While our hardworking agents are winding down from BEA this past weekend in New York, another author is filling in with a guest post. Enjoy!

Tina Bustamante is a writer, passionate reader, wife, mom, friend, and traveler. A world traveler who hails from the Pacific Northwest, she studied Theology at Northwest University and considers the craft of writing a journey that is sometimes bumpy and downright rough, but always worth continuing. Currently, she speaks when invited and writes fiction during the day. She is married to Rodrigo Bustamante and they have two lovely children named Emma and Lucas.

Seven years ago, I completed my first novel. I considered it a brilliant piece of work, worthy of a great publishing contract. I had worked hard on the manuscript–putting my soul, my mind, and all my attention into crafting a great story full of adventure.

I decided to take a risk and give it to a few friends, who read it and encouraged me to send it out. So, feeling like I might be the next Madeleine L’Engle, I sent it to another author who agreed to help me.

About three weeks later, I received an email from him letting me know I was not ready for prime time. My work was not good enough. He tried to encourage me, told me I had talent, but that he didn’t think The Secret of the Keys was going to make it into the publishing world. He suggested I write my next novel, which I thought rude. In hindsight, I wasn’t looking for critical feedback. I wanted someone to tell me my work was great. I wanted a quick contract and easy fame.

I cried. For three days. Then, with ever-increasing arrogance, I decided he had no idea what he was talking about. I would send it out to other agents and someone was bound to love my book. They didn’t. It got one rejection after another. He was right.

After dozens of rejections and dead ends, I decided to go over his letter one more time. I chose to listen to his advice and write my next novel–the YA book I’d been thinking about, the one I wasn’t sure I had the courage to write. I spent the next three months pounding that book out and when I was done with the first draft, I knew it was different and had come from a deeper place inside me than even I knew I possessed.

I edited and revised it. I paid a professional editor to edit it, which I highly recommend. You can’t expect other people to pay to read your work if you aren’t willing to pay someone to make it better. Then, I started to query agents.

This is when my writing journey took a turn for the better, and also brought me deeper into reality. The reality that writing is hard work and we don’t arrive at greatness on accident. I got dozens of rejections. Dozens. But, after a while, an agent asked to read a partial. Huge step. She rejected it.

Then another agent wanted to read the entire manuscript. Huge Step. She rejected it too. But, any time an agent asks to read a partial or the full–you’re moving towards your goal. Your work is being taken seriously and you’re getting feedback. And here is where I began to learn an important lesson. Every rejection can serve as a building block to move you in the right direction.

I started learning how to read my rejection letters with a critical eye and grow from their critique rather than wallow in the shame of it. Each agent had something to offer me. Every critical comment had something to teach me and move me closer towards the end result: publication.

As Waters Gone By has been a five year project, honed and shaped, refined and edited dozens and dozens of times. Through rejection I’ve gained stamina, self-confidence, courage, and a stalwart, unwavering commitment to the written word and to my own calling as a writer.

Writing is a craft and a great privilege. Words have the potential to outlive you. Just because you have something to say doesn’t mean you know how to say it yet, and rejection is a tool to prove whether you have the courage and tenacity to keep going, to learn, to refine, and cultivate your craft.

Along with listening to rejections and learning from them, I want to offer a few other suggestions:

• Find a critique partner/mentor who is better than you. Someone who knows his/her stuff and can tell it like it is. Learn from them. Grow tough skin and have the courage to cut hundreds of pages and rewrite so many times the book makes you want to puke. If you aren’t at a place where you’re sick of your book – then you haven’t edited it enough.
• Read Read Read. Here is a list of my favorite books on writing. On Writing by Stephen King, Write Away by Elizabeth George, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, Walking on Water by Madeleine L’Engle, The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, On Writing by Sol Stein.
• Spend the money and go to a writing conference, submit your work, and listen to what the agents and editors have to say. Then do what they tell you.

Tina Bustamante lives in southern Chile. Her novel As Waters Gone By comes out in September with Leap Books: www.leapbks.com. She writes about her life in Temuco Chile at www.tinabustamante.com

While our hardworking agents are attending BEA in New York this week, several authors are filling in with guest posts. Enjoy!

Rajdeep Paulus decided to be a writer during her junior year in high school after her English teacher gave her an “F” but told her she had potential. She studied English Literature at Northwestern University, and began writing on the island of Dominica, while her husband of two months biked down to campus to begin his first day of medical school. Fifteen years, four daughters, and a little house on a hill in the quaint town of Locust Valley later, she now writes YAFiction and blogs weekly In Search of Waterfalls. 

I’m not the first newbie author to wade through the waters of marketing her first book with a bit of trepidation. Truth be told, when I learned that a writer’s job was not simply to write a great story, sit back and wait for readers to come in flocks to scoop up copies galore, I welcomed the challenge that lay before me. Simply because I’m a tad atypical to the hermit-writer stereotype: I love people and rubbing elbows with the world outside my writing cave.

So when I read a title like “The Extroverted Writer” by Amanda Luedeke, I think, oh, she’s talking about me! When, in fact, she’s composed a book chalk full of practical advice for all types of writers who find the whole marketing thing as messy as a knot on a bad hair-day morning. Something I am all too familiar with since I have four princesses. Hair balls up the ying-yang, but where was I?

Yes. The art of marketing your first book. How do you do it? Successfully? And how do you know how to proportion your time, giving yourself time to write, edit, market and still take time to breathe.

