A Slam Bam Finish

Some days I want to stay in my soft jammies and cuddle my cat just like the character in my picture book and not think about marketing, social media, or the business side of writing. But alas, like all of you I write, and I need to make money from that skill so thinking about marketing, social media and the business side of writing is a must. Sooooo, folks there are only 10 Saturdays till Christmas and that screams to me that there are only 10 ish weeks until the end of 2013. If I want to rally and make the most of the rest of the year for my writing I need to do a couple of important things, some of them may be slightly painful.

 I need to FOCUS. Now more than ever I need to stay focused on the tasks at hand. The end of the year is not time to dilly and dally but rather time to look long and hard at what I still need to do to meet my writing goals for 2013. I still have a few submissions floating around out there so one I need to check the calendar and see if it is time to send them out to the next publisher on my list, etc to get those current submissions into the hands of someone who may read them before the end of the year.

Once I have checked those floating masterpieces and updated my submissions list, next I need to list the most important tasks left undone. I have invoices that need to be sent, two query letters to fine tune, and at least one story that needs to be sent to my critique partners. Little tasks like these sometimes get put aside for another day and it is time to get it done. I also have to fine tune my target list of publishers and look again at my list of topic ideas to see if there are last minute article ideas I can send out.

Next, my weakness is promoting myself so this is the painful part for me. Promotion is the number one thing writers need to do to finish strong in 2013. I need to get my media package fine tuned for the hospitals and Childhood cancer centers, research centers, and key parents who want to help me promote my new book. I have difficulty asking for help from others and you may too, but the reality is the books we write will not sell themselves. We must ( meaning me) help get the word out by asking for reviews, sending copies to key contacts, and using social media including Facebook and Google + to say " hey I have something you have got to see. "

Finally, as we go into the holiday season with all of the busy activities of family and friends take time Rest. While you are resting and appreciating your blessings also take time to Plan. Planning and  mapping out your writing and promotion goals for 2014 will help you  to see where you have been this year and where you want to go in 2014. I have many ideas swirling in my head for 2014 and focusing and planning will be key.

 Here is hoping you all  have a slam bam finish to 2013.

Writing and the Balancing Act

A little over a year ago, I requested authors share their stories of how they were able to keep their lives balanced, and a small volume of shorts was born called The Write Balance.

As a writer the ability to get it all done seemed to elude me. The balancing act of not only family, work and writing, but also of writing for pleasure (otherwise known as my novel writing) with my professional writing (writing non-fiction for trade journals, clients and publications for money), and marketing (putting myself out there).

Now with the Holidays looming, a daughter's wedding in a few weeks and an upswing in clients the lessons I learned are even more important. I'll share a few of the tips I learned.

1. Take them on one at a time. My tendency is to worry and fret and then worry some more over what I will write and when I will write it. I have found listing the items in need of my attention can give me the space I need to not try to worry them all into creation at one time.

2. Exercise creates a clear space. I have found that any type of activity - walking, yoga or running - eventually forces me to let go of all my thoughts. That means that when I return to a project, I return with a clear space and many times a different perspective that propels me forward at a much more rapid pace. It's also good for my body.

3. Eating and drinking are good for you too. Living in Phoenix, dehydration is a concern. Sitting at my desk for hours and hours as I get into the groove, is not healthy and ultimately takes its toll. Not to mention that sometimes the time taken away from work, again allows me to see things differently and come back refreshed and with new ideas.

4. Know yourself. For me, creative writing is best done early in the morning. I reserve this time for my novels and first drafts of non-fiction. Marketing is my least favorite challenge and so it comes next as I need to be more focused to get it done. I finish my day with editing. In some strange way it feels more pleasurable to end my day this way and, as I enjoy it, I do not put it off.

5. Give yourself a day off here and there. Yep, its mandatory. Okay, not the whole day. You can still use your notepad to write thoughts and bits of dialog, but give yourself permission to relax and not think of any of your characters or deadlines.

Which is what I'll be doing this wedding/holiday season. I've already scheduled my days off. I love being organized & balanced!

______________________________________

D. Jean Quarles is a writer of Women's Fiction and a co-author of a Young Adult Science Fiction Series. Her latest book, Flight from the Water Planet, Book 1 of The Exodus Series was written with coauthor, Austine Etcheverry.

D. Jean loves to tell stories of personal growth – where success has nothing to do with money or fame, but of living life to the fullest. She is also the author of the novels: Rocky's Mountains, Fire in the Hole and, Perception. The Mermaid, an award winning short story was published in the anthology, Tales from a Sweltering City.  

