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Do your family or friends give you books or book gifts for holidays? When they think of what to gift you, do they see you as a literary, wordsmithing addict? That’s great if they do. That means you lead with your desire to write. You love the written word. If they don’t think that way, however, do you even see yourself in that light? It’s early enough in the year to decide to make a difference as a writer. Start today. Decide your niche. Look for markets. Pitch to several. Decide on a word count and hit it before the sun sets tonight or rises tomorrow. When someone asks how you are doing, reply with something positive, like what you are reading, what you are writing, or what you have published, regardless how small. Remind them you write. When people see me, they ask: Are you writing on the next book? (Always yes.) When’s the next book coming out? (I always have a month or season handy, such as “next fall.”) Do you ever not write? (Always no.) What have you published lately? (Always have an answer, even if it was six months ago.) Guess what they don’t ask me. More

Coffee shops and bookstores are valuable promotional avenues for authors. When you’re looking for a speaking platform, book release venue, or practical branch to sell your work, the untapped market of coffee shops and bookstores are almost endless. Here’s how to network with places where bookworms can be found. Stores (As a Venue) As a guitarist, I used to arrange performances with club managers — and it’s the same process when you’re approaching a coffee shop or bookstore. You might even combine music and book sales. Venues like being potential ideas to draw traffic or attention, and the best way is to call (or email) and ask to be put in touch with the person in charge. Stores can be reserved (“booked”) like any other venue, either for a percentage of profits or a flat-rate. All you have to do is ask, and the right venue will agree. When a venue has other sales products, like coffee and pastries, they may let you sign at the promise of more business coming in the door. C. Hope Clark signs at The Coffee Shelf, a small bookstore/coffee shop in her hometown of Chapin, SC. On signing day, she keeps all profits but More

The title of a book is equivalent to the subject line of an email. Both give us expectations as to what to expect. What the email will address and what the book will cover. Subject lines and titles are used by the potential customer to cull through what’s available. Emails get deleted and books overlooked when the title falls short on providing great expectation. We have to be careful that we don’t spend forever writing, editing, and sharpening our words only to toss a title in an after thought. And we don’t want to get accustomed to using AI to find the one we don’t want to take the time to create. I tend to create a title before writing, to keep me focused on the mission at hand. Then at the end, I review my work and decide if I hit the mark well enough or if I have to retitle the piece. But to start off, it’s an anchor to keep me between the rails. With all the books in the stores, with all the emails we receive, readers cannot afford to read them all. They don’t want to waste time on lesser quality reading, either. Titles and More

I have an active mind. I probably don’t look like it on the outside, but inside my brain is like a whirling dervish of ideas, opinions, and feelings. At night, if I’m not careful, it whirls out of control. That means I have to get out of bed. Partly not to bother hubby, and partly to get it under control. Usually that means writing. We’ve all been there, especially during holidays, maybe after arguments with loved ones, maybe after disappointments you don’t know how to cope with. It’s when you can’t sleep and definitely cannot think straight. It’s usually worse at night because all you have is yourself staring you in the face. The rest of the world is asleep. So I sit at the computer. I read emails. I look for pithy sayings on Instagram. Then if my brain is still rolling at ninety miles per hour, I open the chapter I’m working on. Either that or I open a chapter that is particularly emotional. Then I give myself permission to write hard and from the heart. First, it gets me out of my own head. Second, it puts emotional depth into my work that might not have found More

Video content is an excellent way for authors to reach new audiences, who frequent platforms like Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Vimeo. Book trailers, narrated videos, and reels of writing advice have become an incredibly useful way to market yourself. Here’s how to reach more readers. Why Make Video Content? Video reaches broad audiences, across multiple platforms where written content alone wouldn’t reach them. Book trailers, narrated stories, and writing advice add depth to your online personality (and marketing plan). It puts the multi in multimedia and expands your potential fanbase. Do you scroll through YouTube (Shorts) or Facebook (Reels) for entertainment sometimes, rather than reading a story or article? Viewers become fans. The Potential Costs Compared Upwork lists potential editors at $15 to $20 per hour, whereas Direct Images says professional editors can range between $75 to $150 per hour. Hiring video editors can be expensive. However, video creation can also be DIY with practice. Learn editing techniques via courses (like Udemy, Alison, or YouTube), and tinker with editing tools. If you lack patience and time, pay a professional; otherwise, learn how. Using Basic Editing Tools Editing tools allow authors to add basic effects (fade-ins, scene transitions, overlays, and voice-overs), as well as splicing scenes together. More

