Articles with the amazon Tag

In the first part of our two-part interview with Maine-based author Jennifer Greenleaf, we talked about her Virtual Book Signing Tour, taking place this entire weekend.

A master marketer, prolific author, mixed media artist, and mother, Jenny Greenleaf doesn’t believe in getting locked into one niche in her writing – or in her life. Her current titles include:

• 101 Mixed-Media Art Projects, How-To’s & Ideas: A Beginner’s Guide to Messy Art With No Rules
• Maine Living: One Writer’s Perspective
• While We’re Apart: A Fill in the Blank Book
• While We’re Still Apart: A Fill in the Blank Book

Her goal for 2010 is 12 publications in 12 months. In the second part of this interview, Jenny shares her extensive knowledge of the publishing industry.

You have five books already published, and three coming out soon … how long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing professionally since 1999, but my book writing experience started in 2006 (with The WonderDads Handbook for Raising a Girl Ages 0-10: A Month-by-Month Look at What to Expect, Developmental Tips, & Ideas for Activities: releasing spring 2010).  Prior to that, you could say I’ve been a writer ever since I could hold a crayon – it’s been an active part of my life for as long as I can remember.

Do you have an agent?
I don’t have an agent, though I did have an agent interested in my work in 2002.  I found him when I was researching how to sell some gift books I had drawn, then life got in the way and the project was put on hold.  The process of writing the book proposal and querying the agent was far more difficult than working on the books, which I found quite interesting.  I sent out 40 queries, and received one positive response out of all that work.

Who is publishing your titles?
WonderDads is currently publishing The WonderDads Handbook For Raising a Girl Ages 0-10, and I believe I found them through freelancewritinggigs.com. I sent them a query with clips, we did a phone interview, and then we sealed the deal with a contract.  It was a very simple process, and one I wish would repeat itself over and over!  I didn’t have to shop around the idea because they were looking for authors to write specific titles.  The rest of my titles are published through CreateSpace.com.

Why did you opt to go the self-publishing route?
I ran into a lot of “issues” with traditional publishers.  I’m the type of person who needs control over the book’s content, as well as how it is presented on the page… I found myself butting heads a lot over these issues and desires, so I decided to forego it all and self-publish.

I’ve noticed that, while publishing houses do offer support in many ways there’s still a lot the authors have to do. So, there’s a lot of marketing and promotional efforts put on to the author’s shoulders that mirrors the efforts made by the self-published author.

Do you feel there’s still a stigma attached to self-publishing, or is that gone/nearly gone?
For some there is, but I’ve seen a greater acceptance for self-publishing compared to when I first heard of it in 2002.  Back then, those who self-published were often referred to as “slush pile writers” who couldn’t make the grade.  Now, self-publishing is viewed more as a business model is better understood.  When I learned that many authors, like Julia Cameron, started out as self-published authors I realized that those who turn their nose up at it might not know the true history of the matter and how beneficial it could be.

Would you recommend this route to most writers?
If you have the background, why not?  I’ve been writing professionally for ten years, so I feel like I have a lot under my belt in terms of quality and proven ability.  I wouldn’t recommend it to a novice writer because, after all, learning the ropes about the craft and business of writing is daunting for many without throwing in how to successfully market and publicize the book(s).

Is it your ultimate goal to have these titles picked up by a publisher, or is that not a consideration with your business model?
My goal, really, is to get the work into people’s hands.  I would love to see these books enjoyed and used by many.  If that means the work will be noticed and picked up by a publisher, that would be something to consider.

Thank you for being so generous with your time Jennifer. We want to wish you the greatest success with your writing goals and hope your books reach the many people whose lives you want to touch.

If you’d like to experience one or more of Jennifer’s books these four are available from Amazon right now and remember, this weekend Jennifer is also doing a virtual book signing, if you email her a copy of your receipt she’ll ship you out a custom bookplate designed and signed by Jennifer Greenleaf.

