Forget the April showers, May flowers and March coming in like a lion, because that's January's job. Here in South Carolina, only 12 days in, we have had rain, freezing temperatures, warm balmy temperaturres and a few things in between. I was watching the news the other night based out of Asheville, North Carolina, and they were mentioning the snow in California and the single digit temperatures in the Utah-Colorado-Wyoming-Montana areas.
Our writing is somewhat like the weather - we have that perfect day where everything falls into place and the weather isn't too hot or too cold; we have those really cold days where we can't think of anything to write and then we have those really hot days where we are smokin' and accomplish a lot.
I've been a funk, like the weather, and haven't really been able to shake it and get back to writing anything, although I'm hoping that by the end of the month to have many new ideas for my middle grade/YA characters to make into a series. I'd love for more of the balmy, perfect days of writing but for now, it's just not happening.
Maybe I need a total getaway from everything and start over like my daughter did or maybe I just need to open a document and start writing again and forget about the perfect days, just do it. Whatever it is I need to get back on track, I hope it shows up soon so that I can get more stories published.
Hoping all your writing days are balmy and perfect and not the super cold or super hot days - see you all in the postings - E :)
Elysabeth Eldering
Elysabeth's blog
Elysabeth's website
JGDS series blog
JGDS series website
Guest Post: The Challenges of Writing and Illustrating A Book with JD Holiday
The Challenges of Writing and
Illustrating A Book
OR
The BRIEF
Challenges of Writing and Illustrating A Book
By: J.D. Holiday
I
found the challenges of being both the author and illustrator was only in the
beginning. I
self published after many years of trying to get published the traditional
way. Though
doing my own artwork was not something I found easy. I wrote for twenty-five
years without doing the illustrations for two reasons.
The first was traditional publishers told authors in those days, and still tell them if
authors do their own illustrations, they, the publishers, might not want the book. Publishers reasoned
they might like the stories but not the pictures which would make them reject
the book entirely.
Secondly, I didn’t feel confident enough to do my own art
work because to that date, I had painted for fun and enjoyment.
It
did take me some time to get to the point in a painting I was doing where I
felt the painting was heading in the right direction and it took me a while
working with digital art programs to do whole painting that way. I use to just
use my paint programs for touch ups on my drawings and paintings.
Now,
my being the author and the illustrator is actually helpful in putting the
story together. Doing both allows me to easily move back and forth between the
story and the pictures. I can easily revise the storyline and the paintings to
match. Once I let myself go and commit to
doing the artwork myself, being both the author and illustrator became an
asset.
Since
I am the artist, too, I don‘t have to worry who will do the drawings and
paintings for my books. Nor will I have to split the money made on the sales of
my books with someone else. And I also have the satisfaction that comes from
doing it all and having a good product.
About the Author:
J.D.
Holiday is the author and illustrator of four children's books. Picture books: JANOOSE THE GOOSE, THE SPY GAME, and Matt Shelley's Halloween Misadventure with
Award-winning author, Christy Condoleo, and the chapter book for 6 to 8 year
olds, THE GREAT SNOWBALL ESCAPADE.
J.D. Holiday is a co-host on It's Story Time,
Gather 'Round with Christy Condoleo on Blog Talk Radio's World Of Ink Network:
You can find out more about J.D. Holiday, her books and
World of Ink Author/Book Tour at http://tinyurl.com/bzwlprd
Follow J.D. Holiday at
The
Book Garden http://www.thebookgarden.net
J.D’s
Writers Blog http://jdswritersblog.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @JDHoliday
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/JDspage
Facebook
Fan: www.facebook.com/BooksByJDHoliday
Publisher Website: http://www.thebookgarden.net
What happens when you end up with a dog you don’t want and
only stares?
About the Book:
Eddie
would love to have a puppy to play with. A puppy would pull on a rope. Catch a
ball and lick your face. But his Uncle brings Eddie an older dog named after a
famous spy. What can you do with an old dog? It probably couldn't learn new tricks
and the only thing this dog did was stare. It's what they find to do together
that makes them the best of
friends!
Publisher:
Book Garden Publisher, LLC
ISBN:
978-0-98186-144-9
Publication Date: August 2012
Places available for sale: Amazon, B&N
Kindle Select - What Works, and What Doesn't (a follow on post)
1. Promote EARLY. There are a ton of sites that feature free e-books and all of them have unique subscribers who want nothing more than to download your book, but most of them require you to submit your book at least 2 weeks prior to the free day. If you wait until the day your book is free then you'll miss out on a lot of opportunities to get the word out to new readers.