Some years ago my Philadelphia-based agent received the following letter of decline from Michael Pietsch, a New York–based editor: Dear Mary Jo, I was very impressed by the subtlety and loveliness of Vincent Czyz’s writing, and by his ability to bring a large cast and several distinct settings to life. But for all the author’s skill, Sun Eye Moon Eye strikes me as a very difficult novel to sell. The story unfolds at a very stately pace, and Logan is a tough nut to crack. It will get good reviews, but I can’t foresee selling many copies. So I won’t be offering for Little, Brown. Mary Jo and I were encouraged, in fact, celebratory. If we’d come so close with Little, Brown, we reasoned, it was a matter of months, maybe a year, before we found the right editor for the novel. Mary Jo, however, was overly optimistic, and I was hopelessly naïve. After more declines that praised various aspects of the book but raised similar sales concerns, I overhauled the manuscript, cutting some 300 pages and restructuring the rest (it was originally over 800 pages.) That ought to do it, we thought. A short time later, a chapter from More

Hubby came home from shopping and showed me a glossy magazine. “Do you still write for magazines like this?” I said I did, if the idea popped into my head and the publication seemed worthy. I looked at the magazine. Hook & Barrel, The Lifestyle Magazine for Modern Outdoorsmen, was pretty slick. One might wonder how in the world I could write for such a publication? Hunting, country music, wild game recipes, Christmas gift guide for gear, cigars and beverage pairings, ammo and guns. How did I fit into that niche? Yes, I’ve told the freelancers I’ve taught that you should develop a niche. However, you also should be able to envision how to write for any publication. I instantly thought of the following: 1) Interviews. In any of the above topics, you have people with expertise. Landing an interview with an expert in any of the topics in the publication, could land a positive nod from the editor. 2) Talk to the store where the magazine was purchased. In this case it happened to be Palmetto Armory, a major gun range in SC. Do they know of someone special who lives local who might make for a good interview. Or More

We read everywhere about what to give a writer as a holiday gift. But let’s turn that idea on its head and envision what a writer could give others as a gift . . . and still underline the fact they are a writer. If you have the gift of words, find the innovation to give them such that they are long remembered. 1) Give a book that made a difference in your life. Include a note as to why. Give it thought. Make it a few dozen words, not just a line. 2) Give a set of your books for your friend to donate to the library. A set beats a lone book. And you don’t donate it….let them do it. Include something additional in the package that they can keep as a gift of their own. 3) Offer to write or edit something they made need in the coming year. A letter to the newspaper. A poem to a loved one. A resume. An obituary. 4) If they have such connections or need, offer to present, tutor, or teach about writing without compensation. 5) Give any gift and instead of just a name tag, write a flash story More

I’ve sold many articles through the value of sheer persistence. Asking, pitching, and adapting is key to being a career writer. Editors who say no might have a different answer to another pitch in the future. Yes, rejections can be a future opportunity. Here’s how to turn negatives into positives as you turn rejections into successful article sales. Keep a Record of Your Rejections I send hundreds of messages every week, and keeping track of who comes back with no-responses can prove cumbersome. Create a folder or a spreadsheet, and you’ll have a list of editors who answered your query, and they become your starting points of who to pitch again. Changing Budgets Editors sometimes decline ideas because of their freelancing budget, which you may not be aware of. Pitch editors again later, say six months to a year later, and their answer could be quite different One year, I sent Writers Write an article about cybersecurity, expecting little for it. A few years later, when their budget allowed for it, I was writing for them once a week. Maintain connections with magazines and their editors and ask even if you’ve asked before. Them remembering you is half the battle. The Right More

Fact: I am a novelist and travel writer. Fact: I have published nine novels. Fact: I don’t have an agent. Fiction: The path to publication is straightforward. Imagine a labyrinth. Erase the walls. That’s publishing. After my MFA program I stepped into the maze-less puzzle—lost. I queried the novel I had completed as my thesis. Rejection, rejection, rejection. I wasn’t cutting through the maze at all. I connected with a small publisher named Epic Press looking for freelancers to write book packages—a project in which the publisher creates the story concept and the writer creates the story. They wanted not one book, but six. A series, they said, about a voyage to nowhere, on frozen waters, with orphans. I gave them a writing sample. I showed them a short story I had published. They gave me a thumbs up. The project was a crash course in world-building. Six books written, edited, and revised in 14 months. They had another series in mind. Six new books; New Adult, about freshman year of college—a different author for each book. Was I interested? Of course, I was. Why did they like me? Maybe it was my writing style. Most likely it was the fact I turned my More