Writers On The Move: Writers on the Move

Showing posts with label Writers on the Move. Show all posts

Writing: Setting the Mood

Contributed by Margot Conor

Crafting Emotion and Atmosphere in Writing.

Why Mood Matters

Every story carries a current beneath its plot, a subtle emotional tone that guides how the reader experiences events. This is mood: the atmosphere that lingers around a scene, created not by what happens, but by how it is told. A love story may take place in a garden, but whether that garden feels tranquil, eerie, or oppressive depends entirely on mood.

Writers who understand mood can shift a reader’s emotions without ever naming them directly. They conjure sorrow without saying “sad,” and build dread without mentioning fear. Mood is the difference between description that merely informs and description that transports.

The Building Blocks of Mood

1. Descriptive Language and Word Choice
Every word carries emotional weight. Consider the difference between describing a room as dim versus shadow-choked. Both mean there is little light, but the second leans toward menace. Similarly, a breeze suggests gentleness, while a gust can feel intrusive or restless. Precision in word choice is one of the most powerful tools for setting mood.

2. Imagery and Sensory Detail
Mood flourishes when writing appeals to the senses. Sight may be the most obvious, but sounds, textures, and even smells can deepen atmosphere. A creaking floorboard, the sticky grip of humid air, the metallic tang of blood in the mouth… these details can evoke an entire emotional world.

3. Rhythm and Sentence Structure
The cadence of prose influences how readers feel. Long, flowing sentences can lull or soothe, while short, clipped phrases quicken the pace and heighten tension. Consider how a passage in Virginia Woolf can feel meditative, while Hemingway’s terse sentences convey urgency. Rhythm is the invisible pulse of mood.

Techniques for Enhancing Atmosphere

1. Show Through the Environment
Setting often reflects or amplifies the emotional tone. Gothic writers knew this well: crumbling castles, storm clouds, and hollow winds echo inner turmoil. But even in modern realism, surroundings shape mood. Like a sunlit café warms a scene of reunion, while a sterile hospital corridor chills it.

2. Weather as Emotional Mirror
Though sometimes cliché, weather can be used with subtlety to underline atmosphere. A sudden downpour can feel cleansing or ominous, depending on context. Fog blurs not only the landscape but also certainty, mystery, or fear.

3. Symbolism and Motif
Recurring images create consistency of mood. Repetition of water imagery might bring calm or unease depending on how it is framed. Colors are another powerful tool, red can suggest passion or danger, blue serenity or sorrow. Symbolic language layers meaning onto mood.

4. Contrast and Juxtaposition
Mood sharpens when placed against its opposite. A joyous wedding scene may feel even brighter when set after a moment of grief. Laughter can echo uncomfortably in a tense setting, turning joy into something uncanny.

Some examples from literature you might have read:

Edgar Allan Poe mastered gothic atmosphere, weaving dread into every creaking door and flickering shadow. His word choices drip with menace, leaving no doubt of the intended mood.

Toni Morrison layered lyrical, sensory-rich language to create moods of both beauty and brutality, allowing readers to inhabit the emotional truths of her characters.

Kazuo Ishiguro sustains quiet melancholy in novels like “The Remains of the Day,” where understatement and restraint foster a mood of longing and regret.

Ray Bradbury in “Something Wicked This Way Comes” builds mood with sensory lushness. The smell of autumn leaves, the distant calliope… where nostalgia and dread intermingle.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Margot Conor has been writing for as long as she can remember, but it wasn't until the COVID lock-down that she had enough time to dedicate to the craft and bring something to completion. Having finished her first novel, she went through the grueling two-year process of editing. Now she has jumped into the author's world with both feet. Margot's debut multiverse adventure novel, Inverse, is available on Amazon.

She's spent the last year attending many writing retreats, seminars, and writers' events. She also listened to presentations specifically on the topic of publishing and book marketing. She will be sharing what she learns with the reader. Learn more about Margot at https://margotconor.com/

Why Self-Publishing Books Aren't in Bookstores

By Terry Whalin (@terrywhalin)

I’m involved in a couple of online writing groups and no matter how many times you say it, there seems to be a broad misconception about self-published books. These books simply don’t appear inside the brick-and-mortar bookstores.

