Writing and Publishing News

Are you a freelance writer or a published author? Do you get a lot of press—have numerous articles published every year, are involved in many websites and organizations related to the genre/topic of your book, are an active promoter, add to your blog practically daily, travel around and speak/sign books quite often? If so, then you get a lot of exposure and you probably have “fans” (or, at least wide recognition).

Perhaps you have found out that, with recognition comes the occasional or even the frequent acknowledgement from someone who has met you, knows your work, knows of you, admires you or is jealous of you.

I’ve been putting myself and my work out there for decades and I’ve collected quite an array of “followers.” I love hearing from someone who says they found value in one of my books, that they read my blog religiously, that they enjoy and learn from my articles, that they heard me speak and liked what I had to say or that I came highly recommended as an editor/consultant. These are the emails, letters and phone calls that make my day.

Just this weekend, I received three great emails—one from a gentleman who said he read my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book, in one day and loved it. A woman wrote to ask for help with a book project because I came highly recommended by a dear friend of hers. The third one was from someone I’ve been in communication with over the years about her book project. She wanted to check in with me and let me know she is almost ready for me to take a look at her book. She also mentioned how much she enjoys this blog and she bought a copy of The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.

Do I ever get “hate” mail? Well, a couple of times clients were unhappy with my recommendations. I must have come on too strong with one of them because he wrote one last email strongly defending his decision to mislead his readers and I never heard from him again. Another one disappeared for a while after my evaluation of his manuscript and then, weeks later, he returned ready to work with me.

He said that he couldn’t believe my comments at first. But after thinking about it, he realized that I was right.

I had one doozy of a jealousy situation once. One of my articles appeared in Entrepreneurial Woman . A woman I knew slightly called, I thought to compliment me. But, no! She called to say that she couldn’t believe that HER national magazine would publish something written by someone who, as far as she knew, had written nothing more than a book on the local history. Evidently, she did not know that I had been writing articles for magazines, by then, for about 15 years quite successfully and that I’d been published in Entrepreneur and Entrepreneurial Woman and many other magazines during that time.

She ended the conversation by saying that she was going to end her subscription to the magazine and she was going to tell the editors why—because, if they would publish articles by me—someone that she knows—an ordinary person—their magazine must not be legitimate.

Can you believe it? Just because she knew me and one of the people I interviewed for the quite legitimate and interesting article on what does success mean to you, she figured that the article and the magazine were now bogus.

Most people, after reading an article by someone they knew, would adopt a more positive take on it—“Wow, I didn’t know that you had worked your way up to the point where you are getting published in such prestigious magazines. Good for you!”

Do you collect “fan” mail? I sure do. It does a heart and soul good to be acknowledged for our accomplishments. It encourages us to do more for our readers—to try harder. It spurs us on to reach the next level. Don’t you think so?

I’d like to hear about your fan mail and any jealousy mail you have received over the years. Leave a comment here or email me at PLFry620@yahoo.com.

And, while you’re at it, be sure to thank or compliment another writer. Dennis and I read a book by a friend this week—Thrift Me Deadly by Wendy Dager. It’s an ebook available at SmashBooks. It is fantastic. And I emailed Wendy to tell her so. She said, “Because of your comments, I’ll be smiling all day.”

Make someone smile today.

This week, I’m working on my speech for the Cat Writers’ Association Conference November 19-22. I’m looking forward to meeting the cat writers in White Plains, New York. Should be a warm gathering in a chilly place. And the Westchester Cat Show takes place in the same city on the same weekend. How cool is that?

On Friday morning, I’ll be talking to writers about how to break away from cat writing and expand into other genres and topics. As you may know, I started my freelance article-writing career writing about horses. That was what I knew about at the time. I was also familiar with horse-related magazines and knew what was lacking—what was needed. So I got my start writing how-to and informational articles for these magazines, along with an occasional humor or human interest piece.