2. Make sure that your Kindle book is perfect. When I converted Black Cow to Kindle format, a lot of strange typographical issues crept in. For example, about 25% of my L's disappeared, leaving me with words like four for flour and fat for flat. I did check formatting but didn't do another proofread after conversion which meant that the fantastic results - nearly 2,000 downloads that I got for Black Cow - were, to a certain extent, wasted because all of those downloaded books were typo ridden. I was able to get Amazon to agree to send out a link for all of those who downloaded the book to re-download a perfected copy, but it will take them another 2 weeks to get to that (if you've got one of the l-less books, a cleaned-up copy should be with you soon - sorry!). When you're getting your work into so many new hands, it's important that this be your best work. Anything less is not only a lost opportunity, but can impact on your reputation.
3. Be prepared to get a few negative reviews (especially if you don't do #2). If 2,000+ new people are downloading your book, your book is bound to get into the hands of a few non-ideal readers. Take it on the chin and keep smiling. Not everyone will like your book and not everyone is your target market. That's just part of the game.
Overall, both books sold copies in the days immediately following the free days. That alone was worth it, as was the opportunity to get the word out and attract a number of new readers. So I'm definitely planning to do it again. In fact, Carolyn and I are having another go with our book of unconventional love poetry Cherished Pulse in time for Valentine's Day. All you do is go to on Jan 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15th and click. This time, we've followed all 3 points above.
Magdalena Ball runs The Compulsive Reader. She is the author of the poetry books Repulsion Thrust and Quark Soup, the novels Black Cow and Sleep Before Evening, a nonfiction book The Art of Assessment, and, in collaboration with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Deeper Into the Pond, Blooming Red, Cherished Pulse, She Wore Emerald Then, and Imagining the Future. She also runs a radio show, The Compulsive Reader Talks. Find out more about Magdalena at http://www.magdalenaball.com.
Planning Your Story: Part 2 Big Plot Moments
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Planning
Your Story: Part 2 Big Plot Moments
Last month I talked about answering questions in
order to establish the PREMISE of your new story. Without knowing WHERE you are
headed, you might not ever get there.
Today, I want to discuss how to establish your BIG PLOT MOMENTS.
Think hard about what the major events in your story
MIGHT be—remember none of this is set in stone and can and will change as you
write. This is a GUIDE to get you started. So, what is the first big thing your
protagonist will face? What will happen then? And next? And so on.
Once you have this list of BIG MOMENTS, list 2
complications for each of those moments.
Beneath each complication, describe how this will affect your character.
Here’s how I handled this task:
BIG
PLOT MOMENT
Rayna meets her twin at Summer Festival but doesn’t
know it.
And then?
1. She
is seen talking with a red-haired girl by the antag who uses this as ammo
2. Rayna
begins to question who she is because they look so much alike
Now, obviously I had more than one big moment, but
if I gave them all away here, you wouldn’t need to read my book. I think you
can get the idea from this example.
So what?
1. Rayna
becomes the object of the bully/antag
2. Rayna
questions who her parents were, why she has red hair and they don’t, why is it
taboo
As I hope you can see, by doing this exercise for
EACH of your BIG MOMENTS in the story, you will begin to see it unfold and
blossom like a summer rose.
Next month, setting
the scenes.
Thanks to K.M. Weiland’s Outlining Your Novel
Rebecca
Ryals Russell, a fourth-generation Floridian, was born in Gainesville, grew up
in Ft Lauderdale then lived in Orlando and Jacksonville with her Irish husband
and four children. Due to the sudden death of Rebecca's mother, they moved to
Wellborn, near Lake City, to care for her father, moving into his Victorian
home built in 1909. After teaching Middle Graders for fourteen years she
retired and began writing the story idea which had been brewing for thirty
years. Within six months she wrote the
first three books of each series, YA Seraphym Wars and MG Stardust Warriors.
The world she created has generated numerous other story ideas including two
current works in progress, SageBorn Chronicles based on various mythologies of
the world and aimed at the lower Middle Grade reader and Saving Innocence,
another MG series set on Dracwald and involving dragons and Majikals. She is
finishing a YA Dystopian Romance which has been a NaNoWriMo project for three
years. She loves reading YA Fantasy, Horror and Sci Fi as well as watching
movies. Read more about Rebecca and her
WIPs as well as how to buy books in her various series at http://rryalsrussell.com You may email her at
vigorios7@gmail.com
Scaling the Marketing Ladder in One Fell Swoop
Scaling the Marketing Ladder in One Fell Swoop
Guest Post by Holly WeissPeople waste a lot of time trying to decide what marketing strategy works. Are you trying to get your opinions, writing skills, or articles noticed? Do you spend hours a day reading advice from well-meaning experts on how to drive traffic to your blog? Don't waste your energy on what others tell you to do. Self-marketing begins with—that's right—you. Down deep, you know your own best marketing tactics. Find your talent and put it out in front of the public—consistently.