So I began my marketing momentum by brainstorming. A bunch of ideas that amounted to not much more than share my book with anyone and everyone. I also considered TP-ing Jhumpa Lahiri’s house, but Chip dissuaded me, assuring me that there are much better ways to pursue an author endorsement. Come to find out a friend of a friend of a friend knows Jhumpa. Well, her relative. It didn’t pan out. So much time spent on one point of contact when social media has opened up the world to you and me. Literally.

Anyway, the one thing I’ve learned is that if I don’t know how to do something, whether it’s parenting, marriage, or building a treehouse, someone out there does. And most likely, someone has written a book or blog on it. So I came up with three resources that have truly impacted my understanding and approach to marketing *in addition to Amanda’s Book and Chip’s blog:

Platform by Michael Hyatt,

Rob Eager’s Sell Your Book Like Wildfire,

and

A podcast interview by Chris Brogan with author Kamal Ravikant.

I appreciate Michael’s affirmation that anyone can build a platform. Even if you’re a first time author. He’s the reason I invested in blogging at In Search of Waterfalls faithfully for the last year.

Rob Eager gave me the motto, “Figure out who your readers are and go and stand in front of them.” Of course we all want to believe that the book we wrote can be read and will be loved by EVERYONE! That might be true, but there’s still a key group of readers you’re searching for. So I asked myself, over and over again, until I narrowed it down to “Female teens and young adults with a South Asian-American background.” Simply because Swimming Through Clouds is a Young Adult fiction book with South Asian-American characters.

So I set out to find out where my target audience congregated, both in the real and cyber worlds. There are times, I have to be honest, when I feel like I’m sifting through the clothes racks at TJ Max, just searching for those one or two tops that fit perfectly, because there are a ton of places/websites/blogs out there.

Chris Brogan and Kamal Ravikant discuss audience in the context of caring about people on Brogan’s podcast. Because in the end, it’s about relationships. People are valuable. Each person priceless in worth. And if, as a writer, you want people to read your book, don’t you want to know and care about them first? And find out what’s important to them? Whether they feel compelled to open the pages of the story you penned is and always should be an added blessing and not the gift you search out upfront.

So my goal is to connect with people. And hear their stories. Because even though I’ll be the first to admit I love to talk, I so relish listening to people’s dreams, hopes, and stories. And earn, if you will, the right to share mine. Or not. The investment in the relationship is enough. The side effects, icing.

Does this mean I approach marketing passively? Not at all. I’ve “Liked” just about every Facebook Page that mentions Brown Girl, South Asian, Young Adult, Long Island, New York  Writer, and Indian-American. I’ve scoured Twitter for anyone with the same hashtags and spent countless hours emailing/contacting YA Book Reviewers, especially those who focus in on South-Asian writers. Even connected with the people who make Post-its, since that’s a hot topic in my first YA book, Swimming Through Clouds, where a Post-it note sparks a sticky romance between two unlikely friends. And since Swimming Through Clouds also addresses the issues of abuse and human trafficking, I’ve sought connecting with organizations tackling these issues.

But I’m not done. Each time an idea/topic/angle sparks from the content of my blog, book, or personal background, I take a walk down that path and search out people. Because your readers are your treasures. Waiting to be found. So as in the words of Ravikant, “Go where they are. Meet them where they’re at.”

Which brings me to the part of marketing that has been the most fun—finding potential readers in the real world, in real time. And heading to New York City to connect with them. Having a lot of fun enjoying the city in the process of making new friends and hearing their stories. And then when the time is right, sharing a bit about mine.

Have you heard of Playlist YA Fiction? We’re a team of Young Adult Fiction authors over at www.playlistfiction.com  who write and publish Contemporary YA E-books. These writers have filled my life with fresh new fiction, become my friends, and influenced my writing, for the better. Team-marketing reminds me of team sports. If the team wins, everyone wins!

So I encourage all writers, new and those who’ve been around the marketing block a few times, don’t give in or give up. There’s a world out there full of the hurting and hope-seekers. Everyone’s searching for that next story. That book that will give them a taste of heaven on earth. Or help them on their own journey. Or just take them out of their madness for a moment.

Thanks so much, Chip, for giving me a little space to share a bit of my writing journey. You’re not just an extraordinary Agent. You’re a friend I truly treasure.

Sincerely aware that great stories change lives,

Rajdeep Paulus

And you? Tell me how the whole dance with marketing has been? Learned anything that works you’d like to share with us? I mean, does the bookmark thing really work?!? Maybe an iTunes gift card for a song from your book’s playlist? Now that’s what I’m talking ’bout!

Blog: www.rajdeeppaulus.com

FaceBook: Author Rajdeep Paulus

Twitter: @RajdeepPaulus

While our hardworking agents are attending BEA in New York this week, several authors are filling in with guest posts. Enjoy!

Keri Wyatt Kent writes and speaks on slowing down to listen to God, and occasionally tries to follow her own advice. She and her husband Scot have two teenage children and live in Chicago. This piece originally ran on Tim Fall’s blog.

In an oft-quoted lecture on women and fiction, Virginia Woolf remarked that a woman needs a room of her own if she is to write.

Woolf had been asked to lecture on women and fiction. Here’s a bit more of the context:  “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction; and that, as you will see, leaves the great problem of the true nature of woman and the true nature of fiction unsolved.”

What is meant by “a room of her own” has been discussed countless times since Woolf said those words in 1928. It’s obvious she meant much more than a physical space with four walls to contain it. But certainly she was talking about some space, and boundaries to protect it (whether physical or metaphorical).

In the same lecture, Woolf noted that because of her gender, she was barred from walking on the lawn or even entering the library at the university she was visiting, unless accompanied by a man.  Certainly independence and autonomy were part of what Woolf longed for and recommended.

