January 9, 2016

Face Your Fears!


Issue #17 October 2015

Launching Your Book

Last year I entered my novel, A Long Winter’s Night, in the 22nd Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards. I was discouraged to not even receive an honorable mention, however, I did receive many suggestions for improvements and encouraging notes about my skills and future as a writer. So, during the summer, I used those suggestions to edit and rewrite my novel. My sisters/editors, God bless them, told me that those changes have made an incredible difference in the entire story. With my confidence restored, I took an online workshop about launching your book with Kimberley Grabas of Your Writer Platform and Joel Friedlander of The Book Designer. They later sent out a fabulous and informative Book Launch Toolkit that included several blank worksheets and an instruction booklet. What hit me in the instructions is the importance of have an established writer’s platform whether you self-publish or go through traditional publishers and agents. Apparently, you can have a good book launch without a writer’s platform. However, if you want to truly “make it” as an author, you HAVE to have that platform in place.
I’ve decided to try to publish my trilogy via an agent, who will have greater knowledge than me about the ins and outs of writing contracts. So I took a step back and made a new TO-DO list, which started with writing the synopsis and sending it out to agents. Cold sweat immediately popped out all over my body and my mind went blank.

Synopsis Terrors

I think we can agree that we all love writing. It’s the one thing that everyone reading this blog has in common. We either currently write our hearts out, trying to publish our work, or we want to take all those pent up emotions and scribble them across the screen. It’s the whole reason we’ve gone to the trouble to set and monitor our goals, which I hope you’ve mastered. Whether you’ve already completed that first novel using the marvelous tool of self-discipline or you’re just beginning it, we all have to face the terror of writing a synopsis for our book. Agents need them. Publishers want them. Writers shutter at the thought of writing them. However, just as writing flash fiction is excellent practice for compressing our writing, so condensing our book to a one page synopsis is an excellent way to learn how to write the back blub for your book. So take three deep, even breaths, then exhale, because here we go!
First of all, don’t try to jump into writing your synopsis without first planning your route. That means research and read about HOW to create a synopsis. There are literally thousands of suggestion out there, so you need to be careful to select credible sources.
My search took me to two good sources:  Jane Friedman and Glen C. Strathy. Jane Friedman impressed me because, not only has she been in the publishing industry for 15 years, but she also has “expertise in digital media and the future of authorship.” Plus she’s a guest speaker at book fairs and conferences around the world. When I read Glen’s profile, I learned that he is already an accomplished freelance business writer. He also has several awards for independent publishing and on for being a book reviewer. So I chose Jane and Glen’s as references for two reason: 1) for their experience and 2) for their readability.
Now I had to take the second step: read and study what they had to say about the synopsis. Jane’s article is specifically about “How to Write a Synopsis” and it referenced Glen’s article named “How to Write a Book Now.” The specific reference was about the eight basic plot element, which I thought I knew. However, I was surprised by the new terminology in Glen’s article (i.e. story goal instead of plot, consequences if the goal isn’t reached and requirements to achieve the goal). Glen looks at a story from a more practical standpoint or actual motivation for the characters. While Jane’s article is clean and to the point with bulleted items for what to include and what mistakes to delete.
The third step is obviously to practice writing the synopsis according to their instructions. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get it right the first time. My first attempt resulted in an overly detailed 26-page synopsis. Unusable, of course. My second attempt was better. It turned out to be four pages. Still too long. Now I need to go back to the articles, reread and actually use Glen’s suggestion of using 5” by 8” cards to organize the eight elements of fiction. I’ll let you know how that turns out. The main point is the old “never give up, never surrender.” The only real reason to fail is if you quit trying. Which reminds me of a story my mother-in-law told me. Ma is a terrific artist who used to give private art lessons when her children were young. Apparently, a young woman came to her wanting to learn how to do fashion drawing for newspapers and magazines. After several lessons, Ma was saddened to see that woman had no talent for drawing. She tried to gently dissuade the young woman from a goal that seemed unattainable. However, the young woman was determined. She practiced continuously, continued her lessons with Ma, and studied the techniques of the current fashion illustrators. I shouldn’t have to tell you the ending of this story, but I will. The young women became a fashion illustrator for the Chicago Tribune. Does this exemplify our adapted motto or what? So even during those inevitable times of discouragement, remember to “never give up, never surrender.”