Earlier this week Michele joined me to share her thoughts on Social Networking Success. Social Networking is just one aspect of business success in today’s technological world. Blogging is another new medium that is radically changing the way freelance writing business succeed.

Today, Michele shares with us her insights into the Business of Blogging.

Rebecca: In our industry, many writers are creating success as professional bloggers. Blogs have the potential to make significant and residual income for skilled writers who can find their way into their niche and provide quality content for active readers.

Rebecca: Healing with Raw Juices seems to always have a great new contest with prizes galore. You’re constantly coming up with fresh ideas to give more to your readers.

Rebecca: Wow! Michele is a fountain of information and inspiration. I love the way the things she does are so simple and yet have profound impact on her success and the potential for other freelance writers to gain success following the same formula is incredible!

Rebecca: Thank you, Michele! For sharing your time with me today and you thoughts on the Business of Blogging. We’ve only begun to scratch the surface but already you’ve give us all an abundance of information and ideas we can put into action within our own businesses.

Rebecca: I wonder if our readers have anything to share on the Business of Blogging?

When Angela and Jodi first approached me to host Sue Silverman on her book tour I saw the word, “Memoir” and thought, “I don’t write Memoir and I don’t ever plan to.” But, Sue is a writer and “Fearless Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir” is not a book about memoir, it’s a book about writing.

Sue is incredible. After our initial contact she got a copy of her book into the post for me and it arrived within days. That was over two months ago, and while at the time I promised to move “Fearless Confessions” to the top of my reading list, I put it off, and off. Some deep, secret reserve held me back from opening the covers. Fear and perhaps an inner knowing kept the book at arms length. I would glance at the cover, feeling guilty because I knew that I would be reviewing the book this month and I really needed to have read it to do that.

Fear comes at us in all areas of writing, be it memoir or fiction, because, ultimately, with each word we write we tell the story of ourselves. I’ve struggled with my current novel because I know that there are elements of myself in each of my characters and I don’t know them. I don’t know myself enough to know these characters. Knowing that in finishing this novel I will have to truly learn who I am creates gargantuan writer’s blocks built of fear.

Perhaps, that is why “Fearless Confessions” found its way to me. I opened the pages and began to read and I could see myself in Sue’s words. I knew, from the first page, that this book would force me to look at my own situation, and, if I could muster Sue’s courage, it would force me to explore who I am. In turn, perhaps it would allow me to finish my novel.

Toward the end of each chapter, Sue William Silverman asks us to participate. It is not enough to be actively engaged in her voice and the heart she shares on her pages. Sue pushes her readers to take action, to begin now, to grasp courage and move forward. In book form it is tempting to skip over these writing exercises. It takes courage to commit to the exercises just as it takes courage to begin reading. But in claiming that courage with each exercise, it becomes easier to do the next.

Although there is a definite slant toward memoir writing through the book, “Fearless Confessions” is about all writing, particularly fiction writing. The techniques Sue shares are cornerstones in all excellent writing. Learning these skills and developing the craft of storytelling will improve your writing in every aspect of your life.

When we are first learning to read and write we are taught to distinguish facts, “An apple is red.”. As we grow older we’re told to expand on this, “An apple is red and round.”. As we discover writing as an art we learn that there is far more to every aspect of our lives then the simple facts. “Red” and “round” are no longer descriptive enough to truly convey what an apple is.

Sue Silverman’s “Fearless Confessions” asks us to look deeper. To see with adult eyes the complexity of life and express that complexity, in full, rich, evocative color, on the page. She asks us to discover ourselves in our writing and in turn, discover our writing within ourselves.

If you’ve ever wondered how to develop your writer’s voice, how to put emotion on the page, how to tell a story that readers live and won’t want to put aside, then you need to discover your own “Fearless Confessions“.

Now, it’s time to return to my own story.

