Writing and Publishing News

Nothing makes you think about your writing career path like being interviewed. Where have you been, what have you accomplished as a writer and where are you going? If this is something you haven’t thought about for a year or more, you really ought to.

Consider why you write. What measure of success have you had since you started writing for publication? What steps did you take to get where you are? Are you enjoying the process? What aspects do you enjoy most? Can you rearrange your work schedule to spend more time doing that? What tasks or obligations bring you the most results (sales, attention)? What is stopping you from moving forward—making more sales, for example? What can you do to remove these obstacles?

Perhaps you want to sell more copies of your book. The obstacle to that seems to be that you’re not spending enough time promoting it. Maybe you’ve come to some dead ends with it—your promotional tactics are proving stagnant. You’d rather be writing than marketing. You’re tired of promoting your book. But if you decide that you really want to sell more copies—reach more people—an evaluation might reveal that some changes are in order.

Maybe you want to create a living writing articles. Let’s say you’ve been at it for a couple of years and you’re still not earning enough to quit your part-time job. Once you examine your way of working your freelance business—your approach—you might discover that you are not coming up with as many ideas as you were a year ago and are not submitting as many queries. Perhaps you’ve become lazy about finding new article ideas.

What more could you do? Research what’s news—what’s hot—in your area of interest. Or branch out into other topics. Also research publications. Magazines and ezines open, close and change their focus regularly.

I know some writers who are stuck on one topic written one way and are determined to get published in only certain major magazines. When they reevaluate their writing work, if they are astute, they will surely realize that they have two basic choices. Branch out and start writing about things other than your pet project or find ways to spoon-feed your message to your audience through, perhaps, a different approach and through smaller, easier-to- approach publications. There’s always a third choice, of course—give up.

You know the “if-it-ain’t broke…” concept. But what about when it isn’t working? Are you willing to take an honest look at your approach to your writing work and the results of your efforts as they are? Can you make necessary changes? For some of you, this means giving up the pen. You never wanted to be a writer. You don’t like writing. You definitely don’t like the constant need to promote. All you wanted was to be noticed or to make a statement or make a difference.

Sorry, but with all of the competition for books and articles today, it takes more than most people want to put in to realize even a minimally successful outcome.

Why don’t you respond to the questions posed at the beginning of this post and see if you can determine if you need to make some u-turns along your pathway toward writing or publishing success?

Drop in on tomorrow’s blog post. Sandra Beckwith will be guest blogger. She’s talking about the most important book promotion tools you need in your author’s toolkit.

For editing services and publishing consultations contact Patricia Fry at http://www.patriciafry.com

Check out Patricia’s online courses: http://www.matilijapress.com/courses.htm

Thanks, Patricia, for the gracious invitation to guest blog. Readers, I am Nancy Barnes, the lead editor of Stories To Tell Books. I am here today as a specialist in memoirs and family histories. We also handle fiction and nonfiction, but in memoir and family history a style has arisen called “creative nonfiction” for books grounded in fact and presented using the tools of literature.

These are special books, not only because of the subject matter, but because of the unique way they are designed – usually with photos, and in some family histories, a genealogist may want to include endnotes, charts, appendixes and an index. An illustrated book is a whole different project than text-only. As a book editor and designer, I enjoy producing illustrated books because they are so interesting to look at as well as to read.

Lots of people have a dream book they know will fascinate their family and friends. Memoirists and family historians aren’t necessarily writing for profit. Many of the book projects we edit, design and publish are for private printing, for limited distribution, or for small-scale self publishing. Others need our help to “commercialize” a book so that it will sell to the general public. Our specialty is to help authors – many of them first-time authors – through the whole process step-by-step, from the draft manuscript through publishing. Imagine how much easier it is to write and publish a book when you can ask your editor what to do every time you get stuck.

What is the best way to write a memoir or family history? Many beginners think in terms of chronology. But reporting events this way can be tedious, and literature has developed many devices, such as flashbacks and a story within a story, to manipulate time itself. The topics and themes, once identified, will often suggest the best order.

As always with editing, the biggest decision is what to include and what to cut. In this genre, writers really struggle with cuts. Since it really happened, it must be included, right? Not true! Ask “who is my reader, and what would they care about?” You can’t fit every story into one book, so pick the guaranteed winners, the stories sure to entertain or evoke deep feelings, as well as to inform. A final writing tip: for memoirists, the best tool is “voice”, so use an intimate tone to share thoughts and feelings, not just the facts.

Each month in my newsletter (you can subscribe free on my website http://www.StoriesToTellBooks.com I write a column on role models for writers. By exploring these well written books and the craft of good literature, writers can influence the style of their own work in progress.

When I edit and design a book, my decisions are based on the final goals for the book. How will it be printed? Hardcover or soft? Digital? Does the author want it up on amazon.com? How many copies does the author hope to distribute? These decisions effect my design choices: the book’s size, length, whether to use color, etc. These factors also determine the right publisher or printer for the book. This is where my experience really helps, as authors caught up in writing rarely anticipate what’s ahead.

If you would like to know more about this type of book project, check out our blog at http://www.StoriesToTellBlooks.com/blog where we discuss writing, editing, design, publishing and more. While you’re there, post a comment or ask a question. We’re happy to help!