Ten Twitter Blunders Writers Make

Writers everywhere are flocking to Twitter. In some ways it’s become the water cooler of the writing world where we can hang out, chat with like-minded writers, meet new friends, celebrate good news, and keep tabs on industry happenings.

While there aren’t any hard, fast rules for using Twitter, there are some blunders that might hinder our effectiveness, especially if we’re hoping to use it as way to broaden our web presence.

Here are ten top blunders that I see writers making on Twitter, and since I’m not a Twitter guru, please chime in with your thoughts!

1. Over-chatting. We should be aware of how long we’re carrying on our conversations with others. If we’re starting to clog up the twitter stream with a lot of @’s to the same person, then perhaps we should send them an email or carry on our conversation via direct messages.

2. Not interacting enough with others. Some people over-chat, and then some don’t chat at all. Remember twitter is a social media. If we’re relying too much on scheduled tweets, posting only links, or tossing out a tweet and then disappearing, we’re not maximizing twitter’s potential.

3. Not responding back to tweets or direct messages. I admit, I can’t always keep up with responding to everyone who sends me a tweet. And granted there are times when direct responses just aren’t necessary. But if we’re only having one-sided conversations, then we’re missing out on relationship-building that can help us long term.

4. Forming cliques. Of course everyone is going to have a closer group of friends. That’s only natural. But if we want to broaden our web presence, then we have to make an effort to meet and interact with new people. Using hashtags like #amwriting #litchat #yalitchat #followfriday #writers can help us meet other writers.

5. Bordering on unprofessional. If we’re using Twitter for purely personal reasons without a thought to how it might help our writing career, then I suppose we can say and do whatever we want. But if Twitter is part of our writing platform, then we should be unique and let our voices shine through, but show some discretion in what we share. Also, our twitter name should be the one we plan to have on our published books. And we should make sure we put "writer" somewhere in our bio.

6. Not following people back. About once a week, I make a point of following people back. If someone is obviously using twitter as spam, then I don’t. But I always try to follow everyone who is legitimate. I personally don’t see any reason why we would limit our following, especially with the ease of creating lists and organizing followers via Tweetdeck and other applications.

7. Sending auto-direct messages to new followers. They’re cold, impersonal, and totally defeat the purpose of twitter. I never respond to auto-mated messages. However, if someone makes a point of sending me a personal direct message, I will usually try to interact back.

8. Using twitter as a billboard. I’ve noticed that published authors tend to do this the most. They hop on Twitter primarily when they have a book signing to announce, a new book to promote, or an interview to share. Or they use twitter to feed links from their blog or facebook, and that’s it. Those authors are essentially spamming and doing themselves more harm than good.

9. Focusing too much on self. Yes, it’s okay to post links to our own blog posts. And yes, it’s okay to share personal information. But if that’s all we do, then we’re missing out on one of the great things about Twitter—the opportunity to genuinely encourage, support, and promote other writers.

10. Using inconsistently. No, we don’t need to be on twitter all day, every day. But again, to get the full benefit, we need to make a point of jumping into the tweet stream on a somewhat regular basis. If we don’t have anything to say, then we can always respond to the tweets of others, ask questions, or retweet interesting links.

Those are some of the blunders I’ve noticed. What about you? If you’re not on Twitter, what’s holding you back from the water-cooler? And if you are hanging out there, what other blunders have you noticed? What kinds of blunders bother you the most?

Ten Traits of Successful Writers

What’s it really like to have a book published? In the days before my book’s release I always wondered what life was like for published authors. What kinds of things did they have to do on a daily basis? What other responsibilities did they have besides the actual writing?

Now that I’m four months on the other side of publication (The Preacher’s Bride released in October of 2010), I can share an inside glimpse at what life has been like for me lately.

Over the past three weeks in January, here’s a list of some of the things I’ve worked on:

• I entered The Preacher’s Bride into several national contests.
• I wrote a four-paged single-spaced synopsis for my third book.
• I dialoged with my editor about the synopsis and plans for Book 3.
• I wrote at least five interviews/guest posts (not including my own blog posts).
• I read a book for a debut author for endorsement purposes.
• I had to write up and turn in marketing ideas for The Doctor’s Lady.

AND . . . most importantly, at the beginning of January, I started the first draft of my third contracted book. I work on it every day (except Sunday), and have given myself a daily word count goal of 1000 words/day. I recently passed 20K. However, I will have to cut back substantially on my daily word count over the next few weeks as I dive into another round of edits on The Doctor's Lady. In other words, I'll be juggling writing one book while editing another.

In addition to the writing responsibilities listed above, I also have numerous online responsibilities. I shared some of my social media statistics last week in this post: When Social Media Becomes a Time-Suck. And if you read that post, you’ll recall that emails, blogging, and other social media keep me very busy too.

The responsibilities of my writing career have gradually increased into a full time job. And since I’m also a full time teacher and mom, I now feel like I have two very full time jobs. (As a side note, you may find it interesting to know that I’ve yet to receive my first royalty check. My publisher sends out royalty checks twice a year, and since I was still earning back my advance in the fall, I’ve yet to receive a “real” paycheck.)

Of course my experience is uniquely mine, and the responsibilities of my writing career will differ from other published authors in many ways. But there are some common elements that all writers, published or not have to face. Most of us have multiple tasks to juggle. We struggle to find quality writing time. And we’re often harried, striving to do more in less time.

In today’s publishing industry, choosing a professional writing career is not for the faint of heart, the weak of will, or the timid in spirit. What kinds of writers will make it to publication, and then once there, stick it out long enough to become successful?

