IWSG Guide Announcement

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group Guide to Publishing and Beyond!

Tapping into the expertise of over a hundred talented authors from around the globe, The IWSG Guide to Publishing and Beyond contains something for every writer. Whether you are starting out and need tips on the craft of writing, looking for encouragement as an already established author, taking the plunge into self-publishing, or seeking innovative ways to market and promote your work, this guide is a useful tool. Compiled into three key areas of writing, publishing, and marketing, this valuable resource offers inspirational articles, helpful anecdotes, and excellent advice on dos and don'ts that we all wish we knew when we first started out on this writing journey.

ISBN 9781939844088

235 pages, FREE

Available –

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Insecure-Writers-Support-Publishing-Beyond-ebook/dp/B00PM98I08/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1416424821&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=the+insecure+writer%27s+support+grouop

Barnes and Noble - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-insecure-writers-support-group-guide-to-publishing-and-beyond-insecure-writers-support-group/1120795468?ean=2940046408027

Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/492628

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/review/new/23556637-the-insecure-writer-s-support-group-guide-to-publishing-and-beyond

IWSG sites –

Website – http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

Facebook Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/IWSG13/

Facebook Critique Circle Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/IWSGCC/

Writing and a Puppy: My Muse...

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged here. I started a new blog about our new addition to the family, Napo, on the adventures of raising a puppy. We haven’t had a puppy for thirteen or more years and this is a new experience for me/us because the advice on doing everything with him, training, housebreaking, crate-ing, has changed so much.

I have been writing, just not here. My consultant on my current work-in-progress is VERY busy at the moment in London, so I’ve set about working on another WIP. This project has stewed in my mind for about three years and now seems ready to show itself. As I write and questions come along with the story, I fret a bit, searching for the answers. Then, as I keep my fingers working, I find the words just walk off the keyboard. This is the exciting part about writing a first draft.

I was going to say that I don’t like writing first drafts for the most part. That I really like the editing part that comes in all the proceeding drafts, but I realize when the story comes in a flow, that isn’t really true. I like both for different reasons. First drafts are dizzyingly hard but necessary and exhilarating when they come in waves of fantastic production. I know I’m not alone in thinking of writing as hard. Even when you love something, it doesn’t mean it’s easy. Like Napo. I adore him, love him, can’t get enough of him, but housebreaking him, teaching him what is acceptable and what isn’t, is hard. Discipline is hard, for me to keep with myself in my writing, for me to teach him, but in both cases it must be done for the outcome to be satisfactory. I learned this with raising my two children. I learn this with each novel I write, again and again. It is an ongoing process, the “Neverending Story”, ha ha.

With Napo to keep me company during the long days alone at my desk, I find I am re-energized. The words come; the story makes its way out of my mind/heart and onto my screen/paper. I really do LOVE this part of a first draft. Filling up a blank sheet, and knowing there are more words coming, is literally thrilling and addictive.

This is what writing fulfills in me. Accomplishment. When the words flow, I feel alive and worthy. I won’t celebrate yet, not until this first difficult part of the job is done. Then the champagne will flow and I’ll give little Napo a treat. Because by the end of this first draft, he better be housebroken too!  

Images from:

tessfragoulis.wordpress.com

unm.edu

Down Dog Day

Today is a down dog day. Not that I’m not writing, because here I am. But I’m uninspired. I’m slumping. I’m not in love right now with my work in progress and berating myself for not pushing hard enough to stay on task.

I know everyone has a down day but I’ve had a down week. I have written. I have lived with the story, but I don’t feel inspired by it and miss the elation of a good day’s work.

I’m glad today is Friday and this week is over. OMG listen to me whine. Okay, what do I have to moan over? Nothing really. My husband loves me, my children are off and doing well in their lives and still keep in touch with me so I can’t complain there. My family is doing great. My life is going nicely. I finished the A to Z Blogging challenge and “met” lots of new people. I’ve sold four books without trying. My second printing is about to come out. 

So what is wrong with me? I don’t know. But now that I’ve whined about it I need to get over my wimpy-ness so I’ll jump hands first into my WIP and see how big a splash I can make. Maybe I just needed to complain a bit and now that I have the love will flow. Won’t know if I don’t try. So I'm off! Keep your fingers crossed for me. My chin is up, hands poised; I'm holding my breath...

Photo from:

 denimdevotion.wordpress.com

A to Z Blogging Challenge in April

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/ I'm participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge in April along with 1286 others, as of today!!! Wow! This is one of the biggest "Blog Hops" I've participated in and I'm excited. I'm doing it for the discipline, the imagination, and the fun. Check it out and see what you think!

Book Review: Kitchen Privileges by Mary Higgins Clark

I just finished reading Mary Higgins Clark's memoir "Kitchen Privileges" and I almost felt ashamed to be whining about my "issues" in my (writer's) life. Yes, I have issues, but not like she did. She does not whine or beg for anyone’s pity, ever. She writes about her losses in such an understated way. I think that is her trademark, why she is so successful. She was once told that her writing was “Light, slight and trite”.  I think it’s because she writes in an understated way and if you aren’t paying attention it’s easy to miss her depth. Try her short stories sometime. Think she’s a “safe” writer? Not in some of her short stories! I think when you live through what she has you end up hiding a part of yourself, maybe even from yourself, to survive. Because you fear that if you really thought about how bad things are you wouldn’t make it. Maybe those short stories she wrote, the ones that aren’t her typical, that are tough, hard, and sad with no happy endings, show a part of her that she had to hide. The part of her that was afraid, the part of her that gave in to the blackness at the bottom of the pit. I’m reading between the lines here, but I have a hard time believing anyone could go through so much loss and not have darkness somewhere inside. From this memoir I get the impression her family and her writing gave her a way to the light.

