K.C.'s Write For You

Swan Song

2008-08-28T05:21:00.001-05:00

I would like to thank everyone that visited K.C. Writer's Blog and participated with our authors in the Summer Great Book Giveaway. I would like to offer a very speical thanks to Suzanne Franco over at www.freelancedaily.net who so generously sponsored the giveaway in the form of advertising to reach more writers. It was a real treat getting to know all of the authors and read the great questions that reader/writers had as well. If you haven't received your books, I will definitely get them all out of my office by next week.
I've been doing this blog now for nearly 4 years. In the beginning, it was an outlet for some political/social columns, which help land me a paying column gig. I then switched the focus as an extension of my teaching and mentoring of new writers at Johnson County Community College - which eventually moved off campus and online.
The focus of my writing business has changed now to niches in business, pets/animals, sustainable/green living, travel and antiquing. I'm also writing a true crime book of shocking Kansas murders for a publisher this year and I'm working on another book proposal about our move to a 480-square foot cabin in the woods.
Since I last looked at my business plan for 2008, I've been trying to figure out a way to keep K.C.'s Writers Blog in the mix with the limited time we all have each day. However, I knew I couldn't maintain the blog with quality, frequent posts. My focus has to be now on the book and my other paying work.
At the beginning of the summer, I decided to send the blog out with a bang and give readers the chance to ask questions and win books.
I hope you've enjoyed reading K.C.'s Writers blog as much as I have writing it. It will remain up for you to read through the archives. I also urge you to visit all of the writing sites listed in the links section. They're great resources for writers.
You'll see an increase my posts to my green blog, www.goinggreenintheozarks.blogspot.com to Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
And I hope you all will look for my book, "Blood on the Prairie: Shocking Kansas Murders" in September '09. Kansas not only has the distinction of having the first recorded serial killers in the country known as the Bloody Benders, the state has continued to spawn other shocking crimes - the Clutter (In Cold Blood) murders, Richard Grissom, John Robinson - right up to BTK.

My Best to all of you and Happy Writing!
Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell

A Self-Help Book Ends The Summer Great Book Giveaway

2008-08-26T05:07:00.000-05:00

Today, for the last author of the Summer Great Book Giveaway, I have Pat Olsen talking about her recently released book, “How to Help Your Alcoholic Brother or Sister and Not Lose Yourself.” I recently read that self-help books are harder to get published these days. Read about how Pat did it and if you have questions of your own, just click on "comments" and ask by 5 p.m. CST today. If I randomly draw your question, Pat will answer your question and you'll win a copy of the book!

Tell us about yourself.
I'm mainly a health and business journalist. I've been writing for the NewYork Times for eight years, and I write executive columns for two business trade magazines. I also write for several health publications, and I've written about substance abuse and recovery quite a bit. Not to drop names, but I was a technical writer for years, the same as Amy Tan and Marion Winik. (OK, to drop names.)

Tell us about your new book, “How to Help Your Alcoholic Brother or Sister and Not Lose Yourself.”
Substance abuse, treatment, and recovery has long been one of my interests, since I come from a family of alcoholics. Looking back on my relationship with my brothers few years ago, I realized that I had learned a few things that others like me might benefit from.
While my parents were alive, there were four family members around me who all had drinking problems. I spent a lot of time taking care of my parents as they got older. After they died, and it was just my brothers and me and I was able to focus on just the three of us, everything sort of telescoped. I had been learning more about the disease, and I had gained some distance so I was able to look back with new understanding.

How did you find your co-author? How did you decide who wrote what and who is doing the marketing?
I had interviewed Dr. Levounis for an article I wrote for Hemispheres, United's inflight magazine, on executives and substance abuse. He was so eloquent and had so much wisdom. When an agent suggested I needed an expert coauthor to interest a publisher in this book, I immediately thought of him.
We both knew we had to find a format that made sense for a reader but that would also work with his schedule. We decided that he would comment and lend his expertise at points throughout the book that made the most sense. We're both marketing the book. For example, Dr. L. belongs to numerous professional associations and has done many radio interviews. I'm doing a number of things regarding the associations I belong to, and I think radio and blogs will be great for word of mouth selling, too.

This book must have great personal significance for you. Did you ever encounter emotional issues while writing it? What advice would you offer other writers who may face similar challenges?
It was very difficult at times and I still get emotional when I read the epilogue about my younger brother. He died while we were writing the book and although it's been over a year now, it's like it was yesterday. I wish several things had been different. I tell readers that it's best if you try not to have regrets when it comes to family members who have this difficult disease, but I'm not always good at taking my own advice. I'd advise others to ask writer friends for their opinion and trust their editor. Whenever I was getting into my own story too much, my wonderful editor Renee Sedliar would reign me in.

I don’t think there are many books out there on this subject. How did you convince a publisher that there’s an audience for this book?
I don't think I had to do much convincing once I had the format right. (My first proposal was too memoir-ish.) It stands to reason--if there are almost 22 million Americans who are addicted to or abuse alcohol, many if not most of them have siblings. If a publisher deals with recovery books, then they reocognize our numbers. My story must have convinced mine there was a need for this book.

Your audience is also a pretty narrow one. How are you promoting your book?
I think it will sell mostly through recovery radio programs (I'm signed up for my first one), and through professional organizations and other people in the field of recovery. I hope it's a book therapists will want to give to clients, too. I have some essays in mind to send out as well.

Did you do a lot of research for this book, or did you focus more on your personal experiences?
I did do a lot of research. I briefly told my story and the stories of four other siblings. Dr. L. provided a lot of information, too. I'm so indebted to him.

What do you think is the most important thing for a writer of a self-help guide to remember while writing it?
That you may think something is too basic to include because you know the subject, but you should include it anyway. There will be people who don't know the information you were going to leave out.

Were there any surprises in either the writing or publishing process?
I knew that an editor can improve a manuscript exponentially, but I was amazed from day one at how talented my editor was, and I'm not just saying that. I also didn't know there was both a publicist and a marketing department at the publisher and the two are different.

....And now Pat is awaiting your questions!

The Opposite of Love Winner

2008-08-21T05:04:00.000-05:00

Irreverent Freelancer is this week's winner and Julie Buxbaum is answering her question from Istanbul. "Irreverent," please send me your snail mail address so I can send you Julie's book! And, Jodi, I'm still awaiting your address as well.
fivecoat@ozarkmountains.com

Question:

As someone who lost my mother as a teenager, I only recently
fully grieved that loss when I recently lost my grandmother (who took
over the motherly role). I don't know how much of yourself goes into
your writing, but did you find yourself reliving some of your own
losses while writing this book? And if so, did you find the process
painful or cathartic?

From Julie:

I find the act of writing cathartic pretty much regardless of the
topic. It would be naïve of me to say that none of my own experiences
with loss went into THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE, but since Emily's story
wasn't my own story, the experience was never painful. (Though it was
painful on those mornings when I just couldn't articulate what I
wanted to say!). Oddly enough, the scenes in the book that most made
me cry when I wrote them--and to be honest, I'm not sure whether most
writers are weird like I am and make themselves laugh and cry--were
scenes that even if I had wanted to I couldn't find a parallel in my
own life. (For example when Emily fights with her dad in the
hospital.) That said, in my second book I keep finding myself
returning to certain themes--loss being one of them--and so I do
wonder if a huge part of why I write is purely for the cathartic
experience of it.

From Rainy London....The Opposite of Love

2008-08-19T07:54:00.000-05:00

Today, I have Julie Buxbaum, author of the new novel, "The Opposite of Love." Come and read how this Harvard Law School grad got into writing fiction, found her publisher and ended up in London. Click on comments and ask a writing related question before 5 p.m. CST today and if I randomly draw your question, you can win a good read in the Summer Great Book Giveaway - which, like the summer, is fading fast.

Tell us about yourself.
It's funny, I always seem to have the most trouble with this question. Let's see--I'm thirty years old, soon to be thirty one, which amazes me, if only because it feels like my last birthday was just yesterday. This year, which was a big one for me--my book came out, I got married--has flown by a little too fast for my comfort. I currently live in Los Angeles, but will be moving to London this summer. And I am a recovering lawyer, turned novelist, and couldn't be happier about the career switch.

Tell us about your book, "The Opposite of Love."
THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE is about the complexities of love and loss, how we find personal fulfillment, and what happens when we delay grief. The story is told from the perspective of Emily Haxby, who is dealing with a romantic crisis and a familial one, as she is finally dealing with the death of her mother fifteen years after the fact. She has just broken up with her boyfriend, Andrew, just as he's about to propose, and her beloved grandfather is beginning a descent into dementia. At the same time, she is a lawyer at a large law firm, and is forced to work on a morally reprehensible toxic tort case for a boss who can't keep his hands to himself. The book follows her emotional journey as she finds the courage to take back control of all aspects of her life, and face the fears that have long haunted her.

Wow. You have an impressive resume, Harvard Law School, big law firms in NYC and L.A. Many writers leave other lives to follow their dream of being a full time writer (I did). Do you feel like you wasted that part of your life, or did it help prepare you somehow for your life as a writer? And if so, how?
Though it would have been nice to have started my writing life earlier, if only because I wish I had taken the opportunity to study literature and literary theory in college, I can't say I regret my decision to go to law school or even to become a lawyer. My three years at Harvard were probably the most intellectually rigorous of my life, and I enjoyed them immensely. And my years as a lawyer not only helped me gather material for my novel, but also taught me to appreciate my new life as novelist. I am not sure I would have understood, had I not spent that time, what a blessing it is to have a career that I enjoy and find stimulating and fulfilling.

How did you develop the story for "The Opposite of Love."
With THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE, I worked backwards. I started thematically, because I knew I wanted to explore the consequences of delaying grief. From this idea sprung my main character Emily Haxby; once I fully understood her strengths, faults, motivations, etc., once I could picture her as a living, breathing person in the world, the plot unfolded from there.

Did you take any classes to learn how to develop plot, dialogue, etc?I took a couple of novel writing classes at UCLA Extension at night, which were really helpful.

What was most helpful in assisting you to learn about the writing process?
I think the most helpful thing was having been a voracious reader my whole life. I find reading critically and widely and constantly, more than anything else, is a prerequisite to becoming a writer. I believe that's the best way to internalize the art and the craft of the novel form.

You just left your life as an attorney two years ago, did you work on the book before quitting law?Not really. I had started to think about my main character just before I quit, but I didn't actually start any real work on the book until afterwards.

How did you find your agent/publisher?
All I can say is that I had amazing amounts of luck. I quit my job as a lawyer in January of 2006 to write. After working for about eight months full time on THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE, and after generating many, many drafts, I felt it was ready to be sent out. About two weeks later, I landed an agent, and less than a month after that my agent sold the book to Dial Press (my publisher.) I still can't quite believe how everything fell into place so quickly, and I feel extraordinarily lucky considering there are thousands of talented novelists out there who never get to see their work published.

What's next for you?
I am currently hard at work on my second novel, which has been a lot of fun. And I'm getting ready for the big transatlantic move. I definitely need to buy myself an umbrella.

And now, Julie is awaiting your questions!

Joid- You've Won Final Curtain!

2008-08-14T09:59:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay. Jodi is the winner of Richard Jordan's book- please email me at fivecoat@ozarkmountains.com with your snail mail addres.
Here's her question with his answer!

Jodi:
Do you find it difficult shifting from one type of book to another? NOw you're doing mysteries--do you plan on trying any other genres?

Richard:
I wouldn’t say that it’s more difficult shifting from one type of book to another, just different. I started publishing nonfiction with a book titled BUT DARLING, I’M YOUR AUNTIE MAME! That was very demanding, because of all the research and interviews project required. It was extremely time consuming––years, actually. And God, I was terrified of getting facts wrong! Although I checked and rechecked data, interviewees often had totally different recall about the events I was attempting to chronicle. To a certain degree I also research my fiction, but I don’t have to worry about a reader wagging a finger at me and pointing out a staggering historical blunder. (Although I misspelled the French champagne Veuve Clicquot all the way through REMAINS TO BE SCENE, my first Polly Pepper mystery! I drink the stuff! You’d think I would have known how to spell my favorite bubbly! WARNING: Don’t drink and type!)
As for any problems with switching genres in fiction, a good story is a good story. I started my career writing erotica for the summer beach book market. When I was offered an opportunity to pen “cozy” mysteries, I found it extremely fulfilling to knock a character off, and then engage my amateur sleuth, Hollywood icon Polly Pepper, to solve the crime.
I never say never, but at the moment I don’t foresee moving into another literary genre. I’m too busy fulfilling my publishing commitments, working at Disney, and I’m about to produce a movie. (Whew!) Although perhaps I should try screenwriting. THAT’S WHERE THE MONEY IS! I’m the only one in Hollywood without a script to sell!
Again, thanks for the great questions.
Sincerely,
R.T. Jordan

Winner of Final Curtain

2008-08-14T05:35:00.000-05:00

There's been some email problem with Richard and since he is in California on Pacific time, the winner will be posted later this morning. Please check back!

It's Not the Final Curtain for R.T. Jordan - or Polly Pepper

2008-08-12T05:07:00.000-05:00

Today, I have a real treat, Richard T. Jordan, author of the Polly Pepper mystery series talks about his latest book, "Final Curtain." Read about Richard's life as a staff writer for Walt Disney Studios and how that has affected his book writing, his former life as a writer under another name, and even why he attended Karen Carpenter's funeral. Richard says he's shy in public, but this is one of the best interviews of the summer! Ask Richard a question before 5 p.m. CST today, by clicking on comments, and if I randomly draw your question, Richard will answer it and you will win a copy of his book!

Tell us about yourself.
Talking about myself isn’t exactly what I do best. However, I suspect that when one first meets me in person they naturally assume that I’m gregarious and that I enjoy being the center of attention. False! It’s a role I play: the “it’s time to be social” role. I actually don’t enjoy being the center of attention at all. I turn beet red in staff meetings whenever I’m called upon to discuss a project. If I can come home from the office on Friday night and not have to leave my home or see anyone until Monday morning, I’m a very happy man. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy entertaining and being invited to others’ homes for intimate dinners. I do, enjoy those things. But with my career at Disney and my second career as a novelist, “free” time is something that I value almost above all else. I especially enjoy time to be with myself.

But for the sake of a bit of background information, I was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Peabody, Massachusetts. “A good place to be from,” I always say. I guess I had a relatively happy childhood in New England. In fact, I suppose it was a darn good childhood. But I was in a hurry to grow up and get out. Everyone who ever knew me back then, was aware that I had my sites set on California. I always knew that’s where I belonged. I left home right after high school and moved to Los Angeles. I didn’t know a soul in this city. I didn’t have a job or a place to live. In retrospect (and it sounds easy for me to say this from my current position), I sincerely knew that I’d land in clover. I arrived in L.A., found a room to rent in an old, cockroach-infested house, found a job as a gopher at an insurance company (the worst job!), and started to live the life that I had dreamed of all those cold winter mornings in Massachusetts.

I enrolled part-time at UCLA and then ended up as an assistant at The Walt Disney Studios. I started moving up the proverbial ladder and I’ve been there ever since - Twenty-five years in September 2009!

Along the way I fell in love with the old Roz Russell movie, “Auntie Mame.” That film actually started my career as a writer because I decided to write a book chronically the history of the fictional Auntie Mame. I had learned that Patrick Dennis had written a novel called AUNTIE MAME, and that it was adapted for Broadway by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. Then it became the movie that I first loved. Then it was turned into a Broadway musical by Jerry Herman, starring Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur. However, when Hollywood came calling again, it flopped as a movie musical. Still, I wanted to write this book. I remember that I wrote a proposal and shopped it to every agent and editor in the world. Nobody wanted it. Finally, my first agent, the now deceased and much missed Dorris Halsey, read the proposal and found a small publishing house to accept it. The book, BUT DARLING, I’M YOUR AUNTIE MAME! became the biggest seller in the 30-year history of the now-defunct (it wasn’t my fault!) Capra Press. Then, the book went on to have another wonderful life when my fantastic editor at Kensington, John Scognamiglio, reprinted a revised edition.

Other trivia. I’m not leaving this planet until I’ve done everything that I’ve ever wanted to do. With that in mind, ever since I was a kid, I had wanted to learn to figure skate. So, about four years ago, I started taking lessons. It was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. I recently had to curtail that activity because of too many injuries, but I had a blast while it lasted. What else? I love to travel. The UK, especially Scotland, is my favorite places to visit. I’ve taken a baby step toward actually living there by purchasing a timeshare in Edinburgh. However, the U.S. dollar sucks so badly that I don’t know when I’ll actually be in a position to become an ex-pat. I enjoy wine, classical music, ROAD RUNNER cartoons, the old FRASIER television series. Also, any movie that stars Angela Bassett or Meryl Street. And I’ll never get over the death of Karen Carpenter. I even went to her funeral. That’s me in a nutshell.

Tell us about your new Polly Pepper book, “Final Curtain.”
FINAL CURTAIN is the second volume in my Polly Pepper “cozy” mystery series. After writing a bunch of “summer beach books” under the pseudonym Ben Tyler, I switched to mysteries because I definitely needed a change of pace. Polly Pepper is your typical, run-of-the-mill international celebrity icon. She earned her status as a living legend during the years that she hosted one of the most successful television musical/comedy shows of the 1980s. However, after a receiving a ton of Emmy Awards, Peoples Choice Awards, and every other honor that could be bestowed upon her, Polly’s show, THE POLLY PEPPER PLAYHOUSE, was eventually cancelled. Now, she picks up work wherever she can find it. And, curiously, wherever Polly goes, dead people follow.

In FINAL CURTAIN, Polly has finally won one of the most coveted rolls in musical theatre for an actress of a certain age. She’s starring as Mame in a low-rent production of the musical in Glendale, California. It’s not Broadway, but she’s been promised that if the reviews are any good, the show might transfer to The Great White Way. Polly can only hope. Alas, the production gets off to a rotten start when the director is murdered. Now it’s up to Polly, her adult but still-living-at-home son Tim, and their maid, Placenta, to figure out who did the terrible deed. Of all the books I’ve written (I think this is my 10th), FINAL CURTAIN is without question my favorite. Sure, we love all our children, but there’s always one that we’re most proud of. For me, it’s this book. The novel is funny, and suspenseful, and fast paced. I think I hit my stride with this one. This is the first time that I’m not shy telling friends to buy the book!

Why did you write under a different name before and why did you decide to change and use your real name now?
I wrote four novels and three novellas under the name Ben Tyler because I wanted to distance myself from Disney, where I work as a senior publicist. Those books were the antithesis of what The Walt Disney Company stands for so, as a courtesy to this great company I decided it would be best use a nom de plume. However, it didn’t take long for word to spread, at least here at the studio, that I was the guy behind the the title TRICKS OF THE TRADE. Most of my colleagues thought it was great. Others, not so much. But I’m still here.

What other ways has being a staff writer for The Walt Disney Studios affected your writing?
For about sixteen years I was the staff writer in the feature film publicity department at Disney. (The job was eliminated a few years ago, so I became a photo editor.) They were the best of years, they were the worst of years. Frankly, I don’t know how I survived the pressure. There was a period in which we were releasing forty films a year. I was the guy who created all of the press kits, and wrote hundreds of feature articles, thousands and thousands of bios, production information notes, which are essentially a history of the making of each film, and so much more. The deadlines were outrageous. The pressure nearly took me to the breaking point. On the one hand, it was hell. On the other, I wouldn’t trade those years for anything. I wrote and wrote and re-wrote, sometimes working eighteen hours a day for twenty days straight without a day off. I had one boss who was never satisfied with my first and sometimes second or third drafts of material, and made me start over. But the job forced me to hone my skills, and I’m actually now grateful to that nefarious boss because she made me realize that things improve with rewriting. I never thought I’d do this, but I’m going to dedicate my next novel, A TALENT FOR MURDER, to this particular Boss Lady.

How did you conceive the Polly Pepper character?
Polly Pepper first appeared in a novella that was published a few years ago in a Christmas anthology. At the time, she wasn’t an amateur sleuth. Polly was just an aged out legend who wanted to find a boyfriend for her gay son as a Christmas present. I loved the characters, and when I wanted to stop writing as Ben Tyler, my absolutely wonderful and brilliant editor suggested that I write a mystery. That novella was my favorite published work at the time, and I thought that Polly, Tim, and Placenta were strong enough to carry a full-length novel. I confess that I was scared to death of writing in the mystery genre, but now I can’t imagine anything else. I get a real kick out of the Hollywood world in which Polly and her troupe live. Readers (and a few critics) have said that I modeled Polly after Carol Burnett. Actually, I didn’t, or at least I didn’t mean to. However, I can see some similarities. If these books are ever made into a movie, Carol would be great in the role. Michele Lee is attached for TV or film, and she’ll be wonderful. She has all of Polly’s positive traits. And she’s very glamorous. The producer who optioned the books is pitching the idea to Lifetime and a few other places. I’d love for Polly to have a wider audience. I’d especially like the dollars that go with it! Remember, I need to live in Scotland. Preferably in a castle!

Do you find your characters to be extensions of different parts of your own personality?
I’m not so sure that Polly, Tim, or Placenta are extensions of my own character. I guess to the point that Polly likes a lot of the things that I do, and on the other hand, loathes the same things I do, is one way to look at it. But I’m not at all an over-the-top in my personality. I’m the opposite. Polly and her son and maid are probably more like people that I have come in contact with during my years in Hollywood, rather than aspects of me. Polly is all the glitter and glamour of a film premiere. She shines brightest when the spotlight hits her. She craves attention. As I said earlier, I’m just the opposite. Now that I think of it, perhaps Polly does reflect me. Maybe she has the type of personality that I would like to have. Hmm. I’ll have to think about that.

How is writing a series of books different from writing a single-story book? Writing a series of books with the same character is actually a lot more fulfilling for me, than just a stand alone novel. I need a large canvas when I write. That’s why I’m not a screenwriter. I can’t cram a story into 110 pages. I need five hundred manuscript pages! And with a series, such as the Polly Pepper Mystery Series, I can tell her story over the course of an unlimited number of books. Of course, there’s the problem of possibly unintentionally putting Polly into similar situations, from one book to another. I’m terrible at remembering what happened in previous books. Readers sometimes talk about characters from the Ben Tyler books and I swear to God, I don’t remember them. I suppose this is the result of the fact that I finish one book and almost immediately go into writing another. Everything gets smushed together.

Do you ever have a problem with continuation from the previous novel, or do you write each book to stand on its own?
Each of the Polly Pepper Mystery books can stand alone, but I think it’s fun to follow her and her family through her various murder cases. However, one does not need to start with REMAINS TO BE SCENE, to know all one needs to know about Polly in FINAL CURTAIN. Hopefully, when readers discover FINAL CURTAIN, they’ll want to go back and find out what sort of chaos Polly has created in the first book, and the same with the next volumes. The sleuths may be the same, but they have different assignments.

How do you do market the books, as a book or a series?
With regard to marketing my books, I think my publisher, Kensington, cross promotes them as both part of a series, but also as standalone novels. Just as my favorite mystery writer, Laura Levine, has her ongoing “Jaine Austen” series, her hysterically funny novels can be thoroughly enjoyed one by one. And, with Laura’s work, one novel is not enough. Readers are so enamored of her intelligent and laugh-out-loud writing that they want to read everything she writes. In my next lifetime I want to be Laura Levine!

Do you have an idea of how many books will be in the Polly Pepper series? If you ever decide to end it, do you have ideas for a different series? I’m having so much fun with Polly, and Tim, and Placenta that I don’t want the series to end. I’m contracted for four books, but it could go on and on. Cross your fingers for me, because Polly et al have become family to me. I’d miss not visiting with them every day. That’s not to say that there are time when they irritate me. As with every family, we have our good days and out not so good days. There are times when Polly doesn’t want to be cooperative and reveal more of herself to me. That’s frustrating. But I’m a patient guy, and Polly Pepper always comes around for me. I’m blessed to know Polly and her troupe. They add so much to my life.

And now Richard is awaiting your questions!

Commuting to a Winner

2008-08-07T05:33:00.000-05:00

Congratulations, Wendy Burt-Thomas, you've won a book in the Summer Great Book Giveaway! If you email me your address (fivecoat@ozarkmountains.com), I'll send a copy of Tina Tessina's book, "The Commuter Marriage." As always, the Summer Great Book Giveaway is sponsored by www.freelancedaily.net where you can save time by having freelance jobs posted to one daily e-letter that arrives in your mailbox.
Here's Wendy's question:
I've been hearing that the military divorce rate is much higher than the non-military. Do you think the military as a whole is doing enough to keep marriages strong? If not, what do you think they could use help with?

From Tina:
It's hard to tell the truth to a counselor if your job depends on it. Counseling in the military should be as confidential as counseling outside. Then, couples could go and tell the truth, and marriages could be helped. I hear that some of the armed forces are offering classes now in improving relationships, which is helpful. The military code of "closing the ranks" and protecting fellow servicemen (for example, by not reporting that you know a soldier is abusing or cheating on his or her spouse) prevents any improvement of relationships. Soldiers who return from combat with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can severely impact their relationships, and the military lags behind on treating this emotional disorder.

The Commuter Marriage

2008-08-05T07:32:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay in posting this morning. My lovely ISP that I swear, was developed in 1992 and hasn't been upgraded since, was down. One of the hazards of living in the mountains in the woods with the animals.
Today, on K.C. Writer's Blog, I have a writer whose book I needed last summer while my husband worked in Kansas City and I lived down here in the mountains. Tina Tessina is a psychotherapist and author of 13 self help books. Tina talks about her latest book, “The Commuter Marriage: Keep Your Relationship Close While You’re Far Apart," and gives her own advice for writers wanting to write a self help book of their own.
The Summer Great Book Giveaway continues. Ask Tina a writing related question through the comments section by 5 p.m. today and if I randomly draw your question, you'll win a copy of Tina's book and she will answer your question on the blog on Thursday! You don't even need a google account to sign in. How easy is that?

Please tell us about yourself.
I'm a licensed psychotherapist in S. California, with 30 years experience in counseling individuals and couples and author of 13 books in 16 languages, including Money, Sex and Kids: Stop Fighting About the Three Things That Can
Ruin Your Marriage (Adams Media Jan 2008) The Unofficial Guide to Dating Again
(Wiley) and the forthcoming The Commuter Marriage: Keep Your Relationship Close While You're Far Apart. (Adams Media, June 2008)
I also publish The "Happiness Tips from Tina" e-mail newsletter; the "Dr. Romance" blog at
http://drromance.typepad.com/dr_romance_blog/and hosted a weekly hour long radio show:"The Psyche Deli: delectable tidbits for the subconscious." I am an online expert, answering questions at www.CouplesCompany.com and Yahoo!Personals at http://personals.yahoo.com/us/static/content_date.

Tell us about your new book, “The Commuter Marriage: Keep Your Relationship Close While You’re Far Apart.”
Between war deployment, different work shifts, business traveling and relocation, and jobs like trucking and firefighting which keep people away from home for days at a time, many couples today live in Commuter Marriages, or the equivalent. Commuter Marriage is designed to give them the information, examples and skills they need to navigate this treacherous terrain and keep the intimacy and connection alive in their relationship. It explores every avenue of long-distance relationships: communication, problem-solving, fairness, finances, intimacy, change, stress, and the growth that comes from successfully dealing with these issues.

What motivated you to write this book?
Working with many couples who are dealing with various kinds of separation and commuting.

Has answering relationship questions online helped you build a platform for writing your books?
Yes, it has. I get questions in my e-mail every day, and it helps me know what issues people have that they want help for.

What have you found to be the most challenging aspect of writing self-help books?
Promotion, and helping the people who need the book find it. Once people find my books, I get a lot of positive feedback; but the number of books out there is huge, and reaching the reading audience isn't easy.

How did you find your agent/publisher?
My agent, Laurie Harper of the Sebastian Literary Agency and I have been working together for twenty years -- she found the publisher.

How has being a psychotherapist influenced your writing?
It is the reason for my writing, and the reason I have the experience and knowledge to help people through books -- the books are an extension of what I do in the counseling session.

Do you do speaking engagements to help market your books? What is involved in your marketing plan?
Yes, when I speak at bookstores, and in lectures like the one I'm giving for IWOSC on June 21, http://www.iwosc.org/calendar/index.html#seminars it gives me a chance to reach an audience and let them know what is in the book that might be helpful to them. I list all my events on www.booktour.com, and then export the RSS feed to my website, my Facebook page, my Amazon Connect author page, etc.

What advice would you offer people planning to write and sell a self-help book to a publisher?
Platform, platform platform! Start building the platform even before you begin the book. Use pieces from the book in a blog, interview as an expert (try Peter Shankman's helpareporter.com), get out and speak. Keep a mailing list of everyone who is interested in your information. Search for groups interested in your topic, and get connected. Developing a platform will help you interest a publisher in your book, and help you sell it once it's published.

And now, Tina is ready for your questions!

Minnesota is Cool and Blog Readers Are Fun

2008-08-01T05:41:00.001-05:00

Wow! We had great participation the other day, asking Amy Rea questions about her writing and about Minnesota. All of the questions were such fun that Amy would like to answer them all! Amy will be answering them on the comments section of the original post later, so stop back by this later or tomorrow!
Now, here's the winning question from Diane! And Diane, I need you to contact me within 7 days so I know where to send your book! fivecoat@ozarkmountains.com All other previous winners who haven't contacted me by Saturday, 8/2 - your book will go to someone else!Hi,
Because of the enormous amount of material covered, did you feel this book was really finished? Or did you feel you just had to wrap up when you reached a deadline? PS - thanks for the yarn shop recommendations!

Diane

From Amy:
Good question, Diane! There’s an old saying that goes something like this: You never finish writing something, you just stop. That’s how this book felt—but that’s part of the nature of a travel guide. No sooner had the book gone irrevocably to press than restaurants I’d covered began dropping like flies, and new interesting stores opened, and I discovered even more interesting festivals that I didn’t know about, and there’s been talk of a new state park on the North Shore, and…in other words, the only way for the book to be published was to close the file and send it away. That’s one of the reasons I’m happy to have my blog (www.flyover-land.com) that I can use to update information and add new things as I discover them.

Oh, and I’m glad you liked the knitting info. It was my personal goal to make sure knitters everywhere knew how to find yarn in Minnesota.

Minnesota: Land of 10,000 Lakes

2008-07-29T04:35:00.000-05:00

The Summer Great Book Giveaway continues today. During a college trip to Minnesota, I brought home a t-shirt that read,"Minnesota: spring, summer, fall, winter, winter, winter." Minnesota really is a cool state - and I don't just mean in the weather sense. Today, I have Amy Rea, author of "Minnesota: Land of 10,000 Lakes." Read what Amy has to say about travel writing vs. travel guide writing. Click on comments today before 5 p.m. CST (U.S.) and ask Amy a writing related question. If I randomly draw yours, Amy will answer it on Thursday - and you'll win a copy of her book - now how cool is that!

Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m a nearly lifelong resident of Minnesota (other than a brief stint in Vermont). I was born and raised in northern Minnesota, in an itty-bitty town called Tenstrike (don’t know it? South of Blackduck? Does that help?). I ended up in the Twin Cities, attending the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and pretty much have been in the Twin Cities, including St. Paul and suburbs, since then. I majored in English but knew I wasn’t cut out to be a teacher, so I wandered a bit, managing a maternity store and spending several years as a travel agent before finally putting that English degree to work as a freelance writer and editor. I went into full-time freelancing 10 years ago and love it. I’ve been able to write for a variety of publications and companies, with most of my work on the corporate side. Currently my biggest project is developing a curriculum for an afterschool health and wellness education program (www.sajaifoundation.org). I also write fiction. I had my first “professional” short story published last year (for pay!), and I’m currently working on my second novel. On a personal level, I’m your average married suburbanite, two kids (both boys, 15 and 12) and two very spoiled, overly pampered dogs.

Tell us about your new book, “Minnesota: Land of 10,000 Lakes.”
It sounds sappy, but I really do love this state. Having lived in both extremes—very rural and heart-of-the-city—I was ready and willing to look at all the different aspects of touring Minnesota. As the book editor explained to me once when I was having panic attacks about not being able to include Every Single Thing I could think of, this book is meant to help people with more money than time make choices about how to use that time. I guess you could say the book is designed to help travelers be the Decider. J I provide options, the traveler can choose among them and hopefully not feel too overwhelmed at all there is to do! I also had some latitude as far as tone went, and I worked hard to make it friendly (and occasionally a little sassy).

Do you think researching this book would have been more difficult if you weren’t a Minnesota native?
Absolutely. I went into the book knowing the geography of the state, some of its history, regional differences, what areas tend to attract the most visitors and why. And it’s a sizable state—it’s the biggest Midwestern state, and 12th largest of all the states. But there’s also an advantage in “knowing” the state as only a resident can. I read the local newspapers, the local blogs, I hear the “buzz.” I know what’s potentially hot, probably not, what’s causing controversy and consternation among the locals. The other helpful aspect of being a native and living here most of my life is knowing so many other people from here. As one friend said, he realized he was a full-blooded Minnesotan when I asked what some of his favorite spots were, because he could name so many and was so heartfelt in his response. You can do a ton of research via books, magazines, and the internet, but personal connections really make a difference. It was also helpful, from a cost perspective (since it was not an expenses-paid project, but a flat advance), that I live in the southern half of the state but have family in the northern half. I was able to keep hotel/meal costs pretty low. It’s much cheaper to take my parents out to dinner as a thank-you than to pay for several nights’ hotel!
That said, I put literally thousands of miles on my car last year, traveling for research. I’m thankful I’m not trying to log those miles this year, given the price of gas!

What did you find to be the most challenging aspect of writing this book? What did you find to be the easiest?
The most challenging: the overwhelming amount of things to do in this state! Frankly, it almost paralyzed me when I sat down to write. My office was buried in stacks and stacks of paper, newspapers, magazines, brochures, pamphlets, things I picked up on the road (LOTS of things I picked up on the road), things I downloaded. My camera’s memory card was bursting. There were times when I’d be sorting through hundreds of photos and stare at something and have no memory of ever having been there—but clearly I had, because I’d taken several pictures of it. It’s a big state, and there’s lots to do and see. Trying to condense it down into a book was difficult.
The easiest: The exact same thing—there’s so much to do and see. And while traveling the state doing that part of the research was tiring and demanding, it was also an extraordinary amount of fun.

How did you get involved in the Explorer’s Guide series?
I had done some writing about different areas of Minnesota for some travel websites (now sadly defunct). When I saw a market guide through Freelance Success that mentioned Countryman Press was looking for a writer for a Minnesota guidebook, I jumped at the chance to put together a proposal.