1. Writers who use their time wisely.

2. Writers who zealously plunge into hard work.

3. Writers who are willing to put forth a lot of effort with little compensation.

4. Writers who are willing to persevere through difficult days, weeks, months.

5. Writers who can pull themselves back up and keep going after disappointment.

6. Writers who dream big and make tangible goals for reaching those dreams.

7. Writers who are humble enough to know they can improve.

8. Writers who continue to cultivate their passion and love of writing

9. Writers who have a vision beyond themselves and their success.

10. Writers who reject quick gratification and opt to wait patiently for long term success.

We would all be wise to remember that in our early years we’re establishing a strong foundation for later. All the waiting, juggling, and struggling of pre-pubbed days help prepare writers for the increased work after publication. And all the hard work during the early years of published author life are setting the stage for greater success later.

In other words, we don’t have to waste a single effort or moment. We can make them all count in this incredible journey we’re on.

So do you have what it takes? Are you developing the traits that will help you stick it out for the long haul? Of the traits I've listed, what do you need to work on the most?

Why Every Writer Should Complete More Than One Book

Completing the first book is a wonderful experience. And any writer who has done so deserves a big high five. There are countless people who say they want to write a book. Usually, all we need to do is mention we’re a writer, and people come out of the closet to tell us the book ideas they have or the fact that they’ve always wanted to write a book.

But most of those people never write their books—the ideas don’t move beyond their heads to paper. And out of those who gather the self-discipline to start one, many never finish.

Why do so many never finish the first book?

Because they soon realize that writing a full length book from start to finish is time-consuming and complex. They quickly understand that the ease of reading is not duplicated in the pain-staking process of crafting words and plot.

And let’s face it, while most of us have the innate need to express ourselves, not everyone is wired to communicate through the written word. There are many other ways to give voice to the passions inside—through music, speaking, art, baking, etc.

Whatever the case, if someone sets out to write a book and then actually completes it, they’re well ahead of the majority of wannabes. I applaud anyone who has climbed the mountain of finishing their first book. It’s a monumental feat and those who reach the summit should be very proud of themselves.

However, I’ve noticed that many writers tend to camp out on Mt. Book 1. Perhaps they have plans to scale the distant slope of Mt. Book 2. But for whatever reason, they hang out way too long on Mt. Book 1, and keep putting off the next hard climb.

I’m not begrudging the need to celebrate and savor the accomplishment of finishing the first book, nor am I saying writers don’t deserve a break after all the hard work. But . . . all too many writers take up permanent residence on Mt. Book 1 and never move on.

Here are several reasons why writers need to push themselves up the next hard climb of another book:

We have the potential to grow with each book we write.

There’s never the guarantee we’ll grow just because we write another novel. In fact, we could write ten books and never really improve. But there is the potential to get better—especially if we make a concerted effort to learn and apply basic fiction-writing techniques in each new book we write.

The Preacher’s Bride was approximately the sixth full length novel I wrote. I can’t imagine how much my writing career would have stalled if I’d camped out on my first book (or even the next couple) and waited for an agent to take an interest. I wouldn’t be where I’m at today, not by a long shot.

There are geniuses in every field, those rare people who have extraordinary talent—like Mozart, who was born playing the piano. But most of us have to work hard to achieve success (even when we have talent). It’s somewhat unrealistic and perhaps even a bit presumptuous for the average writer to assume they’ve “arrived” at Book 1.

Industry professionals will take us more seriously.

More than one book shows professionals we’re in the journey for the long haul. Most agents and editors are interested in investing in writing careers not just one book. By completing multiple books, we demonstrate to agents and editors that we have many of the same characteristics that go in making a successful writing career—stamina, perseverance, determination, and self-discipline.

We occupy ourselves during the long waits that are a part of the business.

The waiting in the industry can be unbearable at times. Whether a query, request, or contract, the waiting takes weeks, often months. Instead of driving ourselves crazy checking our inboxes, we should get to work and write another book, one even better than the last. That way if an agent or editor doesn’t think they can sell the first one we’ve given them, we’ll have another to offer, perhaps one even better.

We increase our chances of publication.

Even if a writer’s book is of publishable quality, it may not meet a current market need. Sometimes an agent or editor may like our voice and skill, but they reject us because they don’t think they’ll be able to sell our particular story. Having another one to offer them right away, may give us another shot.

I turned in two completed novels to my publisher before I was contracted. And they only bought one. Both of the books were equitable in skill level, but the one they rejected had a setting and time period that doesn’t sell as well. What if I’d only turned in the book that they didn’t think was as commercially viable? What would have happened to my writing career then?

My Summary: Writers write. So why stop after the first book? Why not keep on writing?

So what do you think? Have you camped out on Book 1? If so, why? Do you agree or disagree with my philosophy that writers serious about publication need to push themselves beyond Book 1?

Is Schmoozing the New Way Into Traditional Publication?

I recently raised the question: Is the Query System Dying? And in response, I mentioned that writers may need to look for new ways to relate to agents (i.e. via social media or conferences.) If agents and editors have an overwhelming number of queries and manuscripts to look through, it stands to reason they’d be more inclined to give priority to people they “know.”

If mingling with industry professionals can help give us an advantage, then that begs the question: Is schmoozing the new way in the door of traditional publication? Do writers who “hang out” with agents and editors on blogs, twitter, or even at conferences have an easier time getting in the traditional publication door?

In a post titled “How to Attract an Agent,” agent Wendy Lawton said this: “I like to see queries from writers whose names I recognize because they Twitter with other writers, they comment on writer blogs or they follow a number of my writer/agent/editor friends on Facebook. (And yes, we all notice names that appear regularly.)” (Emphasis mine.)

More and more often, I hear stories of writers getting agents because of twitter or blogging. So, my friends, times are indeed changing. And we need to be willing to roll with the changes if we hope to keep up. But does that mean we need to turn to schmoozing, stalking, brown-nosing, and groveling to get published?