Please, don’t forget that Sue will be visiting Writer’s Round-About on the 21st of August and you still have a few days to ask your questions and enter the draw to receive your very own copy of “Fearless Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir“.

An Interview with Christina Katz, author of Get Known Before the Book Deal: Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform

Q: What is a platform?
CK: Long story short: Your platform communicates your expertise to others, and it works all the time so you don’t have to. Your platform includes your Web presence, any public speaking you do, the classes you teach, the media contacts you’ve established, the articles you’ve published, and any other means you currently have for making your name and your future books known to a viable readership. If others already recognize your expertise on a given topic or for a specific audience or both, then that is your platform.

A platform-strong writer is a writer with influence. “Get Known” explains in plain English, without buzzwords, how any writer can stand out from the crowd of other writers and get the book deal. The book clears an easy-to-follow path through a formerly confusing forest of ideas so any writer can do the necessary platform development they need to do.

Q: Why is platform development important for writers today?
CK: Learning about and working on a solid platform plan gives writers an edge. Agents and editors have known this for years and have been looking for platform-strong writers and getting them book deals. But from the writer’s point-of-view, there has not been enough information on platform development to help unprepared writers put their best platform forward.

Now suddenly, there is a flood of information on platform, not all necessarily comprehensive, useful or well organized for folks who don’t have a platform yet. Writers can promote themselves in a gradual, grounded manner without feeling like they are selling out. I do it, I teach other writers to do it, I write about it on an ongoing basis, and I encourage all writers to heed the trend. And hopefully, I communicate how in a practical, step-by-step manner that can serve any writer. Because ultimately, before you actively begin promoting yourself, platform development is an inside job requiring concentration, thoughtfulness and a consideration of personal values.

Q: How did you come to write Get Known Before the Book Deal?
CK: I already had a lot of momentum going when I got the deal for a very specific audience. I wrote a column on the topic for the Willamette Writer’s newsletter. Then I started speaking on platform. When I gave my presentation, “Get Known Before the Book Deal”, at the Writer’s Digest/BEA Writer’s Conference in May 2007, Phil Sexton, one of my publisher’s sales guys, saw it and suggested making the concept into a book. Coincidentally, I was trying to come up with an idea for my second book at that time and had just struck out with what I thought were my three best ideas. My editor, Jane Friedman agreed with Phil. That was two votes from people sitting on the pub board. They converted the others with the help of my proposal, and Get Known got the green light.

Q: Why was a book on platform development needed?
CK: Writers often underestimate how important platform is and they often don’t leverage the platform they already have enough. At every conference I presented, I took polls and found that about 50 percent of attendees expressed a desire for a clearer understanding of platform. Some were completely in the dark about it, even though they were attending a conference in hopes of landing a book deal. Since book deals are granted based largely on the impressiveness of a writer’s platform, I noticed a communication gap that needed to be addressed.

My intention was that Get Known would be the book every writer would want to read before attending a writer’s conference, and that it would increase any writer’s chances of landing a book deal whether they pitched in-person or by query. As I wrote the book, I saw online how this type of information was being offered as “insider secrets” at outrageous prices. No one should have to pay thousands of dollars for the information they can find in my book for the price of a paperback! Seriously. You can even ask your library to order it and read it for free.

Q: What is the key idea behind Get Known Before the Book Deal?
CK: Getting known doesn’t take a lot of money, but it does take an in-depth understanding of platform, and then the investment of time, skills and consistent effort to build one. Marketing experience and technological expertise are also not necessary. I show how to avoid the biggest time and money-waster, which is not understanding who your platform is for and why – and hopefully save writers from the confusion and inertia that can result from either information overload or not taking the big picture into account before they jump into writing for traditional publication.

Often writers with weak platforms are over-confident that they can impress agents and editors, while others with decent platforms are under-confident or aren’t stressing their platform-strength enough. Writers have to wear so many hats these days, we can use all the help we can get. Platform development is a muscle, and the more you use it, the stronger it gets. Anyone can do it, but most don’t or won’t because they either don’t understand what is being asked for, or they haven’t overcome their own resistance to the idea. Get Known offers a concrete plan that can help any writer make gains in the rapidly changing and increasingly competitive publishing landscape.

