Writing and Publishing News

When you write a story, how-to or self-help piece or something instructional, who do you write it for? Of course, you’re going to say that it’s for your audience. Right answer! But is it really? You may address your audience using “you” a lot in your nonfiction works. You might believe that you are providing instruction or information for your audience. But are you really? How do you know if your writing attempt will truly engage, touch, teach and/or otherwise resonate with your audience?

I meet authors who are so into their fiction stories or memoirs that they forget completely about their audience. They remain in their own little world of thoughts, memories and fancy word combinations that they pay little attention to their reason for writing this in the first place—to engage members of an audience. They disregard their readers while trying to satisfy their own egos. They are more focused on their way with words than the readability, continuity and flow of their work.

The nonfiction author sometimes confuses the reader by providing too much of the wrong kind of data. A reader on overload doesn’t benefit much from the material he is trying to sift through. Authors often make simple instructions terribly complicated. It takes a knack to write clear instructions.

Many nonfiction authors have trouble organizing the material for their books. Some are not good researchers, so they omit important aspects of the topic they are trying to cover. Others simply don’t know how to appropriately and sensibly present the information. They don’t have a clear intention for their book.

All of these problems make for books that are not reader-friendly.

What is the solution? Number one: Think about your reader and then strive to speak to him/her, engage him/her and entertain, teach, inform him or her.

What are you writing today? Go to your desktop now and read through it. Who is it written for? If it is fiction, is it an enjoyable story or does it drag and seem a little dull? Go back and read a book or short story that really kept your interest. What makes this story different from yours? What can you do to improve the entertainment value of your story?

If it is nonfiction, is it crystal clear, well-organized and informative? Is it easy to read and follow? Have you provided a mix of text, bulleted sections, Q & A, anecdotes and a study program, for example? What, exactly, will your reader get from this book or article? What is your intention? What do you envision the reader walking away with: A new skill, a greater understanding on some topic, a fresh perspective? Do you believe that you have succeeded in providing this opportunity? If not, I suggest going back to the drawing board.

Patricia Fry is the author of 28 nonfiction books and a memoir. Her book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book is designed for authors who are at any stage of writing, publishing or promoting their books. Read the profile for this useful book at http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

I’ve been absent for a few days. I hope my useful, informative, insightful blog posts were missed. I haven’t felt much like working for several days. First, I had some sort of summer cold and was feeling more like crashing on the couch than blogging, editing or anything else pertaining to work. Ever feel like that?

Then came my birthday. I cancelled my birthday celebration because I didn’t want to infect my mother, aunt, sister, daughters or anyone else.

As some of you know, I love cats. This year, I started a new blog related to cats and came out with a book of true cat stories. http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.

I don’t think I have ever been without a cat or two or more. And recently, we invited a little barn kitten into our home, named her Lily and fell in love with her. She was born in a barn alongside 14 other kittens (to 3 mother cats).

Even though we inadvertently adopted her when she was only 6-week old, she was thriving—until the morning of my birthday. One of the older cats was evidently playing with Lily on the 3-foot carpeted cat tree when she knocked it over on top of the kitten. It was an awful scene. Despite the blood and obvious shock the kitten suffered, x-rays revealed no broken bones. The vet thought her jaw might be broken, thankfully, it was not.

After observing Lily for a few hours, the vet sent her home with us and we’ve been on kitten watch ever since. It is day 3 and she is still sleeping a LOT—hopefully because she is healing. She is eating (yeah) and drinking water.

Practically my whole focus has been on this precious, innocent kitten since Saturday as we do everything we can to keep her comfortable and to help her heal. That’s one reason why I have been remiss in keeping up my blog. But mostly, I have just been darn sad and haven’t felt like doing anything other than caring for the kitten.

It occurred to me this morning, though, as I contemplated my blog post for today, that everything in our lives has the potential to affect our writing. For example, I know writers who:

• Write in order to heal—they journal about their thoughts, problems, feelings. Some write their memoirs as a healing process.
• Write of their philosophies, experiences and adventures in order to teach and share.
• Write in order to change minds or, perhaps, the world.
• Write in order to learn more about who they are—in an attempt to find themselves.
• Write to relieve pain, guilt, fear, anxiety.
• Write to work through grief.

And sometimes it’s really hard or even impossible to sit down and write. When we’re really hurting or we’re focused on a problem in our lives, for example, our concentration is anywhere from zilch to really messed up.

I wonder, how do you handle your writing deadlines and obligations when there is “stuff” going on in your life? Have you ever used writing to work through a problem? Have you written about your troubles as a way to heal?

I’d like to write a blog on this topic. Perhaps your experiences will help others. So please join in with your stories.

Either use the Comments feature at this site or contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com.

If you are a freelance writer or an author with one or more books to promote and you’re darn serious about succeeding, you lead a busy life.

As a freelance writer, you are always in promotion mode. You face frequent deadlines. Either you work with editors or you serve clients; and their needs don’t always coincide with the time you have available.

As an author, you are either researching and writing every chance you get or you’re in book promotion mode. I’m sure that you feel as though someone is stealing hours out of your days, lately. It’s really hard to get it all done.

But my question today is, “Are You Getting Your Energy’s Worth?” Is the payoff in satisfaction and/or success appropriate to the energy you expend? Or are you, wasting or misusing your efforts? I think this is a question we should ask ourselves every once in a while; because if we are not using our time and energy wisely, we won’t get the results we desire.

