Now"s the Time to Get Started on Your Christmas Book for 2023

 

On Christmas Songs, Books, and Marketing

Riddle: So Why Is Taylor Swift a Terrific Marketer? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

By Carolyn  Howard-Johnson

 

It’s holiday time. Even if we don’t think much about Taylor Swift the rest of the year, between now and January 1^st you’re likely to hear her singing “Last year I gave you my heart,” in my opinion one of the most unlikely Christmas songs of all time. It’s a good lesson in love, but also a reminder of the example she has set for creative types since she started flaunting her knack for marketing.

 

QUESTION: So what makes Taylor Swift a terrific marketer?

ANSWER: Because she knows that this one song reaches across generations as well as the months and years to include all she does, including “showing” us the the real meaning of the word “assertive.”

 

I fear the word “assertive” has gotten a bad rap in the last couple decades.

People often associate it with being brash or downright overbearing, but it’s a skill we all need in business (in our case the world of publishing) when we must negotiate a contact or make ourselves heard in the din of a hundreds of thousands of books being published each year. 

 

But Taylor got that right, too. She thinks creative people should get paid for their work. She stood up for that idea. She wasn’t afraid to use her financial clout to do it. And—here’s the biggie. She doesn’t hesitate to use her skill against the big guys.

 

A few years ago, Taylor pitted her case against Apple—financially the world’s most influential company—who planned to launch a free promotion for their new music streaming business, Apple Music. She did it with an open letter on her blog (ahh, the power of the written word and the power of blogging!) and a tweet or two. And she did it without mussing her hair or raising her voice or resorting to a lewd gesture. She assured Apple that she loved them, threw in a few more compliments like “I say this with love, reverence, and admiration for everything else Apple does.” It was polite, but she still socked it to them. In something like sixteen hours they were smart enough to buckle. Swift and all the other musicians feature on Apple's rollout got paid.

 

And now we can all add the word “assertive” to the lexicon of skills we need to survive, to influence. She used a gentle voice that convinced others that her protest was not about making more money for herself but a matter of principle and passion. Now the rest of us can be assertive and know that can mean engaging and focused as well as strident.

 

And while we’re at it, let’s think about what we creatives can learn from that Christmas song. We creatives have a little time to think about the holidays both creatively and in ways that help whoever out there likes what we do. For writers, I’m thinking “last minute” gifts by touting e-book gifts that are inexpensive and arrive very nearly instantly. For readers I’m thinking books that are classics from books of poetry to Dickens.

 

I’m thinking donations to your local library and a special thank you to whoever tosses the daily news onto your front porch. The list can get really long.

 

But mostly I want to remind you to start thinking about a writing a book with a Christmas theme—maybe an anthology. Think of this as a writers’ prompt to try a genre you never tried before. But mostly think about it as a career builder. Don’t wait until it is too late once again. Now is the time to do your NaNo thing in January. But give it a Christmas theme then make it your Christmas classic. It will be the thing that makes your audience think about your other books when ’23, ’24, and 3035 roll around. The basics will just wait patiently for you to practice your marketing skills starting every year sometime around Thanksgiving forever after.

 

Carolyn Howard-Johnson brings her experience as a publicist, journalist, marketer, and retailer to the advice she gives in her HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers and the many classes she taught for nearly a decade as instructor for UCLA Extension’s world-renown Writers’ Program. All her books for writers are multi award winners including the first edition of The Frugal Book Promoter published in 2003. Her The Frugal Editor, soon to be released in its 3^rdedition, won awards from USA Book News, Readers’ Views Literary Award, the marketing award from Next Generation Indie Books and others including the coveted Irwin award. And, yes. How about a last-minute book of Christmas poetry from Carolyn and Magdalena Ball’s holiday entry in their Celebration Series of chapbooks, paper or e-book. Find it at bit.ly/BloomingRed.

Featured Productivity Tool: Self Care

You probably don't consider self-care as a productivity tool, but think about it. You are way more productive when you are rested, refreshed, and living in balance.