I am a writer by profession, and if you take these requirements literally, I do indeed have both financial resources and a “room of my own.”  The spare bedroom in our house is my office. And I earn my living—modest as it is—by writing.

Women have far greater access to resources than they did in Woolf’s day. And yet, sometimes we think we’re still not allowed in the library. We don’t take what is ours for the taking. We’re also bereft of a resource that is the currency of our day: time.

For today, a woman (and a man, for that matter) needs time and a room of her own to write—and not just physical space, but mental space. She must be brave enough to step away from those who need her in order to do whatever it is she really needs to do. The discipline of solitude has a cost—but also a benefit.

A few years ago, one of my dear writer friends went away from her three kids and husband to a friend’s cottage in Vermont, where she worked non-stop to meet a book deadline.

At the time, I said, “Good for you!” and sincerely wished her a productive week. But at the back of my heart, a little voice asked, “Why does she get to do that? Why can’t I do that?” I was also finishing a book project at the same time—we had the same deadline, I think. I was also balancing the book deadline with a part-time job and parenting my teens, and getting supper on the table every night. Oh, and also, attending my own little pity party each day.

The story I told myself (to feed my martyr complex) was that I couldn’t get my husband to drive the carpool, let alone send me off to Walden to write in solitude.

Do you ever find yourself asking that question: “Why does she get to ________?” Maybe it’s not about writing but about self-care, or pursuing dreams, or taking a day off, or –you tell me.

But sometimes, when we listen closely enough to the voice of our discontent, the truth crashes in on us. The reason my friend “got to” go away is that she decided she would. She asked for her husband’s (and others’) support and got it. She chose to do whatever it took to go away to write. And the reason I didn’t “get to” is because I didn’t even bother to ask if I could, or simply say that I would.

So last month, I was invited to speak at a church in California. For one day. I boldly chose to extend my trip there. I longed to escape Chicago’s endless winter, which was slogging on into April. I had a book deadline looming. I needed to finish the book, but also, I realized, I needed to stake out, in so many ways, a room of my own.

“What are you doing out there for a week?” my husband asked. “Writing.” I replied calmly, ignoring his pained expression.

And write I did. After my speaking gig in Aptos, CA, near San Jose, I drove south along U.S. 1, and camped out at a quaint (read: affordable) motel with a tiny room in Pacific Grove, a sleepy beach town on the Monterey Pennisula. I spent four days doing little else besides writing. I would get up, drive to one of the many indie coffee shops (there is no Starbucks here) in this tourist town, plunk down my laptop and a cup of coffee, and write.

By noon, I’d take a break and walk the beach. I’d pray, I’d marvel at the beauty of iceplant in bloom, I’d delight in spying a harbor seal or sea otter in the waves. I basked, after six months of winter, in the spring sunshine. In the afternoon, I’d wander to a different coffee shop, bakery or restaurant, or back to my motel room, and write some more. In the evening, I’d go for a run along the beach, then shower and go to dinner. Yes, by myself.

I had no traveling companion and was glad of that. I relish solitude, even when I’m on the road. Answering to no one but myself, I could work—which I did for hours on end. I ate if I was hungry. I had no one’s schedule to coordinate but my own.

If I wanted to go out to dinner, I did so. If I wanted to eat carrots and hummus in my motel room instead, I did that. It was the perfect blend of freedom and discipline. I never watched television and I walked the beach every day.

I finished the book I needed to finish. Thousands of words found their way to the page.

But something else happened on this trip. Peace found its way into my soul. The tightness in my chest—that I hadn’t even been conscious of—unclenched.

I gave myself permission to be kind to myself. I shattered the myth that I can’t afford to do things like this: psychologically, I can’t afford not to. And practically, I earned enough on the trip by working to more than cover its financial cost. And realized: not taking this trip would have been much more costly to my emotional well-being.

I realized that the only way to “get to” do things like take your own writing retreat is to do them. I affirmed what I’ve always known—I love traveling alone, and I love being a stranger in a small town. Solitude reconnects me with God, with myself, with my true priorities, which get lost in taking care of everyone else.

I finished writing the book, then spent a few days with my daughter and my parents. The whole journey healed my soul in a thousand ways.

This trip was more than just a writing retreat, more than just a method for meeting a deadline. It was a chance to navigate roads I’ve never driven before, to claim for myself a room of my own.

What do you need to do to stake out some space for a room of your own? What does that phrase mean to you?

Elizabeth Musser, an Atlanta native and the bestselling author of The Swan House, is a novelist who writes what she calls ‘entertainment with a soul.’  Her latest novel, Two Destinies, from The Secrets of the Cross trilogy, was recently nominated for a Christy Award.

 Bonjour from just outside Lyon, France.  My just-got-a-little older but still-sharp-as-a-tack agent, Chip, graciously invited me to write a post about my novella, Waiting for Peter, which was recently released as an e-book with MacGregor Literary.  While I was thankful for the opportunity, it is a little daunting to follow all that bad poetry with a semi-serious post about, well, a dog.  And a boy.  And his mother.

But here I go.

Five years ago, my Dutch publisher, Kok-Uitgeverij Voorhoeve, asked me to write a novella for ‘The Week of the Christian Book’, a cool annual offer where, for one week, Christian bookstores throughout Holland give a free novella to customers who purchase over ten euros of products at their store. The only criteria given me was to work the story around the theme of animals.

And so I went about writing Waiting for Peter.  I had plenty of inspiration for the story from personal experience with our loveable mutt, Beau, who is actually the dog on the cover of the novella.  If you are a dog-lover, this next part will make sense.  If not, it may sound a little heretical.