I have to be honest. I’m not very good at schmoozing (aka being nice and flowery to someone in order to get something I want). The very thought of resorting to schmoozing sounds as appealing as the root canal I’m going to need soon.

In fact, back when I was agent-hunting, if I’d had to turn into a groveling, sappy, “I-love-you-and-you’re-the-best-agent” kind of writer, I don’t think I could have done it. I would have respectfully declined to participate in the schmoozing party.

But is that really what it takes? Do writers have to ingratiate themselves to industry professionals in order to get published? Or can we take up the new methods of relating and getting noticed without having to schmooze?

Here are just a few of my thoughts (besides writing an outstanding book, which is a given):

1. Make YOUR web presence the focus.

In other words, use social media effectively and consistently. Write great blog posts. Start to make a name for yourself. Stand out from the crowd. Tweet interesting things. (All of which, by the way, is great practice for what we hope to accomplish with our published books.)

When you work at increasing your web presence, then people will begin to talk about you. Your name gets splashed around cyberland. You become someone that agents will recognize, not because of all your schmoozing, but because of your strength, your professionalism, and your magnetism.

2. Be confident in who YOU are.

I love what James Scott Bells says in his book, The Art of War for Writers: “To keep from turning off those who can publish you, you must not be desperate . . . There are many ways writers can give off the sense of desperation. And believe me, agents and editors can pick up that scent from a distance.”

Yes, I recommend commenting on agent blogs, retweeting them, and interacting with them throughout cyberland. In fact, I go as far as suggesting specifically getting your name and avatar in front of the agents you hope to query.

But . . . I caution against coming across desperate or trying too hard. Professionals will be attracted to those who exude confidence and professionalism. Those are the kinds of writers they’ll want to invest in long term.

3. Know when you’re REALLY ready to increase your efforts.

Yes, conferences can be a good way to get your work in front of agents and editors. But the costs can be prohibitive. If finances are a concern, I suggest waiting until after you get consistent, objective feedback that your work is of publishable quality before investing the money in a conference.

And while I do think there are a lot of benefits to starting social media early in a writing career, I don’t think there’s a lot of benefit to investing a TON of time and energy into it until you’re further along. After all, if you get an agent’s attention but your work is still amateur, you might possibly end up doing yourself more harm than good.

~My Summary: Although at first appearance it may seem like we have resort to schmoozing to get noticed in today’s tight publishing market, we can take a different approach. We can stand out, stand tall, and stand proud. If we do that before publication, then we’re setting the pattern for later.

What do you think? Have you ever felt the pressure to schmooze agents or editors to get noticed? Is there a better way in to get a foot in the door? If so, what?

When Social Media Becomes a Time-Suck

There are a lot of professionals telling writers—particularly those interested in publication—that they need to use social media. From personal experience, I can attest to the benefit of having a large web presence. (See these posts: Can an Online Presence Make a Bestseller & The Snowball Effect of Social Media.)

But, I can also attest to the huge time-suck that social media can become.

Of course everyone is different, in various life stages, with unique work or family situations. But I’d venture to say that the vast majority of writers, like me, are juggling multiple responsibilities—and a writing career is just one of them.

The bottom line is that we don’t have unlimited time to devote to our writing, much less to social media.

Many of us find ourselves in the dilemma of trying to stay consistent and active within our social media circles, but on our very limited time. And as our web presence grows and our connections increase, it becomes increasingly harder to maintain the relationships we’re forming without taking even more time away from other things.

Four months after the release of my debut book, not only have my writing responsibilities gradually increased, but my social media circles have widened too.

For example, last week (an average week) I had over 400 emails (personal and professional accounts combined, not including spam). Over the course of five days, I had a total of 168 blog comments and 165 retweets of blog posts on twitter. I have two facebook accounts (one personal and one for readers/writers) and I get comments and messages there. And I have over 3500 followers on Twitter and interact there too.

You get my point. Social media plays a huge role in my writing career and thus has the potential to be a huge time-suck.

I hesitate to share statistics like this, because I truly do love hearing from people. When others share how busy they are and how many emails they get and so on, I always feel bad when I need to email them—like I’m bothering them. So, please don’t feel that way. No one is ever a bother to me. I really do love personal emails and messages!

My intention in sharing the statistics is not to discourage people from communicating with me, but rather to give a picture of just how big social media can become. And I know many of you are in the same situation with very similar statistics.

So what do we do? Go crazy?

Seriously. Here are a few ways I’m handling the social media time-suck:

1. Set personal boundaries.

Over the past months, I decided that when I’m in mom or teacher-mode, I won’t let social media encroach on that. So, during my busy days, I try to give my other responsibilities my focused attention. I save responding to emails, tweets, etc. for breaks, or for the time that I specifically set aside for it.

2. Prioritize interactions.

Since I can’t possibly personally respond to every single correspondence without it becoming a full time job, I’ve mentally ranked which communications get my most immediate attention and which get the leftover. I always respond within a day or two to personal emails and messages. I try to answer questions within posts. But I can only jump into blog discussions or respond to comments as I have the time.

3. Realize the world will go on fine without us.

As much as I try to be consistent with my social media efforts (see this post: 5 Ways to Develop Consistency in Writing & Blogging), I also realize that the cyberworld will go on fine without my presence. It’s rather egotistical of me to think that I’m needed or even important. I want to keep a humble attitude about my place in the scope of cyberland.

4. Give ourselves permission NOT to keep up.

This was a hard one for me, especially with visiting and following other blogs. For a while I tried to continue as I always had, but with the growing responsibilities of writing under contract, I finally had to give myself permission to let go of the pressure to keep up with everything.

