Spread a Little Peace and Goodwill

The giggles of my youngest children tinkled through the living room like little sleigh bells. One of my older daughters at the piano added her sweet strains of Silver Bells to the mixture. The aroma of freshly baked sugar cookies enveloped the house. And in the growing dusk, the gentle glow of the lights on the tree wrapped the moment like a beautifully tied bow on a picture-perfect present.

Even though the wind rattled the window and the snow swirled in a blustery gale, in the warmth of the kitchen with a steaming mug of peppermint tea, my heart was at peace.

I’d spent part of the afternoon researching online. My plot for my next novel was coming together. And I was getting excited about the way the characters were revealing themselves to me. If I could continue to make steady progress with my research, I might be ready to start writing the first draft in January.

I folded both hands around my mug and slurped a hot sip. A glance at the clock in the corner of the laptop told me I still had at least an hour. A whole hour left to research. What could be a more pleasant way to spend a winter afternoon?

Suddenly, a box popped up on the screen in front of me. A glaring, red box. It read, “Your computer is compromised with a trojan. Begin anti-virus scan.”

My heart crashed to a halt. I stared at the word “Trojan” with dread. The nightmare of the last virus invasion darkened my thoughts. But then, calmly, with my heart sputtering back to life, I did what I’d been told to do. I refrained from panicking and clicking any of the pop-ups (which are usually the trojans trying to trick us into clicking and in the process downloading them into our harddrives). Instead, I shut down my laptop and prayed the problem would go away.

After a few minutes, I restarted my computer. I held my breath as I waited for the screen to reload.

"Oh, no," I whispered. The dreaded box was still there. I tried restarting my computer again. But it wouldn't go away. I attempted to activate my laptop's malware program to no avail. I tried to run an AVG scan. And that too failed.

The children's laughter in the living room grew obnoxious. The piano music was too fast and loud. The room turned as chilly as my forgotten tea. My insides rattled with the same unsettled tempest as the wind that thrashed the oncoming darkness of night.

Have you ever noticed how quickly we can loose our sense of peace? One moment it's there, and in the next it slips out of our grasp.

In the original Trojan Horse story of ancient Greece, the people of Troy brought a big wooden horse into the city as a gift to their god Athena. Little did they know that their long-time enemy, the Spartans, were hiding in the belly of the wooden horse. After darkness fell, the Spartan soldiers climbed out and conquered the unsuspecting Troy.

Just like the Trojan of ancient times and similar to the online viruses that infect our computers, the trojans of real life sneak in undected too. We don't see them coming, but suddenly they're there--irritating, frightening, and often destructive. A scary health diagnosis. An unexpected relationship problem. A sudden death in the family. An unwanted job loss.

Sometimes we can't stop an invasion. As hard as I tried, I couldn't stop the trojan from making it past all of the protection I'd loaded onto my laptop. And we often can't stop the bad things from happening in our personal lives either.

If you're like me, you may even say something like, "What kind of twisted person takes pleasure in hurting and causing problems for others? Who would do such a thing and why?" But, the fact is, evil exists. Thus, hardships and difficulties abound.

Maybe our goal shouldn't be so much about how we can avoid life's painful times (although I'm all for self-protection!). But when we try to avoid anything difficult, perhaps we miss out on the growth that can come while we're in the middle of the hardship.

When we can't escape those unavoidable trojans, when our own peace deserts us, one of the best ways to cope is to do good for others, to take the focus off ourselves and our problems. And even if we're not experiencing a trojan, during the times of peace, wouldn't we all be better off if we took a few minutes every day to do something good for someone else?

A kind word. A card of encouragement. A smile to a stranger. Taking a plate of cookies to a teacher. Shoveling the walkway for a neighbor. Sending a restaurant gift card to a new mom. Offering a critique to another writer.

Especially during the holidays, I challenge all of us to look for ways we can spread a little more peace and goodwill.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Peace and Goodwill to you!

P.S. This year my annual Christmas letter is online! You're invited to read it: Hedlund Happenings

(I will be taking a blogging break starting Friday, Dec. 24, but will be back bright and early on Monday, Jan. 3.)

Finding Your Unique Blogging Voice

What’s the sign that something is wrong with a blog? Does a lack of comments mean we’re writing boring posts? Can a drop in traffic mean that we’re not doing enough to make our blogs appealing?

Author Mike Duran recently wrote a post, “One Reason Your Blog Sucks.” And the post got me thinking, as most of Mike’s posts do (thanks, Mike!). He said this, “Like it or not, one gauge of a blog’s reach is the number of comments it consistently generates.” Mike says that a lot of writer blogs end up “parroting the mainstream, defending turf and rebutting dissent, rather than encouraging discussion.”

While I don’t agree completely with everything in Mike’s post, I do agree that many of our blogs end up parroting one another. There are a lot of writer blogs that sound and look very similar. Whether we do it intentionally or not, we often end up copying one another.