And what do you desire:

• having your book completed and edited by December of 2009?
• an increase in the number of books sold this year?
• a contract from a major publisher?
• more new editorial clients in 2009?
• a greater volume of your magazine articles/stories published?
• a higher rate of pay for freelance work—more money per article or story?
• a higher overall income in 2009?

Whatever your goal, you know that it is up to you to meet it, right? But are you taking the right steps, making the right moves and using your energy wisely? How do you know whether you are or not? Your answers to these 4 questions might offer some insight.

1. Do you have realistic priorities with regard to the work necessary in meeting your goals? In other words, do you set aside an appropriate amount of time and expend the right level of energy in which to do the research, writing or promotion necessary to make some strides and move ahead?

2. Are you doing more of what has worked in the past while also trying some of the new things that have come to your attention?

3. Are you always on the lookout for new ideas, resources, recommendations and opportunities?

4. Do you take advantage of the opportunities that come before you?

One area where many authors and freelance writers fall down is that they subscribe to a newsletter and/or join a club or organization and then neglect to use the materials and opportunities afforded them through this channel.

• Determine which organizations have the most value in your particular quest and which benefits are most useful—set aside time to pursue these. It might be a member forum or discussion group, a monthly podcast or a book proposal or article-writing course, for example.

• Select the publications that contain the type of information and resources you need most and take time to study them each week/month.

• Collect tips and resources and make sure that you follow-up on those that could move your project or career forward.

The thing is, if you give the same amount of energy and time to your career or project as you always have, you can expect the same result. If you want a different result—more client work, more money coming in from article work, increased book sales, for example—you must expend a different amount of energy using different methods.

How many of you reading this blog regularly have already purchased my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book? I’d like to know how it has helped you along your publishing path. PLFry620@yahoo.com (Right Way Book) in the subject line. To those hopeful authors who haven’t read it yet, order yours today. You won’t regret it: http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

Writers generally have one of two dilemmas. They can’t find the time or inclination to work the number of hours they must in order to make a living or they can’t stop writing.

The former writer isn’t very well disciplined. He isn’t motivated to put in the time it takes to create success. Perhaps he doesn’t actually enjoy the process of writing; he does it because he thinks it is a money-making proposition. Or, maybe he just isn’t a self-starter and finds it difficult to come up with topics to write about. You’ll find this writer doing more talking about writing than actual writing work.

The other writer has trouble taking breaks. She knows that the more time she puts in, most likely, the better results she’ll experience—bigger paychecks, more exposure and name recognition, for example.

We’ve talked about setting goals, disciplining oneself to write, creating schedules, using a bribery/rewards system, relying on “buddies” to help establish a good routine and so forth. But what about those of you who have the other problem—those who can’t seem to stop writing?

I tend to be in that category—although, I’m getting better. I have established a fairly solid work schedule. I start working around 5 every morning (pretty much 7 days a week) and I generally leave my office for the last time each day around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. One or two days a week (generally on weekends), I’ll handle household chores, gardening tasks or work on a creative project for a few hours.

I take days off occasionally when there is a family outing planned with my grown daughters, my mother, my adult grandchildren and/or friends, for example. I accept luncheon invitations every few weeks or so. I get out and walk for an hour every day. And I take an occasional trip. I’d say that I happily put in a 50 hour week. And I have been supporting myself through my writing for the past 20 years or so. But no longer do I fret and beat myself up when I take time away from work.

If you are trying to make a living through your writing, be kind to yourself.
• Give yourself much-deserved breaks, otherwise it will show up negatively in your work—possibly in the way you relate to editors or clients.
• Vary your writing-related activities so you aren’t likely to suffer burnout.
• Change your work environment from time to time—discuss a project with a client over lunch along the seashore, do a book signing in another state, attend or be a presenter at a writers’ conference on the other side of the U.S.
• Make your office space more pleasant. Bring in bouquets of flowers, hang your own amazing photographs, plaster the walls with your awards and photos of your loved ones or decorate using your favorite art, colors or subject. This might be wild animals, collies, airplanes, roses, horses, architecture or tractors, for example.
• Recognize the signs of burnout and take steps to ward it off—take a walk or a hike, go to a local coffee shop and chat with the locals, take a yoga class 3 times a week or plant a garden and tend it regularly.

If you are a serious writer or author who is bent on using your skills to earn a living or supplement your income, it’s going to take more than talent. You’re going to need a measure of organizational savvy, the ability to pace yourself, energy, a sense of stick-to-itiveness and a huge helping of patience along with an understanding of your physical, emotional and mental requirements and the courage and determination to honor these.

Few people realize what it actually takes to be a full-time writer. And that’s generally because they don’t view writing as a business. Anyone who goes into business, in order to succeed, must be either multi-talented in handling all of the aspects of the business (bookkeeping, customer service, manufacturing, sales, research, dealing with sales reps, etc.), or they need to hire competent employees. A writing business has similar requirements. In order to succeed, one must be able to write, have a good work ethic, deal effectively with people, be able to meet deadlines, understand something about and be willing to keep accurate records and know how to pace him/herself, for example.

Are you running a business related to writing or publishing? Or are you interested in starting such a business? Just as you would with any business you were contemplating, be sure that you look beyond the fun aspect of writing, into the comprehensive business aspects of a writing or publishing business. It takes more than an interest in or talent for writing—much more. That’s why I also urge you to read my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html