Writing Challenge #16: Dialogue Delight

Last quarter, I challenged you to enter the Bartleby Snopes Contest, which was writing a story composed entirely of dialogue WITHOUT using “he said/she said” tags we’re used to using. I hope some of you accepted that challenge. Even though it sounded like a lot of fun, I was too tied up with other writing to do it. Let’s hope we all do better with the next challenge.

Writing Challenge #17: Write From What You Know

We have a couple of options for this writing challenge. Notice in our list below that October 15, 2015 is the deadline to submit a story for the RROFIHE TROPHY. You could take something from personal experience and fictionalize it. We also have the topics for CHICKEN SOUP for the remainder of the year. The next deadline is October 30, 2015. These are virtually flash fiction pieces, so give it a shot. Remember to use the plot graph to keep yourself on track.

Still haven’t gotten my author website back, so we’re taking a sabbatical from our writers’ group, Contributors’ Corner, until further notice. But don’t let that stop you from writing!

If you’re not receiving your copy of The Prodigal Writer, please contact me. Or if you’d like to start receiving copies of our newsletter, you can contact me, too. Just click my name below to send an email.

Until next quarter, live well, love fully and write with all your heart!





Venues for Writing

I still don’t have gotten this list on Google Docs yet. Please accept my apology.


Contests

If you still aren’t receiving Hope Clark’s Funds for Writers, here are upcoming opportunities:

RROFIHE TROPHY
Genre: Literary Fiction
Word Count: 3,500 to 5,000
Compensation: $500, trophy, announcement and publication on anderbo.com
Deadline: October 15, 2015
Special Instructions: story previously unpublished and author previously unpublished on Anderbol; email submissions only. Please read their instructions.


Magazines

CHICKEN SOUP            
Genre: Real Stories that are Uplifting
Word Count: 1,200 or less
Compensation: $200
Deadlines:
October 30, 2015:
The Joy of Less
Alzheimer’s and Dementias Family Caregiving
November 30, 2015:
Angels and Miracles
Military Families
The Spirit of America
AE SCIFI
Genre: Science Fiction
Word Count:  500-3,000
Compensation: $0.07 per word
Deadline:
Special Instructions:  E-mail submissions only; Subject Line:  “INT Sub: ‘Story Title’ (word count, words); Cover Letter; Include your name, byline (if different); Brief Bio (50 words)

AE welcomes submissions from both established and emerging authors. We publish exclusively science fiction, though our interpretation of the genre can be quite inclusive. We are not soliciting poetry or screenplays at this time.

THE THREEPENNY REVIEW
Genre:
Critical Article
Stories or Memoirs
Table Talk
Poetry
Word Count:
1,200-2,500
4,000 or less
1,000
100 lines or less
Compensation:
$400
$400
$200
$200
Deadline:
Open Reading January through June
NOTE:
No submissions are read or accepted between July and December.
No simultaneous submissions. No previously published submissions.
Submit ONLY one story or article or five poems.
Responds within two months.

The Threepenny Review is a quarterly, international magazine which buys first serial rights in our print and digital editions, and the copyright then reverts to the author immediately upon publication.




January 2, 2016

Happy 2016: Time to Evaluate Our Goals

Issue #18 January 2016

Evaluate Last Year’s Goals

If you remember last year’s January issue of The Prodigal Writer, you know that we need to constantly stay on top of our long-term goals by setting mid-term and short-term goals, then checking ourselves to make sure we’re staying on track. As you look at your goals from last year, mark down what you actually accomplished in one column. In the next column determine whether your goals were 1) unrealistic, 2) too difficult to achieve and in need of modification or 3) just right and worthwhile continuing.
Here are the goals I set last year and my evaluation of them. Notice that I’ve made notes about each of my goals before deciding on which goals to select for 2016.


