Free Publishing Teleseminar: get your questions anwered by three professionals

 You've heard their names before. I've blogged about them. Former publishing CEO Michael Hyatt. Uber-agent Chip MacGregor. Up-and-coming agent Amanda Leudeke.

Next Wednesday, April 10th, at 8pm Eastern Time, writers everywhere have an opportunity to participate in a free teleseminar with all three. It's called the Get Published Teleseminar.

The seminar is one hour long, and will answer many publishing questions, including questions on platform (which Michael Hyatt wrote a book about). Even if you can't make the meeting, sign up, and you'll receive an MP3 link replay after it's done.

When you register, you have the chance to ask any question you want--great if there's a few things you really want addressed.

If a writing conference isn't in your future, make sure to take advantage of workshops like these.

What is the publishing question you'd most like the answer to?

Self-Publishing Tips for Indie Authors

 These days, you can barely click a link without hearing something about ebooks, self-publishing, or indie authors. Along with all the other decisions and jobs a writer undertakes, this one is a big one. I still don't know which way I'll go when my manuscript is ready, so I figure it's a good idea to stay on top of what's happening.

And there's a lot happening.

A new title.
There's something new. Authors who start out putting their own book up for sale and later accepting print deals are now called 'hybrid authors'. Agent Kristin Nelson explains what's going on with hybrid authors.

One of those authors is Nelson's own Hugh Howey, the author of Wool. Nelson (and many other agents) courted him. A nice way for things to work out, right? Check out Howey's own account of how things went down.
 
Another author enjoying great ebook sales that led to a print deal is Jennifer L. Armentrout, with her book Wait for You. Forbes published an article on her, titled The Fast-Track to Making a Million Dollars from Writing Books.

A new perception.
There used to be quite a stigma attached to those who took on publishing themselves. There's still some stigma, but not like it used to be. In fact, indie authors are increasingly proving that they don't need publishers at all--or might accept them on their own terms. Check out this post called Self-Publishers: The New Generation of Cool Kids.


Even the Big Six (or five) are discovering huge sales in the ebook market. Lucrative electronic sales were documented by Publishers Weekly.


A new opportunity.

Many authors are discovering the benefits of publishing single short story titles and anthologies in ebook form. Author and writing teacher James Scott Bell promotes this idea. He's got a nice list of traditionally published books, but found extra money by publishing his short story titles. His article (which includes some great plotting info for short story writers) will encourage writers who have found little success querying literary journals. And speaking of literary journals, it was fascinating to read how one writer used an actual New Yorker story to query literary journals. His results are worth reading in The New Yorker Rejects Itself: A Quasi-Scientific Analysis of Slush Piles.

A new perspective.
Pricing ebooks remains a murky area. With hundreds of thousands of individuals making their own decisions, as opposed to a handful of long-standing publishers, there's a huge number of different ideas on pricing. One idea is to offer the first book in a series free, in order to entice readers to take a chance on a new author. Writer Jordyn Redwood examines this idea in Is Free Always Good? On the other hand, some authors believe that free or low-cost pricing devalues the product. Dean Wesley Smith makes some pertinent points on the subject in The New World of Publishing: Book Pricing from Another Perspective. Definitely worth some consideration.

So where do you fall? On stigma, pricing, perception, etc. Is the idea of going the indie route attractive to you? Have you already taken the plunge?

Free Resources from Author Alton Gansky

I'm all about free resources. And when I stumble upon an author who shares what they've learned, I like to share those tips with you guys. 

You may not have heard of Alton Gansky. He's published dozens of novels and non-fiction books. He has co-written more. He runs his own writer's conference each year. 

One of the things Gansky offers is 'Writer's Talk' interviews. He chats with other authors, agents, and publishers, giving writers great information they might only get at writing conferences. Check out his YouTube channel for the complete list.

But that's not all Gansky provides. He offers a series of screencast videos where he explains how he uses certain software, and gives other tips for writers. I love his voice, and his calm, teaching manner. Here are a few I found interesting:

Google for Writers: several different Google applications that make a writer's life (and research) much easier. Do you use them?

Pitching Agents & Editors: how to pitch your project in a conference setting--great principles if you're gearing up for a pitch session!

Organize your novel: Gansky explains how to use a free online application called Trello to keep track of your novel's details and structure.

What are page proofs? What writers can expect when they receive page proofs (also called galleys) and what to do with them.

Manuscript formatting: How to format your manuscript in standard form before sending it off to an agent or editor.

Tight Writing: helping writers to look for what clutters manuscripts and invites rejection. Have you ever heard of 'pleonasm'? You'll want to watch for it in your writing.

Kindle Singles: for writers with shorter works, great information on the hows & whys of loading them onto Amazon, and he also demonstrates another platform called Atavist, where readers can choose to read or listen to the book.

What authors do you rely on for writing information?