What were your motivations for creating a blog for the book?
Well, marketing, of course. But I also hope to start a conversation. My other blog, www.knitthink.typepad.com, has been running over three years, and it’s proven to be a great place to connect with people I might not otherwise meet or get to know. I’ve ended up learning a lot from the readers of that blog, making friends, finding resources I would never have heard of otherwise, and I hope the book blog (www.flyover-land.com) will grow and expand the same way. I’ll use the blog for updates (such as closed businesses or new businesses), for information that didn’t make it into the book, and to look at Minnesota and tourism in general.

You say you would like to publish a novel. I find it difficult to switch from reporting to fiction. How do you make the transition?
Very painfully. Two things that seem to help are: writing fiction first thing in the day, before I get to the paying work (which then takes over), or going somewhere else—coffee shop, library, etc.

Your first book faced many rejections. What was your motivation to keep trying?
The rejections were all personalized and encouraging, and they came from editors who had requested the entire book based on the synopsis and sample chapters. I know—pretty sad that simply not getting a form rejection made me happy! But throughout that process, I was continuing to write the novel I’m revising now, and I know this one is better. I’ve learned so much. That’s the best way to learn to write—sit your a$$ down and do it. I look at that first book as an apprenticeship. It may never be published, and that’s OK. I grew a lot as a writer while writing it. Currently that book is shelved. Maybe someday I’ll go back to it; now and then I have sparks of ideas that would improve it, but for the moment, I want to move forward.

How is writing a travel guide different from being a travel reporter writing shorter pieces?
It’s much more intensive. And it’s a much longer commitment. In some ways, it felt like writing a lot of shorter travel pieces, because the book is divided regionally, then subdivided within those regions. I had a different kind of reader in mind; instead of the Internet reader who’s trying to grab some quick info, a guidebook reader is going to be more invested in spending time in a location and wants more in-depth coverage. I’ve never done photography for any of my online work, but the book required me to provide photos, so that was quite a change. It forced me to change my Luddite ways and get a digital camera, which, of course, turned out to be wonderful. A final difference is that I didn’t think about marketing an online article; but with the book, I’m slowly becoming aware of the work involved in having a book in the marketplace, and what it takes to keep it there. It’s a whole new world for me.

Ok, Amy is awaiting your questions!

Camille Claudel Winner

2008-07-28T05:35:00.000-05:00

Amy - You've won Camille Claudel, as well as having your question answered by Alma Bond. Congratulations! I'll need you to contact me within the next 7 days with your postal address so I can send you the book. Shoot me an email at fivecoat@ozarkmountains.com
Also, the winner of Kathleen Reilly's book, SHBuesche, needs to contact me by the end of the week, so I can send your book to you.

Here's the question and answer:

Amy: Have you ever considered writing a novel about Jackie O rather than a biography?

Alma: I AM writing a novel about her, not a standard biography. It probably will be called, "I, Jackie." I have done a number of such "autobiographies," and find I can best get into peoples' heads with that format.

Best wishes, Alma

Camille Claudel, a Novel

2008-07-22T05:16:00.002-05:00

Ah, the summer is on the downhill slide now. My summer writing project is ending next week and Correna, my assistant, is getting ready to start college. You can actually tell that it is getting darker just a little bit earlier. But never fear, the Summer Great Book Giveaway continues!
I still need to hear from last week's winner so I can send your book to you! If I don't hear from S.H. by next week, I'll draw another winner.
Today, I have Alma H. Bond talking about writing her book, "Camille Claudel, a novel." Alma took an interesting and unique approach writing about a real person by not writing a biography, but instead turning into a novel.
Read how Alma's research was affected in her decision and why she decided to write a fictional novel rather than a biography. How do you win a book? It's easy. Just click on "comments" before 5 p.m. CST today and ask Alma a writing question. You don't even need an id, or to even sign in. However, I do ask that you leave your first name in case you win. It's a little difficult to send a book to "anonymous." If I randomly draw yours, Alma will answer your question and you'll win the book!
This week, I will be traveling, without Internet access, so I will not post the winner until Monday, July 28.

Tell us a little about yourself.
I am a psychoanalyst who retired from a flourishing Manhattan private practice to write full time. Since then I have had 15 books published. I am the mother of three and the grandmother of seven, with a new one coming along in Sept.
2. Let’s hear about your book, “Camille Claudel: A Novel.”
Here is some PR that was sent out by Major about the book:

Women of the 1800s were often seen as second-class or rejected in the business world, and especially in the artist world. But, very rarely do the stories in history books expose the severe impact on the women of that day. Author Alma H. Bond's new book "Camille Claudel, a Novel" offers a close look into the heart of a woman who aspired to be an artist during the 1800s, but was ultimately rejected despite her amazing talents.

You must have conducted quite a bit of research for this novel. Did you encounter any difficulties in finding the truth of the events in Claudel’s life and was this the reason you chose to do a novel rather than a non-fiction biography? Not too much is known about her. I read everything I could find about her in both English and French, and visited her home town where she lived and the asylum where she died.

Did your background as a psychoanalyst make a difference in your research and writing? Was it beneficial?
It makes a tremendous difference to everything I write. I believe it distinguishes me from my honored literary colleagues. I try to hide the psychological truth in words that a layman can understand.

Why did you choose to narrate from Claudel’s point of view?
I thought I can best demonstrate in her voice what went on in her emotions.

As a female writer, have you ever encountered a situation similar to that which Claudel dealt with in a male-dominated world? Do you think this is still an issue in the 21st century?
As a young psychoanalyst I found it much more difficult to start my practice than men of similar education and ability. Once it began, however, it flourished, until I earned more than any other female analyst I knew.

Having written 15 books, do you find it easier to get books published and noticed?
I get reviewed easier, but it is still difficult to find publishers. Although many talented writers cannot get published at all.

What did you do to promote your novel?
I sent out postcards to every list of sculptors I could find, as well as to many artists. I checked out their websites, and personally contacted any I thought sculpted like Camille Claudel. I advertised in many newspapers, including the NYTimes, and in art magazines, and sent out at least 50 review copies of the book.

What advice do you have for authors preparing to promote their books? The marketing is at least as important as the writing. What good is your masterpiece, if no one but your mother knows about it?

What's next for you?
I am presently writing a biography of Jacqueline Kennnedy Onassis.
My book, Margaret Mahler: A Biography of the Psychoanalyst was just published by McFarland Press.

Ok, readers and writers, Alma is awaiting your questions!

And we Have a Winner...

2008-07-17T04:51:00.000-05:00

SHBueche is today's winner for Kathleen Reilly's book, "Planet Earth: 25 Environmental Projects You Can Build Yourself" Congratulations! I will need you to contact me at fivecoat@ozarkmountains.com so I know where to send your book. Kathleen says she would also like to answer the other questions posed today, so watch the original post and she will answer the questions on the "comments" section.
Visit the blog on Tuesday, as I will have Alma Bond as a guest. The Summer Great Book Giveaway is sponsored by www.freelancedaily.net.

Now, here's the winning question:

Hi Kathleen, I am a member of Freelance Daily and saw your posting. I am
also a dog writer (member of DWAA, dwaa.org) and a parent. I would love to
read a copy of your book and donate it to the school library.

My question? How do you combine your interest in rescuing canines with your
love of planet Earth?

SHBueche.

From Kathleen Reilly:

Thanks for the question! I wish I had a really cool answer like "My dogs are
named Gaia, Eco, and Greenie" or "I taught my dog to pick up litter," but no
such luck (although one beloved dog who's no longer with us could clean up
all her toys and put them in her toy box when asked). To be honest, though,
I do think that it was my love of dogs -- since early childhood I was gaga
over them -- that initially gave me my love of the outdoors. Spending time
hiking, camping, exploring, and even just flopped down on the grass under a
tree with my dogs was my favorite way to spend my bachelorette years. From
there, it was natural for my interests to expand to encompass the
environment around us and care about its health.

What's more, well over ten years ago, I also started feeding my dogs a
natural diet, which led to *me* eating a more natural diet, which led to me
being more sensitive to the planet that provides that food to us. A funny
chain reaction, but true story. Which, if we wanted to get all philosophical
about it, is interesting because that's just like Earth: One big,
interconnected network of systems, a living chain reaction.

Thanks again for participating!

Planet Earth: 25 Environmental Projects You Can Build Yourself

2008-07-15T05:41:00.002-05:00

Kathleen Reilly is the guest on K.C. Writer's Blog today, discussing her new children's book, "Planet Earth: 25 Environmental Projects You Can Build Yourself" a book with activities about the environment. Kathleen discusses writing children's books and how her love of environmental topics landed her this book deal.
The Summer Great Book Giveaway is still going on - and still sponsored by www.freelancedaily.net.
Click on comments and ask a question by 5 p.m. today (7/15) and if I randomly draw your question, you could win Kathleen's book - and have her answer your question on Thursday!

Please tell us a little about yourself.

I'm a mom of two boys and a freelance writer in North Carolina. Oh, and I'm
also a dog trainer, a master balloon animal-maker (although it still freaks
me out when they pop during production), a beginning guitar player, a great
pizza-maker, and I can juggle three tennis balls for five minutes straight
(but not in high winds). I've always been a real geek when it comes to
learning, so I've tried to find really fun, hands-on ways to teach my
homeschooled kids. As a writer, I channel my geekiness to tackle writing
projects (like this book) that let me learn cool subjects and write about
them. I've been incredibly fortunate to be able to pursue my interests.

Tell us about your book, "Planet Earth."

I'm really excited about this book. The first half explores the elements of
our environment -- wind, water, the sun, life -- and lets kids get hands-on
to really discover what's around them. There are projects like a
wind-powered bubble machine and a worm castle that my kids and I loved
creating. The second half of the book tackles some of the problems our
environment faces -- like pollution, global warming, and the thinning ozone
-- and offers projects about those topics. It's also got plenty of cool
factoids about our planet.

This is the first book you have written. Did you find the process
to be very different from writing articles?

Well, it's much longer, that's for sure! I'm pretty organized when it comes
to writing, so I just broke it down by chapter, then by section, and tackled
each section just like it was a mini-article. After a couple months, all
those "mini-articles" added up to one whole book!

What was your main motivation in addressing this book to children?

Richard Louv's "Last Child in the Woods" made an impact on me. The idea that
today's kids might not have the same curiosity and affinity for nature that
we did growing up is really hard to accept. My own kids love being outside
camping, hiking, and fishing, but I know not all kids have had the
opportunity to be exposed to the outdoors like that. I would be thrilled if
my book got a child excited or curious about the environment and got him or
her outside to explore a little. Our planet is so amazing and there's so
much for kids to discover while they're just outside, playing and getting up
close and personal with the environment.

Is it difficult to change your writing style when alternating
between adult and child audiences?

Not so much. I don't really write very technical stories for adults -- my
stories are usually pretty casual and my tone is fairly friendly, so it
wasn't too hard to make the switch.

Were there challenges with this book? Do you have any advice for
writers who find themselves out of ideas?

I loved the topic so much that it was actually a blast to research and write
-- so I guess the only real challenge was scheduling all my work and family
stuff. Writing a book is definitely time-consuming! As for running out of
ideas, I'd say get out and play! Channel *your* inner geek (you know you've
got one) and think about all the things you really love to do or even little
stuff that may have sparked your interest at one time.

How have you used your life experiences and interests in your
writing? Do you think that's important for an author?

Like I've mentioned, I've been really fortunate to write about things that
interest me. I've written on dog topics that let me tap into my dog training
and vet tech experiences. I've done stories on education that have allowed
me to share some of the super-cool teaching methods I've learned. And I've
even been able to interview a handful of celebrities that I've admired. I
think it's definitely helpful for a writer or author to be interested in
what she's writing about -- your enthusiasm and passion for the topic makes
the work that much better. (Plus you have more fun doing the work!)

There are many different articles and books relating to the
environment. Did you find it easy to break into the market with your own
idea?

I had a great time writing this book. I think it's different from other
books about the environment because it includes both basic elements of the
environment plus the problems the environment faces. And it's loaded with
some great projects that aren't just ho-hum experiments -- these are things
kids can have fun assembling and then go out and use (like one of my
favorites, the garbage picker-upper that also comes in handy to reach
runaway books that fall behind the sofa).

Your first book has been very successful, and you have two more on
the way. What else do you think the future holds for you?

Wow, good question. Right now, the future holds a date with the vacuum --
like many writers, when I go full steam ahead on writing projects, little
things like housecleaning seem to be forgotten. But you probably meant
professionally, eh? I've got a proposal for a fourth book making the rounds
right now, and I'm really hopeful that will get picked up because it's on
another one of my all-time favorite topics (sorry, I'm too superstitious to
share that info just yet!). And I'm really hoping the future holds a
completed fiction manuscript, because I've been working on one for about a
year now (a children's novel). But right now...I gotta tackle this messy
house.

And, now Kathleen would love to have your questions!

Najua Takes on the Trust

2008-07-10T05:14:00.000-05:00

And our winning question this week was posted by Najua! I need you to contact me at fivecoat@ozarkmountains.com within the next week Najua, so I know where to send your book!

Hi Steve,

How long did it take you to complete the research for the book and then how long did it take you to complete a first draft and the subsequent revisions until the final draft?

Thank you.
Najua

From Steve:

Thank you for the question, Najua.

Because I have chosen to earn most of my living as a book author and magazine feature writer, I usually juggle several journalism projects, with a book always in the mix. For most of my books, I need to receive an advance to make my life work financially. That means between six months and a year researching/writing the book proposal, with regular feedback from my literary agent. After I receive a book contract, my research, writing and rewriting generally take about five years. That is partly because I select topics that require depth and breadth, partly because I'm methodical (some might say "slow"), partly because I seek editors who will provide lots of valuable feedback, which usually means extensive rewriting bolstered by additional research. During those three to five years, some days are devoted mostly to magazine features and book reviews, to generate cash flow. Whenever possible, I propose magazine features and book reviews related to my own book in progress.

I hope this addresses your question adequately. Again, thank you.

Taking on the Trust

2008-07-08T05:24:00.002-05:00

Today, I have Steve Weinberg, a University of Missouri School of Journalism professor and author of "Taking on the Trust, The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller," how an investigative journalist brought down Standard Oil.
The Summer Great Book Giveaway continues this week after a break for the holiday. Click on comments (you don't even have to sign in) and ask Steve a question before 5 p.m. CST today. If I randomly draw your question, you'll win a copy of Steve's book and he will answer your question on Thursday. Happy Reading and good luck!

Please tell us about yourself.
I started out writing for newspapers with a bit of freelancing on the side, then moved to magazine staff writing with lots of freelancing on the side, then became a full-time freelancer, with book writing in the mix. The common denominator: to gain time and word count so that I can tell in-depth narrative stories involving lots of complicated reporting. I have taught part-time at the University of Missouri Journalism School since 1978, with long intervals of not teaching at all. The students are superb and faculty colleagues are brilliant, but teaching has not been and never will be my primary calling. During seven of those years (1983-1990), I also served as executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors, a 5000-member group physically housed at the Journalism School but independent in every other way. Even during those seven years, I continued reporting and writing. To me, it's akin to breathing.

Tell us about your new book, "Taking on the Trust."
It is a dual biography of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller, a female journalist and a male industrialist, charting the unexpected collision course that changed history about 100 years ago. Tarbell's 1904 expose in book form forever altered the previously positive views of Rockefeller, as well as leading to a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1911 breaking up the gigantic, powerful Standard Oil Trust (think of the word "antitrust" to put the old-fashioned sense of "trust" into focus.)

Tell us about the research process.
Researching the book involved immersion in the Tarbell archives (primarily at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa.), the Rockefeller archives (primarily in upstate New York), and oil industry archives (primarily at the Drake Well Museum, Titusville, Pa.). Finding the material was generally no problem. Turning it into a compelling narrative with two main characters was a challenge.

What inspired you to write about the battle between Tarbell and Rockefeller?
I wanted to understand how Tarbell came to write her classic expose, The History of the Standard Oil Company, how she became the first modern investigative journalist while also overcoming gender barriers.

Is the market for the book limited? Who is your target market?
The market for the book does not feel limited. At minimum, it should appeal to those who care about general American history, corporate history, journalism, feminism, fame and the craft of biography.

In your book you make references to Wal-Mart and Microsoft. Are you hoping to inspire other investigative journalists to look into these corporations?
Of course I am. I hope I can find the time to do some of the necessary investigating myself. In general, investigative journalism is thriving at hundreds of newspapers, magazines, tv stations, radio stations and web sites. Unfortunately, hundreds of others do little or no investigating or even in-depth explanatory journalism.

What do you feel is the most important thing to keep in mind when writing a biography? Was it difficult to write about two opposite people and illustrate how their lives were intertwined?
The most important quality is to treat people as complex human beings, to avoid reductionism by understanding that no person is simple, is driven only by greed or love or whatever. Yes, portraying two lives in a parallel fashion is much more arduous mentally than focusing on one life.

Ok, Steve is awaiting your questions!

Brought to you by....

2008-06-26T05:30:00.000-05:00

The Summer Big Book Giveaway is being sponsored by FreelanceDaily.net (www.freelancedaily.net) a daily newsletter compiling freelance writing job listings in one place. I've been a member for a few years now and always find more than enough new clients to pay for my membership.
Since my husband and I were supposed to be on vacation next week, there won't be any postings. But the Summer Big Book Giveaway will be back on July 8 with Steve Weinberg, a U of Missouri journalism instructor and author of "Taking on the Trust: How an Investigative Journalist Brought Down Standard Oil."

And now, for this week's winner, Suzanne:
Wow! Jill, this book is going to be a blessing to a lot of people. I did not battle infertility but had a friend who did.

Hopefully I was not one of the people you mentioned as unintentionally saying something hurtful. I did always feel guarded around her and I had a hard time expressing my joy (and trials) about pregnancy and about my children.

She did eventually get pregnant and I thought things would be “different.” Well, she and her daughter left my son’s 1st birthday party after snapping at me, “Let me guess, you’re pregnant again!” I was indeed pregnant with my 3rd and I just stood there in shock not knowing how to respond.

I could see that she was hurting through those years but I didn’t really know how to help her and I’m betting your book would’ve been that comfort she needed.

My question is from the consumer standpoint … would a book like this be a well-received gift from a friend or family member or would it be considered insult to injury?

BTW – I took a quick look at your site Belated Baby and it looks great! The shirts are cute and I love how you’ve used them to help others.

Jill, I wish you much success with your book and a “thank you” to you and to Kerri for a great interview.

Jill's response:

Thank you for your response and question--and kind words of encouragement!

My sister called me after reading the book, apologizing profusely, worried, like you, that she had said or done something wrong. That's just the heartbreak that comes with the infertility territory, though. But Kelly and I DO believe that this book will serve as comfort to others like us who've been through it.

To answer your question, I just sold some books to someone who plans on giving them as gifts to three friends: One who's in the midst of treatment, one who's newly pregnant with twins, and one who just had triplets.

In the case of someone who's going through treatments, we believe the messages in the book will give them hope that there IS life after infertility. You WILL become a parent if that is your choice, whether through adoption or pregnancy.

The book is probably best suited for those who are about to become parents or who recently became parents. Since we interviewed 50+ people for the book, readers will see that they're not alone in their feelings of parenting after enduring infertility. In the end, infertility doesn't kill you--in fact, it can make you a more patient and stronger parent! It's a hopeful message.

Thanks again for your post!

Jill (S as in Suzanne!) Browning

The Belated Baby

2008-06-24T05:23:00.000-05:00

Today, I have Jill Browning, who along with Kelly James-Enger, co-authored "The Belated Baby: A Guide to Parenting After Infertility." Jill talks about parenting writing, juggling her own writing with 8-year-old triplets and the co-authoring process. The Summer Big Book Giveaway goes on. Ask Jill a question before 5 p.m. CST today and if I randomly draw your name, Jill will answer your question on Thursday and you will win a copy of their book!

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I'm a full-time mom of triplets who just turned eight years old two weeks ago. Laundry, baseball games, PTA meetings, YMCA visits, multiplication tables, library visits, Sunday school, haircuts, grocery shopping, etc., fill my days. I'm also a part-time writer. I've written for Chicago Parent and Parenting magazines, and I'm currently focused on corporate projects.

Let's hear a little about your book, "The Belated Baby: A Guide to Parenting After Infertility."
Kelly James-Enger (my co-author) and I convinced the publisher that all of us belated mamas groan when we hear infertility described as a "journey." It's a trip no one wants to take, and the word "journey" just sounds like a Lifetime movie!

In any event, the book lets you know that just because you've finally become a parent after infertility doesn't mean the emotions you've experienced along the way will disappear. You still might feel different from other parents, since a kid didn't come easily. For example, you might be annoyed when someone complains about being pregnant or feel guilty when you feel overwhelmed as a parent. (This is what you wished for, you think, so you have no right to complain about late-night feedings.) Ultimately, though, like any life adversity, going through infertility can make you a more grateful, grounded and wiser parent.

Was this book conceived out of personal experience?

Yes it was conceived--so to speak--from personal experience. My husband and I tried to have kids for three years. Kelly experienced infertility for six years.

Do you believe going through this experience helped you understand the emotional deficit faced by people who've struggled with infertility? Why or why not?

You definitely understand a situation better when you've gone through it yourself. For the book, we also talked with 50 other women and men. Our experiences are similar. There is a tremendous emptiness and sadness that comes with not being able to build your family through pregnancy. And not just emotional, but financial, too. Without meaning to be cruel, family and friends say things that are hurtful. "Why don't you just adopt?" "Have you tried acupuncture?" Sometimes even after the kids come, these feelings of inadequacy remain.

How did you sell the book idea? Did you have an agent and where did you find your publisher?

Kelly has authored eight books. We worked together to create a book proposal and used her agent to find a publisher. I was lucky to be able to piggyback!

You're a mother to 7-year-old triplets. Did you ever struggle in finding time to write this book and what did you do to overcome the challenge of time?

Struggle for time? Yes! (I've been interrupted about seven times while composing this response to you!)

I'm an early riser, so try to crank out as much as possible during the morning hours. If you keep your bottom in the chair, words become sentences, sentences become paragraphs and paragraphs become pages. Pages equal a BOOK!

I know that this time in my life with the kids will be brief, however, and I don't want to outsource the caring of my kids to someone else. I've decided to be with them full-time, and I fit writing in when I can. In her book "Escaping into the Open: The Art of Writing True," Elizabeth Berg coaches that you need to accept that you can't find major time when you have little kids around. I appreciate that advice. More time will come in time.

How did the co-authoring process work between you and Kelly? How did you decide who wrote what and who had what tasks? Who handles the marketing, etc.
Working with Kelly was like playing volleyball. I'd toss something over to her, she'd polish it, then toss it back, and vice versa. One of the most satisfying parts was when we couldn't tell who had written what in the end. We'd blended!

We're both taking pieces of the marketing plan and writing articles for various fertility organizations. Also, she launched www.belatedbaby.com. We also have some fun tees that we hope will catch on. On the front it states "(b)elated mama," for all of those who are parents after infertility to wear proudly!

This being your first book, were there any surprises in the process?
The biggest surprise is that the book exists now! When you talk about it and write the proposal, it is all in the abstract. Then POW--it's a manuscript. It is immensely satisfying to have an idea of something, and then hold it physically in your hands. (Kind of like becoming a parent!)

What's your best advice for writers wanting to get into parenting writing?
Be genuinely interested in kids and families and write about what might make a difference in their day. Read as many old and new books out there, and be passionate about the subjects you'd like to cover.

And now Jill is awaiting your questions...

Anna Gets Her Answer

2008-06-19T05:29:00.000-05:00

Anna- You won the book - and to have your answer posted here. I need you to contact me at fivecoat@ozarkmountains.com with your address! Please get in touch with me within a week. Thanks to everyone who visited and to those who asked a question. We'll see you back here on Tuesday for another interview with a great author! Lorna has also been kind enough to answer the other questions posted to her interview, so check out the comments section. Here's Anna's question:
Lorna,
Great interview!
What do you think is the single most important consideration for someone to do before deciding if you should seek a traditional publisher or go through a print on demand publisher.
Thx!
Anna

From Lorna:

Dear Anna,

If you have a way to sell your books yourself, you should consider print on demand or other forms of self-publishing. Can you reach your audience without a middleman? Do you have the time and energy to devote to marketing and distribution, in an effort that could involve years? The traditional publisher serves the role of middleman for most writers, by getting your book out to stores and providing publicity to attract buyers. But if you are already in a position to provide this yourself, then you can cut the middleman and earn those profits directly. For example, someone who does a lot of public speaking might be able to write a book about his or her topic and sell it at speaking engagements. Someone who is part of a niche group with a concrete way to reach that group might be able to write a book directly for the group, and wouldn't need a publisher's help in reaching an audience.

The key is to be honest and realistic about your abilities. I know a novelist who self-published in the vaguely optimistic belief that she would be able to sell her novel off her website, based on assurances from her website designer. She published her book, sold it to friends, and then nothing much else happened with it. I think she thought all she had to do was put her website up and readers would magically appear through the wonders of the Internet, requiring no promotional effort on her behalf. I know another writer who self-published but put a lot of work into promotion, both on the Internet and "in real life" (by calling bookstores, doing book fairs and book signings, submitting her book to book reviewers, etc). Despite all her efforts, her sales also have been minimal.

Sometimes a book is simply not going to attract buyers, no matter how much promotion is put into it. This could be due to its topic or -- and here's why you need to be honest with yourself -- how it is written. I can't tell you how many self-published novels I've picked up and been appalled by, due to grammar mistakes, misspellings, and overall poor writing. I don't know whether friends are afraid to be critical with these writers or why exactly they think they can write a book, but I do think it's important for authors to find someone independent to critique his or her manuscript before even thinking about publishing (whether self-publishing or traditional).

Traditional publishers are looking for great ideas that appeal to large groups of buyers, which also are well-written (which is especially true with fiction). But this is not enough for traditional publishers. They also demand a "platform" -- a way that the author can reach the public. Maybe the author is a celebrity or an established expert in the field or has a blog that gets 100,000 hits a day. But in some way, the author usually has to be able to bring more to the table besides a great book, well-written, to get a book deal from a traditional publisher. If you think you can provide those things, then you might as well try to get a traditional publisher before striking out on your own with POD -- unless, as I said before, you have an easy way to reach your audience and distribute your book yourself.

I also wanted to make a distinction between self-publishing and POD. If you are able to afford self-publishing, where you pay a large upfront cost to have a large quantity of books printed and stored, then you might want to consider this over POD, because you will make a lot more money per book so long as you can sell them. That is a big "if," though.

Sorry if I've rambled a bit, but to sum up: The key consideration in deciding whether to self-publish or use POD is the ability to actually get your book to your audience. If you have a book that you know you can sell to a specific group of people, and you know how to get the book to them (through distribution channels or directly), AND you have the time and considerable energy to commit to this for what may be years to come, then consider self-publishing or POD.

Good luck! Hope this helps.

Best,

Lorna

Tilli's Story: Even Great Stories Sometimes Don't Attract Traditional Publishers

2008-06-17T05:12:00.001-05:00

Today, on KC's Writers Blog, I have Lorna Collier, a Chicago-area based journalist and author. Lorna talks about her book, "Tilli's Story: My Thoughts are Free." Read about her experience with traditional publishers and how this book ultimately ended up being published through iUniverse, a Print on Demand Publisher and how they've sold over 5,000 copies and had the story optioned by Hollywood. This is truly one of the most beautifully designed POD books I've seen and the story is amazing. Click on comments and ask a question of Lorna today by 5 p.m. If I randomly draw your question, Lorna will answer it on Thursday and you'll win a copy of this great story!

Tell us about yourself.

I'm a freelancer in the Chicago region with a background as a newspaper reporter, TV producer, and magazine editor. I write about a lot of different topics -- pretty much anything that interests me, whether it's about the challenges atheist parents face raising moral children, how Internet urban legends get started, or why some women cry more than other people and how this affects them in the workplace. My specialties are education, health, technology, and business, with articles appearing in the Chicago Tribune, Crain's Chicago Business, Smart Computing, PC Novice, and a variety of other newspapers, magazines, trade publications, and websites. As a child and through my teens and early twenties, I wrote a lot of fiction and dreamed of being a novelist, but then took a newspaper job, fell in love with feature writing, and haven't been able to re-enter the fiction realm, though someday I'd like to.

Tell us about your book, "Tilli's Story: My Thoughts are Free."
"Tilli's Story" tells the true story of a young East German girl's experiences living under first Hitler and then Stalin, before escaping to freedom by herself at age 16 in the bottom of a potato wagon. The book shows what life is like when lived under totalitarian regimes and demonstrates the value of freedom. It also shows that not all Germans supported Hitler, but that some, like Tilli and her family, were powerless to resist. The book portrays what happened to East Germans after the war, when the Russian Army invaded with a vengeance, and Stalinism was instituted (a story not often seen in contemporary literature). The book is written in a narrative nonfiction, novelistic style (a la "Angela's Ashes").

"Tilli's Story" was first published through iUniverse in 2004, after 10 years of rejections from traditional publishers. One small press in downstate Illinois signed us to a two-year contract, but then never produced the book, probably due to financial problems. We chose iUniverse because of its Star program, which offers the potential for national distribution in Barnes & Noble stores to certain high-performing titles. Our book ultimately was chosen for the Star program, so it was re-issued as a Star title in 2005 with a new ISBN, new book jacket, and a publicity campaign funded by iUniverse (we were assigned an agent and publicist, and the book's terms were re-worked to make it comparable to a traditionally published book: bookstores can return it, they get the same discount as with a traditional book rather than POD, etc.).

To date, we've sold close to 5,000 copies of the book and done quite a bit of speaking, mostly in the Illinois/Wisconsin area, to all kinds of groups: schools (everything from elementary to college level), book clubs, library groups, senior citizens' groups, historical societies, and business groups such as Rotary Clubs. We've heard from people all across the U.S. who have read the book -- we even did a book club teleconference with a club in New Jersey. At least one school in Germany is using the book in English-language classes. We also signed a film option with a producer in Hollywood a couple of years ago, though so far, no film deal is in the works.

I know I've been contacted through the years by different people to ghostwrite a book for them, because everyone thinks they have a story that could be a book. Tell us how you knew this woman had a story worthy of a book.
When I met with Tilli for the first time, I learned I used to be her neighbor in the town where I grew up. This personal connection set the stage, but then when I heard more about her story, I thought it was an important one. I hadn't seen any books like it in stores -- nothing that showed what life was like when the Soviets took over Germany after WWII, and few books that told what it was like to be an ordinary German growing up with Hitler's propaganda. Also, another friend of mine, a writer at the local newspaper, had worked on the project for a year and thought Tilli's story would make a good book, so her recommendation weighed into my decision as well. I thought the book was a way for me to explore dramatic story-telling and the use of literary techniques in narrative, something I had been missing in my journalistic writing, so that was another reason for me to get involved with the project.
Since then, I have had other people contact me to write their stories, but have turned them all down. I've never felt that spark since; I think it was just a one-time lucky set of circumstances. I have no desire to write another book like this, or to become so intimately involved with someone else (Tilli and I have become great friends, almost like mother and daughter, but on a different level.)

Tell us about the collaborative process, how did you two decide you would take credit, rather than ghostwrite?
Tilli always insisted that I take a byline; she never wanted to pretend she wrote the book. The first edition of the book had my byline first. However, when iUniverse reissued the book under its Star imprint, they asked to flip the bylines, because they said it would make selling the memoir easier. They then set up a publicity tour with Tilli as the sole interviewee, but Tilli balked at that, and insisted I be included. So, she has been good about crediting me.
Regarding the collaborative process: I interviewed her at length based on her notes about her life in Germany, which spanned 13 years. I asked for as many sensory details as possible so I could describe it through her eyes. After each session, I would imagine myself in her place and write a draft of that particular time period or incident, then show it to her. She would correct anything I had misinterpreted or misunderstood; the process often brought up more memories for her, which she would tell me about, and then I would add these to the draft.

How did you get the story from her?
In addition to the interviews, we visited antique shops in the area to look at farm implements, dishes, and other things that she grew up with. We looked at a lot of old pictures, both ones she owned and pictures from books. These things helped me flesh the story out further, and helped me know what additional questions to ask her. She was quite open about her life and possessed a wonderful memory, perhaps because so many incidents were traumatic and thus burned into her recall.

Authors usually want to know how to charge someone for doing a project such as this. How did it work for you?
Yikes - I had no idea what to charge. I began working with Tilli near the start of my freelance career, in the early 1990s. I had already written a book for a local church for its 100-year anniversary, and used that fee to establish a rate for Tilli, but really, the book soon became a labor of love. If I were approached about such a project today, I don't know what I would charge, but no doubt it would be much more than I charged Tilli.
Once the book was published, we agreed to go 50-50 on profits.

What was the reason to rush to publish, why not just keep looking for traditional publishers?
Traditional publishers and agents told us that the WWII market was flooded and that non-celebrity memoirs weren't salable. We disagreed, based on responses we were getting from test readers as well as our own market analysis. Another reason that we chose to self-publish was Tilli's health. She had polycystic kidney disease, which killed Erma Bombeck, and began kidney dialysis in January of 2004. She grew quite weak and ill with her thrice-weekly dialysis sessions, and didn't know how much longer she had to live, so we chose to go ahead and get the book out there rather than wait. If she hadn't had this condition, we probably would have persisted longer in trying to attract a traditional publisher.

Nearly 5,000 copies sold and a book tour that's lasted 3 years - and you've had to turn down speaking engagements. How did you handle publicity to generate that kind of a response?
The biggest reason for the initial success of the book was a lucky break: when the book was in its final proofing stages before going into production at iUniverse, I asked my friend, the Rockford Register Star newspaper columnnist who had worked with Tilli initially, and who had brought us together, to give the manuscript a look-see to catch typos. Instead, my friend turned the ms. over to the managing editor of the newspaper. He read the book in a day, fell in love with it, and asked to excerpt it. The newspaper wound up taking 30,000 words, starting on the Fourth of July (perfect for the book's message about the importance of our liberties in America), and continuing thrice-weekly until the end of the summer. For this excerpting, the newspaper offered us no pay, but tons of free publicity, including TV interviews with a sister station, newsbox pictures, and promotion through the week. We were nervous to accept the deal -- we worried that maybe people would read the excerpts and be satisfied with those, rather than buying a book. It also went against my grain as a professional writer to write for free! But this turned out to be wisest gamble we ever made. The resultant publicity touched off a local tidal wave of interest in our region, resulting not only in large sales but speaking invitations (which led to more sales and more speaking invitations).
I'll never forget our first book-signing, which was held at Tilli's beauty shop. We got there about an hour early to find a line already forming! The line continued to grow, wrapping well outside the shop and onto the sidewalk. The beauty shop started getting calls asking if they were giving free haircuts. We had no cashbox and had to borrow change from the hairstylists for customers who wanted the book. The first customer bought 20 hardover copies. We wound up selling more than 150 books in two hours. I was stunned. Even more than the sales, I was struck by the reaction of people who came -- several women were in tears (either because they had been victims of abuse, or they had lived through that time in history). So many just wanted to give Tilli a hug and tell her how much their story had touched them.