I am inspired by MHC’s determination, her never seeming to let life take her to rock bottom. Life must have taken her down, quite a few times, but she proved her resilience by continuing on, by raising five children without a husband by her side. Her mother was her source of courage I’m sure, and was a huge help in making her life possible after her husband’s death. I take heart from memoirs like hers and will try to apply that hope to my own struggles, internal though they may be in comparison to what she, and others throughout time, have gone through physically to pull through. Makes me wonder if your success is only as large as the pit you had to crawl out of was deep. I hope not. I have been blessed not to have lived through the same challenges she did. My challenges are my own. Who is to say if one produces more “success” than the other? Only time. Only time, and effort, will answer that one. So, I will keep on trying. Thank you, Mary Higgins Clark, for sharing your “story” with us, your fans. You are a living inspiration.

 http://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Privileges-Memoirs-Bronx-Girlhood/dp/0743529200/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332620506&sr=1-4

Going Pro

Are you thinking you don’t need a professional editor to look at your manuscript? I would ask you to think again. The benefits of a good editor can surprise you, as I found out recently when I hired a “Pro” to go over my manuscript.  I didn’t realize I would learn so much about how I write by having a professional copy editor go over my work. Now I wonder why I resisted this lesson for so long. Yes, the classes I took and the books I read helped me get started, but the editor’s handling of my work helped me understand my structure, style, and voice in a hands-on and very personal way that books and classes didn’t. For the first time ever I understand that I actually have a “style”, a “voice” and that they aren’t so bad.

Another benefit is that nowadays many sites that accept “self published” or (as I prefer) “indy published” novels or non-fiction ask if it has been professionally edited, because they won’t accept the work if it hasn’t been and with good reason, in my opinion. In today’s world anyone can “self publish” whatever they want. Self publishing is good, and is also a pain. Reason: there is no industry standard and a lot of what is out there is not all that interesting to read. Sorry if this upsets you to hear, but it’s the truth. Just take a look.

Think about your readers and look through their eyes. When you search for something to read it’s like shopping anywhere else. You go to a store (or more than one), normally for its reputation and/or ease of shopping. You take time to investigate whether the towels you want are worth what the store is asking for them. You look at a lot of different styles and colors, at quality and price to make sure you get what you want. Why should a book be any different? It isn’t, so it’s up to you to make sure that what you put out for sale is the best it can be, that when your prospective reader (or maybe an editor for a major publishing house) picks it up or reads a review about your novel/non-fiction, that they get what they want/expect. Investing in your writing this way can also help other writers to better their work by raising the standards.

If you are considering submitting your work to an agent/publishing house or indy publishing, please seriously investigate using a professional editor first. I thought I didn’t need one and couldn’t afford one when I submitted my novel. I’d had at least six different people, and not all of them “friends”, read the manuscript before I submitted it. Sending it out was good and their comments helped dramatically to upgrade my work, but now, after having had a pro go over it (a copy editor not a proofreader) I am amazed at how much more I learned about my own writing and how much smoother my novel now reads. Next on my list is a search for a proofreader who will find the typos and misspelling (if any, ha ha) and correct them.

“My” professional editor has enabled me to traverse an amazing learning curve. I feel more confident that what I submit the next time (or indy publish) will be the best I can make it. You can bet I will use my professional editor again because I know the money will be well spent on someone who truly knows how to make me a better writer. Don’t deny yourself the opportunity to learn just how good, and professional, your writing can be.  

Check out these articles for more information on types of editing.

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/how-to-hire-an-editor/

Photo from:

http://mycontentpro.com/from-mycontentpro/the-importance-of-copy-editing

Small Business Development Centers Symposium

I attended a Small Business Development Centers symposium on Friday. Wow. What an eye opener. I’ve been stressing about a business plan, about a marketing plan, about how to get things done in a progressive and successful manner. Here I found people willing to help me accomplish this. I’m amazed at the contacts I made. This conference targeted women owned businesses. 

The keynote speaker was a woman who runs her own plumbing business and has 42 employees. http://mywebplumber.com/index.htm.   

She was a great inspiration to me because she took on a ‘climate’ that was hostile to her to begin with. She learned how to make it work for her. She didn’t let her ego get in the way of making her way and becoming a success at her chosen field. I tend to see what I do as an uphill climb all the way so when I hear stories such as hers, when I meet the women I met at this conference it makes a huge difference to me. I heard what I needed to hear. I am not the only one who has taken on a great challenge, testing myself and my abilities. With so many other women out there doing this, taking on the world, I feel a little less alone.  Think about it for your business. The website is http://www.georgiasbdc.org/ in Georgia, but they are everywhere.   

Next week I set up my appointment and see where I go from there. I am hopeful now about gaining needed information and help implementing it. Not to mention I sold eight books and a book store owner Bev Bos http://www.turnthepage.com/servlet/StoreFront wants to carry Evangeline's Miracle! Happy reading folks!