah, why is that dogs bark and cats meow?"

Questions are such a powerful tool when beginning your query letter because it forces the agent to stop for a moment and not use their clicker tool (aka the deleting finger of death). They have to pause, and it prompts them to read the next sentence.

I once wrote a query letter for a project called, "If I Could Do It All Over Again" and the question was, "if you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do all over again?" Interesting question, eh? Makes you think, and it made enough editors think that editors by the truckload requested to read the book proposal.

Questions work and they're a great way to hold the all-important attention of the agent. Start your query letter out with a question and you'll be one step closer to landing an agent.

Tip by Jeff Rivera, who is the founder of http://www.howtowriteaqueryletter.com./ With over 100 clients to date, he has a 100% track record of getting at least 10 literary agents to request to read his client's manuscripts and proposals.
Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com

We Interrupt this Program...

2011-05-07T06:14:00.000-04:00

Dear Bloggie Friends,
Thank you for stopping by and for your continued readership. As of May 2nd, I've been on a well-deserved vacation. I hope this relaxing time inspires me to write some great articles and short stories upon my return.

I will be back in one week. I hope to see you around here then.
Cheers!

Simplifying Your Writing Style

2011-04-27T21:50:00.002-04:00

Do you tend to overly describe your stories to the point they become too wordy for words? See what I mean? Do you consider it your style or just an oversight? Back in the days, describing scenes or characters in great detail was the norm. However, things have changed in the writing industry, not to mention our readers’ taste.
Consider the following when revising your work:
1. Use uncomplicated language.
Using simple words (whether verbs, nouns or adjectives) help you avoid ambiguity. Try to use less sophisticated words and more readily understandable ones.

2. Cut down long sentences.
Divide a long sentence into two or more shorter sentences. By doing so, you’ll keep the meaning clear. However, you must examine and decide how to keep a balance between short sentences with longer ones, as well as how to use sentence variety.

3. Avoid redundancies.
This is a major faux-pas in writing. Redundancies can be tiring, not to mention “amateurish”.

4. Trim unnecessary qualifiers.
Using qualifiers in excess diminishes the essence of your story (A qualifier is word or phrase that precedes an adjective or adverb, increasing or decreasing the quality signified by the word it modifies, e.g., very, quite, rather, somewhat, more, most, less, least, too, so, just, enough, indeed, still, almost, fairly, really, pretty, even, a bit, a little, a (whole) lot, a good deal, a great deal, kind of, sort of.)

5. Use active voice.
Active voice helps the story move along faster. The passive voice slows it down by using too many words. Consider the sentences: She unwrapped the gift, vs. The gift was unwrapped by her.

6. Go easy on the adjectives.
Too many adjectives can be cumbersome and distracting.

7. Limit the use of the verb “BE”.
Using any form of the verb “be” can slow the action. Use action verbs instead.

8. Use parallel forms.
Parallel structure is using two or more words, phrases, or clauses that are similar in length and grammatical form. Elements alike in function should be alike in construction.

Is it narcissistic to use first POV?

2011-04-17T19:08:00.002-04:00

When I first started writing, I felt comfortable narrating my stories in third POV. That quickly changed after taking some workshops where I discovered how realistic writing in first POV is.

Some authors agree that first-person narrative could be unreliable. But, isn’t life unreliable anyway? Think of great books such as The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, Huckleberry Finn, The Sun Also Rises, to name a few, which are written in the first-person narrator. Do you think they would have been so effective written in a different POV?

As one of my mentors said, “It’s as if you’re looking through the lens of a camera.” What a great analogy! It’s helped me detach from my protagonist and, in turn, avoid sneaking in my own voice (the author’s voice). Writing this way narrows the possibility from getting inside each character’s mind.

I usually stick to the POV that feels comfortable, but this can be tricky even for seasoned writers. Sometimes my mentors suggest changing the POV of my finished stories to make them flow better or be more captivating. I try writing several paragraphs, including dialogue, from each POV. I know immediately what feels right for my way of storytelling. I find this exercise very helpful.

Which POV do you prefer to use in your stories?

Odd Source of Inspiration

2011-04-10T11:09:00.002-04:00

Dear Bloggie Friends,

As you’ve probably noticed, I haven’t posted anything in two weeks. Work kidnapped the writer in me. Then I got sick, so my inspiration turned as bitter as the antibiotics I was on. However, last night while talking on the phone with a dear friend who’s also one of my former university professors, I got the push I needed. Since I graduated, we’ve kept in touch despite all of my moves (and boy, do I move more than a migrating flock of Barnacle geese!).

Well, last night she told me that her younger sister had just passed away. I wanted to utter compassionate consoling words, but they eluded me. I offered my condolences and promised to keep her in my prayers. And then she asked me, “Tell me, how’s your writing?” The tone in her voice had changed; it was lighter. I could almost hear the smile in her voice. I told her that it was non-existent. She then added, “Hurry up and finish your book so I can buy it!” My heart shrank. Her kind and supportive words were uplifting. How did she manage to offer the right words despite her own pain and sorrow?

Before I hung up, she reiterated, “Keep writing.” Her words still echo in my head. For this reason she’s not only my friend, but also my mentor, role model, and mother-figure. She has always given me great advice, pushed me to explore my limits, and above all, she’s believed in me.

Have you ever heard the right words at the moment you needed it most?

Do you have a supportive someone who believes in your writing?

Writer’s Block Blues

2011-03-27T22:16:00.000-04:00

Fellow bloggers, I’ve got the blues, the writer’s block blues!
B: bored
L: languid
U: unmotivated
E: exhausted
S: somber

Ironically, I’ve written about how to beat writer’s block in previous posts. Some tips such as:
• Get together with other writers and use prompts to get you writing on the spot.
• Listen to classical music or any of your favorite CDs.
• Edit a fellow writer’s story to get your pen moving.
• If everything else fails, go for a walk.

Well, what happens when you can’t shake the blues? Any clues?

Let's Celebrate, Spring is Finally Here!!!

2011-03-20T22:02:00.003-04:00

(This photo was taken by my hubby two springs ago)

A Light Exists in Spring
by Emily Dickinson

A Light exists in Spring
Not present on the Year
At any other period -
When March is scarcely here

A Color stands abroad
On Solitary Fields
That Science cannot overtake
But Human Nature feels.

It waits upon the Lawn,
It shows the furthest Tree
Upon the furthest Slope you know
It almost speaks to you.

Then as Horizons step
Or Noons report away
Without the Formula of sound
It passes and we stay —

A quality of loss
Affecting our Content
As Trade had suddenly encroached
Upon a Sacrament.
***
Does spring renew the muse in you? Do you have a favorite spring poem? Is spring your favorite season?

When your inspiration becomes illegal

2011-03-09T17:41:00.001-05:00

Last year I met authoress Kathryn Stockett at the Book Expo in New York City. Ms. Stockett was signing copies of her best-selling novel, The Help. I absolutely enjoyed this book, so much so that, I gave a copy to a good friend of mine. For those of you who haven’t read it, the story takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in 1962. The chapters are narrated through the eyes of three women: two black maids and a white college graduate.

The author does a great job at depicting the city, the characters, and the setting of the time, not to mention diction. This story is poignant —funny, sad, and realistic without overdoing it. It has just the right amount of each element.

According to the author, her inspiration came from her real-life maid, Demetrie, who died when Stockett was only sixteen. Now a woman in Jackson, Mississippi claims she’s the maid depicted in the book. She says the alliteration of her name and physical attributes are similar. This woman has filed a lawsuit against Ms. Stockett and is seeking damages of $75,000 for emotional distress. This inspiration is being called unpermitted appropriation, which is the unwanted and unpermitted use of the name or likeness of an ordinary, uncelebrated person for advertising or other such commercial purposes.

Give me a break! This is outrageous! Writers find inspiration in almost anything, living or not, past or present, and the writer’s imagination is limitless. Should writers stifle their creativity in order to avoid a potential lawsuit? Stop worrying about typos, bad editing, or even getting published. Writers, meet your new problem: blackmail!

Do you think it’s fair to limit your creativity in order to avoid unpermitted appropriation?

The Beautiful Process of Writing from Pain

2011-03-02T06:58:00.002-05:00

While having my hair done at my hairdresser’s this weekend, I flipped through the pages of the February issue of Vanity Fair. No articles had really caught my attention until I saw a black-and-white photo of J.D. Salinger. I read the piece intently. I got goose bumps reading about how real life events –tragic and gruesome- deeply affected Salinger’s life and his writing for ever. Even under a rain of bullets, he furiously typed stories, as one of his soldier friends described. I don’t know if that was true commitment or sheer madness. As I continued reading, I learned the parallels between Holden Caulfield and Salinger himself. Kenneth Slawenski explains in his latest book, J.D. Salinger: A Life, that World War II “shaped the author as well as his most famous character.”

Salinger was a short story writer and was not sure that he wanted to write a novel. On the good advice of his mentor, Whit Burnett, a professor at Columbia and editor at Story magazine, he continued to write about Holden Caulfield. He ended up writing nine stories about his main character and then wove these stories together to produce his masterpiece, The Catcher in the Rye. Slawenski goes on to say that “The achievement was a catharsis. It was confession, purging, prayer, and enlightenment, in a voice so distinct that it would alter American culture.”

To me this was an epiphany. Who would have thought of pain as a source of inspiration? A former mentor once told our class to write about what we know. Salinger wrote about war and pain because that’s what he knew. This hit close to home as a dear friend and writer shared with me her latest story. She even admitted it was cathartic. The result: a beautifully well-written edgy piece.

Reading about Salinger’s painful ordeal inspired me to go home and write. This article taught me that even a difficult experience can be indeed a source of inspiration.

Are your stories a catharsis, an epiphany, or a combination of both?

Weak scenes? No Problem!

2011-02-23T20:37:00.001-05:00

Before I share my latest tip, I want to tell my fellow bloggers from New Zealand that my prayers are with you. I hope your beautiful country recovers fast from the devastation of the latest earthquake.
***
Reading some articles in the Writer’s Digest yesterday, I found this great exercise for creating three-dimensional scenes. This makes a lot of sense! The activity below, according to the article, will strengthen a weak scene in your novel in just 30 minutes.

Choose a scene from your own work or one you want to add to your story. Practice writing the same scene over and over. Use all dialogue the first time. Then use all narrative. Then all action. Finally, weave all three fiction elements for a three-dimensional effect.

Pull a troublesome scene from your own story. Which element does it have too much of? Too little of? Consider how you might weave all three elements to make it more three-dimensional.

Take a look at some of your woven scenes and see if you can speed them up by taking out all of the narrative and using only dialogue. Or slow them down by taking out the dialogue and using only narrative. Maybe a scene should be focused on the action alone, for the sake of moving the external plot forward. Remember that not every scene needs to be woven to be effective.

Go exercise now and happy writing everyone!

Are You Ready to Submit? STOP! Think twice before you do!

2011-02-16T22:38:00.000-05:00

How many of us have submitted work without asking for a second opinion? We’re so eager to submit our novel, short story, or novella because tomorrow it might be too late.
My mentors have told me time and again to edit my work as many times as possible. Grammatical or punctuation errors are an agent’s major pet peeve. But, are you aware that there are other factors that can obliterate your optimism and your novel as well?

I had no idea that many writers fall into certain submission patterns. According to Irene Goodman who has been a top agent for more than 30 years, with many NY Times bestsellers, says that she’s been noticing a lot of good writers with the best of intentions make the same three crucial errors:

1. They try to throw too much into the story, thinking it will appeal to more people that way. The opposite is true. I ask them to identify where in the bookstore this book will be shelved. If they can't answer promptly, they've made a mistake. You can't write a mystery/romance/thriller/adventure/soap opera with a dash of science fiction. Simple is better.

2. They write a thriller that's not--well, thrilling. It may be interesting and well written, but if it's not scary, it doesn't have suspense, there is nothing big at stake, or there isn't much action, it's not much of a thriller.

3. They pick subjects that are just not commercial. Don't spend three years of your life writing a novel about King Olof Skötkonung of Sweden or a romance novel set in Germany in 1943. Learn what's commercial and what is not.

Have you submitted without double-checking your work? Are you REALLY ready to submit? Remember: “Good things come to those who wait.”

Dialoguing or Rambling?

2011-02-09T22:30:00.001-05:00

How mindful are you when you write dialogues? In real life we get away with rambling, but in fiction? It’s a big no-no. I’m editing a story where my dialogue sounds more like characters in a reality TV show. So I decided to share with you an article I read back in January, by James Scott Bell about seven tools he considers important when writing dialogue.

1) LET IT FLOW.
When you write the first draft of a scene, let the dialogue flow. In fact, you can often come up with a dynamic scene by writing the dialogue first. Record what your characters are arguing about, stewing over, revealing. Write it all as fast as you can. As you do, pay no attention to attributions (who said what). Just write the lines.

Once you get these on the page, you will have a good idea of what the scene is all about. And it may be something different than you anticipated, which is good. Now you can go back and write the narrative that goes with the scene, and the normal speaker attributions and tags.

2) ACT IT OUT.
Make up a scene between two characters in conflict. Then start an argument. Go back and forth, changing your actual physical location. Allow a slight pause as you switch, giving yourself time to come up with a response in each character’s voice.

3) SIDESTEP THE OBVIOUS.
One of the most common mistakes aspiring writers make with dialogue is creating a simple back-and-forth exchange. Each line responds directly to the previous line, often repeating a word or phrase (an “echo”). It looks something like this:
“Hello, Mary.”
“Hi, Sylvia.”
“My, that’s a wonderful outfit you’re wearing.”
“Outfit? You mean this old thing?”
“Old thing! It looks practically new.”
“It’s not new, but thank you for saying so.”

This sort of dialogue is “on the nose.” There are no surprises, and the reader drifts along with little interest. While some direct response is fine, your dialogue will be stronger if you sidestep the obvious:

“Hello, Mary.”
“Sylvia. I didn’t see you.”
“My, that’s a wonderful outfit you’re wearing.”
“Where is he, Sylvia?”

Hmm. Who is “he”? And why should Sylvia know? The point is there are innumerable directions in which the sidestep technique can go. Experiment to find a path that works best for you. Look at a section of your dialogue and change some direct responses into off-center retorts.