For example, if I tried to pattern my blog posts after Mike’s “hot button issues” that “generate buzz” then I run the risk of mimicking him. If you try to write your posts to replicate my style, you risk sounding like me. Blogging like Mike won’t guarantee that I’ll generate more comments anymore than blogging like me will give you more.

Instead of trying to mimic what others are doing, we would be wise to look at our individual uniquenesses and strengths. Isn’t that what we’re trying to accomplish in our books anyway? We’re hoping to craft stories that stand out from others, stories that bring forth the sound of our unique writer voices.

If we’re using our voices in our books, why not on our blogs too? Why would we want our posts to parrot others? Shouldn’t we aim to give our writing (no matter the medium) our particular texture, flavor, and sound?

In other words, I don’t need to blog like you, and you don’t need to blog like me. Instead we have to look at what makes our writing stand apart from others and let our individual writer voices shine forth in our posts.

With that said, I do think there are some common blogging basics for any writer hoping to use their blog to develop a platform. Just as there are basic fiction writing techniques that will help us craft our stories so our voices are even more distinct and appealing, there are some common principles that can help in blogging.

1. Engage the Reader: Ultimately, whether in our books or our posts, we want to make a connection to our readers in some way. Perhaps we won’t stir up a controversial discussion or dish out enlightening information with each post, but we can still write with our readers in mind, rather than making our posts all about us.

2. Maintain a professional appearance: I’ve already discussed this in other posts: Maintaining a Professional Blog and 3 Blogging Blunders. Remember if we’re pursing publication, then we’re hoping to be seen as professionals by industry personnel. Whether we write humor or horror (or whatever), we don’t have to compromise our uniquenesses by maintaining a level of professionalism.

3. Blog with consistency: I like what author Kristen Lamb recently said about blogging, “You need to blog (minimum) once a week. If you are blogging once a month or when the fancy strikes you, that’s just wasted effort toward building a platform. Readers need to be able to count on you/your blog.” Check out her blog for more witty social media advice.

4. Participate in the blogging community. Blogging is a form of social media, and for our posts to generate traffic and get comments, we have to socialize with others. We can’t publish a post, sit back, and wait for masses of adoring fans to flock to our site to read our brilliant words. Most of us who’ve been blogging a while have had to work really hard to develop our followings.

Yes, there are blogging basics that can help all of us improve our blogs, generate more traffic, and increase our comments. However, through it all, we need to be mindful of our uniquenesses. Copying someone else who seems to have a successful blog is no way to bring ourselves success anymore than copying the writing of Rowlings or King will make our books hit the bestseller lists.

So, have you struggled with trying to find your unique blogging voice? Have you been trying to copy others, thinking that would bring you success? Or are you working at making your posts stand out in your own unique way and if so, how?

Can Writers Realistically Make a Profit Self-Publishing?

Occasionally I get this question, “Did you ever consider self-publishing?”

And I have to honestly say that no, I never gave it a thought. Not only have I always had the goal of traditional publication, but when I first started querying I was naïve about the self-publishing process. I knew absolutely nothing about it, and therefore wouldn’t have known where to start even if I’d wanted to pursue it.

Most non-traditional publication gets labeled “self-publication.” Perhaps in one sense, when we choose to publish (versus having a publisher choose us), then we are self-publishing. We, ourselves, are taking the initiative and making it happen, rather than waiting for someone to give us permission.

For clarity’s sake, however, let’s define a few of the major publication options (this list is NOT all inclusive and there is overlap):

Traditional publication: A company pays an author to publish a book through advances and royalties. The publisher invests in the editing, marketing, and promotion of the book. These types of houses are usually closed to unsolicited manuscripts and require an author to work through an agent.

Small press: They're similar to traditional companies, but operate on a smaller scale and budget. Advances and royalties may be less. Like larger houses, they make their profits by selling books to consumers, rather than selling services to authors.

Subsidy press: The author must pay a fee to print a book under the company’s imprint. The company often offers paid services for cover art, editing, warehousing, and perhaps some degree of marketing. The books are owned and stored by the publisher, and the author receives a portion of sales in the form of royalties.

Self-publishing: The author takes the entire cost and burden of publication upon themselves. The author is the publisher. Other than using a printer, the author works independently to design, edit, store, and sell the book. All sales proceeds belong to the author.

I’ve known several people who’ve self-published in the truest sense. They have no company name on their books, no extra costs except the price of printing the books, and they had no help—except what they sought. Two of my family members published books this way—mainly for family and friends.

I’m also acquainted with authors who’ve used subsidy presses. A long time friend, Rebekah Freelan, used WestBow Press, a fairly new division of Thomas Nelson Publishers. WestBow describes themselves as “self-publishing company” (although they more closely resemble the description of subsidy press used above).

