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Canadian Author Says Giving is the Key to More Satisfying Relationships

Saturday, October 12th, 2013

Roger Ellerton PhD, CMC is the author of Win-Win Influence: How to Enhance Your Personal and Business Relationships. He describes his book by first quoting Zig Zigler: “You can get anything in the world that you want, if you help somebody else get something they want.”

Roger explains, “Whether you are a parent, son/daughter, friend, employee, manager or salesperson, you are constantly influencing others to accept you, your ideas, products or services. Those who masterfully present themselves and their ideas in a win-win manner, get ahead. Those who do not, may reap short-term gains and eventually fail in their objective.”

He says, “Influence is critical in leadership, negotiation, teamwork and getting others to buy into your ideas. Follow and practice the concepts, tips and processes described in this book and improve your influence results with anyone in a manner that achieves a win-win outcome. The emphasis is on expanding your influence skills and results in everyday situations.”

Here are Roger’s responses to my interview questions:
Patricia: What is your background as an author/writer and in the field of your book?

Roger: In my youth, I never thought being an author was possible. In high school, I dreaded any assignment that involved writing. I barely passed high school English and was fortunate to gain admission to university. At university, I gravitated to the pure sciences to avoid having to write anything substantial. After graduation (with a PhD), I was a tenured University Professor (in Statistics). So all I had to do was put a few words between mathematical formulae.

I moved on from academia and became a certified management consultant. The firm that I joined insisted that all new staff take an in-house course on business writing. This gave me a whole different perspective on how to clearly present my ideas and it has served me very well ever since.

My books are in the area of personal growth and inter- and intrapersonal communication. Growing up and as a young adult, I never felt comfortable in my own skin. It was not until I was in my forties that I started exploring personal development methodologies. One in particular (neurolinguistic programming or NLP) had the most positive impact on me and how I interacted with others. I pursued this discipline and eventually became a certified trainer. I had read a number of books on NLP and, although I recommended several to clients/students, I felt the available books did not clearly present the information in a way that was readily accessible to the beginner. So I wrote my own book, which turned out to be very successful and now I have a total of seven books that are published as paperbacks or ebooks.

Patricia: Why this book at this time?

Roger: My book, Win-Win Influence: How to Enhance Your Personal and Business Relationships (with NLP) is, as the title suggests, about influencing yourself and others in a respectful manner. NLP is one of the best, if not the best, model for understanding and improving your communication with yourself and others. Some authors have written influence/persuasion books, based on NLP, that illustrate processes you can use to take unfair advantage of others. Hence I saw an opportunity to give readers another choice.

As I say in the Preface of my book, “If you are looking for tips and techniques to persuade others to your way of thinking or to buy your idea, product or service without regard for their needs or aspirations, then please look elsewhere.”

Patricia: Tell us a little about your process of writing this book.

Roger: Writing this book was fairly straightforward. To influence someone, it is really about changing their belief about your product, service or idea. Belief-change is a four-step process: Understand their current choice (belief), Raise doubt about current choice, Explore alternatives, Confirm new choice. With this as an outline, I simply added useful techniques, processes and personal experiences to illustrate how to move through the four-step process while respecting and honoring the other person’s needs and values.

Patricia: Who is your audience for this book?

Roger: My audience is fairly diverse. For example, managers, coworkers, job applicants, family members, teachers, coaches, consultants, sales staff who wish to engage others in a respectful win-win manner, and of course NLP students and practitioners who wish to expand their knowledge and use of NLP in a mutually respectful manner.

Patricia: What are you doing to promote this book? Anything interesting?

Roger: I continually have my antennae up for potential book promotion opportunities. For example, earlier this week you sent an email inviting authors/clients to promote their books through your blog. I have no idea of the audience you have or if many are interested in my genre, however it only took me a couple of minutes to reply—well worth my time investment compared to the big $ and time activities some authors get involved with to promote their books.

Blogger’s note: Roger has made two important points here. Authors MUST have a website where they can be contacted to participate in opportunities such as this one. And authors MUST become accustomed to saying, “yes.” You never know what might develop from your participation in even the simplest of activities.

With regard to other promotional activities, my business is multi-dimensional—public speaker, trainer, management consultant, personal and business coach. Hence each activity supports and enhances the other. For example, I have over 500 visitors per day to my main website. http://www.renewal.ca

One activity that has helped book sales at sites such as Amazon is to include keywords in the title and subtitle.