Storytelling Tips from the Pros

 Wouldn't you love to see the credits roll--and there's your name? Most writers would consider it a dream come true to see their name on a book, much less on the big (or small) screen. What can make the possibility more likely?

Study what your readers are watching.

What shows are the ones talked about on Facebook (the virtual water cooler)? What movies generate the biggest crowds? Which dvds get snapped up the moment they hit the shelves?

These are the shows that become a writer's text book. No, they don't do everything perfectly, but they're doing something that grabs viewers and encourages them to spread the word.

It would be a nice thing to happen to your book, right?

So I've done a little of the work for you. Here are links to posts where others have analyzed what works for particular movies and TV shows. If you want more, just do a search for "storytelling tips from _____", and you'll find lots more. 

Storytelling tips from Pixar:  

one of their own examines what makes them successful.

Storytelling tips from Alfred Hitchcock: 

find out what a 'mcguffin' is, and how it can transform your plot.

Storytelling tips from Walt Disney

Storytelling tips from Dr. Who: 

This one is a book. The writers of the show carried on an email correspondence, and compiled their conversations in a book called The Writer's Tale. Fascinating.

Storytelling tips from Grimm 

Storytelling tips from The Hunger Games: 

And may the odds of a bestseller be ever in your favor.

Storytelling tips from The Twilight Zone

Storytelling tips from Downton Abbey

Which movies or shows do you cull writing tips from?

Photo courtesy of Stock.xchng

Free Online Storage

The always-encouraging Jim Maxwell.

My dad is amazing. He's always passing on great ideas that help in my writing endeavors. Having been a journalism major, he loves the idea that several of his children and grandchildren write. So he definitely wants us to save our words in a safe place.

As writers, one of our biggest tasks is getting the words onto the page. But the next job is to make sure they stay there. Back in January I wrote a post about backing up writing, which listed several ways to get the job done.

Dad first encouraged me to sign up for Dropbox. It's an easy way to make sure my novel is saved automatically every few minutes, and it's free. Click here if you want to give it a try.

Just the other day, Dad sent me another great link. SkyDrive offers free online storage with greater amounts of cloud storage that's easy to access from anywhere. Users get up to 7GBs to ensure documents (and your amazing manuscripts) are safe and easy to access from any computer (and devices, too).

Quite a few companies have joined the online storage market. Many offer a certain amount of space for free, with paid options for more space. Check out this comparison chart to see how SkyDrive stacks up against Google Drive, Apple iCloud, and Dropbox. The nice thing is that you can take advantage of the free space from all these vendors--just be sure you know what you've stored where. Oh, and make sure that's not the only place you've saved your documents.

And after you've written the words, and saved the words, it's time to share those words. Whether in a critique group, with your family, with an agent or editor, or online to the world. Don't just keep them holed up in the cloud.

Do you spend more time writing, saving, or sharing your words?

Allergy update: So many of you have been so kind (and patient with my sporadic blogging!) during this transition into feeding my son with multiple allergies (if you missed the story, you can read it here). Things are getting better, but I'm sure getting a workout in the kitchen. This morning I've got three crockpots of different soups going, and I pulled three veggies from the dehydrator. On tap today is making 'gummies' and snack bars, and perhaps some cookies. Maybe I'll get to write in between!

Coming Out of Hibernation

I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post. My son's diagnosis with over 50 food allergies gave me a choice: feed him or blog. Thankfully, after a month of research, analysis, and experimentation, I'm beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

And I'm writing again.

What a relief! It feels good to have at least a few moments to put words on a page. To dive back into my storyworld. To reconnect with characters I love.

I've also joined a new critique group. There are five of us, and only two have been writing fiction for long. At first, I was kind of skittish about it. But having non-fiction writers critique fiction is actually a good thing! These amazing ladies are helping me tighten my prose and banish the fluff that inflated my word count.

My critique groups in the past met monthly. That was hard because so much time passed in between meetings that readers lost the thread of the story, and only twelve chapters a year were critiqued. My new group meets weekly, which keeps me polishing my chapters, plus writing new material because they'll need it sooner than I think.

I've missed you all. My plan is to post at least twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. See you next week!
Photo courtesy of Stock.xchng

Make yourself write with Jeff Goins

You might remember the post where I mentioned several free books from writer Jeff Goins. He started like most of us, wishing he could write and get published. And then he did it.

Why not you?

A writer's determination, drive, and will to see a project to its end is one of the biggest hurdles we face. Time management, insecurity, and fear (even of success) can be major roadblocks in the pursuit of our dreams. It's easy to let the big and small emergencies that pop up every day keep writing at the bottom of the list of things that must be done.

I know. I'm there right now.

So here are a couple of posts that helped.