5. Pick one place to interact more personally.

Instead of trying to be super active in all places at all times, I use Twitter the most. The 140 character limit forces brevity. I can hop in and off in a quick minute. And I can interact personally with a lot of people in a short amount of time.

6. Have a deeper, inner circle of relationships.

Be genuinely friendly with those in our widening spheres, but realize we can’t pull everyone into our inner circle. I’m not an advocate of cliques. And the boundaries of my inner circle are always open. But we do need deeper, like-minded friendships to sustain us, and that just can’t happen with everyone we meet.

Have you ever gotten your feelings hurt because you interacted with someone on a social media site and didn’t get a response back? When many of us are struggling with the social media time suck, how can we keep from unintentionally hurting the feelings of those who take the time and effort to comment or communicate with us? I’d love to hear your suggestions!

The Increasing Importance of the First Chapter

How important is the first chapter? Does it have the power to make or break a writer’s chance at success?

I recently started the first draft on my third contracted book. Before I sat down to type that opening chapter, I brainstormed a list of possible starting scenes. In fact, during the weeks of researching and plotting for Book 3, I kept a running list of opening ideas.

I don’t approach my first chapter lightly. I want to start the book with action—but not just any action. I want find just the right moment in my character’s life that sets the entire story in motion. Writers usually refer to this as the inciting incident—the igniting flame that starts the fire, the point of change in our character’s normal comfortable life, the incident that forces them to into ever-increasing conflict.

Most of us can agree that we need to craft that first chapter very carefully (Here’s a post I did about potential first chapter problems). But, can the first chapter really be the deciding factor for whether a book succeeds? Is it fair to judge a book primarily on the opening? After all, we’ve all picked up books that started slow and didn’t draw us in right away. But once we persevered, we found ourselves engrossed in the story.

In other words, just because we don’t like the appetizer doesn’t mean we need to get up and leave the restaurant. If we stay, we may still find the meal enjoyable and fulfilling.

Sometimes, we—especially as writers—are willing to take the risk that the ongoing story will be more palatable than the first pages. But what about the rest of the population, both inside and outside the writing industry? How willing are readers to persevere, especially when there are a lot of other tasty-looking stories that tempt their appetites?

That brings us back to my opening question: How critical is the first chapter, really?

I personally think the first paragraph, first page, and first pages are incredibly critical and only growing more so—for both unpublished and published writers. And here’s why:

The growing importance of the 1st chapter for unpublished writers:

Agents and editors alike grow adept at judging a writer’s skill and story in only a page. If you’ve ever judged a contest or done random critiques, then you’ve learned it’s very easy to get a grasp on the writer’s ability from the first page. In other words, you often can judge a book by the first few pages. Not always. But often.

Agents and editors have piles of manuscripts to wade through. As I mentioned in this post: Is the Query System Dying, my agent, Rachelle Gardner received 10,000 queries last year. Nelson Literary had 36,000 queries (about 120/day).

With such staggering numbers and with more people than ever before attempting to write books, writers usually have only one chance to make a good first impression. Fair or not, that’s reality. If the rest of the book is truly stellar, then why not make the first chapter reflective of that?

The growing importance of the 1st chapter for published writers:

Readers can sometimes be more forgiving of established authors who bomb their first chapter or two. However with the birth of digital readers and e-books and online marketing, readers often have the ability to preview the first pages of books from the comfort and ease of home. They can take as long as they want, without the various pressures that come from buying at a brick and mortar bookstore.

More and more online bookstores provide at least the first several pages for viewing. The first chapters of books are often offered free for e-readers. Amazon provides the first twelve pages of The Preacher’s Bride. Oasis Audio, the company that put my book into Audiobook format, posted the reading of the first chapter on YouTube.

In one sense, readers can “try out” a book or author before the purchase. If we don’t hook them with the free sample, they’ll move on to the next book. While the digital system can help us gain new readers if our chapter is impressive, it can also work against us. Readers can more easily walk away from our book if we don’t grab them right away. A blogger friend mentioned she did this very thing to an e-book recently. She read the first chapter, didn't like the writing, and deleted the book. What if the book had gotten better as it progressed? Well, we'll never know. And that's one author who lost a reader over a less-than-stellar first chapter.

My Summary: In the writing biz, as fulfilling as the meat and potatoes of our stories might be, we’ve got to hook the reader with the appetizer. Fair or not, one bite—sometimes, one sniff—is all our readers will take before walking away to find something else that tastes better.

What’s your opinion? Yes, great first chapters have always been important. But do you think it’s becoming more critical for writers to have outstanding first chapters? Is it fair to give so much weight to the opening pages?

The Snowball Effect of Social Media

Can a writer’s blog really help build a platform and sell more books?

Most of us probably started blogging because we heard somewhere in cyberland that any author serious about publication needs to have a blog in order to develop a platform (which is the process of rising up above the masses, gaining a voice, and being heard.) In the online world, platform is essentially one’s web presence.

In a recent post (Do Fiction Readers Really Read Author Blogs) there was a fairly large consensus (see the comments) that most (non-writing) readers aren’t flocking to author blogs. Yes, some do read blogs (I did get this confirmation from a couple readers on Twitter who read my post). But most readers who surf blogs are usually bloggers themselves.

If the average reader doesn’t have a blog, they probably won’t be out reading author blogs on a regular basis, and they’ll be commenting even less. As I mentioned, I’ve found myself connecting with those real genre readers primarily on facebook and through personal emails.

So, back to the question I raised above: Is blogging really worth the effort—particularly for a fiction writer?

 If readers aren’t swinging by, then what’s the point of blogging (especially if we started one to build a platform?) Can a blog really help a fiction author build a platform and sell more books? Or is it a waste of time—time that could be better spent on writing itself?