She is a wife, mother, grandmother and business coach. In her free time . . . ha! ha! ha! Anyway, you can find more about D. Jean Quarles, her writing and her books at her website at www.djeanquarles.com

You can also follower her at www.djeanquarles.blogspot.com or on Facebook

Three Reasons Why DRM is Your Enemy

There’s no avoiding the subject of Digital Rights Management (DRM).  If you’re an author who has a book being published by a traditional publisher you’ll often get told whether your e-book will have DRM.  You may be asked if you want your book to have it.  If you self-publish, you’ll have to decide at the front end whether you want it.  Kindle Direct Publishing asks you to make that choice as part of your set-up, as do many other platforms.  So what is DRM? DRM is a range of technologies that restrict what consumers can do with your electronic book (or product) once they buy it.  There are different types of DRM, the most common being restriction on copying, sharing, and printing purchased books.  This may involve encryption of the material, password protection, limits on format changes, and other ways to lock the data.  If you’re the author of copyrighted material, this may seem like a good idea – limiting illegal downloads and keeping your work secure.  However, at the end of the day, the real losers in DRM are the authors and readers. Here are three reasons why: 

1.      It’s not at all hard to break the DRM code, rendering your books unprotected.  There are a whole bunch of DRM codebreaking apps, tools, and scripts that can remove DRM. Of course your average honest reader isn’t going to bother with these tools – it’s just not worth the time when there are so many good books available that are DRM free.  But for those who really want to pirate your content, print and sell your book (good luck with that), or give a copy illegally to someone, DRM won’t make a bit of difference. 

2.       DRM is expensive. It costs more to produce an e-book with DRM. So royalties to authors from books with DRM are often lower. Costs to reader are often higher. Because DRM is complex to manage from the reader’s point of view, there are often much higher support costs as readers attempt to make books work on their readers.  All those costs become part of what it takes to get your book out. 

3.       DRM is a pain in the neck for legitimate readers. This is the biggest problem with DRM.  DRM is almost always specific to e-reader and format. A Kindle book with DRM can only be read on a Kindle.  If you buy a book for your Sony e-reader but get a Kindle for Christmas and want to read it on that, forget it.  If you’re a book reviewer like me and want to read a DRM book on your Kindle but refer to a copy in .pdf on your PC when you're writing the review, forget it.  Often a DRM book can’t be read on an upgraded e-reader of the same make. The different formats make moving from device to device difficult enough – you don’t want to make it any harder for readers to get at your wonderful words. Of course readers can crack the code if they want to (see point #1), but your average reader is not going to want to spend time cracking technological code (I know I don't) when they could be reading a DRM-free book.

I know that it’s a scary world out there and no one wants their content stolen, but as the great marketer Seth Godin famously said, the enemy is not piracy, but obscurity.  If you make it hard for readers to read your books on the variety of devices that we all like to use, you won’t minimise the risk of piracy, but you will certainly increase your chances of obscurity.  DRM counters sharing (the most important driver of fame), it impedes reading, and it limits the value of your ebooks.  In this flooded market where getting your book into readers’ hands is the name of the game, DRM is to be avoided at all costs. 

Magdalena Ball is the author of the novels Black Cow and Sleep Before Evening, the poetry books Repulsion Thrust and Quark Soup, a nonfiction book The Art of Assessment, and, in collaboration with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Sublime Planet, 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 www.magdalenaball.com.

Finding the Story that Surrounds the Pivotal Event

Whether you are writing a memoir or developing character background, this is an exercise that can help you find the “story.”

First make a list of pivotal events from your (or character’s) life: for example, first day of school, a move to a new home, a first kiss, first loss of a family member, etc.

Choose an event from your list. Free-write for 10 minutes what comes to mind in response to these questions:

• What did you (or your character) desire in your life before this pivotal event?
• When and how did this desire begin or intensify significantly? Could this be the beginning of your story?
• Did you have a struggle in trying to fulfill this desire?
• Did you learn anything from the struggle?
• How did you change after the final pivotal event? • What did you do that indicated this change?
• What did you realize when this stage in your life came to an end?
• What do you perceive now as you remember it? When you read over your answers, you may begin to sense a story: a desire, a struggle and a conclusion.

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A native Montanan, Heidi M. Thomas now lives in North-central Arizona. Her first novel, Cowgirl Dreams, is based on her grandmother, and the sequel, Follow the Dream, won the national WILLA Award. Heidi has a degree in journalism, a certificate in fiction writing, and is a member of Northwest Independent Editors Guild. She teaches writing and edits, blogs, and is working on the next books in her “Dare to Dream” series.

The dossier - who is this character?

Guest post by Dr. Bob Rich

The dossier is a useful tool for a novelist. It can be entirely in your head, but if there are lots of characters, you may find it essential to write down the relevant details for each. That helps prevent glitches like Susie's son changing from Jim to John, or Mr Cartwright's occupation being posthole digger in chapter 5, and postman in chapter 25.