Q: What is the structure of the book and why did you choose it?
CK: Writer Mama was written in small, easy-to-digest chunks so busy new moms could stick it in a diaper bag and read it in the nooks and crannies of the day. Get Known is a bit more prosaic, especially in the early chapters. Most of the platform books already out there were only for authors, not writers or aspiring authors. To make platform evolution easy to comprehend, I had to dial the concepts back to the beginning and talk about what it’s like to try and find your place in the world as an author way before you’ve signed a contract, even before you’ve written a book proposal. No one had done that before in a book for writers. I felt writers needed a context in which to chart a course towards platform development that would not be completely overwhelming.

Introducing platform concepts to writers gives them the key information they need to succeed at pitching an agent either via query or in-person, making this a good book for a writer to read before writing a book proposal. Get Known has three sections: section one is mostly stories and cautionary tales, section two has a lot of to-do lists any writer should be able to use, and section three is how to articulate your platform clearly and concisely so you won’t waste a single minute wondering if you are on the right track.

Q: At the front of Get Known, you discuss four phases of the authoring process. What are they?

CK: First comes the platform development and building phase. Second comes the book proposal development phase (or if you are writing fiction, the book-writing phase). Third, comes the actual writing of the book (for fiction writers this is likely the re-writing of the book). And finally, once the book is published, comes the book marketing and promoting phase.

Many first-time authors scramble once they get a book deal if they haven’t done a thorough job on the platform development phase. Writers who already have a platform have influence with a fan base, and they can leverage that influence no matter what kind of book they write. Writing a book is a lot easier if you are not struggling to find readers for the book at the same time. Again, agents and editors have known this for a long time.

Q: What are some common platform mistakes writers make?
CK: Here are a few:

• They don’t spend time clarifying who they are to others.
• They don’t zoom in specifically on what they offer.
• They confuse socializing with platform development.
• They think about themselves too much and their audience not enough.
• They don’t precisely articulate all they offer so others get it immediately.
• They don’t create a plan before they jump online.
• They undervalue the platform they already have.
• They are overconfident and think they have a solid platform when they have only made a beginning.
• They become exhausted from trying to figure out platform as they go.
• They pay for “insider secrets” instead of trusting their own instincts.
• They blog like crazy for six months and then look at their bank accounts and abandon the process as going nowhere.

I’ll stop there. Suffice it to say that many writers promise publishers they have the ability to make readers seek out and purchase their book. But when it comes time to demonstrate this ability, they can’t deliver.

My mission is to empower writers to be 100 percent responsible for their writing career success and stop looking to others to do their promotional work for them. Get Known shows writers of every stripe how to become the writer who can not only land a book deal, but also influence future readers to plunk down ten or twenty bucks to purchase their book. It all starts with a little preparation and planning. The rest unfolds from there.

Q: Couldn’t any author have written this book? Why you?

CK: I have built a career over the past decade empowering writers. I’ve developed and built my own platform as a writing-for-traditional-publication specialist, and I’ve worked with others as a writing and platform-development instructor. Many of the people I’ve been working with are landing book deals and while the other hundred-or-so writers I work with a year are developing their skills, I notice patterns of behavior—what leads to success, where writers get stuck, and how I can be helpful in these rapidly changing times in the industry.

I’ve witnessed too many writers, who were off to a great start, hopping online and quickly becoming very lost. I started to write about platform in Writer Mama, How To Raise A Writing Career Alongside Your Kids, but I quickly noticed that more details on platform development were desperately needed. My platform is based on helping others. I have a vested interest in seeing the people I work with—and those who read my book—succeed. Writers are my tribe.