Patricia: Share with us some of your most exciting experiences as the author of this book.

Roger: I have received many positive emails from readers who have said my book has changed how they interact with others. As well, my book has lead to speaking/training/facilitation engagements, which have resulted in increased exposure for all of my books.

Excerpts from my book have been published in a number of magazines. For example, the following http://www.renewal.ca/MPA13%207_RogerEllerton_Client%20Perspective.pdf was published in the Mortgage Professional Australia magazine.

Patricia: Any other books in the pipeline?

Roger: I have two other books in the pipeline. I recently published two ebooks NLP and Personal Growth Thoughts: A Series of Articles by Roger Ellerton Volumes 1 and 2. Each is a collection of fifteen articles that I have written and published in various online and paper-based magazines. A third volume of fifteen articles is in the works, with publication scheduled in early 2014.

As I said earlier, my first book was written to make NLP more accessible to the NLP novice. I now see how the material in my first book can be made even more accessible. This new book will not be another edition nor a competitor to my first book. It will be a complete rewrite with the layperson in mind. I expect to have this completed by mid-2014 and will contact you, Patricia to work your magic with your editing skills.

You’ll find Roger Ellerton’s book, Win-Win Influence: How to Enhance Your Personal and Business Relationships at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple’s iTunes, etc. For additional ordering information, visit the author’s website: http://www.renewal.ca/product.htm

Paperback: $12.99
Ebook: $3.99

Posted in Guest Blogger, Writing | No Comments »

Secrets of a Novelist–Raven West

Friday, November 9th, 2012

This is the last in my weeklong series featuring novelists and how they approach their writing.

I’ve been writing as Raven West since 2001 when First Class Male was published by Lighthouse Press. The publisher also took over the publication of my first novel; Red Wine for Breakfast and also published Journey to Dimension Nine, my collection of erotica short stories under my pen name FireBird. Unfortunately, the publisher went out of business about three years ago, so I’ve re-published the titles in ebook format with Smashwords. Because I wanted control over the rights and publication, I published my latest novel Undercover Reunion with CreateSpace.

I guess my type of writing could be classified as Contemporary Fiction. My stories involve relationships, but aren’t typical “romance” novels. There is a mysterious death in Red Wine for Breakfast, but it’s not your typical murder mystery, and there’s plenty of adventure and intrigue in Undercover Reunion.

I started writing Red Wine for Breakfast in 1985 after the accidental death of my best friend Mary Ellen Grable, I wrote the story as an emotional release because I needed a way to deal with the tragedy.

Raven’s Writing Process
The process varies. Red Wine for Breakfast took me eight years to complete and I really didn’t have much of a plot when I started. I wrote a chapter here and there, and then put it all together. First Class Male was a bit different. I wrote, edited and completed each chapter, one at a time. I wrote the first 50,000 word draft of Undercover Reunion from start to finish in 2010 for the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge, then spent the next year doing the edits and re-writes before it was published in November of 2011. I plan on taking the challenge again this year writing Bourbon for Brunch, the sequel to Red Wine for Breakfast.

Raven Talks About Her Technique
I use a very loose outline at first with broad ideas, but I never force the story to stay within the boundaries of the outline. I definitely “color outside of the lines” when it comes to writing fiction. It is so exciting to not know exactly what is going to happen! Even though I have a solid idea of the story line, sometimes the characters take the story to places I never even imagined. Even with an outline, or a deadline, you just can’t force a story. I usually know the ending of the books and write the story backwards! The best technique is to relax and go with the flow!

Naming Characters
When I’m using a character sketch of an actual person, I’ll invert the letters of their first and last name, use a middle name as the first or last or just use some variation of the name. For instance, the postmaster Alex in First Class Male was actually Alan. Don-Donald in Undercover Reunion came from my husband’s middle name, Ronald. Sometimes names are just given to the character for no reason at all.

Unlike my own name, I never change a character’s name once I start writing the story. I may use a nickname. Mel for Melanie, Katie for Kathleen in Undercover Reunion, but once a character is named, they are created to be that person and there is no turning back.

Other than a physical description and brief paragraph on the characters’ personality, I really don’t stick to any pre-conceived details. My characters will “tell me” who they are as I’m writing the story. More than a few times, they’ll also argue with me! For example, Mark in First Class Male was originally written as a throw-away ex boyfriend of Rachel, but “he” insisted on being in the book, so he became a much more involved character than I originally planned.