4) CULTIVATE SILENCE.
A powerful variation on the sidestep is silence. It is often the best choice, no matter what words you might come up with. Hemingway was a master at this. Consider this excerpt from his short story “Hills Like White Elephants.” A man and a woman are having a drink at a train station in Spain. The man speaks:

“Should we have another drink?”
“All right.”
The warm wind blew the bead curtain against the table.
“The beer’s nice and cool,” the man said.
“It’s lovely,” the girl said.
“It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig,” the man said. “It’s not really an operation at all.”
The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on.
“I know you wouldn’t mind it, Jig. It’s really not anything. It’s just to let the air in.”
The girl did not say anything.

In this story, the man is trying to convince the girl to have an abortion (a word that does not appear anywhere in the text). Her silence is reaction enough. By using a combination of sidestep, silence and action, Hemingway gets the point across through a brief, compelling exchange.

5) POLISH A GEM.
We’ve all had those moments when we wake up and have the perfect response for a conversation that took place the night before. Wouldn’t we all like to have those bon mots at a moment’s notice?
Your characters can. That’s part of the fun of being a fiction writer. I have a somewhat arbitrary rule—one gem per quarter. Divide your novel into fourths. When you polish your dialogue, find those opportunities in each quarter to polish a gem.

6) EMPLOY CONFRONTATION.
Many writers struggle with exposition in their novels. Often they heap it on in large chunks of straight narrative. Backstory—what happens before the novel opens—is especially troublesome. How can we give the essentials and avoid a mere information drop?

Use dialogue. First, create a tension-filled scene, usually between two characters. Get them arguing, confronting each other. Then have the information appear in the natural course of things. Here is the clunky way to do it:

John Davenport was a doctor fleeing from a terrible past. He had been drummed out of the profession for bungling an operation while he was drunk. Instead, place this backstory in a scene in which John is confronted by a patient who is aware of the doctor’s past:

“I know who you are,” Charles said.
“You know nothing,” John said.
“You’re that doctor.”
“If you don’t mind I—”
“From Hopkins. You killed a woman because you were soused. Yeah, that’s it.”

And so forth. This is a much underused method, but it not only gives weight to your dialogue, it increases the pace of your story.

7) DROP WORDS.
This is a favorite technique of dialogue master Elmore Leonard. By excising a single word here and there, he creates a feeling of verisimilitude in his dialogue. It sounds like real speech, though it is really nothing of the sort. All of Leonard’s dialogue contributes to characterization and story.

Here is a standard exchange:
“Your dog was killed?
“Yes, run over by a car.”
“What did you call it?”
“It was a she. I called her Tuffy.”

This is the way Leonard did it in Out of Sight:
“Your dog was killed?”
“Got run over by a car.”
“What did you call it?”
“Was a she, name Tuffy.”

It sounds so natural, yet is lean and meaningful. Notice it’s all a matter of a few words dropped, leaving the feeling of real speech.
As with any technique, there’s always a danger of overdoing it. Pick your spots and your characters with careful precision and focus, and your dialogue will thank you for it later.

Is Timing Everything?

2011-02-02T22:29:00.001-05:00

On January 26, my fellow blogger, Carol Kilgore at Under the Tiki Hut, wrote about wondering. Like her, I wonder a lot. I think “wondering” is okay as long as you don’t turn into one of Woody Allen’s neurotic characters (and yes, I love Woody!). So, I try to wonder without worrying, which brings me to my next topic: Wondering about a missed opportunity.

A few months ago, an editor, who appreciates my writing, generously offered to help me look for a publisher for my anthology. I was thrilled! We discussed the theme of my work, the number of stories I would include, and the chances of getting published. I thanked him and I followed up via email. Then life got in the way; I had to deal with a personal problem.

I focused on my problem for so long, I forgot about the wonderful proposal I had gotten earlier. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into 2011. Now I’m wondering if it’s too late to rekindle this conversation. I’m wondering whether the editor thought I was interested or not. I’m wondering if timing is everything.

Has my ship sailed? Have you ever missed a wonderful opportunity?

Literary Karma

2011-01-26T21:24:00.003-05:00

It's Wednesday and that means blogging time for me!
While visiting blogs the past two weeks, I've noticed some fellow bloggers posting/talking about positive subjects, encouraging other bloggers, or acknowledging their fellow bloggers' work. That inspired me to write about Karma. I believe that when you do something selflessly, positive energy swathes you. The result: your good deeds are rewarded with more good deeds. :-)

My fellow bloggers also inspired me to pay it forward. For instance, Melissa Gill at Melissa Getting Published, has added a new feature in her blog for 2011: She will feature and highlight each of her followers every Wednesday. She says, "Each and every one of my followers has added something unique and wonderful to my life, and I want to reach out to each of you and share what I love about you and your blogs."

The lovely and versatile Chelsea at Coffee Tale Reviews , awarded me and other fellow bloggers with the "Stylish Blogger Award". She was one of my first followers.

My friend and fellow writer, Kelly Howarth at One Word Pundit, empowers people (especially women) through her inspirational posts.

Old Kitty, a loyal reader at Ten Lives and Second Chances, writes about daily life observations. She's funny, sweet, and quirky (even though she says she's shy), ah yes, she also loves cats.

Sharon Mayhew, my fellow blogger and loyal reader at Random Thoughts, writes about positive experiences like My heart is full, her latest post. I love reading her blog.

These are just a few examples of bloggers who write positive posts and/or acknowledge their friends, readers, and fellow bloggers. I want to do the same by inviting authors, writers, and fellow bloggers who have published or will be publishing their book(s) to talk about their work. I'll feature them in my posts. I would also invite them to write guest posts or share ideas and/or projects like blog hops or book launches in order to promote them/spread the word (even in a small way). It'll be my pleasure and my literary karmic deed. ;-)

Do you believe in Karma? Has anyone done something for you that was inspirational?

Turning your Writing Dream into Reality

2011-01-19T21:21:00.001-05:00

What a beautiful quote by George Bernard Shaw (see photo). I think we all have the capability of creating, but I ask myself, do we have the time we need in order to create? I know that's not my case right now. That's why I want to share a guest post by Pastor Daniel Darling, author of iFaith: Connecting With God in the 21st Century, (Jan. 2011). He says that your writing journey can start with four basic steps:

1. START WRITING NOW
My advice to the emerging writer—is to start writing. If you’re highly disciplined, start blogging on a schedule. Just crank out stuff and keep writing. If you’re undisciplined as I am, sign up for deadlines in any way you can. Point is: You get better at writing by writing.

2. SEEK PROFESSIONAL CRITICISM
I once received a heavily marked manuscript back from a book editor with the advice, “Dan, you’re not Hemingway.” She meant that my manuscript needed polishing. She was right. If you want to succeed and grow as a writer, you need to develop a thick skin. Don’t hang onto every turn of phrase as if it cannot be touched. Instead, open your work up to those who can take it from good to great: a healthy stable of critics. If you want to step your work up to the next level, seek out professional-level critiquing. Your mom’s nice comments may boost your confidence, but they won’t help your manuscript.

3. WRITE BAD FIRST DRAFTS
In the movie, Finding Forrester, Sean Connery’s character gives a piece of advice to his young writing protégé. “Write the first draft with your heart, the rest of the drafts with your head.” Many times I sit in front of a blank screen, a deadline looming, time short. I have a wonderful outline, but the words for that first chapter just don’t seem to come. Or they come and are horrific. But I push ahead and get them on paper. I write until I can’t write anymore.

Then I close the computer thinking, What an idiot, why do I think I can write? But then I leave the manuscript for a few days, maybe a week. When I come back to it, I find hope again. Every major project goes through this same process, without exception. I have learned to write in short bursts. Every day, as I sit to write, I revisit a chunk from the day before, editing that first draft. I move this way through a book until completion. This write-edit-write method serves me well, ensuring that every chapter is rewritten to satisfaction.

4. LEARN, GROW, EXPAND
Sometimes you need to close the laptop and get out into the real world. That means you move beyond your project and refill the well of your soul with good music, entertainment, relationships, and good literature. What I mean is that to be a good writer, you, the person behind the words, must grow. I’m guessing, if you’re reading this blog, you’re well-tuned to the craft of writing through magazines, blogs, conferences, and books. That is good. Writers must constantly sharpen their skills.

But you might consider refilling your well by enriching the other parts of your life. I’ve that my writing always improves when I am reading well in a variety of disciplines: including novels, classics, spirituality, self-help, biographies, and more. Often a good movie or timely sermon will spark new levels of creativity. You also need rest. You are not superhuman. You’re human. When you’re brain is shut down, forget your project and enjoy your life. The well from which you draw your words must remain full.

I agree with him 100%. I especially like points #1 and #3. My good friend and fellow writer, Kelly Howarth at One Word Pundit, always tells me to write from the heart. She says she can tell when I've written a story or a post from the heart. Thank you, Kelly for your advice!

How about you? Have you already turned your writing dream into reality?

Criticizing or Critiquing?

2011-01-12T23:34:00.000-05:00

In the world or writing there’s a thin line between critiquing and criticizing. Unfortunately, some writers (especially emerging writers) take offense when a mentor or a fellow writer critiques his/her work. When I edit someone’s short story, which is on a rare occasion, I am extremely careful; I try to be objective, professional, yet honest. Below are some of the techniques I apply when critiquing a short story.

• I usually highlight passages that I find confusing or that don't seem important and relevant to the rest of the story.

• I circle in red the wrong tenses.

• I underline or circle weak adjectives and/or verbs.

• I point out all figurative devices: allusions, alliteration, similes, symbols, metaphors and other similar techniques.

• I ask the author if these literary techniques make the reading experience more enjoyable or strengthen the story.

• I make sure the ending the author’s trying to convey relates both to the story as a whole and to the beginning. Does the ending resolve the plot and bring closure to the crisis of the characters?

I find that my fellow writers usually respond positively to my technique. However, last year an acquaintance of mine asked me to read her story and to give her my opinion. So I did. She was not thrilled with my comments because she thought I was criticizing her. I told her to get a second opinion.

Have you dealt with oversensitive writers who are not open to constructive criticism? Do you know anyone in your writer’s circle who falls into this category? Or are you guilty of being of one them?

P.S. the writer in my anecdote never admitted I was right but she asks for my opinion from time to time. (LOL!)

The Art of Book Sale: Tips to help you sell your newly published book

2011-01-06T17:50:00.001-05:00

Well, this is my first blogpost for 2011. As I posted previously, I'm trying to write an article once a week.

Two of my mentors are launching their latest books this year, so I thought it'd be appropriate to tackle the topic of selling/marketing your book. We all know that book signings and networking are the norm. However, to promote your book you'll need more than these two methods. Have you ever thought of unconventional ways of selling your book?

I got some tips via email from the Book Marketing Expert.
1. Marketing: First and foremost is the marketing of your event. But I'm not talking about the marketing you do in the media (though that is great too) I'm speaking of in-store marketing; this is what most folks seem to overlook. This is where you supply things to the store to help them market your event. Because the first phase of a successful event is driving people to it. Here are a few thoughts.

a. Do bag stuffers. You can easily do this in your favorite computer program, do two up on a page, meaning that you use one 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper to do two fliers. You'll want to ask the store first if they mind that you provide this, most stores or event venues don't.

b. Bookmarks: while most in the industry see these as passé, people still love them. You can do bookmarks and bag stuffers (or staple them to the flier) or you can do custom bookmarks with the date and time of your event. Nowadays it's pretty easy to get these done cheaply. Keep in mind that if you are having the event in a mall or other type of shopping area, you might be able to drop the bookmarks (or bag stuffers) off at the nearby stores to see if they'll help promote the event.

2. Book signings are boring: Regardless of where you do the event, plan to do a talk instead of a signing. People are drawn into a discussion and are often turned off by an author just sitting at a table. Marketing is about message and movement so stand up and speak. If speaking in public is intimidating to you, go to Toastmasters or some other local networking/speaking group and see what you can learn.

3. Unique places: If you want to get more attention for your event, consider doing events in unique places. We've done them in video stores, electronics stores, gyms, even restaurants (on slow nights); doing outside-the-bookstore events is a great way to gain more interest for your talk. Why? Because you aren't competing with everyone else at the bookstore for your crowd. When you do an event at a locale that doesn't normally do events, you'll attract more people just because it's considered "unique."

4. Show up early and talk it up: OK, so let's say you're in the store and there are a ton of people in there shopping (a book event dream, yes?), I suggest that you take your extra bag stuffers or custom bookmarks and just hand them to the people in the store. Let them know you are doing an event at such and such time and you'd love it if they can sit in. You'll be surprised how many new people you might pull in this way.

5. Customize: Regardless of what your talk is about, poll the audience first to see a) what brought them there, or b) what they hope to learn if your talk is educational. I suggest this because the more you can customize your discussion, the more likely you are to sell a book. If you can solve problems (and this is often done during the Q&A) all the better. You'll look like the answer machine you are and readers love that. If you have the answers, they'll want to buy from you. I promise.

6. Make friends: Get to know the bookstore people, but not just on the day of the event. Go in prior and make friends, tell them who you are and maybe even hand them your flier or bookmark (or a stack if you can). Often stores have Information Centers, see if you can leave some fliers there instead of just at the register. Getting to know the people who are selling the book is a great way to help gather more people into your event. If your event isn't in a bookstore but attached to a shopping area or mall, go around to the stores (and perhaps you did this when you passed out the fliers) and let them know you have an event and ask what you can do to help them promote it. If you can rally the troops to help you market your talk, you could triple the numbers of people at your event. No kidding.

7. Take names: I always, always recommend that you get names and (email) addresses from the folks who attended. Signing them up for your mailing list is a great way to keep in touch with them and stay on your reader's radar screen. If you have a giveaway or drawing, great! This will help you to collect names. If you don't, offer them a freebie or e-book after the event. Often if I'm doing a PowerPoint presentation I will put together a set of them (delivered in PDF) after the event. Attendees need to sign up to get them and then once they do, I include them in our newsletter list, which helps me to stay on their radar screen.

