I just finished reading an issue of The Hot Sheet, founded by writing and publishing industry guru Jane Friedman. I’m no dummy, and I like to keep up with at least some of the advances in my profession. The Hot Sheet is the most energetic, thorough, and comprehensive of any publication in the business, and I highly recommend it. The most recent issue covered Substack, Discord, BookTok, and Bookshop. Have you heard of them? Maybe not. I have heard of all four, but can only talk about, and talk lightly, two of them. Jane does a wonderful job of explaining them in layman’s terms as well as giving her personal opinion on how useful these tools can be in your efforts to be a published author. She also covered the blurring of some genre lines, like urban fantasy romance, and how that sells. How to sell to US Book Buyers of Color, and an intriguing new publishing business model called Zibby Books. And for those of you interested in textbooks, there’s a big dust-up between Pearson and Chegg. Okay. At this point, you’re either excited about these new opportunities, all this new news . . . or you are feeling overwhelmed. Or maybe More
How Writers Can Gain Visibility and Find Opportunities on the HARO Platform
/ 2021-09-24Any writer who hasn’t yet heard of the Help a Reporter Out (HARO) platform may be missing out on important opportunities. The site connects writers with sources, and it’s used by journalists, freelancers, and book authors alike. Public relations professionals use the platform to find outlets where they can potentially gain visibility for clients by contributing insights on relevant topics. For writers, after creating a free journalist profile, you’ll be able to post requests for interviews with or quotes from sources to fit any topic. For example, if you’re writing about cybersecurity, you can post a request for experts who can respond to a list of questions or who would be interested in being interviewed for a longer story. You can also request product samples to try if you’re writing a piece, such as “10 Items Every Backpacker Should Carry with Them on a Trip.” There are a few other ways writers can use HARO, and these involve registering as a source. 1. Gain visibility by responding to requests for quotes. Being quoted in articles or books can give you a boost of name recognition as a writer. One recent request was from a journalist who asked freelancers what skills they think More
Writer on Fire
/ 2021-09-24Writers love to write. Some want to tell stories. Some want to tell THEIR stories. Some want to reach out and spread their stories around the world. Some want either to make money or not write. Some write whether the stories sell or not. There are so many types of writers, with so many nuances of those types, that one can almost say no two writers are alike. “Find out who you are. And do it on purpose.” – Dolly Parton There’s writing. Then there’s writing with direction. Neither is wrong. However, there is something exciting about pointing your writing in a direction with a goal to reach whatever is on the horizon. In other words, a writer does have the option of taking charge of their writing instead of letting the writing do the driving. Having a map for your writing can be quite exciting. There is nothing so empowering as to be in charge. There is also nothing so scary as to be in charge. Decision-making is scary, and it takes research, drive, and willpower to direct that energy. That decision-making can mean defining who you are as a writer, what you write, and where you want to be More
In Defense of Literary Agents: It’s a Symbiotic Relationship
/ 2021-09-10When I explained to a non-writer friend what my agent did, he said, “So he takes your book, shows it to the people who are actually going to publish it, and takes a cut of the money you make. Sounds parasitic.” When you’ve just started looking for an agent (and received many rejections), it can feel like they’re all against you, but literary agents do a lot more than just siphon that pound of flesh off your work. They actually perform a lot of work, and they take a big risk when working with an author with an unproven track record. As an author who used to work at a literary agency, I can say that the agent-author relationship is completely symbiotic. The Finances Most literary agents are not rolling in money. Some make a comfortable living, but, unless an agent has managed to grow a list of best-selling authors, they don’t make much. In fact, other than the partners, an agent needs to bring in double their salary (usually around $30,000-$42,000 a year) before they start to make any of the royalties their books make, before that, all royalties go back to the agency. Remember, most agents still live More
1000 Fans
/ 2021-09-10The Web abounds with writers who ponder how to develop that proverbial network that’s supposed to represent their 1,000 true fans…those fans who are supposed to make serious growth possible. Those fans who want anything we have to offer, and tell others about it. It’s a 2007 concept developed by a man named Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Wired magazine. Some say it no longer applies with so much more social media available. Others say it matters more than ever. I’m in the latter category. In case you are not familiar with the concept, read these articles. https://elitecontentmarketer.com/1000-true-fans/ https://enlightenedowl.com/1000-true-fans/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlg3808gDic https://a16z.com/2020/02/06/100-true-fans/ https://selfpublishingadvice.org/true-fans-podcast/ But writers fail to build these fans. Either they are blind to the opportunities when they present themselves, or they profess they have no time. In either case, they set themselves up to fail. And when they need those fans the most, they fuss about not having them. I know you have limited time. Every other person on the planet has limited time. The successful manage their time more efficiently. So it’s on you, my friend. That is, assuming you seriously want to be a writer. So . . . to earn those true-blue 1,000 fans, you need to: More
Wayne’s Extra Rich Chocolate Cake
/ 2021-08-27Wayne’s Extra Rich Chocolate Cake 2 cups AP flour 2 cups sugar ¾ tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt ½ tsp cinnamon 1 cup water ½ cup vegetable oil ¼ cup butter 3 Tbsp cocoa 2 large eggs ½ cup buttermilk 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract ¼ cup strong brewed coffee Stir first 5 ingredients to make flour mixture. Bring 1 cup water and next 3 ingredients to a boil. Add to the flour mixture and beat at medium speed until smooth. Beat eggs and next 3 ingredients on medium speed just until blended. Stir in flour mixture. Pour into greased and floured 10×15 jellyroll pan (remember, this is a sheet cake). Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan, on rack, for 10 minutes. Spread chocolate frosting over warm cake. Cool completely on rack. (Pecans sprinkled on top is optional.) Chocolate Frosting (makes 3 cups) ½ cup butter 3 Tbsp cocoa 1 lb confectioners sugar 6 Tbsp milk 1 ½ tsp vanilla ¼ tsp salt Melt butter with cocoa over low heat. Remove. Stir in sugar and remaining ingredients until smooth. No need to cool to put on sheet cake.