There is a bit of “magic” in the process of writing fiction. The Muse can hit anyplace and anytime and the well planned story suddenly takes on a life of its own and ends up going in directions I never thought of, which can be both frustrating and exciting. When I originally ended First Class Male I realized that there wasn’t any connection between the ending and the beginning, so I had to write Part IV to what had originally been a three part novel! I hadn’t planned on one of my main characters in Undercover Reunion meeting an untimely death or being a double agent, but one thing leads to another and it’s up to the creative writer to stay true to the MUSE, wherever she leads! As long as everything makes sense in the end!

Learn more about Raven West here: http://ravenwest.net

Posted in Fiction, Guest Blogger | No Comments »

Writing Awards Spurs on This Writer of Westerns

Thursday, November 8th, 2012

I’d like to introduce Kathleen Ewing, freelance and fiction writer, Prescott Valley, AZ

The novel bug bit hard when the first chapter of my novel Hang the Moon won the 2008 CNW/FFWA Writing Competition, Fiction—Novel Chapter. I admitted to some self-doubt. One entry, one win could be a fluke. Four more submissions, four more awards. Apparently the novel about a rodeo cowboy on the brink of retirement possessed a broader appeal than I suspected. I dug the manuscript out of the garage to rewrite it.

Kathleen’s Technique
While outlines and detailed character sketches appeal to the manufacturing engineer I was, they suffocate the writer in me. So I start simply, with an interesting character doing something striking—in this case, a world champion saddlebronc rider getting bucked off onto his head. I visualize my character vividly. Shoot, I live in his hip pocket. I decide where the character is headed, what he wants most and what he’s prepared to do to get it. And what or who threatens to stop him.

At this point, out comes a large poster board from my closet. With a sticky notepad and a red marker, I begin writing down titles for scenes where this character might find himself in his quest to fulfill that want. No details. Just three or four words per note. I try to have twenty-five or thirty of these scene notes stuck on the board before I proceed to the next step.

The test I use to determine if I have a viable scene? Either it moves my character toward his goal or throws a barrier in his way. If it does neither, I trash it or set it aside for revamping. Now I begin arranging the notes in what feels like a logical order, subject to future change, of course.

Once I’m comfortable with where those scenes take the story, I transpose them to my novel’s workbook, a large loose-leaf binder. With one page per scene, I make brief notes on what I expect the scene to accomplish, which characters are present to interact and a snippet of action or dialog to serve as a springboard when I write the scene. For each scene page, there is a pocket page where I can capture notes, photos and bits of research that pertain to that scene.

Working backward from page one, I add a timeline to the workbook so I can keep track of critical milestones in the backstory. I know how my cowboy looks, how he thinks and what he drinks. By now he’s an old family friend. But I need to keep track of years he won championships, when he missed the PRCA Finals due to serious injuries, what he scored on his best ride, the name of the horse and where that ride occurred. Rodeo cowboys remember these things. I can’t.

Now that I know where my cowboy’s been, where he’s going and why, I add one crucial element. How is he going to change through the course of the novel?

Finally. I am prepared to narrate the story of rodeo legend Gib McCasland.

Posted in Creativity, Fiction, Guest Blogger | No Comments »

Hope Clark Writes Novels From Experience

Wednesday, November 7th, 2012

My name is C. Hope Clark and I have a Jekyll and Hyde persona in the writing world. By day I’m founder of FundsforWriters, a resource for writers which includes a website that’s been designated on the 101 Best Websites for Writers list by Writer’s Digest for 12 years, and newsletters that reach 40,000 readers. By night, I’m author of The Carolina Slade Mystery Series, published by Bell Bridge Books. The debut of the series, Lowcountry Bribe, came out in February 2012. Book Two, Tidewater Murder, comes out in early 2013. I speak across the US at writing conferences, writers’ clubs and book clubs about both FundsforWriters and mystery fiction.

I’ve written mysteries for 15 years, but it took 14 years to write the first one, find an agent, contract a publisher, and receive the book in my hands. I started writing mystery to exorcise a demon, so to speak. In my prior life, I worked for the federal government, with US Dept of Agriculture. A client offered me a bribe. The case went awry and left a very unpleasant taste in my mouth about the meaning of whistle-blowing, so I wrote a story about it. Unable to sell it as a quasi-memoir, I rewrote it as pure fiction, with many more twists and turns, recalling my case and adding a lot of “what if’s” until I found I LOVED writing mystery.