8. Pricing: Make sure your book is easy to buy. If you are doing this outside of a bookstore this is easy to do and will help your sales. I find that a rounded number like $10 or $20 makes for a quick and easy sale. If you can round up or down without adding or losing too much to the price, by all means do it.

9. Book pairing: One way you might be able to round up is by pairing your book with a freebie. When I paired Red Hot Internet Publicity with a second, but smaller, marketing book I took the awkward pricing of $18.95, bumped it up to $20 (so 2 books for $20) and quadrupled my sales after an event. Now the pairing doesn't have to be a book, it can be a special report or even an e-book that you send to them after the event.

10. Product and placement: As you're doing your talk (especially if it's in a non-bookstore venue) make sure that you have a copy of the book propped up in front of you so event visitors see it the entire time you are speaking. Hold up the book when appropriate and use it as an example when you can. This will help to direct the consumer's eye to the book - and making eye contact with the product is a good way to make sure it stays on their radar screen throughout your talk. When I do a speaking gig at an event that allows me to sell books in the room, I will sell four times more than I would if the attendees have to go somewhere else to buy it, so make the buy easy. If you can, make sure your books are for sale in the room.

11. Ease of purchase: Aside from pricing, if you're doing your own checkout make sure that you have many ways consumers can buy your book. I take credit cards at the event, checks and cash. Don't limit yourself as to what you can take or you will limit your sales.

12. Post event wrap-up: So the event is over, what now? Well, if you got attendees to sign up for your newsletter (you did do that, right?) now it's time to send a thank you note for attending and remind them (if they missed the chance at the event) to buy a copy of your book at the "special event price."

Speaking and book events are great ways to build your platform, but if you aren't selling books there's little point in doing them. For many of us, our book is our business card and thus, if we can sell our "business card" we can keep consumers in our funnel. If your book isn't your business card you still want readers, right? The marketing before, during and after an event is crucial to building your readership. While it's easy to say that events sell books, they often don't. I find that if you don't "work it" you often will find your time wasted. Seek the opportunities when they are made available to you - and then maximize them when they are, you'll be glad you did!

Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com

Writing Resolutions for 2011

2010-12-30T11:47:00.003-05:00

Dear bloggie friends:
This is my last blog for 2010 and I am determined to be a productive blogger in 2011.

I usually don't make any new year's resolutions because they have some sort of negative connotation for me. However, I decided to have feasible writing resolutions. If I write them, I can visualize them. They become more real. Here they are (in no particular order):

Post at least once a week.
Finish my anthology.
Continue attending my writing group meetings.
Attend two literary events per month (at least, if not more).

What about you? Have you made some resolutions with regards to writing, blogging, or reading?
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Writing Under the Mistletoe

2010-12-26T11:13:00.000-05:00

With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season almost behind us, I started thinking about how my writing has been affected over Christmas. For some people writing is a Christmas gift all year round in that they have the gift of ease, the gift of a nimble mind, the gift of unwrapped creativity. For me this gift came in the tangible form of a publication. One of my short stories, Unraveled, was published in the Canadian Authors’ Association 2010 Anthology. It was an unexpected Christmas present after my brief writing hiatus. The holiday season is about altruism, generosity, and kindness. This selflessness starts with oneself. So why not give yourself the gift of writing and share it with a fellow writer?

Where do you find time to write?

2010-12-19T15:10:00.000-05:00

Since October you've probably noticed that I haven't been posting as often as I did before. I realized that it is difficult to find the time to write (your novel, anthology, poetry, etc.,) to write blogposts, to visit fellow bloggers, to work full-time, and to keep all these tasks balanced without affecting your sanity.

While going through personal problems, I did not write a word for my anthology. I felt guilty. I couldn't come up with the right post, yet felt uncomfortable telling anyone how to make time to write.

A dear friend of mine and fellow writer told me, “You're entitled to take a break. Don't be so hard on yourself.” She's right. Although writing is one of my passions, I don't make a living from it. I have to set priorities in order to perform at the level I'm expected.

Suddenly my own choice came into view—it wasn't a matter of being perfect enough or productive enough or disciplined enough to be a writer. During my brief hiatus, I realized that I could dedicate time to my writing and my non-writing life as long as I focus on attainable and feasible goals.

It's important to acknowledge we can't have it all (at least not all at once). We have to choose.

Don't Sabotage your Success

2010-12-11T17:56:00.003-05:00

After a short hiatus, I'm back to give you more tips on writing. I love the feature articles from the Book Marketing Expert. That's why I am sharing their latest one titled, "12 Things Authors do to Sabotage Their Success".

Writing, publishing, promoting, publicizing. It all seems quite daunting, doesn't it? Well, it doesn't have to be. First you need to start out by doing the right things and knowing what can help, or harm, your success. Keep in mind that while there is always a creative element, publishing is a business. It's important to know your business to be successful. Here are a dozen ideas that I hope will help you on your journey from writer to successful author.
1. Waiting too long to market. When it comes to marketing, some authors wait too long to get the word out there. If you're sitting on top of your publication date wondering where to start with your marketing, you're about six months behind the curve. Book marketing is what I call the long runway of promotion. A great campaign will consist not only of a focused marketing plan, but a plan that starts early enough to support the ramp up that a good book marketing campaign needs. And this isn't just for the self-published market, any book that's being released these days needs a minimum of a six-month ramp up. This doesn't mean that you are marketing during that time, but ideally you are getting ready for your launch by having a website designed, starting a newsletter, building your mailing list, building your media list, planning your events, etc.

2. Not having enough money. I see it all the time; authors spend all their money on the book process (book cover, editing, etc.) and then don't have enough for the marketing. That's like opening up a store and not having money to stock it with inventory. Before you jump headlong into publishing a book, make sure you have the funds to do so. So, how much is enough? It depends on what you want to accomplish. Be clear on your goals and market, then sit down with someone who can help you determine a budget.

3. Not getting to know others in their market. Who else is writing about your topic? If you're not sure, then you should do your research. Getting to know your fellow genre authors is not only important, but it can really help you with your marketing. How? Because most readers don't just buy one self-help book, or one dating book, they will generally buy in multiples. So getting to know others within your market can not only help you market your book, but it could also help you connect with fellow authors, and there is truth to the fact that there is power in numbers.

4. Ignoring social media. While social media may seem confusing to most of us, it's important to know that it can sometimes be a make or break situation when it comes to marketing your book. If you can't make heads or tails out of Twitter vs. Facebook, then hire someone who can help you or guide you through your choices.

5. Thinking bookstores don't matter. While it's nice to think that most of us do our shopping online and via Amazon, bookstores (especially local stores) can really help or hurt your marketing efforts. If your book isn't going into bookstores, then you'll want to get to know your local area stores to see if you can present your book to them for consideration and/or do an event in their store. Having a local presence in bookstores is important, especially if you are doing local events and local media. If the bookstore won't stock the book (and many of them won't if you're a first time author), then make sure at the very least that your book can be ordered. You don't want people walking into your neighborhood store and being told "Sorry, we can't get that book."

6. Printing too many copies. In order to get large printing discounts, authors will often print huge numbers of their books. I've seen ranges from 10,000 on up. Generally I recommend a run of no more than 2,000. You can always go back to print and likely when you do, you'll want to make changes to the book, possibly adding new testimonials, endorsements, and reviews. Also, you have better things to do with your marketing dollars than spend them on storage space.

7. Not spending enough time researching their market. If you were going to open up a store in a mall, let's say a yogurt shop, would you ever consider opening a store without doing the proper research? Probably not. Yet every day authors publish books and haven't done market research. This research, while it can be tedious, could save you hundreds of dollars in promotion and/or cover design.

8. Not hiring a professional to do their book cover. In tight financial times, it's ok to cut corners in marketing or find less expensive ways to do things. But one corner you shouldn't cut is on your book cover. Your cover is important because it's the first impression your audience has of your book. Don't shortcut your success by creating a cover that doesn't sell. In the long run, the money you save on the cover design could cost you four times that in book sales.

9. Not having their work professionally edited. Your book is your resume; not only that but it's your reader's experience as well. What kind of experience do you want to give them? If the answer is a great one (and it likely is) make sure the work you do on your book mirrors that. Your work should always be professionally edited, no excuse. If you don't have enough money to do this, then ask yourself if publishing this book is really a good idea. Perhaps waiting until you have the funds to get the book released the right way is a better idea.

10. Expecting immediate book sales. Nothing happens immediately, especially book sales. The sales process for books can be lengthy, especially when you're dealing with multiple reporting agencies. Most authors don't know that places like Amazon, Baker & Taylor, and Ingram don't all pay on the same timeframe. They all have particular cycles to how they pay. For example, Amazon might pay 90 days after the sale, whereas some folks I've talked to say that Baker & Taylor sometimes lags five months behind. What this means is that if you are pushing your book in December and hope to see the fruits of your labor in January, that timeline isn't realistic. Don't end up disappointed if your royalty statements aren't reflecting the promotion you've done. It could be that the agencies just haven't caught up with your sales.

11. Not having a website. Someone once asked me if all authors should have a website, to which I responded: does your book need a book cover? Every author should have a website. It doesn't have to be fancy, lengthy, or expensive, but it's a 24/7 sales tool and the only way to build credibility online.

12. Giving up on their book too soon. Like anything, book marketing takes time. I see authors all the time who start to grow impatient after a few months, wondering where their success is. How long will it take? That depends. But you might not be the best person to determine that. If you've been marketing your book for a while and can't figure out why nothing has taken off, spend an hour with a professional who can tell you if you're on the right track. Do this before you decide to throw in the towel. You might be inches away from success; don't give up before you do your research.

Making headway in marketing is as much about the good decisions, as it is avoiding the bad. Good luck in your publishing journey!

Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com/

Technical Difficulties

2010-11-28T13:43:00.000-05:00

Hi there fellow bloggers! I know I haven't been posting assiduously, but something called life took over my writing and my blogging (sniff, sniff!) in the past weeks.

Please bear with me and I promise to bring you more writing tips in the next few days. So keep checking! ;-)

With the holidays approaching, I imagine a lot of you are not posting as often as you'd like. Or, am I the only one in the blogosphere who's gotten run over by a sleigh?

How do you keep up with your writing and your blogging at this time of year?

Are you a grateful writer?

2010-11-25T07:45:00.001-05:00

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the US, and I miss celebrating this beautiful day with my family and friends (since I now live in Montreal).

I am thankful for having the creative bug. That's right! I am thankful for my ability to create stories that touch my readers. I am thankful for having a writing support group, for having wonderful mentors, and for having great readers, YOU, fellow bloggers!

Today, pause for a moment and think of all the things you are grateful for. I bet you can find more than three wonderful things in your life. Although we have this great tradition, we shouldn't have to wait 11 months to give thanks. We should be thankful every single day.

Happy Thanksgiving Day to everyone in the US!

What are you thankful for?

Hook your Reader!

2010-11-16T09:22:00.001-05:00

Every author/mentor I’ve met at writing workshops agrees on one important factor: the story’s hook. Without it, chances are you’ll lose your reader. Agent Paula Balzer also agrees by saying that whether you are writing a memoir or fiction, having a strong hook is essential. This applies to nearly all books. She advises to practice these three exercises for defining your book's hook:

1. WRITE YOUR OWN COVER COPY
Good back-cover or jacket-flap copy is so essential to a book’s success that publishers often begin working on it before a manuscript is even completed. With this in mind, carefully read the cover copy of three of your favorite memoirs. How does each description hold up with your perception of what the memoir is about? Do you now look at the book from a different perspective? Now, try writing your own cover copy. You’ll quickly find you need to rely on the hook to capture the essence of your story in such limited space. What did you discover when you boiled your story down to a few paragraphs? Does this sound like a book you’d like to read?

2. PUSH YOUR THEME TO THE LIMIT
List 10 things that are unique to the situation you want to write about. What makes your divorce different from your neighbor’s? What makes your bout with cancer different from everyone else’s? Keep in mind that the answers don’t always have to be literal or terribly deep. Did your husband tell you he was leaving you via Facebook? Did your chemotherapy bring you not a life-altering epiphany, but a special bond with the sweet child in the next room? What range of emotions does your list hit? Is it funnier or sadder than you anticipated? Is there something there that would make an especially good hook?

3. SHIFT YOUR FOCUS
Select five different starting points for your memoir. Make a list of the key plot points from the five new starting positions. How does this exercise change the scope of your story? Which important components change? What track does the memoir follow when starting from a different position? How does each new story feel? Where does each one end if you start from a different place?

Will your readers be hooked with your story / book?

Don’t judge a book by its cover, or should you?

2010-11-09T14:50:00.002-05:00

Book publicist Scott Lorenz, President of the public relations and marketing firm, Westwind Communications, advises authors to get involved in the production of their books from beginning to end.

As a book publicist and book marketer, Scott Lorenz says that he cannot caution authors enough. Do not underestimate the importance of a book cover’s design. Not only do potential book buyers judge a book by its cover but so do members of the media. I have personally seen a major book reviewer for a large magazine hold a client’s book, run her fingers over the cover and say, “I’ve not heard of this author or publisher, but this book looks very nicely done, tell me more about.” Conversely, I’ve heard a reviewer quickly respond “We don’t review self-published books,” because the cover screamed cheap!

While we often hear, “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” everybody—book buyers, reviewers, media and consumers alike—most certainly do judge a book by its cover.