Was that the single most successful publicity?
Yes.

How did the collaborative process work with regards to what to leave in/what to take out?
We were in harmony with this. The first draft was quite a bit longer than the final draft, and I started getting feedback from agents and publishers that a book such as ours should be in the 90,000 - 100,000 word range. I kept re-reading and tightening. Tilli was agreeable to what I proposed. She also was open to my decisions about style, such as whether to write the book in past tense or present (I did the ms. both ways before settling on present tense for most of it). She left the creative decisions up to me, so long as the book remained accurate and true.

And now, Lorna is awaiting your questions on the writing process, POD publishing or other questions!

Hey, Justin - You Won!

2008-06-12T05:20:00.001-05:00

The winner of the random drawing this week is Justin! Justin, I need you to email me at fivecoat@ozarkmountains.com so I can get your address to mail Cynthia's book, "Complete Idiot's Guide to Shakespeare's Plays."
I want to thank everyone who visited and submitted a question to Cynthia. She was so impressed with the questions, she will be on the comments section later today to answer each one. Thanks, everyone and thanks Cynthia. This was a great discussion.

Now, here's Justin's question and Cynthia's answer:

Justin:

Hi, Cynthia.

I can't get the idea that some things shouldn't get the Complete Idiot's Guide treatment out of my head. I buy what you said about Shakespeare, that his stuff was originally meant for entertainment. That's fair, and I can see the need and justification for a CIG to his works.

But...

Do you worry at all that this could lead to CIGs for other authors/pieces that might be better left alone, that people might, instead of reading and appreciating the original works, just learn the gist from the CIG version and be done with it? Or am I just a pretentious and/or elitist ass for worrying? (My mom would say the latter, so don't feel like you need to be nice answering.)

Cynthia:

Justin,

First of all, I don't think your question is pretentious or elitist at all. You raise a fantastic question, and one that I, as a former teacher of Shakespeare, had to address before writing one word of my book. If I can digress a bit here..... Honestly, when I taught Shakespeare's plays at Wharton County Junior College during the late 1980s and 1990s, I had a strict policy about the use of Cliffs Notes in my classes. I didn't care if my students used them but I didn't want them to be quoted as secondary sources in written materials. So I found ways to force my students to read every word of the plays through exams and term papers. During that time that I developed a healthy respect for Cliff'sNotes and SparkNotes. They helped many of my students (not just the less motivated ones) fall in love with Macbeth and King Lear, by helping them decipher the plays' language and meanings. Today The Complete Idiot's Guides to Shakespeare's Plays helps students and readers overcome being intimidated by the texts, by encouraging them to watch the plays on the stage and screen whenever possible. But as you acknowledge, a CIG is certainly no substitute for enjoying the original plays. (I probably echo that sentiment about 25 times in the book, implying to you, the reader, that my book is no substitute for the original text!)

But to address your question - can a CIG to Shakespeare's Plays lead to a similar treatment for authors that should be read and appreciated in the original? Like a CIG to the world's greatest epics (The Aeneid, The Odyssey, The Iliad, and others) or a CIG to the novels of Henry James? And shouldn't such books be avoided at all cost?

I have no doubt that teachers and scholars fear the very sort of thing you allude to -- that the great unwashed will opt to read a CIG-style summary of a Henry James novel instead of "the real thing"...pardon the pun. And there are many who prefer to depend on Masterplots-style summaries of the classics, instead of reading the original. But I believe that CIGs do the opposite of what you suggest. Instead of pushing readers away from reading difficult classics, they encourage readers to seek them out. (Serious readers are truly curious, and they'll always seek out the original works, because they know better.) But many don't seek them out under any circumstances, because they are too difficult. So they need a boost!

In my view, CIGs and CliffsNotes are vital, and here's why. Because if one person reads my CIG (who wouldn't ordinarily give Shakespeare a second look) and it prompts him to get excited enough to crack open Romeo and Juliet or rent Zeffirelli's production on DVD, then I've created a convert. The same goes for a CIG to Henry James. Such a book might convince 20 readers in the U.S. to take a peek at The Portrait of a Lady or The Ambassadors. But without it, I doubt those same 20 could be bothered to slog through James, unless they were forced, by a dreaded English Lit professor.

This also might reassure you - convincing book publishers to issue new guides to the classics isn't easy. They have to be convinced there's a sizable market for such books. CIGs to Shakespeare and Jane Austen are one thing - these authors have blockbuster appeal on the big screen. But I doubt you'll ever find a CIG to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. There's just not enough popular interest in most of the classics, CIG or no CIG.

Thanks for posting your question!

Cynthia

To Be a Critic and Author of an Idiot's Guide

2008-06-10T05:35:00.001-05:00

Today, I have Cynthia Greenwood, author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Shakespeare's Plays." Cynthia discusses being a theater critic in a shrinking market, how she found her publisher and the process of writing a book in the Idiot's Guide family. The Big Book Giveaway continues today. Click on the word "comments" and ask Cynthia a writing-related question by 5 p.m. CST today. If I randomly draw your question, Cynthia will answer it on the blog on Thursday and you'll win a copy of her book! It's easy - and I even cover the cost of shipping! So, it is completely FREE!

Tell us about yourself.
I am an arts journalist and critic, as well as a consultant. As a freelancer, I began writing on a variety of subjects in 1990. I did some news reporting on juvenile crime, for example, and I wrote about education, business, and other topics. During the nineties I also taught literature and composition at Wharton County Junior College full-time, before I left in 1998 and began working on my own. I live in Houston, and I'm married to a district court judge who shares my passion for novels, nonfiction books, and plays. We are also avid playgoers. At home we have two extremely spoiled cats.

Tell us about your new book, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Shakespeare's Plays."
The new book is a comprehensive guide to Shakespeare's more familiar, popular plays - 20 of them, to be exact. It aims to assure readers that Shakespeare wrote his plays as entertainment, as works to be watched, heard and enjoyed. (Most people are introduced to Shakespeare in school, where dissecting his words on the page can be very frustrating.) I wrote the book for a broad audience: students of English and drama, teachers of Shakespeare, actors, theatre critics, playgoers, and the general reader who may feel as if he or she may have missed a lot when studying Shakespeare in high school and college. What makes the book unusual, I think, is that it focuses on the essence of plot and language, supplemented by original commentary by directors and actors who regularly stage the plays. It takes you behind the scenes with theatre people, suggesting that there are a variety of ways to interpret the plays. Using tips about good stage and film adaptations, the book encourages you to see the plays in performance, whenever possible.

How did you get interested in the performing arts?
I've come to the performing arts as a young student of piano and as a reader. I've always enjoyed reading plays, ever since I started reading classics by Miller, Ibsen, Wilde, O'Neill, Shakespeare, etc. in college and grad school. Also, Houston has a fantastic theatre, ballet, and opera scene; many arts presenters here are internationally renowned. So I've always taken advantage of that. I started reviewing opera, ballet, and other musical stage works for the Houston Press in 1998. Later I branched out and began filing news reports and features on prominent musicians, interesting and controversial productions, and the city's major arts presenters (Houston Symphony and Houston Grand Opera, for example.)

I've heard that being a critic is getting tougher, due to the shrinking markets - and being a theatre critic provides even fewer markets. Have you found it necessary to broaden your niche, or just develop a better platform within the same one?
I've never written exclusively about the performing arts. It just happens to be my principal passion. When I stopped reviewing for the Houston Press, I freelanced for arts editors at metropolitan dailies and eventually saw some of those markets disappear, as my editors assigned less and less. My arts writing is subsidized by steady work for a great client who essentially regards me as an employee. I review for the markets that still make assignments and seek new ones, of course. I also write regular reviews for BlogCritics, an online magazine.

Did you come up with the idea for your book, or was it presented to you? Tell us about that.
Yes. I came up with the idea and had an opportunity to pitch it to an editor at the ASJA conference in New York. She was very receptive. I spent several months researching and writing the proposal, which was accepted more than a year ago.

How was it working on an "Idiot's Guide" book, and is there a particular formula you must follow?
It was challenging and satisfying, largely because book writing allowed me to explore my subject in-depth, which better suits my mindset and my academic background. In terms of the content itself, you don't follow a formula for the Idiot's Guide books. There is a scheme for the layout - prescribed chapter lengths and ways of organizing the material to make room for sidebars, but there is complete freedom in how you write and present your material. If there is one chief requirement by the editors, it is this - the book must be an entertaining read. And while my book is aimed at college-level and secondary-level students studying difficult Shakespearean masterworks, it remains accessible and engaging. At least, that's what many readers are telling me so far.

How did you find your agent? Or, if you don't have one, what is the advantage of that?
I didn't have an agent. Instead, I worked with an attorney specializing in intellectual property and she helped me review the publisher's contract and negotiate a few changes. This process worked very well for me. I have a very experienced attorney whom I trust. In the future, I will seek an agent if I have a novel or a nonfiction book that is harder to sell on my own.

How has the publisher assisted in marketing your book and what have you had to do yourself?
The book just came out last month so the publisher and publicist have been busy since February. They send out a newsletter listing the book, review copies to major media and pre-publicity markets, press releases to coincide with the release itself, and pitches tied to viable dates like Shakespeare's birthday. They have assisted my efforts in whatever way is possible. In turn, I have worked up my own publicity plan and plan to market the book to different segments over the coming weeks, months, and years. They continue to support my efforts at pitching reviews and promotion in general.

What's next for you?
As the book is released, I take the time to re-connect with my contributors in the Houston theatre community, as well as local playwrights who are very supportive. I am gathering information for new book proposals and promoting the book heavily. I'm also taking the opportunity to write about Shakespeare and his plays whenever I can. I also continue my research and study of of Shakespeare's works, and keep up with scholarly and popular works about him. And I continue to review books and plays by other authors.

And now Cynthia is awaiting your questions...

The Time to Announce a Winner

2008-06-05T06:05:00.000-05:00

Kerry Dexter won the book, "The Time of New Weather" and won the opportunity to have Sean answer her question here on KC Writer's Blog:

Kerry: Sean,
This may seem a bit off the wall, but after reading your interview the
question that comes first to my mind is what part does music play in
your creative process?

Kerry,
who spent several winters in Taos back around 1990 it is an inspiring
place, no doubt about it

Sean's reply:
Funny you should ask this question Kerry, as the next novel I'm working
on has much to do with jazz and the jazz world, which is one of my
particular areas of fascination. So your question isn't 'off the wall'
at all, though I wonder what made you think to ask it. I'm also a
guitarist and songwriter, and music definitely influences me in my
fiction in terms of rhythm, pace, and the poetry of word use -- if I
can't get it to 'sound right' I'm not satisfied. I'll often work over a
passage again and again until it seems to 'harmonize' in just the right
way. Music also provides me with much inspiration when I'm stuck in my
writing, and sometimes exerts a seductive influence, distracting me from
my commitment to writing. It's tough having several great loves...
Especially when they compete for my attention! Finally the
improvisational character of jazz and blues connects to my Zen
meditation practice in a deep way, since the only way to improvise well
is to be in a state of complete absorption in the moment. It's
meditation in action. I practice this form of meditation twice a month
with my friends John Nichols (author of The Milagro Beanfield War and
The Sterile Cuckoo) and Rick Smith, owner of Brodsky Books here in Taos.
Both are fine musicians and in fact, we play at the bookstore, which
brings the whole thing full circle in a way. And of course I do my best
to apply this same deep concentration to my writing work (and from time
to time, I may even succeed!)

Many thanks! Sean

Thank you, everyone who visited and participated in the Great Summer Book Giveaway and thank you, Sean!

The Time of New Weather

2008-06-03T05:40:00.000-05:00

The best part about doing the author interviews are all the great writers I've discovered and learned from and Sean Murphy is definitely one of them. Today, I'm really glad to have Sean, who talks about his new book, "The Time of New Weather." Sean won a Hemingway Award for his first novel, holds a MFA in writing and once taught with Natalie Goldberg. He talks about all of this with us today.
The Great Summer Book Giveaway continues. Ask Sean a writing related question by 5 p.m. today and you will be entered into a random drawing. If I draw your question, Sean will answer it and you'll receive his book.

Please tell us about yourself.

Sean: I'm a long-time practitioner of Zen meditation and the author of a book on Zen in America (One Bird, One Stone, Renaissance/St. Martins 2002) as well as three novels for Bantam Dell - including The Time of New Weather, released in mass market paperback April 29, 2008.
My first novel, The Hope Valley Hubcap King, took me 12 years to finish. When you announce that you're writing a novel, for the first few years friends and family ask eagerly every time they see you, "How's it going?" After several years they stop asking, but will still discuss it if you bring up the subject. A few more years and they will talk about it only under duress, or when they've been drinking. After a decade, if even the slightest mention of your novel enters the conversation they roll their eyes and slowly back away to the nearest exit. No one believes you'll ever actually do it. I hope to be an encouragement to readers who have long-term writing projects, because I not only finished The Hope Valley Hubcap King after 12 years, but won the Hemingway Award for a First Novel, a manuscript prize administered by Hilary Hemingway of the Sanibel Island Hemingway Festival. Fortunately an agent, Peter Rubie, came with that award, and since then I've had three other books published as well.

Tell us about your book, "The Time of New Weather."
When I first had the idea for this book, some years ago, certain concepts -- that the weather might spin entirely out of control and that America might be purchased in a corporate buyout -- seemed a little extravagant. Now people ask, "I thought you were writing fiction?" This was my third novel for Bantam Dell, and the writing coincided with the war in Iraq and concern over civil liberties here at home, so a lot of that seeped into the pages. The book is in part an homage to dystopian classics like 1984 and Brave New World, but it's set in near-contemporary America, has an optimistic outcome, and is leavened with its own peculiar brand of absurdist humor. It's a romance and adventure story as well as a satire -- imagine Kurt Vonnegut meets Terry Gilliam and you might land in the right territory.

You've had such an interesting education background and career, it's hard to know where to start. How did you end up in an MFA program at the Naropa Institute?
I'd been involved in Zen meditation practice for some years and I was fascinated when I heard about Naropa's renegade contemplative writing program, founded by a Tibetan Buddhist Lama, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, with Beat poet Allen Ginsberg. How could I resist? Actually my first introduction to Zen was through reading Jack Kerouac's novel 'Dharma Bums', so this felt like coming full circle.

Taos is such a mystical, spiritual place. Do your surroundings there help your creative energy?
I caretake a 42 acre nature preserve with a hot spring. The environment is hugely inspiring, and here in the wilderness I've produced four books – although the writing sometimes competes with broken fence lines, marauding elk, rattlesnakes, and drunken trespassers for my attention! But then there are tremendous gifts such as visits from the leaders of two sovereign nations -- Taos and Picuris Pueblos, both of whom regard this property as sacred ancestral land. It's not your everyday writer's life but I wouldn't trade it.

You won a Hemingway Award for your first novel, that's pretty impressive. Was it difficult then to live up to an award winning book for your second one?
Everyone at my publisher, Bantam Dell, knew that my first novel took me 12 years to write. I had to laugh because after the success of The Hope Valley Hubcap King, they said they wanted my next book in six months! But once you've written one novel you have an important factor in your favor: you know you can do it. The idea for my second novel came to me in a dream while I was writing 'Hubcap King' – I leapt out of bed and wrote 12 pages of notes before I was fully awake so I wouldn't forget anything. So I had basic ideas and characters, but no scenes or chapters written. But I cancelled everything, buckled down, and produced a first draft of The Finished Man by the deadline. Then came the rewrite process with my editor, allowing several more months to revise and edit. I ended up being very satisfied with the result, as was my editor, and Bantam Dell nominated the book for a Pulitzer Prize. It was a great relief to find that I could write quickly under deadline -- I'd already calculated that if the average book took as long to write as 'Hubcap King' I'd be lucky to get 3 more finished in my lifetime!
The thought never entered my mind to compare The Finished Man with Hubcap King – the two novels are very different. It's a bit like deciding which of your children you like more. You do the best you can with each one on its own terms. Winning an award is something of a set-up because you can't expect that to happen for every book. I just gave it my best effort without holding on to the outcome.

Many writers question if an MFA will help their career. How do you feel it has contributed to yours?
The most important thing – and I always tell my writing students this though they rarely believe me -- was the opportunity the MFA workshop environment gave me to revise the work of OTHER writers. Writers usually want feedback on their own work, but the real learning comes in spotting the problems in other writers' work and attempting to solve them. This develops a revision 'muscle' and an objective viewpoint that eventually transfers to your own writing. This skill has been invaluable for me. Of course an MFA won't help you get published -- it's important to realize this. But for better or worse teaching is the bread and butter of most contemporary novelists, and an MFA allows you to teach all college levels (unlike an MA which only serves for community college). This is important because in the career of even a successful author the income stream is rarely predictable!

You and your wife are both writers. How does working together everyday work for you? Do you have separate offices?
The house that comes with my caretaking position is comfortable but small. There's a little upstairs loft where my wife works, but I wrote my last two books on my laptop on an overturned milk crate while sitting cross-legged on our living room floor. I've got a corner 'rat's nest' in the living room that passes for my office space. In the summer I run an electric line outdoors to a cabin-sized tent I bought for less than $100. It all works just fine. There are never the perfect conditions to 'create' – but whatever your circumstances there's always something better to wish for, so my advice to other writers is just get on with it! As for being married to another writer all I can say is, "Thank God". No one else could ever possibly understand! We have different strengths and weaknesses, so we balance each other out, but we give each other plenty of space. Fortunately my wife is the single best reader of my work and her feedback is invaluable (and she's right, 99% of the time!)

You taught with Natalie Goldberg for a time, I loved "Writing Down the Bones," which was one of the first writing books I devoured at the beginning of my freelance career and is a book that stays handy on my shelf. Tell us about working with her.
Natalie and I met at a Zen retreat shortly after I moved to Taos, and I think we both quickly saw that we'd arrived at similar notions of how meditation practice can free the creative spirit, though we'd come to this in different ways. Working with Natalie is a genuine privilege. She's a deeply intuitive writer and a truly inspirational teacher. We still work together sometimes, and we'll lead a writing and meditation retreat together in June at Rose Mountain center in Las Vegas, New Mexico. The most direct answer to what it's like to work with Natalie is that she's simply the best at what she does. If you want to learn writing practice as described in 'Writing Down the Bones', or have been inspired by her books, don't pass up a chance to work with Natalie herself!

You told me you developed the idea for your current book (back when) the "notion that America might be acquired in a corporate buyout and the weather might spin entirely out of control seemed a bit farfetched." Now it seems almost prophetic, like that work of fiction that nearly foretold of the Titanic's demise years before it happened, or some parts of 1984. How do you think that works, is it just being in tune with what's happening and taking it further?
It's odd, since as I mention above, some of what appears in the book was imagined well in advance of current events. But then, in 'The Hope Valley Hubcap King' I invented two rival churches, 'The Church of God the Miniscule' and 'The Church of God the Humongous', which are forever at war because one thinks the reason for God's apparent absence on the earthly plane is that he's too infinitely small to perceive -- while the other believes he's too infinitely large. When my hero, Bibi Brown, tries to make peace by explaining that infinity extends infinitely in all directions, he's thrown into an insane asylum. I had the idea for that part of the book in the last years of the cold war in the 80's, long before the current world standoff between fundamentalist leaders and religions had come to the fore -- but then, religious wars are an eternal theme. So it now seems perfectly contemporary.
As for The Time of New Weather, I'd always wanted to write a narrative of a group of people who actually DO change the world, ever since I walked across the country with 600 other walkers on The Great Peace March for Nuclear Disarmament in 1986. The walk took nine months and gave me a deep sense for the landscape and culture of our country as well as a sense of what a group of determined people can do if they set their minds to it. Of course it's ordinary people who create change, and that's the only way these things usually happen (the abolition of slavery, votes for women, ending the war in Vietnam, etc. etc.) So in my fiction it's taking what's going on here and now and using the imagination to extend the picture a bit further. Of course, you never know if you're getting it right – remember all those 1960's projections of what the year 2000 would be like? Personal jetpacks to fly us to work and so on? Anyway, you do your best, dig deeply into your personal sense of what's going on in the world, elaborate on that, and hope it 'flies'. Only time will tell.

And now Sean is eagerly awaiting a question from you....

And the Winner for the Right Way to Write...

2008-05-29T05:33:00.001-05:00

Mary Nida Smith is our winner this week. Congratulations, Mary! Thanks to all of you who visited and those who asked a question.

Mary: With loads of how-to information on the internet for writers, do you find it
difficult to promote or sell your books?

Patricia: Yes, everyone finds it difficult to promote and sell their books and this is true whether you have a traditional royalty publisher, you go with a fee-based PODpublisher or you self-publish. It’s also a fact for authors of fiction and nonfiction. There were reportedly 400,000 new books produced in 2007 and nearly 300,000 in 2006. Practically everyone who wants to write a book IS writing a book.The competition is terribly fierce for authors of any type of book to sell.

But book promotion has never been a walk in the park, unless the author has a
profound fondness for high level marketing and lots of money to throw at his
project. It is hard work and it always has been. The competition makes it harder.
But the internet makes it easier.

So the fact that there is loads of information for writers on the internet
actually helps sell my books on writing and publishing. Savvy author—those who
take the time to do some internet research about publishing, will come to realize
how important it is that they understand something about the industry before they
get involved. Authors who seek information will learn how valuable it is to know
their options and the possible ramifications of their decisions. They find out how
important it is to write a book proposal and they will start looking around for
more information on these topics.

Rather than shy away from the internet, I use the internet to get word out about
what I can offer authors and many of them will read my articles posted at various
blog spots and in online newsletters all over the web. They’ll read some of the
many book reviews for my books online. They’ll learn about my online, on-demand
courses for writers and authors, they’ll discover my blog site with tons of
information for authors and they’ll stumble across my website.

If you’re pitching a how-to, self-help or informational book, use the web.
Practically everyone goes there for the information they want or need. Write
articles for websites and online newsletters related to your topic—and LOTS of
them, get your book reviewed at those sites and in those newsletters, participate
in online forums on your topic, leave comments at appropriate blogs, start your
own blog and post to it regularly. Become well-known in the internet circles where
your readers travel and you, too, will be acknowledged with a “The,” in front of
your name. Truly, just this week, I was doing some research to see how far and
wide my promotional efforts were reaching on the internet and came across a site
where someone was mentioning my name. They wrote, “Patricia Fry, Yes, The Patricia
Fry.”

The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book

2008-05-27T06:12:00.000-05:00

A new week following a holiday and a new opportunity to read and learn from an author about the writing process - and another opportunity to ask the author a writing related question and win a book! Today, I have Patricia Fry, who has authored 28 titles, 10 of them on the writing process. Patricia talks about how to get published and about SPAWN. Hit the word "comments" below and ask Patricia a question by 5 p.m. today. If I randomly draw your question, Patricia will answer your question on the blog on Thursday - and you'll win a copy of her book, "The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book." It's easy and if you win, you don't even pay s&h!

Please tell us about yourself.

I’ve been writing for publication since 1973, when I set up a borrowed manual typewriter in a corner of my bedroom and pounded out my first article. I had been studying the article-writing market for 8 or 10 years by then and had an idea about how to proceed. I had learned that it is important to write about what you know. Our family (husband and 3 daughters) were involved with horses, at the time, so I started out writing for horse magazines. The first article I wrote sold because I had taken the time to study the market, study the magazine I wanted to write for and follow the submission guidelines. (This has always been important, but is enormously more vital in today’s competitive writing/publishing climate.) In 1978, I wrote my first book, “Hints for the Backyard Rider.” The first publisher I sent the manuscript to issued a contract and I became a published author.

I established my own publishing company, Matilija Press, in 1983 when I produced a comprehensive local history book. This was before self-publishing was fashionable or even convenient.

I’ve been writing for publication since—having actually supported myself with my article-writing and book publishing, etc. for the last 20 years. I still write articles, but mostly for writing/publishing-related magazines, ezines and newsletters. I have 28 books to my credit. Ten of them relate to writing and publishing. I am also the president of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network). I travel and speak to writers and hopeful authors throughout the U.S., I teach online courses for writers and authors and I work with other writers and authors on their projects through my editorial and consulting business.

What titles do you have out there to help writers?

My hallmark title is “The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book,” which is designed to guide the hopeful and struggling author successfully through the publishing process. This book addresses every publishing option and helps the author to make the best choices for his or her particular project. This book points out the possible consequences of poor choices and it clarifies the published author’s responsibilities. Many hopeful authors don’t know, for example, that, no matter what publishing option they choose (traditional publisher, fee-based POD self-publishing service or true self-publishing, which means to establish your own publishing company), it is his/her responsibility to promote his or her book. This book covers the writing, publishing and marketing of a book and everything in between for a newbie or even a seasoned author.

This year, I came out with “The Author’s Workbook”—a companion to “The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.”

Other writing/publishing-related titles are, “How to Write a Successful Book Proposal in 8 Days or Less,” “Over 75 Good Ideas for Promoting Your Book,” “A Writer’s Guide to Magazine Articles,” and “The Successful Writer’s Handbook.”

My newest book is an ebook called, “The Author’s Repair Kit.” This book features my invention—the post-publication book proposal. It’s for authors whose books are struggling in the marketplace or stalled—folks who probably did not write a book proposal before completing their books.

What made you want to help aspiring writers with the craft?

I’m not so much about helping writers with the craft as I am about helping freelance writers and authors through the publishing process. As the president of SPAWN and in my travels to writers’ conferences and book festivals throughout the U.S., I meet a lot of disillusioned, disappointed and broke authors who have made some poor decisions with regard to their publishing projects. Because I’ve paid my dues in this profession and I’ve learned a lot along the way, I feel a need to reach out and give others a hand up. My mission—my passion, if you will—is to inform and educate authors and freelance writers before they start making costly and heart-breaking mistakes.

I do this through my countless articles published in magazines and newsletters such as Writer’s Digest, Angela Hoy’s Writer’s Weekly, Moira Allen’s Writing World Newsletter, Publishing Basics, SPAWNews, SPAN Connection, PMA Independent and many others. I also write the monthly SPAWN Market Update for the member area of the SPAWN Website. This meaty newsletter is one of this industry’s most valuable resources. Of course, I also help others through my books, my online, on-demand courses for freelance writers and authors (www.matilijapress.com/courses.htm), the many workshops I present every year and my editorial and consulting services. (www.matilijapress.com/consulting.html)

Tell us about SPAWN.

SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) is a networking organization and resource center for anyone interested in publishing. We offer a free newsletter and free access to many countless resources at our website, www.spawn.org. The member area of the website features access to the monthly SPAWN Market Update and 6 years worth of archived issues. We provide a member forum and a discussion group for networking purposes among members. Members also have the opportunity to have their book displayed in our SPAWN Catalog of Members’ Books and Services as well as at book festivals throughout Southern and Central California.

Mary Embree started SPAWN in 1997 as a face-to-face networking organization with 3 Chapters in 3 Counties of Southern California. In 2001, we shifted to an online organization only. I’ve been actively involved with SPAWN from the beginning.

In your opinion, what is the most common mistake that writers make when starting out?

I assume you are talking about writers who want to be published. In this case, the most common and most disastrous mistake they make is not studying the industry—not taking time to become somewhat knowledgeable in the area of their publishing interest. Freelance article or story writers need to learn something about the submission process, the need to study the magazines for which they want to write and, despite what their heart tells them, they really must listen to their head. When Submission Guidelines say “We want factual articles on the positive aspects of adoption—no more than 1,500 words,” don’t send a 3,000-word fiction piece focusing on an adoption gone bad.

Hopeful authors are even more vulnerable than freelance writers because they have more at stake—more emotion, more money and more time invested. It is crucial that authors study the publishing industry before getting involved. I tell audiences that publishing is not an extension of your writing. Writing is a craft, a creative endeavor, a heart-thing. Publishing is a business and must be approached as such.

I tell audiences that there are two secrets to publishing success. First, study the publishing industry so that you know your options, the possible consequences of your choices and your responsibility as a published author. Second, write a book proposal. A book proposal is your business plan and you need this whether you are writing a novel, a nonfiction book, a children’s book or even a book or poetry. Most traditional royalty publishers are requesting some form of a book proposal for manuscripts of every type, these days.

But there’s an even more important reason for writing a book proposal—for you! Even before you start writing that book, you need to know whether or not this is a viable product. Is there a market for this book? What is your competition? What makes your book different, better—more desirable than what’s out there on your topic or in your genre? You must define your target audience and determine where they are and how to approach them. And you really must develop a platform.

These are all necessary to authorship success and they can all be accomplished through the diligent and thoughtful execution of a book proposal.

Many writers are fretting over the economy. I know even some of my regular gigs have cut back due to ad revenue loss already. What's your advice for making it through a downturn in the economy?

This is a very real aspect of a writer’s life, isn’t it? I’ve experienced (and lived through) several economic downturns throughout my career, as you can imagine. And, of course, I’ve written articles on the subject. I recall one in particular called, “How to Recession-proof Your Writing Business.” If anyone is interested in this article, have them contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com and I’ll send it to them. I have many other articles posted at my site: www.matilijapress.com/articles.htm.

I tell freelance writers to step up their promotional activities when times grow lean. Contact those editors for whom you’ve done writing work before and ask for an assignment. You might also have some ideas in mind to present. Try something new—approach companies and organizations in your area and offer to rewrite their company brochures, employee manuals or take over the companies newsletters, for example. Go surfing on the web and locate sites that could use your writing expertise. You won’t have to look far to find misspelled words and grammatical problems. Contact the webmaster with an offer they can’t refuse. One year, when things were going slow for me, I sent letters out to local companies with my list of credentials and tasks I could handle for them. Three out of 10 contacted me with jobs. Of course, you’ll also want to contact new magazines, newsletters, websites, etc. with your credentials and ideas in hopes of landing paying work.

It’s a matter of reaching out with hope and confidence rather than shrinking back in fear and a sense of doom.

You've been writing for over 30 years. What's the biggest change you've seen in the industry?

I tell audiences that the publishing industry is constantly in a state of flux and I’ve never seen so many changes occurring at such a fast rate as within the last 6 or 8 years. Naturally, technology is one reason. In fact, it is probably the major reason. There’s an old standard that says 81 percent of the American adult public believe they have a book in them. More and more of those people are actually writing their books. Why? Because they can. Technology has made it possible. Not only that, there are something like 89 companies that will produce your book for a fee. They call it “self-publishing”—“Let us help you self-publish your book.” I call them fee-based POD self-publishing services. Self-publishing means establishing your own publishing company.

Okay, so what is the biggest change I’ve seen in the industry—the increase in competition for the author. There are more people approaching publishers with their manuscripts and there are more books being marketed. The competition in this industry is fierce, which is why authors MUST lead with their heads instead of their emotions.

You write on many different topics. Do you think it is really that important to develop a platform in one specific niche?

I believe an author should develop a platform for any and every topic or genre he writes on or in. What is your platform, after all, but your following—your way of attracting readers. It is your responsibility to promote your book, so you’d better have some background or credibility or experience in that subject or genre. If you are writing or wish to write novels in more than one genre—a romance, an adventure and a suspense, for example, you can write short stories in each of these genres, submit them to numbers of publications along with your byline and start NOW developing a platform—becoming known—in each of these genres. If you’ve done as I have and you’ve written nonfiction books on a variety of topics—grandparenting, youth mentoring, horse ownership, presenting a Hawaiian luau on the mainland, journaling, a metaphysical adventure, local history and writing/publishing, you’d better have some background or credibility in each of these subjects.

I do not recommend writing on a variety of topics. It is just too hard to spread yourself thin enough to promote effectively. Of course, some of your titles are going to suffer. I recommend, instead, choosing a topic, write a book, booklets, spin off books and articles, for example, related to that topic. Work to build credibility in that one area. Spend at least a couple of years promoting these books exclusively. If you must write on other topics, wait until the original topic is fairly well established (probably 2 or 3 years) before committing your efforts to another topic.

What's next for you?

I can only imagine. I have a book of true cat stories that I’d like to produce one day. I have vowed that I’m going to try my hand at fiction someday. In the meantime, I will continue teaching, coaching, mentoring other writers and authors through my writing courses: www.matilijapress.com/courses.htm, my informative blog (I add to it daily) www.matilijapress.com/publishingblog, my books www.matilijapress.com and my appearances www.matilijapress.com/activities.htm (for my calendar of events). I’ll keep promoting my books through articles in appropriate publications far and wide. If you want to read some of my articles, just Google my name. And I hope to continue as President of SPAWN which has become a great venue for helping hopeful and struggling authors.

And now Patricia is awaiting your question!

Big Winner for the Big Book and Paging Babette!

2008-05-22T05:33:00.000-05:00

The Big Winner this week was uncontested - c'mon folks, writers still read, don't they?
I'm glad that Suzanne Franco, who also operates the newsletter, Freelance Daily, which lists job postings and is sent to inboxes everday, won this week - she's getting married, so this will be the perfect book for her! If you're interested into checking out Freelance Daily, it's a subscriber service at www.freelancedaily.net I've always found enough work through the newsletter to make my subscription worthwhile!

Also, Babette, who won last week's drawing - I stil need you to contact me at fivecoat@ozarkmountains.com If I don't hear from you by next week, I'll need to choose an alternate winner of the copy of Marley and Me!

Here's Suzanne's question:

Thank you both for such a fascinating interview. I got engaged on Valentine’s Day and I can’t wait to pick up your book.

My question is regarding the marketing of the book. You mentioned that Mindy is doing most of the promoting in the way of touring but I was wondering what, if anything, you are doing to promote the book online? Do you feel it’s worth the time and energy to use social marketing to promote your book? What about websites (I saw Mindy’s) and search engine marketing? Is this up to you and Mindy as authors is this the publisher and/or agent’s responsibility?

From Lisbeth Levine:

Suzanne:
Congratulations on your engagement!

I think online marketing can be invaluable in promoting a book. We've been fortunate to get some stellar reviews from bridal bloggers, and I think they've helped get the word out. Mindy has added a blog to her web site and she blogged for InStyleWeddings.com during April (the release month). Email blasts sent by the hotel and by a local bridal publication helped sell out the author lunch in Chicago. Social marketing is obviously riding a huge wave right now and I'm sure it would help, but we haven't had a chance to test the waters. It would undoubtedly be the author's responsibility. I know the publicist sent review copies to bridal bloggers and is exploring ways to partner with various sites to get further exposure for the book. Any avenue that reaches your audience is worth pursuing – the work comes in figuring out how to reach your target rather than just blanketing the Internet with your message.

Thank you both for participating!