Here's what you do.
• Pick one marketing skill you are good at.
• Discipline yourself to do it on a regular basis.
• Plug away at it for six months before expecting big results.
Simple? Yes. Easy? No. Effective? You bet.
Let's say you want to increase traffic to your website. The standard advice usually goes like this. Write a blog and ask everyone on your twelve social networks to read it and write comments. Would you have the time or patience to do that in return, even for a good friend? Other tired advice includes—watch this webinar, download a transcript for that interview, and read ten newsletters a week. Who has time for that?
When I was young and trying to gain some financial wisdom, I buried my nose in the stock pages of the newspaper. One day my uncle gently took the newspaper away from me and said, "Learn just one thing each day. But do it every day." I did it. Guess what? I'm pretty financially savvy.
Tired of scrambling all over advice blogs and posting empty responses on social networks just to get noticed? Try this plan.
• Find out what interests you and what you are good at.
• Make sure it fulfills you.
• Do it consistently.
We only have so much energy. Don't spend hours a day with a scattered brain seeking the best marketing tool out there. Look inside yourself. Feed your purpose with your passion. Not only will you ultimately gain Internet recognition and website traffic, you will be a happier, more productive person.
~~~~~
~~~~~
MORE ON ONLINE MARKETING
KDP Select – Good Marketing or Gimmick?
Do You Really Need an Author Website?
Social Networking the Linkedin Way
~~~~~
To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).
Query Letters: An Essential Writing Skill For Now and the Future
As I was working with my husband on the promotion for his book What Foreigners Need to Know About America From A To Z (http://amzn.to/ForeignersAmericaUS) I realized how much I’d forgotten about my American history, but it also made me aware I should be reminding you all of the format to use for your query letters.
I noticed that many authors believe query letters are only necessary when they're trying to interest an agent or publisher, but learning to write and edit an effective one is a skill that you will continue to use all during the marketing campaign or your book--and the one after that.
Query letters are the introductory letters you use for every kind of request you make. When you request a review of your book. When you ask to partner with a retailer for and event, workshop, or book signing. When you pitch a feature story to an editor of your local newspaper. Or guest spot on a radio station. The list is endless.
Yep, it may be time to review the section on writing and editing query letters (page 27 in your paperback edition) in The Frugal Editor (http://budurl.com/TheFrugalEditor). It starts on page 27 of your paperback edition.
It includes query letter pet peeves direct from the mouths of famous agents and sample letters in the Appendix like avoiding making judgements of your own work. For agents "awesome" is a four-letter word!
If you have The Frugal Book Promoter (http://budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo), jump back to the Index and look up “query letters” to learn everything you’ll need to know about them.
Here's tip number one to get you started. A query letter asks something of the person it's addressed to. Don't avoid that question. Nike says "just do it." The query letter rule is "just ask." Your contact needs to know what you want from them. They may wear more than one hat, but in any case, you'll want to be clear just because that's what professionals aim for.
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .
Proliferating Characters
The more I write, the more characters I need to write about.
When I wrote "Relocated," my recently-published novel, for the 2010 Nano, I had no goal beyond overcoming my phobia about writing science fiction. But I got hooked on writing in the genre, on my characters, and the universe I'd created. Unwilling to let it go, I wrote two follow-on novels, featuring characters who appear in "Relocated," novels that I'm almost ready to submit, and I've started a fourth. This one features a new main character. He has a family, allies, and enemies -- more new characters.
The thing is, I'm unable to keep myself from spinning the continuing tale of my creations' lives. They have friends, relatives, children, co-workers. What's a writer to do? The lives of the old characters did not stop with the end of the book. These characters march resolutely onto the pages of my manuscript, announcing what's happening in their lives, and prodding me to mention them in the text. Their lives go on.
If E. is old enough to date, who is she seeing? She's dating S. But how serious is it? Is there a woman involved,? If so, she's going to be another new character. Do I simply not mention she's seeing someone?
My characters form foursomes. Two of the characters from novel two have now found their third and fourth. They snuck into a scene in the novel I've just started, but I'm resisting introducing the two new women.
Perhaps it's time to bite the bullet and create a character bible for these folks to help me keep track of who's who. But I'm still left with all those stories, and deciding which ones to tell.
Margaret Fieland is the author of "Relocated," published by MuseItUp publishing, and available where ever ebooks are sold.
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