Are you a freelance writer stuck in a writing niche and you don’t know how to expand your horizons? Here are my suggestions in a nutshell:

Okay, so you’re writing about what you know and love. Consider what else you know or are involved in. For me, way back when, it was the subjects of a column I was writing for the local newspaper.

I had developed a business column for the Ojai Valley News—Profiles in Business. I met some interesting people doing interesting things and I began selling some of their stories to regional and national magazines—with their knowledge and permission, of course.

Early on, I also wrote articles for cat magazines. I did a lot of work for Cats Magazine before it folded. And I’ve written quite a few articles for Cat Fancy. I wrote a piece on the calico cat, for example; one featuring the Pallas cat (the wild and rare cat that lives in the steppes in Asia and parts of Russia). I’ve written about cat personalities, holistic medicine for cats, feral cats, how to bring a kitten into your home, and so forth.

So what else do you know well, parenting, caring for elderly parents, gardening, quilting, woodworking, collecting swords or cars, shopping—are you an expert at shopping with coupons? Maybe you work with therapy animal, you’re good at budgeting, you pride yourself on your happy marriage or you operate a volunteer organization. Consider writing about these things.

Here’s another idea: stay with your original theme, just go in a different direction. If you write about cats, for example, consider creating articles on your pet topic for non-cat magazines. I sold articles about cats in the workplace and in libraries to a few regional magazines. (I was one of many to write about Dewey, the Library cat). I’ve also sold pieces on how to teach children responsibility through caring for their pets, for parenting magazines. How about a piece featuring animal-related paying jobs for business publications? Yup, I’ve done that, too. I even sold a piece on using mind-talk with cats, reflecting an experience I had with my calico, Daisy. This sold to a metaphysical magazine.

Eventually, of course, the goal is to come up with totally new article ideas.

Many freelance writers are at a total loss when it comes to article ideas outside of their areas of interest. But I can offer a whole list of prompts for locating new ideas to write about. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll write a blog telling you how.

In the meantime, be sure to check out my useful books and online courses at http://www.matilijapress.com

Do you take those tests in Reader’s Digest Magazine that are designed to help you improve your vocabulary? Do you strive to learn a word-a-day by using it in your communication? I remember when this was a common practice for writers and those who wanted to be a more skilled conversationalists.

I don’t hear or read so much about the various exercises designed to help you increase your vocabulary, these days. I guess we’re so busy trying to be somebody and attempting to make a difference through doing, that we don’t tend to focus down on this type of pointed self-improvement.

I urge you to consider increasing your vocabulary when it comes to writing articles or a book manuscript. And I don’t mean that you should build a huge vocabulary that includes a lot of obscure words. I’ve actually met authors who believe that the more big words they use in their writing, the more they will impress a publisher or their audience. Not so. Oh, if you are writing a scholarly book for a select group of highly educated professors, maybe so. But if you are writing for a segment of the general public, telling your story or relating your information using obscure words will not impress them; it will turn them off. But you do need an arsenal of synonyms if you want to make your writing more interesting.

A common trend I see among authors is the tendency to repeat words rather than searching for a synonym (or a like word). Here’s an example:

Don took his dog to the dog park where he romped and played with other dogs. Some of the dogs were on leashes, but they weren’t inclined to make friends as easily as those dogs that were free to roam. Don’s dog spent most of his time romping and playing with a small wooly dog.

This is kind of boring, don’t you think? Try this to liven it up:

Don lead Marshmallow into the enclosed dog park and the young poodle quickly found Lucky, a Pekinese mix, to romp and play with. Most of the dogs were allowed to roam free, but a few reluctant owners kept their pets leashed. Those that were restrained seemed more aggressive than the others. There’s a psychology to that, I guess.

Here’s another one:

Nathan was eager to find a date for the prom. All of his friends had dates. Some of them were taking their steady girlfriends, others just found random girls to date just for that one evening. He wondered if Susan would be his date. She seemed nice enough and he doubted that she dated much, so probably wasn’t taken. Nathan wasn’t used to dating. In fact, this would be his first date.