Last month, health and wellness coach Angela Miller Barton, spiritual intuitive life and business coach Erin MacCoy, and mindset answer man Cliff Ravenscraft joined my #GoalChatLive conversation on the topic. Angela talked about how many people consider self-care as being selfish. In actuality, a lot of people confuse self-care with after-care. When you are so depleted, you have no choice but to recover. 

According to my guests, self-care is "genuinely putting yourself first," says Cliff. Erin adds it's, "The cornerstone for success." "It's setting the guard rails on ourselves," says Angela.

 

Angela, Erin, and Cliff shared their own self-care journeys, as well as their thoughts on the value of self-care, how to get better at it, self-care during the holidays, and more.

Watch our conversation: 

Goals for Self Care

• Cliff: Meditate … in whatever form that makes sense for you. Start by meditating for one minute a day 
• Erin: Change your energy by changing your perspective. Go outside and take a deep breath 
• Angela: Become friends with yourself 
• Deb: Keep a win list

Final Thoughts 

When you take care of yourself - during the holidays, but really any time of year - you are in a better position to do all that you want and need to do. 

Read the complete recap.

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For more inspiration and motivation, follow @TheDEBMethod on Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin! 

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What's your best tip for self care? Please share in the comments. 

* * *

Debra Eckerling is the award-winning author of Your Goal Guide: A Roadmap for Setting, Planning and Achieving Your Goals and founder of the D*E*B METHOD, which is her system for goal-setting simplified. A goal-strategist, corporate consultant, and project catalyst, Debra offers personal and professional planning, event strategy, and team building for individuals, businesses, and teams. She is also the author of Write On Blogging and Purple Pencil Adventures; founder of Write On Online; host of the #GoalChat Twitter Chat, #GoalChatLive on Facebook and LinkedIn, and The DEB Show podcast. She speaks on the subjects of writing, networking, goal-setting, and social media.

Celebrating the Coming Release of "The Frugal Editor" with an Essay on the Conceited Pronoun "I"

A Little Essay on the Pronoun “I”
Using "I" As a Conceit

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of fiction,
poetry, and how-too books for writers.

I don't know when I learned the word "conceited." I was raised in Utah (yes, that’s part of the United States of America!) where most of us didn't use "conceit" in the sense of an elaborate or strained metaphor but rather to mean that someone thought they were extra-super special. The little girl across the street who snubbed me because I didn't wear long stockings with garters (which was an immediate tipoff that I was not her kind) was "conceited" rather than prejudiced. The kid who was quick to make a point of how bright he was when I made a mistake was "conceited" rather than arrogant (or insecure). Gawd! I loved the word "conceited." I could apply it to so many situations and avoid learning new vocabulary words.

Of course, in a culture where being extra-super humble was valued, I soon noticed that our English language is, indeed, "conceited."

I'm speaking of the way we capitalize the pronoun "I." None of the other pronouns are capped. So what about this "I," standing tall no matter where you find it alone in a sentence?

Recently as I tutored students in accent reduction and American culture, I noticed that some languages (like Japanese) seem to do quite well without pronouns of any sort. I remembered back (a long way back!) to a linguistics class in college and did a little extra research.  Some languages like Hebrew and Arabic, don't capitalize any of their letters and some, like German, capitalize every darn noun. So, English—a Germanic language at its roots—just carried on the German proclivity for caps.

But the question remained. Why only the "I?" Why not "them" and "you" and all the others. Caroline Winter, a 2008 Fulbright scholar, says "England was where the capital "I" first reared its dotless head… .Apparently someone back then decided that after it had been diminished from the original Gemanic ich,  the little lowercase
“i" was not substantial enough to stand alone." Some say it had to do with an artistic approach to fonts. The story goes that long ago in the days of handset type or even teletype machines little sticks and dots standing all alone looked like broken bits of lead or scrappy orphan letters.

Then there is the idea that religion played a part in capitalizing the "I." Rastafarians (and some others, too) think in terms of humankind as being one with God and therefore—one has to presume—it would be rather blasphemous not to capitalize "I" just as one does "God." Capitals, after all, are a way to honor a word or concept.

Which, of course, brings us back to the idea that we speakers of English are just plain "conceited."