How you organise this material is up to you. I often have a set of notes at the start of the novel, to be deleted upon completion (or when the character is no longer relevant).

What goes into the dossier? Everything you as author know about the person. As more details emerge, you can add them.

You can see many examples of dossiers in published novels. A new character enters, and the author gives an instant summary of the details that will be relevant to the story. Here is an example:

Harold Smith walked into the room. He was a man in his 50s with a potbelly and salt-and-pepper hair, an overworked accountant with immense experience but questionable morals. Jill introduced me to him, saying, "Martin, meet Harold, just the man you need for your project."

This scene is clearly from Martin's point of view (POV). That is, in order to BE in the story, I as reader need to create the temporary illusion that I am Martin. The author has created a shady accountant for me to employ for some nefarious purpose, and I (Martin) am just meeting him for the first time.

So, how do I know that he is "an overworked accountant with immense experience but questionable morals?"

My point is: the AUTHOR needs Harold's dossier in order to write about him. The character Martin has no access to this dossier. Therefore, to stay within Martin's POV, the author must avoid this statement. Giving Harold's physical appearance is fine, because Martin can see that.

Here is a second example:

Genevieve Rocker felt like wetting her pants from terror, as she looked into the black hole of the gunbarrel. As a lady of 75, with a lifetime of helping people in all walks of life, she was used to all sorts of hardships. Despite the many pains of her body, she wanted to live. Her thin body shook, her blue eyes glazed over in the expectation of instant death.

If you were terrified, expecting to be shot this instant, would you be thinking about your age, your past history of helpfulness and hardships, even the many pains of your body? Of course not. You would be in that present moment, entirely focussed on the current emergency. Genevieve will feel the same way. She is completely unlikely to be concerned with her body build or eye colour, or what her eyes might look like to someone else.

So, reporting a new character's dossier is a bad thing. It is an info dump, an author intrusion, and should be treated by amputation.

When a new person comes into your life, you immediately find out a few things: gender, approximate age, physical appearance, perhaps name, tone of voice, your automatic emotional reaction to this new acquaintance. Say Harry goes on a blind date, and meets Salicia. She is not going to hand him her CV, or biography, or her scores on various psychological tests. He will find out about her in dribs and drabs, as the occasion arises.

This is how it should happen with people in a book too.

About the author: Dr Bob Rich is an Australian storyteller, with 15 published books, 4 of them award winners. His latest novel, "Ascending Spiral: Humanity's last chance," is garnering a growing list of 5 star reviews, and a few 4 star. Check out his writing showcase http://bobswriting.com

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MORE ON WRITING

To Increase Your Chances for Publication, Submit Your Manuscript
Freelancers – Finding Real Writing Jobs
Dialog That Delivers

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P.S. Want more tips and help with your writing and marketing? Then subscribe to The Writing World (top right sidebar). You'll get weekly information plus updates on our free instructional webinars.

You Are Unique: This Writing Exercise Proves It

Image Copyright © 2013 Joan Y. Edwards

"You Are Unique: This Writing Exercise Proves It" by Joan Y. Edwards

You Are Unique. Your experiences make you different from others. You have different likes and dislikes.
If you have a snack bag filled with multi-colored M&Ms, each of you might choose the same color to eat, once or twice, but probably not with the entire snack bag of candy. If you made a design with the M&Ms before you ate them, your designs would be different. Why? You have different likes and dislikes. (Personal aside: You can personalize M&Ms for special occasions: http://www.mymms.com/default.aspx?)

Below are 15 words to use in this writing exercise. Even though each of you uses the same 15 words, the stories you write will be different. Your life experiences and interests decide what you write. Start a new story, add to an old story, or write freely as it comes to you, but try to use all 15 words in your passage.
Although the words are the same, the passages may differ in the following:

• Genre
• Characters
• Dialogue
• Conflicts
• Senses
• Emotion
• Time
• Place
• Weather

There are verbs, nouns, and adjectives. I used http://www.wordgenerator.net to help me choose these words.

Find more exercises to stimulate your brain and put life into your writing in a book called, Writing Open the Mind by Andy Couturier. When you use random words, it stirs up wondrous experiences and helps you create passages filled with life.

This is a great exercise for writing groups that meet either online or in person. We did this exercise in our Savvy Wordsmiths Writing Group meeting in Fort Mill, SC. No one used the same characters or situations.

If you and another person have the same idea for a book, it will not turn out the same. Why? It will be different because each person is different. Enjoy being you. You are unique and a blessing to our world. Write and enjoy it.

Try this exercise. Ask a friend to try it, too. Compare your stories. I’ll bet they will be unique.