I inserted a love interest in the story, as most stories today must have, because in reality, I married the federal agent who arrived on the scene to investigate my bribery case. I get a lot of awwwwww’s when I tell audiences that story. Funny. It wasn’t all fun and games at the time!

I wanted to traditionally publish my fiction, as an item on my bucket list. It took 72 individually written queries to land the agent, and 18 months of pitching through her to find the contract. And I wouldn’t have done it any other way, because my writing grew phenomenally in that interim period. The delay in publishing made my writing stronger…much stronger. As a result, Lowcountry Bribe has garnered several awards.

Hope’s Writing Technique
My novels, and I’ve written three in the series, come partially from experiences of myself and my husband. I handled minor investigations with USDA and my husband was a federal agent, the real gun-totin’, badge sportin’ type. Between us, we had ample experience with those types of people that cross the line. I have a ball taking what I know and embellishing, mixing up, and making up layers of mystery for Carolina Slade.

Her name, by the way, was strategically selected. Carolina reminds the readers the story is in the Carolinas. Slade is a family name traced back to the late 1600s on my mother’s side. I combined my home and my family in this character, and I imagine my friends and family see glimpses of themselves in the stories. But for all the other character names, since they must be Southern in origin, I research two main places: 1) cemetery listings, and 2) websites of Southern cities where very Southern names appear on town councils and in various government positions. Old South usually has a hand in politics.

As for creating the stories, since I write a series, my characters come first, then a location, then a crime. In Lowcountry Bribe, the crime came first, obviously, with the characters close behind. But in the others, to maintain the theme of placing crimes in rural communities, I select venues with intriguing histories or agricultural backgrounds that could add flair to the story.

Lowcountry Bribe takes place in Charleston County, but specifically Edisto Island, an area not commonly seen in novels. Tidewater Murder takes place on St Helena Island, in Gullah country, full of intensely rich history.

In the actual writing of the story, I’m a pantser with a hint of outlining in my system. I outline three chapters, write them, edit them once, then outline three more. My characters have been known to take off on crazy tangents, so I don’t dare outline 33 chapters only to have the story take on a new flavor in chapter 5. And to edit, I park my behind usually on the back porch, if the weather is right, and pour my husband and I a bourbon as he grabs a cigar, and I read aloud to him. He’s a great technical advisor, and he hears mistakes pretty darn well for a guy who hates to read. He keeps my guns and legal matters correct, too.

Keeping Characters Straight
I don’t keep a file on characters. I feel I have to know them intimately to even start writing about them, so the info needs to be inherent in my head. When I first started writing I did some of what gurus suggest: writing biographies for characters. But today, I have a very large dry erase board on my wall divided in three categories. 1) one-line descriptions of each chapter as they evolve. 2) character names and 3-4 words about them. 3) Loose ends, which changes constantly as I identify red herrings and tie them up, as I drop clues and find ways to make them fit. That way I don’t forget what happened in Chapter 3 needs to be explained by the end of Chapter 33.

Other than that, I have no real formula. I hate it when formulas and organization get in the way of creativity. I organize heavily with FundsforWriters, but I free-wheel it with my fiction. If I wind up like Sue Grafton or Janet Evanovich, with a series that reaches 15 and 20 books, I’m sure I’ll have to create a monitoring system of some sort, but for now, it’s fun and games as I go.

Contact Hope Clark at http://www.chopeclark.com

Posted in Authorship, Fiction, Guest Blogger | No Comments »

Wendy Dager’s Novel-Writing Secrets

Tuesday, November 6th, 2012

This is my second interview with novelists this week. I’d like to introduce Wendy Dager.

I’m professional freelance writer Wendy Dager. I’ve written and sold button slogans, greeting card copy, press releases, articles, advertorials, short stories, a biweekly newspaper opinion column, two novels and more. My humorous mystery novel I Murdered the PTA was a top five finalist in Court TV’s Search for the Next Great Crime Writer, and was published by Zumaya Publications under its Enigma imprint June 2011. I Murdered the Spelling Bee, the second book in the series of Daphne Lee-Lee Misadventures, was published by Zumaya May 2012. I also wrote a very dark and kitschy thriller, the novella Thrift Me Deadly, which was a Fabri Literary Prize finalist and is now available on Amazon and Smashwords.