Throughout the years, I had often journaled about lessons I was learning from our dog as well as the way he ministered to our two sons as they navigated elementary school, Jr. High and high school.  I also included in many journal entries how Beau was teaching me a lot about what my relationship with my Master, the Lord, should look like.

So I came up with the story—fictional, yes—but with some parts sounding a lot like those journal entries. Here’s a description of the novella:

A wounded boy, an abandoned mutt, a worried mother, and a God big enough to bring healing for them all.

Peter is a young teen who is emotionally and physically scarred following a tragic accident.  Hoping to find a way to help Peter reconnect with his family, his mother, Lanie, agrees to let him adopt a dog from the Humane Society.  So begins the relationship between Peter and his neurotic mutt, Sunny.

Told from the alternating points of view of Sunny and Lanie, Waiting for Peter is the story of the healing power of love between a boy and his dog and an allegory of how we should view our relationship with God, our Master.

From a Dutch reader: “What a wonderful gem, this novella. Elizabeth Musser cleverly weaves a big story into this small book….”

Hope you’ll enjoy!  A bientôt.  Il faut que je retourne à mon écriture.

Ask Chip.  He speaks French very well!

Au revoir.

For over twenty-five years, Elizabeth and her husband, Paul, have been involved in missions work with International Teams.  They presently live near Lyon, France. The Mussers have two sons, a daughter-in-law and a grandson. To learn more about Elizabeth and her books, please visit www.elizabethmusser.com.  To order Waiting for Peter, please click here.

Someone asked, “If someone feels a passion to write a book, what would you say should be the first steps (realizing most people want to fast-forward to the ‘contract’ stage)?”

Sometimes it seems as though everyone is writing a book. But a “passion” doesn’t constitute a “call,” of course. Neither does a “need” constitute a “call.” Nor does “a cool personal story, complete with miracle” constitute a call to write a book. I mean, I’ve been to a lot of concerts in my life, and I realize the world is made up of millions of people who apparently all want to be rock stars. But the desire to be a rock star doesn’t mean you can actually sing, or that people will pay money to come hear you sing. There’s a big difference between sounding pretty good in the church choir and asking people to plunk down $18.99 for your new CD at WalMart.

Let me explain it this way… I’m a pretty good swing dancer, and can usually make a beginner look okay as a partner on the dance floor. But there’s quite a difference between being a pretty good amateur dancer at the publisher’s ball and asking people to pay $65 to buy a ticket and come see me dance in a show. Writing is an art, and with any art it takes practice, training, creative vision, talent, and hard work. I too-frequently see people who want to do a book because they think they can make a fast buck, and they lack all of the above. Or they think they have a “lesson” to teach the world, and they feel a need to write it down — as though all of life’s lessons are publishing-worthy. Every book is a combination of a great idea, expressed through good writing, preferably from an author with a solid platform. Your great lesson may just be for you and those close to you. Your cool experience may not be book-worthy. Your interesting story may work great when you tell it at home, but that doesn’t mean it’s meant to be a book. 

So… you want to write a book? The first step is to learn to write. Don’t assume because you graduated from high school you have the ability to write a book that will keep me reading for 250 pages. Writing well takes a lot of practice — just like anything of value takes times. You don’t throw some paint onto a palette and create a masterpiece. You don’t take a couple piano lessons and rent Carnegie Hall. And you don’t barf out a quick draft of your idea and expect a publishing contract. Art takes time, and discipline, and, generally, a lot of failure before you reach success. So learn to write, practice your skills, learn from other writers, listen to what editors have to say, start to ask questions about the business, and get to know the business. That would be my advice.

I think what’s happened is that “American Idol” has perpetuated the myth that the world is out there waiting for you, as the next great talent, to reveal yourself. It’s a riff on the 1930′s story of Carole Lombard getting discovered while standing on the corner of Hollywood and Vine. “Maybe if I just write this book, magic will happen.” Then we hear about something like THE SHACK and think, “That’s it! I’ll write the next Great American Novel and get discovered!” Um… that won’t happen. Sorry. THE SHACK was one of those once-in-a-lifetime miracles. The writer created it, apparently showed it to family and friends, and it took off. What makes it such a great publishing story is that the miracle actually happened. But that won’t be happening again any time soon. And you certainly can’t count on it. And with FIFTY SHADES OF GRAY, this decade’s publishing miracle has been used up. If you want a get-rich-quick scheme, you’re better off buying a lottery ticket. (And again, I have to admit to being one of the immune to those books — I read THE SHACK and didn’t find it great or deep or even terribly moving. I started FIFTY SHADES and thought it was total crap. You are welcome to disagree with me, and that fact might cause you to discount what I’m saying here.) But, in my view, the world is not waiting for you to come out with your novel. And, frankly, if it’s a book that no professionals have edited or helped shape, the odds are it’s probably not very good. So go take a writing class. Learn the craft. Read widely. Attend a conference and meet some other people who are learning the business. Then let your creativity go wild and write something, but be bold enough to show it around and let others take a look at it. That’s where you start. Those are your first steps.

THE POWER OF A PERSONAL MEETING

I haven’t traveled much in the last six months, but I’ve just returned from a three-day conference. Though I fully registered for it, I only attended two conference events, but my time there was incredibly valuable and enriching regardless.

Aside from the three-hour-thaw-by-the-pool-mini-sabbatical I scheduled for myself on Friday afternoon before boarding the plane home, I spent every waking hour while there in pre-arranged meetings with editors and authors. In the end, when responding to questions about how my trip went, I heard myself say “I really enjoyed connecting with everyone!” And I today, I added several items to my task list newly motivated by an urge to help each of these people succeed in their roles.