Rebekah used Westbow to print an Advent devotional: His Advent Still His Greatest Gift. I recently asked her about the pro’s and con’s of her experience, and here’s what she said:

Pro’s of Using WestBow:

• Being able to publish without having to secure an agent or a publisher.
• WestBow has affordable packages (Rebekah used the cheapest package and paid an upfront $700 fee, which included a 20% discount special at the time she initiated the process.)
• She liked the amount of input she had over design and content, and thought the staff was very proactive in helping her.
• She’s purchased a total of 750 books, and has sold enough copies to pay for the cost of buying those books as well as pay for her initial investment of $700.

Con’s of Using WestBow:

• Lack of promotion (if she’d paid more, they would have helped more). She said it’s been a struggle for her to promote the book because marketing isn’t something she’s good at.
• Lack of guidance in the business aspect of the process of publication.
• Hasn’t earned enough money to begin seeing a profit yet. She said she could make up to $3000 if she sells all her books.

In summary, Rebekah said this: “Would I try it again? I would. I would still like to try to publish traditionally but I had a good experience and would do this again. Some of my upcoming projects would go much more smoothly if I had the assistance of a traditional publisher, though, admittedly.”

I have another friend who’s used a subsidy press for her delightful children’s book. And she too struggles with the time and effort it takes to promote her book. She has to work hard for every sale she makes.

The more I learn about subsidy and self-publishing, the more I realize that writers need to carefully consider the financial aspect and ask themselves: Do I care about making money from the venture?

It’s already hard enough for most traditionally published authors to make a profit from publication—even with the backing of a publisher’s marketing and publicity departments. So, without any help (or with very little), a subsidy or self-published author must be realistically prepared for an uphill battle. They’ll have to make peace with making little to no money, as well as the possibility of actually losing money.

Recently, Eric at Pimp My Novel asked his readers to weigh in with self-publishing success stories. Interestingly, none of the writers reported making more than a couple hundred dollars. Granted, success isn’t always measured in dollars. But I think most of us, if we’re completely honest, would like to eventually see some financial compensation for the hours, weeks, and months we put into our books.

What do you think? If you’ve self-published or used a subsidy press, how hard or easy has it been to make a profit? And if you’re going the traditional route, did the possibility of making a profit play a role in that decision?

The winners of The Preacher's Bride Christmas giveaway are: Lily Robinson & Tina Toler. Congratulations! Thanks to all who entered! I loved the enthusiasm of everyone!

What To Do When We Feel Unappreciated

Unappreciated. We’ve all felt it at one time or another, haven’t we?

In the writing world, we writers often do a lot for each other—give critiques, help promote a new book, write up book reviews, link to blog posts, shout out on twitter or facebook, etc. Most of the writers I’ve met have big hearts and end up giving the shirt off their backs to help others.

When we give of our limited time to help, but then, for whatever reason, don’t feel like the recipient really cares that we made an effort, the unappreciation stings. Maybe we’re not expecting anything in return. But a simple acknowledgement of our help or small thank you would go a long way.

This past fall with the release of my first book, The Preacher’s Bride, I’ve been on the receiving end of a LOT of help from a LOT of different people. Many of YOU bought my book and that, in and of itself, is an incredible support for which I am deeply grateful. Others went above and beyond, offering me interviews, writing up book reviews, shouting out the news wherever they could, and so much more. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

However, now that I’m several months into my debut, I can’t help but wonder if I’ve made anyone feel unappreciated for all of their work on my behalf. Recently, someone anonymously left a comment expressing a feeling of unappreciation for their work as an influencer. And even though it wasn’t directed at me (or maybe it was!), I still took the comment to heart. Had I somehow missed expressing my gratitude to those who’ve helped me?

With worry slipping over the frozen pool of my heart, I thought back to the chaos of the past few months. What had I done wrong? What could I do differently next time to make sure that everyone who supports me knows just how much I appreciate it?

I’m still mulling over those questions. In the meantime, here are a few of my thoughts about how we can all deal with those times when we’re feeling unappreciated:

Give without expecting anything in return.

As hard as it is, we really will build better relationships if we’re giving selflessly, without the “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” attitude. I always feel a bit icky when someone helps me (and I think they’re doing it because they really want to), but then a few weeks later they ask me for a favor.

I’ve tried to make it my personal philosophy that I give without asking for anything in return. I choose projects carefully, whether that’s a critique for a friend or an endorsement on a book. And once I agree to help someone out, I let them know I absolutely don’t expect them to reciprocate. I’m helping them because I'm already blessed in so many different ways.

Put ourselves in the place of the other person.

When I’m feeling unappreciated, I try to put myself in the other person’s shoes and imagine what their unique situation and circumstances are. Perhaps they’re just too busy to keep up on social media life, especially every comment and every tweet.

Since I’ve now been in the situation of being completely overwhelmed (especially during the initial weeks before and after my book’s release), I realize just how hard it is to keep up with interviews, reviews, blog comments, and tweets. Although I tried really hard to visit each blog that either hosted me for an interview or reviewed my book, I may have unintentionally missed someone. I also didn’t have the chance to tweet about or put a link on facebook for every interview or review. As much as I would have liked to bring attention to each one, I didn’t want to gag my followers with an overdose of promotion on my book.