More About the Guest Blogger

Carolyn Howard-Johnson was an instructor for UCLA Extension's world-renown Writers' Program for nearly a decade and is author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers including The Frugal Editor, soon to be released by Modern History Press in its third edition, updated to accommodate new editing expectations around gender and lots more. Modern History Press President, Victor Vollkman, says it has more than 50% new material as evidenced by the Index he just finished installing.  Carolyn is the recipient of the California Legislature's Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award and was honored by Pasadena Weekly for her literary activism. She also is a popular speaker and commericial actor with the likes of Blue Shield, Disney (Japan) Cruiselines, and Apple Computer to her credit. Her website is https://HowToDoItFrugally.com.

Book Cover for New 3rd Edition by Doug West

Character Sheets - Building a Character

 Contributed by Karen Cioffi, Children's Ghostwriter

Connecting with a reader entails a couple of things, one of which is to have a fully developed protagonist.

A crucial aspect of creating a real character is his interactions with the other characters in the story, and his reactions to external influences.

These reactions to external surroundings or occurrences add layers to your protagonist.

To be able to write with this type of clarity and dimension for your protagonist, you need to know every detail of your protagonist's character.

Even if you learn tidbits here and there as the story progresses, those new bits and pieces of the characters traits will need to be remembered and possibly used again. An excellent way to keep track of your protagonist’s characteristics is to create a character sheet.

Using Character Sheets

In addition to the basic information, like physical characteristics, abilities, faults, family, and likes and dislikes, you need actions and reactions.

Make note on your character sheet of every reaction and interaction your character has with another character. As with actual life, we interact differently with different people in our lives.

A boy will not react to a friend the same way he does a brother. He will not react the same to a sister as he does a brother. The same holds true for all other relationships. All these different interactions help create a fully dimensional protagonist.

As you're creating your story's characters' dynamics, keep in mind that all characters play a part in creating a realistic story, even in fantasy and sci-fi.

This means that your protagonist needs a responsive partner or team member (character) when interacting, otherwise the interaction will feel one-sided and flat.

Create Character Continuity

In order to create a continuity of character traits for all characters, each character needs a character sheet.

While for some this may seem tedious, it is well worth the effort. You may be three quarters through the book and can't remember how character A interacted with character D.

You won't want to have to search through the story to find this little tidbit of information.

Also, keep in mind that each character will have his/her own motivation for actions and reactions. This is part of their character traits and should be listed on their character sheet.

Remember, every action, reaction and interaction created in your story will not only develop the protagonist, but also the other characters in the story.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author and children’s ghostwriter, rewriter, and coach with clients worldwide. She is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Writers on the Move and an author online platform instructor with WOW! Women on Writing.

Karen’s children’s books include “Walking Through Walls” and “The Case of the Stranded Bear.” She also has a DIY book, “How to Write Children’s Fiction Books.” You can check them out at: https://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com/karens-books/. If you need help with your children’s story, visit: https://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com. 

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Tips on Creating Composite Characters

Ashley, the main character in Tall Boots, is
based on a neighbor of ours who wanted nothing
more than to wear tall, black shiny riding boots

By Linda Wilson   @LinWilsonauthor

Beware the “wooden” character. I created one of those once. My character was the villain in my story. Stiff as cardboard, poor soul. He appeared on the scene angry. He stayed angry during the entire story. You can imagine how boring his personality was. There was no compelling reason to include him in the story except that he was the bad guy. What was worse, he had no redeeming qualities. During the editing process, I searched around for a story to tell about his life, and to discover something nice about him. That helped.

In his article, “Creating Composite Characters,” R.J. Lee wrote, “Character creation is one of the most difficult aspects of writing fiction. One way to create characters with real characteristics and with whom your readers can relate is to create composite characters.”

Tom Sawyer is a composite character. Samuel Clemens said at the time The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was published in 1876, that the character was based on three boys he knew. And experiences in his own life.

Learning about composite characters can help shape your characters. It is also fun. I’m preaching to the choir here, but it’s amazing how many traits you can pick up by studying people. Always with Your trusty notebook in hand, jot down interesting traits, sayings, even jokes you hear in other people’s company. Here are some things to watch out for:

• fingernails
• hair color and style
• jewelry
• clothing
• mannerisms
• accent
• shoes
• how they smile, frown and laugh
• any scars, tattoos, and the like

Dig Under the Surface

Observe emotions. What makes the person tick? What are their facial expressions when they’re telling a story? Do they appear happy? Sad? Nervous? Do they say one thing but it’s obvious they mean another?