I’ve been a writer for as long as I can remember, but started getting paid for my work when I was in my early twenties—just a few decades or so ago! I primarily write nonfiction, so fiction has always been very difficult for me. I once won the top prize of $500 in a short story contest, and I believe it’s because I wrote the story the same way I write my nonfiction—in a non-literary, realistic, what-you-see-is-what-you-get style. That’s what I decided to do when I wrote the first draft of my first novel back in 2000.

Murdered the PTA is about a rock-and-roll mom trying to live as inconspicuously as possible in suburbia, when her kid’s elementary school PTA blows up and she becomes the prime suspect. It’s basically a cozy mystery, but the point of view is first person—something I do with my opinion column—which made it much easier for me to write. It was somewhat based on my experience sitting on an elementary school PTA board for seven long years—but it’s entirely fictional. I had lots of fun writing it, because I didn’t have any expectations. I knew I wasn’t writing the Great American Novel. My books are purely for entertainment.

A common phrase is “write what you know,” which a lot of people don’t do, but which happens to work for me. That is, I write fiction, but it’s based on real life, not zombie ghost vampire werewolves wearing fifty shades of grey. The problem with writing about everyday things and putting a spin on them is that people sometimes think I’m writing about stuff that’s really happened. When my book I Murdered the PTA came out, a lot of folks in my town were trying to figure out if it was a who’s-who and if they were in it! So, it’s kind of a compliment that readers—not just where I live—could identify with the characters, the setting and the plot.

The first book was fairly easy to write—and rewrite—but the second book, a sequel, was a little harder because it was more like work than playtime.

Wendy’s Approach
I don’t really outline anything I write, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction. I kind of already know where I’m going, and then I start writing and see where it takes me. With my novels, my biggest goal is to make it hard for the reader to figure out whodunit, but not insult them by making the ending totally implausible.

Naming characters is like naming children. It’s an awesome responsibility, but also a terrible one if you mess up. I had to change some names in the years between my first novel being represented by an agent, becoming a Court TV finalist and publication, because several of my characters’ names were that of people who’d become famous in the interim, including one “celebutante,” and two that were character names in a popular sitcom.

Another interesting incident: I went to a local book club meeting—the club members had read my book as their selection of the month—and learned that the name of my first novel’s PTA president was similar to that of a real PTA president who happened to preside over my children’s school’s PTA many years before I got there. It was a crazy coincidence, but I was mortified when I found out.

Creating and Developing Characters
My characters, like my plot, mostly develop as the book is written. I like to think of spontaneous character development as another way to move along the action. Even though fictional characters—just like real, living, breathing people—have specific ways of speaking and behaving, they sometimes react oddly or unexpectedly to unforeseen circumstances. Or, perhaps, they have a dark side we don’t know about until something awful happens. When one of my book’s readers told me she was very surprised by something one of my characters did, I said, “Me, too!” It probably sounds weird, but I get a kick out of surprising myself.

Story Development Wendy Style
I may be unusual in that I sort of go with whatever my imagination tells me to do at the moment. I don’t have anything entirely plotted out in my head or on 3” x 5” cards or in a detailed journal. Occasionally, I’ll scribble down some ideas for plot twists—usually illegibly, in the middle of the night, on a notepad on the nightstand, with a pen that’s nearly run out of ink—and you can imagine how that looks in the morning. After I decipher what may or may not be a brilliant idea, those twists and turns may change once I get to that chapter. Instead, I defer to my imagination, which tends to dominate my fingers on the keyboard. I guess you can call me a “seat of your pants” kind of writer. Which is not so bad. At least I get to love what I do.

For more about Wendy Dager, visit http://www.wendydager.com

Posted in Fiction, Guest Blogger | 1 Comment »

Novelist, Margaret Brownley

Monday, November 5th, 2012

This is the first in my series of interviews with novelists. Every day this week, I’ll feature a different writer of fiction. Today, I’d like to introduce Margaret Brownley.

Hi everyone,
First, I want to thank Patricia for kindly inviting me to visit today.