Give others the benefit of the doubt.

When we don’t understand why someone isn’t showing us appreciation, we can still show them grace. We don’t need to get angry and stop following them or refuse to support them. In fact, if their lack of appreciation hurt us significantly enough, then perhaps we need to write them a private email and kindly express our feelings. Often open communication is all it takes to clear up a misunderstanding.

Do our best to show appreciation to others.

When it’s all said and done, we can’t control how other people act. But we can make an effort to continue doing our best at showing our gratitude for the good things others do for us. In fact, we can give simply because it usually blesses us more than the recipient.

Of course there will always be those who will use people and toss them aside when they no longer need them. So, yes, we do need to be careful about setting boundaries, offering our help judiciously, and not letting others take advantage of our willing spirit.

However, most writers I’ve met are truly generous people. If we all have the attitude of helping and encouraging one another without expecting anything in return, just think how much good we can do for one another!

What about you? Have you ever worked hard to help someone only to feel that your efforts went unappreciated? How did you handle the situation?

P.S. There's still time to enter The Preacher's Bride Christmas giveaway! The deadline for entering is Thursday Dec. 16 at 10:00 P.M. For rules and to enter click here.

The Slush Pile Slump Syndrome

Waiting is one of the hardest parts of the publication process. No matter where we’re at, we all have to wait. We have to wait for an agent to make a decision on our query, for an editor to look at our proposal, or a publisher to renew our contract. Maybe we’re waiting for contest results or sales figures that tell us we earned out our advance.

Waiting is unavoidable and it doesn’t end when we get an agent or book contract. It’s a continual part of the professional writer’s life.

However, with that said, I have to admit that the slush pile wait is one of the hardest types of waits a writer must go through. At least it was for me.

For many of us, querying is the beginning of venturing out of our writing isolation, putting our precious books out there, testing if our writing skills and stories are ready for publication. So when we get a nibble from an agent—any sign of interest—our hopes escalate. The request for a partial or a full fills us with excitement, because maybe—just maybe—we have what it takes.

We send off our manuscript to the requesting agent with trembling fingers and wildly thumping hearts. But then something happens we didn’t expect (or at least secretly hoped wouldn’t happen to us). We end up waiting, and waiting, and waiting . . . for weeks, then perhaps months. We can’t help but wonder if the agent lost our manuscript or made a decision and then forgot to tell us.

The reality is that our manuscript is still sitting in an enormous slush pile, and the harried agent just can’t find enough time in the day to get to it.

So we fall into what I call the “Slush Pile Slump Syndrome” or SPSS. How do we know if we suffer from SPSS? Here are a few signs:

• When you check email every 5 minutes just in case the agent has finally made a decision.

• When you follow the agent so closely on Twitter you have their daily schedule memorized.

• You decide to name your next child after the agent because it’s the name you think about most.

• You send the agent a Christmas present—and sign it “to my agent to-be.”

• You start eating chocolate and drinking coffee at every meal to prove that you’re a real writer.

All humor aside, the slush pile wait is incredibly difficult. In order to avoid catching SPSS, here are a few things to keep in mind:

An agent’s decision does not determine our worth. Yes, an agent’s praise can validate we’re on track. But we have to remember if they say no, that doesn’t mean we stink and that our story will never sell. Plenty of agents turned down The Preacher’s Bride, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t saleable.

Connect with the agent on Twitter or through blogging. Leave comments. Retweet their links. Increase your online presence so that agents can’t help but see your name and wonder about you. Be friendly, but professional. However, be careful not to come across as desperate or obnoxious.

While waiting, keep writing. The very best thing we can do once our manuscript is in the slush pile is to start working on the next book. Not only does it divert our attention, but it also helps us continue to grow in writing skill. Besides, if the agent decides she likes our writing but doesn't think she can sell our slush pile story, we’ll have another one ready to give her.

Look for ways to get an advantage. One of the best ways to get recognition is to final in a contest. My final in a national contest helped propel my manuscript to the top of my agent’s slush pile. Another advantage is to get an endorsement or recommendation from one of the agent’s clients (this usually only works if you’re already friends).

No matter what we do to alleviate the stress, the slush-pile wait is downright difficult. If nothing else, we can look at the wait as one more part of the process that toughens us and prepares us for the long waits and difficult days that are still to come in the life of a professional writer.

What about you? Have you ever had to wait in a slush pile? And have you ever caught the Slush Pile Slump Syndrome? (Tell us your what you did during your slump!) What did you do to pull yourself out?

P.S. There's still time to enter the Christmas gift drawing for The Preacher's Bride! Click here for rules and to enter the giveaway.

Does Refreshing Ourselves Keep Our Writing Fresh?

Do writers ever need a vacation from writing?

As you know, I recently turned in my rewrites on The Doctor’s Lady (my second book). After many, many months of laboring over it—both with the writing and editing—I was really worn out when I finally sent it to my publisher.