Please don’t misunderstand me. These self-published books have their place in the market—particularly if you have a means to sell the books to individuals or companies. For example, if you speak often and would like to have a book to sell in the back of the room, you can easily get a self-published book to use in these situations. Just don’t expect to sell your book to bookstores.

Recently a well-meaning author celebrated his first printed book, which was self-published. He was holding it in his hand—always exciting. He was plotting a strategy to get his book in as many bookstores as possible and asking for help from other authors in the group. If you are going down this path, it shows a clear disconnect with the realities of the market.

Here’s a bit of what I told him. “Congratulations on your book release and I celebrate with you—but after more than thirty years in this business and over 60 books in print—and working as an acquisitions editor over the last thirteen years—I am going to have to give you a bit of a reality check. You will struggle and find it almost impossible for brick-and-mortar bookstores to stock your self-published book. It’s one of those messages that the self-publishing places don’t tell you (they want to get your cash and get your book in their system). Yes, your book is listed on Amazon.com (easy for anyone to do) but getting it into the bookstores is a completely different story.

I’ve been telling writers for years about the ease of getting a book printed—now getting it into the bookstores and ultimately into the hands of consumers, that’s another story.

“Retailers dislike self-published books. Every retailer that I’ve talked with about this issue (and I’ve invested the time to talk with them) has countless stories about the difficulties of these books. They have re-stocking problems and problems with the quality of the products (typos, editing, etc.).

“Here’s the real test for you: go to your local bookstores and ask them if they are carrying any self-published title on their shelves. Go to the big box stores like Barnes & Noble or Books A Million as well as your mom and pop smaller independent bookstores. The answer will surprise you. I will be surprised if you find a single self-published among any of the thousands of books.”

We can’t say it often enough—the bookstore market is a closed system—that deals with distributors and large and small publishers. It’s why we work hard to get our books into the traditional publishing marketplace. It’s why you go through the effort and hard work to create an excellent book proposal or book manuscript or novel, then sell that idea to a publisher. Then your book is available in any bookstore—and can have the possibility of sitting on those bookshelves. It’s a free country and you can feel free to expend the effort and energy to market to bookstores and try and place your book. From my experience and others, it will be frustrating and likely not sell many books. I believe your marketing efforts are better served in other markets (outside the bookstore).”

No matter what I write, several of you are going to take the leap into self-publishing. Here’s several action steps if you go this route:

1. Work with an experienced editor to create an excellent book.

2. Use a professional cover designer and people to format and produce a book where every detail looks like something from one of the big five traditional publishers. This means including elements like endorsements and words on the spine of the book (including a publishing logo on the bottom of that spine). Many self-published books are missing key elements which become striking signals they are self-published such as leaving off the barcode or doing this code improperly (without the price).

3. Keep working consistently to grow your audience. As I’ve mentioned in the past, work daily on increasing your platform and reaching your audience. You need to try new avenues to market and sell your book. For example, in recent months, I have been using PodMatch which is connected to over 90,000 podcasts. I’ve booked or been on over 60 podcasts. I continue to pitch podcast hosts and appear on their shows.

4. Continue to learn all you can about publishing. Get a free copy of my Book Proposals That Sell and study the publishing insights in this book.

5. Never give up on your book. As the author, you have the greatest interest and passion for your book. This statement is true no matter whether you are traditionally published or self-published. Always be looking for new opportunities to write or speak about your book.

This last point is something I try and model with my own books. For example, I continue to promote and use the radio interviews I recorded for my Billy Graham biography which has been in print for over ten years. Each author needs to be actively telling new readers about their books—whether they are carried in the bookstores or not.