Or:

Nathan was eager to find a date for the prom. All of the other guys on his team were going. Some of them were taking their steady girlfriends, others found random girls to take. He wondered if Susan would go with him. She seemed nice enough and he doubted that she had a beau. Nathan didn’t go out much. In fact, this would be his first such experience.

This is the same paragraph without all of the instances of “date,” “dating” and “dated.”

Now, go look at the article, story or book manuscript you’re working on. Do you have instances where you’ve repeated words? Make it your project this week to change some of these words so that your writing has more variety.

How do you come up with new words?

• Use your thesaurus.
• Use your brain—brainstorm.
• Listen when conversing with others.
• Practice using new words.

Is that how you feel sometimes? Are you afraid you will run out of time to write before you’ve satisfied your writing dreams?

Most new writers are in a big hurry to get that story or that nonfiction book out of their heads and in the computer. They are eager to see it published. Some are so eager, in fact, that they bypass some of important steps.

Some of you might remember my article, “Hurry Up and Fail.” Herein, I caution hopeful authors against rushing their projects in order to meet a personal deadline. Why? They miss important steps that could mean the difference between their project’s success or failure. Here are my recommendations:

Before you start writing the book:
1: Study the publishing industry. It is imperative that you know what choices are available to an author and the consequences of your publishing decisions. You must also have a clear understanding of your responsibilities as a published author.

2: Write a book proposal. A well-organized, well-designed, well-written book proposal will tell you whether you have a book at all, whether it is a viable product, who your audience is, where you will find them and it will guide you in establishing your platform and your marketing plan.
Don’t guess at these important questions. Don’t make your decisions based on your desire. You must do the research necessary to more accurately respond to these vital issues.

After you’ve finished writing your book:
3: Assess the content of your book. Review it from many angles. For a nonfiction book, make sure that you have included everything that you need in order to inform, guide, teach and/or educate your audience. Is your book organized logically? Is it easy to follow? Should you break up long streams of text by using headings and subheads? Is your content correct, quotes exact and statistics fresh and precise? Spend as much time as you need to make your nonfiction book the useful tool it is meant to be.

For a novel, does every transition and instance of dialogue work? Are there any areas that sort of grate on you? This could indicate that your story needs more work. Don’t quit writing too soon. But try to avoid stressing over your story to the point that you start changing things that don’t need changing.

4: Hire an editor. Every author needs at least one extra set of eyes before they can call their book finished. Hire a good editor and allow them the time it takes to perform his or her job. How do you pick a good editor? Choose one who is familiar with the type of book you’ve written—if they know the topic well, all the better. Select an editor who has come highly recommended. And it is a bonus if this editor is also involved in and knowledgeable about the publishing industry.

5: Proof any and all changes. Anytime you make a change or you ask your book design person to make a change, do a thorough proofing of the entire area that may be affected by this change.
Did the designer type the new phrase correctly? When he added it in, did this affect the spacing or the flow from one page to the next? Do you need to make a change in the index because of an addition?

6: Add all of the appropriate aspects. Don’t skimp because of a time constraint. If you forgot to purchase a barcode and decide to publish without it, know that you are making a huge mistake. Now your book is automatically ineligible for most retail store sales. Omit the ISBN and you probably can’t get your book placed at amazon.com. Is your book suitable for libraries? Then obtain the Publishers Cataloging in Publication block. And if yours is a reference book or a self-help or how-to book with many references, resources and tips, please, please, take the time to create an index.

In publishing, time is probably not so much of the essence as is professionalism. Don’t allow yourself to be governed by the clock when it means rushing your project. Take charge. Concentrate on perfecting your manuscript, first and foremost. Deadlines can be changed. Producing a book before its ready can be a costly and embarrassing mistake.

Patricia Fry is a full-time freelance writer, editorial consultant and the author of 29 books including, “The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.” Order it here: http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

She’s also the Executive Director of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) http://www.spawn.org