I took a week completely off from my writing and caught up on all of the household jobs I’d neglected. I washed dirty sheets, examined the bare cupboards and made a grocery list, and filled up the long-neglected soap dispensers.

After a week of getting my house back in order, I took another week to shop. I bought deodorant for my son, new jeans for my fast-growing daughter, fall sweaters for myself, and a variety of other household items that we desperately needed.

After a couple weeks “off,” I finally started to think about my next book. I’d already sent my editor a couple different synopses earlier in the fall. And now I was ready to figure out what direction I should take the book. So, I planned a phone meeting with my editor, and we talked through the different ideas. He told me what to steer clear of, brainstormed with me, and together we came up with a plan.

When I hung up the phone, my mind was whirling with new excitement. And ever since then, I’ve been researching and plotting my next novel. Yes, I allocate time for reading those brittle, musty, old books. In fact, I spent six hours at the library on Saturday in the genealogy room, reading all the books that are too old and precious to check out.

But during this research and plotting phase, I also allow my brain some down-time. I don’t rush the plotting. In fact, I go in slow motion, mulling over everything I read, sifting through material, filling up notebooks with research, brainstorming lists of ideas (half of which I’ll never use).

It’s almost like I have an enormous feast before me, and while I’m tempted to rush in and gulp down everything in my eagerness, I don’t. Instead I linger over each dish, dipping my finger in and tasting the sweetness, feeling the textures against my tongue, taking deep breaths of the variety of scents. I stand utterly still, close my eyes, and enjoy the pure pleasure of each bite.

Author Roxane Salonen recently wrote a post titled “Let the Tortoise Have His Way.” She mentioned that often we let the hare part of our brains run at full speed. But there are times when we need to let the slower tortoise part of the brain have his turn. It’s during those “slow” times that our brain can store up images, sift through the mountains of information, find the nuggets, and organize them into stories we can use.

So, even though I’ve been researching and plotting my newest novel, I’ve been operating out of the “tortoise” part of my brain. During this process, I’m preparing myself for when I start the actual writing.

Here are a few of the ways I’ve rejuvenated my mind lately:

• Listen to inspiring music. I’ve been blaring Handel’s Messiah and letting the incredibly complex cacophony of instruments and voices surge through my blood. There’s something about beautiful music that restores beauty to our souls.

• Take time to focus on sensory details. A gently floating snowflake, the lustrous velvety fur of my kitty, the creaking of the branches outside my window, the rich aroma of the garlic and sage in the spaghetti sauce. How can we write sensory details in our stories if we don’t stop and experience them for ourselves?

• Read writing craft books. Over the past couple weeks I’ve read two: The Plot Thickens by Noah Lukeman (an easy read with very practical ideas for improving plot); and The Moral Premise by Stanley Williams (not an easy read and geared for screenwriters, but a thorough introduction on how to implement the crucial element of a story premise). Both have given me fresh ideas and renewed my excitement for starting a first draft.

• Meditate on classic writing. I like reading the writing of “oldtimers.” I love the wisdom and the ability to find timeless truths. These are the kinds of truths that I like to make my characters struggle through. When we take the time to wrestle with deeper issues, then we're better able to weave them into our stories.

• Study other great books. Currently, I’m reading Where the Red Fern Grows to my children. And as I’m reading it, I’m taking lots of notes. It’s very well-written, and I’m studying the characterization, plot development, and the beautiful usage of similes and metaphors.

So there you have it. Those are some of the ways that I’ve been refreshing myself lately. Now I’d love to hear what you do. What are the ways that you refresh yourself so that you can keep your writing fresh?

P.S. Need a Christmas present? I'm giving away TWO autographed copies of The Preacher's Bride (signed and sent to the person of your choice!) For rules and to enter the drawing, click here.

Fighting The Green-Eyed Jealousy Monster

Let’s be honest, the writer’s world is rife with jealousy. Maybe we’re jealous of our critique partner for landing an agent before us. Perhaps we’re envious of another blogger for getting a book contract after only a couple months when our agent has been shopping our manuscript for a couple of years. It could be we’re jealous of another author whose Amazon ranking is consistently better than ours.

Wherever we’re at in the writing journey, we all experience envious twinges from time to time. In fact, often our jealous fits turn into full-fledged body cramps. Yet, we rarely talk about our envy. We usually bear our twinges and cramps privately.

Last week, author Michelle Davidson Argyle had an honest post in which she expressed her battles with jealousy. I appreciated her candor, and it got me thinking. If so many of us struggle with jealousy, why don’t we talk about it more often? Why do we feel the need to keep those envious feelings secretive?

Is it because we’re embarrassed to admit (maybe even to ourselves) that we wish the success had come to us instead? Maybe we’re truly happy for our friend, but her good news leaves us with hollow fear that we aren’t good enough and won’t ever make it. Or what if we think we’re more skilled than the other author and that we deserve the accolades more than her?

Whatever the reason, most of us don’t talk about our jealousy. After all, isn’t jealousy one of those vices we try hard NOT to exhibit? To admit we struggle with it, is to admit we’re less than perfect.