Tweetable:

Why are self-published books rarely inside bookstores? This publishing insider gives you the details. (ClickToTweet)

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in California. Get Terry’s newsletter and a 87-page FREE ebook packed with writing insights. Just follow this link to subscribe. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham. Get Terry’s recent book, 10 Publishing Myths for only $10, free shipping and bonuses worth over $200. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Writing: Mixing It Up with Tropes

Contributed by Margot Conor

I have lately been experimenting. I mostly write Science Fiction and Fantasy. But I do tend to mix tropes most of the time. Recently I have been trying a few new subgenres.

An author in a critique group told me she liked my Magical Realism style. And I had to admit I didn’t know what that was. When I searched for authors that are known for it and discovered they are some of my favorites. Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende. I suppose we are inspired by the authors we love.

After reading about what characterizes Magical Realism, I wrote a few short stories with that trope in mind. Consciously leaning into that style, I was pleased with the results.

Magical Realism combines realistic settings with fantastical or magical elements, treating the supernatural as commonplace within the narrative. Key characteristics include a realistic setting, the matter-of-fact inclusion of magical elements, a blurring of the lines between reality and fantasy, and often, a focus on everyday characters in dream-like, or unbelievable situations which are treated as normal.

While researching tropes I saw a few others I decided to experiment with.

One is something called slipstream. Which I also had never heard of. This has the distinctive quality of defying traditional genre boundaries, by mixing sci-Fi, and Fantasy with psychological or philosophical fiction. It explores deeper themes of societal or technological change, and the breakdown of paradigms. It employs strange and uncanny situations. Encourages the bending of reality with surreal settings or circumstances. It is otherwise described as “the familiar strange, or the strange familiar.

I had never written in the Steam Punk subgenre until recently either, I wrote a short story titled Magic Wants to Be Used. I love the characters and the world I created enough to possibly serialize it. This story’s main character is a teenager named Xandra who has a forbidden form of mechanical magic.

I also recently compiled a small set of nine fantasy stories featuring dragons. I’ve been writing fantasy for a while but oddly never touched the dragon lore sub-genre. I am not sure it is still as popular as it once was, but it was fun to write.

There are a few writers in one of my writers’ groups who write romantic fantasy. I know that any sort of romance genre is extremely popular now, and an easy genre to build a loyal following with. But other than inserting a few flirtations into the speculative genres I write, romance seems to be near impossible for me to write.

I seem to have found my favorites, and I’ll stick with them. I encourage writers to explore as I have been doing, just to see what might inspire you. Every now and then it is good to step outside what we usually do and explore a slightly different direction.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Margot Conor has been writing for as long as she can remember, but it wasn't until the COVID lock-down that she had enough time to dedicate to the craft and bring something to completion. Having finished her first novel, she went through the grueling two-year process of editing. Now she has jumped into the author's world with both feet. Margot's debut multiverse adventure novel, Inverse, is available on Amazon.

She's spent the last year attending many writing retreats, seminars, and writers' events. She also listened to presentations specifically on the topic of publishing and book marketing. She will be sharing what she learns with the reader. Learn more about Margot at https://margotconor.com/

Are You a Writing Imposter?

I watched an amazing webinar with Writers on the Move contributor Carolyn Howard-Johnson and her publisher Victor Volkman.

Carolyn is an award-winning author and an expert book marketer, so I listen when she has something to share.

A small part of her talk was about the imposter syndrome. Making it easier to understand, it's more like the 'I'm not good enough' syndrome.

This is something most writers deal with once in a while, me included, so I decided to look into it.

According to Wikipedia, the "imposter syndrome is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud."

So, what does this have to do with writers?

Well, once we feel we're not ‘really’ a good writer, we begin to underestimate our ability and our value.

Unfortunately, this syndrome seeps its way into new and even seasoned writers, and it can cause consequences.

The I'm not a good enough writer syndrome, or I'm a fraud, and sooner or later, everyone will know.

Have you ever felt like this?

Once a writer has these feelings, they can fester and grow, stopping her from moving forward.

Maybe she's been thinking of seeking an agent's representation.

He may have thought of submitting to traditional publishers.

Maybe he's wanted to get articles published in magazines like Writer's Digest, The Writer, or another magazine.