The Big Wedding Book

2008-05-20T05:58:00.004-05:00

Today, I'm excited to have Lisbeth Levine, co-author of "The Wedding Book: The Big Book for Your Big Day." This book has received some great exposure in People Magaine and Country Living. Lisbeth talks about writing on lifestyle issues and the importance of celebrity platforms. Click on comments and ask Lisbeth a writing related question of your own by 5 p.m. today (Tuesday)and get entered into a drawing. If I randomly draw your question, she'll answer it and you'll win and book - and this is an awesome book!

Tell us about yourself.
I’m a longtime journalist. I worked on staff at newspapers for 10 years before leaving to go freelance, and I’ve never looked back. As a freelancer, I continued writing for newspapers and then worked my way into magazines. I live in Chicago and am a contributing editor for In Style and In Style Weddings. Only a small portion of my work is local – you can do so much over the phone and via email. I have two children in elementary school, and now that the book is done, I try to take advantage of the flexibility of the freelance life to spend afterschool hours with them. I’m a habitual night owl and can often be found putting in my time at the computer late at night.

Tell us about your new book, "The Wedding Book: The Big Book for Your Big Day."
The Wedding Book: The Big Book for Your Big Day (Workman Publishing) is probably the most comprehensive wedding book on the market. Mindy Weiss and I set out to answer every question a couple could have – even ones they haven’t thought of. The level of detail is critical because brides worry about every little thing. We not only tell brides to clean their engagement ring with a soft toothbrush (which brides-to-be may already know) but we tell them that the important thing is to brush underneath the stone, which is where grime accumulates. All of this information is conveyed in the warm, friendly voice that Mindy is known for. The point of view is modern, especially when it comes to etiquette, but Mindy and I love many wedding traditions, so it’s modern with a respect for tradition. This is a book that brides and grooms can turn to throughout the wedding planning process, much the same way that pregnant women rely on What to Expect When You’re Expecting, which is published by the same house.

You've developed a niche in writing about lifestyle issues - entertaining, weddings, etc. How did you become interested in this niche?
I was the fashion editor at The Palm Beach Post and then the Chicago Sun-Times, and I also edited other features sections at the Sun-Times. As fashion editor, I covered runway shows in New York, Milan and Paris and stayed on top of trends. When I went freelance, I got back into fashion reporting for a time, and my assignments usually included a few wedding-related stories each year. Magazine editors really appreciated the way I applied my strong reporting skills and my fashion contacts to all manner of lifestyle-oriented service stories, everything from the best airport shopping to a how-to guide on buying a sofa. An editor at In Style assigned me a few wedding sidebars one year, and it grew from there. I was able to channel my fashion background and trendspotting skills and apply them to weddings. The timing was very fortunate, because this happened just as weddings were becoming more trend conscious. If you had asked a cakemaker a few years earlier what was new in wedding cakes, she would have laughed you off the phone. In Style kept increasing its wedding coverage and launched In Style Weddings, which now comes out four times a year, and the volume of my wedding work and expertise grew as the market grew. The entertaining stories were an offshoot of weddings – as a reporter, you’re dealing with the same sources. Event planners, caterers and florists all do other events besides weddings.

How did you find your co-author and how did the collaboration develop?I first interviewed Mindy Weiss for In Style, and we had such a strong rapport that we would end up on the phone for hours. She has planned many celebrity weddings – Heidi Klum, Eva Longoria, Gwen Stefani, Avril Lavigne, Adam Sandler and Shaquille O’Neal are just a few -- so there was always a reason to call her. We started talking about doing a book together. Then she hired a branding consultant who set up meetings with several publishers in New York. She hit it off with the editors at Workman Publishing. They had an idea for a wedding book, and when they asked her if she had a writer in mind for the book, she named me. I had to send in clips and be approved by the publisher. Mindy has the type of platform that publishers seek nowadays – her events are covered in magazines and on TV and she’s sought after as a wedding expert on TV. She’s the face of the project and I’m the writer.

How did you find your agent/publisher?
The book came about in a way that’s probably not typical, so writers shouldn’t use this as any kind of template. The branding consultant that Mindy hired was affiliated with an agent to handle book deals, and she became both of our agents once Mindy and I signed our collaboration agreement.

How did you develop the idea for this book and how did you know there was a market for another wedding planning book?
The concept for the book was actually developed by Workman. This particular publishing house aims to “own” a category (titles include not only the What to Expect series but The Wine Bible, the Cheese Primer and many popular cookbooks). The editors didn’t feel there a go-to wedding book, and I agreed with them. When I got engaged, I didn’t buy a book – I bought a stack of magazines, and I think many other brides do the same thing. The books I saw on the market were either very expensive, heavy coffeetable books that were big on photos and light on text or not-very-attractive trade paperbacks that were dated in their approach and lacked a sense of style. When the Workman editors met Mindy, they agreed that she was the right fit for their wedding book idea. Once I was approved as the writer and once I’d set up the collaboration agreement with Mindy, I started writing the book proposal. Because the publisher was already sold on the concept and on us, I didn’t have to write a full proposal that covered the market for this book. Our proposal was primarily an overview of the book followed by a very detailed outline of what each chapter would cover (it was more than 50 pages). Once the proposal was given the green light, we got the contract to write the book. The book was originally conceived as a softcover, but closer to the pub date, the publisher decided to release it simultaneously in hardcover. I think this was a smart move, as the softcover retails for a very affordable $19.95, while the hardcover, which is priced at $35, makes a lovely gift. It lets retailers differentiate themselves -- high-end stores tend to stock the hardcover. The books are the same except for the cover – the hardcover design is cleaner and less cluttered, giving it a more timeless, classic look.

How did the collaboration work, did she write some and you write some?As with most of these types of expert/writer collaborations, I wrote the book. Working off a detailed outline that had been part of the book proposal, I interviewed Mindy by either phone or email for each chapter. I then filled in any holes by doing additional research and reporting and also relied on the help of several interns. After I finished each chapter, I sent it to Mindy so she could make comments and corrections.

Do both you and your co-author participate in the marketing?
The book tour and the publicity is focused on Mindy because she has the all-important platform. The publisher sent her on an extensive tour -- half of it took place in April when the book was officially released and the second half will take place in fall 2008. I participated at an author lunch on the Chicago leg of the tour, and I went to New York for the press party. I will probably do more Chicago-area events as we head into summer bridal season.

What's next for you?
That’s the $64,000 question, isn’t it? Working on the book was quite intense and became a seven-day a week project, so I spent several months in what I call “book recovery.” as many other writers have attested, writing a book is very much like childbirth, and I think you need to let yourself process the postpartum experience. I’ve tried to spend time with my kids and husband to make up for some of the time when I was unavailable during the book process. I’ve resumed writing magazine articles on weddings and other topics, and I’m mulling over another book idea that’s nothing at all like this one. It’s still incubating, so we’ll see what happens.

And now, Lisbeth is awaiting your questions!

Marley and Me Winner

2008-05-15T05:05:00.001-05:00

Thanks to everyone who visited the blog and tried for the book. The randomly drawn winning question comes from Babette! Babette, I need you to contact me:

Q: I was a big fan in your OG days--and now I cannot wait to sink into Marley and Me. I wonder, do you miss the garden writing?

A: No, I really don't. But I still love to read Organic Gardening magazine, where I was managing editor and then editor in chief from 1999-2002. Really, I love to read anything I can about gardening and nature; they are subjects close to my heart. And of course, I really love gardening organically. I love having my hands in the dirt, love turning vegetable scraps and yard waste into rich compost, love multiplying my favorite plants through cuttings and root divisions. I even love pulling weeds; there is something therapeutic about the work, kneeling in the cool grass and moving down a garden bed, loosening the soil with a trowel, grasping the weed low around the stem and pulling with a slight twist and sideways motion to get the entire plant out, root and all. The weeds then go into the compost bin where they eventually become more compost to return to the soil.

But the actual act of garden writing? No, I really don't miss it. I never found it particularly challenging or rewarding, and as an editor my job was less about writing and more about editing and polishing the work of others, which I found even less rewarding. Before coming to OG, I spent twenty years as a reporter and columnist at daily newspapers, and my magazine experience taught me a valuable lesson: It's not always smart to try to marry your career and your hobby. In my case, the career became less fulfilling and the hobby less fun and more like work. Once I left the world of gardening journalism, gardening became fun again. I enjoyed my years at OG and learned a lot from the experience, but when I returned to newspaper journalism -- and soon after book writing -- I knew that was where I really belonged.

John Grogan

Please visit on Tuesday. Lisbeth Levine, co-author of "The Wedding Book: The Big Book for Your Big Day" will be answering questions. Lisbeth's book has already been featured in People Magazine, as well as Country Living.

Marley and Me

2008-05-13T05:04:00.000-05:00

Today, I have John Grogan, author of the bestselling memoir, "Marley and Me," which was just released in paperback. John talks about writing a bestselling memoir, how it's changed his life and yes, a little about the movie adaptation due out this Christmas.
John would also like to answer one of your questions and give a book away to someone who asks a writing related question. Simply click on the word "comments" below and ask your question before 5 p.m. today (Tuesday). You don't even need an account to sign in. If you don't want to sign in with a google account, just click on the option that says name/URL. I will randomly draw one question and John will answer it on Thursday and the person will also win a book!

Tell us about yourself.
You can read a detailed autobiography at www.marleyandme.com, but basically I'm a guy who loves to write, to express myself and explore my feelings and experience with words. When I'm not doing that, I usually have my hands in the dirt. (I'm the former editor-in-chief of Organic Gardening magazine.)

Your book, "Marley and Me" was a huge hit, enjoying a long run on the New York Times best-seller list. Some of the book was taken from columns you had written over the years. When did you know you had a full-length memoir about the human-animal bond?
Over the years, I wrote a handful of newspaper columns about my manic Labrador retriever, and pretty early on I understood he was a source of good fodder. People always responded enthusiastically to my Marley anecdotes. Like most journalists, I dreamed of writing a book, and about halfway through his life, I began to think there might be a collection of funny essays centered around him. But I didn't yet see a fully formed story with a narrative arc. It was only after he died and I wrote a column in the Philadelphia Inquirer saying goodbye to him that I saw the bigger picture -- how he affected the family we became and helped teach us what matters in life.

The buzzword in the business these days is "platform." Do you feel your columns helped build your platform for the book and how important do you think that was in the success of the book?
The column served as a sort of trial balloon to test out ideas and narrative strings, but I don't think it played much role in the book's success, certainly not outside South Florida and Philadelphia where my columns appeared. The fact that I had the titles "Philadelphia Inquirer metro columnist" and "former editor-in-chief" of a national magazine helped me land media attention. The media seems to love people with titles.

In your book, you describe taking an ordinary life and finding the universal. Is this the key to a great memoir? If so, how do writers find this for their own memoirs?
I believe every life is a story worth telling. Every life, even the most ordinary, have extraordinary moments that, when examined with sensitivity, can help illuminate the human experience. When I speak with writing students, I always encourage them to look within themselves for subject matter and tell them they might be surprised what they will find if only they peel back enough layers.

Were you surprised the book was such a big hit? Why?
Oh yeah. Totally surprised. I was proud of my finished manuscript and believed it would find an audience, even a decent-sized one. But it was such a highly personal story that I thought it's reach would be somewhat limited. My editor didn't want me to get my hopes up too high, and before my pub date cautioned that mine was not the kind of book to get a lot of serious critical attention, and sales would likely be a long, slow build. The week before the book came out, Janet Maslin gave it a positive review in The New York Times, then a string of other reviews followed. In it's first week, it landed on the Times' nonfiction hardcover bestseller list, where it remained for 76 weeks, 23 of them at No. 1. No one really saw it coming, least of all me. I spent the first 18 months pinching myself on an hourly basis.

Many journalists aspire to become authors. Was this an aspiration of yours? How do you have to change your writing habits from creating a 1,000 word piece to a 50,000 word manuscript?
In my case, I went from a 700 word column to a 90,000 word manuscript, but I found the process amazingly similar. My column often was grounded in my personal experience, so I had already grown comfortable with writing in the first person and laying my life out there. When I began the book, I psychologically broke it into small column-like chunks. Thirty chapters, and each chapter was roughly the length of four columns. In this way, I was able to build the book one scene at a time without becoming overwhelmed.

How did you initially find your agent? What do you believe is the most important thing writers should keep in mind while seeking an agent?
I sent out a proposal letter and writing samples to twelve agents whom I found randomly off the internet. Eleven of them promptly rejected me. The twelfth, Laurie Abkemeier, saw a spark of promise and asked me to bang out a couple sample chapters. I did and she signed me the day after reading them. What I like about Laurie, and what I would look for in another agent, is that she is not all about the sale. She's all about the book, from start to finish. She was an important sounding board, mentor, and cheerleader as I wrote, revised, and polished the manuscript. As I said on my acknowledgment page, Laurie believed in the merit of my book before even I fully did myself. You can't fake that kind of enthusiasm -- and that's what the best agents will bring to the table.

What is the most important thing you did in your writing career that prepared you for writing a hugely successful book?
I've kept a journal since college, and it was invaluable in preparing me to write a successful book. A journal is a wonderful and safe place to practice the craft, a place you can take chances without risk of embarrassment. For a memoirist, it also is a great document of your life. The first thing I did when I began Marley & Me was pull out my journal entries for the thirteen-year window covered in the book. Not only did the journal have detailed accounts of day to day life, including many incidents that otherwise would have been forgotten; it also helped shape the book, leading me in directions I otherwise would not have thought to go. One example: It never would have occurred to me to put an entire chapter in the book about my wife's miscarriage, but in the journal I found a long entry written the same day, and it was so immediate and powerful that I pretty much pasted it unedited into the manuscript. It became what I consider one of the stronger chapters in the book.

Journalists and other writers might have a few people pay attention to an article for a day, or week - of if it is particularly controversial, maybe a month. Authors first live with their manuscript for a long time writing and editing. Successful authors have the joy (or the curse) to have to live with that book for the rest of their lives. How have you dealt with the huge success of the book?I've been talking about Marley & Me nearly nonstop for the past two and a half years, and I must admit I'm ready to find some new talking points! (Fortunately, my next memoir comes out later this year so I'll have a whole new topic to discuss.) But I've considered every day of Marley's success an incredible gift. The book's success has allowed me to say goodbye to my day job as a newspaper columnist and focus exclusively on book writing, which is an amazing indulgence. I'm working harder than ever but love being my own boss and answering only to my own muse.

Is there pressure to produce another best-seller? How has "Marley & Me" affected what you write now?
Marley & Me was such a phenomenon (a term frequently used in the media to describe it), with more than 3 million copies in print in some 30 languages, that I actually don't feel too much pressure. I don't think anyone expects me to match those kind of numbers. Even before Marley & Me came out, I knew what my next book topic would be. What I did not want was for my publisher to buy the next book on a one-page proposal based on the success of Marley. So I wrote it on spec, not showing it to my publisher until I had a completed manuscript. That allowed me to write the book I wanted to write and to remove speculation from the process. I showed the new manuscript to my editor and publishers at William Morrow earlier this year, and a couple weeks later we had a deal.

"Marley & Me" was just released in paperback. What's next for you?
The film version of Marley & Me is scheduled for release on Christmas day 2008, and I've been visiting the set and consulting on the script. It's exciting for me to see not only my writing but my life adapted for the big screen -- and to have Owen Wilson portraying me and Jennifer Aniston portraying my wife. They're really great. As I mentioned above, I just completed my next book, a memoir rooted in my childhood growing up in an Irish Catholic family in the Detroit area, and it is tentatively slated to be published in the fall. I also have a second illustrated children's book (A Very Marley Christmas) coming out in fall 2008, and two more illustrated children's books under contract with HarperCollins Children.

Irreverent Freelancer Asks a Relevant Question

2008-05-08T04:35:00.002-05:00

The winner this week of the random drawing - and a signed book from Jen Miller is also a name in the freelance world. Kathy Kehrli, the author of the blog, "Screw You" (http://www.irreverentfreelancer.blogspot.com/) was drawn. Thanks to all who participated and don't quit entering to win - John Grogan, the author of the bestselling, "Marley and Me" will be on this coming Tuesday (and yes, he does talk a little about having his book turned into a feature movie due this Christmas!)

Kathy's Question:
You say that you're not sure you'd write a book about the North Jersey Shore because you're not sure that area would hold the same fascination. With your book being such a great travel-writing credit, if approached, would you consider writing about an exotic locale that does fascinate you but that you've never been to? Or would you consider such as prospect too much of a gamble?

Jen Miller:
Good quesiton. I don't know (anyone want to offer me a guide about such a locale?) Researching a travel guide is so much work, even if you already know the area. I think I could write that kind of book, but would it be as in depth as this one? I don't think it would be. I don't mind writing travel articles about other locations because the articles are short, but I don't know if I could sustain it for the length of a book if I didn't know the area.

Thanks, Jen!

The Jersey Shore

2008-05-06T05:23:00.003-05:00

Today, I'm really excited to have Jen Miller, author of "The Jersey Shore, Atlantic City and Cape May." Jen talks about writing a guidebook, where she got the idea (see www.freelancesuccess.com) and working with her brother for the illustrations. Jen's waiting to give a book away to one lucky person who will be randomly drawn. It can't be easier to win. Before 5 p.m. CST today (Tuesday), simply click on the word "comments" at the end of the interview and ask Jen a writing related question. You don't even need a google account. If you don't want to sign in with a google account, just click on the option that says name/URL. I will randomly draw one question and Jen will answer it on Thursday and the person will also win a book!
Easy-peasy and FREE

Tell us about yourself.
I'm a cancer who enjoys candlelight and long walks on the beach...Kidding. Though I do like the beach.
My name is Jen A. Miller, and I've been a full time freelance writer for over three years now. I write about health and fitness for Men's Health, Oxygen, USAirways Magazine and Figure, to name a few, and I'm also a book critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer and St. Pete Times. The reason I'm here today, though, is because of my book, which is about another area I write about a lot: the great state of New Jersey.

Tell us about your book, "The Jersey Shore, Atlantic City to Cape May"
It's a travel guide to the South Jeresy Shore -- yes, just the southern part. While New Jersey may be one state, it has two region identities -- North and South. The Southern part of the state identifies closer with Philadelphia than New York, and I wrote the book for those people who don't go to the beach, but Down the Shore.
The guide includes the basics of where to eat, stay and play, plus a lot of information for nature lovers on the 46 mile stretch between Atlantic City and Cape May. One of the reasons I did the book with Countryman Press is because they allowed me to write about my connection to the shore, too. I spent every summer at the Jersey Shore since I was born -- literally. I was born in July and on the beach in August. So I was able to provide some of that inside information, like what you're better getting at Hoy's 5&10 as opposed to at Seashore Ace. It's those little things that I've been told make the book something you can sit down and read to enjoy.

How did you develop the platform to write your book?
The platform started from my first writing area of expertise: South Jersey, which is where I grew up and lived most of my life. I started freelancing part time when I was 22 years old and in grad school. I didn't have a lot of money or time to dedicate to it, so I stuck with what I knew. I then became editor of SJ Magazine, which is all about South Jersey, and learned more about my own backyard. When I went freelance, I kept NJ as one of those speciality areas -- I do a lot of work for New Jersey Monthly and have written about New Jersey in USAirways Magazine, Bust, Arrive, the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer. I've done travel writing gigs where I'm sent somewhere to research and write about an area, but I've always been more comfortable digging deeper into an area I already sort of know.

This book is about a place you've loved all of your life. Do you think it is important, especially on a long book project, to write about things you are so passionate about?
I don't know if you have to be THIS passionate about the area, but you should be fascinated and invested in your topic because nonfiction books take so much time and work, especially travel guides. Someone asked me if I'd ever do this kind of guide book about the North Jersey shore, and I'm not sure because I don't know if I'd have that same fascination. I think a good sign that I picked the right area is that, when the book was over and I wanted to get away for a short vacation, I went to the shore for that break. I didn't think it was work -- now that I knew where to go and what to do, I wanted to do it and enjoy it.

When we are familiar with certain things, we become so acquainted, that we miss the obvious. How did you keep your eyes open for new things that you might not have known about?
By reading what other people have written about the area. I have a google alert set up for every town in the book, and I read through them once a week. That pointed out what other people thought was impotant, and kept me in the loop on news. I also read magazine articles about the shore (Philadelphia Magazine and New Jersey Monthly both publish extensive shore issues), the Jersey Shore Zagat Guide, and even older books from the library about the shore area -- older travel guides I found in the library were priceless sources of information because they showed me what had been around and noticed and needed to be written about.
I also spent a lot of time on the ground. Just walking the areas gives you a different point of view. Sure, I may have passed Dreamcatchers in Ocean City a zillion times, but looking at it with a notebook in hand is a lot different than browsing. It was very time consuming, but necessary.

You told me you talk to strangers. Alot. Did you ever listen to your mother about not talking to strangers (HA!) Seriously, how do you just approach people and ask for inside scoop?
This is probably what made my parents most nervous about my research! But it's necessary because I'm only one person with one point of view, and I knew I needed other perspectives.
When I started freelancing, I did a lot of concert reviews. I usually had to go by myself, and while that was uncomfortable at first, I soon realized that it gave me an amazing opportunity. Not only could I move all over the concert floor, but I could strike up conversations with other concert goers, and I soon found that there are a lot of people who go to shows solo, and they're great fun to talk to. I also go to meetings and conferences by myself, so I started trying to read people to see if they were open to conversation.
Two things that usually help are "I'm a writer" and alcohol, and I usually approach people in social situations. Quizzo nights at shore bars were perfect because people are already in groups talking, and they're not going anywhere until the end of the game. I joined a Quizzo team of shore locals one night, and they gave me pages of insider information that I researched that then went into the book. Sometimes people just look darn friendly. I can usually find something to comment on, and if the person smiles and seems friendly, I keep asking questions. If not, I drop it and move on. It's almost like being a pick up artist!

Your blog has helped you develop your platform and a reader fan base. Tell us about structuring that, making it interesting and keeping some tidbits only in the book and not giving them away on the blog.
I started the blog while I was writing the book, in part because I had seen how blogs can help you find your fan base, and because I wanted an outlet for what I couldn't put in the book -- news that wasn't that relevant to the research, my experiences writing the book and, honestly, a place to vent about the process because it was incredibly stressful. I also think (and hope) that it make me more a 'person' rather than a name on a book jacket, and that people want that personal aspect when reading a blog. For example, I posted about when the book was done by listing stats for what my life was like that last month and what my office looked like: http://downtheshorewithjen.blogspot.com/2007/09/aftermath.html
That's not something for the book obviously, but I'm glad I did it.
I eventually developed some regular features. On Moday, I post a Q&A with someone who has ties to the Jersey shore. This sprung from realizing how many people love the Jersey shore, even if they don't live in Jersey, and that they all have wonderful, rich memories about the area. It also drives traffic to the site, especially if the person I'm interviewing has a blog and links back to the post. On Thursdays, I go through those google alerts and write a round up of Jersey Shore news, which one person described as "People magazine of the shore." I inject comments here and there, and also link to other shore blogs -- again, increasing traffic. On Saturday, I'll post a video of something shore related -- more for fun than anything else.
None of the stuff I just described fit in the book, but it keeps the blog going. Now that the book is out, I'll start drawing features from the book, like cheap eats, best shopping, and things like that, but not reprints from the book. I need to leave something left to buy!

Your brother did the maps for your book. There must be a lot of talent in your family. How was it working with a relative? How do you resolve creative differences without causing a rift?
There is a lot of talent! My younger brother is a budding writer, too, and my sister a pastry chef. My dad said he'd always hope that of his four kids, one would become a doctor, another a laywer, another an accountant and another a mechanic so he'd have all his bases covered, but all in all, he's pretty happy with how we turned out..
I was really excited that my brother Jim [link: www.jmspark.com] got to do the maps. He approached me about it, and the publishers were thrilled with his samples and then his finished work. We had to follow the publisher's protocol, which was a little odd -- I had to send the maps to the publisher who then sent them to him when what I really wanted to do was call him and say "hey, here's what we'll do." He did call to gripe a few times about how difficult it was to map that coast, but I rolled with it because I knew he needed to gripe. But I like working with family. Jim also did my websites, and my cousin designed my business cards. They do good work, but I've learned you can't lean on them too hard because they're doing you a favor. Patience is key.

How did you develop the idea for the book and sell it in a book proposal?
I've written about the Jersey Shore here and there, but I never really thought about doing this book until I saw on a market guide at Freelance Success that Countryman Press was looking for guidebook proposals. I wrote the editor a quick note seeing if she would be interested in a book on Atlantic City, and she said that they needed a bigger area. So I thought about regions and looked at what would fit with AC and proposed the South Jersey Shore book. That's where most people in Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs go on vacation. They go down the shore, and that region has created its sort of own identity. She gave me the tentative thumbsup, so I wrote the proposal, drawing from my previous articles and knowledge. I also pointed out how connected I was with local media and that it would roll over into possible promo for the book (which has turned out to be true). Plus, I couldn't find another book that catered just to the South Jersey area, and I think that cinched the deal!

Now, Jen is waiting for your questions...the winner will be posted on Thursday

A Question for Gary Wilson

2008-05-01T05:40:00.000-05:00

The winner this week to ask Gary Wilson, author of "Sing, Ronnie Blue" a question and get one of his books is Heather Larson. Heather is a travel and pets writer near Seattle. I know she's going to enjoy this book:

Do you belong to a writing critique group? Who do you have read your writing to critique it or are you your only critiquer?

From Gary:

Great questions. Let me try to answer the last part first. As I tell my students, in the end the writer him- or herself has to become his or her own best critic. What you are writing, after all, is yours and yours alone. You have the final say over what appears in print and what doesn't. Of course, you want that to be the best writing you are capable of. You want to be proud of what you make public. And in the end you have to make all the final decisions about character, conflict, voice, setting, dialogue, words, commas, paragraphs and so on. That's what I mean by becoming your own best critic.
I think I've learned over time to weed out problems as I go along in a manuscript, whether it's a novel or a short story. Each day that I start writing, I go back a few pages and reread aloud what I've done to pick up the "sound" of the writing, the rhythm of it, so that when I begin writing, I'm in step with what I've done already. During that process, I'll come across words that don't seem right or punctuation that doesn't work the way I want it to. There may be whole sentences or paragraphs that need revising, rearranging or to be cut all together. After I've reread things several days in a row, the writing gets to a pretty refined state so that in my final revision readings, I might not have to do major rewriting. But this is a process that has come, as I said, with time and experience. But I think it's something every writer learns.
Once I've finished a piece, I put it away for as long as I can stand to. Months usually. Then I'll take out the manuscript and go through it with a fine-tooth comb, looking for whatever needs fixing. Following that, I prepare a final draft and begin sending the piece off to potential publishers.
In order to short-cut that process, you can use a reader or readers—fresh pairs of eyes, so to speak—to help you along. The main thing you have to be careful about is that you find a person to read your work who will be honest with you. You need to be sure you can trust that person to tell you the truth about what you've written. Having someone tell you something is good when it's not doesn't help. So choose wisely. Oh, and when you've asked someone for an honest opinion, listen to it. Don't argue, don't get defensive, don't let your feelings get in the way. That does no good, either. The best reader I have is my wife. We've always had an understanding that she would be brutally honest about my work. And she always has been. My sons are also good, honest readers. I trust what all of them say.
I don't belong to a writing group. I know many writers who do. Many of my students have formed groups to continue discussing each other's work after they've finished my workshops. And that's great. It's good to talk about writing and how to do it better. My only cautionary note would be that you should be careful not to become dependent on what other people think of your work. In the end, you have to become your own best critic.

It's been pointed out to me that commenting may be confusing for some. It's really easy, though. Just hit "comments" below, which will take you directly to the comment section. You do not need a Google account to comment. If you don't want to sign into a Google account, just hit name/URL. Or, you can even leave an annonymous comment (although it might be hard to find you if you win).

I hope you'll join us on Tuesday, May 6 when Jen Miller, author of "The Jersey Shore" will be joining us - and you will have a chance to win a copy of her book!

Sing, Ronnie Blue

2008-04-29T05:25:00.000-05:00

Today, I interview Gary Wilson, author of "Sing, Ronnie Blue." Gary's also an instructor in fiction writing at the University of Chicago's School of General Studies. Gary knows a lot about the writing process - and shares many insights. He's also generously going to give a book to someone who asks him a question about the writing process sometime before 5 p.m. today. I will randomly draw a question from the comments section and Gary will answer it here on Thursday!

Tell us about yourself.

I'm a native Kansan. I was born in a small town near Kansas City and grew up in a small town about fifty miles from Wichita, on the western edge of the Flint Hills. My dad worked at Boeing Aircraft in Wichita, and he didn't want his kids to live in a "big city." I was a pretty good football player in high school, on a pretty good team. My coach had gone to McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas, and encouraged me to take a look the school. I did and ended up playing football there and graduating with a degree in English. I then went to Wichita State University for a master's in English, because my future wife was finishing her degree at McPherson and WSU was convenient. After I got my master's, we--we were married then--went to Peace Corps in Swaziland, Africa, for two years. An incredible experience I would encourage anyone to take advantage of. Following Peace Corps, we came back to the US and were in and out of graduate schools for a number of years, including one stint for me that resulted in an MFA degree in fiction writing from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. We enventually ended up for twenty years in Baltimore, Maryland, where my wife was on the medical faculty at Johns Hopkins University and I wrote and taught fiction writing at the JHU School of Continuing Studies. I also founded and directed a writing center at a Baltimore City public school. Eight years ago, we moved to Chicago. I now teach fiction writing at the University of Chicago School of General Studies. We have two sons--one a headmaster at a Baltimore school and one a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley.

Tell us about your new book, Sing, Ronnie Blue.

I suppose not surprisingly, Sing, Ronnie Blue is set in Bartlett's Junction, a small Kansas town at the foot of the Flint Hills. The story involves two young men--Ronnie Blue, son of the local junkyard owner, and John Klein, son of the president of the town's only bank--who were fast friends in high school but drifted apart after that. Five years later, on the Fourth of July and his birthday, Ronnie Blue, who has became an itinerant grease monkey, going from job to job, largely because of his foul temper, but always dreaming big dreams of who he might become, brings his girlfriend, Charlene, back to Bartlett's Junction to show her "the time of her life." There he crosses paths with his old friend, John Klein, who during that same five years has gone off to college and has come back to Bartlett's Junction, presumably to take over one day as president of the bank, just as his father did from his grandfather. At the time of the story, he is already vice president and active in the community and has a girlfriend, Linda, whom it is expected he will eventually marry. So here we have two men at opposite ends of the American Dream coming together on Independence Day for a reunion that has tragic consequences for them both. One reviewer said that from the first pages of the novel, you know there's going to be trouble; you just don't know how bad it's going to be. It's a tough book but is one that many people have told me they couldn't put down until they finished it. Music to any writer's ears.

You're a native Kansan now living in Chicago, how did you draw upon your background to build this story? Are there any characters based on real life people in your book?

I don't think you ever get the places that form you out of your system, no matter where you live at present. Kansas has always cropped up in my writing, just as Baltimore and Africa have. Chicago has already begun appearing in my fiction. But for Sing, Ronnie Blue specifically, a small town was the prefect setting for the story. When I was growing up, I don't think I appreciated the fictional potential of a small town. In fact, I found living in one downright oppressive in many regards. Everybody knew everybody and everything about them. I couldn't wait to get out of there and did eventually. I'd like to say I've never looked back, but that would be a lie. I've looked back a lot, as I've said, in my writing. As an adult, what continues to fascinate me about small towns is that they are really microcosms for society at large. In a place like Bartlett's Junction, you can find all the character types and economic and social pressures that you find in cities like Chicago or Kansas City or Wichita; but they are more observable in small towns, easier to get your head around, as they say. That doesn't mean, however, that John Klein and Ronnie Blue are less important than someone from a city. Not at all. My interest in having them act out their story in a small setting is so that story can, through its inevitability, transcend its setting to a more universal level that can be felt and understood by anyone anywhere.

The question about whether Ronnie Blue and John Klein and the other characters in my book are based on people from "real life" comes up all the time. The answer is no primarily but yes to some extent. Any writer's characters are based to some degree on people he or she has known or encountered. Writers by nature collect characters. Mostly, they end up being amalgams of lots of different people, which is the case in my book. Did I know people like Ronnie Blue and John Klein--sure I did--but I didn't base them or any of my other characters on any one person. They are a collection of parts, you might say, bits and pieces of people and ideas and emotions that came together as those characters in this book

Tell us how the writing process works for you. Are you a nighttime writer, do you have to be in a certain environment?

If I were left totally on my own, I would stay up until three in the morning and sleep till ten and get up and start all over again. But I have to live in a largely nine to five world, so I try to accommodate myself as much as I can. I get up at 6:30 or 7:00, have coffee and breakfast and read the paper. I try to be at my desk by eight and write until noon or so. I have lunch then and do errands and go back to my desk, usually to do work for my teaching. I make a point of getting in an hour or so of exercise at the end of the working day. Not very glamorous, I'm afraid, but it works for me.

I tell my students and believe firmly that it's important to be selfish about your time. You have to tell people that this is my writing time, don't bother me, and mean it. I was speaking at a writing conference one time and told the audience my selfishness theory, and a woman came up to me afterward, in tears, and said, "Thank you, you've just saved my marriage." I was a little taken aback, but I understood what she was saying--that I had given her license to tell her husband to bug off. But the second part of the idea is that once you have established "your" time, you have to make sure you use it. This is the discipline aspect. You have to make yourself go to your writing place and be there during your writing time, regardless whether you get anything done while you're there. Usually you will, but even if you don't, you've established the pattern. For me, this is important. I need time, space and emotional energy to write well. And I achieve that best in my own space, at my own desk, with my own routine.

How do you organize your research materials?

If I'm writing about something I'm interested in but don't know much about, I do lots of research. For instance, I recently wrote a short-short story about dressing Lenin's body in his tomb. I'd become obssessed with how this was done and started looking into it. In the end, I probably had two hundred pages of material on everything from Lenin the man to the cult of Lenin and, of course, how scientists changed his suit. When I'm doing that kind of research, I have a designated space on my desk for that project--my Lenin pile, so to speak. But in more practical terms, I usually research a single subject--the make of a car, the title of a song, who said what and when--and write notes to myself about it and keep them in another, smaller pile on my desk. Strangely, I know which pile is which. I've been doing better lately with file folders, but even that get cumbersome. Most of my research is topical, having to do with details that lend verisimilitude to my writing. For instance, you can't have a character reading a book that hasn't been printed yet or wearing clothes that aren't available, that sort of thing.

How did you find your agent/publisher?

In the beginning, I had an agent for Sing, Ronnie Blue. She was a wonderful woman, who believed strongly in my writing and in my novel. She tried hard to find a publisher for the book and ultimately, after many near misses, wasn't able to and turned the book back over to me. I began looking around on my own and came across Rager Media. I read excerpts from things they had printed or were in the process of printing and was impressed with their seriousness. I wrote them, asking if they were interested is seeing my novel. They said yes, and the rest is history.