I can only share what’s worked for me, and obviously not everyone will have the same experience. But I truly do believe that my blogging efforts HAVE helped in the sales of my book, even though my blog is targeted to writers and has very few of my genre readers stopping by.

Here are just a few ways our blogs and other social media can help us.

1. Our blog readers get to know us and want to support us.

No, not everyone who follows us on our blogs, twitter, or facebook will want to buy our novels. We can’t expect it, especially since our blogs are nonfiction and comprise a different readership than our fiction.

However, I’ve been surprised at the numbers of followers/friends that have gone out and purchased my book simply because they’ve gotten to know me and want to support me. I’ve even had friends say that they don’t normally read historical romance, but bought and read my book anyway—and then ended up passing it along to others.

2. The connections open natural doors for other promotion.

When we go outside our writing/blogging cliques and develop a wide variety of friendships within the big writing community, we are setting the groundwork for later.

During the past months of my debut, I had over 40 blog interviews and close to 55 bloggers who reviewed my book. Out of the 90 or so different people who helped promote my book on their blogs, I didn’t have to beg, plead, or make a general nuisance of myself asking them to host me. Almost all of them emailed me with the offer, and I willingly and gratefully accepted.

I never once expected so many followers would go out of their way to help showcase my book, but when we develop a genuine, consistent, web presence, then our friends and even acquaintances want to draw us into their circle and introduce us to their sphere of influence.

3. The more our book is “talked” about in cyberland, the more important it becomes.

When I’m on Twitter and I see a particular book mentioned over and over by a number of people, it begins to perk my attention. I can’t help but think, “If so many people are reading that book, maybe I should too.”

When people chat about my book on their blogs and tweet about it, then their followers (who may not be connected to me yet) will begin to sit up and take notice of it.

4. Even if followers don’t read our book/genre, they’re often willing to share it with others.

As I said, not all my blog followers are fans of inspirational historical romance. But I know that many of those friends still promoted my book. They bought it for a spouse, gave it as a Christmas present to a mom, or recommended it to a book club. In other words they promoted my book to people they knew would be genuinely interested.

5. Writers are a supportive group.

Overall, writers go out of their way to help one another. We all know just how hard today’s market is for the modern writer (published or not). And because writers are also readers, so many of us want to do all we can to promote the industry and help each other succeed.

My Summary: Social media has a snowball effect on the sales of our books that isn’t easy to measure. As our books are rolled around cyberland, we never know where we'll pick up new readers and what will help our book gain momentum. Of course, it goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway), we have to give our friends a good book--one they can be proud to promote.

While I may not be able to quantify my sales as a result of social media, I'm realizing that my consistent efforts at blogging and developing a web presence have indeed influenced the sales of my books. I continue to hear from more and more blog, twitter, and facebook followers that they either purchased my book or bought it for someone else.

Whether social media contributes a little bit or a lot, I'm grateful for each person who's spread the word about The Preacher's Bride! Thank you!

What do you think? Have you ever been discouraged about blogging, wondering if it will really pay off in the long run? Has the social media snowball effect influenced you to buy a book? If so, do you think it can work to help in the promotion of your book someday?

P.S. Congratulations to my critique partner, Keli Gwyn, for getting her first book contract! Hard work and perseverance DO pay off! Keli is celebrating today on her blog!

5 Ways to Develop Consistency in Writing & Blogging

One of the biggest problems that many writers and bloggers have is the failure to be consistent.

Recently, a number of writer friends have either landed agents or acquired book contracts. As I evaluated these friends, one common ingredient I noticed among them is their consistency in their writing and social media endeavors.

What is consistency? The definition of the word “consistent” by Merriam-Webster is: regularity or steady continuity.

In other words, someone is classified as consistent when they regularly and steadily continue to work no matter what else is going on around them, even when they feel like giving up, and especially when the initial newness and fun has worn off.

My son got a Wii Fit for Christmas. The first week after he got it, he “exercised” with the game every spare moment he had. He was sore but had a lot of fun. However, as the days wore on, he began to do it less. And I couldn’t help wondering, would he eventually get tired of it and stop altogether?

Many writers start out full of energy and zeal. But as the weeks and months pass, they begin to write less, and eventually they’re sporadic and perhaps even stop. The same is true of social media—particularly blogging. I’ve seen many writers jump into blogging with enthusiasm, work hard at gaining a following, only to slowly lose momentum, until they’re irregular or hardly blogging at all.

For those writing with the end goal of publication, consistency is an essential ingredient. But why is it so hard for many of us to remain consistent with writing or blogging? There could be any number of reasons: busyness of life, discouragement, waning passion, etc. In fact, the very culture we live in breeds inconsistency—we’re taught to expect quick results, and so we become impatient when we don’t experience immediate gratification.

Perhaps the better question to ask is this: What can help a person develop the quality of being consistent? As I look at the lives of people I know who exhibit consistency, here’s what I see:

1. Long term vision: Seeing beyond the present. Looking to the future. Knowing that the choices of today effect the success of tomorrow.

2. Deep inner convictions: Having a certainty of one’s calling, gifts, talents. Believing strongly in the rightness of what one is doing.

3. Strong self-discipline: Making conscious decisions and sticking to them. Committing not only to the task, but also to seeing it to completion.

4. Realistic pacing: Determining one’s ability and speed, and setting realistic goals accordingly.

5. Passion: Enjoying the process of putting words together, weaving stories, and sharing with others through the written word.

All of the ingredients above working together help a person develop consistency. It’s really hard for a person to be consistent when they’re missing one. For example, I may have long term vision, but if I lack self-discipline, then I’ll likely be sporadic. And if I have only passion, but am missing realistic pacing, I could end up burning out.