BUT …

She doesn't think she's good enough, so she doesn't even try.

There's an expression I love: Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

You don't have to be the best writer on Earth.

It's not the best writer who succeeds; it's the writer who perseveres. And part of perseverance is to submit your work.

It's about writing the book you want to write and self-publishing if that's the route you want to go.

It's about submitting your manuscript to agents and publishers.

That said, it is important to make sure you, at the very least, know how to write.

- Read a lot.

- Read books the agent has represented if that's what you want to do.

- Read books that the publisher has published if that’s your dream.

- Read 'quality' books in the genre you want to write.

- Take the time to learn how to write if you haven't yet. There are excellent online classes that can help you with this.

Another problem is if a writer with this syndrome offers services like editing or ghostwriting.

If you're offering writing services and don't believe you're qualified enough to provide these services, you're in trouble.

- The first thing that will happen is you won't charge what you're worth. This thought process can cause a domino effect.

- Your lower prices will cause some potential clients to believe you're not as good as other services charging more.

- You may let clients tell you how to write. Or, you may not be confident to explain to your client that what he has done or wants to do won't work.

- You'll second-guess almost everything you do.

If you have these feelings, it might be helpful to create a vision board.

Put a few quotes or sayings that will help you believe in yourself. Be sure to keep it where you'll see it every day!

And another good idea is to keep learning your craft.

Learning to write also goes for wannabe authors. Learn about writing by reading books in the genre you want to write in, and then go for it.

Click the link to watch Carolyn's talk - it has lots of book marketing tips:
https://youtu.be/ykE7ITz6HUk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, working ghostwriter, rewriter, and coach (picture and chapter books). If you need help with your story, visit Writing for Children with Karen Cioffi.

You can check out Karen’s books HERE.

https://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com/karens-books/

Avoid Publishing Pitfalls

By Terry Whalin (@terrywhalin)

It’s rare that I see this perspective but, in this article, I want to give you a reality check. From my decades in this business, I understand book publishing is filled with possible pitfalls and errors.

I witnessed another one recently. One of my bestselling author friends was about to release a new book. This new book was from a major well-known publisher. The book was designed well and edited and included endorsements and practical information. I’ve supported this author in the past, so I was on the list of people who got a pre-release copy of the book. This pre-release included a personal handwritten note from the author and information about the date of the book release.

It was a push for my schedule, but I managed to quickly write a review and be ready to post it on the launch date. Then I noticed the page on Amazon. It was not the typical pre-release page. Instead the book had already been released a couple of days before the launch date. The book had zero Amazon reviews on the page. How did this happen? Someone at the publishing house set up the wrong Amazon date for releasing the book (my guess).

This author has a launch team and other elements in place to promote her book. I was not surprised to learn this team was in place since she is an experienced author and knows the elements of launching a new book. It is important to have a launch team because there are over 4,500 new books being released every day. Other places say 11,000 new books every day. Whichever number you want to use, it’s a large amount of new books entering the marketplace. I regularly hear that most publishers are selling about 50% of their books through Amazon, that leaves another 50% for brick and mortar, other online retailers, and other places. Still 50% is a large number at Amazon for the book sales.

I’m writing these details about this cautionary tale which contains a number of lessons:

1. Details matter. The release date of your book should match up on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other places. As an author, you can check some of these details but depending on how you publish, they are usually handled internally inside the publishing house.

2. With the launch of a book, things can go wrong. When this happens to you, acknowledge it and keep moving forward.

3. Nothing is fatal in this process—unless you quit. Even when something goes wrong or doesn’t happen, you can still recover from it and sell books. The only way for you to be stopped is when you give up and quit. Almost anything can be overcome with action.

4. Marketing is an ongoing process for every book. Recently one of my books got a new review. I was interested in reading it. When I looked, it was a one-star review with hardly any information. If you only have five star reviews for your book and then someone gives you a one-star review, it validates all the other reviews for the book. In other words, there is nothing to do about the negative review but keep moving forward. In fact, if you get enough five star reviews, the one-star review will have little or no impact. I encourage you to do the same.

