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When submitting your writing to a magazine or publisher, expect to include a short biography along with your pitch or query. While it should not matter as much as the quality of your writing, you want to make sure that your “bio” does not turn them off from the start. Even if you sometimes suffer from impostor syndrome, your bio is where you have unfettered license to brag about yourself and your accomplishments. This does not mean, however, that you should list every publication you’ve ever been in or award you’ve been nominated for – even if you’re very proud of that essay contest you won in fourth grade. Such bios make you come across as unprofessional or insecure. First, there are two golden rules: always stick to the word count, and always use third person. If you write in different genres, you’ll want to have bios for each genre. For instance, if you are a poet and a travel writer, you will want to have separate bios, each dependent upon the type of publication you are pitching to. Why have multiple bios? Let’s say you are reaching out to a top market like Conde Nast Traveler to pitch an More

Regardless how famous an artist is, they started as an unknown. It took writing several REALLY GOOD if not GREAT stories to gain traction. Then and only then did the public want to know who the author is. The public wants the picture and the story first and foremost. Only if they are attracted to it do they maybe want to know about the artist. Artists often grow so wrapped up in their work that they forget it isn’t about them. It isn’t about their struggle in traditional versus self-publishing. It isn’t about the research or how long it took to write the story. It isn’t about the hours put in or the doors slammed in their face. It’s about the subsequent final creation, and people liking that creation. That’s the ultimate priority. Writers, especially new ones, need to stop shouting ME, ME, ME. AVOID: I’m an author who wrote this story. INSTEAD: (Insert title) about (insert one liner) is available at (fill in the blank). AVOID: My book is on sale. INSTEAD: (Insert title) about (insert one liner) is available at (fill in the blank). AVOID: I’m tired of people not appreciating how hard it took to write this More

There are reasons you make presentations as an author, and they widely vary. This year, my appearances took place for the following purposes: 1) To discuss a particular book after the audience has read it., usually the newest release Edisto Heat, 2) To talk about how I became an author . . . my writer’s journey, so to speak. The audience is usually readers more than writers. 3) To talk about the details of writing a book/serious/genre. The audience consists of writers more than readers. 4) To talk anecdotes of being a writer. 5) To talk some aspect of FundsforWriters (grants, contests, crowdfunding, etc.) Note that the purpose “To sell books,” didn’t make the list. When I see an author signing or presenting, I can usually tell within two to three minutes that they are selling, not presenting. There’s something glaringly crass about letting an audience know you are there to sell books. No, instead, you are there to impress the audience. You are there to educate the audience. You are there FOR the audience, not for yourself. You let the moderator, book club president, librarian, or introducer, even the audience themselves, say or ask if books are for sale. The words More

Flourishing as a film and television writer today is as challenging as ever, especially in an age when online screenwriting “masterclasses,” open-source software, and direct-to-buyer email queries have broadened industry access to millions. As such, producers and agents need to be more discerning than ever when wading through material. How do they separate the pros from the amateurs? One way is to determine whether the writer is a member of the WGA. What exactly is the WGA and who can join? The WGA, or Writers Guild of America, represents writers in film, TV and radio, with branches in Los Angeles (WGAw) and New York (WGAe). Some mistakenly refer to it as a “union,” although it’s not – it’s a guild – meaning that while they collectively bargain rates and standards with the studios, they do not help their members find work. They are open to anyone who sells or is hired to write a script by a WGA signatory company. They do not represent book authors, journalists or columnists. What are the requirements for membership? The WGA website outlines their system for gaining membership, but here’s the need-to-know in a nutshell. They work on a “unit system.” Every time you More

A recent letter from a fan friend prompted me to share how important memoir is. And this might give you an idea on how to start a project in your own community, paid or otherwise. Dear Hope, I totally concur with you that you never know just how much putting one’s thoughts on paper means. Your recent Editor’s Thought Column gave me pause to share some thoughts about memoir writing.  As a junior high English teacher for more than 25 years, I had my students put their thoughts in three pages of a blue book weekly.  Some students barely made three pages, but some wrote much more.  Years later I ran into some of my former students who told me they still had their journals.  That made me very gratified, and one said she was glad I had her write her feelings about 9/11 which she values as a first-hand account of this event 20 plus years later. After retiring, I continued to journal and wanted to share this experience. I began to teach a memoir workshop at our local library.  That has become successful monthly gathering of mostly retirees who have share wonderful encounters such as being invited to More