My writing career began, and ended, early. I wrote my first book in fifth grade—a mystery without an ending. I was on a roll until I reached eighth grade. Unimpressed with my essay on why I wanted to be a writer, my English teacher flunked me and told me not to even think about becoming a writer.

Discouraged, I put my dream aside until years later when I volunteered to write the church newsletter. After making the church picnic read like a Grisham novel, my former pastor said, “Maybe God’s calling you to write fiction.”

I don’t know if that’s what God had in mind, but I wasn’t about to take any chances. I immediately began work on a novel. Five years and four books later I received what is known in the business as the “call.”

I’ve since made the N.Y. Times bestseller list and am currently writing historical romance. Waiting for Morning will be released January 2013 and A Bride for All Seasons will be published June 2013, followed by Gunpowder Tea in October. Not bad for someone who flunked eighth grade English. Just don’t ask me to diagram a sentence.

Margaret’s Approach to the Writing Process
I wouldn’t know how to begin outlining a book. I’m not much of a planner which makes dinner a nightly surprise. To me the fun of writing is the suspense of not knowing what’s going to happen next. That’s what keeps me jumping out of bed each morning and rushing to the computer.

I start with a short blurb—a paragraph or two—which includes the basic idea. I then write out a simple sentence and let my characters reword it. Once I’ve determined character “voice” I then look for frame of reference. A poor person has a different way of looking at things than a rich person. A gambler’s daughter has a different world view than one brought up in a strict Christian home. Once I have the voice and world view down, I’m ready to go.

With Regard to Fleshing Out Characters
I’m a big Post-it note fan and they’re all over my desk and screen. When the Post-its are gone I know my book is finished. What doesn’t fit on a Post-it stays in my head.

The Flow of the Story
It seems to me that the more books I write the harder it gets. You’d think it would be easier, but it’s not. I’m always trying to “grow” my work by finding more effective ways to tell a story.

Margaret can be reached through her website: http://margaretbrownley.com
She’s also on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Bloggers note: I have read a couple of Margaret’s books. I highly recommend them. You’ll enjoy the unique circumstances, twists and turns and excellent writing.

Posted in Fiction, Guest Blogger | No Comments »

Does Your Book Promotion Toolkit Have the Right Tools for Success?

Tuesday, August 7th, 2012

Today, we welcome guest blogger, Sandra Beckwith:

In today’s publishing environment, writing and publishing a book isn’t enough. It’s a huge accomplishment, for sure, but it’s just the start.

Whether today’s authors have a printed version or an e-book, whether they’re traditionally published or have gone the indie route, they also have to promote their books so readers learn about them. Many know this and are smart enough to lay the groundwork long before the book is available http://bit.ly/paCKuX, but for others, the realization that they now have to get the word out comes as a big shock.

Don’t worry, though. If you have the right tools in your book promotion toolbox, you’ll be able to build a solid foundation for your book’s success. And, just as a screwdriver, hammer, and saw serve different purposes, each one of these four book promotion tools contributes in a unique way.

1. A plan. You might have heard this quote related to planning: “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” I believe it was Yogi Berra who said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.” Take some time to learn about book promotion, then develop a plan that incorporates tasks that will help you get your book title in front of its target audience.

2. A website. I’m a little surprised at the number of authors who don’t have one. It’s essential in today’s online-driven marketplace. Your site doesn’t need a lot of razzamatazz, but it does need to look and feel as good as your book. Find a few that you like and use them as role models.

3. A press release that announces your book. You plan on sending out review copies, right? Every copy needs to be accompanied by a press release that announces your book’s publication http://bit.ly/Q34AtL and describes what readers will find between the front and back covers. It is the most essential author publicity tool because it has so many uses.

4. A whizbang, knock-em dead book announcement e-mail message. All you’ve talked about for the past year (or two, or 10) is the book you’ve been writing. Now you want to tell everyone in your e-mail address book that it is finally published and available, Be careful about how you share the news http://bit.ly/Mnzm0L, though – you don’t want to overwhelm or annoy them.

There are lots of other tools you might want in your toolkit, too, but if your time is limited, you can be assured that these essentials will work hard on your book’s behalf.