Since our characters often reveal traits of our own, we authors can mine our own life and the lives of people we know. As children’s authors, we look back to our childhoods. What were our physical characteristics, good habits, bad habits, emotional state? Who were our best friends? Status at school? What was our home life like?

Make Lists and/or Charts

Pictures cut out of magazines and posted on your bulletin board can help breathe life into your characters. Post all the pictures of your characters together. Characters’ traits can be listed in “Positive” and “Negative” columns. Soon, their traits narrow down to people as close to reality as possible. Visit the pictures and traits until you’ve gotten to know your characters and have become fond of them.

Once writing begins, these traits need to become pliable. Your character will need to depend on what kind of person s/he is as revealed by struggles the character faces in the story. 

Recently while working on my WIP, work-in-progress, the second book in my Abi Wunder series, Secrets in the Mist, the main character Abi visits her new friend Jess one last time at the end of summer before school starts. The two friends have only a night when the moon is full and the temperature is just right to see if the ghost will rise out of the marsh in Jess’s neighborhood. 

Abi wants to be brave, believes she is brave, until she comes up against the luminescent presence of the ghost they’ve been seeking. The sheer brilliance of the ghost’s glow strikes fear in Abi’s heart, and suddenly her bravery melts away into the black of night.

Making your vision of your characters and their traits concrete by putting them down on paper—their pictures and their personalities—will go a long way toward helping you develop your story. Before you know it, your characters will take on lives of their own. Perhaps, as many authors say, your characters will write your story themselves!

The series by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, which includes The Emotion Thesaurus, The Conflict Thesaurus, and The Emotional Wound Thesaurus, is a terrific help in shaping characters in our stories.

Sources:

Creating Composite Characters fromhttps://www.liferichpublishing.com/en/why-us/author-resources/fiction/creating-composite-characters

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/CompositeCharacter/Literature 

Cowgirl in New Jersey
Linda, about 5-years-old
What a character!

 Linda Wilson writes stories for young children. Visit Linda     at https://bit.ly/3AOM98L. Click the links for free coloring pages and   a puppet show starring Thistletoe Q. Packrat. While you’re there, get   all the latest news by signing up for Linda’s newsletter. 

 Find Linda’s books at  Amazon Author Page.

 Connect with Linda: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram  

What to Do During Dry Spells if You're a Freelance Writer

 by Suzanne Lieurance

Once you get your freelance writing career going, you’ll probably find that it can be either “feast or famine” most of the time, meaning you have too much work to do, or not enough, or worse yet, periods when you have no writing jobs at all to do.

If you think about it, those dry spells are probably not so bad, except for the damage they can do to your checkbook.

After an extended period of “feasting” on one writing project after another, you probably need a little “down time” to recharge and get ready for the next cycle of work.

But that “down time” from writing assignments can be very productive—and it should be.

Use that time to look for new opportunities, and even create some opportunities yourself.

Make a list of businesses you want to send a LOI (letter of introduction) to, then spend an entire day doing nothing but getting these LOIs written and sent out (you probably already have a basic template for this that you just customize for each business, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get 30 or so LOIs written and sent out).

Develop a class or workshop on writing that you can offer online or even at a local school or community center.

Create a short e-book, tips booklet, or other informational products you can sell yourself, directly from your website (or blog), and get other writers to sell these items for you, too (you can create an affiliate program for your products).

Or get back to that novel you’ve been wanting to have time to write.

Or try your hand at writing in a different genre than you're used to.

You might really like it and you can create another lucrative income stream with books you sell in this genre.  

Once you’ve created something new, write a media release about it and send it out.

Also, remember this, even if you have a great website for your writing business or a professional profile at places like linkedin.com, don’t simply sit around waiting for clients to come to you.

Eventually, once you’ve developed a name for yourself in the writing world, you should have at least some clients who will contact you initially, but until then you need to do all you can to get your name before prospective clients and the public in general.