This is your debut novel. However, you've had a long and prestigious writing career. How long has this book been in the making and why now?

Sing, Ronnie Blue took me three years to write originally. I've spent probably another two years putting the final-final prepublication touches on it. Someone told me once that you never stop tinkering with your writing until it's in print and then begin tinkering again when you get it ready for the second edition.

There are so many variables in placing a book for publication that it's hard to say why Sing, Ronnie Blue was accepted now but not in the beginning. The mood of the reading public may be different, the economy, people's political sense, who knows? Vibes, karma? Writing to Chris White at Rager Media at just the right time? Whatever happened happened, and I couldn't be happier about it. The book sold out of the initial printing in the first month after publication and rose to number three on the Small Press Distribution list of best selling fiction. It's been well reviewed. I've had lots of radio and print interviews. It's all been good. 8). You have an MFA in creative writing. It's something a lot of writers think about (including myself). I've talked to writers who want to immerse themselves in learning more - others say unless you're going to teach, it isn't worth the considerable financial investment. How has it helped your career?

I should preface my comments by saying that I don't believe you can teach people to write fiction. In the end, producing good fiction really is a matter of talent, and that's not something you can teach. On the other hand, you can teach skills and techinques to help make that fiction better. You can teach people how to read as writers, which any would-be writer simply must do. You can help people develop a better critical sense and vocabulary.

All of these skills can be accrued via creative writing classes in continuing studies departments at most universities or through more formal MFA programs. Having a degree in writing, such as an MFA, does give you a credential of sorts. It can help open doors to teaching or other writing-related jobs, but it doesn't guarantee a position anywhere. For teaching in particular, it's far more important that you have a strong publication record--usually with books but sometimes with a string of individual stories, poems, plays or essays, if they are in reputable periodicals. In general, I would say that the greatest benefits from an MFA are in the unfettered time you get to write, the community of like-minded people you talk with, and the network you form while you're in that community.

What is the one piece of advice you would give to aspiring novelists?

Read, read, read. Good writing, not hack work. Read the greats and those now on their way to greatness. Also, write, write, write. Know that eventually, if you're good enough, you will get noticed. You do, of course, need to let people know you're around by sending works out for editors to consider for publication. No one is going to come seek you out.10). What's next for you and where can people find your book? Do you have a website/blog where people can learn more about you?

I currently have one novel marinating, as I call it, in my files. I'll pull it out soon, tweak it and start sending it out--presumably first to Rager Media, the publisher of Sing, Ronnie Blue. I am also in the midst of writing another novel. I'm maybe half way through with it. I have a couple of collections of short stories in circulation as well. And many ideas in the hopper.

If people are interested, they can read more about me and the first chapter of my novel at http://www.singronnieblue.com/ There is a "how to purchase" page at that website with direct links to places where the book is available--at a local bookstore (ask them to order through Small Press Distributors) or online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders or http://www.ragermedia.com/

Gary's eagerly awaiting the 10th question...

And the Winner is...

2008-04-24T04:56:00.000-05:00

Thanks to a completely random drawing, audited by the Fearsome Four Auditing Company (my dogs, Emma, Molly, Dakota & Sade), Diana Lambdin Meyer was the winnter of Jen Singer's book, "You're a Good Mom (and your kids aren't so bad either)." Thanks to Jen for participating and for Diana, who is a travel writer, for playing - and for everyone who visited and asked Jen a question. When I told Diana she had won, she said, "You're kidding! The question was almost facetious! How fun."

Here's her question: "Where were you and your book when my son, now 19, was at home? Any advice for parents trying to keep their really smart, straight-A in high school, from just enjoying college's freedoms too much?"

From Jen: "I remember my very first weekend in college wondering just who thought I was grown-up enough to be on my own. I went to Boston University, a huge school that sprawls along Boston’s streets. (My grandmother saw the trolley and the Massachusetts Turnpike racing through BU and asked, “Where’s the campus?”) After my college at BU, the College of Communications, held a picnic to welcome freshmen, I wandered off, alone, feeling rather lost. It took me much of that year to find my way.

I’ll bet that high school offered structure and guidance that your son isn’t getting in college. Maybe he feels lost, too. Or maybe he’s simply enjoying the social side of college a bit too much. If it’s showing in his grades, and assuming you’re footing the bill for school, you can either a. Tell him you won’t pay for college unless he gets his grades up to a certain level or b. Let him take a year off to get a job and grow up. (Or threaten Parris Island – the Marines – as an option. It worked on my brother.)

Chances are, he won’t want to leave college, let alone for a job (or the Marines), so he’ll have no choice but to work harder. But give him the tools to find the structure he needs to be a good student. Check with his college to see if they offer guidance counseling, or suggest that he meet with teaching assistants to work out a study plan. Take a look at his living conditions, too. If he’s in a fraternity or if he lives in a “party dorm,” it’s harder to avoid the lure of a good time. Consider moving him to a quieter dorm or off-campus next year.

He probably just needs a push in the right direction – preferably away from the party down the hall."

Stay tuned on Tuesday. Novelist Gary Wilson will talk about his book, "Sing, Ronnie Blue." That book will make great summer reading for someone!

Freelance jobs:

Video Journalists, The Wall Street Journal Online:

http://www.mediabistro.com/joblistings/jobview.asp?joid=76394&page=1

Freelance Writer for Online venture (knowledge of Miami)

http://www.mediabistro.com/joblistings/jobview.asp?joid=76369&page=2

Bureau of National Affairs Inc. Seeks Correspondents in Berlin and Brussels

http://www.mediabistro.com/joblistings/jobview.asp?joid=76330&page=3

You're a Good Mom...and a Great Writer!

2008-04-22T05:26:00.003-05:00

Today, I'm excited to have Jen Singer, author of "You're a Good Mom (and your kids aren't so bad either)." I'm thrilled Jen is the first author to be featured in the new book giveaway. Now, you, the readers, will get the last word by asking the author a question. Just click on "comments" and ask by 5 p.m. today. If I draw your question, you'll win a book and Jen will answer your question on Thursday. Jen is not only a very funny writer, she's an inspiration to many. Jen finished this last book while undergoing chemotherapy - and her humor is seamless throughout the book. In her interview, she talks about humor writing, how she built her platform and got a great paying blog gig, as well as her experience writing during one of the most difficult times of her life.

Tell us about yourself.
I’m the author of “You’re a Good Mom (and Your Kids Aren’t So Bad Either),” the creator of MommaSaid.net and the mother of two boys who talk to me through the bathroom door.

Tell us about your new book, "You're a Good Mom (and your kids aren't so bad either):
In You're a Good Mom (and Your Kids Aren't So Bad Either): The 14 Secrets to Finding Happiness Between Super Mom and Slacker Mom," I provide the tips to help raise perfectly good kids in that sweet spot between flash cards at breakfast and "donuts for dinner, kids!"

You've developed a niche in writing about parenting, tell us how that came about? The old adage “write what you know” came into play. I know all about trying to keep up with the uber moms and their jam-packed schedules, over-worked kids and oh-so-perfect figures. I also know about the moms who have given up on filtering out for their kids the rude and nasty stuff on TV and the Internet. They’re the ones who treat fine restaurants like a McDonald’s Playplace.

Your blog, www.Mommasaid.net has helped build your platform, was that the intent in the beginning?
MommaSaid was and is the foundation of my platform. Books lose their new-and-exciting status, but web sites grow stronger and stronger and more people log in. I can keep in touch with moms of kids of all ages through MommaSaid, thereby making me continuously valuable to reporters and producers.

How did you attract people to your blog?
In the beginning, it was all word of mouth. The viral nature of the Internet helped it grow. But dogged determination and relentless publicity made it what it is today.

How did you get the gig for Good Housekeeping http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/family/tweens/

My Good Grief: Tale of Two Tweens blog came from a tip from two fellow writers who knew what the editor was looking for in a parenting blog. I put together a detailed pitch, including samples from several years’ worth of blogs at MommaSaid. I needed to provide I could sustain an entertaining blog for a long period of time, and MommaSaid helped me achieve that.

As of a few weeks ago, Good Grief is now syndicated at Yahoo’s new portal for women, Shine:
http://shine.yahoo.com/blog/a9gmCSiqLfuwKgpIWWJ9dKt.w07LRZva1vQ7XIGEioveqYfRu8Ku9TYaV/

How did you come up with the idea for this book and how did you sell it to your agent/publisher?
I had been blogging about the news as it relates to parents for some time, turning it into a regular weekly radio show segment. All those things that I wrote about, from the parents who were spending thousands of dollars on youth sports when the average college sports scholarship is just $2,000 to the moms who let their three-year-olds watch “Cops,” turned into the book.

You're a humorist, but you went through something not very funny while writing this book. How did your diagnosis of cancer affect your writing?
I had four chapters left to write when I found out I had non Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I found it therapeutic to hide in the humor, so I kept on writing. I wrote the chapters out of order, and even I can’t tell which I wrote before my diagnosis and which I wrote on the oncology floor at New York Hospital.

What's next for you, Jen?
Next spring, the first two of my three-book series, MommaSaid’s Back Fence Advice Guides to Parenting, will be published by HCI, the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” publishers. I finished writing the toddler book, and, as soon as I’m done with the Good Mom publicity madness, I’ll finish writing preschool book. I’ll keep blogging along the way. Meanwhile, I had my second clean PET scan since January. I’m hoping to rack up a lot more of those, of course.

Now, readers, it's your turn to ask Jen a question!

Rewards for Readers

2008-04-17T06:55:00.000-05:00

Every once in awhile, our lives need a little shaking up to keep things interesting, and every once in awhile, our blogs do too!
My author interviews are the most popular aspect of the blog. I've been told I have good interview skills - and I do hope these interviews inform you as writers, as well as entertain you as readers.
I try to come up with 10 questions for each author, some unique to their particular background and genre. Sometimes, though, I feel they sound too much alike.
That's where you, the readers will start coming in.
Beginning next week, I will ask just 9 questions of the author. You'll have an open comment section to ask the 10th question.
I'll draw one and ask the author to answer that one.
You may also get to win a copy of the author's book, or possibly another one of my choosing. You see, as a blogger on authors, I've been getting a lot of books lately.
And while I view every book as a treasure akin to gold, we live in a 480-sqaure foot cabin - and have decided to remain here (see my green blog on "living small" at http://www.goinggreenintheozarks.blogspot.com/).
That means I don't have room for every review copy that comes in the mail - or much of anything else.
As a friend of mine puts it, I'm going to have to thin my book collection, much as one has to delicately thin a garden - making room for more beautiful blooms - or something like that, you get the idea.
So, look for the new format on Tuesday and be ready to ask your burning questions of the featured authors.
You might just be rewarded with a literary treasure!

Hitting Your Stride

2008-04-15T05:35:00.000-05:00

Today, I interview Nan Russell, a writer I can definitely identify with as she also escaped the corporate cube to allow her inner writer to roam free - only she is in the mountains of Montana. Nan discusses her book, "Hitting Your Stride: Your Work, Your Way." Nan talks about writing a second book, her passion of helping others to find theirs - and of finding her own.

Tell us about yourself.
I write from the mountains of northwestern Montana, near Glacier National Park, with postcard views from a home office. But it hasn’t always been like this. Despite being born in Montana, I was raised in Southern California, college educated in Northern California, graduate school education in Michigan and career focused in Pennsylvania. Along the way of growing up, falling in love, raising a family and spending twenty-five years in the corporate arena, including as a Vice President with multi-billion dollar QVC, Montana was part of my life. In fact, when my husband and I fell in love in graduate school, we dreamed of moving here before we turned fifty. And we did. In July 2002, I left a successful career to pursue a dream to live in Montana and write. Fueled by twenty years in management and expertise in workplace cultures, my primary niche is career oriented, workplace, and business-life issues, although I write a life reflections column called, “In the Scheme of Things” and for fun am working on a psychological thriller.

Tell us about your book, "Hitting Your Stride: Your Work, Your Way."
Even a Stanford degree didn't protect me from being fired from my first professional job. Accepting a minimum wage position to pay the rent, I learned the hard way what it took to survive and thrive at work, eventually achieving sixteen promotions despite setbacks, failures, and missteps along the way. It is from that experience, and twenty years in management, that I recognized common sense but uncommon practices that impact futures and change results. The book offers insider tips, insights, and winning at working perspectives from one generation to the next, in the hopes that some may be helpful to those seeking “their work, their way” along with interesting work, personal growth, and financial gains. Sharing candid real-world, perspectives of what really does and doesn't work, Hitting Your Stride, helps you bring your uniqueness to your work, invent the future your want, and make a difference. More about the book at http://www.hittingyourstride.com/.

What made you decide to develop your writing business expertise in helping others with their careers?
My first writing goal post-corporate world, was to be a columnist. Little did I know that’s probably not the place to begin, but naïve sometimes works. Today, I write a life reflections column called “In the Scheme of Things,” as well as a career insights column, “Winning at Working.” It was this second column and the response from readers that led to Hitting Your Stride. The premise behind my messages is this: only when we’re all “winning” will we all “win.” But “winning” is not about climbing a corporate hierarchy. Rather “winning” means offering your unique talents and gifts through your work, whatever that work may be. My passion has always been helping others find and use their talents. Since my corporate work included management roles in human resources, human resource development, and communication, as well as senior line management positions with P & L accountabilities, I use those perspectives from both sides of the desk to help people within traditional workplaces find their voice and heart. And with a background which includes being the architect and influence leader for a culture transformation for 10,000 employees, I also focus energy through my company, MountainWorks Communications, to help organizations build winning cultures where individuals can be self-motivated and contribute their uniqueness at work, while achieving the organization’s vision or mission. In the process, my ultimate goal is to help change the workplace of today into a more soul-enhancing versus soul-depleting experience.

This is your second book. Was the process on the second book different from the first? Did you learn what to expect in the writing and editing process from the first?
I consider this my first book. This is how I learned to write a book proposal, find an agent, build a platform, understand a book contract, and work through the editing, publishing, and now promotion and marketing process. My other book was strategically self-published to leverage speaking engagements in order to build a bigger platform for the ultimate sale of Hitting Your Stride.

Were there things you did/didn't do during the writing or marketing of the first book that your learned from in the second book?
I joined a program called Quantum Leap, led by marketing gurus Steve and Bill Harrison (they do the National Publicity Summit, as well as Radio-TV Interview Report). It was Steve who suggested there be a self-published book, and who coached me to develop a speaking platform using the first book like a “business card.” With this impetus, I was able to develop over forty speaking engagements within a year. While my speaking platform enabled my agent to sell my "real" book, it also helped grow my biweekly e-zine, “Winning at Working,” along with my database and contacts. Now I’m lined up to speak at large conferences where my new book will be sold in the event bookstore or a book signing will follow a presentation. For example, last week, 200 people attended a signing for Hitting Your Stride after I spoke.

I've found having a business background has been very helpful in developing a freelance business. What lessons did you learn from your business background that you've incorporated into your freelance business?
Understanding the inner workings and protocols traditionally found in large organizations helped me maneuver quickly, accept layers of decision makers, recognize the importance of building relationships, and not take rejection personally. Writing is a business like any business. I also knew to apply the parallel path approach, i.e. several balls in the air at all times, at various stages. Plus a business background taught me that what appears simple, rarely is. Building a platform and becoming an author confirmed that. Beyond the persistence and determination and discipline, I found myself in unexpected arenas where resourcefulness was the critical skill. When I became a writer, I never expected I’d spend half my time as a marketer, but I do. Like any business, you must evolve to survive.

How did you find your agent/publisher?
Finding my current agent, Lisa Hagan, was a potholed path. I started by attending writer conferences where there were agent panels and reading books on the subject. Since I heard how difficult finding an agent was, I was surprised in just six weeks to receive an offer of representation. What I didn’t realize was it’s not difficult to find an agent; it’s difficult to find a good one. Fast-forward four months, and a few submissions and rejections from publishers later, and that agent announced in an email she was leaving the publishing business. My second agent search took six months and included three offers of representation, but this time I choose wisely. Lisa has been my agent now for two plus years, and is currently shopping my next proposal.

You say in your bio you always had the dream of living in the mountains of Montana as a writer. Is writing about business your dream writing goal, or do you have some secret aspiration of fiction - or something else?
The possibility seeds of being a writer were planted early by a teacher who helped me discover that a shy, spectator-in-life-child could find her voice through words. It is more who I am that what I do. Writing is how I find my thoughts (and my soul). I believe words can help change the world, can ignite the vision of possibility, and can be a catalyst for change. Much needs to be changed in the workplaces of today for businesses to thrive, ideas to flourish, and people to bring the best of who they are to their work, whatever that work may be. I hope my words can be an impetus to help. Having said all that, some day when I “retire” I hope to write a few novels and am slowly nibbling at one in hobby-mode. More about me at http://www.nanrussell.com/.

What value do you place on professional writing organizations/networking groups and how do you use them?
Before I ever traded my corporate role for a Montana wilderness one, I attended ASJA conferences for two springs in NYC, devouring the business of writing, enhancing my skill-set, and tapping into numerous resources. It was there that I heard about FLX (freelancesuccess.com), and through that resource took an online class to sketch my first book proposal. I continue to attend ASJA every other year, augmented by regional conferences every year since I’m always looking for ways to develop my craft, learn about the business of writing, and connect with writers who know a lot more than I do how to do the things I want to do. Attending writers’ conferences or workshops, or being involved in select online discussion boards are all personal development investments I find essential. By the way, speaking of networking, I host a weekly radio show on http://www.webtalkradio.net/content/view/58/30/ called “Work Matters,” so if you’re a workplace author or expert who’d like to be a guest on my show, just let me know.

Many people who have the souls of writers, but are stuck in corporate cubes or labs or wherever, have this fantasy of living on a beach, in the mountains or in a villa in Italy and writing. You and I have both achieved our dream lives in the mountains - what one piece of advice would you give someone with that dream?
Whether the fantasies of beaches, mountains, or villas are actualized, the soul-passion of writing can be. And there begins the question for each of us. Is it the idyllic writing life we seek (which I’m not sure actually exists), or is it the contribute through writing as a talent we may have that drives our dream? Writing is work. Building a writing business is work. I love my work, but I don’t write because I live in these amazing Montana mountains. I write because I’m a writer, and I wrote in all my corporate jobs, too. I didn’t start writing because I came to Montana. I came to Montana because the mountains nourish my soul, and I wanted in the second half of my life to make my work my writing. But I would never be doing the writing I’m doing now without the experiences, knowledge, and expertise I had before. As Oprah would say, here is what I know - my Montana dream was chunked into existence one step at a time over twenty-five years. So whether your dream is beaches or books or maybe a bit of both, take at least one step a year that moves you toward your dream, because as the line in FlashDance reminds us, “When you give up your dream, you die.”

2008-04-10T09:11:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the late post today, we're having weather events again this morning and out of concern for my computer, I left it off this morning:

Ozarks Anthology Call for Submissions:

Goldminds Publishing, LLC will be publishing an anthology of essays, articles, poems, jokes and
recipes about camping in the Ozarks. We are seeking submissions from established authors and
outdoor experts. Desired submissions will be dramatic, humorous, adventurous, or educational,
including:
􀂙 Essays from interesting, adventurous or extraordinary camping experiences.
􀂙 Articles or essays on camping history in the Ozarks.
􀂙 “How-to’s” of camping, i.e. camp setup, campfire safety, campground rules,
environmental or nature awareness.
􀂙 Camping poems or jokes with same subject matter.
􀂙 Camping recipes, from roasting to Dutch oven cooking.
􀂙 All submissions must be suitable for family reading.
Accepted essay or article submissions will receive $25 plus one (1) copy of published book.
Accepted poems, jokes or recipes will receive one (1) copy of published book per submission.
All authors of accepted submissions will receive 50% off retail price of all Goldminds books.
Deadline for Submissions: August 15, 2008
Submission format:
Essays or Articles: Cover letter, cover sheet with author contact information and article/essay
title. Essay or article body: double spaced, 1” margins, 12 point Times New Roman or Courier
New font. Pages must be numbered. Maximum word count 750 words. Only one essay or article
per author may be submitted.
Poems, jokes or recipes: Cover letter, one page, single column, double spaced. 1” margins, 12
point Times New Roman or Courier New font. Up to five poems, jokes or recipes may be
submitted.
Send submissions to: Brenda K. Bradshaw
P.O. Box
Springfield, MO 65804
Or email submissions in Microsoft Word format to: brenda.bradshaw@goldmindspub.com.

Submarine Stories of World War II

2008-04-08T05:56:00.000-05:00

Today, I interview Mary Nida Smith about her book, "Submarine Stories of World War II." Mary is an Ozarks based writer, who is also very passionate about the natural beauty of our surroundings. She's taught me a lot about living in the Ozarks and about native plants and trees.
In her interview, Mary talks about becoming a female military writer in a male dominated genre and balancing that with her garden writing. She also discusses her ever-positive outlook on writing and life. It's truly a treat anytime I get time to talk to her.

Tell us about yourself.
That would be a couple large books within its self. I have lived in the country, small towns and a couple of medium size cities. Because I have moved many times in my lifetime, I am like a busy butterfly, tasting the nectar of many flowers.
Since I was a young child I have written and drawn. I am self-taught in all I do. I have always wanted to write and illustrated children’s picture books. People with more knowledge than me said I couldn’t do both. After proving to myself I could illustrate and write one, I put it to the side. Then I concentrated on writing children’s books, poems and stories. I have received some encouraging words from editors, but I haven’t been steady in submitting. The doors appear to continue to open in regional magazines and newspapers where I started my writing career.
When the doors opened in the creative world I walked in. I wanted to write and be published so bad that I felt I could take the chances of them saying “no.” For every “yes” another door opened. I am on the hard-headed side, I don’t take no easily. I believe when you dream you must hack away at it until it comes true on a small or large scale. At least I know I tried.
I been a president of an artist guild, helped organized writers’ workshops and conferences, president, vice-president, board member and newsletter editor for writers groups and have taught creative writing to children.
I only wish I could stop getting ideas and settle down to being a specialist in one or maybe two fields. I love gardening, building, writing greeting cards, designing, inventing and creating something out of castaways.

Tell us about your new book, “Submarine Stories of World War II.”
It is about what is known as the “silent service.” A world very few outsiders know about; stories that needed to be told and experienced before the submariners carried them on their final patrol. Nine submarine veterans across United States who were teenagers at that time allowed me to write their stories of warfare below the seas. My husband who is retired from the Navy gave me permission to share his story of fear as he explored an unknown world and how he was given an important job with little or no training. It is written for ages ten and up. It is an exciting eye-opener to everyone who has read it. You can learn more about it on my blog http://submarinestories.blogspot.com/.

You’ve broken the gender expectations of a military writer, how did you get interested in this.
Long after my husband, Mel, retired from the Navy I came into his life. After we were married I was curious about his very interesting and diversified career in submarines and in the anti-submarine service where he earned his “wings.” Later, we joined the U S Submarine Veterans of World War II organization where today I am the newsletter editor for the Arkansas Diamond Chapter.
I knew of a small independent publisher who was publishing military books, so I queried her and the rest is history.

What have been some of the challenges of being a woman writer in a male dominated genre?
Getting the men to tell me their stories and when they did to get them to understand it had to be written for publication. They wanted every word, every sentence and phrase to be written as they told it, no matter if the reader could understand it or not.
Most men don’t believe women should invade their territory. A man’s story should be told by men. All I wanted to do is honor them, and allow the children and other people to know what they endured to attain the freedom we have today. From writing the book I feel have gained some special friends.

You also do some garden writing as well. How did you get interested in this?
I have always been involved in gardening from helping my mother in the vegetable and flower gardens, picking cucumbers for the factory, picking strawberries in the fields, and all aspects of canning. My first published article was about creating arrangements from roadside ditches and fields. My first book I wrote and photographed was on this subject. After dealing with a New York publisher for a year and then was rejected, I put it to the side where I never submitted it elsewhere

That’s quite a contrast to military writing, how do you divide your time?
I work very hard to meet my deadlines ahead of time. The time I am provided with between other duties I work on other writings and books.

I know you had some expectations about your publisher that weren’t met with your book. What did you learn from this experience?
To be more careful when the publishing company changes from the time you sign a contract. Ask more questions and have changes put in a contract. Beware of being asked to write articles for their newsletters and e-zines without being paid; to be strung along until they publish your book. Watch for publishers who claim they are traditional independent publishers when they are a subsidy publisher.

You’re carved out a special place in your home for your writing space. Tell us about your garden studio – what gave you the idea to put it where you did.
We live in an area with lakes and rivers where many garages have one area designed to fit a boat (an alcove). I thought it was wasted space that needed my attention since our boat was down at the marina. I designed it to be extended, enclosed with a window and a Dutch door where my two large book shelves would fit on each side. Electricity and heat/cooling duct from the house was attached. The garage is still a two car garage when my gardening items are out in the summer.

You also founded a writer’s group, for other writers who might want to do this, what advice would you give them.
Never listen to nay-sayers for you’ll never be able to please everyone. Include everyone’s thoughts on projects, and then go where your heart leaves you. Be professional at all time by not showing your disappointments, always be thoughtful and friendly. Keep on, keeping on as long as it doesn’t keep you from writing.

Where can people find your book? What’s next for you?
My publisher only did one small printing before returning all rights to me. People can send $12.00, plus $2.00 postage to Mary Nida Smith 162 Stamford Drive, Lakeview, AR 72642 and to learn more go to http://submarinestories.blogspot.com/ or http://marynidasmith.blogspot.com/.
I will be submitting all my children and adult books, articles and poems I have finished before returning to work on several non-fiction books for children and adults. I keep on dreaming and I hope everyone else will.

A Comforting Outlet for Essays

2008-04-03T06:07:00.000-05:00

This arrived in my in-box last night. For more information and writer's guidelines, go to
http://www.cupofcomfort.com/share.htm

A Cup of Comfort for Military Families

It has been said that military life is “not for the faint of heart.” But neither is it without its benefits and blessings. One thing is certain: it is an experience like no other—for both the soldiers and their families. For this book, we want positive stories about how military life affects the personal lives of service men and women (enlisted and officers), how family affects soldiers’ on the job, and how military life affects family members (primarily spouses, children, and parents but also siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, aunts/uncles, fiancés, etc.). Any situation or subject that is significant and/or unique to military personnel and their loved ones is acceptable. Our goal is to compile a collection of inspiring or uplifting stories that cover a wide range of topics and reveal a variety of perspectives, experiences, and emotions specific to military families. Stories may be written by the service man or woman or a close family member; military service may be current, recent, or past.

Military Families submission deadline: April 15, 2008 (last call)

A Cup of Comfort for New Mothers

Few experiences bring forth as many anxieties, blessings, challenges, wonders, and changes as having a baby—whether it’s your first child or fifth, your birth child or adopted child. And nothing is as miraculous as giving birth to or witnessing the birth of your baby. This heartwarming anthology will be filled with birth stories and newborn homecoming stories as well as a wide range of stories about the various experiences, emotions, and concerns involved in adding a new baby to one’s life and family. Potential topics include but are not limited to: nursing (or not), caring for a newborn, bonding/falling in love with infant, lack of sleep, relationship with spouse, how siblings respond, returning to work, balancing responsibilities, post-partum depression, self transformation, unexpected joys, life lessons, small miracles, etc. The majority of the stories will be about birth children, but the book will likely include a couple adoptive stories as well. Likewise, most of the stories will be written from the new mother’s perspective, but we are open to including a few stories written from the spouse’s or a very close family member’s perspective. All stories will be uplifting and positive, no matter how difficult the situation portrayed in the story might be. We do not want stories that simply recount misfortunes and sorrows and that do not clearly reveal a positive outcome or redeeming result (silver lining).

New Mothers submission deadline: May 15, 2008 (last call)

A Cup of Comfort for Adoptive Families

The primary purpose of this book is to celebrate adoptive families and to recognize the extraordinary and challenging experiences unique to “chosen children” and their adoptive families. We are most interested in stories written by adult adopted children and their adoptive parents and siblings, but the book will likely include some stories written by members of the extended adoptive family (i.e. grandparent) and birth family members. Virtually any topic relevant to adopted children and their adoptive parents is acceptable—as long as it is authentic, positive, insightful, and uplifting or inspiring. We do not want heartbreaking stories about adoptive or birth families that regret the adoption. All of the stories in this collection must reveal a positive aspect of adoption and must bring comfort, joy, or inspiration to those who have been adopted and/or to the families who adopted them—no matter how difficult the experience and emotions portrayed in the story might be.

Adoptive Families submission deadline: June 15, 2008

A Cup of Comfort for Fathers

The connection between father and child can be as deep as the ocean, as strong as a mountain, and as uplifting as fresh air. For all its rewards, though, fatherhood is not without its challenges. And for all the gifts dads bring to their kids' lives, dads sometimes falter and fumble. Yet, the father-child bond forms, holds, and grows. A Cup of Comfort for Fathers will feature inspiring and insight true stories about the life-defining and life-enriching relationships and experiences shared by fathers and their children. These personal essays will be of varying topics and tones (heartwarming, humorous, poignant, provocative, etc.); about fathers and children of all ages and varying circumstances; and written by fathers, daughters, and sons.

Fathers submission deadline: August 1, 2008

A Cup of Comfort for Parents of Special Needs

For this very special collection, we seek uplifting true stories about the ins and outs, ups and downs, blessing and challenges of parenting children with special needs. The stories will cover children of all ages (birth to adult) and a wide range of developmental, physical, and mental delays/disabilities. No matter how difficult the experiences/emotions conveyed in a story might be (we want them to be authentic, after all), the story must reveal a positive aspect, resolution, or outcome and must be of comfort to parents of children with special needs. Stories may be serious, humorous, insightful, heartwarming, or in spiring. The majority of the stories will be written by parents of children with special needs; we will also consider stories written by adult children with special needs. (No articles or commentaries by clinicians, please.)

Special Needs Children submission deadline: September 15, 2008

A Second Cup of Comfort for Dog Lovers

Oh, how we humans love our canine companions -- for so many reasons and in so many ways that one Cup of Comfort collection of uplifting dog stories just wasn’t enough. So we’re giving all you dog-loving writers another opportunity to share your personal stories of canine comfort with a growing legion of dog-loving readers. Thi s volume will feature both serious and humorous anecdotal stories covering a wide range of topics and perspectives and varying breeds of dogs. We do NOT want sad stories about a dog’s illness, injury, or death, though we will consider stories that weave a beloved pet’s illness or death into an otherwise positive story. The story should focus on the dog’s remarkable attributes and/or actions as well as on the special relationship between the dog and his/her human(s).

Dog Lovers 2 submission deadline: December 15, 2008

A Cup of Comfort for the Grieving Heart

When a loved one passes away, comfort is often fleeting and hard to come by. Yet, even a small comfort, like a personal story of how some one has faced a similar loss, does help to ease the sorrow. This volume will feature uplifting personal stories that reveal the special relationships and extraordinary experiences shared by the deceased and his/her loved one(s) immediately before, during, and after the loved one’s passing; it will also includes stories about the internal and external processes by which one deals with and heals from the loss of a loved one. The stories will vary with regard to subject matter, circumstances of death, and the relationship of the author to the individual who has passed away. The book will not include eulogies, profiles/memoirs of people who have passed away, or clinical depictions of death and dying.

Grieving Hearts submission deadline: February 1, 2009

It's About the History

2008-04-01T05:33:00.000-05:00

If you've ever wondered who writes those history books the kids bring home from school, I've got one of those people here today! Daniel Casciato talks about his history book aimed at middle schoolers, "Expansion and Reform Presidents of the United States." Daniel tells us how he balances his freelance writing with authoring books and gives his perspective on male and female writers.

Tell us about yourself.
I’m a full-time freelance writer living in Pittsburgh with my wife Amanda. I’ve been writing since 1994 on a part-time basis, working mainly evenings and weekends. Because my work load began to increase, I was finally able to resign from my full-time job on my birthday last August. I write for a number of trade magazines in the United States and Canada. I also write copy for Web sites and other marketing collateral for various business clients. Most of the business writing I do comes from referrals from local ad agencies and my current clients.

Tell us about your book, "Expansion and Reform Presidents of the United States." The years from 1801 to 1860 were a period of expansion and reform in the United States. Throughout this era, the country would expand its territory either by buying land (like the Louisiana Purchase) or acquiring it through war (Texas, California and New Mexico). This book, geared to middle school students, covers the presidents in the Expansion and Reform era, from John Quincy Adams to James Buchanan, who guided our country during this time.

How did you find a gig writing a book directed at history for middle school students?
An editor of mine told me about it. I’ve worked with him on several other projects over the years and he’s always informed me of other opportunities.

How long did it take you to research/how did you go about doing this?
It didn’t take too long because it’s a short book--48 pages. I started the research at the end of last January and it took me three weeks, about 15 hours per week, including weekends. I spent a great deal of time at the library, reading various biographies of these presidents. I spoke to some historians, and also gathered information from some Web sites, like Whitehouse.gov which included biographical sketches and portraits of all the presidents.

How long did writing and editing take?
It took me about two weeks to write and edit it. I was still working full-time at the time, so I did most of the writing in the mornings before I went to work, evenings and weekends.

Was it something you would do again?
Yes, I actually put in a bid to work on another similar project for high school students and I’m waiting to hear back.

How did book writing mix into your overall writing business plan?
My goal is to work on at least one book per year – not necessarily finish it in that year, but at least be working on at least one new book every year. I feel as though I have a good balance of writing articles for trade and consumer publications, writing copy for clients, and working on a book.

Tell us about your freelance writing, you seem very diverse, do you have an expertise and how important do you feel this is to a writing career?
I’m attracted to a wide variety of projects, therefore I have developed a more generalist skill set than that of a specialist. However, in recent years, I have done significant work in emergency medical services, commercial real estate and residential construction, corporate law, and aging-related issues.

When you were doing your book, how did you balance your day between research/writing the book and taking on immediate paying clients?
Sticking to a structured schedule allowed me to stay on task with the book while cultivating relationships with potential and current clients. If I needed to put in extra hours, I did so. I typically work 50 hours per week, but if I need to work on a project or an article that will take me more time, I’ll work extra hours in the evening, or even work a full day on the weekends, just to make sure the work gets done.

Sometimes when women say they're a freelance writer, we get that glazed look that says, "Oh, I get it, you sit around eating bon-bons all day." Do you feel, that as a man, there's more respect for you when you tell people what you do?
In my experience, I have found that people respect good writers whether you are a male or female. What matters is the writing and meeting the needs and expectations of your clients or editors.

What's next for you and where can people find your book? Where can people learn more about you?
People can find my book on Amazon.com. Just type in my name and it’ll come up in the search results. By writing part-time last year, I equaled the salary I made at my full-time job. This year, my goal is to double that. I’m also working on a television script with my best friend, another freelance writer and an aspiring actor. For more information about me, you can visit my Web site at http://www.danielcasciato.com/.