My list of ingredients for consistency may not be perfect or complete, but I think it’s a good place for us to start. We can begin by examining our weaknesses and asking ourselves a few questions:

• Are we striving after immediate results? Or have we gained a long term vision for our writing careers? Where do we see ourselves in a year, two years, or five?

• Do we waver with our commitment to our writing? Or do we know that it’s something we need to be doing, even at the sacrifice of other things in our lives?

• Are we relying on whim or feelings for determining our writing schedules? Or are we making conscious decisions and plans?

• Are we comparing ourselves to others and trying to keep up? Or are we deciding what works best for our unique schedules?

• Are we truly in love with writing for the sake of writing? Would we do it anyway, even we never receive any accolades?

Agents and publishers are looking for writers who display consistency too. Agent Wendy Lawton (of Books & Such Literary Agency), in a recent post about what she’s looking for in potential clients, said this: “I also look for a writer who is realistic and prepared for the long-haul. . . knowing that they are going to have to pay their dues, possibly with very little return in terms of attention and money for the first few years . . . Writing is like any other business, the commitment needs to be there.”

We need to cultivate consistency in all areas of our writing careers—in our daily writing habits, editing, marketing strategies, and our use of social media.

In what areas do you struggle to be consistent? Do you agree that it’s a key quality in reaching publication? Or do you think there are other qualities that are more critical?

Should Writers Complain Publicly About Hardships?

Have you ever felt like giving up on publication because it’s just too hard? I have.

Yes, it’s hard before publication. And everyone accepts the grumbling about how difficult it is to write a query or synopsis. Everyone joins in moaning about the hardships of getting an agent (including me, see this post: Is the Query System Dying?). And we commiserate over a hundred and one other problems in our writing journeys.

Pre-publication complaints are common and widely accepted. That’s one of the blessings of being part of a writing community—we’re there to share each other’s burdens.

But . . . what about after publication? There are still hardships. Sometimes really tough ones. And yet I’ve found that it’s much more difficult to complain—at least publicly.

While I try to stay fairly positive on social networking sites and keep my negative comments to a minimum, there have been times when I’ve commented about something stressful or difficult. Of course most people are outwardly supportive. But I’ve also gotten responses that could be summed up like this: I’d love to be where you’re at, problems and all. So count yourself lucky and stop complaining.

I can’t help thinking if a few people hear my grumbling and feel that way, then perhaps many others do too. Maybe you’ve felt that way. Maybe you’ve wished you could say, “Come on lady, stop the griping and just be happy you’re published.”

In some ways, I liken the situation to a childless woman who longs for a baby. She’s had a difficult time conceiving, perhaps much more than she anticipated. When she’s with her friends who have babies, she hears them complain about how their newborns keep them up at night, how tired they are, and how they can’t lose their weight. Privately she wishes she could tell them to shut-up because she’d do anything to have their problems.

But the fact is, those moms with their babies are having a hard time too. Their problems are just as legitimate. Don’t they deserve the chance to vent once in a while?

So what’s a published author to do? Should they talk publicly about their problems? Or should they keep their frustrations to themselves? Do we have a double standard when we allow—even normalize—the pre-publication complaints but then disapprove of it post-publication?

Should everyone just stop complaining at the risk of offending someone else? Or are there positive ways that we can handle sharing our hardships? Here are just a few of my ideas:

1. Share our difficulties but look for ways to encourage others through our experiences. One of the things people tell me they like about my blog is that I’ve been transparent about the publication process. I’ve tried to share both the good and the bad so that writers everywhere can have a realistic picture of the journey and hopefully find encouragement and insights for themselves. In other words, we can use what we’re learning from our hardships to help others.

2. Make sure we’re positive and willing to empathize with others as much (or more) than we complain about our own circumstances. Every once in a while we need to stop and evaluate how we’re coming across. If our tweets and posts are mostly negative, then perhaps we need to look at ways we can change the tone.

3. Feel the freedom to speak up and be honest about our problems, but also know when to be silent. Social media allows us to put up facades, type smiley faces and use exclamation points, even on those horrible days when we’re wearing a permanent frown. I’m not advocating lying about our bad days and always having a Pollyanna attitude. But sometimes it’s okay to be professionally silent.

4. Share a little with many; share a lot with a few. In other words we should be wise in what we choose to share on our blogs and with the public. I share openly and honestly on my blog, but I don’t divulge everything. I only dump it all on a few closest friends.

Be honest, have you ever heard a published author complain and wished they’d stop? Do you think all writers, no matter where they’re at in their journeys, should be allowed to share openly? Or do you think there’s too much complaining in general?

Is the Query System Dying?

My agent, Rachelle Gardner, shared some statistics last week. This was one of them: “Queries received in 2010: around 10,000. New clients taken on from query (no referral): 0.”

When I read that statistic, I was shocked. If you read Rachelle's blog, did the statistic surprise you too?

Think about it. Those 10,000 queries represent approximately 10,000 writers who have dreams of seeing their book in print, who’ve likely spent months on a manuscript, who are desperately seeking a chance at traditional publication.

Out of 10,000 ideas, surely there had to have been a handful--even just a couple--that showed some promise. But Rachelle didn’t take on any new clients from those queries. Of course she took on new clients through other methods (referrals, conferences, blogging, etc.). But NONE through cold querying.

I can’t help wondering what this would have meant for me. You see, in mid-2008 I cold-queried Rachelle with The Preacher’s Bride. I didn’t have a referral from one of her clients—I didn’t know any of her clients. I’d never met her at a conference—in fact, I’d never even been to a writer’s conference. I hadn't mingled with her in cyberland—at the time I hadn't started blogging.