I hope this story helps and encourages you with your own marketing efforts for your book. It is not easy for anyone, even people with a lot of experience in this area. The key is to keep going and keep moving forward no matter what happens.

From the stories that I hear I understand authors are trying to find the magic bullet or the perfect place to tell people about their book. The reality is success and book sales are not based on a single event or single television appearance. Instead, success comes from continual and steady efforts from the author to promote their book. Your publisher may be able to get the books into the brick and mortar bookstores. It is the author who drives people into the bookstores to sell those books and move them into reader’s hands and not be returned to the publisher.

As the great hockey player Wayne Gretzky said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Opportunity is around us and you need to keep seizing it and going forward even with the pitfalls. The authors who continue are still writing and still touching lives. I want you to be among this distinct group.

Your publishing pitfalls will be different from mine or those possibilities that I detailed in this article. When they happen (and they will happen), it’s critical to not give up and keep going.

Tweetable:

According to this prolific author and editor, publishing has many pitfalls. This article gives a cautionary tale and a series of actions for every author. (ClickToTweet)

When Words Don’t Say What You Want Them To

How to Avoid Embarrassment Using the History of Words

When Is Nice Anything but Nice

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the newly released
Third Edition of The Frugal Editor

My favorite resources for keeping up with ever-shifting English grammar appear to be games at first glance, something I prefer not to waste my time on but somehow also get hooked on. Still, I have several quickie newsletters that appear in my mailbox because with the first few—the likes of Word Genius and Word Smart—I realized they were great tools for editors—and for those occasions when all writers choose to break that rule about always hiring a professional editor. You know when you do it, and I know when I do it—usually when I’m in a hurry or when I’m writing promotional material. Ahem!

I sometimes break another rule, too. I subscribe to these letters when new ones arrive unbidden, unannounced, and unrecommended. As an editor who knows that smart editors need to hire editors whenever possible, too, I find they help me keep my skills ahead of the curve. That I have never unsubscribed is informal proof of their value.

Sometime in about 2023 one of these letters asked, “Have you ever stopped to think about the true meanings behind the words we use every day? While we may use these words without a second thought, they often carry deeper significance and historical context that we may not be aware of… .”

That quotation lead me to the word nice which I have long subconsciously avoided. And I have recently been annoyed with a new series of TV ads—probably a very expensive one—that assumes women everywhere prefer the word “nice” over “artistic,” “stylish,” or any of the other possibilities listed in about any thesaurus a writer might use. The producers must have no notion of the word’s history or even a built-in awareness that there might be times it is better avoided.

Of course, we have all used nice to mean something agreeable. But originally it meant something quite different and, as words are prone to do, morphed over time. Think of the word bad as a recent example of just such a change. Occasionally one of those alphabetical generations who began to use it to mean its opposite. I am aware of it, but it still throws me for a loop when they do!

A caveat: When you’re writing, you can’t count on the tone of voice to indicate satire. There are ways to do it with dialogue, description, context. But you have to identify the problem to use one of those techniques.

Nice derives from the Latin nesius which means unknowing or ignorant. That eventually changed to suggest foolish or simple before landing on its current most-commonly used meaning. Still, occasionally we become aware of its double meaning, usually from the tone of voice used to indicate irony as in “Well, ain’t that just nice.” When the word nice comes to mind for us writers, it might be a good time to click on the synonym feature of your word processor to find a word that is less loaded with hidden meanings.

Take special care with some words or phrases being used in the news these days. They have come to be referred to as dog whistles. In politics it might be referred to as code. You might not catch the meaning, but the most radical members will. Some of their history might impart an unintended association with the humankind’s least admirable tendencies. Of course, when you spot one it’s your decision to use it…or not.