Submitting Your Creative Nonfiction Writing
/ 2021-08-13Ten years ago, I would have told you to review Cliff Garstang’s ranking of literary magazines for nonfiction and begin by submitting to the best. I did that for many years, dutifully submitting my short memoirs and personal essays to a prioritized list of literary magazines, with limited success. Thankfully, I eventually realized there was a better way to get published: Determine the subject you are writing about and look for openings at publications covering that subject. For example I wrote several personal essays about the challenges of being a mother, none of which I had been able to publish. Then I stumbled upon a call for submissions from Kveller, the leading Jewish parenting site. They sought content for the local editions they were launching in various cities, among them my hometown of Chicago. I figured I should be able to package my own experience in a way that would meet their needs. My first article for them was “How My Kids and I Celebrate Tu BiShvat in Chicago.” I have since written several first-person essays for them, all with the angle of life as a Jewish parent. Target mainstream publications, such as local newspapers, national or local magazines. They More
Reading Others While You’re Writing Yours
/ 2021-08-13“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” — Stephen King A friend recently said she cannot read someone else’s book when she is writing. Jokingly, I asked her if she could walk and chew gum at the same time. . . two different sets of muscles. Reading and writing are two totally dissimilar tasks, and frankly, one should aid the other. You may think that your writing is just yours, on this lone little path, with no need for outside influence. As a matter of fact, you may feel outside influence will hurt your story, or make you stray from your thoughts. Who says your thoughts are all on target? Or, more, who says your story isn’t in need of improvement? Who says the book you are reading can’t more clearly define what you are trying to say in Chapter 13? Why can’t one character’s reaction spin your thoughts into a better direction for your own character? Author Christopher Booker wrote a well-known book titled The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. Georges Polti authored The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations, to categorize every dramatic situation that might occur in More
How to Produce a Kick-ass Book Trailer for under $20
/ 2021-08-07A whopping 72 percent of people prefer video over text when learning about a product or service. Video captures a higher degree of attention and more engagement than other forms of content, so it’s no surprise that book trailers are the hot new marketing tool for authors. Here are the top reasons publishers are investing in book trailers: 1. To create intrigue and initial buzz, 2. To provide a tool for fans to post on social media or even embed in their own blogs, 3. To generate ancillary content and promotion on eRetailer sites, 4. To introduce prospective readers to the book in a non-traditional way. As a debut indie author, I could barely keep up with social media posts, guest blog posts, Amazon ad campaigns, press releases, and podcast interviews, not to mention squeezing time in for future projects. A quick search confirmed my suspicions that hiring a professional to make a book trailer was prohibitively expensive. So, I shelved the idea of creating a book trailer for my historical fiction L’Origine: The Secret Life of the World’s Most Erotic Masterpiece. Besides, books are all about the written word, right? Wrong. I began to notice that more and more book More
Discounting the Word NO
/ 2021-08-07What really matters is what you do with what you have. ~ H. G. Wells As a writer, you will hear the word no. Or at least some of its cousins, like, “not interested,” “cannot use this at this time,” or “this is not for us.” That’s expected. Here is where writers have a crossroad decision to make. My advice is this: Do NOT let a single, solitary excuse fall out of your mouth. NO is part of this game, people. And the more NOs you receive, the more defined a direction you can make. NOs are just as good as YESses. FundsforWriters receives articles queries daily. Most are rejected. Most are rejected for the following reasons: 1) Word count is wrong. 2) Topic isn’t anywhere on the FFW radar. 3) No bio, no website, no link to the writer. 4) Plagiarism. (Yes, it’s common. Yes, I check.) 5) No takeaway value for the reader (it’s more about the writer and their feelings). But one rejection that most submitters don’t see coming is when they emphasize the negative of writing. “How to cope with rejection.” “How to get past the negativity of nasty agents and editors.” “How to cope with writer’s block.” More