In other words, I was just another unknown writer and another statistic in her in-box. The truth is, if I’d queried Rachelle in 2010 instead of 2008, things could have been very different for me. My query most likely would have gone unnoticed along with the other 9,999. But that wouldn’t have meant The Preacher’s Bride didn’t hold promise or was unpublishable—because obviously, the book is now in print and recently hit the CBA best seller list.

So what does that say about the query system? Does it really work anymore? Is the system slowly dying?

Of course the system isn’t dead yet. From time to time, I still hear reports of writers landing agents through cold-querying. But if the statistics of gaining an agent through querying are slim and growing narrower, what can writers do to increase their chances of getting an agent?

Seek out new agents through reputable literary agencies.

When I queried Rachelle in 2008, she’d only been an agent for about a year. She was still actively building her client load.

Yes, there is some risk in going with a new agent. They don’t have a big track record of sales. Their influence among publishing houses might be minimal. But all agents have to start somewhere, and newer ones are often more open to debut authors; whereas, established agents have less time or need for new clients and are more choosey.

Realize the query system may not be enough.

Even though Rachelle requested a full as a result of my query, I didn’t gain her attention until I finaled in a nation-wide contest for unpublished authors.

Contest finals can often be a way to give our queries an advantage. A personal connection with an agent at a conference can help too. During those appointments, agents often give writers permission to send in a partial or full, which then bypasses the cold-query pile and gets the agent’s more immediate attention.

Shift to a new way of relating to agents.

Through social media, many agents are more accessible than ever before. Numerous agents hang out on twitter or have blogs. If a writer spends some time building a viable web presence before querying (like commenting on agent blogs or mingling on Twitter), then agents will already be familiar with our names and more likely to take a look at our query over a complete stranger’s.

My Summary: Yes, the query system as we’ve known it may not work well (to put it nicely). But as with all the changes in the industry, we have to be willing to adjust. Writer friends continue to land agents. In fact, a wonderful blogging friend, T. Anne, built a web presence, and after months of perseverance and connecting with agents online, she was offered representation by Rachelle Gardner. She’s celebrating over on her blog today!

So, what do you think about the query system? Do you agree that it’s dying? Has it failed you? And have you felt like a failure as a result? Well, take hope. The query system may not accurately reflect your potential or your story’s possibility. You may just need to look for other ways to seek out an agent.

Suturing: Making Our Readers One With the Story

Have you ever identified so closely with a character in a book that you almost felt “one” with the character?

I recently finished reading Where the Red Fern Grows. Wilson Rawls spends the entire book making you fall in love with the main character, Billy, and his dogs. By the end, when Billy is trying to save his dogs from dying, you can’t help crying, perhaps even literally sobbing.

What is it about some characters, some books, that elicit such strong emotion from us the readers? And how can we replicate that technique as writers?

Stanley Williams in his book, The Moral Premise, talks about the process of making our audience one with the story. While he addresses film writers, the principle applies to fiction writers across the board. He uses the term “suturing” and describes it as “the ultimate connection . . . when the audience identifies with the character so strongly that the audience’s physical and emotional essence is the same as the character’s.”

When we think about suturing, we generally think of sewing or splicing two things together (like a doctor stitching together skin). However, in the case of suturing in fiction, we’re attempting to make our readers one with the story and characters.

But how exactly do we suture our readers to the story? How can we make them feel so closely tied to the characters that they feel one?

Stanley talks about suturing from a film perspective. And as I thought more about suturing and how I handle the technique, here are my thoughts on suturing for fiction writers:

1. Take the camera lens deep inside the characters:

Right from the start we need to give our characters a moral struggle that readers can identify with—a controlling vice that opposes the development of a virtue in our character’s life. In other words, give them an inner conflict that they must work through. The key is to find an underlying issue that is timeless so that a wide audience can relate to the struggle. For example, maybe our characters will wrestle with betrayal vs. friendship, dishonor vs. honor, or selfishness vs. sacrifice.

The point is that we need to go deep inside, find the issues that are driving our characters. Then show them struggling through the conflict. Most writers learn early on to “show not tell” their character’s emtions. If the hero is angry we don’t tell the reader: “Bob was angry.” Instead, we show Bob’s anger in a variety of ways through his actions, dialog, and mannerisms. We can show Bob kicking the dog and yelling at his wife or speaking in terse, short bursts.

But we can’t forget to take the camera deep inside his heart and soul. What is he wrestling with underneath the surface and why? Yes, this will likely require some brief internal narration. But if we leave it out, then we risk keeping our readers at a distance. The deeper we go into our characters internal struggles, the closer we can suture our readers to that character.

2. Do close-up shots of the characters’ outer struggles.

The outer shots should catch them in the act of struggling with the inner conflicts. When we give those brief glimpses of their internal struggles through narration, then we can use the camera to focus on specific actions that will mirror the deep conflicts.

There will be times when we need to do panoramic shots and catch the wide view of what is happening in the scene. But when we always try to capture everything that’s going on, we lose the impact of slowing down and focusing on the emotion our character is exhibiting at that moment.

We can take our mental camera lens and get a close-up of the deep grooves on a character’s forehead, or his balled fist, or the strained pulse in his neck. Those close-ups help us visualize in a more intense way what is going on inside and help stregthen the impact of the internal narration.

When we combine the deep internal shots with the  intense outer ones, we're suturing our readers to our characters and giving them the opportunity to become one with the story.

Summary: I think writers tend to err on one side or the other—either going into the character’s head too often or staying mostly on the outside showing the external struggles. When we find a balance that works for our style and our stories, then we’re a step closer to getting our readers to care enough about our characters that they'll weep for them.

What do you think of the technique of suturing? Which do you struggle with more—taking the camera inside and showing the internal conflict? Or slowing down and focusing on significant outer details?

Top Ten List of Advice for Aspiring Writers

What is the best advice for aspiring writers? Especially for those who are still mostly at the beginning of their writing journeys?