-----

With each issue of Karen Cioffi’s #WritersontheMove blog, Carolyn Howard-Johnson shares something writer-related she hopes might save some author from embarrassment (or make the task of writing more fun or creative). The third edition of The Frugal Editor from Modern History Press includes a chapter on some of the words most misused by the very people whose business it is to know them and to give publishers and authors the exposure needed to reach bestseller status. It is the second multi award-winning book in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers with lots of those important changes in it like the new uses for gender pronouns and a chapter on how backmatter can be extended to inform readers as well as nudge book sales all within the realm of acceptable practices—ancient or new. Find it on Amazon’s new buy-page offered in for paper, hard cover, or e-book series. (The availability of that new page for book series Amazon offers authors is another of the #FrugalBookPromoterTips she posts on Twitter (X).)

Writing for Children - 10 Rules

Contributed by Karen Cioffi, Children's Ghostwriter, Rewriter

Before I became a children’s writer, I wrote marketing and health articles. Writing in multiple genres, writing for children can be much more challenging.

When writing for children, there are guidelines to keep in mind to help your story avoid the editor’s trash pile. And if you’re self-publishing, the children’s writing guidelines help you create an engaging and marketable book.

Here is a list of 10 rules to refer to when writing for young children:

1. Keep it safe.

Be sure your story does not suggest dangerous or inappropriate behavior. Keeping children safe is the most important item on this list.

Example: The protagonist (main character) sneaks out of the house early in the morning while his parents are still sleeping.

This is a no-no!

2. Age-appropriate words, dialogue and action.

-You wouldn’t use the word remote for a first grader. You would use far.
-A seven-year-old wouldn’t speak like a twelve-year-old.
-A seven-year-old wouldn’t walk a half mile alone to go to a park or go in a pool without adult supervision.

3. Age-appropriate problem.

The protagonist should have an age-appropriate problem or dilemma that’s established at the beginning of the story.

Let the action/conflict rise. Then, have the protagonist, through thought process and problem-solving skills, solve it on his own. If an adult is involved, keep the input and help at a bare minimum.

Kids love action and problem-solving!

4. Point of view.

The story should have a single point of view (POV). Writing a single POV means that it doesn’t exist if your protagonist can’t see, hear, touch, or feel it.

Example: “Mary crossed her eyes behind Joe’s back.” If Joe is the protagonist, this can’t happen because Joe wouldn’t be able to see it.

5. Sentence structure.

When writing for young children, keep sentences short; keep adjectives and adverbs to a minimum. And be careful of your punctuation and grammar.

6. Show rather than tell.

Write your story by showing through action and dialogue rather than telling.

You can use your imagination for this one. Picture how the child might behave or react. Will his arms flail? Will he narrow his eyes? Will she cry? Will she run away or stand her ground?

If you can’t seem to find the right words to show a scene, try using dialogue instead; it’s an easy alternative.

7. Write tight.

Don’t say something with ten words if you can do it with five.

Watch for unnecessary words (adjectives and adverbs). Use strong verbs. And pay special attention to “ly” words.

8. Watch the timeframe for the story.

Picture books should be kept within several hours to a day or two. On the outside, a week or two.

A fun story, Stephanie’s Ponytail by Robert Munsch, has a timespan of five days.

9. A character arc.

Along with the protagonist’s solution to the conflict, she should grow in some way as a result of the journey.

An example would be if a protagonist starts out unsure and afraid but becomes confident by the end of the story.

10. Use a thesaurus and a book of similes.

Finding just the right word or simile can make the difference between a good story and a great story.

Summing It Up

Using these techniques will help you create effective children’s stories. Another important tool to use in your writing tool belt is joining a children’s writing critique group. No matter how long you’ve been writing, you can always use another set of eyes.

If you’re a beginning writer and unpublished, you should join a group with published and unpublished members. Having published and experienced writers in the group will help you hone your craft.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, working ghostwriter, rewriter, and coach (picture and chapter books). If you need help with your story, visit Writing for Children with Karen Cioffi.

You can check out Karen’s books HERE.