Start thinking of ways to do that.

The main thing is to avoid feeling discouraged at slow times.

If you use these times productively, they too will pass, and you’ll be ready for another busy work cycle before you know it.

Eventually, after you’ve had some practice budgeting for these slow periods, you’ll probably even find yourself looking forward to them (and you'll finally finish writing your novel).

Try it!

And for more writing tips and resources delivered to your e-mailbox every weekday morning, get your free subscription to The Morning Nudge.

Suzanne Lieurance is an award-winning author with over 40 published books and a writing coach. 

She offers The Monday Morning Shove, a live group coaching program for writers who want to get and stay focused, so they reach their writing goals.

Five Ways to Break Through the Competition

By Terry Whalin (@terrywhalin) 

While many people are publishing books with over 4,500 new books every day (including the self-published books), the competitive nature of this work is rarely discussed. Editors and agents get pitches and proposals from many different authors. What are some of the difference makers that every author can use to break through the competition?

As a writer and an editor, I’ve been in publishing for decades and met thousands of authors. Plus I’ve been studying publishing and interviewing hundreds of bestselling authors about how they practice their craft. In this article, I want to give you five characteristics which will make you stand out from the competition. 

Be an Action Taker

Fear of failure and rejection may be holding you back on taking action and getting your writing into the market. Here’s the truth: every writer (including me) gets rejected and tries things that fail. In the face of such challenges, I continue taking action and encourage you to do it too. It’s been decades since I published a devotional in The Upper Room because I hadn’t tried it. Susan King, a long-time Upper Room editor, encouraged me to submit. I followed their guidelines (key) and submitted four devotions. Three were rejected and one was accepted. Last year, on May 12^th my devotion reached six million readers (follow this linkto read it). Yes it up to 300 words but you have to send the right words. If you don’t pitch or submit then you can’t get published. Have to take action even if you fail.

When you attend a writers’ conference and an editor or agent invites you to submit, take action and do it. You would be shocked at the few writers who actually follow through and send the requested material. Yes you risk rejection but taking action is the path to possibly getting published. And I would encourage you to follow-up even if the editor made the request weeks or months ago. I've had some authors approach me with their material even years after they pitched it originally. Admittedly they are a bit hesitant but still reach out to me. Here's the good news, after ten years, I'm still actively looking and read their submission. Whenever a professional opens the door, you have an opportunity to march through it but have to take action. If you move forward, then you increase your desirability to other professionals.

Be Connected to Your Readers

Writers dread this word—platform. Editors and agents are looking for authors who have a connection to their readers or audience. Desirable authors have a platform. I understand (from my own actions) that it will take work and effort for you to build these connections. Every writer begins with a limited number of connections but the greater your connections, the more you will become a desirable author to others. The sooner you start this process, the better. Here are some action ideas for you: Begin or grow your email list. Begin or grow a blog. Increase your connections on your LinkedIn account. Take these steps to get connected to your audience.

Always Learning New Things

Desirable writers invest and attend writers’ conferences and are always learning something new. They try different types of writing and have learned to write a query letter or a book proposal. Then they submit their work with excellence. There are many different types of writing and I have a list in the first chapter of Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams (follow this link to the sample).  

Continually Pitching 

Desirable authors are always pitching something new. There is always something new to write like a magazine article that ties to your latest book or a guest blog post or a news release to the media or a pitch to a podcast. The list of possibilities is endless. Everything I publish begins with pitching someone. It’s a key part of the business no matter how much you have published. 

No one said the life of a writer would be simple or easy but it is filled with great opportunity. You can break through the competition and become a desirable author. Our writing changes lives and I know this fact because years ago a book changed my life.  

Which of these ways resonated with you? Let me know in the comments below. 

Tweetable:

Discover five ways to break through the competition. This prolific writer and editor gives the details here. (ClickToTweet)

________________________________________

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in Colorado. 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 newest 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. Jim Cox, Editor-in-Chief of Midwest Book Review wrote, “If you only have time to read one ’how to’ guide to getting published, whether it be traditional publishing or self-publishing, “Book Proposals That Sell ” is that one DIY instructional book. ” Check out his free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.