Here are some important items to consider when making decisions on book cover design:
• Use a subhead to create more description. If you have a 10-word title, you have not properly named the book in the first place.
• Check with Google on the words that are most searched on your topic. To do this, type in the word that best describes your book in the search box and then see what the next most important or popular words are in that list. That ranking is very relevant marketing- wise so try to use those words in your title or subtitle.
• Visit book stores and look at the covers of all types of books. What catches your eye? Look at the book face and look at the spines. Which ones are readable and why?
• Will it play on Amazon? Go to Amazon.com, BN.com, Borders.com and search on competitive books in your space. Notice the book covers that catch your eye and the ones that do not. If your cover does not show up well in an Amazon thumbnail then you are going to lose sales.
• Contrast. Don’t let your graphic designer get started without keeping contrast in mind. The reason black ink works so well on white paper is because it produces the best contrast possible. Yellow ink on green paper in a small font simply does not work.
• How does your book look in black and white? Not every publication will be printing it in color.
• Font size. Many designers are young with great eyesight. But your buyer may not be able to read the tiny font some designers insist upon using. Be practical.
• The spine. Can you read it from five feet away? If not, neither can browsers in a book store.
• Blurbs. Keep them relevant and short. The best highway billboards are 5-11 words because motorists are driving by at 70 m.p.h. Guess what? Consumers are driving by your book sitting on a table at the same relevant speed. The human mind cannot comprehend too many words at a glance. So give them short, sweet blurbs. If you are in love with your blurbs, than print them all in full on the last inside pages of the book.
• Consider including a mention on the cover of a forward written by a famous person. “Forward by Barack Obama” or “Forward by Oprah Winfrey” or “Forward by Best Selling Author John Grisham.”
• Do not overlook creating content on the back inside flaps because consumers pick up a book after looking at the spine, front cover and back and then open the book to find the price or more information.
• Print your cover out on a laser printer. Don’t just review your cover on a computer screen which will make it look considerably better. Print it out actual size and make a determination using that printed version.
• Pictures are worth 1000 words. Use photos and illustrations to describe what would take too long to explain.
• When choosing a book design ask yourself how the cover will look on your website home page. Consistency and redundancy are important so you’ll want to use the same design elements on your website that you do on your book cover. For this reason, I suggest using the same designer for your book cover and for your website if possible.
• Show your cover designs to as many people in your target group of potential readers. Get their reactions and opinions. It costs you nothing and you’ll likely find out something you did not realize before.

Bottom line: Get involved early in the entire book publishing design process and get at least three creative concepts for the front cover, back cover, and spine. Don’t let it be the last thing you do.

And finally, the most important rule in book publishing and marketing – Know Your Reader! All books have a target reader and in all genres there are varying degrees of readers. Targeting the reader who is most likely to purchase your book is critical. Authors who know the demographics of their readers are equipped to assemble the fonts and graphics best able to grab the reader’s eye and instantly convey the message that “this book is for you.” When you work with your graphic designer on the book covers and spine, your chances of success are greatly increased. If your designer does not welcome your participation, hire another designer.

To learn more about Scott, visit http://www.book-marketing-expert.com/ or send him an e-mail to: scottlorenz@westwindcos.com

How to rescue your story: Fix the Plot

2010-11-02T12:42:00.000-04:00

Isn't it a great feeling when we finish our novel / story? We've all been there, right? But, how about when our editor tells us the plot is weak or is not good at all?

On her Writer's Digest article on August 3, 2010, Laura Whitcomb tell us how to fix the plot without starting over.
1. THE PLOT ISN’T ORIGINAL ENOUGH. Go through your pages and highlight anything that you’ve read in another book or seen in a movie. In the margin, write where you’ve seen it. Quick notes like these can help you detach from unintentional imitation.

2. READERS ALWAYS KNOW EXACTLY WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN. This may be because you’ve chosen a plot point that’s overused, or because you keep giving away the answer in advance.

3. THE PLOT IS BORING. Take each page and imagine what different writers might do with the same plot. After thinking of wild ideas to make the story more interesting, you begin to come up with workable ones that are just as stimulating, but better suited to your book.

4. THE PLOT IS ALL ACTION AND THE FRENZIED PACE NUMBS READERS. Let them breathe. Give the readers a little downtime now and then in your action story. Look back at your favorite action novels. Notice the conversations, summarized passages, meals, introspection and releases of emotions that are set in between the car chases, shootouts and confrontations. List them. Then give the readers a chance to breathe in your own manuscript. Find the dramatic respites that come from your characters’ needs, flaws and strengths.

5. THE PLOT IS TOO COMPLEX. Often, a complex plot can be trimmed into a sleek one by cutting out some steps. When deciding whether or not to simplify the plot, ask yourself over and over again, “Why does she do that? Why didn’t she just do this?” Making a plot less complicated doesn’t have to make it less clever.

6. THE PLOT IS TOO SHALLOW. Sometimes as writers we get caught up in the action. The symbolism. The metaphors. The witty dialogue. The great character names. The slick descriptions. Sometimes we ride these skills over the surface of the story and forget what’s really important. If you or your first readers (friends, family, agent) complain that the novel feels insubstantial, step back and ask yourself these questions: Why am I bothering to write this story? Why does the outcome matter to the characters? How do the characters change? How did my favorite book affect me the first time I read it?

7. SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF IS DESTROYED. Readers need to buy into the reality put forward by what they’re reading. You may go too far with a plot point or not far enough with preparing your audience for that plot point. If something that sounded right when you outlined it is coming off as farfetched even to you, look back at the stepping-stones that led to the event. If your murderer turns over a new leaf at the end of act two, make sure you’ve given her reason to.

8. TOO MANY SUBPLOTS MAKE THE PLOT OVERLY COMPLEX. If you start to feel weighed down by your numerous storylines, start cutting them. List the subplots (shopkeeper with a crush, neighbor’s dog that tears up the garden, accountant who threatens to quit every day), and then list under each title all the ways it’s necessary. Only subplots that are so vital that you could not remove them without destroying your novel get to stick around. Be bold.

9. THE SEQUENCE IS ILLOGICAL. Sometimes the sequence set down in an outline starts to show its true colors when you’re writing the chapters. If you feel the order of scenes or events in your story is off, list each scene on a separate index card and, in red ink, write a question mark on every card that doesn’t feel right where it is in the story. Shuffle the cards. I’m not kidding. Mix them up completely. Lay them out again in the order you think they might work best, giving special attention to those with red question marks. Something about these scenes tricked you the first time. This time, really look closely at the proper place for those tricky bits.

10. THE PREMISE ISN’T COMPELLING. If you fear that a mediocre premise is your holdup, take out a sheet of paper. Make a list on the left-hand side of everything that’s dodgy in your present premise. Then write a list down the right-hand side about all the things that work great in the premise of a similar favorite book, play or movie. See where you might make the stakes higher, the characters more emotional, the setting more a part of the overall plot. Remember: The premise should make your readers curious.

11. THE CONCLUSION IS UNSATISFYING. Once again, write a list of what bothers you about your conclusion, and next to it, a list of what worked great about the end of your favorite novel. Do you have to create more suspense before you give the readers what they’ve been craving? Do you need to make the answer to the mystery clearer? Does the villain need to be angrier, or perhaps show remorse? Unsatisfying conclusions are usually lacking something. Whatever that is, make your story’s ending have more of it.

A Brief Lesson in Scene Writing

2010-10-29T12:40:00.000-04:00

Raymond Carver said, “There are significant moments in everyone's day that can make literature. That's what you ought to write about."

Do your scenes captivate the reader? Are your scenes memorable? Do you weave your scenes so that they move your story forward?

A scene is written so that it seems to occur in real time as if the reader were watching and listening to it happen. It's built on talk and action and is dramatized, not described or summarized (although exposition and description exists along with action). Each scene has specific reason for occurring at the point in the story -- something needs to be proven, established, or revealed. A scene exists to enrich or reveal characters, provides information about the plot, and pushes the plot forward.

A scene contains:
• a distinct time and place
• a specific conflict
• the main character wants something
• emotional reversal
• TIP: Include a good dialogue (if necessary), tension, reactions to what is taking place or being said, movement, gestures. Try ending scenes at a cliffhanger moment or high note.

Who’s Counting?

2010-10-25T18:28:00.000-04:00

Do you worry about word count when you write? I usually don’t, unless I’m entering a contest where the word limit is enforced. A long time ago, one of my fellow writers asked me what the word limit for children’s books was. I didn’t have an answer at that time. So I did some research and found these guidelines in the Writer’s Digest.

ADULT NOVELS: COMMERCIAL & LITERARY
Between 80,000 and 89,999 words is a good range you should be aiming for. This is a 100% safe range for literary, romance, mystery, suspense, thriller and horror. Anything in this word count won't scare off any agent anywhere.

Now, speaking broadly, you can have as few as 71,000 words and as many as 109,000 words. That is the total range. When it dips below 80K, it might be perceived as too short—not giving the reader enough. It seems as though going over 100K is all right, but not by much. I suggest stopping at 109K because just the mental hurdle to jump concerning 110K is just another thing you don't want going against you. And, as agent Rachelle Gardner pointed out when discussing word count, over 110K is defined as "epic or saga." Chances are your cozy mystery or literary novel is not an epic. Rachelle also mentions that passing 100K in word count means it's a more expensive book to produce—hence agents' and editors' aversion to such lengths.

In short:
80,000 - 89,999: Totally cool
90,000 - 99,999: Generally safe
70,000 - 79,999: Might be too short; probably all right
100,000 - 109,999: Might be too long; probably all right
Below 70,000: Too short
110,000 or above Too long
Chick lit falls into this realm, but chick lit books tend to be a bit shorter and faster. 70-75K is not bad at all.

SCI-FI AND FANTASY
Science fiction and fantasy are the big exceptions because these categories tend to run long. It has to do with all the descriptions and world-building in the writing.

With these genres, I would say 100,000 - 115,000 is an excellent range. It's six-figures long, but not real long. The thing is: Writers tend to know that these categories run long so they make them run really long and hurt their chances. There's nothing wrong with keeping it short (say, 105K) in these areas. It shows that you can whittle your work down.

Outside of that, I would say 90K-100K is most likely all right, and 115-124K is probably all right, too. That said, try to keep it in the ideal range.

MIDDLE GRADE
Middle grade is from 20,000 - 45,000, depending on the subject matter and age range. When writing a longer book that is aimed at 12-year-olds (and could maybe be considered "tween"), using the term "upper middle grade" is advisable. With upper middle grade, you can aim for 32,000 - 40,000 words. These are books that resemble young adult in matter and storytelling, but still tend to stick to MG themes and avoid hot-button, YA-acceptable themes such as sex, drugs and rock & roll. You can stray a little over here but not much.

With a simpler middle grade idea (Football Hero or Jenny Jones and the Cupcake Mystery), aim lower. Shoot for 20,000 - 30,000 words.

YOUNG ADULT
Perhaps more than any other, YA is the one category where word count is very flexible.
For starters, 55,000 - 69,999 is a great range.
The word round the agent blogosphere is that these books tend to trending longer, saying that you can top in the 80Ks. However, this progression is still in motion and, personally, I'm not sure about this. I would say you're playing with fire the higher you go. When it gets into the 70s, you may be all right—but you have to have a reason for going that high. Again, higher word counts usually mean that the writer does not know how to edit themselves.

A good reason to have a longer YA novel that tops out at the high end of the scale is if it's science fiction or fantasy. Once again, these categories are expected to be a little longer because of the world-building.

Concerning the low end, below 55K could be all right but I wouldn't drop much below about 47K.

PICTURE BOOKS
The standard is text for 32 pages. That might mean one line per page, or more. 500-600 words is a good number to aim for. When it gets closer to 1,000, editors and agents may shy away.

MEMOIR
Memoir is the same as a novel and that means you're aiming for 80,000-89,999. However, keep in mind when we talked about how people don't know how to edit their work. This is specially true in memoir, I've found, because people tend to write everything about their life—because it all really happened.

Coming in a bit low (70-79K) is not a terrible thing, as it shows you know how to focus on the most interesting parts of your life and avoid a Bill-Clinton-esque tome-length book. At the same time, you may want to consider the high end of memoir at 99,999. Again, it's a mental thing seeing a six-figure length memoir.

A Character We All Love to Hate

2010-10-19T20:05:00.001-04:00

Who says villains only belong in mystery thrillers? Remember Mr. Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights? He’s the type of character we love to hate. He was not your typical villain but he had some rogue traits (for some he's the Byronic hero, for some the hero, take your pick). Your villain can be smooth or despicable or both. This character can be anything…he/she just has to be credible. As writers, we have a responsibility to our readers: create believable characters.

Hallie Ephron says, “Create a villain that captures the imagination of your readers and challenges your main character throughout your novel by using these three techniques.” On July 12, 2010, the Writer’s Digest published Ephron’s article titled “3 Techniques for Crafting a Better Villain”.

TAKE THE TIME TO PLAN AHEAD
Some writers know right from the get-go which character is guilty. They start with the completed puzzle and work their way backward, shaping the story pieces and fitting them together. Others happily write without knowing whodunit until the scene when the villain is actually unmasked. Then they rewrite, cleaning up the trail of red herrings and establishing the clues that make the solution work. Thus, having a plan up front can save a whole lot of rewriting in what should be the home stretch.

CREATE A VILLAIN WORTH PURSUING
You can’t just throw all your suspects’ names into a bowl and pick one to be your villain. For your novel to work, the villain must be special. Your sleuth deserves a worthy adversary—a smart, wily, dangerous creature who tests your protagonist’s courage and prowess. Stupid, bumbling characters are good for comic relief, but they make lousy villains. The smarter, more invincible the villain, the harder your protagonist must work to find his vulnerability and the greater the achievement in bringing him to justice.

Must the villain be loathsome? Not at all. He can be chilling but charming, like Hannibal Lecter. Thoroughly evil? It’s better when the reader can muster a little sympathy for a complex, realistic character who feels her crimes are justified.

So, in planning, try to wrap your arms around why your villain does what he does. What motivates him to kill? Consider the standard motives like greed, jealousy or hatred. Then go a step further. Get inside your villain’s head and see the crime from his perspective. What looks to law enforcement like a murder motivated by greed may, to the perpetrator, be an act in the service of a noble, even heroic cause.

Here’s how a villain might justify a crime:
• Righting a prior wrong
• Revenge (the victim deserved to die)
• Vigilante justice (the justice system didn’t work)
• Protecting a loved one
• Restoring order to the world.

Finally, think about what happened to make that character the way she is. Was she born bad, or turned sour as a result of some early experience? If your villain has a grudge against society, why? If she can’t tolerate being jilted, why? You may never share your villain’s life story with your reader, but to make a complex, interesting villain, you need to know. By understanding how the villain justifies the crimes to himself, and what events in his life triggered these crimes, you give yourself the material you need to get past a black-hatted caricature and paint your villain in shades of gray.

MAKE THE CRIME FIT THE VILLAIN
There are many ways to kill off a character. You can have him shot, stabbed, poisoned or pushed off a cliff. You can have him run over by a car or bashed in the head with a fireplace poker. You get the picture.