Christina Katz is the author of Get Known Before the Book Deal: Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform (Writer’s Digest Books). She started her platform “for fun” seven years ago and ended up on “Good Morning America.” Christina teaches e-courses on platform development and writing nonfiction for publication. Her students are published in national magazines and land agents and book deals.

Christina has been encouraging reluctant platform builders via her e-zines for five years, has written hundreds of articles for national, regional, and online publications, and is a monthly columnist for the Willamette Writer. A popular speaker at writing conferences, writing programs, libraries, and bookstores, she hosts the Northwest Author Series in Wilsonville, Oregon. She is also the author of Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids (Writer’s Digest Books).

Do you love to read? Would you like to win new books just for reading and reviewing the books you love? Through the month of April Writer’s Round-About is trialing a new reviewer contest. We reward you for writing about the books you’ve been reading. It’s simple to enter and you can submit as many reviews as you like for more chances to win!

From time to time author’s send me a complimentary copy of their book to review on Writer’s Round-About. One book in my current queue is Michelle Goodman’s latest book, “My So-Called Freelance Life” and you recently saw my review of George Singleton’s “Pep Talks, Warnings & Screeds“. I always look forward to reading and reviewing other authors and constantly swell my bookshelves.

It is important to be an honest reviewer. I try to include the bad with the good rather than touting nothing but praise when I review. Even so, reviews are always subjective. The elements I like might be those that irk you and a fantastic segment you’d love to read might have registered as a mere blip in my reader radar.

In the interest of sharing real reviews from a range of reviewers I’ve always invited readers to submit your own reviews as a guest poster on Writer’s Round-About. Now there is even more incentive because I have fantastic books to give away to lucky reviewing readers.
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Title: How You Leave Them Feeling
Author: Jesse Ferrell
Publisher: JessTalk, hardback, 254 pages
ISBN 10: 0977881008

“Simply put, how you leave other people feeling and how people perceive you have a profound effect on the quality of your life,” declares the jacket blurb on Jesse Ferrell’s “How You Leave Them Feeling“. Ferrell encourages readers to adopt his approach in any interaction. The goal is to leave each person feeling good about himself and thus feeling good about you. When you do this, Mr. Ferrell maintains, you will be on the way to living the life you deserve, getting what you want out of life, and “living the good life now.”

Ferrell begins with a rousing introduction in which he explains the idea of the book. He describes how he saw that his own success was based on his ability to consistently leave clients and others feeling good about themselves. Then he sets the table for the main course by listing the principles on which he has built his own life. (He calls them the “Seven Essential Laws of Life”.)

In the thirteen chapters that follow, he delivers the details of his Seven Essential Laws and explains how they relate to leaving others feeling good about themselves and you. He explores subjects of attitude, communication, personal and professional development, building a support network, maintaining a healthy balance in life and more, illustrating liberally with real-life anecdotes and summing up with bits of catchy wisdom.

Some memorable points of the book for me were:

• The idea of the personal signature or unique style by which each of us becomes known.
• An emphasis on kindness and giving to others.
• The importance of attitude – along with a piece of good advice: “When in doubt, leave it out… it is far easier to revisit a situation and provide additional messages than it is to take back a wrongful or inappropriate remark stemming from an attitude glitch.”
• The importance of listening: “Sharpening your listening skills will bring you more respect and interpersonal growth than just about any other endeavor. People like to feel they are being heard. When you clearly listen to others, you are honoring the power of communication by investing the time to take in their message.”
• The challenge to leave everything – and everyone – better than you found them.

The readability of Ferrell’s practical and crisply written material is helped by consistent organization and formatting. The text is laid out with lots of white space between paragraphs and broken up with bold-face headings. The main points of each chapter are listed again at the conclusion as action steps. A list of summary points (one-sentence statements that describe how following the actions steps will impact the reader’s behavior) and affirmations (brief positive statements for the reader to repeat or reflect on) conclude each chapter.