In the spirit of all honesty, I confess I battle the green-eyed jealousy monster too. Yes, I’ve checked out other author rankings, drooled over someone else’s good news, or even wondered how I could be more clever like certain twitter friends.

I don’t think it’s coincidence that a writer coined the phrase “green-eyed monster.” Shakespeare first used the saying in Othello. Over 400 years ago he wrote, “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.”

Yes, jealousy can grow into a monster, especially because we face such a tough market today. Agents don’t accept many new clients. Publishers have limited slots for debut authors. Many books get limited shelf space. With all the obstacles, we may often feel like we’re in a competition against one another. But . . . is it a competition? Is our jealousy really justified?

Here are just a few of my thoughts on how we can battle the green-eyed monster:

Agents and publishers DO still want to find great writers and excellent books.

Industry professionals are looking for talented writers. They want to find well-crafted stories that grip them and won’t let them go. In other words, there’s hope for every single writer seeking publication. It may take time (after I queried The Preacher’s Bride, it sat in my agent’s slush pile for nearly nine months before she got to it). If our skills and stories are top-notch, we’ll rise to the top of the pile eventually.

There are enough readers for all of us.

I’ll never forget something my agent once told me. She said, “You don’t need to look at other authors as competition. The great thing is that readers of your genre can enjoy your book and others like yours.” In other words, readers usually aren’t just looking for ONE perfect book to buy or read. They’re looking for a  variety of new great stories that they can devour.

And readers don’t usually have just one favorite author. Their hearts and reading capacity are big enough to have many favorites. We don’t have to worry that there won’t be enough space for us when it’s our turn.

We can reach our dreams if we stretch high enough.

Fortunately, we live in a time in history when our dreams can become reality—with enough work and perseverance. No one is stopping us from putting our whole hearts and souls into becoming the best writers we can possibly be—nobody, except perhaps ourselves. Usually, we’re our own worst enemy when we give way to apathy, laziness, or discouragement.

The truth is, the opportunity of publication is equally available to all of us. We don’t need inside connections or special privileges or outstanding talent. But we do need to want to reach our dreams badly enough that we’re willing to keep on stretching and working until it’s firmly in our grasp.

It won’t be easy. But it is possible.

Now it’s your turn—be honest! Have you ever battled the green-eyed jealousy monster? In such a tough market, what are some ways you work to keep jealousy monster locked away?

P.S. I'm giving away two autographed copies of The Preacher's Bride as Christmas Presents (signed and sent to the person of your choice). For contest rules and to enter the drawing, click here.

How to Handle Harsh Criticism Without Crying

It finally happened. I got a stinging review of my book. Sure, I’d already gotten reviews in which readers mentioned something they didn’t like about the story, but overall, I seemed to win them over by the end.

I’d tried to tell myself that it was inevitable. I reassured myself that not everyone was going to like my book and that was okay. But then when someone actually voiced their negative opinion publically, I couldn’t help but sit back and say, “Ouch.”

I had to re-read the blog review a couple of times just to make sure I hadn’t gotten it wrong. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make the words, “I did not like it at all” go away. For a little while I felt like someone was standing upon my heart, pressing down with all of their weight, deflating the life from it.

As I went about the rest of the afternoon doing my mom-duties, I’m mulled over the review and tried to make sense of it. Here are a few of the things I jotted down:

Remember the positives.

Yes, sometimes negative words weigh more than positive. We’ve all been in situations where one tiny comment cut us and left a painful wound. It didn’t matter that others complimented us. We remembered the one negative instead.

It’s hard to replace the inborn-scale that weighs the negative more heavily. But at some point, we need to work on evening out our scales, letting the positives have more weight.

Why should I let one person’s negative words deflate me, when so many others have taken the time to uplift and encourage me? And besides, shouldn’t we take pride in our uniqueness, grow in self-confidence, and see the positives in ourselves first?

We can’t be ALL things to ALL people.

As a people-pleaser, I don’t want to disappoint anyone. And of course, as a writer, I definitely don’t want to disappoint readers—especially fans of inspirational historical fiction, my genre readers. But I’m learning that even within genres, readers have different likes and dislikes. Some may crave a slower book with a lot of setting details, and others would rather have a fast-paced plot without any fluff. Some want a sweet romance and others want deeper relationship issues.

I won’t be able to please all lovers of historical fiction. My style/voice is just that—mine. I can’t change it in order to accommodate everyone. That would be an impossible task. Instead, I have to remain true to my voice and let it win over who it will.

Watch what we say publicly.

Reviews are a powerful tool in swaying someone to purchase a book or not. As writers who are also readers, we would do well to keep in mind the principle of doing unto others what we want them to do unto us. If we wouldn’t want other writers to bash our books publically, then we should refrain from doing it. My personal philosophy is that if I can’t find something positive to say, then I won’t say anything at all.