The first issue to consider is: Would your villain have the expertise and capability to commit this particular crime you’ve conceived for him?

Here’s an example: Suppose there’s a novel about a surgeon who, up to Page 302, has been the soul of buttoned-down respectability. Suddenly, on Page 303, he leaps from a hospital laundry bin and mows down his rival for hospital director with machine-gun fire. Never mind that up to this point in the novel the guy has done nothing more than attend board meetings, get drunk and obnoxious at a cocktail party, and perform heart surgery. Now suddenly he’s The Terminator? The behavior doesn’t fit the character. If he stabbed, poisoned or pushed his rival off the hospital roof, the reader might swallow it. The author might get away (barely) with the shooting if hints were dropped earlier that this surgeon once served in military special forces.

Choose a modus operandi that your villain (and all your suspects) might plausibly adopt, and establish that your villain has the capability and expertise required. A murder by strangling, stabbing or beating is more plausible if your villain is strong and has a history of physical violence. If your villain plants an electronically activated plastic explosive device, be prepared to show how he learned to make a sophisticated bomb and how he got access to the components. If a woman shoots her husband with a .45 automatic, be prepared to show how she learned to use firearms and that she’s strong enough to handle the recoil of a .45.

The second issue to consider: Is the rage factor appropriate for the character’s motivation? The more extreme the violence, the more likely the crime is to be fueled by hatred and rage. A robber shoots a victim once; an enraged husband pumps bullets into the man who raped his wife until the ammunition runs out. A villain may administer a quick-working deadly poison to a victim he wants out of the way, but a villain who loathes his victim might pick a poison that’s slow and painful—and hang around to watch.
Adjust the violence quotient to match the amount of rage your villain has toward her victim.

Do you create likeable or despicable villains?

Top 10 Productivity Pitfalls for Writers to Avoid

2010-10-15T12:34:00.001-04:00

Happy Friday, fellow bloggers!
I hope you had a productive writing week. Today I'm recycling a helpful article I found from Pushcart Prize nominee, author and poet, Sage Cohen. She writes the following:

When you find time to write, you want to make sure you’re making the most of whatever time you have. With that in mind, here are Sage Cohen's productivity pitfalls you should avoid.

The top 10 productivity pitfalls you should avoid:
1. Unclear big-picture vision. Without an idea of where you’re headed, it will be impossible to set realistic goals and measure your progress along the way.
2. Lack of short-term goals. You can’t hit a target you can’t see. Knowing your daily, weekly, monthly and annual goals (both practical and aspirational) can help you keep moving in the right direction.
3. Fear. Risk is the hinge on which productivity turns; if we aren’t in danger of failing, we aren’t growing. When we let fear prevent us from taking steps that could bring our writing dreams closer, we limit our opportunities to succeed.
4. Trying to force productivity. Understanding your writing rhythms and honoring them is the key to finding and sustaining a flow you can count on.
5. Shabby systems. If you can’t find the latest draft of your essay, can’t keep track of what you’ve pitched and to whom, and don’t remember that great idea you had last week, you’re limiting yourself needlessly.
6. Lack of awareness about time: If you’re not aware of how you’re spending time, what your time is worth, how you might devote more time to writing, or what you intend to accomplish in each chunk of writing time you do have, you’re not maximizing this most precious resource.
7. Transition turbulence. Work to establish rhythms for everything from sitting down to the blank page to completing a writing session, so that shifts from one project to the next don’t leave you in a lull.
8. Perfectionism. If you wait for your work to be perfect, it (and you) may never leave your desk. Focus, instead, on professionalism—doing the best you can, learning along the way, and understanding that mistakes and failures feed every success.
9. Isolation. Without a social, professional and community context, we’re far more likely to get discouraged, lose our way and miss out on opportunities.
10. Negativity. It’s easy to focus on the negative in writing and in life. But when we turn our attention to what’s working and what we appreciate from moment to moment, our sails turn into the wind.

The Versatile Blogger

2010-10-12T21:58:00.003-04:00

Another blog award, yaayyy!!! I can easily get used to this. ;)
Thank you to my fellow blogger, Joanna St. James who blogs at Joanna St. James-Bionic Writer. She was kind to pass on the torch to me.

Now, I'm supposed to follow some rules when accepting this award.

Award Rules:
1. Thank the person who gave you this award and provide a link to their blog
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 5 other bloggers whom you have recently discovered and whose blogs you think are fantastically versatile/ resourceful/functional/adaptable.
4. Contact those bloggers you’ve picked and let them know about their award.

Seven things about myself:
1) I love writing short stories.
2) I would love to appear in either The Colbert Report or The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to talk about my book (when it gets published, of course). :))
3) I have a great sense of humor (even though my blog is kind of serious).
4) I am a vegetarian.
5) I love animals.
6) I love traveling.
7) I still believe in the goodness of humanity (in spite of what I see in the news).

The Five Recipients of the Versatile Blogger Award are:
1) Sharon Mayhew at Random Thoughts
2) Doris Plaster at Hold my Hand
3) Cathy Bueti at Artsy Butterfly
4) Old Kitty at Ten Lives and Second Chances
5) Kelly Howarth at One Word Pundit

There are so many wonderful blogs out there but I can only list five. Next time!
In the meantime, please visit these wonderful and inspiring blogs. Enjoy!

Choosing a Point of View

2010-10-09T19:29:00.004-04:00

How do you know which POV works best for your story?

I’m revisiting four short stories I wrote a while ago. I thought they only needed a little tweaking. Boy was I wrong! I asked my mentor to read them and give me his overall impressions. Although they're somewhat tight, he said they could be tighter if I change the POV of two of my stories.

He said, “When it comes to POV, it all depends on what you're trying to do with your story. If your story relies on bringing out the internal states of a character, how that character is feeling, what she is thinking, etc., then a first-person POV usually works best. If the story depends on a more objective outlook and/or on more than one character's way of looking at and doing things, then a third-person POV (omniscient) is usually best.”

When you begin to write a story, whether a short story or a novel, you first need to know from which point of view the story will be told. You can always change this once the story is written or just doesn’t work out the way you had intended, but it’s best to plan from the beginning.

No set rule for points of view applies when writing. A writer usually sticks to the POV that feels comfortable. If you are a beginning writer, try writing several paragraphs, including dialogue, from each POV. You will know immediately what feels right for your way of storytelling.

Have you experienced POV confusion? Do you know from the get go which POV will work best for your story or novel?

Word on the Street

2010-10-06T20:05:00.004-04:00

On September 26, 2010, I attended the 21st Word on the Street Book and Magazine Festival in Toronto, the largest festival of its kind in Canada. Every year the festival showcases the best in Canadian writing, while offering diversity for every literary taste. This year the festival, which took place in Queen’s Park, added three new publishing houses: Random House of Canada Ltd. with McClelland & Stewart, and Penguin Group (Canada).

The festival invited special guests such as best-selling Canadian author and Man Booker Prize winner, Yann Martel (Life of Pi). He was the festival headliner on the Scotiabank Giller Prize Bestseller Stage to present his newest novel, Beatrice & Virgil.

The tents were crowded with people of every age and nationality. I volunteered at the Guernica Editions tent. This Toronto-based publishing house publishes books in English, French, and Italian. Guernica publishes poetry, anthologies of short stories, essays, and literary fiction. I couldn’t resist, so I bought seven books at amazing prices. It was a pleasure meeting a couple of authors who have published with Guernica Editions. Poet Karen Shenfeld is launching her latest book, My Father’s Hands Spoke in Yiddish, on October 17, 2010, and Elana Wolff’s recent collection of short essays on contemporary poems, titled Implicate Me, was released this year.

Many book aficionados came to the Guernica tent because they knew Karen and Elana, having read their work.

Being surrounded by books, authors, and nature on a sunny autumn day was a wonderful experience!

Your Manuscript: Nine Rules to Follow

2010-09-29T16:53:00.001-04:00

It's been two crazy weeks! Work, projects, and a few curve balls life threw at me have interrupted my writing and my blogging :(

Don't you just hate it when your writing takes the backseat?

I promise to fill you in regarding my trip to Toronto for the Word on the Street Book Festival. In the meantime, I will share these nine pointers I got from the Writer's Digest on September 28, 2010.

Here’s editor Anica Mrose Rissi’s list of what you can do to increase your book’s chances of making it out of the slush pile and into the spotlight.

1. Revise, revise, revise! I don’t want to read your first draft, ever. (Tip: Your novel isn’t ready to send to me until you can describe it in one sentence.)
2. Start with conflict and tension to raise questions, arouse curiosity and (like musical dissonance) create the need for resolution.
3. Start with the story you’re telling, not with the back story. Throw the reader directly into a conflict and let her get to know your characters through their actions. (Yes, this is another way of saying, “Show, don’t tell.”)
4. Give the reader something to wonder about and a sense of where the story is going—of what’s at stake.
5. Avoid explaining too much too soon. And, don’t be obvious. Trust your readers. Trust your characters. Trust your writing. If you find that chunks of your story need to include long explanations, go back in and write those chunks better, until the story explains itself.
6. Make sure your story has both a plot arc and an emotional arc. Cross internal conflict with external conflict. Give your characters moral dilemmas, and force them to deal with the consequences of their choices.
7. Read your dialogue out loud. When revising, ask yourself, “What is the point of this dialogue?” (Just as you should be asking, “What is the point of this sentence? What is the point of this scene?”)
8. Use adjectives, adverbs and dialogue tags only sparingly. (See “trust your readers,” above.)
9. Make sure your details matter.

LEARNING FROM FAILURE

2010-09-24T21:05:00.000-04:00

While reading some blogs last week, I noticed that two of them mentioned the word failure. An author even asked if not sticking to a goal was a failure. Sometimes we focus too much on this word, thus we forget the end result.

I’ll share an excerpt from the Media Education Foundation transcript, an interview with Peter Elbow, Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Massachusetts. This is what he said about failure:

During that whole time, I was worried about my writing and I kept a kind of a journal. I kept taking notes. I kept writing myself letters about what was going on my writing, especially when things got tricky, when I got stuck, when I wandered into a swamp in my writing and I couldn't figure out how to get going again. I would take out a separate piece of paper and write myself a note. Not a pep talk but an attempt to be perfectly empirical. What happened? When did I first start getting stuck? What led to that? Can I figure out what train of thought got me down a blind alley? What was going on with my language? What was going on with my thinking? What was going on with my feelings? And when I got going again I would try to remember to and write myself another note, how did I get out of here? What was the turning point? Was there something I did that helped me get out of this stuck point? Well I wrote myself those notes for three years and kept slipping them in a folder until that folder got to be very fat and full of notes some of them written on the back of envelopes, but I was getting very interested in what was in there. I didn't have much time to explore it, but that folder of notes to myself is what turned into my first book about writing and turned into my first study of the writing process.

Dr. Elbow’s first book on writing was entitled Writing without Teachers. He is also the author of four other books on writing and the writing process.

Ten Changes in Publishing since 2000

2010-09-21T19:44:00.002-04:00

Dear writers, readers, fellow bloggers, and everyone in between:
As you already know, my blog is dedicated to giving tips and advice based on my own experience in the writing and publishing industry. I also like doing some research and sharing pertinent articles with you. Well, my latest post is the case. I did some digging and found this great article in the Writer's Digest regarding the changes the publishing industry has gone through.

When WritersMarket.com started in 2000, the writing industry was different. You'd search the web (on dial-up connections) for new results about your favorite publishers or agencies. The term social media didn't exist - Facebook didn't even start until 2003. Here are a few other things that have changed since WritersMarket.com launched 10 years ago:

1. Many publications and publishers accept electronic submissions, whether via e-mail or online submission forms.
2. More than ever, writers have to brand themselves.
3. Writers must do the work of marketing and promoting themselves to agents, editors, publishers, and--ultimately--readers. (Wondering how? We recommend Get Known before the Book Deal.)
4. Personal sites and blogs have made it easier than ever for writers to develop an audience.
5. Ad-based print resources (i.e., Magazines and Newspapers) have struggled to adjust to the Internet with new content strategies and pricing models. (Market Watch, exclusively for WritersMarket.com subscribers gives you insight on the latest changes.)
6. Due to the tough economic times, publications are relying more and more on freelancers. (With over 8000 listings, WritersMarket.com can help you find these opportunities.)
7. The proliferation of online content has opened up more opportunities than ever for writers from all backgrounds.
8. There are more online tools than ever to help writers research and write more efficiently and knowledgeably.
9. Social media offers easy and ground-breaking ways to network with publishing professionals, other writers, and potential interviewees. (If you're not already a member, join the Writer's Digest Community. You'll become a part of a supportive and creative community dedicated to the art and craft of writing.)
10. Businesses and organizations now rely on great content to attract new customers, sell products, and spread important messages--the trend of content marketing. (Wonder how much you should charge for this content? The "How Much Should I Charge? Rate Card" gives you answers!)

One thing hasn't changed: Great writing is always in demand. You can use WritersMarket.com to find those opportunities.

Seven Secrets to Getting into Libraries

2010-09-16T12:41:00.000-04:00

Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free e-zine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com

In an economically challenged climate guess what starts to soar? Libraries. The library market is strong and getting stronger. If you haven't made libraries part of your target market you should. And despite all the book buzz online, it's still nice to get your book onto a library shelf. For most of us, this seems like an exclusive right devoted to an exclusive group of best-selling authors. While some piece of this is true, the reality is that if you have a good book, you can get into the library system. Here's how.

First, why would you care about hitting the library market? Because in a slow book sales season, as we've seen in the past few months, libraries are a great way to get to your reader.

1. What they buy: Each library gets a budget and they can spend it any way they want. Unlike Barnes and Noble, where their book purchases are often dictated by publishers or a sales order from their corporate office, libraries operate independently of each other. Libraries will generally buy hardback and trade books and tend to shy away from mass market paperbacks, but if you're in the latter category, don't let this deter you. There's still a lot of wiggle room when it comes to library orders and a few creative ways to get into their system.

2. Getting to know your local library: If you want to get into your local library it's important to get to know them, so dust off your library card, stop by and introduce yourself. Get to know who you're selling to.