As little girl, I wrote stories. I wrote fiction, silly songs, and bad poetry. In the 1980s, at a friends’ birthday sleepover, when camcorders were all the rage, the mother of the birthday girl pointed the camera at me and asked my nine-year-old self what I wanted to be. “A writer,” I said. “Oh, you want to be a nerd,” she teased. Everyone in the video laughed. After a B.A. in English, a master’s in communication, and part of a PhD in Language and Literature that I left and didn’t finish, I found myself underemployed with a young child. To make ends meet I pieced together blog writing with adjunct teaching for community colleges. When I found a job as editor of a very small-town newspaper, I grabbed it. I didn’t know AP style, and I had never done newspaper reporting, but this was my chance to really write. I convinced the publisher I could do so by taking a trial run and giving him a sample 500-word story. That smalltown newspaper turned out to be one of the best career moves I ever made. There’s not a lot of hard news in tiny towns. I mostly tell stories — More

Social media tattles on writers. I’m always dumbfounded when new writers fuss in writers groups and on personal pages about things like: 1) I’m sick of people not understanding how hard it is to write a book. 2) I gave away ten books and got one review. That’s theft. 3) Nobody is buying my poetry book. 4) I got a one-star review and can’t talk Amazon into taking it down. It’s false. Immediately, my gut reaction is to not buy that author’s work simply because of how they present themselves to the public. The public does not care about any of the above. They want to like the author and enjoy the read. They are not hoping to become a groupie, and they don’t want a writer to be work. They want to admire the writer and the story. That’s it. 1) Nobody but you needs to know how difficult it is to write a book. It is not a topic for public discussion. Maybe one-on-one with another writer feeling your pain, but not the world. 2) Giving away books is solely on you. You choose who to give them away to. I do not give away review copies unless More

People are so uncomfortable these days about anything subject to opinion. With just me stating that people are opinionated these days, will most likely result in emails asking me to define what my true intentions were in even saying so. That’s how sensitive people are. These days, we are afraid to write what’s in our heart, for fear of what others will think or how they will judge. We are afraid not to read what the world is yelling at us to read. We are afraid of getting something wrong. So much noise. A lot of people are likewise curling up into their hidey-holes to avoid the racket. A lot of writers are not writing. Some wrote me just last week, unsubscribing from FFW because they are fearful of writing anymore. In a time when the world is screaming and nobody is listening, be true to yourself for sanity’s sake. Write the story on your heart. Write for the publications that call to you. Read the pieces that will add quality to your life. Listening to too many opinions will dismantle you. Those who disagree with me, my stories, my website, or anything I attempt are just not my people More

The middle grade market is blowing up and authors are scrambling to get their share of the pie. It’s a big pie that seems to have room for everyone. As authors we draw a fine line between what kids deem fashionable reading and adults find cultivating, but how do you the author authentically write in middle grade voice? Of all the manuscripts submitted, only a few will shine enough to merit the prestigious favor of publishers, editors and agents. A major part of the appeal seems to be the ability to genuinely cross over to young readers. Most of my titles are middle grade, and when I speak at Writers’ Conferences, schools, libraries and Comic Cons, I will read an excerpt of a title. Many of the time I’m asked “How did you capture that voice? It sounds like a kid. How do you do that?” There’s no secret to this, but I guess as adults, we tend to forget the jargon, the feel – the voice of youth. Writing for kids can easily turn into a grown-up preaching, or talking down, and that is the last thing a young reader wants. They won’t get past page two before they More

Recently, one of the many groups I follow asked all of its members to join a review group for the summer. The goal was to review each others books, because it’s so difficult to get book reviews. For every review you received you owed a review. All you had to do was list your name, the title of the book, and where you’d like it reviewed. The message explained that writers wanted reviews as much or more than anything else. More than reader connection, contest wins, best-selling status, and sales growth. The intent was altruistic, but I decided against the offer. I’m asked to review books all the time. So much, in fact, that it can erode my goals. I review on Amazon and Goodreads every book I complete reading. My goal is 38-40 books per year. I’m ahead of my goal. I also have in mind the books I want to read for that list. Realistically, I understand that a book can cross my path that I never expected to capture my attention, and I may let it cut in line. But the books on my to-be-read list are: mystery, suspense, and/or on my local book club list. And More