Sure, when I requested time together, I had a project in mind. But as usual, I found that holding “my” agenda a bit loosely, and taking the position of investigator vs. sales person always returned a rewarding and gratifying encounter that will begin, or enrich, a long-term relationship.

There’s so much more to personal meetings than just “putting a face to a name.” When I meet an editor or other prospective associate in person, the encounter requires real listening. I’ve learned that more often than not, my “canned” speech goes out the window in favor of personal dialogue once an editor or prospective author and I start talking about whether what’s working well for them and how/if what they’re hoping to publish next aligns with the project(s) I’m interested in.

A side perk of meeting in person is that, unlike with email, I must also practice the art of keeping the conversation going in both directions. I’ll admit, I’m still working on controlling my tendency to be so terribly interruptive – an inexcusable habit that I still give into when I’m especially enthused about something.

As anonymous, and bottom-line, and impersonal as this business can sometimes feel, in the end it’s still about relationships. Part of our culture as an agency is that we tend to do business with people we like and trust. And we want to always like and trust the people with whom we do business.

Cultivating that culture requires time. And there’s no substitution for personal meetings.

There is no arguing that the chance to build rapport with someone while face to face just can’t be matched to a Facetime or Skype session, email exchange, or even a phone call. In my view, those are tools best used to further a relationship, not establish one.

As conference season approaches, take every opportunity you can to spend some personal time with editors, agents, other authors. You’ll find lots of information about how to craft the perfect pitch, how to nail your hook, or deliver the premise of your book in 30 seconds, but I’d like to encourage you to think beyond what people have to offer you. Challenge yourself to avoid coming to the encounter thrusting your well-rehearsed pitch into first position on the agenda. Instead, as you can, take some time to find out who these people are, what they like, what motivates them, how they cultivate their taste, and if your particular project might help them succeed.

I think you’ll find that approach far more gratifying in the end. I always do.

Sandra Bishop

If you could only ask one question of an editor (not related to your project) what would it be?

Guest post with Philip Patterson

I’ve been blessed. I’ll admit it. I broke in to both publishing and college textbook publishing when an unsolicited manuscript was opened, usually returned and sometimes had constructive comments scrawled on it. That’s a long time ago. But after I got my foot (feet?) into two doors, I found that the work had just started. A couple of decades later, here’s what I know about the writer’s life. None of this is unique to me, but if you catch a pattern in what most of your advisors are saying—it’s for a reason.

ONE: Write everyday. Don’t wait for the muse to come to you, entice the muse by writing.  Most writers work at the same time every day and for about the same amount of time (or word count) each day. Resist the marathon session. When time allows, edit what you’ve already written instead or do the research for future writing. Resist stalling. A neat desk is not a substitute for 1000 useable words.

TWO: Write at the best time of day. For some, their best time is early morning; for others, it’s after work or even late evening. My longest book—a 365 day devotional Bible with 500-word essays each day—was written almost entirely outside my home. The bulk of it was written early each morning at a local coffee shop where everybody there knew what I was doing and gave me the space and the encouragement to do it. They were my “writers group,” and because of the nature of my book, they were a good one.

THREE: Write what you know. Your own experience and everyday observations should give you a wealth of information to begin. I started with my known field of mass communication and wrote a couple of books for the religious market on parenting children in a media age. It worked because, as a journalism professor, I had the academic knowledge. On the other hand, I was a parent, and in many ways, my advice was to myself and if a few thousand others wanted to read along, that was fine too.

FOUR: Increase what you know by being a voracious reader.  In your personal reading—and good writers are avid readers—you should have more than one book going at a time. Chose different genres: fiction, biography, history, self-help or inspirational. Choose different formats—print and electronic readers. Go back and forth between them. Always look to see how the books are put together—person, tense, setting. Are the sentences long or short? How about the paragraphs? The chapters? Also, listen for voice. What’s voice? Think of two different comedians who both make you laugh even though they’re wildly different in their delivery. Or a song covered by two different artists with different results. That’s voice, and writers have it too. Study how others practice the craft of writing, but don’t copy. Sooner or later, you’ll get this comment: “When I read your book, it seems like you are right there talking to me.” Find the voice in your reading and you’ll find it in your writing.

FIVE: Increase what you know by getting to cultural events. Concerts, museums, plays, etc. are all fertile ground for the aspiring writer because art inspires art. I once got a short story on second chances from reading a museum guidebook. It seems that so many of our now-revered impressionist painters had been snubbed by the Salon—the official art show of Paris—that Napoleon had created the Salon des Refuses, literally, “the salon of the refused.” I combined that with my own story of twenty rejection letters before my first book was published and it worked great. The idea of how to illustrate the foolishness of Esau selling his birthright for a bowl of soup came by reading the plaque by a priceless Vermeer at the National Gallery of Ireland. It said that this painting had been used by the widow Vermeer when her husband died to pay the baker’s bill. Music, drama and art all inspire stories, and these are just the first that come to mind.

SIX: In telling your story, start late and finish early. Most stories can be improved by editing and the beginning and the end are good candidates to start.  Start late and leave early means occasionally waiting to drop backstory into the plot instead of a needless prologue. It means stopping very soon after the principle character gets her resolution. Shakespeare knew it. The better screenwriters know it—perhaps because in movies, the clock is ticking for an audience out late. When you watch a movie see how short Act 1 (the setup of the story) and Act 3 (the resolution of the problem) are compared to the main story in the middle. Think then “Wizard of Oz” in movie form. What’s in black and white are Acts 1 and 3 and what’s in color is Act 2. Get in quickly and get out quickly, leaving the reading wanting more.