3. Library websites: If your local library has a website, see if there's a place to make book recommendations. If you have local fans, encourage them to do the same on their library websites.

4. Library events: If you've been trying to get into your local bookstore to do an event but haven't gotten much traction, why not consider doing a library event (or two)? It's a great way to get "into" your local library, become acquainted with them, meet your local readers, and well, you know - get more exposure for your book. Many libraries also have reading groups that you might be able to participate in.

5. Reviews: Most libraries look to review sources for their selections as well. Consider submitting your book to the following publications for review: Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, and Forecast. These publications are largely ready by libraries and often librarians will buy based on a good review in one of these publications. You don't need to get reviews in all of them (though wouldn't that be great?) - getting a review in one of them should be more than sufficient to catch the eye of a ready-to-buy librarian.

6. Popularity: Librarians like to stock what's popular, even locally. So if you're doing a lot of local events, talks, or speaking gigs, make sure and let your local libraries know. Also, if you're going to do TV or radio be sure and alert your library, thus giving them sufficient time to order the book.

7. Distribution: It's important to know how libraries get the titles they stock. First off you'll need to get the right distributor for your book. Both Quality Books and Unique Books have programs that can help you access the library market.

Quality Books Inc. http://www.quality-books.com/

Unique Books Inc. http://www.uniquebooksinc.com/

Baker & Taylor: http://www.baker-taylor.com/ (technically they are a wholesaler but can also help you access the library market)

There's also a nifty little site that will help you locate libraries in your neighborhood and around the world: http://www.libdex.com (libraries worldwide)

Libraries might not seem as "glamorous" as the store window of Barnes and Noble, but libraries have considerably more staying power. Once your book is in their system it's in there for as long as your book is in print and the library sees there are readers for it. Also, consider the reorders as your local library will (hopefully) bring in more than one copy. Libraries are a not-to-be-overlooked part of your marketing campaign, and if you missed the review window, don't fret. You might still be able to gain some interest via events and local popularity!

Get out there and promote yourself!

2010-09-13T19:07:00.003-04:00

As you already know, writing is only a small part (and the best part) of being writer. Published authors will tell you that you have to do the legwork if you want get published. I decided to write this after a friend asked me to be her agent. I was flattered of course, because that showed her confidence in me. At the same time, it reminded me about the importance of networking.

I’d like to remind aspiring/emerging writers that being a bit more aggressive (audacious) will get you a mile further in your writing career. I’ve known some emerging writers whose writing can lead them to a brilliant career as authors. However, they are shrinking violets. Have you ever seen a shy politician? My point exactly! I’m not saying you should be a braggart or a kowtower; instead be a writer with good public relations (P.R.) skills.

Let me give you the perfect example. Recently, a former mentor and published author (let’s call him Matt) told me he met an emerging writer (let’s call him John) at a literary event. After being introduced, they both talked about their work. John expressed his passion for fiction and poetry. Matt’s curiosity was piqued and immediately asked John to email him a couple of poems. Matt was impressed with the poems and deemed them worthy of publication. The result: Matt asked his publisher if he could also include John’s poems in the anthology where Matt’s work was to appear.

So next time you feel like hiding under a rock at a literary function, think of my tips for Public Relations 101:

• Attend literary events every chance and go out of your way to introduce yourself.

• Participate in writing workshops.

• Befriend your mentors.

• Keep in touch with the people you meet at events, workshops, readings, etc. (they may know an agent or publisher).

• Talk about your work without being arrogant.

• Most importantly, never, never, badmouth or gossip about your peers or mentors. It’s unprofessional and it can only jeopardize your writing career.

• Promote yourself using the available tools such as a business card or press release.

• Remember the importance of an online presence for public relations—a web site, a blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.

What P.R. skills do you find work for you?

Paperback, Hardcover, or eBook?

2010-09-09T11:18:00.002-04:00

When it comes to books, I'm an old-fashioned gal. I like to flip the pages when I'm reading. I like the smell and feel of the book. I know some people love e-books for their convenience and price. I was surprised to learn that a lot of people still love paperbacks. I read in Publishers Weekly that Barnes & Noble recommends paperbacks. Read the article below from September 7, 2010.

Starting this month Barnes & Noble is extending its B&N Recommends program (www.bn.com/recommends), which it launched four years ago for bestselling hardcovers like Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows’s Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, to include trade paperbacks.

“Trade paperbacks are the format of choice for many of our bookstore customers,” said Patricia Bostelman, v-p of marketing for B & N, “and we’re excited to be able to expand the Recommends program and suggest great titles selected by our knowledgeable and passionate booksellers.”

Each month buyers will choose two paperbacks, either reprints or originals, one in fiction and one in nonfiction, which will be featured in B&N stores across the country. The September selections, on sale today, are: Jeannette Walls’s Half Broke Horses and Sue Monk Kidd’s Traveling With Pomegranates.

What about you? Which one do you prefer?

Short and Sweet

2010-09-06T21:57:00.001-04:00

It's Labor Day, yet I have a pile of papers on my desk. Nevertheless, I still owe it to my fellow readers to write a new post every so often. I'll keep it short and sweet with this helpful article from G. Miki Hayden that appeared on the Writer's Digest on September 3, 2010.

Half the difference between what works and what doesn’t in fiction has to do with how the words are phrased. If you want to be a polished writer, remember these rules for smoother and more powerful writing.

1. Use appropriate and frequent paragraph breaks.
Readers want breaks. That’s why text is divided into paragraphs to begin with. A skillful writer can always find a spot to put in a hard return. If you can't, look again; you can so.

2. Use only one name for a character.
If the character, Ron Carpenter, is a doorman, call him either Ron or Carpenter, but not both. And be careful about referring to him as ''the doorman.'' Although that seems like a good substitute for the name that has been repeated so often, unless his occupation is more than clear, the alternation between name and job title can be confusing.

3. Choose entirely distinct character names.
Don’t name your two lead characters Stan and Steve. Sure the names are different, but readers can’t always track that fact—especially when they pick up the book three days later to read again.

4. Don’t use slang unless you clarify it.
I’m pretty well-read but when I came across the phrase "seven deadliest" with the assertion that they built to felonies, I thought this was a special law-enforcement phrase and not a way of referring to the Seven Deadly Sins.

5. Limit your use of possibly offensive language.
Reasons exist for characters to swear. But remember that, nowadays, most books are bought by women and many women don’t like swearing for the sake of swearing (even in gritty or naturalistic novels).

Do you have a special method to polish your fiction?

Is your prose too “pretty” for your readers?

2010-09-02T14:51:00.001-04:00

Last night I met with a friend to discuss the story she’s recently written. We talked about how the misuse of adjectives and adverbs can affect our prose in a negative way. Lucky for me, I kept an article from William Noble, author of Noble’s Book of Writing Blunders (2006). Below you’ll read the abridged version of his article originally published on July 4, 2010 in the Writer’s Digest.

Learn how adjective and adverbs create redundancy and promote lazy writing and see how you can make your writing direct, vivid, and descriptive without making your readers want to get rid of your book.

Raymond Carver acquired a reputation as a short story master due to his attention to detail. Rarely, if ever, was a word or a series of words purposeless and uncertain. His prose was tight and emphatic, and his phrases never dangled or were superfluous. His craftsmanship honed his work to its essence. There aren’t many Raymond Carvers in this world, but each of us can learn some important things from the way he approached his writing. Sentence structure and punctuation were crucial, the proper word was essential, and what was omitted as important as what was inserted.

This brings us to adverbs and adjectives. Clearly, Carver would cast a suspicious eye on these forms of speech because many times they add little to what is already on the page. Frequently, they are not important, and in a short story, that means they have no business there.

Many inexperienced writers throw in “pretty” words to make their prose more dramatic and meaningful. But such cosmetic touch-up often turns out to be redundant or simply uninspiring. Take adverbs such as “lovingly” or “speedily” or “haltingly.” They each point to some circumstance or emotion or movement, yet do they offer solid impact? He whispered to her lovingly… She zoomed around the oval speedily… He stuttered haltingly…

In the last two instances, the verbs themselves provide the acting and the emotion in the sentences; the adverbs merely underscore what the verb has already described. Is it possible to “zoom” without doing so speedily … or to “stutter” without doing it in halting fashion? These are redundancies, and they do little for the prose except to give it an awkward cast.

The stone sank quickly… The fire truck bell clanged loudly… How else would a stone sink but quickly? How else would a fire truck bell clang but loudly? The key is to gauge the relationship of the adverb and the verb it modifies: Are they saying essentially the same thing? If so, there is a redundancy, and the adverb should come out—fast!

It isn’t only redundancies that adverbs can generate. They also encourage lazy writing. Take the earlier example, “he whispered to her lovingly …” I suppose he could whisper many things, including words, which are loving, but somehow the adverbial tail seems a lazy way out. By using “lovingly” the writer is really—and we’ve heard this before—telling instead of showing. Far more dramatic would be to write:

He whispered words of love … my sweet, dear lover, my angel … he purred his contentment, his joy …

No adverb here, and the drama is enhanced. I’ve shown those things that he whispered lovingly, and the reader has to be more involved in the story.

It has become a cliché to use the adverbial tail time and time again. In addition to minimizing the dramatic effect of the action, it grinds on the reader’s ear (remember, readers “hear” as well as read). All those words ending in “-ly,” not doing much for the sentence, not creating much of a word picture … Who could blame readers for wondering why the words were there in the first place?

And who could blame these same readers for laying the book aside? “Most adverbs,” says William Zinsser, “are unnecessary.” He’s right. And when it’s important to prettify your prose, there are better ways to do it.

Are you guilty of prettifying your prose?

Does your blog represent who you are?

2010-08-29T12:12:00.003-04:00

Ah, the wonderful world of the blogosphere! You love to pour your souls on the pages of your blog. But, are you doing yourself a favor or disservice? Your blog can be seen as your public persona, a representation of your professional self. Blogs nowadays are your reputation so guard it well. If you use the blog for fun, make sure that your posts are not going to compromise your personal or professional life in any way. You often read in the newspaper about Facebook horror stories such as houses broken into, pedophiles befriending children, teens exposing themselves, and employees badmouthing their bosses just to mention a few. Like Facebook, your blog is a double-edged sword. Be mindful of what you say and how you say it. You don’t know who’s reading your blog. When in doubt, remember the Six Degrees of Separation Rule which refers to the idea that everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth, so that a chain of, "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in six steps or fewer. And with all the “followers” you have in your wonderful blog, hmm you’d better think twice before you publish the next post. Our private lives should be, well, “private.” Don’t you agree?

Is your narrative smooth sailing or failing?

2010-08-26T11:16:00.004-04:00

Last night I read part of a short story I found on a website. The story had typos, was cliché-laden, and the narrative was stagnant. This was a reminder to both my friend and me as we continue to edit each other’s work. We hate editing but after discussing how on earth this story made its way online, we definitely realize how crucial editing is.

Historical novelist, Sara Sheridan reminds us of some techniques that help the narrative of a story.

1. Think of your story as a storyboard, like a comic or graphic novel. Run through it action by action. Anything in your text that isn’t part of the storyboard simply isn’t pacey enough. If you have pages and pages of description, you’re asking a lot of your reader. They won’t stick with you. But give them something to see happening, and they’ll stay up all night with your book.

2. Consider the tone of the narrative voice of your story.
What vocabulary have you used? Ornate language can distract a reader or evoke a particular place or time, so it’s a tightrope of which you have to be aware. Also, what is the balance between prose and dialogue? To assess this, read chapter endings in isolation to check that the narrative voice is compelling. That might sound odd. After all, no one is going to only read the endings of your chapters. But this is a great way to get a sense of the narrative voice of the whole book.

3. The easiest way to improve narrative drive is to simplify your verbs as much as possible.
In English we have a huge amount of tense formations and a high proportion of irregular verbs. It’s astoundingly easy to use three or four words where one will do. Keep it simple—make every word count. Stick to the simple present, past, and future where possible. If you can write in the present tense your prose will have especial immediacy.

3a. Be very careful of deluging your reader with adjectives.
It is far more evocative to use the action to create a description and a reader, in any case, can only process so much description at once. Choose your adjectives carefully and use them sparingly.

4. Editing.
Unlike writing itself, publication is a team activity. You have to edit. I have learned more from working with editors than from reading or going to any kind of course. There is a sense in which the act of writing the book often makes you less able to comprehensively edit it. Novice writers are often ambivalent about editors, and think their book is perfect. No one’s book is perfect. I’d say that it’s absolutely worth getting an appraisal from a professional editor. However painful it’s going to be, ask for any criticism, and ask about suggested changes to narrative drive specifically. Your book won’t sell without it!

Does your narrative have what it takes? Ask fellow writers and friends and when in doubt, hire a professional editor. I have! Boy, did I learn tons in the process.

Original article appears as a guest post in the Writer’s Digest on August 17, 2010.

Make your writing a fun workout!

2010-08-23T16:06:00.001-04:00

Today was Writing Day for me. After a two-week hiatus, my hand was a slug, dragging the pen over the paper leaving a blue trace of nonsense. This is the reason my fellow writers and I meet twice a month. It helps us get our creative juices flowing. As I’ve written in my previous posts, my writing group is my fun workout (No dumbbells involved!). Today we had three writing prompts and we chose two. We timed ourselves: fifteen minutes max. We read the stories out loud and gave each other feedback. Then we repeated the process with another prompt. This served as our warm up and, boy were we ready! The rest of our meeting was used to continue our work in progress.

Fellow writers you can have fun doing this exercise even long distance. One of my best friends who’s an aspiring writer asked me for writing prompts. I told her I’d include her in today’s Writing Day group even if she lives in the US. Well, it worked! She sent me her work via email. I printed copies of her story for my group to read and we later gave her feedback.

So, because we had so much fun doing it together, why not let you in the fun as well. I’ll share with you the three prompts we used. Choose one and give yourself fifteen minutes (No cheating!). You’ll be amazed at your own creativity. Remember: Absolutely NO editing!

I want to hear from you. Everything! Let me know if this was a good exercise, if it was fun, and if it gave you energy to write some more (e.g. your WIP).