Lots of Job Postings

2008-03-27T05:50:00.000-05:00

Health and Fitness Writer Wanted
http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=883536

Freelance Online Newsletter Publisher
http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=898462

Center for Independent Journalists Fellowship for Writers in N.M
http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=897973

Fellowship for Reporting in Austria
http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=690631

Freelance Business Reporters Needed in New York
http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=897573

Political Reporters in CA, OA, TX, OH, NY
http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=884345

Pressured Parents, Stressed-out Kids

2008-03-25T05:45:00.000-05:00

Today, I interview Kathy Seal, who co-authored, "Pressured Parents, Stressed-out Kids: Dealing With Competition While Raising a Successful Child." Kathy talks about how her education helped her in her writing career, co-authoring and developing a writing specialty.

Tell us about yourself.
I’m a journalist and author, and the mother of two sons. I’m married and I live in Santa Monica, Calif.

Tell us about your new book, Pressured Parents, Stressed-out Kids: Dealing With Competition While Raising a Successful Child.

It's about the pressure and anxiety put on parents by the heightened competition in kids' lives today. That anxiety tends to make us push and control our kids, which isn’t good for them. What should we do instead? The research is clear: we need to stay involved, respect their autonomy, and give structure and support. If you do that instead of screaming at your child, offering rewards, or trying to force her in other ways, you’ll foster your child’s inner passion and interest, her intrinsic motivation. She’ll excel because she wants to. In other words, Pressured Parents shows you how to fend off the craziness you feel when your kid competes in sports, academics, and even the arts, while helping children succeed. And it's all based on the past 30 years of academic research.

How did you go from majoring in classics and comparative literature in college to a specialty in writing and speaking on parenting?
Classics and comparative literature prepare you well for writing! They make you love language, and train you to think clearly, and write precisely. When I had children, quite naturally I became very interested in their psychology and jumped at the chance to interview psychologists, chat with them about parents’ concerns, and then as a journalist share their thinking with my readers.

Your books have been co-authored. How do you find the right collaborator when doing a co-authored book?
I found Wendy Grolnick, my collaborator on Pressured Parents, Stressed Out Kids, while writing magazine articles. A psychologist I was interviewing suggested I call Wendy to talk about parenting and children’s motivation to learn. She was a great interview and I called on her as I wrote subsequent articles. She had published an academic book on parental pressure, and suggested we write a popular book on the same topic.
I met my first coauthor Deborah Stipek when she was director of my children’s laboratory elementary school at UCLA, the Corinne A. Seeds University Elementary School. I had begun writing articles on her research specialty, motivation, and she began giving me suggestions for a few articles. Then I began interviewing her for stories, and eventually she agreed to coauthor a book with me.

How does the co-authoring process work for you - do you each write a chapter - explain the creative process?
Usually I draft a section or chapter, often after discussing an outline or the points we want to make (this discussion may have taken place already in the book proposal stage.) Then my coauthor makes suggestions and/or changes the copy, using tracking software. We send the chapter back and forth like this until we’re both happy with it. Occasionally the procedure is reversed, with my coauthor writing the first draft.

For you, how does writing an article differ from writing an entire book?
Writing an article demands a quick pass at the topic, concentrating the information into a small gem. But writing a book allows you to go into depth, examining the issue deeply and linking it to what people already know and to common points of reference in our culture, the stuff of stories and anecdotes. It’s more like creating a necklace and earrings, studded with many gems.

How important do you believe developing a specialty is to a writer's career?
It’s all-important. The more you write about a topic the more you learn about it -- until you become an expert. Then you can write high quality articles and eventually you’ll know enough to write a book.

How did you find your agent/publisher?
Wendy and I visited a number of agents in New York, both referrals from friends and agents we read about on line, especially at mediabistro.com. We chose the agent we thought would best represent us. However, I ended up finding our publisher at the ASJA annual meeting.

About.com

2008-03-20T05:46:00.000-05:00

I've posted about About.com (sorry I couldn't resist) before. For those people who've tried out for a freelance gig with the Time Inc. company and not gotten it, well, they're pretty bitter. It does require quite a bit of time to build the site which is judged against others. For those who've gotten the gig, I've heard it still takes an intense amount of time, but is worth the money. You're guaranteed an income each month - it's recently been raised from $500 to $750 a month, plus you get more based on hits to your site. They're looking for several people now - including in writers in the areas of food, tech, gardening.
Go to http://www.about.com/ to read all about it.

Holy Paws

2008-03-18T06:21:00.000-05:00

Today, I'm glad to have Jeannine Fox talking about her book, "Holy Paws: How my Dog Helped me Heal from Abuse." Jeannine not only has a lot to say about the publishing industry - she created her own for this book - but also about the healing power of our pets.

Tell us about yourself.

I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, graduated from St. Louis University with a degree in business and later earned an MBA from the University of Missouri, Kansas City. I retired after 19 years as an Internal Revenue Agent, criminal investigator, and auditor for the U.S. Treasury and Department of Energy.
I began my freelance writing career in the 90's. I was a ghostwriter for the executive director of a non-profit organization for three years. My first book, a book of inspirational poetry, was published in 1995. That same year I came out with my line of inspiring bookmarks featuring 24 different poetic sayings.
I’ve spent over 20 years volunteering with various organizations and charities. I was a public building commissioner and a plan commissioner for the City of Leawood, Kansas. In 2003 I became a Court Advocate for Rose Brooks Center, a shelter for victims of domestic violence. For three years I helped victims of abuse through the Kansas City municipal court system. In 2004 I received the Court Advocate Volunteer Award of the Year. In 2005 I received the Golden Mile Award - an award given to the volunteer who has gone the "extra mile" to help victims of domestic violence. I am currently serving my third term as treasurer of the Kansas City Hospice fundraising event.
I have over 25 years of public speaking experience and I won the International Toastmistress Speech Contest in Miami, Florida. My speaking experience and training have been extremely helpful in promoting "Holy Paws."
My hobbies include gardening, walking, giving theme parties, taking care of my dogs and dancing. I am 65 years old and live in Leawood, Kansas with my husband, Marty, and our two canine kids, Baby and Rosie.

Tell us about your book, "Holy Paws, how my dog helped me heal from abuse."

I was 51 when I adopted Baby, a two-year-old dog who had been abused as a puppy. Just months earlier memories of my own abuse had begun to surface. I convinced myself that if I focused on helping Baby overcome her abuse I wouldn’t have to deal with my own. But that was not to be.
On our first day together, I told Baby that I loved her and would protect her, that she was safe and no one would ever hurt her again. As I comforted Baby, I was comforted. As I expressed my love for her, I felt Baby’s love in return. Before I knew it, Baby became my confidant. Whether we were sitting alone in silence, or going for a walk, I shared my fears, feelings, and thoughts with her. She was the first one to know the details of my abuse. I felt safe telling Baby. After all, she wouldn’t tell anyone my secret, wouldn’t say it had been my fault or that if I had been a “perfect little girl” it wouldn’t have happened.
"Holy Paws" is a story of healing, the triumphant account of how Baby’s unconditional love gave me the courage to face the past and the affects it had on my life. Without revealing the details of my childhood abuse I share how Baby’s presence helped me overcome my anger, shame, fears, and feeling of unworthiness.
"Holy Paws" is a tribute to both the human spirit and the healing power of animals. Because of Baby I walked away from my paralyzing past. Because of Baby I found the peace and joy I longed for. Because of Baby I learned to love myself as I am.

Did you have an agent? And how did you find your publisher?

I had intended to use an agent to promote "Holy Paws," but after reviewing the publishing industry, and the average length of time it takes to get a book under contract and actually published, I decided to create my own publishing company, Royal Works Publishing, LLC
Having a Masters in Business Administration enabled me to use my experience in creating Royal Works Publishing. I researched to make sure the name wasn’t already taken, registered on line with the State of Kansas, filed for a Federal Identification Number, applied for an ISBN, and acquired a post office box. I then obtained sales tax numbers from both Kansas and Missouri. To save money I did all of this myself. I then hired an attorney to prepare the legal documents.
I wanted a portion of the book’s proceeds to benefit organizations working with abused children and women, as well as animal shelters. And the best way to make this happen was to self-publish. That way I could maintain my own inventory and maximize my profits.

Why did you choose to create your own company, rather than go with a self publisher or POD company?

This decision was based on several factors:
I wanted to support local professionals - editors, layout and design specialists, website designers, and even the printer and binder.
I interviewed each person or firm that worked on the project beforehand
It was important for me to have a personal relationship with those who would work on "Holy Paws" - to be able to have one on one meetings and exchange ideas
It was vital that those working on Holy Paws respected the project and the purpose for which it was written.
Because of my decision to self-publish I was able control the product quality - the feel of the paper (I chose 70 lb.), font style and size, size of the book, cover design and colors, use of color photos throughout the book, etc.

You've written about a difficult subject. When did you decide it was the right time for a book about it?

It was never my intention to write about my abuse. Instead it was my desire to write about my healing. And that’s why "Holy Paws" is an inspirational story of healing. I had kept secret my abuse for over 50 years. I could not keep secret my healing. I felt compelled to share my story that after all these years I was able to release the past and the impact it had on my life. I didn’t want sympathy for what had happened to me, instead I wanted to give others hope. I wanted to provide encouragement that it’s never to late to heal, no matter what the experience.
From the day Baby came into my life, and as I worked through the process of healing, I kept a journal of how she helped me. When I decided to write "Holy Paws", I used these journals to recall and write my story.
It took me over seven years to complete "Holy Paws." There were times I stopped writing, telling myself there was no need to continue. And at other times I chastised myself for not having finished it sooner. Over time I came to understand that I could not complete "Holy Paws" until I had completed my healing.

When writing about difficult personal topics, how do you decide what to leave in, and what to leave out - does it involve discussions with other family members?

I knew from the beginning that I was not going to reveal the details of my abuse or the names of my abusers. In my heart I felt telling the specifics of what happened to me as a child would benefit no one. I came to believe that what helps others is them knowing that healing is possible, no matter how old the injury. So it was easy not to include the particulars.
Deciding what to include was more difficult. At first I wanted only to write in general terms about how Baby helped me heal. I didn’t want to share how my behavior had been influenced by the abuse, what I didn’t like about myself, or the specific lessons I was forced to learn. I didn’t want to expose myself to family, friends, and strangers. But, as I continued to write I knew I had to be honest with the reader and myself. I had to include how my fears, my need to control, my feelings of unworthiness, my need to always keep busy, and my relationship with God were an integral part of my past and my healing. If I was to give hope to others I couldn’t sugarcoat my story or my personality. I had to lay it all on the line. And I believe that is why so many people have related to my story; they have been able to see themselves in my story and apply some of the lessons to their own life.
During the course of my healing I told my family. I was fortunate that they believed me and supported my healing. But, when it was all said and done only I could do the healing. I had to be the one to choose to move on, to move beyond what had happened to me.

How have you approached marketing your book? What has worked the best for you?

I developed lists of my friends, family, neighbors, church members, and people from other organizations. I went through my old address books, listing everyone I knew from years past. I then hired someone to create a pre-publication postcard and letter. A month before "Holy Paws" was published I sent out over 850 letters offering free shipping and that I would pay sales tax on their purchases. I gave them 30 days to pay in advance. This was extremely successful - it not only brought in money but it also created and interest for the book
Because I wish to donate proceeds to children, women and animal shelters, I offer these organizations an opportunity to have a fundraising event. This too has been very successful. I was fortunate that Rose Brooks Center, a shelter for victims of domestic violence, contacted various media. The Kansas City Star, in the FYI section, did a feature story of about Baby and myself. The story was picked up by 15 other newspapers around the country and this helped sales. Baby and I also were on the television program, Kansas City Live.
I cold call bookstores, shops, churches, organizations, etc. and personally set up my signings, talks, and appearances. No group is too small. At all my signings I tell people I am available to come speak to their organizations.
My business cards have book’s cover on it - in color. Wherever I go I hand out my cards - even the grocery store and post office. In addition, I put a card in every bill I pay. I hired a professional website design team and sell the book on line. I also signed up for Amazon.
I obtained endorsements for the back cover from a child psychiatrist, a veterinarian, a minister, and the staff of a domestic violence shelter. Their credentials have also helped with sales.
Holy Paws has received both local and national attention, with newspaper stories appearing in 15 papers around the country. Since its publication six months ago, Holy Paws has been shipped to 32 States, 4 foreign countries and is now available worldwide in Braille and digital audio for the visually impaired.
Over 1500 copies have been sold.

You published your first book in 1995, is there anything that's changed in the process since that time - were there any surprises this time around?

My first book was a small book of inspirational poetry - no more than 20 pages. Although I sold 2000 copies my purpose in writing it was different than that of Holy Paws.
I am dedicated to spreading the uplifting message of Holy Paws and to donating money to helping others. Therefore, I had to do things differently. I set up a publishing company and create everything I needed to sell to retailers. I made a personal commitment to promoting the book, with no restrictions and no preconceived ideas.
The procedure for getting into major bookstores has changed. In 1995 the stores would buy direct from a local author. Today it’s more difficult. Some major retailers will only go through a distributor, which means less is paid to the author, payment is received only upon sales, and payment takes 60 -90 days. But, since I am determined to get "Holy Paws" before the public I accept these terms.

What's next for you? Where can people learn more about you and buy your book?
I have been touched by over 100 emails and letters from readers sharing their stories of healing, talking about their pets, and thanking me for writing Holy Paws. The greatest compliment is when they tell me they’ve given the book to someone else to read.
I have been doing book signings, giving talks and presentations to a wide variety of organizations in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Arkansas, and later this month in Utah. I’ve spoken at Rotary Clubs, churches, bookstores, PEO’s, women’s groups, retreat centers and more.
As a result of reader comments I designed, and have been conducting, a two-hour workshop on healing. Participants are given four simple, yet profound steps to release the hurt from any life experience. This is the basis for my next book.
Holy Paws is available at Borders, Barnes & Noble, Rainy Day Books, Land of Paws, http://www.amazon.com/ or http://www.holypaws.com/. People can learn about me by visiting http://www.holypaws.com/
I welcome opportunities to speak to any organization, business, church, or other group about Holy Paws, the healing power of animals, writing and self-publishing, or how to heal from a life experience. I can be reached at jeanninecfox@holypaws.com or 913.491.6207.

Financial Reporter Wanted

2008-03-13T05:43:00.000-05:00

Insurance Finance & Investment (IFI) is recruiting a reporter. IFI is looking for sophisticated reporting on innovative investment strategies used by leading insurance companies. Our coverage includes news of the latest investment strategies being used by asset managers on behalf of insurance companies, reallocations of assets in insurer portfolios, creation of benchmarks, insurer selection of (third-party) asset managers, mandates won by third-party asset managers, unique financial instruments, mergers and acquisitions, and personnel moves. The candidate should have previous experience in covering the insurance/finance industry. More information on the company and the publication, IFI, is available at http://www.wtexec.com, under Publications/Finance/North America/Insurance Finance & Investment. Interested parties should contact the editor, Catherine Chen, at cchen@wtexec.com.

The Unsinkable Mollie Bryan and Her Cookbook

2008-03-11T06:48:00.000-05:00

Today, I interview Mollie Cox Bryan, author of "Mrs. Rowe's Restaurant Cookbook: A Lifetime of Recipes from the Shenandoah Valley." Mollie talks about food writing, how she got into it and how this combo biography and cookbook happened.

Tell us about yourself.
I live in Waynesboro, Va., and am a stay-at-home mom who freelances, after being in the publishing field full time about 15 years in the Washington, D.C. area. I am originally from Western Pa.

Tell us about your book, "Mrs. Rowe's Restaurant Cookbook: A Lifetime of > Recipes from the Shenandoah Valley."
It's a narrative cookbook that tells the story of Mrs. Rowe's life and restaurant in between recipes. Mrs. Rowe (Mildred) was raised on a struggling family farm in the Allegheny Highlands and became a wealthy, iconic, restaurant owner. The story of how that happens is a study into women's history, food history, restaurant history, and just a wonderful all-around story about the human spirit.

There's the old adage that every life has a story - but every life doesn't make a book. How did you happen upon this story and how did you know it was book-worthy?
After we moved from the DC area to the Shenandoah Valley, I began to hear stories about Mrs. Rowe. My husband works at the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, Va. and Mrs. Rowe's son, Mike DiGrassie is on their Board of Directors. He often told my husband stories about his mother and Eric came home and told me. I really thought her personal story was remarkable and thought that someone needed to write it. So I approached Mike about writing a self-published biography of Mrs. Rowe. (The restaurant was going to publish it.) In the mean time, Mrs. Rowe passed away. I was quoted in local papers as her "biographer," and I began to hear from people all over the country-not just Virginia-about their memories of her, her food, and restaurant. So I knew then that I was on to a national story.

When you started, did you know you were going to incorporate the recipes from her restaurant into the book?
My original plan was to write the biography with one or two very special recipes at the end of each chapter. But I had no plan to write a cookbook.

Tell us about incorporating a biography into a cookbook. How did you weave the two together?
Believe it or not, I think two kind of unrelated experiences helped me cut apart the biography and morph it into a cookbook. First, I have a great deal of newsletter and magazine experience and those principles of telling the story through not just words, but also photos, captions, sidebars, and other art work really helped. Because this was a cookbook, I also had the extra element of telling the story through recipe head notes. So if there was a story in the narrative, for example, that I could pull out and place into a head note, that's what I did. I also have a hobby that helped. I am an avid scrapbooker and when my editor found that out, she said,"Let's think of this book visually like a scrapbook." As you can imagine, it was at first, hard to think of my 300-some page biography in terms of being a cookbook. It seemed overwhelming.

How did you find your agent/publisher?
My agent is Angela Miller, who I met at the Symposium for Professional Food Writers at the Greenbrier. She was on a panel and I liked the fact that she used to be an editor and so (one would assume) knew language and had high esteem for writing. That is very important to me. I also really liked her very practical manner when she spoke about money. She looked at my proposal at the Greenbrier and made some suggestions. I rewrote and sent it to her and I think there were several more tweaks to the proposal. Then she sent it around as a biography and there were no takers, even though there were some very nice remarks. But, Ten Speed had this vision of it becoming a cookbook. And after working on this about two years at that point, when they asked, I said yes, sure I can do a cookbook.

You've specialized in food writing for a while, how did you develop this niche?
I went to the Greenbrier to see what it was all about. I found a group of very creative, supportive, smart writers who are really professional. So many opportunities are opening up for food writing and there are so many kinds of food writing-essays, articles, history, recipe writing-and then there the whole investigative and scientific food writing (Omnivore's Dilemma.). I was really just starting in freelancing, trying to find some lucrative, interesting markets, and there it was. The book has given me a great platform into more food writing articles. All that said, I like to be very careful in labeling myself-or anybody else for that matter;-). I also write a family life column for the Daily News Leader in Staunton, Va. and recently I've written profiles and garden articles for Virginia Living magazine. My favorite thing to write for magazines is the profile, and remember, it was Mrs. Rowe's life story that attracted me to her. I think why I like to write about food so much is that it proves such a wonderful frame or metaphor to tell stories about people.

You said you never imagined writing a cookbook, how does it differ from other types of food writing you do? Does it involve a lot of test tasting?
I think for some cookbook authors, yes, there is a lot of taste testing. For us (the restaurant and myself) we knew these recipes were used over and over again and would be fine, but the publisher insisted on professional testing, which is what we did. The tester made all the recipes and helped format the recipes. (There is a whole recipe style book, much like AP Style or Chicago, "Recipes into Type." Then, most cookbook publishers have their own house style, as well.) The magazines I've worked for-NPR's Kitchen Window, Grit, and Taste of the South, for example-do their own testing of your recipes.

How have you approached marketing your book?
I wrote a marketing plan and sent it to my publicist at Ten Speed. They designed the press materials and sent out galleys and books to reviewers. We worked together on book signings and other promotional events. I provided lists of local contacts and they made calls to set things up. I set up my own web site and blog. The other thing I've tried to do is publish articles about Mrs. Rowe, or her pie, or our relationship. And I have noted that when something gets published in a magazine that just mentions I am the author of this book, sales go up for a little while on Amazon. Also, the restaurant carries the book and has little blurbs about it on their placemats. The owner of the restaurant, Mike Di Grassie, showed up for some of the book signings, as well. We had one event where he and one of the chefs from the restaurant demonstrated how to cook certain items and I spoke about Mrs. Rowe and introduced them. That was a very successful event.

What's next for you? Where can people learn more about you and buy your book?
I am working on several projects right now. First, there will be another (smaller) Mrs. Rowe book-the working title is MRS. ROWE'S LITTLE BOOK OF SOUTHERN PIE. I've also been approached by another very old and fascinating Virginia establishment to write a narrative cookbook for them. I am considering that. In the mean time, I am working on a memoir, which will include the Western Pa. food I grew up eating. The working title is THE KITCHEN QUEEN OF FISH POT ROAD. And I am always working on articles or pitching articles to magazines. My website is molliecoxbryan.com and email address is molliebryan@comcast.net if anybody would like to reach me. You can get the book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and you can order it directly from the publisher tenspeedpress.com.

Temporarily Out of Service

2008-03-04T06:00:00.000-06:00

I learned a big lesson yesterday - it isn't enough to have a surge protector for your electrical cords during a bad thunderstorm. We should buy the surge protectors that have them for the phone wires as well.
I'm in a temporary location on dial up, but even if you have high speed internet and have a phone cord going into your computer as back up Internet, you can still suffer a lightening strike, as I did yesterday.
I'm on my 11 year old laptop, so posts will be suspended until I can recover my files from my other computer.

Green Tech Blogger Wanted

2008-02-28T06:50:00.000-06:00

Talented Writer Needed Part Time for Green Technology Blog (Comp: Per post) (telecommute) http://newyork.craigslist.org/wri/mnh/wri/589038596.html
Are you interested in covering Earth-friendly products and advancements in computing, electronics, automobiles, and energy? Do you have enthusiasm, curiosity and an articulate, honed writing ability? GoodCleanTech is a growing blog covering the intersection of technology and environmentalism. We are looking to expand and need help keeping pace with the growing rate of change. GoodCleanTech aims to provide you with news, tips, advice, and ideas about how to do more with less. With the help of the editors and analysts at PC Magazine, we praise those companies that have committed to better ecotechnologies and hold to the fire the polluters and resource hogs. And we'll keep you informed about the latest environmentally friendly developments in the worlds of computers, automobiles, fuel, power, and more. In existence nearly one year, the GoodCleanTech.com blog has been nominated for several awards and garnered important industry recognition. To learn more about the blog, stop by GoodCleanTech. We are looking for a freelance blogger to contribute up to five posts per day, five days per week. Must have familiarity with technology and environmental issues, proficiency with Movable Type or similar blogging platform a plus.

An Uncertain Inheritance

2008-02-26T06:49:00.000-06:00

Today, I interview Nell Casey, bestselling author, about her new book, "An Uncertain Inheritance: Writers on Caring for Family." Nell tells us how she found all those great writers for her anthologies and how hard it is to have to edit them.

Tell us about yourself.
I am a writer and editor living with my husband and son in Brooklyn, NY. I write for magazines—including a column for Cookie, a parenting magazine—and I have edited two anthologies, one called Unholy Ghost and one, recently published, called "An Uncertain Inheritance."

Tell us about your book, “An Uncertain Inheritance: Writers on Caring for Family."
This is a collection of essays about, as the title suggests, looking after family members who are sick. It includes a wide range of responses to this experience—from Helen Schulman’s poetic struggle to find the reward in it to Ann Harleman’s moving sense of fulfillment in learning how to care for husband after he is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Various relationships are represented—children looking after their aging parents, parents looking after sick children, siblings caring for each other, husbands and wives seeing each other through. I was very lucky also to work with an array of talented writers: Julia Glass, Andrew Solomon, Julia Alvarez, Sam Lipsyte and Frank McCourt, among many others.

Your book, "Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression," was a bestseller. How did you come up with the idea to have writers tell their stories on depression in an anthology?
The idea for Unholy Ghost actually came from my former editor at William Morrow, Taije Silverman. (She’s since left William Morrow.) She had the excellent idea of gathering varied stories and voices about the experience of depression. Not only was it a brilliant idea because depression itself has so many different meanings but also the book came out at a time when the culture was very interested in and open to really understanding the illness. So I was very grateful that Taije came to me to bring her idea to life.

Was "uncertain inheritance" an extension of that thought process?
In part, yes. When I started compiling Unholy Ghost, I decided I wanted to include companion pieces throughout the book. So I asked people who had cared for family members with depression to write essays that would run alongside essays by person they’d cared for. Rose Styron and William Styron, for example, both wrote about Mr. Styron’s struggle with depression. My sister and I also wrote about the experience of my sister’s depression. When I did readings for Unholy Ghost, people were very interested in the caregiver perspective. I realized that there was a real need for a very honest exploration of the caregiving experience. And having cared for my sister through her depression, I also knew how deep and complicated and meaningful the experience of looking after a family member is. I wanted to create a book that gave voice to this.

You've written for Slate, Salon, the New York Times, among others. How difficult is it to edit other writers?
I really, really enjoy editing. When it works well, it’s a very satisfying collaboration. I learn too: I learn about other people, other experience, about writing and other people’s creative processes. I especially enjoy the combination of writing and editing—one forces you to look inward and the other forces you to look outward.

How did you get writers to participate in your anthologies?
I find that many writers are very willing to write for anthologies. I think, in large part, it offers an opportunity to write freely and in creative form. When you write for magazines and newspapers, you’re often beholden to the sensibility of the publication. With anthologies, writers can express themselves a little more uniquely. Also, with depression and caregiving, the writers I asked to participate felt very strongly about getting their stories out and possibly helping others by speaking up on these subjects. That said, I did have to recruit and recruit and recruit. People turned me down or dropped out of the project along the way. I just stuck with it until I had a group of writers I knew would make the book as lively and intelligent and compassionate as I felt the subject deserved. And they did just that.

Frank McCourt wrote the foreward, what's the story behind finding him for this?
I met Frank McCourt through a non-profit storytelling organization here in New York City, called Stories at the Moth. Needless to say, Frank is one of their star storytellers. Anyways, when I met him, he said he had read my first book, Unholy Ghost, and really enjoyed it. So when I needed someone to write the foreword—someone who had spent a good deal of time thinking and exploring and writing about family—Mr. McCourt immediately came to mind. I sent him a manuscript and he wrote back “That’s one hell of a book.” And he agreed to do the foreword. I was thrilled!

How does the writing process work for you - when is your best time to write, do you have to have a certain place, etc?
I actually wish I had more of a method. I have a 2 1/2 year old son so basically just finding the space and time to write is a challenge. When I have the time, I plunge right in. In that sense, it has helped to have my hands full with my son. I don’t procrastinate during my work hours.

How did you find your agent?
I met with her when I was starting the proposal for An Uncertain Inheritance. I was introduced to her through another writer I have edited in the past—and whose work I admire. My agent was interested in the subject, and she had very good, smart ideas. I liked her sensibility and her approach.

What's next for you?
I have a number of things I am working on at any given moment. I write a column for Cookie magazine. I just sold my first short story. I hope to have another book proposal done soon. It’s a bit disorienting to have so much going at once but so far it works for me. And it means I’ve always got something to work on!

Apply at Your Own Risk

2008-02-21T06:07:00.000-06:00

People sometimes ask me how I know which job ads to bother with. These two, for example, look like they are from the same company.

The comp looks ok, and a first reaction might be to only look at that. Personally, I wouldn't work for someone who told me in advance to expect multiple revisions. If they are giving adequate instruction on what they're seeking and you're qualified to write the article, what's the problem?
Apply at your own risk.

National Magazine Seeks Healthcare Reporter for Consumer Article (Comp: $1/word) http://chicago.craigslist.org/wrg/chc/wrg/580455847.html
National consumer magazine seeks an experienced healthcare reporter to write a 2,600-word article on how to shop for healthcare. Prospective writer MUST have solid reporting experience with a newspaper and/or magazine and MUST be able to provide lengthy sample articles. The first-draft deadline is April 21. Writer should expect multiple revisions and be available for questions and/or requests for additional content. Freelance project: Writer does not need to be from the Chicago area.

National Magazine Seeks Stereo Expert for Article/Product Review (Comp: $1/word) http://chicago.craigslist.org/wrg/chc/wrg/580434815.html
National consumer magazine seeks stereo expert to write a 2,600-word article/product review on mini stereos and boomboxes. Prospective writer MUST know the latest products, trends, manufacturers, and industry. Experience with major newspapers or magazines a plus. The first-draft deadline is April 10. Writer should expect multiple revisions and be available for questions and requests for additional content. Freelance project: Writer does not need to be from the Chicago area.

Hijas Americanas

2008-02-19T05:19:00.001-06:00

Today, I interview Rosie Molinary, author of " Hijas Americanas: Beauty, Body Image, and Growing Up Latina. Rosie tells us how she turned a graduate thesis into a book and how she landed an invitation to the Today Show.

Tell us about yourself.

I grew up in Columbia, South Carolina with a love for reading, writing, and social justice issues. I, ultimately, received my teaching certification in Social Studies and taught and coached soccer at an under resourced high school in Charlotte, North Carolina. Those years were the time of my life—I was absolutely crazy about my students and about doing everything that I could to empower them. Many had backgrounds like mine—first generation Americans (I am Puerto Rican, and we moved to the States when I was 2; from a lower socioeconomic class who spoke a language other than English at home—and I was compelled to do whatever I could to help them discover their voice and take charge of their lives. Because writing had been my passion as a girl—and the tool that led me to my voice—I felt compelled to use a good bit of exploratory writing in my classroom. I understood that my mission was about helping others discover their voices while using my own voice to advocate for those who could not raise their own voices. Eventually, I felt as if I needed to pursue further education in the teaching of writing so that I could be a better teacher. While enrolled in an MFA program with a focus on nonfiction and poetic forms, I worked at my undergraduate alma mater as the Director of Community Service which allowed me to further explore the issues of social justice and activism. When I completed my MFA, I was too spoiled to go back to traditional teaching (I had become addicted to sleeping past 6 am—the time I used to report to work, going out to lunch, and using the bathroom whenever I wanted). I started doing workshops, teaching in continuing education programs and continued my work at the college until 2005 when I left and became a full-time freelancer.

Tell us about your book, Hijas Americanas: Beauty, Body Image, and Growing Up Latina.

Hijas Americanas: Beauty, Body Image and Growing Up Latina reveals how hundreds of Latinas reconciled their body image, beauty perception, and ethnic identity as they came of age in a mainstream culture whose standards differ from those expressed in the homes where these women were raised. The book is part autobiography, part ethnography, and part call to action. The stories shared show the significance of each individual’s unique coming-of-age experience, but they also examine the universal truths that are part of all our experiences. These aren’t questions that are only Latino or female in nature. We all must face our personal challenges—and sometimes our impenetrable insecurities—with an individual honor and dignity that allows us to define who we are in the context of so many things: family, community, ethnicity, race, religion, culture, and more.

Your book was inspired by graduate essays you did for your master's degree. When did you realize you might have a book and start trying to market the proposal?
I initially saw the themes of body image, beauty perception, and ethnic identity emerge in my work while I was in graduate school for an MFA in creative writing. I was surprised by their prevalence and the impact these concepts clearly had on my own development. When I became a freelancer in the summer of 2005, I began to think about doing something with the book from graduate school that was on my shelf. In conceptualizing Hijas Americanas, I wanted to look at how Latinas who grew up in a culture that had one idea of beauty, femininity, and gender roles reconciled those expectations with both what they heard from mainstream America and with what they wanted for themselves.

How did you find your participants for the book?
I knew that I wanted women to share their coming of age experiences and so I decided to get women who were either in the midst of those experiences or were past them and were ready to look back. The criteria for the participants was that the women needed to be between the ages of 18-40, needed to self-identify as Latina, and needed to have been in the States since they were, at least, ten years old. Some of the women had immigrated here and some of them were fifth or sixth generation Tejanos. I interviewed about 100 women and then did a web-based survey that 521 women completed. Once I wrote up the Call for Participants, I sent it out to many of my contacts and then posted it on various networking boards and emailed Latina sororities, professional organizations, multi-cultural groups, etc. The internet is an amazing thing, I had well-over 400 volunteers in less than 2 weeks.

How did you find your agent/publisher?
I had no interest in publishing as a graduate student. In fact, I never attended any of the optional publishing workshops in graduate school. I had gone there to be a better teacher and that was my focus. At graduation, my final advisor really pushed me to reconsider, ultimately asking me if I would have felt better at 17 if I had read anything that I had just spent the last two years writing. He encouraged me to think about my classroom not as just one spot in a high school but as the world and pushed me to get the voice that I had shared in my graduate school thesis with the world. Ultimately, we made a deal that I would spend a year sending out my poems and essays to literary journal markets. One of those essays, The Latina in Me, was picked up for an anthology by Seal Press. That was the fourth piece to be picked up for a book anthology, but it was the first time that I had really been impressed with a publisher. Working with Seal Press stuck with me, and when I decided to pursue a book project, after I had become a freelancer, I decided to try them first since they worked with non-agented writers. Brooke Warner responded to by query letter really quickly, and we worked together to craft a book proposal that would work. She also served as my editor for the book.

What types of marketing have you and the publisher done on the book?
Seal helped me plan a few bookstore readings and signings and also helped me get on the docket for a couple book festivals. They provided me with pre-publication postcards, and I sent them to everyone I knew: former students, former teachers, friends, and even magazine editors that I had freelanced for or even pitched. That ended up scoring me some expert interviews with a few publications and an invitation to The Today Show. I created a blog, bookmark, reading guide, and tshirt that I used in different ways for promotion and discussion of these critical issues, and I also designed about ten workshops and launched a high school, college, and community tour which has taken me from Los Angeles to Chicago to do workshops. I did six months of active promotion this past fall and have several events lined up this spring and summer.

This is your first book. Was there anything about the process of writing a book vs. a shorter article that surprised you?
I really loved book writing because it allowed me to spend such time with the subject and the interviewees. I love learning, and I love engaging with people and providing them a venue to share their experiences and so the book was a great indulgence to me. I still appreciate writing articles, though, for many reasons including the fact that your sense of satisfaction as something comes to fruition is much more immediate.

Was there anything about selling your first book that surprised you?
The whole thing was such a surprise, but also a delight and a real privilege.

Who is your favorite author and do you feel your writing is like theirs? If so, how?
For nonfiction writers, I really love Anne Lamott and Alice Walker. Lamott has an earnestness and irreverence that I appreciate and sometimes see if my own writing, and Walker has such a sense of purpose and clarity. I do have a sense of purpose with my writing—a purpose that my high school students instilled in me—and I work everyday to have greater clarity in my writing. Finally, I really admire how Eve Ensler has allowed her writing to also be an instigator for activism. I am working on a social justice project right now that was inspired by Hijas, and that synergy between sensibilities, art, and motion are very important to me.