SEVEN: Welcome editors and editing, critics and criticism. At a newspaper where I worked, we had the saying “everyone deserves an editor.”  No one should be seen in print until someone else has had the chance to make it better. I spent weeks once editing a history of a well-known medical foundation from 60,000 words to 40,000. The author, a historian who had never written for publication before, was so livid he wanted his name removed from the book. A student dropped my newspaper class after one week. Her reason: the story didn’t sound like her. My reaction: thank goodness. I doubt that either became a writer. Before each edition of my textbook, there were at least ten paid reviewers recommending changes to the book. Their critiques ranged from helpful to off-target, but even the ideas we didn’t adopt made us defend why our way was the better way.

EIGHT: Embrace rejection. Before my first book was printed, I received those twenty rejection letters I mentioned earlier. I posted them on the back of my door where I could see them when I was alone in my office. It was humbling yet motivating. Rejection teaches you lessons you don’t learn from acceptance. Rejection can keep you away from a bad fit for your work and propel you to the right place. Rejection can push you into needed third and fourth edits. Rejection motivates you to prove the critics wrong. And, often, rejection is the right end for a non-deserving project. And one last point on this: when acceptance comes, and you get published, you will still be the same person you were before. Publication will not change your life, your marriage, or your relationships. We all like validation—and an acceptance letter is certainly that, but don’t confuse validation with transformation because it’s not.

NINE: Develop your platform now; your publisher will demand it. You start with social networking, creating a presence on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and maybe even YouTube. You accept interviews. You blog. You get in front of audiences. In short, you do everything you can to get a following. It is, without exaggeration, the other half to writing a successful book. Ignore it, and the even the best book is lost in the nearly 200,000 books published each year—not counting self-published books. After my first religious book, I spoke 26 Sundays in 26 places the next year. The need for and the power of platform is still not mentioned in most professional writing programs. Even the well-known MFA programs have yet to address this issue in their offerings.

TEN: Get the attention of an agent now; you will need one very soon. There is no “slush pile” at the publishing houses anymore and no young editorial assistants reading until they are cross-eyed to find that one jewel in the pile. Publishers expect you to cross the threshold through an agent. It’s the best money you’ll invest in your career, but it’s a decision you must make very deliberately because it is a professional marriage. (The same is true of co-authors; I’ve had the same one for more than 20 years on the textbook.) If you don’t want to part with the agent’s commission, then you’re not ready for one. But if you see it as an investment, then it’s time to start searching, and the best way is go to the places they will be—writers conferences and the occasional tradeshow.

Dr. Philip Patterson is a professor of journalism at Oklahoma Christian University. He is the author of seven books, and his co-authored text, Media Ethics: Issues and Cases is now in its eighth edition and appears in four languages. He has worked with Thomas Nelson Publishing, McGraw-Hill, and InterVarsity Press, as well as other publishers. He is also the author of numerous newspaper articles, book chapters, scholarly journal articles, and magazine columns. His definition of a genius is someone who can do what you can’t. Among the things he can’t do is to play the piano with both hands at once or speak any foreign language, though he’s tried both.

Guest post by Genny Heikka

When I first started my parenting blog several years ago, I had no idea what I was doing, other than I knew I wanted to share some of my writing and parenting articles with moms.

I was instantly struck by the sense of community online and the desire among moms to connect with each other. There seemed to be such an openness about all that comes with being a parent (the good, the bad, the pretty and the ugly), and it taught me to be more open in my own parenting journey.

It also helped me find my writing voice. I was encouraged and inspired by the stories and comments from women on my blog, and I wanted to find a way to bring more moms together and encourage them too.

So I began writing a book for moms. About seven months later, I finished the first draft of Finding Mommy Bliss.

That was in 2009.

I wrote a proposal for it, sent it to an agent (that would be Chip)… and held my breath, hoping he liked it.

The good news was, he did.

But the not-so-good news (for me at the time) was that he declined it, explaining that the market wasn’t right for that type of book just then, and that I needed to continue to build my platform. He said he’d be happy to look at it again in the future.

A few years passed and, after many revisions and edits to my manuscript, I emailed Chip to ask if he might still be interested in looking at the project.

He said yes.

And now, here it is several months later, Chip is my agent, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to be part of the team represented by MacGregor Literary.

In between these happenings, I was invited to be one of the authors to take part in the launch of a new app called Snippet with Finding Mommy Bliss.

Snippet provides a brand new multimedia reading platform for iPads and iPhones – sort of a cross between a book and a blog. Each title in the Snippet library has 1,000 words or less per chapter, along with “discoverables” which are icons that readers can click on to view videos,

photographs, listen to audio clips, open graphics, and discover other interactive features.

Snippet also has a social feature that pulls conversations from twitter based on hashtag.

So, for example, when someone tweets using the hashtag of #mommybliss in twitter, their tweet can be seen within my Snippet of Finding Mommy Bliss when readers click on the social icon.

Here’s a quick video about Snippet to show you more:

Snippet from Snippet App on Vimeo.

While the app is still in the beginning stages of launch, there has been a lot of enthusiasm about it already (it reached #7 in the app store a couple weeks ago).

As an author, it’s been exciting to be involved with Snippet, and I love how the new format works so well with my vision for Finding Mommy Bliss–to bring moms together and encourage them. The way Snippet allows readers to connect with the author and other readers all in one place is really unique. And I have to say, as a busy mom who likes to be able to read on my phone, I’m not only a Snippet author, I’ve become a Snippet reader too.