Directions for this writing exercise:

1. Get out a sheet of paper (or open a new file on your computer)
2. Print out this blog post.
3. Take one minute to read, study, and think about the 15 words.
4. Set the timer for 15 minutes.
5. Write for 15 minutes making an effort to use all 15 words in your passage.
6. Read your passage aloud at the end of your 15 minutes.

Enjoy yourself. You are a Master Writer. You have a gift. Go for it.

15 Words for This Writing Exercise

1. spirited
2. evaluate
3. post office
4. indulge
5. newscaster
6. muscle
7. barrel
8. incredulous
9. slippery
10. advertise
11. annex
12. sapling
13. unveil
14. tongue
15. photograph

Now compare what you wrote with the passage I wrote at our writing group. It's in the comment area. Please do the exercise before you read my comment passage.

If you're willing to share your passage, copy and paste it into the comment area. It will be fun to read the variety of passages.

If you want to do this type of exercise again, you can choose 15 words at random from newspapers, magazines, wordsearch puzzles, or crossword puzzles, or your favorite books. Enjoy being you.

I'd love to hear from you.

  

          Celebrate your uniqueness.

                    Never Give Up - Joan Y. Edwards

Flip Flap Floodle, the happy little duck who Never Gives Up

Hear Flip’s Song

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Flip-Flap-Floodle-Joan-Edwards/dp/1594572852/

Barnes & Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/flip-flap-floodle?r=1

                Joan's Elder Care Guide 4RV Publishing Coming in June 2014

               Blog: http://www.joanyedwards.wordpress.com

                                          Celebrating over 71, 000 Views - Join me there.

Marketing with Newsletters and Blogs: Your Own and Others

 

Contributed by  Carolyn Howard-Johnson

I don't think using others' newsletters and blogs a panacea for easy promoting. Newsletters and blogs that belong to other people are a great way of promoting but they do lack some of the benefits that you have if you run your own. That would be:

1.   The independence you have with your own.

2.   Using your own as mini way to reward those who do something nice in terms of publicity for you. See the Thank You section in my SharingwithWriters newletter for examples of this.

3.   Networking by offering guest features, guest posts, and other ways to link to people who—if they're savvy marketers—will reciprocate. If not today, then later.

4.   The ability to drive traffic to your Web site, online bookstore page, of anywhere your little heart desires.

Having a newsletter and blog of your own is a lovely way to share what you know. And having one doesn't discourage doing that in others' newsletters and blogs, anyway!

Here's an example of a tip I submitted to Penny Sansevieri's "A Marketing Expert" newsletter.

Reader Tip: Include Action Shots on Your Website

When you're updating your website as suggested by this Book Marketing Expert newsletter, be sure to include at least one action shot of you doing something. Many bloggers and online folks like plain old generic headshots but print media still need a whole lot more than someone holding his or her book or accepting an award. And TV producers need to see some possibilities for action in the still photos or videos you offer. Use my media room as a very basic example (http://howtodoitfrugally.com/media_room.htm) and Penny's as an example of what you're aiming for: http://www.amarketingexpert.com/media.html. And read more on why you need to relate to the media and how to do it in The Frugal Book Promoter at http://budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo.

Tip offered by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of how-to books for writers. 

 

Here's an action shot like the one I suggested (see left). You just have to think of shot that is somehow associated with your book.

 

Having said that, any image is better than none at all. So a picture of you with your book at a book fair works, even though it may not qualify as a real action shot. Grab your book before the shutter snaps and take a picture anyway. But grab a fellow book fair participant to be in your shot with you because he or she may be willing to help you promote. Two marketers/publicists are better than one.

 

For more information on newsletters and blogging use the index of your Frugal Book Promoter (http://budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) to find help, ideas, and tons more references.

Providing tips for others is a great way to extend your reach. But it's limited. You own blog and newsletter issn't. That's why I can include this additional tip in this blog post without considering word count (or just being a real pest to the newsletter editor!).  Here it is:

 

Re-use your action photo. Repetition is good for sales. That's why you have a book cover. I use this one in the image feature of my marketing books on my Amazon buy pages (see the images I posted on my Buy Page on my Frugal Book Promoter page), on my Web site, and sometimes send it to feature editors after I've been interviewed. Especially if they don't mention sending a photographer to take a picture. It's part of our jobs to make it easy for editors to do their jobs easily and well.

 

If you'd like to be sure you see all my favorite marketing and writing tips subscribe to my SharingwithWriters newsletter at http://howtodoitfrugally.com. The subscribe button is in the right of almost every page. And you'll get a free little e-booklet on wordtrippers when you do it. And, yes. I encourage you to submit your own favorite tips to that newsletter and to include credit lines with links to your book's sales page.   

 

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