What is next for you?
I just submitted a book proposal to Seal for their consideration and am working on creating a scholarship giving circle inspired from what I learned while writing Hijas and the conversations I had while promoting it. I am still freelancing and teaching and loving the range of work that I am able to do in those areas.

Picture Perfect Today

2008-02-14T07:16:00.000-06:00

Attention Photographers and Outdoor Adventurers!
If you've ever dreamed about seeing your photos in the pages of a glossy magazine at newsstands nationwide, you'll want to join us this April 11-13, 2008 in Boulder, Colorado. And, if you register before March 1, you'll save money with an early bird rate!
Don't miss this opportunity to meet one-on-one with the photo editors from National Geographic, Climbing, Freeskier, Ski, Backpacker, Women's Adventure, and others interested in seeing your best work and answering your questions about breaking into this industry.
Early bird and student discounts apply. GO TO: www.magazineconference.com/photography/index.html today for more information and to register!
Our speakers and panelists include award-winning photographers, stock agencies, and magazine executives. Plus, there's no better location to practice your technique than spring in the Rockies.
Get the inside information to help you realize the dream of seeing your work in print. Register today to get the early bird rate and pass this email on to all your friends, colleagues, and family members who are aspiring photographers. Space is limited. CLICK HERE and register today!
When: April 11th – 13th Where: Boulder Marriott – Boulder, Colorado
Why: Because this conference could change your life and your career path
Also, check out the photography sessions at our Travel Writing and Photography Conference September 12-14 in Boulder.
Sponsored by: Women's Adventure magazine

The Race to Write a Book About a Race

2008-02-12T05:27:00.000-06:00

Today, I interview Geoff Williams, author of, "C.C. Pyle’s Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America." Geoff tells us about writing a book on an historical event when all of the characters are dead, researching, finding an agent and marketing.

Tell us about yourself.
Well, I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was nine, when my fourth-grade teacher started assigning us bonus essays. We could write stories, fiction or nonfiction, and receive extra credit, and when I started writing every night, I started to think, “Hey, I’m not doing this for the extra credit—I’m doing this because I enjoy it.” So I thought I’d wind up writing my first book before I was out of elementary school, and that I’d spend the rest of my life churning out a few books a year. Of course, it didn’t exactly work out that way, but I have been a writer for most of my professional life, save a few odd jobs right out of college. Not that it was easy. I started out writing for really obscure magazines in the beginning. They paid all right, but they aren’t national names. Anyway, primarily I’m a magazine writer. I’ve written for newspapers—I was a part-time features reporter at the Cincinnati Post, and I’ve done some corporate writing, but most of my income has come from writing for various consumer, business and trade magazines. I’ve been writing for Entrepreneur for 10 years and BabyTalk for five, and both of those have been a wonderful experience, but I’m also proud that I’ve managed to get into LIFE, Ladies’ Home Journal, National Geographic Kids and various other publications. And I’m extremely gratified that last year, when I was 36, “only” 27 years after I decided I wanted to be an author, I finally achieved my goal of writing a book and having it published. Or I should say, writing a book that is sold in bookstores across the country. I had written two books before this, but they were works for hire—like a corporate history of a hospital—and they were never meant to be sold in bookstores.

Tell us about your book, "C.C. Pyle’s Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America"
It’s the story of an actual foot race that happened in 1928, where 199 men attempted to run from Los Angeles to New York City, in pursuit of a $25,000 prize. That was the money allotted for the first place winner, although C.C. Pyle, the sports agent who organized the race, was also offering $10,000 to the second place winner, $5,000 to the third and downward to the tenth place winner who received $1,000 for his efforts. Not a bad piece of change, back then. And so the book is about all of the experiences these guys go through, running this race, which was even more difficult than it sounds. They ran from one town to another designated community, bedding down for the night, and then they’d get up and run again. They averaged around 35 miles a day, every day, for 84 days, so imagine running a Boston Marathon, back-to-back, daily for almost three months. I can’t imagine that. I can’t even imagine running one marathon successfully.

How did you go from writing business articles for Entrepreneur to writing this book (did you approach an agent/publisher or did they approach you)?
I thought it made sense to try and write a business book, and that’s what I thought I would do. But when I wound up learning about the Bunion Derby in a reference book, I was just floored. I kept thinking, “Why hasn’t anyone written about this yet?” As it turned out, someone had, but back in 1980, and the book hadn’t made a huge splash. So I thought I’d try doing it. But it took several years to actually go ahead and do it. At the time when I learned about the Bunion Derby, I didn’t have an agent, and so I just started researching about the race, and then several months into that—it’s hard to remember exactly when—I read something on the Internet about a PBS documentary coming out about the Bunion Derby. And then I thought, “Well, that’s that. This film is going to come out and steal all the oxygen, and I won’t be able to write the book.” It turned out to be a small, though very well done, film, however, and so at some point, I started to realize that the Bunion Derby wasn’t exactly a household name. As for securing an agent, here’s how it happened: I was mowing my lawn one late afternoon on a Friday, thinking about the Bunion Derby book that I wanted to write, and suddenly I had this epiphany. The book would never get published if I didn’t actively seek out an agent. Daydreaming about writing a book wasn’t cutting it. And so that night, I looked for an agent, wrote a terrific one, and had a reply the following Monday, and a few days later, I had a contract.
I love telling the story that way, because it suddenly sounds so easy, but 1) I had been writing professionally for over 10 years, and I know that gave me some credibility. 2) I didn’t just write an agent blindly. I pored through business books that PR agents had sent me over the years, and I looked in the acknowledgements pages where authors would thank their agents. Then I googled the names of those agents and read up on them and finally found one who seemed to have a lot of the same interests as me. And she seemed like someone who was successful and could help my career, because I figured I had gone down enough dead ends, and I really wanted to find an agent who was experienced, and yet I didn’t want to find an agent who was too successful, where their career was about over, and he or she wouldn’t have time for me and who might see me as this little bothersome gnat. (Like all writers, my self-confidence is a bit shaky at times.)

Marketing is such a huge factor for book authors these days, publishers seem to want you to do all the leg work for them. Who is your target market for the book and how did you determine that?
Well, you’re right for sure, that authors have to do most, if not all, of the leg work. I wish I had known that from the beginning. I might have saved some time. I did know that authors needed to be involved, and I was happy to be—but I quickly learned that the author pretty much does it all, unless, I imagine, they’re big leaguers like Stephen King or John Grisham. Fortunately, I canvassed a lot of book critics and sports columnists at newspapers and managed to get some really nice write-ups and reviews in various papers like The Washington Post, The Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Oklahoman. And, of course, plenty of book editors ignored me, and I had no luck pitching the few TV shows that I tried. For instance, my email, in which I suggested I challenge Stephen Colbert to a foot race, went unanswered.
But in my mind, my target audience is simply anyone who likes history. I’m not a runner myself, but I loved the story of this race, and all of the history of the 1920s endurance competitions that swirled around it. And I always figured, I’m a fan of the movie “Rocky” but have never watched a full boxing match in my life. I love the movie “Breaking Away,” but have never participated in an organized bicycle race. Why shouldn’t non-running readers enjoy a story about a bunch of guys who enter a contest, hoping to win a fortune and change their lives forever? That said, a lot of people in the running community have embraced the book, and I’m so grateful for that. But then it was obvious from the beginning that marathon runners would probably be interested in this book.

I'm sure many of the key players in your story are deceased. How did you conduct your research for the book?
Everyone, sadly, is deceased. There was one runner alive when I began the book in earnest, after Rodale gave me the go-ahead to write the book, but I didn’t know that and learned about his death one month after the fact. He was in his late 90s, though, and from what I understand, probably not in the position to talk much about the race. The widow of one of the runners was also alive when I was researching the book, and I did have a short phone conversation with her, and that was personally exciting for me. But as far as the research, I just decided that I would do everything I could that was feasibly possible. Since I’m not a millionaire as Harry Gunn, one of the participants of the race, I couldn’t retrace the steps of the race and go to every library along the Bunion Derby route, but believe me, it crossed my mind a few hundred times. Still, I contracted every descendant of every writer I could find. I searched for friends and family of all four of C.C. Pyle’s wives and was pretty successful there. I combed through what I’m sure was over a thousand newspaper articles. Maybe it was 10,000. Probably not, but it sure felt like it. Since the race went for 84 days across the country, virtually every community that the race went through covered it. I even checked with college newspapers, which yielded a few anecdotes. I went through court records, tracking down information on the various lawsuits that Pyle was embroiled in, and going through his marriage and divorce records. I traveled to Champaign, Illinois, about half a day’s drive, which is where Pyle lived at one time. I drove out to Delaware, Ohio, where Pyle grew up, and I flew to Oklahoma where one of the main runners was from and spent a few days there. I just tried to play detective and use every journalist’s trick in the book to learn everything I could about the race—or everything that I could in the time frame that I had to write the book, which was about two years.

Did you learn anything new or revealing?
I wanted to write the book simply because I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea what running across the country would have been like. Now would be difficult enough, but in 1928, 80 years ago, sneakers were in their infancy. Even roads were primitive compared to now. Many roads were dirt or gravel, and there was no interstate. Route 66 was just a couple years old, and that the race followed that famous trail just added to the mystique of the story for me. And I just kept picturing what it must have been like to run day after day, hoping to win this money, and seeing the countryside slowly change from the California deserts to the lush greenery of New York state. I was lucky, I realize now, because I really fell in love with this story, and that’s useful when you wind up spending years working on a project like this. I really didn’t want it to end, and I still don’t. I’d love to write a sequel, and believe me, the material is there for one, but unless this book really, really, really takes off, I doubt that’s going to happen. As for learning anything new or revealing, I think so. Everything was new to me. Everything will be new to anyone who knows nothing about the Bunion Derby, but this story was out there. It was kind of like putting a jigsaw puzzle together, but all the pieces were scattered across the country, and so I had to go out and find them. That’s the analogy I usually go with. I hope that makes sense.

Indexing is a challenge for me. How did you keep track of the characters in your book for indexing later?
You know, I was really lucky, in that way, because Rodale did the indexing, or maybe they hired someone to do it, although I think there’s actually software out there, that will index books. Don’t quote me on that. So I didn’t have to worry about that. But I did do two works-for-hire books, a biography of a local businessman and the corporate history of a hospital, and I had to do the indexes for those. Not fun. But I don’t recommend keeping track of the characters for an index. It spoils the enjoyment of writing the book, and you’ll never know what pages the characters will be on until the book is formatted.

Dividing time between magazine - or immediate paying clients - and book projects is a challenge for a lot of authors. How did you accomplish this?
Um, I didn’t. I’m continually broke and am carrying a lot of debt. I manage to pay my bills, usually, and get by, but it’s extremely hard to support a family by being a freelance writer and author. But that said, I was broke and in debt before I wrote this book, and it’s extremely hard to juggle multiple magazine articles, so I’m not sure it’s any harder to add a book to the mix, and at one point, I was working on “C.C. Pyle” and the hospital corporate history that I mentioned, which was an extremely complicated book to write. Still, I tried to compartmentalize things as much as I could by writing “C.C. Pyle” in the evenings and weekends, although I would often try to spend 1-2 work days a week on the book, and sometimes more than that.

Do you have an assistant? If so, what functions do they do for you? If not, would you like to have one and what would they do?
Boy, I’d love to have an assistant, but I never have had one, and I’m envious of the freelance writers who do. I’d have my mythical assistant do just about everything but the writing and the research. I do enjoy interviewing, once I’m doing it, but taking notes, scheduling the interview, transcribing, that’s not a lot of fun, and so I’d have an assistant do that. There are a lot of little tasks like that, that aren’t fun about my job, but really I love everything about being an author, even the arduous task of marketing the book, and everything about freelance writing, except waiting for that paycheck to arrive.

What's next for you?
I have a book proposal out there, which has been rejected by quite a few publishing houses, though one or two editors are considering it. But I’m hearing the same thing about this book topic that I did with the Bunion Derby. Editors are saying that it’s a fascinating story, but nobody’s ever heard of this. I kind of thought that was the point of so many nonfiction narratives, you know? To write a compelling tale of some slice of history that was deeply relevant to an era but that we’ve all forgotten about now. So if I keep getting feedback like that, I’m starting to think that my next book is going to have to be about something or someone everyone’s heard of, like Abraham Lincoln, the Titanic or the Beatles.

More Chicken Soup

2008-02-07T06:44:00.000-06:00

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Resolution Stories
Release Date: December 2008
Chicken Soup for the Soul is looking for stories from people about their past New Year’s resolutions and how they worked out – their failures and successes, what they learned. Tentative chapter topics include:• Trying to lose weight• Getting fit (The weight loss and getting fit stories could tie into our self-esteem, accept-who-you-are theme for girls and women)• Getting more organized• Making more money• Giving away money• Restoring a relationship with someone• Changing one’s behavior• Stopping bad habits such as smoking, biting fingernails• Going green• Eating healthy• Serious stuff such as substance abuse withdrawal, seeking treatment for mental health issues• Self acceptance – realizing the resolution wasn’t necessary and you are great the way you areStories must be true (non-fiction), written in first person, and 1,000 words or less. Stories should make readers laugh, cry or sigh, and be positive, universal and non-controversial. Also, the "point" or "message" should be evident without preaching. No essays, commentaries, tributes, philosophical or biographical pieces will be accepted. Please refer to other Chicken Soup books to better understand our story-telling style.You may submit more than one story. For each story selected, a 50-word biography will be included about the contributor and a permission fee of $200 per story will be paid within 30 days upon publicationPlease submit stories through our website at www.chickensoup.com. The tentative submission deadline is August 30, 2008, please note that this deadline may adjust, so the sooner, the better!

Go, Girlfriend

2008-02-05T05:59:00.000-06:00

Today, I interview Julia Rosien, managing editor at http://www.gogirlfriend.com/ Julia tells us about getting a paid blog gig, what she knows about blogging and how to build a successful site.

Tell us about yourself.
I've been a freelance writer, freelance editor, staff editor, writing instructor and writing coach – not in that order. I've taught writing and self improvement online, at a college and in a prison. I've written service articles for national parenting, women's and travel magazines. I've freelanced for papers like the Boston Globe and the Christian Science Monitor.
It might look like a bit like career ADD, but I like experiencing new things and being a writer/editor and teacher has afforded me some pretty unique experiences.
My personal passion is travel though. There's very little I won't do to get a good story.

Tell us about your blog, www.gogirlfriend.com
GG is a travel blog geared to women 35-55 years old. From my research, this is the largest (and most underserviced) demographic online currently. What's interesting about this demographic is that they are making the travel decisions for themselves, their families and their business – and they're very comfortable shopping online.
Considering I'm part of that demographic, I understand what we do and don't want (hopefully) and can serve that up in a blog format.
A corporate blog obviously has to earn money, which we do through advertising. But the underpinning of success comes from a strong brand, trustworthy and engaging content and a growing community.

This is a paying blog gig. How did you get it? Had you been blogging previously?
I've been a freelance writer, a senior editor at a pregnancy magazine and an editor for an outdoor adventure travel site. My last gig included blogging, but it also included project management, staff management, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and business plan writing. This job feels like the perfect fit for me, but I have to admit that every day I learn something new.

How does this fit into your overall business plan?
After freelancing, I moved to a staff editorial position but what I'm doing now involves all of my skills. New Media is an exciting place to be right now. And since I manage the blog I'm accountable for the successes and/or failures that come my way.

Blogging takes quite a bit of time, how do you manage this extra responsibility?
Maintaining a successful blog in the current climate means I have to be able to wear a bunch of different hats simultaneously. Writing the blog is only a small part of the whole project. I can write the most inspired, brilliant posts for a blog but if I ignore SEO, no one will ever read them. And if I don't employ appropriate monetization, I may as well donate my time to charity.
Corporate blogging is really about knowing how to manage my own time, which is something freelancers are generally very good at. I generally hit the major newsfeeds first thing in the morning to see what's happening in the world. Do I need to get a news article out or can I focus on a destination article? I spend much of my morning writing, contacting PR reps for images and (hopefully) publishing at least one post before noon.
My afternoons are generally divided between community building, SEO and commenting and writing anything newsy that needs to be published quickly.
I publish 2-4 posts each day. Aside the actually writing, each post requires images, formatting, and finally some publicity.

What mistakes do you think bloggers make in setting up their forums?
Blogs and forums don't go hand in hand and thinking they do can set a new blogger up for a slow start at best, failure at worst. Consider each potential reader. You have one opportunity to wow them and then give them a reason to come back – you are offering a service that they can get pretty much anywhere.
If you have a forum that's not busy, it can be like pulling up to a restaurant with no cars in the parking lot. Will potential customers venture past the door to see if the food's any good? Or will they pull out and find a busier restaurant?
Forums don't populate themselves and unless you're going to seed yours with fake posts, that can take more energy than maintaining a blog.
Wet up a blog that allowed anonymous commenting, but leave the forum until you have enough regular readers to populate it. By regular I mean more than 10,000 per day.

What is an important thing to remember when you're blogging?
Blogging is more like chatting with a friend than it is journalism – though journalism plays a key role. Blogs are popular because people enjoy the informal, opinionated articles and stories. And they enjoy being able to talk back.
Rather than top down story telling (like you get in newspapers and magazines) blogging is across the board. The blogger may be the authority, but everyone who visits has an opinion and most exercise it liberally.
Which leads me to another point. If you think you needed a thick skin to survive the querying process, get ready to develop skin the thickness of a rhinoceros. Readers are merciless. If you write something that rankles, you'll hear about it.

How are blog entries different from writing articles for print publications?
Like I said above, they're informal and chattier. Instead of handing just the information over, you're including your opinion and inviting readers to talk back with theirs.
Blog posts are also short and more tightly focused. Think of them as a series of FOBs.

SEO is a scary term to most writers. Can you explain how it works?
Nope, this is a huge area and the more I learn, the more I realized I do not know.
Start with the Wikipedia description: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization
Move onto Google's SEO chat: http://www.seochat.com/
And then just read everything you can get your hands on. It's a skill, but it's constantly evolving. What worked for SEO a year ago isn't necessarily correct now.
Even if you know nothing about SEO and less about html, get a blog started now. As a blog ages it gains credibility and worth, simply by being online and slowly growing. Add relevant content to it on a regular basis and teach yourself a little bit each day, week or month. You'll be surprised how much you absorb just by being online and interacting with other bloggers.

What do you think the future is for blogging in the overall world of writing?
think blogging is the future. Every newspaper and magazine trying to survive online right now is racing to catch up to the blogging bus that I'm on. It's moving fast and those outlets who aren't on are giving their spot to bloggers around the world who may or may not have a journalism background.
And the way the world responds to those blogs – by reading them or ignoring them – will shape how news is served up 10 years from now.
We'll probably never see an end to print media, but I do believe online media is being created much like Wikipedia was first created – by users.

Book Publicity and More Submission Calls

2008-01-31T05:14:00.000-06:00

Beyond the Press Release: 10 Exciting Book Buzz Ideas That Will Take You to the Topoffers
10 foolproof – yet practical – ideas you can use to get publicity for yourbook. The ideas can be used for all types of books, whether they have been availablefor weeks, months or even years, to generate free media exposure.To get the free special report, go to http://www.buildbookbuzz.com/.

THE EARLY ONSET PROJECT SUBMISSIONS AND CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT (No Entry Fee)The Early Onset Project seeks true stories about persons with early-onsetAlzheimer’s. Early-onset Alzheimer’s or early-onset dementia develops in a personwho is younger than age 65. Entries should be compelling slice-of-life stories that show how early-onsetAlzheimer’s or a related dementia has affected you or someone close to you. Authorsof stories selected for the collection will receive a free copy of the publication.No other payment will be made. Stories submitted for The Early Onset Project areautomatically entered into a contest. First Prize - $100Second Prize - $50Third Prize – $25Honorable Mention – $10 For a sample story and more information, please visit the Early Onset Project pageon my website at http://www.lsfisher.com/.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Getting In…to College
Release Date: October 2008 There are over 3 million graduating high school seniors each year and more than half of them apply to college. These days, colleges are deluged with applications and the college application process has become the most traumatic thing that most of theses students and their parents have ever experienced. There are many books published on how to get into college. Our book will be one of the only ones out there that provides emotional, not tactical, support.Our market for this book is 10th, 11th, and 12th graders and their parents, meaning a target audience of more than five million kids and at least that many parents the day we publish. Chapters will include the following topics:• Do I Want to Go to College?• Parental Pressure • Self Image• Competing with Friends• Regrets over Past Grades/Performance• SATs and ACTs – Living through Them• Sports and Coaches• Great Essays• Waiting• Waitlisted and Deferred• Disappointments• Preparing to Leave the NestStories must be true (non-fiction), written in first person, and 1,000 words or less. Stories should make readers laugh, cry or sigh, and be positive, universal and non-controversial. Also, the "point" or "message" should be evident without preaching. No essays, commentaries, tributes, philosophical or biographical pieces will be accepted. Please refer to other Chicken Soup books to better understand our story-telling style.You may submit more than one story. For each story selected, a 50-word biography will be included about the contributor and a permission fee of $200 per story will be paid within 30 days upon publicationPlease submit stories through our website at www.chickensoup.com. The tentative submission deadline is April 30, 2008, but please note that this deadline may adjust, so the sooner, the better!

Class Favorite

2008-01-29T05:24:00.000-06:00

Today, I interview Taylor Morris, author of the new tween novel, "Class Favorite." Taylor talks about writing for the tween market - what a tween is - and if working at a magazine helped with her book writing career.

Tell us about yourself.
I’m from Texas, I love Mexican food, I’m a horrible gift-giver, and I live in New York City. I wrote my first novel in fourth grade (12 pages, handwritten, double-spaced), a romance about fellow classmates Bill and Becca. It was an instant best seller in my class. Now I write tween books—which means my stories are set in junior high—for Simon & Schuster’s MIX line.

Tell us about your tween novel, "Class Favorite."
It’s about a girl named Sara, who goes pretty much unnoticed at her junior high until her mother sends her a gift on Valentine’s Day for horribly embarrassing reasons. Suddenly, everyone finds out about it, and now everyone knows who she is. Instead of wallowing in unwanted attention, she tries to turn her notoriety in her favor…with mixed results.

You were an editor for Jump Magazine, is this how you became interested in writing for the younger tween set, or have you always been interested in that genre?
I’ve always been interested in it. I guess I just had the voice for it. In a writing workshop at Emerson College, where I graduated, I submitted a short story set in high school. The class loved it, but everyone had written serious stories about death and longing and such. I felt immature for writing what I did, so the next week I turned in something really dark and serious—and had a miserable time writing it. The class was not impressed. Someone asked, “Why don’t you write stuff like you did last week? That was really good.” I vowed never to go back, and I haven’t. I guess it’s a matter of knowing your strengths, and also doing what you enjoy.

"Tween" is a relatively new term. Is there any difference between the pre-pubescent books of when I was growing up (70's) and the Tween classification now?
To be honest, I didn’t read a lot of books when I was younger. I know! It’s horrible! I did read a couple of Judy Blume books, which I loved—Blubber, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. The one book that really made me fall in love with reading was The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I don’t know why—my upbringing resembled the Judy Blume books far more than anything Hinton wrote. Maybe that’s what I liked about it. But I’m not sure how different the genre is today, other than we have the handy name “tween” instead of calling it—ack!—children’s.

You've written both non-fiction articles and a non-fiction book for tweens and now a novel. Tell us about switching from non-fiction to fiction and how that works for you?
I much prefer writing fiction—that way I don’t have to bother too much about fact-checking, gathering sources and interview subjects, transcribing…. I just sit down and write! It’s much easier for me, and much more fun. I haven’t even tried to write a non-fiction article in a long time. Again, I think my strengths lie in fiction, so I’m not as interested anymore in doing something I don’t think I’m great at.

I'm assuming you made connections while at Jump. How difficult do you believe it is for someone to break into the tween or young adult book market for someone who doesn't have any connections to the publishing world - what do you recommend writers do to break in?
I didn’t know a soul in book publishing, and sent out a blind query letter to agents. I did have experience in magazines, but I later asked my agent if that had made a difference, and he simply shrugged his shoulders. “It’s really about the book you’re submitting,” he said. I got my very first magazine byline, though, in a small magazine in San Clemente, CA. At the time I had zero experience, but since it was a small publication the owner agreed to let me start by writing restaurant reviews—my paycheck was the free meals. So, my advice is the start small and local if possible, work for cheap, but write as if it’s the New Yorker. One clip always leads to the next, even if you’re working your way to a different genre. The key is persistence.

Is the tween writing something you would like to stay in for awhile, or do you have ideas for other types of writing?
I love writing for tweens—they’re a great audience to write for, very open and interested in solid, good stories that relate to their lives. I love the genre, and the furthest I plan to venture from it is the teen genre. So, instead of writing a story set in junior high, I might write a story set in high school.

Do you read other tween authors? Do you think you model your writing after any? Who is your favorite?
I feel that reading other writers in my genre is part of my job. I love Jenny Han’s book “Shug,” anything by Rachel Cohn, and I idolize Meg Cabot. She is the queen of all things teen and tween. I try not to model myself after anyone, and just write what’s inside me.

What's next for you?
My next book is due out in October of this year, and it’s called “Total Knockout: Tale of an Ex Class President.” It’s a brand-new book that has nothing to do with my first book. It’s got boxing, politics and a little bit of love in it, and I’m so excited for everyone to read it!

Taylor's website: www.taylormorris.com

Another Writing Contest & an Essay Outlet

2008-01-24T05:30:00.000-06:00

Peace Writing Annual International Writing Awards Reminder: Deadline for Submissions Extended to February 1, 2008 Offered annually by Peace and Justice Studies Association and Omni: Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology, for unpublished books. PeaceWriting encourages writing about war and international nonviolent peacemaking and peacemakers. PeaceWriting seeks book manuscripts about the causes, consequences, and solutions to violence and war, and about the ideas and practices of nonviolent peacemaking and the lives of nonviolent peacemakers. Three categories: Nonfiction Prose (history, political science, memoirs); Imaginative Literature (novels, plays, collections of short stories, collections of poetry, collections of short plays); and Works for Young People. Open to any writer. The entry deadline has been extended until February 1, 2008. Prize: $500 in each category. For more information, contact Mr. Dick Bennett 2582 Jimmie, Fayetteville AR 72703-3420. (479)442-4600. E-mail: jbennet@uark.edu. Website: http://www.omnicenter.org/.

Chicken Soup Book Call for Submissions: Just in time for the 2008 national conventions, our two "We The People" books mix politics and soul (yes, it's possible) for Republicans and Democrats.
Next, our new "Ultimate" series debuts in September 2008 with the first three titles featuring our favorite four-legged companions; dogs, cats, and horses. This new series will include full-color photos, great stories, and must-know info on each topic.
Although the deadline for material on these titles is March 15, 2008, we appreciate submissions coming in early.
http://www.theultimatedoglover.com/
http://www.theultimatecatlover.com/
http://www.theultimatehorselover.com/
http://www.democratsoul.com/
http://www.republicansoul.com/

I'm Bursting With the News

2008-01-22T06:01:00.000-06:00

When I was a child, my mother belonged to the "Book of the Month Club," and we had a library in our own home. The first "big" book I read was "Jonathon Livingston Seagull," but it wasn't long before I developed my mother's passion for horror and true crime.
We came from the state that produced the setting for "In Cold Blood," but the first true crime novel I remember reading was "Helter Skelter." I followed that up with Capote's book that started the genre.
When I began my freelance career, the only thing that would draw me to a full time newspaper staff position was covering cops and courts.
It's always been my dream to write a true crime novel.
This year, I will get that chance. I've been in negotiation for over a month with Trails Books to write a true crime anthology of murders in Kansas.
This week, the deal was accepted by both parties and was signed and sealed. Hopefully, the final signed contract, along with my advance, will be delivered soon as well.
The book, "Blood on the Prairie: Shocking Kansas Murders," (due September '09), will include the BTK case and while I have to have the final outline approved by the editor, most likely the Richard Grissom, John Robinson and Lizabeth Wilson - a case that made me so incredibly sad as a child because I empathized with this little girl walking home from the neighborhood pool and suddenly vanishing. I even wrote about it in my diary and kept newspaper clippings on the case.
Of course, the book wouldn't be complete without the Clutter family murders, the case that inspired Capote to write "In Cold Blood," but I've already confirmed with my publisher they don't expect a Pulitzer. :)
How did I find the publisher?
Well, although I had written a book proposal several suggesting a round up of notorious cases on both sides of the state line in Kansas City, I was no longer shopping that proposal, after several agents and small regional publishers told me they didn't think such a book would sell.
Trails Books, however, published a book called "Got Murder?" a book on killings in Wisconsin - which includes the stories of Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer and the hatchet murders of Frank Lloyd Wright's lover. The book is considered successful for the small, Madison based publisher and is currently enjoying a second printing.
With BTK in the news and the Clutter murders still one of the most infamous cases in history, the Trails decided that Kansas would be a good place to look at next.
They posted for a writer on the jobs board of ASJA, an organization of which I'm a member and a collegue who knows my interest and experience in investigative crime reporting contacted me.
Unfortunately, my book proposal from years ago is still in a file cabinet at the back of a storage locker 300 miles away in KC, but I drew from my memory and an evening of Internet research and put another, shorter proposal together. The editor contacted me that very evening and the publisher and I began negotiations within a week. The holidays slowed the process down, but we finally reached an agreement and I signed the contract last week.
The one tip I can give to people is that if you don't have an agent and are negotiating a book contract on your own, make sure you either know what you're doing, or enlist help. I asked another colleague with contract experience to help me and he found several points I wouldn't have caught in the contract that could have left me either legally vulnerable or with less than I ended up with (you can only get what you want if you ask).
Also, conduct a lot of research on your prospective publisher.
The other lesson is to use networking to your full advantage. My business background taught me to do this early on in my freelance career and it has helped me time and time again.
Now, wish me luck. I have a lot of research and work to do - my writer's studio will be a welcome work place to get it accomplished.

Pooch Photo Contest

2008-01-17T05:49:00.000-06:00

I usually don't mess with contests, but this one looks too fun!

Hallmark wants to know whohas the funniest pet photo in America -- and the wit to craft a clever"birthday" sentiment to go along with it. Today Hallmark Cards, Inc., iskicking off "YourPets," a competition in which consumers will enter petphoto birthday card designs, Hallmark will print and sell the finalists,and America will vote on the best. The winner with the most online voteswill receive a $1,000 grand prize and a trip to Hallmark.
"YourPets" is the second in a series of ongoing card competitionsHallmark introduced in November. While the first competition encouragedconsumers to design a card corresponding with Hallmark's partnership with(PRODUCT) RED -- the finalists of which currently are for sale onhttp://www.Hallmark.com/you - - the second rendition is all about ourfavorite four-legged friends and the things they do to make us smile. In"YourPets," Hallmark is encouraging pet owners to dig through their photoalbums and submit the funniest, most endearing, cutest, silliest, or mostcreative pet photos along with a corresponding "birthday" sentiment for achance to win.
"Hallmark consumers have never been shy about sharing their ideas fornew greeting cards with us -- including sending us their funny pet photos-- and we love to hear from them," said Lindsey Roy, senior product managerat Hallmark. "In fact, we want to encourage it. With these competitions,we're giving our fans an opportunity to turn those great ideas into realHallmark cards. Even better, we want them to select the winner. We can'twait to see which one of their touching pet photos will win America'sheart."
If every dog has its day ... is today the day for your dog?
To enter the Hallmark "YourPets" competition, log on tohttp://www.Hallmark.com/you Jan. 14 - Feb. 3, 2008. Sixty-seven finalistswill each win $250 cash, and their cards will be printed by Hallmark andsold both online at http://www.Hallmark.com/you and in more than 10,000stores. The 67 finalist card designs in the pet picture contest will beselected based on:
-- Sendability (how easily the card can be sent to multiple people) -- Theme (how well it fits the funny pet birthday photo theme) -- Humor/cohesiveness of caption (how well the pet photo and writing go together) Finalists will be posted on http://www.Hallmark.com/you starting March3, 2008.
The top dog
After the finalists are announced, America will choose the winner.Through an open online voting process, one Grand Prize winner will beselected whose card will be available for sale athttp://www.Hallmark.com/you for at least a year and may become part ofanother card collection. The Grand Prize also includes a $1,000 cash prizeand trip to Hallmark with his/her pet for a professional photo shoot andworkshop with Hallmark's creative team. Complete contest rules are postedon the Web site. No purchase is necessary.

Opportunity Dances

2008-01-15T05:30:00.000-06:00

Today, I interview Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt, author of the new book, "You Think It's Easy Being the Tooth Fairy?" Sheri tells us how she got the inside track on this mysterious woman, as well as sharing her thoughts on platform and her views on what makes a good children's book.

Tell us about yourself.
I am an award-winning freelance writer and editor who pens features and profiles of people and places for businesses, websites and publications. I’ve written for American Profile, Family Circle, Ladies' Home Journal, The Washington Post, inflights, and lots of regional mags. I also write books and reviews.

Tell us about "You Think It's Easy Being the Tooth Fairy?"
My book is about a James Bondish tooth fairy – an “action gal” who “lives for danger and suspense” as she makes her nightly tooth hauls. She doesn’t rely on fairy dust, but on her cool high-tech gadgets. She zips along on her jet-propelled tooth board, for instance, and she uses her amazing Tooth-o-Finder, which looks like a watch, but the face shows the continents. As each kid’s tooth drops out of his or her head, the Tooth-o-Finder picks up its distinctive “ting, ting, ting” – think homing beacon – which is how the Tooth Fairy knows when and where to pick up teeth. Another cool gadget is her Spy-o-Binoculars, which she uses to scope out each kid’s house to “plan her entry.” The rest of the book shows the obstacles the Tooth Fairy has to deal with – such as pesky pets (“Cats want to swat me, squash me, squeeze me, even eat me”) – as well as things kids do themselves – such as hiding their teeth deep in their pajama pocket or in their smelly sock. Basically, the book is a night in the life of the Tooth Fairy, told from her perspective, and her instructions on where kids should place their teeth so that she can zip in and out. She does have to get around the entire planet before morn!

How did you come up with the idea for this book?
I decided to take a Highlights Foundation workshop, on writing picture books, at the Foundation’s headquarters in Honesdale, PA. About a week before the workshop, I still had yet to come up with a picture book draft, which was one of the requirements. Nothing like pressure to get your muse working! So that morning I decided I wasn’t getting out of bed until I came up with a story. For some reason I got to thinking about Santa, and then my mind then traipsed through all the story characters I read about as a child. For some reason I stopped on the Tooth Fairy. Why, I wondered, was she always pictured as this winged dainty creature, when nightly hunts for teeth probably took a lot of effort? That’s how my story was born.