If you want to learn more about Snippet or check out the books in its library, you can download it for free in the app store, or follow the direct link here: http://appstore.com/snippetapp

You can also visit the website here: http://www.thesnippetapp.com/

Genny lives in Northern California with her husband and two kids, where she balances writing with motherhood and loves both. She’s an author, speaker, blogger and coffee lover. Stop by her blog and share a cup!

To find out more about Genny’s Snippet of Finding Mommy Bliss, click here. Or to download it, click here. 

Join us (Chip and Amanda) and Michael Hyatt, bestselling author and former CEO of Thomas Nelson, for a complimentary LIVE teleseminar on Wednesday, April 10 at 8pm Eastern Time (7pm Central, 5pm Pacific).

During this call you’ll have the ability to get your publishing questions answered by the three of us. You’ll also learn many of Michael’s insider secrets on getting published and building a platform for success.

The call will last about an hour. It’s free for all to join and there will be an MP3 recording / replay shared with all who register. When you register you will have the option to submit a question for us to answer

To register now, click here.

FAQs

Q: What is a teleseminar?

A: Think of it as a giant conference call. You dial in (or listen via streaming web audio), along with others and listen while we share and answer questions.

Q: How much does this cost?

A: It’s free. If you choose to access the LIVE call via phone, you may incur standard long-distance charges if you choose a dial-in number that is not local to you (there are multiple dial-in number options). Other than that, no fee at all.

Q: What is the date and time?

A: The LIVE call will take place on Wednesday, April 10 at 8pm Eastern Time (7pm Central, 5pm Pacific).

Q: How can I access the LIVE call?

A: You’ll have two options. Our call capacity is 3,000 total. Five hundred can access the call via phone, the rest via streaming web audio (listening via your computer). Access is on a first-come, first-served based on registration and which access option you chose. We will notify you prior to the call with the specific phone number and web address.

Q: I can’t make the LIVE call. Will there be a recording?

A: Yes, we’ll make the recording available to all who registered after the LIVE call.

Q: How do I ask a question for you to answer during the call?

A: When you register there will be an option for you to submit a question. We’ll also take a few LIVE questions during the call itself.

Q: Do I need any special equipment?

A: No, nothing special needed. You won’t need to download anything to access the call. If you use the dial-in access then you simply make a phone call. If you use the streaming web access then you simply open a web browser, click play, and listen. We will send the instructions to you via email.

Q: When do I get access information after I register?

A: We will send you access information via email a day or two before the call and a reminder email on the day of the call.

Plan to listen in! We’d love to have you there.

Mailing Lists

For decades, Authors have been told there are two things they really should do:

1.  A website.

2.  A newsletter.

The website is self-explanatory, and I’ll discuss it in more depth in another article.  For now, it’s sufficient to say that when readers, booksellers, or industry professionals are interested in an author or intrigued by something an author did or said–or something else has spurred curiosity–these people first look to the author’s website to find out more about that author.

They often skip the search engine “search” and go straight to the author’s name followed by .com.  That’s the biggest reason you’re always advised to try to get your name (or pseudonym, if you use one) and set your site up (author’s name).com.

The newsletter is a bit more tricky.  There are multiple reasons why they’re a good idea.  Here are a few:

1.  It’s the author’s personal connection to the reader.  A dialogue, if you will, that is between just the two of you.

2.  It’s an efficient way to exchange information, to keep readers current on what’s going on with the author’s work.

3.  It’s essential to notify readers of special events and special deals of interest to them. (For example, for one day or one month, a bookseller has reduced the price of your $15.99 book to $5.60.  That’s helpful information for readers.

How to let them know brings us to newsletters, and that brings us to mailing lists: the means through which we can connect for those purposes.  I hear authors groaning already about another writing-related task that keeps them from writing the books, but let me share that your mailing list is an enormously valuable asset.  Why?

I touched on the personal connection and information sharing and awareness factors above.  But this is also the author’s opportunity to create bonds.  They’re important–to authors but also to readers.  In your newsletter, readers see a little deeper into the author or into the work.  Maybe you do an exclusive note to them about why you wrote the book.  Give them a sneak peek behind the proverbial curtain.  Or you offer them something in your newsletter that they don’t see elsewhere.  Newsletter readers become insiders into your world and feel treasured by you, and they should be treasured by you!

A newsletter isn’t and should never be a commercial.  Readers are bombarded by plenty of those.  Your newsletter should be informative but also have something special for those interested enough and supportive enough to opt-in to your mailing list to keep up to date on your activities.  So treat the readers behind the newsletter (whether they are readers, booksellers, librarians or other industry professionals) with the respect they deserve.  Yes, tell them what’s available and new, but also chat with them and not just to them.

Never send newsletters to those who have not specifically opted to receive them.  Opt-in only.  There are laws on this, and against spamming.  Honor them and respect your readers.  Give them the chance to join your mailing list, yes.  But if they don’t choose to do so, don’t send your newsletter to them anyway.  That’s illegal and rude.  It will also get you blacklisted, and that means your emails are bounced by servers and not sent to recipients.  You’re officially tagged as a spammer.  This impacts not only your ability to send newsletters, but also your ability to send any email!

So how do you manage your mailing lists?

There are many ways, of course, but with the conviction that it works, I can share how I do mine.