Sandra Beckwith is an author, freelance writer, and book marketing coach. Subscribe to her free book publicity e-newsletter, Build Book Buzz, at http://www.buildbookbuzz.com

Posted in Book Promotion, Guest Blogger | No Comments »

An Author’s Attempt at Organization

Friday, July 20th, 2012

Please welcome Guest Blogger: C. Hope Clark

When I promote my new mystery release Lowcountry Bribe, A Carolina Slade Mystery, I’m asked often how I organize my time. See, I’m known for FundsforWriters.com, which has been around for thirteen years and selected by Writer’s Digest for its 101 Best Websites for Writers for twelve. I’m known for my nonfiction essays and freelance efforts, so my fiction talent amazes a lot of people. They never saw it coming.

The easiest way for me to describe what I do is to say I prioritize instead of plan.

We see gobs of how-to posts on planning. I’m amazed at the intensity in which people will plan, and the sluggish way they implement. It’s as if the planning takes the fun out of it. The more complicated the system, the less we adhere to it.

First of all, I know each day which priorities need addressing. The newsletters have deadlines that cannot be adjusted. New subscribers have to be entered. Freelance deadlines are nonnegotiable. These tasks are so deeply engrained in me, that I often note my calendar only after they’re completed.

My short term calendar sits before me, open to the current week, instant reminder of my short-term duties. My long term calendar, however, is on a spreadsheet—for 2012 and 2013. There I post conferences, interviews, travel, personal days I will not be able to write, and critical big deadlines (like book edits and contract requirements). I can see two months at a time.

With a long-term project…I immediately analyze for short term, midterm and long term priorities. Writing a book is a major item. So is its promotion. So might be a new website, or a new blog. Study each project, note the duties required, and set them up for attention.

A spreadsheet records administrative items like income, freelance submissions, and, in my case, FundsforWriters.com business, for tax purposes.

My spiral notebook sits open next to my calendar, and as I have blinding flashes of genius for a blog post, freelance pitch or promotional idea, I note them. By bedtime, it’s covered with items starred for importance and scratched through for completion. I then condense a to-do list on a fresh page, organizing the next day.

I socially network in between duties, keeping Facebook, Twitter and the blog continually open in case I have a remarkable thought.

And I write fiction at night.

It’s quite important that you use the time you have to the best of your advantage. My clock functions creatively best at night; factually by day. When the sun sets, my characters come out to play. Yours might be morning people. If you have another job, they might appear at lunch and between appointments. I didn’t always write full-time, but I can honestly say my fiction always came alive in the middle of the night.

Know what’s important, and be adamant about responsibilities. Cater to customers and editors. They come first. Without them, your writing is worthless. Theirs are the first emails I address in the morning as I sit down at the keyboard. I may work in seclusion, but my people connections are first and foremost. I suggest that you adopt this outlook. Think about it, otherwise, when you publish in that magazine, or release that mystery, who’s there to give it life? I stay connected on the road, just in case I hear from these people.

Again, it’s prioritizing rather than planning. Of course some days the duties clash for limited minutes. That’s when you shut the door and commit 110 percent. Family cooks dinner. Television waits. Dust builds. Exercise skips a day. When writing is your profession, you learn how to drive it properly. Just remember to make the tools work for you, not the other way around. Know who’s boss.

And most importantly. . . you need to want it badly.

BIO
C. Hope Clark is editor of http://www.FundsforWriters.com reaching 44,000 readers each week about contests, grants, markets and publishing opportunities. She is also author of The Carolina Slade Mystery Series, published by Bell Bridge Books http://www.bellbridgebooks.com She’s noted for taking lessons learned from her fiction to fuel her nonfiction . . . and vice versa. http://www.chopeclark.com http://www.fundsforwriters.com

Posted in Guest Blogger | 3 Comments »

Practical or Passionate? –Guest Blogger Sandra Murphy

Thursday, May 10th, 2012

Not long ago I stayed up until three in the morning just to see George Clooney interviewed by James Lipton on Inside the Actors Studio. Clooney talked about all his films and the usual stuff and then was asked about the variety of his movies. He acted in Ocean’s Eleven and then made a little movie—a mere 32 million budget done in a month or so—extremely fast and cheap by Hollywood standards. This movie, he wrote/directed/produced/acted in—then back to Ocean’s Twelve. How does that work?

He said with the Ocean movies, there are so many name stars, if they paid salaries, nobody could afford to make them. Instead of salary, he takes a percentage of the back side—the profits. He lives on that money while he makes the movie that costs 32 million because it’s a story that needs to be told. It won’t make an immediate difference in the lives of the people it’s about or change things in a big way but unless people are aware of what’s happening, nothing will ever change. He took no salary for this movie and even used his house as collateral for the insurance needed to make it.