Study the habits of great writers. Even the great ones must have had sick kids, and financial reversals. Days of no energy or stretches of time when ideas seemed scarce. What did they do when writing seemed like the very last productive thing they could do with their day?  In 15 Habits of Great Writers, Goins posts a free mini-course that goes along with his book You Are a Writer (so start acting like one). Read through one each day, and two weeks from now you might enjoy a different mindset.

Focus on the basics. Writing a book can be hard, but the individual components are pretty basic. Why do some people finish, and others live knowing their work languishes on a thumb drive? Goins breaks down the essentials into three groups: getting started, staying accountable, and staying motivated. Check out his 10 Ridiculously Simple Tips for Writing a Book. Sometimes simple is exactly what I need. 

How about you? Are you inspired by the lives of other writers, or do you forge your own path?

Photo courtesy of Stock.xchng

When Writing Gets Difficult: 5 Things I Learned from Sue Grafton

This post is especially true for me today. For the last two weeks my head has been immersed in researching and making food safe for my son, who has been diagnosed with over 50 food allergies. For the moment, it's really hard for me to relax my brain enough to write, but hopefully I'll see the light at the end of the tunnel soon!

If you love mysteries, you already know about Sue Grafton. A prolific writer, she is currently on book twenty-one of a twenty-six book series, each titled with a letter of the alphabet. Her first novel was A is for Alibi in 1982. With a career that spans almost three decades, an author is bound to develop some sound advice. I ran across a Writer's Digest interview with Grafton, and made a list of what I learned.

Writing is hard work.

Aspiring authors often think that if you're a "true writer", the words just pour onto the page. That happens sometimes, but the fact is, writing is hard work. Like any other job, there are days when you can't wait to get to work, and at other times you have to force yourself into it. Combined with the fact that new writers must have a finished product before they have even a shred of hope of getting paid, it can be difficult to spend time and energy on a dream.

Even successful writers fear they've lost their edge.

Novice writers wonder all the time if they're any good. They crave feedback. Positive comments keep them writing, while negative ones often shut them down--somtimes for good. We imagine that if we can just get an agent, or get published, or sell so many copies, that we'd have all the assurance we need. Not so. Even bestselling authors, with piles of awards and accolades, wonder if this next book will prove they've come to the end of their talent.

Don't let your ego get in the way.

Sue Grafton believes that while her ego thinks it has the ability to write, it's actually the still, small voice inside her that really has the skill. So even if you have received some great feedback--a contest win, an article published in a magazine--don't let the heady scent of success derail you from the work of writing. 

Be ready to learn new things.

Your characters will need skills that you don't presently have. Take lessons, ask experts, and keep your eyes open. Whether it's self-defense, spinning wool, or bussing tables, your readers will be able to tell if you're making it up or you've really tried it.

Give yourself time to get better.

I was thrilled beyond belief to finish my first novel. Though it might never see the light of day, it proved to me that I was capable of completing something that made sense and was 100,000 words long. Now, several projects later, I am only beginning to see how much I need to learn. Being a writer means being in it for the long haul. There is no instant success.

If you'd like to read the entire interview with Sue Grafton, go here. We've all got a lot to learn.

What are the biggest things that keep you from writing?

How to Describe Your Characters Well

After talking about dialogue last week, here's a reminder about character's looks.

Writing a novel is hard enough without having to invent your character's features. Some things are hard to make up. Take the guy to your left. His name is Torbar. He's a Croatian peddler in the middle ages ('Torbar' is the Croatian word for peddler, by the way--creative naming on my part, right?).

I found this guy on a photo-sharing site, doing a search for 'Croatia' and 'old man'. I love how one of his eyebrows curves normally, while the other is shaped like the letter 's'. If you cover one side of his face, he looks sleepy, but if you cover the other side, he appears stern. These are details I would never have come up with on my own.

Of course, I had to describe the rest of him, too. The wonderful internet came into play again when I spent a relaxing hour perusing the image files at the New York Public Library. I was thrilled to discover a series of drawings detailing the costumes of fifteenth century Croatians, from peasants to soldiers. And in the middle of it all was a Croatian merchant.

The internet is a fantastic place to inspire character descriptions. Some writers peruse the head shots of modeling agencies. I might do that if I was writing a romance, but I don't want my characters to look perfect. I want my characters to have some character.

So here are a few resources to help you get inspired. You may want to bookmark the page, since I'll be adding resources as I find them.

There's a huge amount of stock photography sites out there. While it's not the biggest, I'm partial to Stock.xchng, because the photos are free. I usually find just what I need.

Photo-sharing sites are another place to check. Websites like Flikr and Photobucket are just two spots to start with. And don't forget about Google Images. Do a Google search like usual, and then click the 'images' button on the side. You'll be amazed at what you come up with.

I've done searches for 'eyes' and 'hairstyles'. There's even a blog by a guy who is growing (and documenting) every conceivable beard type! If you need it, it's probably out there.

How do you come up with character descriptions? Any resources we should know about?