2015 Goals
Actual Accomplishment
Must Read Must See Books and Movies
6 blog entries
4 blog entries, updated keywords and title
Prodigal Writer
4 blog entries
4 blog entries, updated keywords and title
Contributors’ Corner Newsletter
12 newsletter
Only 4 entries – this was connected to my website, which was cancelled
Submit 12 stories/essays
Submitted 5 stories; 12 stories was too many in light of the editing and writing for my novels
Icy Thoughts Book 2
Write 4,000 words per week on Book 2
Wrote 32,000 words, 4,000 words per weeks MIGHT have been feasible IF other life issues hadn’t come up
Find & Use Editing Service
Contact 2 editing service per month until finding the best match
Contacted 4 different editing services to find out it would cost $2000 to get my book edited-can’t afford
Have a new book cover created
Contact Arts Alliance to find a suitable illustrator
Tried to contact, but no response
Education
Complete another course in marketing
Took How to Sell a Truckload of books on Amazon, Book Launch Toolkit, read numerous articles on how to write a synopsis and how to write a letter to agents.
Apply the Launch Your Ebook principals to promote A Long Winter’s Night AFTER completing the goals for it below
NONE
Author Facebook Page
1 entry per week, either from the blogs, the website or something new
NONE
Apparently this is an area of weakness which requires extra work…and study
Character Facebook Page
1 entry per week entered as a diary or journal
NONE – removed from Facebook due to awkwardness
Author LinkedIn Page
NONE
NONE
Apparently this is an area of weakness which requires extra work…and study
Author Website
Maintain weekly updates on the author website via the blogs or new info on the home page
NONE – lost website due financial challenges
Write Synopsis
Read about and wrote synopsis
Compose Letter to Agents
Read about and wrote letter to agents
Contact Possible Agents
Wrote and sent letters to 3 agents

As you can see, I accomplished some goals, but not others. This is a natural part of the process and, if you’re seeing the same pattern in your own goal setting-accomplishment process…don’t give up. It takes stamina to reach for the stars and even NASA didn’t make it on the first attempt!
As you can see, I accomplished some goals, but not others. This is a natural part of the process and, if you’re seeing the same pattern in your own goal setting-accomplishment process…don’t give up. It takes stamina to reach for the stars and even NASA didn’t make it on the first attempt!
The next step, of course, is to set your goals for 2016 and break them into monthly goals to be accomplished. This is basically your “to do” list for this year. I like to enter these on my Google Calendar with alerts to keep me on track. If you have another tracking method, that’s fine. Just don’t let yourself fall too far behind or you could get discouraged about actually gaining recognition with your writing.

Goals for 2016
Monthly
Write 6 reviews for The Dystopian Reviewer
Read a book every other month, then review the review for publication: February, April, June, August, October, December
Write 4 blogs for The Goal-Focused Writer
Write blogs for publication: January, April, August, December (remember that the writing must be done the month before the publication date)
Develop and push Goal-Focused Writers’ group, writing 6 blogs, alternating months with The Goal-Focused Writer
Read a book every other month, then review the review for publication: February, April, June, August, October, December
Submit 6 stories/essays
Write/edit on new story every other month for publication: February, April, June, August, October, December
Write 90,000 words
Write 7,500
Create book cover myself for each of the four parts of LWN
Created cover for Part 1 in December; create covers for Part 2, 3 and 4 before one month trial of Photoshop ends
Continue reading and applying marketing information
Launch all four parts of LWN:
Part 1 in February
Part 2 in April
Part 3 in June
Part 4 in August
Create and promote new author web page by February
Rewrite and improve synopsis
Rewrite and improve letter
Send out to 6 agents every two months

  

So let's look at some of the specific ways to accomplish our goals.