Writing Prompts:
• Write a story about an empty glass.
• Write about the color of hunger.
• Write from the point of view of a clean sock that was mistakenly placed in the hamper.

HAVE FUN!

Do you research your facts?

2010-08-20T13:01:00.003-04:00

A fellow writer asked me to read one of her short stories. She told me she was having a hard time finishing this one because she needed to do a lot of research on the topic (one that she is not familiar with). Like her, I find myself in the same predicament. My latest tale involves some medical terminology and illness that I have little knowledge of.
I was lucky to find “Three Strategies for Solid Research,” an article by bestselling novelist, Gayle Lynds. She says that before you can incorporate your research into your writing, you first need to be as smart as possible about the research itself. Ms. Lynds reminds us of the following research strategies:

1. Develop a system for tracking your legwork. “Take a digital camera with you, photograph everything, dictate notes … never lose anything. Never lose anything,” says David Hewson, international bestselling author of the Nic Costa thrillers. “I keep a journal on every book I’m writing that notes down ideas, locations, characters, themes—and I keep a running diary on the book as I’m writing it. This is separate from the draft, so it acts as a left-brain perspective on the whole exercise.”

2. Get in the habit of vetting your research as you go—particularly research conducted online. Verify facts from multiple reputable sources before you record them. This way, you’ll already know that all your notes are accurate when it comes time to incorporate them into your work.

3. Be wary of cutting and pasting research nuggets directly into your manuscript. You don’t want to become guilty of plagiarism by letting someone else’s words get inadvertently mixed in with your own. If you do feel the need to paste in a block of research while you’re writing, be sure to highlight the copied text in a different color so you can go back and remove or rewrite it entirely later.

(Article reprinted from the Writer's Digest, July 20, 2010)

THE RESULTS ARE IN: The winner of the Summer Writing Contest is…

2010-08-18T19:53:00.001-04:00

I would like to thank all participants in this year’s Summer Writing Contest. Since this was a privately organized contest, there was no monetary compensation. However, the prize was a great opportunity to work with Canadian author and poet, Michael Mirolla who’s also editor-in-chief and publisher of Guernica Editions. He was kind enough to donate his valuable time to work alongside the winner.

The contest was a great success and some emerging writers have asked me if I’m having another one in the fall. I am working out details with possible sponsors in order to have cash prizes. I’ll keep you posted so keep reading my blog.

The winners were chosen by author Michael Mirolla.
1) First Prize Winner: “A Walk in the Snow” by Colette Vidal
2) Second Prize Winner: “Brian’s History” by Dan Saragosti
3) Third Prize Winner: “Garbage Day” by Marijke Vander Klok

Although there were a lot of good stories, we could only choose the best three. Thanks for your submissions and keep writing!

And the Award Goes to...

2010-08-16T12:55:00.003-04:00

Another blog review under my belt and I want to return the favor to my fellow bloggers. Ms. C was very kind to award me with The Versatile Blogger Award. Thanks Ms. C! (To visit her blog, click here)

There are 4 rules that come with the award:
1 - thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them when creating the award post
2 - share seven things about yourself
3 - pass the award on to 15 recently discovered blogs
4 - contact the bloggers to let them know about the award

Seven facts about myself and they’re in no particular order (almost):
1) I love animals
2) I am a vegetarian
3) I love traveling (I want to be fair here to all the countries I’ve visited, so I’ll keep my favorite destination(s) a secret)
4) Writing has become my second passion
5) Blogging has become an addiction (LOL!)
6) I’m a social butterfly
7) I have a fascination for foreign languages
I've chosen 7 of my favorite bloggers for this award based on the quality and message of their blogs (it was really difficult for me to choose as I like a slew of blogs out there). For those I have listed, please don't feel obligated to follow up on the rules of the award. By the way, the nominees are in no particular order.

Drum roll please!

1) One Word Pundit, for her inspirational posts.
2) The Giraffability of Digressions, for her quirky posts, keen observations on everyday life, and for her love of giraffes.
3) Writers in the Sky Podcast, for her professionalism and willingness to help other writers.
4) Artsy Butterfly, for her lovely posts, photographs, and creativity.
5) NouveauWriter, for her insightful posts.
6) Thomasinatafur, for her dedication to helping businesswomen.
7) Metamorphosis, for her positive attitude and creative soul.

Please click on each of their names in order to visit their blogs. Congratulations to the winners!

Myths and lies that can turn into a horror story

2010-08-13T12:02:00.001-04:00

It’s Friday the 13th and it’s a lucky day for us writers! That’s right! We’re lucky to get great tips from Matt Mikalatos, freelancer and author of the novel Imaginary Jesus (BarnaBooks, 2010). For those unpublished writers out there, forget 13 is an unlucky number. I say 5 will be your unlucky number if you don’t follow Mikalatos’ advice.

Mikalatos says that writers tend to be creative in many areas of life, so it's no surprise that they can get creative with the truth. Here are 5 lies unpublished writers tell themselves and the truths that can get them published.

1. THE RULES DON'T APPLY TO ME.
I write amazing first drafts. If there were a contest for first drafts, mine would win every time. So I told myself, "Writing is not rewriting." Other people might have to do multiple drafts, but my first drafts are so solid I could publish them as-is. For years I believed this. So if there are some rules that you think don't apply to you, think again. It might be the rule preventing you from getting published.

2. AGENTS AND EDITORS HAVE IT IN FOR ME.
Ah, those blood-sucking agents and editors. I'm pretty sure they have meetings in a secret underground lair where they talk about how jealous they are of my writing skills and how they should team up to keep me from being published. If you're getting rejected it's because you still have work to do either as a writer or as a marketer.

3. I'M NOT A MARKETER, I'M A WRITER!
Which is exactly why you aren't published yet. You have to do the hard work of writing a spectacular query and proposal. Notice that you have to "write" the query and proposal. You're not being asked to do an interpretive dance or draft blueprints to a rocket ship. It might not be your style, and it might be hard work, but being a published author is hard work, complete with e-mails you don't want to answer, deadlines, accounting and marketing!

4. I SHOULD SPEND A LOT OF TIME FANTASIZING OVER WHERE I WILL BE PUBLISHED NOW THAT I'VE WRITTEN TWO CHAPTERS OF MY NOVEL.
It is way more fun to read Writer's Market over and over—memorizing the publishers and agents—than it is to write your book. And while this is good practice for when your book is ready to shop, if the fantasy-to-writing ratio tips toward fantasy, it's time to get back to writing. Unless you are writing a fantasy, in which case you are probably fine and keep up the good work.

5. I'M A BETTER WRITER THAN MOST PUBLISHED AUTHORS.
If you're like me, you love picking up a book from the "Top 10" rack, flipping it open and cringing at the terrible prose. But this author (who is, keep in mind, a worse writer than you) somehow got a contract, got published and is selling well. I said this most often before I had finished writing the first draft of my first novel. Perhaps it's just that the "hack writers" out there actually finish their books.

These are a few of the lies that I wish someone had confronted me with when I was an unpublished writer. Now, here's one last truth for you: You can do this. Work hard, keep writing, improve your craft and be persistent. We're all waiting to read your masterpiece!

Do you know how to approach a publisher?

2010-08-11T14:43:00.002-04:00

Last week, I talked about agents and what they look for in writers. Today, I want to mention the other important aspect of the writing industry: finding a publisher.

I decided to write about this topic when one of my friends shared that she’s just finished her YA novel (kudos to anyone who realizes this feat). Like her, some fellow bloggers have posted in their blogs that they’re fishing for publishers. So, I went fishing myself for a good article that gives us pointers on how to approach a publisher.

Lynn Serafinn, Personal Transformation Coach, Speaker, Talk Radio Host, and Author of The Garden of the Soul, wrote an article on how to approach a major publisher.

Lynn says that in her experience, there are seven main factors to consider in your decision to approach a publisher:

1. Discipline. Could you make a commitment to meet writing deadlines if given them? Have you transcended the trap of only being able to write when you are "inspired," or can you sit down and get into the groove when you need to?

2. Stylistic maturity. Is your writing style "mature" (well past the embryonic stage)? Could others easily talk about your style and your message as compared to other books? Is your style powerful and developed enough that editors would not want to change it significantly?

3. Emotionally prepared. Are you ready to "show up" as a public image? Are you ready to be seen and critiqued? Are you ready to speak transparently on a global level? Are you ready to release your vision, regardless of whether people like it or not?

4. Identity. Do you know who you are as a writer and as a person? Do you have a clear idea of your "public image" (i.e. who you are to your readers, fans and audience)? Can you stand calmly within the wisdom of your own identity when dealing with a publisher?

5. Platform. Do you have a well-established platform (i.e. a large fan base of people who know your name and your writing)? This is undoubtedly one of the major factors publishers will consider when you approach them, and something that will make it much less likely for them to try to "reshape" your image.

6. Marketing. Do you know how to reach your audience? Do you understand principles of marketing? Can you explain how you would market your book to publishers in a way that would make them say, "Hey, this one has some great ideas"?

7. Time commitment. Are you ready and able to commit LOTS of time to promoting your book? Is your life free or flexible with regards to family or other work commitments? Could you travel frequently without disrupting the rest of your life?

Lynn went on to say that speaking for herself, in 2009, when she went to publish The Garden of the Soul, she'd say she had these covered about 75 percent. But, in her opinion, 75 percent wasn't enough for her to approach a publisher at that time. Before she approached a publisher, she wanted to be able to give her full 100 percent. Then the time would be right . . . at least for her.

"When I wrote my proposal this year, I felt it to be truly a transformative process. I realized when I was writing it that I had finally reached my "100% Ready" place. I knew who I was. I felt I could write at the drop of a hat. I had a platform. I understood marketing. And most of all, I had already written my book and I completely believed in it."

"Being a self-published writer was absolutely the best thing for me when I had chosen to do so. The experience helped me develop as a person, as a writer and as a businesswoman. But now that I have firmly established my platform and really know who I am as a writer, I feel confident about making the shift to working with a publisher over the coming year. At the same time, I also have the confidence that I am able to flourish as a proud indie author, and enjoy the ride on my own as well."

"I hope you found these reflections and pointers to be of value in your own journey as an author."

“A” is for Agent: Learn the inside scoop from an agent

2010-08-06T18:14:00.007-04:00

On August 5, I interviewed Sam Hiyate, literary agent and CEO of The Rights Factory. He was kind to offer some insights into this business. Hiyate started as a book publisher and editor of a literary magazine. He did it for ten years. However, he felt he was at the wrong side of the chain. So when he became an agent, he said, “It wasn’t a big transition, really.”

Being an agent is not as stressful as some people may think. “I wouldn’t call it stressful because I enjoy what I’m doing,” he said. Hiyate added that he can manage his workload, phone calls, e-mails, and his schedule. However, the unpredictability of the business keeps him on his toes. The economy is a good example. A couple of years ago, they had a lot of deals with American authors but once the recession hit, Hiyate and his team had to redesign their market. “A good business is able to change plans accordingly. Instead of representing just books, we turned our focus to foreign rights, TV, film and books that could work in film and TV,” he explained.

Since the inception of The Rights Factory in 2004, Hiyate has worked with approximately fifty authors which most of them are established clients. The bond he developed with his authors transitioned to friendship. “In more than half of the cases, I become friends with the authors because we work and socialize together,” Hiyate said. Networking is a key factor for both the agent and the author. He explained that, “I throw a lot of parties for my authors because I want a strong community where all writers meet and get to know each other. Editors sometimes attend these parties as well as publishers and some book deals come out as a result.”

Speaking of publishers, Hiyate works equally with the Davids and Goliaths of the publishing industry. He told me, “In the US we’ve worked with Knopf which is owned by Random House. We’ve also worked with Grand Central Publishing which used to be Warner Books. In Canada we work with Penguin, HarperCollins, and Random. And internationally, we’ve worked with publishers from twenty countries.”

Writers love to translate their ideas into stories but are oblivious to what percentage of their book sales translates into earnings and expenses. Well, Hiyate clarify that for me. Agents take 15% for domestic deals (North America is considered domestic market). 20% for International deals (UK and China). And the percentage for films is between 10 and 20. This is standard for most agents.

Signing contracts and book deals is just one side of Hiyate’s job. As an agent, he also offers valuable advice to his authors. He said, “We offer advice all the time. We are their career managers.” Pay heed fellow writers as he opened the Holy Grail of Advice for writers:

CDB: What do you look for in a writer?

SH: Somebody that can take criticism and somebody that I like, that I feel I can be friends with later on.

CDB: What do you look for in a book?

SH: For fiction, two things: great writing and great story telling. I look for people who can do both. Some writers are great story tellers but are not good writers and some writers can write extremely well but cannot tell a good story. I also look for a book with a commercial side, one that would appeal to a great market including one with international appeal and possibly film rights. We might say no to a great Canadian novel due to lack of salability.

CDB: What’s your pet peeve?

SH: I don’t like it when authors tell me they have another agent, or the book will make us millionaires (it’s up to me to make the money). I don’t like it when they change from an existing agent and say ‘my agent hated the book, can you help me?’

CDB: What genre do you think sells the most in Canada?

SH: I think in Canada literary fiction is a major market. In Non-fiction anything that has to do with psychology or current affairs, and entertaining books. Poetry is very hard to make any money.

CDB: Give me three top reasons why you stop reading a manuscript that has been submitted?

SH: 1) I don’t care about the characters. I want to see them succeed whether it is a memoir or a narrative. 2) I don’t care for novel that has not enough plot to keep me interested. There has to be some complexity in the story for me to continue turning the page. It has to be engaging. 3) I don’t care for the writing. It can’t be cliché. It has to have some rhythm and it has to be polished. I also have a preference when it’s a first person narrative. I feel it’s more personal and what they’re saying it’s truer.

CDB: What advice would you give to an emerging writer who wants to publish his/her book?

SH: The biggest advice is not to submit until they’re sure it’s their best copy. After they have done a lot of editing paying attention to writing, characters, and plot (story line). I encourage people to take writing classes or to go for an MFA.

CDB: Sam, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule.

SH: No problem. It was a pleasure.

If you want to learn more about Sam Hiyate and his agency, check out The Rights Factory or you can follow them via Facebook.