I realize there are some who think the public deserves to know both sides of the issue. After all, if people only write good reviews, how will buyers get the full picture of what the book is like? If we’ve taken into account the subjectivity involved in reviews (see this post: How To Handle Subjective & Contradictory Feedback), and we still feel the need to share our opinions, we can do so in a tactful and kind way.

Remember that opinions are just that—opinions.

After I thought about the negative review for a while, I realized that this particular person was probably viewing my book through her very conservative world view. She classified the novel as “steamy enough that any modest girl would feel uncomfortable reading it.” But then there are readers who’ve classified it as a “sweet” romance, saying, “It was refreshing to read a fully satisfying romance without anything that made me squirm in my seat.”

Who’s right? And who’s wrong? Maybe both are right—right about what works for them. After all, everyone approaches a novel with different expectations, beliefs, world views, etc. All of that will influence a reading experience. But I can’t let it influence me or the way I write.

Know when to defend ourselves and when to walk away.

At one point during the post, the reviewer said, “[the book] does not represent truth.” I could only shake my head with bewilderment. What in the world did that mean? As far as I was concerned, I’d worked my hardest to stay true to the setting, time period, characters, etc. I’d also worked to present a theme of prevailing through hardships—a theme that could be applicable to every person past and present.

I was tempted to write a comment and defend the “truths” in my book. But I refrained. Was it really worth stirring up possible strife to defend myself? What did I have to win by it? “Pick your battles,” I tell my children when they’re squabbling with one another over insignificant issues. We have to know what’s worth fighting over, and what to let slip past us.

What’s your opinion? Do you think we should restrain from posting negative reviews and opt for silence instead? Or do you think it’s important for both the positive and negative opinions to be voiced?

The Preacher's Bride Christmas Giveaway!

  Give The Preacher's Bride as a gift this holiday season!

WIN: One of 2 copies of The Preacher's Bride that you can have autographed AND sent to the person of your choice! (Valid only to mailing addresses within the USA.)

TO ENTER: Leave your EMAIL address within a comment on this post. Without an email address your entry will not qualify for the drawing. To avoid potential spam you can write out your email (i.e. jodyhedlund (at) jodyhedlund (dot) com.)

DEADLINE: Entries will be accepted until Thursday, December 16, 2010 10:00 PM (EDT). Winners (via a drawing) will be announced on Friday, December 17, 2010 (and contacted via email).

FOR AN EXTRA ENTRY: If you Tweet this post or put a link on Facebook, leave an extra comment letting me know, and you will qualify for a second entry in the drawing!

THE WINNERS: Lily Robinson and Tina Toler. Congratulations! Thanks to all who entered! I loved the enthusiasm of everyone!

Creating a Book Readers Can’t Put Down

Ideally, every writer wants to create a page-turner. No one wants a reader to get started into her book, get bored, and then put it down and forget about it. That’s the kind of nightmare we all hope to avoid.

However, an overwhelming number of books clamor for the reader's attention. Often, readers (like the rest of us) lead busy lives with little time for the quiet pleasure of reading. Other louder, more demanding entertainments pull readers away from the written page. And thus, too many books get shoved aside, left unfinished only to accumulate layers of dust.

In today’s market, we HAVE to write gripping stories if we want to keep our readers’ attention.

But . . . how can we do that? What goes into making a page-turner?

I don’t claim to be the expert. But reviews and comments on The Preacher’s Bride have rolled in over the past couple months, and readers have said things like, “I couldn’t put it down” or “Couldn't stop reading—kept picking it up whenever a moment presented itself between chauffering, cooking and errands!!” or “I was hooked from the very beginning and had to make myself go to bed last night and finish it today!”

Those kinds of comments make me stop and contemplate what kinds of things I did within The Preacher’s Bride to make it a page-turner. I don’t necessarily have a specific formula. Much of it is an accumulation of years of learning and practicing fiction-writing techniques.

And yet, if I had to break down a few of the page-turning techniques I used within my story, here’s what I’d say:

Develop relatable characters:

Our goal should be to present our characters in such a way that our readers can feel as if they’re inside the person’s head, experiencing everything with that character. But they can’t come to life for our readers, if they haven’t come to life for us.

Before starting my first draft, I spend quite a bit of time developing my main characters. I want to know not only the details of their outer lives (appearance, likes/dislikes, family background, etc.), but I also delve deep into their inner lives (their motivations, dreams, goals, what drives them, etc.). Here's the Character Worksheet I've developed.

We can bring our characters to life so much that they jump off the pages, but we also have to make them jump into the hearts of our readers. Our readers want characters they can love despite their faults. Since none of us are completely all bad or all good, we can’t identify with characters who are too heroic or too villainous. We relate best to characters that are a mix.

Create and prolong suspense:

No, The Preacher’s Bride isn’t a suspense novel. But every book can benefit from having elements of suspense laced throughout. Noah Lukeman in his book The Plot Thickens, describes suspense this way, “Suspense, simply, is about creating and prolonging anticipation.”