Change is Good

I taught English at a local technical school where the motto was “change is good.” It used to exacerbate me because not ALL change is good. Change is only good if it leads to improvement. After hours of reading and research, I decided changes needed to be made to improve my novel’s presence on Amazon. But more than that, I knew I had to make my blogs more accessible, too. Since this blog is focused on goals, I’ve renamed it to The Goal-Focused Writer. We’ll still discuss the steps we need to take as writers to achieve publication… and hopefully notoriety, but those steps can also be applied to accomplishing any goal. 

Re-education

Among the steps to launching any new career path, whether it’s writing or engineering, re-education in the subject area is number one on the TO DO list. That may involve traditional college to improve your writing, but it also means a lot of research and reading on your own. Some of the reading needs to be novels by other authors who are writing in your genre. Reading successful writers has immediate rewards. As you analyze the piece for what works for you as a reader and what doesn’t, then apply this analysis to your own writing, you improve your work. My work as a reader for Gemini Magazine, as well as writing book reviews has increased my awareness of the subtle techniques that change a mediocre novel into a really good one. This is the easy part because it’s right up our proverbial alley.
Other times, though, we must read information which is out of our area of expertise, like how to create promotional material and setting up websites with the correct keywords and linking it to Google Analysis to make sure we’re getting the desired attention. We also have to learn about keywords or tags that word for attracting our desired audience. This type of reading takes time away from our beloved writing and, for we right-brained, creative types, it means working the left side of our brain. When I first began researching how to promote the novel I’d written, I went straight to the horse’s mouth, so to speak. In this case, it was the horses who are professional marketers. I don’t mind telling you, I felt like I’d been stampeded. However, unless you have the good fortune to snag an agent, get a publisher’s attention or have the money to hire a marketing team, it’s absolutely necessary. Accomplishing goals, like getting older, isn’t for sissies.
Luckily, we don’t need to rely solely on marketers for information. Other writers have paved the way for us with FREE easy-to-assimilate directions. One of those writers is Penny C. Sansevieri. Her book, How to Sell Your Book by the Truckload on Amazon, is a must read for any author self-publishing on Amazon. The language is clear and concise and there’s no technobabble to send us in a thousand directions at once. There is, however, a great deal of usable information. So keep your notepad and your TO DO list ready. I’m only halfway through the book and I’ve already learned a great deal about how to improve my keywords and ranking on Amazon. More importantly, I’ve gained the confidence I needed to release of the second, “new and improved,” version of my novel, A Long Winter’s Night. There’s a little more work to accomplish before the new book launch, but I’m well-armed with understanding now. When I finished reading her book, I changed the name of both my blogs. I already explained the change for this blog above. But I also changes my book reviewing blog, Must Read, Must See Novels and Movies, to a more focused title. The Dystopian Reviewer will include a new book review by January. The reviews will still focus on my favorite genre, but they will include other related books as well. Another excellent source of information is Kimberley Grabas’ (Your Writer Platform) and Joel Friedlander’s (The Book Designer) Book Launch Toolkit. While their book feels a little overwhelming, it still has many great suggestions. They offered on online workshop, which included a PDF of the book and a ton of worksheets to help you stay organized.

If at First You Don’t Succeed…

In last quarter’s issue, I told you how I struggled with writing the synopsis for A Long Winter’s Night so I could send it out to literary agents. I chose three agents and simultaneously sent the query letter and synopsis to them. Of the three, only one auto-responded to let me know they’d received the query and later they told me that we weren’t a good match. That’s fine. I read enough to know that this process takes time and, since I’m a rhinoceros (reread the January 2014, Issue 10, Do You Have Thick Skin to remind you what this means) I’m ready to take the hits and keep charging.
The next step is to re-visit my query letter and synopsis, edit them again, select another set of literary agents to submit them to, and continue working while I wait for a response. This is the heart of publication: not giving up, not surrendering to the self-doubt and self-pity that can accompany rejection. Keep moving forward!

Don’t forget to join us at the Contributors’ Corner for insights about writing and to receive feedback on your pre-published work. We’re all here to help one another grow as writers. Until next quarter, live well, love fully and write with all your heart!