From that interview, this is what I learned:

You do what’s practical so you can do what matters.

Because I write for magazines, I’ve been accused of writing just for money. I’m told non-fiction is “non- creative”. It’s not imagining a character, giving her a family, friends, a job and a place to live. Non-fiction is easy. Fiction is hard.

Non-fiction writing is a place to learn. I write about topics I’d never research on my own. I meet new people. I juggle different styles of writing for different magazines. Articles were 1,000 word counts just a few years ago. Now editors ask for 750 words. I make every word matter.
I’m able to stay on top of trends, work on a short deadline, and research at lightning speed. I see the results of my efforts, in print or online, in a matter of weeks. Working on assignment, I don’t have to wait for reading periods or an editor’s response to my submission. I get paid, on acceptance, after the final edit or on publication.

A book? If I had a clean copy, ready to go to print today, when would I see the first money? Even the short fiction stories I’ve written took months to get published. My first royalty check was $2.78.

So yes, I am practical. I keep cat food in the cats, the lights on, and the computer connected by writing for magazines. I write short fiction for fun and send it off to Untreed Reads where it gets published sooner or later, and then I promote the heck out of it. In my head, I create characters, dialogue, and settings for later use.

In the meantime, I’ve established myself as an expert, worked on building a platform, and learned what it takes to be a successful writer. I study the publishing industry and have a marketing plan. I’m doing what is practical so I can do what matters because, like Clooney, I have a story that needs to be told.

Posted in Guest Blogger, Writing | 2 Comments »

Finding Your Markets — Guest Blogger

Sunday, May 6th, 2012

I’d like to welcome my friend and avid freelance writer, Kathleen Ewing as guest blogger this morning. She offers some great advice for finding writing markets. Heed her suggestions and you’ll surely increase your article/story sales.

Finding Your Markets–by Kathleen Ewing

Before you fork over a chunk of money to subscribe to a writer’s market database, try your hand at compiling your own market list by using the power of search engines. You will discover markets better targeted to your specific needs at no cost other than a few minutes on the computer.

Start with your favorite search tool. Google, Bing, Yahoo and AltaVista are some of the most popular. Enter a plain language search string such as “fiction markets” or “freelance writing markets” or “magazine editorial guidelines” without the quotation marks. If you find nothing of interest, don’t search beyond the first two pages of results. You may find the word “fiction” in one portion of the results and “markets” in another. To eliminate that occurrence, place the quotation marks around your search string so the search will find only that exact phrase. By capitalizing “Fiction Markets,” you will be more likely to find results that have that phrase for the title of the article or website page.

If you are finding the horror genre markets included in the results and you wish to eliminate them, type the phrase “fiction markets” not horror. Some search engines will give you different results if you type “fiction markets” –horror. For more targeted results, add your genre to the search string: “romance fiction markets” not paranormal or “fiction markets” +romance. Always try the plain language version before you try the +/- option. When using the symbols, don’t leave a space between the symbol and the word you are adding to or deleting from the search.

Experiment with various keyword combinations to find what works best for you. Discard any search strings that yield poor results, but make sure you write down each of your successful search strings so you can apply them later at other search engines. Each search tool produces slightly different results. At http://www.thesearchenginelist.com you will find a list of those search tools. It’s not a complete list, but it is fairly comprehensive, and includes a brief description of the type of coverage you can expect from each search site. Select the ones that most closely define the type of material you are seeking.

Don’t be intimidated by the “Advanced Search” feature of the search engine. It is simply an additional device used to refine your search. Some tools, such as AltaVista or AskJeeves, permit you to type a search string in the form of a simple question. In addition, most search sites have a page that offers tips and shortcuts on how to search that are specific to that site. Check these options to assure that you are getting the best research from that site.

Finally, try search engines that pull results simultaneously from several search tools. Three of the top meta-search tools, Dogpile, WebCrawler and MetaCrawler, all compile results from a variety of major search sites such as Google, Yahoo and AltaVista as well as others.

No more paying someone else a fee to do the searching for you. No more hours wasted sifting through dozens of generalized market lists. Soon you will have your own database of markets, every item of which you personally targeted specifically for your writing products.

Kathleen Ewing is a freelance writer who is working on her first novel.