You've had a pretty diversified writing career, your first books were for others wanting to build a career and you've seemingly made a switch to young children's books. How did you do that?
You’re right. I started my writing career by writing newspaper articles, then magazine articles for the adult market. But then I began to itch to write books. I didn’t have the guts to write an adult book, so I approached a children’s educational publisher to see if I could wrangle myself a book project. I was willing to write anything just to get my name on a book spine! So my first three books were career guides geared to middle and high school students, for Thomson Gale. They were a lot of work, as I had to interview a lot of people working in art, law, and the military, as each chapter (six or seven in each book) highlighted a different career. I basically told kids what they could expect as far as job duties, pay, work hours, stresses, joys, etc., buoyed by quotes from my interview sources. I don’t recommend that route to other writers, and not only because of the work-for-hire arrangement, which generates no copyright or further income. Those books were hard to write because of the strict style and format requirements. Can you say “dry”?! And the editing process was excruciating. But the books had one up side: they convinced me I could tackle a book length manuscript. With that experience under my belt, I went after an opportunity to write two children’s activity books for Nomad Press, a small educational publisher, for readers nine and up. One is called “Great World War II Projects You Can Build Yourself,” the other is “Amazing Maya Inventions You Can Build Yourself.” I’m very proud of them. Hey, can I share a quote on my wall by my computer. It reads: “Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor.” I think that’s so true. Really, once you decide you can do something, you find opportunities presenting themselves. So that’s why I then wrote a middle grade novel and my tooth fairy picture book. “Why not?” I asked myself. I’ve been able to write everything else I’ve tried. The novel is still unpublished, but my agent believes it will sell, and Tooth is selling very well. In fact, I’ve earned out my advance in just six months and it’s been scheduled for a second printing by Chronicle. ;-

Talk about 'platform,' the buzz word in book publishing today. How does a writer concentrate on building a platform and still concentrate on writing?
Writers have to wear a lot of hats—and they have to become masters of focus and time management. It has taken me a while to get comfortable with the marketing side of the biz, but it’s a necessity if you want your books to sell well. Specific to platform, we have to “help” people “see” us as we want to be viewed. But the word “platform” doesn’t necessarily mean expertise in an area. It might just mean that your father is the President.

If we writers can find a way to get connected to something, and have others accept us in that role, then we have a platform. Actually, I think a writer can have numerous platforms. I certainly intend to build one as a funny picture book author, but that’s not the whole of who I am or will become. I love it, actually, when people list ALL of their “platforms” in their bio. You know, like: “actress, yoga instructor, publicist, chef, and author.” I think, “What an interesting person!”

What is the single most effective marketing you do when your books come out?
I use my email tagline to promote my books. Right now my tagline even includes part of the review Tooth received from Kirkus Reviews, which is one of the pubs that librarians read before deciding what they’ll order for their libraries. I’ve had a lot of people reply to an email and say, “I didn’t know you wrote all that!” I also think e-newsletters are also very effective at reminding people that you’re out there. Too, I think collecting contact info on my writer site is good business, because the info can be used in a lot of different ways.

How do you diversify your business between writing books, writing for magazines and doing speaking, editing, etc.
I just finished writing up a marketing plan for You Think It's Easy Being the Tooth Fairy?, so any other deadlines have to work around that. I’m also actively building my school visit “platform,” because school visits can be quite lucractive. I know several authors who average a school visit every week!

What is the secret to a successful children's book?
That’s a tough question, because writing is so subjective. What I like, you may yawn over. What you like, I might think was a waste of electricity, ink, and trees. HA! But I do know one thing: kids have very short attention spans, so the dialogue has to really keep moving, and the story has to include characters that they can identify with or be enchanted by. Picture book text is helped immensely by the pictures, but a novel or chapter book must be strong enough to stand on its own. One of my favorite classics is A Wrinkle in Time. A more contemporary example is Love, Ruby Lavender.

Do you model your writing from anyone?
No. But I read a heck of a lot, so I hope the good writers are rubbing off on me!

Where can readers find your book and what's next for you?
You can find all of my books on the shelves of online bookstores, and you can walk into any bookstore and order them. Local bookstores/chains have my books on their shelves, as do some mega independent bookstores, like Powell’s Books in Portland, OR, but I don’t kid myself that Tooth is in every neighborhood store (yet!).

What’s next?
Getting my novel sold and writing more picture books. But I ‘d like to make most of my income in 2008 from school visits. That’s why I’m attending the ALA Winter Meeting in Philadelphia this weekend—face time with librarians is critical to getting national gigs.

A New Year with New Goals

2008-01-14T07:28:00.000-06:00

I'm announcing some changes in KC's Write For You - mainly that I will no longer be able to post to the blog 5 times a week. My goals this year include building in areas of writing specialties, and that includes maintaining my new blog, "Going Green in the Ozarks" http://www.goinggreenintheozarks.blogspot.com/ I'm posting there on Monday and Wednesday.
And, given the fact I still need to make a living with my writing, I'm having to split my working hours between the two blogs.
Don't worry, I'm still posting author interviews here on Tuesdays and doing at least one other helpful post for writers on Thursdays. But check back often, if I find a good job listing, I'll go ahead and make an extra post.
Thanks for reading!

Reinventing Yourself as a Writer

2008-01-10T06:08:00.000-06:00

Almost three years ago I attended a conference that gives writers a chance at one on one meetings with editors. One of them said one of the worst things a writer can tell him is that they are a generalist.
That didn't sound good to me since I had always prided myself on being able to write on almost any subject.
Since that time, I've been trying to reinvent myself to highlight my strongest points of expertise. What did I do before getting into writing, what had I written most about? What did I want to write?
Before embarking on my writing career, I spent almost two decades working in retail and mortgage credit. I had written newsletters, training manuals, whitepapers and marketing materials. However, when I entered the world of writing, I wanted to be as far away from that life as possible.
But it's never too late to draw upon your skills. Last year, I landed a steady gig writing on the banking industry. This year, when I drew up my business plan, I sprinkled in a mix of business writing (where I have a strong background) with what I like to write - animals/pets, travel and sustainable living.
The key, I think, of not getting burned out with writing is to reinvent yourself every once in awhile. Find a new focus and go for it.
Oh, and I was encouraged when I read on a recent thread to a writers forum that some successful writers still consider themselves generalists and it doesn't hurt their careers at all.
Specializing doesn't mean we have to give up everything else, it just highlights our stregnths.

Please visit my new green blog, the place to be if you're green at going green:
http://www.goinggreenintheozarks.blogspot.com/

Autos or Pharmacy Writers Wanted

2008-01-09T07:30:00.000-06:00

Specialized writers needed for auto industry or pharmacy:

Seeking Freelance Writers for ForbesAutos.com
ForbesAutos.com seeks talented freelance writers to pitch interesting story ideas related to car buying, car ownership, and car culture. In-depth reporting for each story is required. Experience covering the auto industry is preferred, but not required. More important are top-notch reporting and writing skills, ability to meet deadlines, and a sense of personal ownership of each story submitted. Send resume and clips to info@forbesautos.com.

Freelance Contributor - Pharmacy Trade Publication
We are seeking writers who can research, do interviews and submit 1,500 to 3,000-word feature stories for a 5-year old pharmacy trade publication. You get a byline and are compensated $150 for each 1,500-word feature or $300 for each 3,000-word feature. Our stories are general interest in nature and not technical/scientific. They are provocative, often times controversial and always interesting. If you reply, please include writing samples.

Handling Topical Subjects During Long Book Projects

2008-01-08T06:34:00.000-06:00

Today, I interview Maryn McKenna. Her book, "SUPERBUG: The Death and Life of Drug-Resistant Staph and the Danger of a World without Antibiotics" will not be released until 2009. Maryn talks about medical writing, as well as handling a subject that's topical right now in a book that won't be released for another year.

Please tell us about yourself.
I'm a freelance print and Web journalist specializing in infectious disease, public health and health policy. I went freelance 18 months ago after spending 20 years as a medical and science writer at four newspapers, ending as the CDC reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That experience fueled my first book, BEATING BACK THE DEVIL: On the Front Lines with the Disease Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (more on that below). Now I write for a variety of national magazines and journals (SELF, More, Annals of Emergency Medicine) and also for a well-read infectious-disease website, CIDRAP News (http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/), where I just completed a 10,000-word series on the obstacles to achieving a pandemic-flu vaccine. There is more about me at my personal website: http://www.marynmckenna.com/; and I am blogging my way through the MRSA book at http://drugresistantstaph.blogspot.com/.

Please tell us about your book, SUPERBUG: The Death and Life of Drug-Resistant Staph and the Danger of a World without Antibiotics.

The book grew out of a major feature I did last February for SELF Magazine <http://www.self.com/livingwell/articles/2007/01/0207bugdrugs_1_of_5>. As a medical reporter, I had been tracking and writing about drug-resistant staph (generally called MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staph aureus, after one drug from the class of drugs it is resistant to) for a while.
I had noticed that most of the MRSA community outbreaks that had been written up tended to skew male: football teams, high school athletes, jail inmates, and so on. I had the sense, based on my regular reads of medical journals, that the male identification was out of date. I met Sara Austin of SELF at the Association of Health Care Journalists (http://www.healthjournalism.org/) conference and proposed to her that I do a piece looking at MRSA as an under-appreciated threat to women and children. She agreed, we did the piece, and it got tremendous response plenty of reader letters, and also segments on the TODAY and Montel shows.
Based on that response, my agent Susan Raihofer and I thought there was a larger story here, and so we wrote up a quick proposal only about 20 pages, compared to the 80 pages that my first proposal took. Several publishers were interested and bid, but the book went in the end to Free Press, part of Simon & Schuster and publishers of my first book. It is due out in 2009.
The book is envisioned as a sort of biography of MRSA, something that will answer the questions: How did we get here?, How did this get so bad? and What are the obstacles to making this better? The classic form of a science book is the heroic investigator championing his discovery against all obstacles. This is not that book: There is no single hero though staph makes an intriguing villain.

My mother died last February 2007 from complications of MRSA, "The Super Bug." When she was diagnosed, we had never heard of it, although she probably contracted it as early as 2004. Is this why you felt it important to write the book?

I'm sorry for your loss, and I can say from even my preliminary research that there are many, many families in the same situation as yours, and so many of them feel isolated. I absolutely do feel that the staph story has been going on much longer than most people realize. The first reports of hospital-associated staph came out in the 1960s; the first medical-journal recognition that something odd and different was going on in the community came in 1999 with a small article in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, or MMWR, which is the best-read magazine you've never heard of. (It also carried the first report of the first AIDS cases to be recognized in the United States.)

Why do you think drug resistant staph didn't receive much press until late this year? My suspicions are that it was mainly only affecting elderly, but when it started showing up in schools, it garnered more attention. Do you think this had something to do with it?

Here's what I think is going on now. In many infectious-disease epidemics, there is a period of time when the disease is recognized, but considered a limited risk, usually because it affects only a discrete group. For some diseases, there comes a point where the risk group expands to the entire population and that expansion often comes as a significant shock that ripples through society. Much the same thing happened with AIDS: Originally it was thought of mainly as a disease of gay men and a few other risk groups, but in the late 1980s-early 1990s there was a moment when people realized it was also a heterosexual and broadly blood-borne risk, a sort of collective recognition of, "Oh my God, we're all in danger." I think much the same thing is happening now: People are realizing that MRSA potentially threatens themselves and their children. Not very many people cared about MRSA when it was affecting thousands of jail inmates, or causing grave skin infections in gay men who attended California sex clubs. Now that it has been shown to infect and occasionally kill average adults and children, concern and uncertainty are much more widespread.

The book is not scheduled to be released until 2009. Are you afraid some of the information may be irrelevant at that point - is this one of the major challenges facing medical journalists who write books on timely topics?

Absolutely it concerns me. This happens all the time to journalists: You start work on something, hoping that you have spotted a trend before it crests, and then events scoop you. This actually happened with my first book also: I was writing a narrative and history of the federal government's disease-detective SWAT teams, ferreting out the stories of outbreaks on which they had deployed, and in the midst of my research the international SARS epidemic sent the teams on the largest deployment in their history. I despaired at first, thinking that there would be nothing else to say when the book came out, but as it happened, that epidemic and then the spread of avian flu later that year kept the concept of "disease detectives" alive in the public mind and increased interest when the book came out. I hope the same thing will happen this time. I feel pretty confident that MRSA is not going to become a less important problem in the next 18 months.

How did you conduct your research for this book?

I work on two tracks, medical and personal. For the medical, I do my best to find every medical-journal article ever written on the topic, both past ones (using the PubMed interface to the National Library of Medicine, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed) and new ones (using a �My NCBI� alert through PubMed). Then I try to figure out who are the most important or innovative researchers, and I try to interview them and to visit them if they'll let me. For the personal, I look for victims and victims' families. I set up Google Alerts to catch things in local newspapers, and post notices in every relevant electronic bulletin board I can find.
I have post-graduate training (through the Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellowships at University of Michigan, http://www.mjfellows.org/) in the social history of epidemics. I�m always looking, when I tell the story of a disease, for historical background that allows me to set the outbreak within the context of the time. Here's an example: While reporting the series on pandemic vaccines that I recently finished, I discovered that independent authorities had been calling for vast ramp-ups in flu-research funding since 1986. But what else was happening in 1986? It was the earliest days of US government response to AIDS: Rock Hudson, the celebrity who made the disease real to much of America, died in October 1985. Figuring out that context made it easier to understand why calls for expanded flu research - research that could have protected us against the current pandemic threat - had been ignored.
I also accept that I am going to run up against something totally foreign to me that I am going to have to learn in depth pretty quickly. That's happened in every big project I've done as a journalist, and I'm facing it right now with this book. It's forcing me to delve into drug development and microbiology, two subjects on which I am weak and need to get up to speed quickly!

What was the most interesting medical story you've done?

Hmm, wow. There have been so many that I both was intellectually intrigued by and also felt deeply about. Just in the past few years, there was the scientist who recognized the first cases of AIDS in America, but didn't get to put his name to the observations until many years later; a woman who suffered the first described case of West Nile Virus paralysis, and who five years later is still struggling to regain her health; the World Health Organization physician who first warned the West of the dangers of the SARS epidemic and then lost his own life to the disease; the Thai village that was nearly wiped out by the 2004 tsunami but that recreated itself in a refugee camp with immense dignity and bravery.
Right now, aside from MRSA, the story that most engages me is the ongoing recovery of New Orleans. I reported from the city for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution during Hurricane Katrina and as a freelancer have gone back roughly every 6 months since. Right now I am writing about the linked crises of emergency-room capacity and mental-health care.

How do you make medical and scientific topics interesting and readable for the general public?

Two things are essential. The first thing is, you have to really understand the science in order to be able to explain it in simple language without making mistakes. This does not require scientific training; it does require being willing to ask questions very patiently and thoroughly and often, at the risk of feeling stupid, until you are sure you have it right.
The second thing is, the story cannot be about the science! The story must be about people, and their experience of the problem or challenge or disease, with the science secondary. Readers are not engaged by data. Narrative is what touches their hearts.

Tell us about your awards for Beating Back the Devil: On the Front Lines with the Disease Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service

I've been fortunate to receive awards from both sides of the aisle, as it were. The book was named a "Best Science Book of the Year" by Amazon and a "Best Book" by the NPR program Science Friday, and an "Outstanding Academic Title" by the American Library Association. Also, I was named "Georgia Author of the Year."

Where can people find your award winning book?

Amazon! It has the deepest discount. Search for the title, or use the "Books" page on my website.

Monday, Monday

2008-01-07T05:52:00.000-06:00

The thing I love about the freelance life this morning is when I don't feel well, I can go back to bed and see if I can feel better.
I'll be back tomorrow with another author interview.

Writers Wanted for Encyclopedia Work

2008-01-04T05:58:00.000-06:00

Pay seems a little low to me, but might be good for someone needing a project to get them through the first half of 2008:

Writers Needed -- Literary Biography - Contract (Comp: Per article based on length, roughly equal to $20/hour) (telecommute) cjohnson@anaxosinc.com : (http://www.anaxosinc.com/), a publishing services company, needs world literature writers to assemble hundreds of literary biography articles for an upcoming high-school-level encyclopedia. This is a freelance, contract, work-from-home position. Articles will average 2,000 words and will be drawn largely from existing encyclopedia articles. The writing task involves fitting existing material into a new article rubric; researching and writing new material as necessary; simplifying language to make it appropriate for high school readers. The encyclopedia will include biographies of both ancient and modern writers from around the world. Ideal candidate will have: *educational background in world literature, MA preferred *professional writing experience *ability to meet deadlines without fail Work starts January 21, ends early June. Workload is flexible. Writers may take on multiple articles with deadlines spread out over several months or only a few articles. If interested, please send a resume to cjohnson@anaxosinc.com. No phone calls please. Treat the body of your email as your cover letter and include information about your work and qualifications. Qualified candidates will be contacted via email.

Magazines vs. Newspapers

2008-01-03T06:30:00.000-06:00

This came from a job listing I had in my box this morning that gave the writers guidelines for 5280 Magazine, a local Denver publication. The difference between newspaper and magazines articles has been long debated and I found it interesting that the editor placed this in their guidelines. What do you think, do you agree?

We're looking for writers who understand the difference between newspaper and magazine writing. This is a subjective matter, of course, but it boils down to a difference both in how we approach a story and how we tell it. Newspapers (and television) typically cover the Who, What, When, and Where. That leaves us with the Why and How. Put another way, a good magazine article should answer the question "What does it mean?" Because our readers are well-informed, they may already be aware of the topic you're covering. This means that your article must offer insight that goes beyond a simple recitation of facts. For example, the dailies may be reporting that monthly home sales figures continue to soar. It's up to you to step back, put the numbers in perspective, and offer guidance to the reader who wonders whether now is the time to put his or her home on the market. Newspapers tend to rely on official sources. It's our job to also include the voices of the people whose lives are actually affected by the issues being covered. If the newspapers report that burglaries are up in a particular Denver neighborhood, it's up to us to find the victims of those crimes and to convey their experiences in a compelling way. Finally, a magazine story is told with style. Tom Wolfe once likened newspaper writers to golf announcers, whispering in the background so as to not interrupt the play. The magazine writer's aim is to craft a story that is every bit as entertaining to read as it is informative. WHAT WE EXPECT Too often, writers who are new to magazines think that they have been freed from the drudgery of old-fashioned reporting, and can now exercise their long repressed literary aspirations. Not so. Because we have longer to prepare an issue, our articles deserve to be held to an even higher standard of accuracy and professionalism than those published in the dailies. But unlike a newspaper story, which typically presents both sides of an issue and leaves the reader to draw his or her own conclusion, our writers must be able to formulate a reasoned and well-grounded reaction to the subject matter. Again, your article should answer the question "What does it mean?" Articles should be strongly organized and clearly presented. Unlike the newspaper's inverted pyramid, magazine articles have a beginning, a middle, and an end. The magazine writer has many of the novelist's tools -- dialog, description, narrative, and point of view, to name a few -- at his or her disposal. Your writing should have personality. It's worth pointing out, however, that this is not a license for self indulgence. Remember that Picasso was an accomplished traditional painter before embracing more abstract techniques. In particular, the first person should be used only when it truly advances the story. No one cares that you arrived late for your interview, or that you ordered the fish and she had the veal. Above all else, of course, your finished product must have a strong local feel.

Figuring for Six

2008-01-02T05:45:00.000-06:00

Thanks for the two week break, and for coming back! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and that you're ready for a new year. I know I am. My year was full of the worst lows, as well as the greatest highs, and I'm just ready to see what life has to offer in 2008.
If you're like me, your writing business goals include increasing your income.
Today, I interview Marica Turner, who speaks on six-figure freelancing, as well as doing an e-newsletter. To sign up, simply go to www.becomeasixfigurewriter.com and sign up.
Enjoy and Happy New Year!

Tell us about yourself.

Well, I’m not one of those people who knew all their life that they were destined to be a writer. Far from it, actually.

My mother was a freelance writer when I was young, but I didn’t realize that until later. All I knew was that writing came easily to her and that, apparently, I had not inherited that gene.

Fortunately, I attended a liberal arts college (Wellesley), where I had to write papers – hundreds of papers, it seemed. And over the course of three-and-a-half years, I became more adept at the process of researching and writing. When I entered the University of Michigan MBA program and began receiving A’s on my papers, it dawned on me that I had become a decent writer. From there I began to seek out opportunities to write.

I went to work in marketing at a unit of Eastman Kodak Company here in Rochester, New York, and gained some great experience writing corporate pieces. I also wrote my first book – a guide for artists and gallery owners regarding how to market their work – during that time. From there, my writing career took off and I left Kodak to be on my own. I was offered a book editing gig, then another book project, and eventually figured out how to pitch magazine editors effectively and began getting magazine assignments.

Although I now have a fairly steady stream of book and magazine assignments coming in, I’m always in search of writing tools that will help me become more efficient and proficient at writing – that is, faster and better.

I know that many writers want a magic potion to increase their income, but we all know it is a business and it takes work. What is the first step, generally, that freelancers should do?

I think anyone who’s hoping to make a decent amount of money at writing, whether on the side or as a full-time or part-time career, needs to start by assessing what they’re good at, or what their interests are.

Many writers start by pitching a million different articles to a million different editors, most of which they are not qualified to write. But if they start by looking at the industries they’ve worked in, the circles they travel in, or what they spend their days thinking about, they’ll be able to choose three or so different areas of expertise on which to build a business.

Kelly James-Enger calls these specialties in her fabulous book, Ready, Aim, Specialize, but I don’t think you necessarily have to limit yourself completely to those one or two or three areas, just use them to establish a base of business for yourself. You can expand later, once you have a track record with several editors.

For example, I started by coming up with marketing-related articles based on what I had seen and heard through the years in the field. I also pitched small business stories, again, because that’s what I knew. And editors bought them. I pitched more and they bought those, too.

Once writers have identified a handful of areas of expertise, they should start brainstorming article ideas that makes use of their knowledge base and network. And then research magazines, trade journals, or book publishers that would most likely be interested in the subject. Sure, there are thousands of possible editors you could sell the idea to, but which are most likely to buy it.

Another piece of advice I’d offer is - if you are relatively new to freelancing - to go where editors are likely to give a new writer a shot. Editors at major women’s magazines, daily newspapers, or top business publications aren’t looking to give a new writer their big break. On the contrary – they only want to deal with writers who have a solid track record in their sector. So start with trade journals and regional publications that frequently have writing assignments at-the-ready, and work your way up to the household name magazines.

Similarly, in book publishing, start by identifying agents with whom you might like to work, based on the types of books they frequently represent. Then partner with one you like in order to market your manuscript ideas to top publishers.

What is the single biggest mistake that freelancers usually make in keeping their income level lower than they would like?

Well, if I’m any guide, I’d say the biggest mistake freelancers make is assuming they can’t make more than they already are. For several years I believed my income had peaked, presumably because I had simply reached my limit in terms of the number of assignments I could take on in a year. I was content with the amount I was making, but when I heard a fellow ASJAer reveal his $200,000+ annual income, I was inspired to take another look at how I was doing business.

I started by grading all my clients based on the hourly rate I could earn from them and the quality of the relationship – clients who were difficult to work for received a lower grade. And then I stopped writing for clients who earned a D or F grade and began pursuing better-paying publications and assignments to fill my A and B ranks.

I also committed to making the most of my time, so I could get more work done in a day. And I started tracking my projects using TraxTime, to make sure I was billing in full for my time and to verify I had a good handle on how much time each assignment required.

Earlier this year I spoke on the Six-Figure Freelancing panel at ASJA in the hopes of sharing some of what I learned about boosting my writing income – I’ve managed to move from around $30,000 to close to $200,000 in a few short years. I also started writing a monthly ezine to encourage other writers who wonder how to make a six-figure living, which is available at http://www.becomeasixfigurewriter.com/.

As you said, it takes work, but any writer can increase their income by focusing on what they know and then pitching ideas on that subject to magazines and book publishers, and keeping the funnel full of upcoming projects, so there’s never a major lull in work or revenue.

The Shortest Day of the Year

2007-12-21T05:43:00.000-06:00

I procrastinated this week. Writers are notorious about this and for me at least, there's probably some deep seeded psychological reason.
Most of the time I don't know why I do it, but this week I figured it out.
Today is my mom's 83rd birthday. Most of you know my mother died on February 23 this year from complications of MRSA (the Super Bug). Mom was also weakened by years of smoking.
My mom always used to tell the story about how, when she was a child, she felt very slighted for having been born on the "shortest day of the year."
That is, until her mother explained to her that the shortest day just meant the shortest day of daylight.
I saved most of my work for yesterday and today - and those of you who have tried to reach sources on the day before most people will take off for a long holiday weekend know how busy it can be trying to track down interviews.
I hardly had time to think yesterday.
I hope that the same will hold true today, as allowing myself to miss my mom today would mean it would be the longest day of the year.

Book Publicity Course

2007-12-20T05:50:00.000-06:00

Get the scoop on how to build buzz about your book from an expert:

Online book publicity workshop Feb. 4-29, 2008, helps authors build buzz Got a book coming out you want to hype? Has your publisher’s publicist moved on toother projects? Do you have a book in stores that you know deserves more mediaattention than it’s getting? Are you working on a proposal that would benefit from abetter understanding of what you can do to promote your book? You need “BookPublicity 101: How to Build Book Buzz,” a dynamic online course taught by a veteranpublicist and author. Offered February 4-29, 2008, the class is taught in a forum format, with lessons andhomework assignments posted online in a private, password-protected forum. Thehighly-interactive course covers:· How to create a book publicity blueprint you’ll be excited about · The single secret most authors don’t know about generating ongoing mediaexposure· The most effective and cost-efficient publicity tactics · How to generate buzz online using virtual book tours and other techniques· Radio and TV producer hot buttons · How to bring an energizing new level of creativity to your publicity efforts Students receive instructional materials and resources and complete weeklyassignments that help them discover how easy it is to create book buzz. Studentinteraction on the forum enhances the learning experience by offering freshperspectives and new ideas for all participants while instructor guidance and inputtakes your work to the next level. A free-for-all Q&A corner lets students getanswers to questions not covered in the course materials, making this ahighly-personalized learning experience for nonfiction and fiction authors. Registration is $179; Freelance Success subscribers receive a $20 discount. The class is taught by Sandra Beckwith, a recovering award-winning publicist;publisher of the free e-zine Build Book Buzz; and author of three books, includingtwo on publicity topics. Registration is limited to 20 students. Register at http://www.buildbookbuzz.com/workshops/book-publicity.htm; send courseinquiries to Beckwith at https://webmail.natcotech.com/src/compose.php?send_to=sb%40buildbookbuzz.com.

Chickens Not Hatched Yet

2007-12-19T06:45:00.000-06:00

This morning I was reminded why I don't want to shout my career news I mentioned last week before the chickens are hatched, so to speak.
Last week, on another project, I had what I thought was a great conference call for a project that would have taken me through February. I received verbal confirmation that I had the qualifications they were seeking and I was asked to make a couple of minor changes to my contract and send it back, along with a couple of writing samples so the other principles, who were not on the call, could get a feel for my work.
I received the research that was already completed and starting pouring them over.
When I didn't hear from the employers by this week, I had a little knot in my stomach, but tried to push that nagging feeling away. I sent a reminder that I still hadn't receive their signed contract and my retainer.
My confirmation came at midnight, while I slept, that for some reason, not explained to me, they were going to try to find another writer.
Poor communication on their part, I think, not to call me and explain. But it was probably poor communication on my part as well that I didn't follow up by last Friday - before I started working on the project.
So now instead of working on assignments already at hand, I will need to start marketing myself aggressively for work I had already *almost* hatched for the next month.
Don't count those chickens, writers, until the signed and dated contract is in your hot little hands.

Platforms Smatforms - A Writer Named Lisa

2007-12-18T06:35:00.000-06:00

Today, I interview Lisa Rogak, an author of over 40 books. Her latest, "A Boy Named Shel," is a biography about Shel Silverstein, the children's book author. Lisa talks about the writing process and gives us a different perspective on how important platforms are to writers. She also talks about soaking in traits of the subjects of her books and her next book, a bio on Stephen King.

Tell us about yourself.
I’m an independent book author and magazine journalist who’s been in the business for over 25 years with over 40 books to my credit. I’ve covered everything from cat quotes to baby names to funeral food customs, though in the last few years I’ve focused on writing biographies.
Writing has provided me with a fascinating, adventurous life. I wake up each morning looking forward to discovering what new things I’ll learn that day, which is something I think that everyone should strive for. After all this time, it never ceases to fascinate me that I have been able to make my living by indulging by curiosity and asking total strangers really nosy questions…

Tell us about your new book, "A Boy Named Shel."
It's the first full-length biography of Shel Silverstein, who was best known as a children's book author, but who was quite accomplished in other areas as well. He wrote A Boy Named Sue, The Unicorn, and Sylvia's Mother, wrote one-act plays with David Mamet, drew cartoons for Playboy for several decades, and lived in five different places strewn around the country. It was like writing five books instead of just one. It was by far the hardest work I've ever done, but also the most satisfying because of the stories I heard from his friends and the things I learned from my research.

You've written over 40 books and a huge variety of topics - from writers and their cats (The Cat on my Shoulder) to sabbaticals (Time Off From Work) to cemeteries in New England (Stones and Bones). Would you say earlier in your career that it wasn't necessary for authors to be focused on one particular "platform."

I still don't think it's necessary. All you need is one good idea, a killer proposal, and the ability to prove you can write artful and descriptive prose and that you're the best person to write that book.
One thing that peeves PhDs and professors in particular is that I explain that I'm still an apprentice, always learning. I mean, I still read books on writing aimed at beginners, and I learn tons of new stuff every time. The older I get the less I know, and the more books I write, it becomes more of a mystery how I do it. I don't question, however, that'll kill it cold.
And if I don't learn something new, why bother? That's why I'm currently writing my last biography.

You seem pretty focused now on biographies. What drew you to that?
I signed with a new agent and we decided that it was best for me to write bigger books than the ones I'd been doing. I'm currently under deadline for a biography of Stephen King, and this will be my last biography. Been there, done that, it's on to my first loves: comic fiction and historical disasters.

What is the most challenging aspect of doing a biography on someone who is already deceased?
Actually, I prefer writing about dead men; more people will talk to me. Even though I tell people who I'd like to interview that I write for the subject's fans, that I'm not a Kitty Kelley, and I show them my previous books to prove my approach, they turn me down.
I HATE the word "unauthorized biography." It implies that there's something sordid, unclean about it, when the truth is that in my experience, most unauthorized biographies are good cures for insomnia!

What kinds of releases or permission did you seek from Shel's family for the book
None. I contacted them, but they didn't reply. I'm used to it. You need a thick skin to be a writer and an even thicker one to write biographies because of the almost constant rejection. I NEVER take it personally.

How do you choose the subjects of your books?
With the biographies I've written, my agent and I go through a list of possible subjects and then cull them down with a list of questions. Is there a current biography out on them? What kind of interest exists for them? Do their fans tend to read books? What are the foreign rights potential for this book? And finally, do I want to live inside their skin for a year?

How did you find your agent/publisher?
I had been with several agents, and was ready for something new, something to take me beyond the niche-y books I'd written before. My current agent told me he wouldn't work with me if I still wanted to write the smaller books, and so I decided to give him a shot. He's done so well for me -- and me for him as well (!) -- that my nickname for him is Superagent.
I've done five books with him -- biographies on Dr Atkins, Dan Brown, Barack Obama, Shel Silverstein, and Stephen King (my next biography) -- and we're sticking with St Martins for now.

Making a living writing books is quite difficult. How do you mix writing books with writing magazine articles as part of your business plan.
I primarily write books and live off the advances from the North American publishers and foreign rights my agent sells. Income from magazine and online articles is a supplement.

Where can people find your book and what's next for you?
They can get it on Amazon, ask for it at bookstores, and through my website at lisarogak.com . I'm finishing up research for a biography on Stephen King, which will be published in the fall of 2008. Then it's on to an historical disaster and polishing two novels, one for adults and one for kids, both set in funeral homes.

What is the one thing you've learned from writing biographies?
When you write a biography and delve that deeply into another person’s life, it’s impossible not to take on some of their quirks. While some biographers may consciously don the persona of their subject from the start, mine crept up on me until one day I discovered I was living like them. I didn’t set out to do this deliberately, it’s part of the organic process of absorbing so much information about a person that it’s impossible not to start living his life. And it’s particularly jarring when that individual was highly complex and charismatic.
A few months into writing the Atkins bio, I started eating like a caveman – lots of red meat, the rarer the better – while also began baking lots of carb-laden sweets to balance things out. When I researched the biography of Dan Brown, I was inspired to keep going in all areas of my life regardless of the odds. After all, the reception to his first three novels was so discouraging that although he had his doubts about writing a fourth, he continued anyway. If he had given up, The Da Vinci Code would have never been published.
Shel Silverstein, the subject of my third biography, was off in so many creative directions – art, music, theatre, literature – and lived in so many different places that I was exhausted most of the time I was researching his life. I crashed and burned more than a few times. When I mentioned this to one of his friends in an interview, he laughed. “No one could keep up with Shel,” he said. After each manuscript was handed in, I fully expected to slip back into my own life and leave the borrowed ones behind. I’m still waiting. Instead, I retain pieces of each man in my life. To this day, I still bake like a fiend, keep going even when the odds are overwhelmingly against me, and juggle several different creative pursuits, sometimes to the point of exhaustion.
I like to write about writers. They fascinate me because I like to see what makes them tick, and how their work reveals themselves, usually unwittingly. Also, since I’ve been writing for more than 25 years, I learn new things from their own work habits. They also inspire me to branch out into new areas and styles of writing.
I've also become curious about the link that three of my subjects -- Shel, Dan & Steve -- have to music. All were/are musical, and this is my original training; I was supposed to be a classical pianist and go to Juilliard, but as you can tell from my wide variety of book subjects, I'm not very good at concentrating on just one subject. But I still play and perform locally, and music has played a big part in the lives of these three writers.
There have been several books on writers and alcohol; maybe I'll have to write one on writers and music...

Story Ideas

2007-12-17T05:39:00.000-06:00

On Friday, I saw a news story that was literally breaking on a health issue. Health isn't my area of expertise, but this subject has to do with the antibiotic resistant staph infection, MRSA. Since my mom died of complications from bacterial pneumonia caused by MRSA, this is a subject I'm very interested in.
By Saturday, I had thought of 3 angles and 3 non-competing outlets for this story. The queries are going out today.
This idea came from one news story and I hope results in at least one story. Where do you get your story ideas? And when you get them, do you try to find different angles to the story?