Writers and their many personalities (No, it’s not MPD!)

2010-08-01T15:07:00.004-04:00

A lot of emerging writers think that being a writer only entails putting those wonderful ideas on paper. Being a writer means you have to wear different hats in the process. First and foremost, you’re a writer. After long grueling hours of editing, you learn to be an editor. Along the way you become a marketer (that’s right, you have to do a lot of PR if you want to get published), and last but not least, you discover you are a networker while at the latest schmoozer (you didn’t know you had it in you, did you?). I bet some of you developed these newly-found personalities simultaneously without even realizing it. Don’t worry you’re not suffering from multiple personality disorder. I know it sounds insane (no pun intended), but as writers you have to learn how to be all of them.

I decided to write about this topic because next week I’m interviewing an agent. I need to take my writer’s hat off and put on my…er…interviewer’s hat? Interviewer! That’s not under my writing job description. Well, I still have to type my questions and then write down the answers. It’s still writing, right? So, wearing my interviewer’s hat will give me the opportunity to learn more about what agents look for in a writer, what publishers look for in a story. You see what I’m getting at?

What about when I edit my friend’s stories? I’m not a professional editor but, I can safely say that revising her work has helped me tremendously when I tweak my own work.

And let’s not forget my networker’s hat. Who would have thought that writer and networker could fit in the same sentence? My friends tell me I’m a great networker. They even quip they’ll hire me as their agent. I see it this way: if I just sit at my desk, typing stories and not promoting my work, nobody will. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain by attending networking events. I’ve met wonderful people (some of them who have become my friends and mentors). These people have introduced me to other people in the industry…and the rest is “writing” history.

So go ahead, be bold and wear all your different hats. Just make sure you wear the appropriate one for the right occasion.

Procrastination is the dreadful diet for writers

2010-07-29T19:49:00.003-04:00

“How does a project get to be a year behind schedule? One day at a time,” said Fred Brooks, software engineer and computer scientist. Does this sound familiar? I bet we all have been in this predicament whether we're writers, students, homemakers, or business people.

One of my readers asked me to write a blogpost on how to end the vicious circle of procrastination. So here are some tips that my mentor, poet and author Michael Mirolla gave me.
1. Set up a specific timeframe and schedule for doing things (writing, I'm assuming).
2. Set up a specific place for your writing.
3. Force yourself to sit down and write even if you don't think you have anything to say.
4. If you do find yourself blocked in the middle of a piece of writing, go to some other piece of writing or start something new.
5. Have all these elements in place for when the spirit moves you (that's one thing that you can't control as it can come on at any time).
6. If none of this works, then try breaking your routine completely: a walk, a movie, reading a book, listening to music -- whatever has inspired you in the past.

I'd like to add two more tips based on my personal experience:
1. Use writing prompts to warm up. The Writer's Digest has some good ones. Give yourself 10 to 15 minutes to write a short story. You'll be amazed at the newly-found energy/inspiration: one that'll last for at least three days.
2. Join a small writing group or create one yourself. Ask 3 or 4 people to join you once or twice a month for a writing day. This has helped me and my writing group to get us in writing mode.

I would love to hear your comments on finding a cure for procrastination.

In the meantime, enjoy this youtube video courtesy of Lev Yilmaz: "Procrastination" Tales of Mere Existence

Creating a great female protagonist

2010-07-25T15:05:00.000-04:00

Just because I’m a female writer doesn’t mean I can easily create an amazing and “credible” female protagonist. It sounds ironic but it’s true. I’m editing two short stories where my protagonists are women (both are the antithesis of one another). Fortunately, (yes, I said fortunately because I can redeem myself by fixing them) my mentor pointed out that these female characters are not credible due to their erratic actions in different scenes. So I did some research on how to create a “great” female character whether she’s despicable, humble, loyal, or a traitor.

I found an article by Jessica Strawser where she says that according to bestselling authors JT Ellison, Alex Kava and Erica Spindler, there are five key ways to make your heroine shine.

The key, they say, to a great female protagonist is to shun stereotypes and double-standards and instead focus on simply making her believable in every way. Once you’ve done that, you can make your own rules.

Here are their top 5 tips for making your heroine shine:
1. Go ahead and let people underestimate your female protagonist at the start of your story. This will give her a chance to prove herself (and prove them wrong).
2. Follow Alex Kava’s rule of thumb: “Make your female stronger than your gun.” Otherwise, she could be seen as weak or vulnerable. Give your heroine a strong intellect, a sharp wit, or some other quality that will make her a character who has what it really takes to be tough.
3. That said, don’t get so carried away trying to make her tough that you forget that she’s a real woman, not a superhero. Erica Spindler says great female protagonists don’t have to be defined by big, heroic things, and recommends giving her a little touch of normalcy, something readers can identify with. (An example from Spindler: Maybe she’s incredibly gutsy by day, but when she’s alone at night, she finally breaks down.)
4. Don’t be afraid to victimize your protagonist. Victimizing the heroine can be a catalyst to allow her strength to come through. If she has a horrific background (she’s been attacked, she’s lost a child or someone close to her, etc.), she has something to overcome—she now has a reason to be strong.
5. Try giving your character a fear. This may sound counterintuitive to making a tough protagonist, as with Indiana Jones and his phobia of snakes, relatable fears can make characters seem real—and give them more plot-building obstacles to overcome in the course of your story.

Are you ready to create an amazing heroine or she-devil? Experiment a little and mold your female protagonist/antagonist until she becomes an unforgettable character.

Failure is not an option

2010-07-22T14:06:00.004-04:00

Do you sometimes feel discouraged or worried that some of your stories aren't that good and were a waste of your time?

Look at the bigger picture. Remind yourself that you are not the first one on this journey. Did you know that 18 publishers turned down Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull in 1970? By 1975 it had sold more than 7 million copies in the U.S. alone. And, Dubliners, a collection of 15 short stories by James Joyce was rejected by 22 publishers. Let’s not forget famous American poet Emily Dickinson who despite her prolific writing, fewer than a dozen of her poems were published during her lifetime. These are only a few examples of many authors who didn’t give up so, why should you?

How many stories do you produce per week? In my case, one to three when time permits. So if you start five stories and complete a rough draft of one, consider yourself successful. For every five completed rough drafts, one will be a finished product; the one that you deem ready to be sent out to contests or literary magazines. For every five stories you send out, you’re lucky if one of them is accepted for publication.

You're probably asking yourself how I know this. Well, I’m speaking from experience. I keep a log of all my stories including the ones I’ve entered multiple times in different contests with no positive results. However, for every rejected story, I get the chance to revise it again and make it better every time. And yes, the result of such grueling task has paid off.

Don’t be too hard on yourself. Try to see these weaker stories as the foundations for something bigger. Instead of considering such stories failures, think of them as experiments that were not entirely successful. Delve into the basic elements such as the POV, the tone, the dialogue, diction, or characterization. Sometimes it could be as simple as a particular scene.

Robert F. Kennedy once said, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can achieve greatly.” Inspiring words to those who think their writing is a failure. Keep your chin up and your pen moving!

How to Win a Short Story Competition

2010-07-16T10:06:00.005-04:00

THE DO’s AND DON'Ts

These tips are not cast in stone. They are just guidelines to help you create a more polished story. You take and leave what you deem is necessary. In the end, you're the author.

WHAT TO DO
• Choose a good title. A bad title will reflect on the story no matter how good your writing is.
• Choose good names for your characters.
• Write in the active tense of verbs instead of the passive. The active tense moves the story faster. The passive tense always has some part of the verb to be in there somewhere.
• Write about what you know, but also stretch your mind and write about what you don’t know. This will make you do research. Publishers like to know the facts are accurate.
• Keep the story and action in one place.
• Keep to one time slot.
• Keep to one story, don’t go off on a tangent because you are fascinated with your own characters and plot line. Writers often have two or three stories in one.
• Always write with the reader in mind.
• Let the character and action carry the story.
• Make sure the tone of the story is consistent
• Make sure there is conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist.
• Make sure the supporting characters are needed, if not kill them off.
• Make sure the story has a start a middle and an end; otherwise the story is not a story but a treatise.
• Make sure the events in the story have changed the protagonist by the end.
• Edit until you are sick of the thing. Allow lots of time to write and edit. Walk away from your story for a few weeks. When you come back the awkward bits will stand out.
• Read the story out loud, the mistakes will hit your ears. Take out any word or sentence that does not move the story along.
• Be honest and sincere and always write from the heart.
• The best stories are the simple ones, and above all, enjoy your writing. This will show in the finished story and there is nothing like a positive confident attitude to make a story work well.

WHAT NOT TO DO
• Try not to use more than five characters: a protagonist, an antagonist and three supporting others. Remember: the fewer characters the tighter the story.
• Never give the best lines to any character other than the protagonist.
• Never give the highest value to any character other than the protagonist.
• Don’t ramble or titivate.
• Don’t describe the actions; instead let your character go through the actions. Your readers will want to experience the events for themselves, they will want to be there to laugh or cry along with the characters.
• As the author, don’t let your ego get in the way of the story. You don’t have to use big words to show how clever you are, readers know you are clever because you are writing the story.
• Don't use your travel experiences in a way that comes across as look at me, I was there. That could be seen as arrogant bragging.
• Don’t let your presence get in the way of the story. The characters are the only ones who should be there. In other words don’t manipulate, describe or explain.
• Don’t use words ending in ly, these are adverbs and are not useful in a story; words such as these slow the action: He sat down clumsily; she laughed happily. Let your words show that he sat down in such a way that the reader sees the man as clumsy. And don't forget to go easy on the use of adjectives as well.
• Don’t look back at older writing as an example, no matter how famous the author was. What was allowed back then is not acceptable today.
• Don’t start sentences with the words IT, THERE WAS, AND THERE IS: sentences starting this way should be re-written. Sentences starting this way leave the reader wondering what IT is. Also, don't use overused words such as discerning, or overused phrases: You know what I mean.
• Don’t use colloquialisms, slang UNLESS the character uses slang, but the best thing is to stay away from this altogether. Readers are not always familiar with street slang. And you should not use swear words; this is not cool and shows a publisher you are inexperienced as a writer. Again, unless this is to show who your character is.
• Don’t use porn, don’t use racial slurs.
• Don’t copy other writers: Stephen King or other books: Harry Potter These books can only be written by the authors who wrote them. Find your own way to write, a way that only you can do.
• Don’t use big words or complicated sentences. Don’t forget who you are writing for many readers are not qualified to read.
• Don’t use similes or metaphors to make your point. The sentences should stand on their own without being compared to something that is not useful to the action.
• If your story is rejected or an editor pulls it to pieces don’t email the organizers of the competition and go off on them and don't get mad at your editor if the editor seems abrupt and overly critical. Instead, you should use the experience to learn to write better for the next competition. Failure is the best teacher. You will learn very little from success; you have nowhere to go from there. This goes for submitting to book publishers as well.
• Never argue back at people whose job it is to help; this is not positive and leads to nowhere. Instead, ask questions: Why does that part not work? Why can't I describe the scenery at that point? Etc.

I hope you find these tips helpful when you write your next story. Keep on writing!

Summer Writing Contest

2010-07-08T10:30:00.005-04:00

Get your pens out (or keyboard) and turn your story into a winner!

If you’ve been following my blog, then you’ve read all my tips regarding writing. It’s time to put your knowledge to the test. If you are currently working on a short story that needs tweaking or major editing then you’ve come to the right place. There’s NO entry or reading fee, so what are you waiting for?

The guidelines for submission are simple:

1) Length must not exceed 2,500 words (Word count is strictly enforced).
2) Manuscripts must be typed, double-spaced, and in Word.
3) Font should be either Arial or Times New Roman, size 12. (This will make it easier on our panel of readers’ eyes)
4) You must be an aspiring or emerging writer.
5) You must be working on this story (not published before).
6) Only one story per participant.
7) You must register to follow my blog.
8) Deadline to enter July 31, 2010. Winner will be announced in my blog on August 18th.
9) Click on the icon "Follow" on the right-hand side.
10) Send it via e-mail to: cdbc2007@hotmail.com
11) In the e-mail subject line, please write: Writing Contest: (Title of your story)

The prize: You’ll get to work with a Canadian author, editor, and poet. He’ll give you feedback on this story in order to make it better. You’ll have the opportunity to revise it twice and ask him questions. He’ll give you overall comments on POV, dialogue, and characterization. I am giving this opportunity to aspiring writers because I know how difficult it is to make it into this business. I bet you’re asking, so what’s the catch? An easy one! Join my blog. Click on the icon “FOLLOW”. You have nothing to lose but everything to gain by reading my tips and advice on everything there is to know about writing, editing, and publishing. Is that so bad? If you have any questions regarding this contest contact me to the e-mail address above. Keep your pen moving and your eyes on the prize! Good luck to all participants!

Is writing taking over my life?

2010-07-04T12:33:00.001-04:00

If you’re an established writer, then this question doesn’t really apply to you. But what happens when you’re an emerging writer? Should writing come second?

Too many writers use lack of time as an excuse not to write. When you say you don’t have the time, what you’re really saying is, something else is more important right now than writing. On the other side of the spectrum, emerging writers find themselves feeling guilty for not writing enough. True, writing shouldn’t take over your life. Instead, it should be part of it. Now, I’m not suggesting you should neglect your children, husband, and/or daily responsibilities for endless writing sessions. However, incorporating short writing sessions in your daily routine would go a long way. Get a small notebook and take it everywhere you go. Write down everything you do and how long it took you to do it. In ninety percent of cases, free moments for writing will be found.

1) Create a pattern: Make writing one of the first things you do each day (or the last, if you’re a night owl).
2) Don’t force yourself: If you do, you’ll be unhappy therefore, it’ll show on your work. Instead, use life itself as a “prompt” for your writing. For instance, if you see someone or something that’s interesting or unusual, jot down the main idea on a piece of paper. When you get home, write 300 words about it. You can develop this story later.
3) Make it a realistic goal: Some people exercise for an hour every day. Some read two books per week and others practice a sport once a week. Why not do the same for writing?

You have to decide whether writing is worthy of your time or not. Be honest with yourself. Just remember that successful authors manage their time, pure and simple.