Once our readers are invested in our characters, suspense is process of dangling our readers breathlessly along, continuing to put our characters into situations where readers longs to find out “what happens next.”

Lukeman says this, “One can have underdeveloped characters and weak journeys and a hackneyed plot, but if suspense exists, and audience will often stay with the work . . . suspense, more than any other element, affects the immediate.”

Increase conflict:

When I look at developing conflict, I generally target three main areas for each main character: physical (or outer) conflict, emotional (or inner) conflict, and relational (or romance) conflict. I weave all three strands together like a braid. These conflicts are often inseparable yet distinct. And the writer’s job is to keep intertwining the strands without letting one sag.

Yes, the conflicts will ebb and flow. Perhaps we will bring resolution to some issues, but then we must introduce new situations and circumstances that continue to push our characters. Ultimately, we want to prolong the tension for as long as possible throughout the book—keep the braid tight until we near the end.

Use Read-On-Prompts (ROP):

At the end of every scene and chapter, every time we switch character points-of-view, every break in the action—we should look for ways to keep the reader wanting to find out what happens next. We want to make it hard for them to put the book down at a “natural” resting place.

However, we need to be careful about tacking on a ROP. It needs to flow naturally out of the scene. If we resolve something within one of our conflict strands, then we should make sure we start introducing a new problem or issue before we wrap up the scene. In other words, we should try to end our scenes with unresolved conflict of some kind.

So, those are just a few of the techniques I try to employ within my stories. Now it’s your turn. What do you think makes a book into a page-turner? What techniques do you use or have you seen other authors use that makes the book difficult to put down?

4 Ways to Find a Critique Partner

At some point, every writer serious about publication must get feedback on their writing.

Let’s face it, we’re too enmeshed in the fibers of our stories to be able to see the whole thing as it’s meant to be seen. We’re underneath the tapestry, weaving threads together, sewing a beautiful picture. From below, our view is distorted. We see the lose threads, knots, and the fuzzy images. But we need someone to take a look at the tapestry from above, someone who can see the big picture clearly, point out the gaps, notice the misshapes, and see where we need more color.

Although writing is a solitary endeavor, the path to publication is NOT. An essential part of the process is learning to find and accept feedback on our writing, getting someone to stand at the top of our masterpiece and give us a big picture view. We’ll have to take our publisher's feedback at some point, so we need to get used to having others critique our work.

Yes, I know. I’m probably stating the obvious—most writers realize how critical feedback is. But many of us struggle to find someone who is not only willing to help us, but who is also qualified and objective. Our mothers, sisters, and best friends might be willing, but are they knowledgeable enough to help and can they share honestly? On the other hand, we may know people who are qualified (published author friends, etc.), but they aren’t willing to (and logistically can’t) give feedback to everyone.

Where, then, do we look for the critical feedback that will take our stories to the next level?

There are many ways to go about getting feedback. One of the most popular is in linking up with another writer (or group of writers) and forming a critique partnership.

Jill Domschot recently asked: If you've found your critique partners online, how did you go about finding good matches?

I’ve been involved in a number of critique partnerships over the past couple of years. So I can share what’s worked for me. But I’d also love for others to chime in and share how they’ve found their critique partners.

1. Join a writer’s organization.

Aside from the resources, industry news, and the professionalism such groups can bring to our writing careers, we can often connect to other like-minded writers. Many of the organizations have online critique groups. And if they don’t have formal critique groups, they often have message boards or forums for posting critique needs.

2. Join or start a local writer’s group.

I didn’t know there were any local writing groups in my isolated central Michigan area until I went to my library and asked. Much to my surprise, several groups were already meeting at the library on a regular basis. Usually, in those kinds of groups writers bring a sample of writing to share and have critiqued. When groups aren't available, I’ve known writers who’ve started their own.

3. Put a notice on Twitter, Facebook, or a blog.

Once we jump into the online writing community and start to rub shoulders with other writers, we’ll find that many are in the same situation as us. From time to time, I see writers post needs on Twitter, asking for someone to proof a query, or read their synopsis, or whatever. The writing community (especially on twitter) is incredibly helpful. But we have to remember if we ask for help, we need to be willing to give it too.

4. Approach another trusted writer.

I personally like this approach and think it works well. As we get involved with other writers and begin to make deeper friendships, we eventually find those we trust, who are at our skill level, and who even write our genre. We can approach them for a reciprocal critique partnership, ask for a trial period, with the understanding that we can part ways anytime and still remain friends. My critique partner, Keli Gwyn, approached me this way, and she's done a fantastic series Critique Partnerships: Tips &Techniques.

The bottom line for finding a good match is becoming a part of a writing community of some kind. As I said, we may write in solitude, but once we start heading toward publication, we have to begin the process of going public. The first step is putting our work in front of trusted writers.

Critique partnerships, like any relationship, involve risk. But with effort and wisdom, and even some trial and error, we can eventually find workable partnerships.

Your turn! How did you find your critique partner? And what other advice do you have for someone looking for a critique relationship?