You can connect with Karen at:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karencioffiventrice
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kcioffiventrice/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karencioffikidlitghostwriter/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarenCV

The Hidden Costs of Publishing

By Terry Whalin (@terrywhalin)

Because we have computers and can produce stories, everyone assumes writing is easy. From my experience, any skill (including writing) takes hours of practice to become excellent. For example, one of the most successful basketball players of all time is Kobe Bryant, the winner of five NBA championships and two Olympic Gold Medals. He accomplished this success through deliberate practice with a purpose. Bryant was on the 2012 Team USA. One of the trainers, Robert, talks about his first experience with Bryant, who started his conditioning work at 4:30 am. He shot baskets for several hours, then did conditioning work for the next hour, then made 800 jump shots between 7 am and 11 am. Bryant was a skilled professional yet took nothing for granted in his practice and work outs. His work showed because Bryant knew how to grind then grind some more. This type of effort in sports is generally lost in the writing world. There are hours of work and effort behind the scenes that no one sees but is necessary to achieve success.

There are many things in the world of publishing which simply add to the cost and effort to happen but are never documented or talked about. In many ways, these elements become some of the hidden cost of publishing. In some ways publishing is like an iceberg. We can see the top on the water but don’t realize all that is below the surface. In this article I wanted to tell you about a couple of these hidden costs and then give you some tools and basic principles for your own writing life.

People look at my large X/Twitter following (over 175,000) and would like to have that ability to influence and touch others. Yet are you willing to do the work to build that following? I’ve written in my blog about the five actions I take every day. I use a program called Hootsuite (other people use Buffer) to schedule 12 to 15 posts every day. I’ve developed a pattern or system which I use repeatedly to handle these posts—and it only takes about 30 minutes a day to handle.

Many people have started on X/Twitter but have given up the consistent posting. It’s the same with my blog on the Writing Life. I’ve been writing my blog articles each week since 2004. It has totaled over 1,700 articles. Several years ago, I found an article which estimated there are over 600 million blogs and named the top 27 content producers. My name and my blog were one of those listed. You can get my new articles on your email with this form. The consistent effort pays off.

Over the years, I’ve created a number of online information products like Blogging for Bucks (http://bucksforblog.com/ ) or my Write a Book Proposal course (http://bit.ly/wbkpro). I’ve automated many of these products through autoresponders and other tools. Each of these products include my 100% Love it Or Leave It Guarantee. If the buyer isn’t satisfied in a period of time, they can send an email and ask for a refund. This guarantee is a key part of selling products online and it is rare that someone will ask for a refund. One email arrived at a time when I was challenged with other things—yet I took the time to make the refund. Carrying through with your promises is a key part of having an online business and successfully selling products online. It doesn’t make it simple or easy.

Here’s some basic principles for every writer to get beyond the hidden costs of publishing:

* Understand the costs and keep going in spite of them

*Automate when you can. Investing in tools like Hootsuite allows me to continually grow my presence and saves time. I’ve recently added PodMatch and in six months I have booked or recorded over 50 podcasts.

*Keep growing in your craft of writing, attending conferences, taking online courses and reading books. I’ve got shelves of how-to books I’ve read over the years and continue to read them.

*Timing is critical and often out of your control. Numerous times I’ve had authors who have looked for an agent for years (not found it) then return to Morgan James and ask if they can sign our book contract. A recent author signed, who I have been speaking with off and on for three years about her book.

*Take the long view of success yet keep doing the little things and working to promote your writing.

Over and over, I speak with authors who continue promoting yet have stopped telling their publisher about their promotion (big mistake in my view). The publisher is going to assume they are not promoting and have stopped talking about the author with their sales team and the sales team to the bookstores since it is tied together. Yet if the author continues to promote and tells the publisher, then the communication and promotion to the bookstores can continue. Consistent communication matters. No little elves come out and write this material for us. Active authors are the ones to tell the stories and complete the work.

What proactive steps can you take to learn a new skill or try some new way to sell books? It doesn’t matter if your book is brand new or has been in print for a while. Keep the experimentation going until you hit the elements which work for your book.

Tweetable:

Publishing has a series of hidden costs. In this article, prolific author and editor Terry Whalin details some and provides basic principles and resources to move beyond them. (ClickToTweet)