Jesse Ferrell, the man, comes across as enthusiastic, likable, a great friend and team player with lots of drive, integrity and clear goals. As a former executive within the Las Vegas casino marketing industry, he is now president and CEO of a professional speaking company, JessTalk Speaking Services, and seems eminently qualified to write a book of this kind. His experience in the corporate world gives added value to the personal and professional development section via the diary system he has developed and illustrates. He now works as a life coach and the “JessTalk Life Quadrant Model” he has developed for clients drives home his point about the need for and means of achieving a balanced lifestyle.

I gained much from the book. However, I would not adopt it carte blanche as my personal road guide. It is written from a humanistic perspective and is birthed out of a New Age worldview (bad energy, good energy, karma, the Cosmos, evolved soul, mantra, Mother Nature, envisioning/visualization are all terms or concepts found within). With that in mind, however, I would say that you can learn much of value from “How You Leave Them Feeling” whatever your creed.

I have encountered many of its principles in my own belief system and I decided, as I read it, to use what I could and simply discard the things with which I didn’t agree. It has certainly made me think twice about how I will treat the next telemarketer, panhandler, supermarket clerk or whomever – and that’s got to be a good thing.

Violet Nesdoly, a poet, Christian and Children’s Author said, “The world of words has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. As a kid, whenever my Mom needed me for a job, it was a sure thing she’d find me between the covers of a book.”

You can get to know her better by reading her blog, Line Upon Line, where she shares inspiration, poetry, and thoughts on writing life. You can also find out more about Jesse Ferrell on his site, JessTalk Speaking and Coaching Services.

If you’re interested in having a review or article posted on Writer’s Round-About please send a query letter to rebecca.laffarsmith@gmail.com.

I’d like to give my sincere thanks to Katie-Anne Gustafsson for this Guest Review. I haven’t had a chance to read Noah Lukeman’s book, “The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life” but it definitely sounds like this book and Noah’s first, “The First Five Pages” are necessary additions to my writer’s shelf. I hope you enjoy her review.

Have you read Noah Lukeman’s book? I would love to know what you thought of it. Feel free to leave your comments, review, or book review link in the comments. Are there any books in particular you’d like to know more about or would you like to share a Guest Review on Writer’s Round-About? Leave a comment or drop me an email!

Read more about Plot and Structure!

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The book’s intriguing title is explained in the introduction. It’s about having your hero do something that makes the audience sympathetic. The book is subtitled ‘The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need’. Although I wouldn’t be so bold, suffice it to say that by the end of the book, I felt I know enough about planning a screenplay to turn out something credible. So, what’s inside?

Inside Save The Cat

Eight chapters of straight talk, that’s what. Chapter 1 helps you to take your idea and formultate it into a logline, giving four ways to make it better. It also shows you how to test your pitch before doing it for real. Chapter 2 tells you about genre. Blake Snyder uses his own titles here, such as Monster in the House, Dude with a Problem and so on, helping us to see how different movies are examples of the same thing.

Chapter 3 is about your hero: how and why the hero works with your idea and which archetypes you need to think of in creating a hero. Chapter 4 shows the beats of a movie. According to Snyder there are 15 of them and he gives an example of how these appear in a popular movie. The following chapter shows you how to create a frame for your screenplay using these beats.

Getting To Grips With Writing

Chapter 6 shows us how to get to grips with the writing, using techniques such as Pope in the Pool (distracting the audience from necessary exposition) and the Covenant of the Arc (which is all about character development). Chapter 7 is about checking your work and chapter 8 is about marketing it. There’s also a handy glossary at the end.

My Verdict

Blake Snyder is either loved or loathed by critics, but the proof of the pudding for me was that I was able to see how various bits of script and writing techniques were used in a recent film, 88 Minutes. I could see how the writer created sympathy at a crucial moment and where necessary distractions were included. I learned a lot from Snyder’s book and it’s made me seriously consider writing a screenplay.