I maintain two lists:  one for the newsletter and one I call the Remind Me list, which I’ll explain in a moment.  First, let’s look at the Newsletter list.  It’s divided into three groups, or lists:

1.  Readers.

2.  Booksellers.

3.  Librarians.

The reader’s list is tagged a general list and it’s the group to whom newsletters go.  But there are times when you have something to share that is only of interest to select groups–say, booksellers or librarians.  You don’t want to include that level or depth of information in your general newsletter so you create a special newsletter or news blast for the intended group–be that booksellers or librarians.  (Alternately, you might have a fiction and non-fiction list.  Those who are interested in one well might not be interested in the other.  You’ll know your areas of specialty and how to break your list so that what you send out is relevant to the intended recipients.)

An example:  Recently, my three Seascape series novels were reissued as “Clean Reads.”  These are hard cover and particularly of interest to librarians.  The books were originally published for the general market but have been revised to fit the needs of this specific group.  All three of the books have now been released, and while I’ve mentioned their release (because my faith-affirming, inspirational readers might also find these books of interest), I need to do a special, short news release to librarians on these new Clean Reads versions.

This enables me to let those who want to know these things know them, but doesn’t clutter everyone’s mailbox with a special newsletter they don’t need.  So it’s mentioned in the general newsletter, and interested parties get a special news blast giving them important additional details they need.

Yes, it’s more work for the author.  But it’s worthy work because it respects the people receiving the messages, and that is extremely important–or it should be extremely important to the author.

Now, we’re all busy and have nine million things tugging at us all the time shouting, “Me next!”  Because I recognize that, I also keep a separate mailing list for those who want to know when a new book is released but that’s really all they want to know due to their own time constraints.  Accommodating them, I have the REMIND ME list.

The only thing I send those who opt-in for the REMIND ME list is a short note when a new book is released.  It lets them know the new book is available and in what format (print, digital, audio.  Whether it’s hard cover, trade or mass market paperback.)  That’s it.  Ten seconds or less and they’ve read it and are aware of the new book.

The signup forms for the Newsletter and Remind Me lists are different.  Here are screenshots of what I use for each of them:

Figure 1 is a screenshot of the Sidebar that’s on most pages of my vickihinze.com website.

Note that I used two very different buttons, so it’s blatant that there are two different options here (though many do sign up for both) and negates any confusion.

When you click “Subscribe Newsletter” the form in Figure 2 comes up.

Note it’s quick and easy, and the only information required is the email address.

Also note the “I am a” in the last box.  If you click the arrow on the right of “Reader,” you’ll see “Bookseller” and “Librarian.”  Important for the reasons stated above and it provides a simple way to sort to send something geared specifically to Booksellers or Librarians quickly and easily. Often, they need information readers do not, so it’s helpful for the author to have that option.

When you click the Remind Me “Subscribe Now” button, the Figure 3 form appears.

Again, quick and easy, and only the email address is required.

To see this function on the website, click the graphic and it’ll take you to one of my pages.  I know that actually seeing something operational often helps me.

Privacy policy.  You should make it clear that you have a privacy policy in place.  Typically that’s posted on your website, but it should be on the subscription confirmation form (after people signup, they receive a note confirming that they really did sign up [and weren’t being impersonated]) or on a “thanks for joining me” type of response for having signed up.

Look at it this way:  When you sign up for one thing and find your email has been shared, you don’t appreciate it.  No one else appreciates it, either.  So create a privacy policy, blatantly state it, and fastidiously adhere to it.  The statement doesn’t have to be fancy.  Blunt works great:

Your privacy is respected.  Your information will not be shared.

That does the trick.

Let me close by saying you have no idea how valuable an asset your mailing list is until you lose it.  A few years ago, I had well over 100,000 opt-in readers on my general list, several thousand on the bookseller list, and over 20,000 on my librarian’s list.

My computer was hacked, which resulted in a safety feature kicking in that destroyed everything on my hard drive.  So they didn’t get any information, but my hard drive was wiped out.  Unfortunately for me, my external hard drive backup was connected at the time, so it too was corrupted.  Not wiped but so severely corrupted that nothing on it was recoverable.  I lost everything.

Worse than the loss of the mailing lists was the loss of the connections I’d built over many years.  Multiple computer gurus tried to recover the lists (and photos and important documents) but couldn’t salvage a thing.  I had to accept that I had to start over.  And so I did.  That loss is felt acutely even today.

Several lessons in that for me that I share with you:

1.  Don’t keep your external hard drive connected to your computer unless you’re using it.

2.  Understand the value of your mailing list–it’s your connection to your readers.

3.  Make multiple backup copies of your mailing lists and store them in multiple places.  Even that won’t totally protect you from loss, particularly if someone else maintains your list for you.  But if that’s the case, then suspense your calendar to do monthly backup downloads so you have current copies.  People subscribe, unsubscribe, change their email addresses and such all the time.  This way, if you need to start again, you have a base that isn’t out of date by so much that the required verification forms sent (to be sure the person really does want to subscribe to your list) don’t bounce at a rate that qualifies you as a spammer.

Let me explain that.  Every time you switch providers of a mailing list service, the new one must send a verification form to each subscriber to be sure they want your email and you’re not spamming them from some list you bought somewhere.  The subscriber must click a confirmation link or s/he is off your list.  Most companies will send these verification forms one time only.  So when you change service providers, you might only retain 10 or 15% of your subscribers.  It’s totally a matter of the subscriber clicking that email link.

This is another reason to make sure your list stays “clean” and up-to-date.  If it doesn’t, and you either switch servers or need to start over from a backup and a lot of the verifications emailed by your service provider to your subscribers bounce or are refused, then you’re deemed a spammer.  That can impact not only your mailing list emails but all your emails.  So you have to keep your list clean and up-to-date!

I hope this helps not only show you the value of mailing lists but also helps you avoid pitfalls and challenges in creating and maintaining them.

Blessings,

Vicki