Recently I had the opportunity to meet with a young teenage writer to chat about writing, answer her questions, and offer my advice. I thoroughly enjoyed talking about writing and publication—what writer doesn’t, right?

Afterward I couldn’t help analyzing what I’d told her and wondering if I’d covered the most helpful basics. So, in light of the conversation, I thought I’d write a list of my top advice to aspiring writers. In the comments, I’d love to hear any other advice YOU would give. Or any questions you have.

Here’s my top advice to beginners (in sequential order):

1. With the first book, let your creativity have free reign.

Don’t worry about “rules” or market needs or any parameters. Let this book be for you. There’s something about that first book (or first few) that helps unleash the creative side of story-telling.

2. Finish a book.

This is absolutely essential. There’s nothing like the experience of completing a book from first page to the last to help a writer move out of the wannabe category. Set a writing schedule and goals. I recommend writing a certain amount of words per day and keeping a running log. Start with 300-500 words a day. If you write more, great. But give yourself a realistic, do-able minimum.

3. Study basic fiction-writing techniques.

After completing your first book or two, check out fiction “how-to” books from a local library. Take lots of notes. Invest in and mark up a couple fiction-writing “bibles” like James Scott Bell’s Plot & Structure or Donald Maass’s Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook (see the links in my sidebar).

4. Then write a couple more books.

Strive to put what you’re learning into practice. The process of writing in and of itself is not enough to get better. It takes writing AND learning about how to develop characters, how to plot a novel, and how to write by scenes, etc. Both writing and learning must go hand in hand for a writer to see substantial growth.

5. Find a critique partner/group.

(See this post: 4 Ways to Find a Critique Partner.) Once you get the feeling that maybe, just maybe, your writing skill level may be reaching a publishable quality, then it’s time to seek out a critique partner/group. If you seek out one too soon, the feedback could end up being overwhelming and perhaps even destructive to the early creative process and fragile self-confidence of a budding writer.

6. Enter a writing contest.

Contests are a great way to begin to gauge where your skill level is at compared to other writers—especially in your genre. The judges’ feedback can also be eye-opening. But like with critique feedback, I don’t think writers should enter contests too early unless they’re prepared for critical, perhaps even harsh, feedback.

7. Begin learning all you can about the writing industry.

Follow agent and editor blogs. Find out what’s going on in the market. Learn about the types of publishing. Study guidelines. Discover what is standard and acceptable in today’s book world.

8. Start devoting more time to developing a web presence.

Notice how far down the list I put this for aspiring writers. I DO think there is a huge value in beginning a blog early in a writing career (See this post: 3 Reasons to Start Blogging Before a Book Contract). And I also think there are plenty of benefits from other social media. However, all too often I see beginning writers put the development of a web presence up too high in this list. All of the other above points should take priority.

9. Network with other writers.

Perhaps go to a writer’s conference. Join writing organizations. Develop genuine friendships. These relationships are invaluable to a writer’s career for encouragement, support, help, and promotion.

10. Most importantly, keep writing new books and always strive to learn more.

We never “make it.” We’re never finished learning and growing. We should never stop with one book while we wait to hear from agents and publishers. We need to write the next and challenge ourselves to make it better than last. Then repeat ad infinitum.

I admit. The above top ten list is my process. It’s what I did. And in the writing world, there’s no one-size fits-all journey. I spent years and years writing and learning before I reached a publishable point in my career. And yet, there’s no magic formula, no set number of years, and no required number of “practice” books before a writer is ready for publication.

However, the more we practice and study the craft of writing, the closer we’ll get to realizing the dream of publication.

Your turn! What’s your top advice to beginning writers? What do you think is most important from my top ten list?

Do Fiction Readers Really Read Author Blogs?

Happy New Year! During my blogging break last week, I evaluated the direction I wanted to take my blog in the coming year. I asked myself some hard questions about my blog and what I’m hoping to accomplish through blogging.

Among the many questions I asked, one in particular kept surfacing: “Do fiction readers really read author blogs?” I’m not talking about a one or two time visit. I’m talking about a regular following, week in and week out.

I’d always imagined at some point after I published my first book, I’d slowly transition my posts, gearing them toward the readers of my books and fans of historical romance. I believed readers would come to my website and blog, and that I’d be able to connect with them there.

But now, several months past publication, I don’t think it’s working out the way I imagined. A few readers have left blog comments, but they’re not flocking to my site. Granted most of my posts are geared for writers. But even when I’ve ventured into other more generic topics that might interest readers too, I’ve still had a hard time drawing them in.

Most of my readers connect with me through personal emails or on Facebook. So, again, I can’t help wondering, do fiction readers really hang out on author blogs?

I honestly haven’t seen too many fiction authors who have large followings of blog readers. As I pondered the phenomenon, here are a few of the reason why I think many fiction author blogs fail to draw their readers:

Blogs are largely non-fiction writing. And our readers are interested in our fiction. Even if we talk about our characters or interesting facts from our stories, readers don’t usually have the time or interest to keep coming back to our blogs to hear ongoing facts about our books or about us. In other words, blog posts are not our books. And that’s what our readers like and want.

Topical non-fiction blogs tend to generate more consistent traffic. Think about the blogs we read on a regular basis—they usually involve sports news, parenting, or some other topic that is of particular interest to us. We go there because we’re getting something—sports scores, parenting advice, etc. So when we writers use our blogs as public journals to talk about a hodge-podge of ideas, like our families and cats, most people aren’t going to seek us out on a regular basis unless they’re loyal friends or family. If we hope to develop a larger readership, then we have to go beyond posts that are just about us.

If we pick a topic for our blog, it might not necessarily appeal to our fiction readers. For example, if we choose to blog about writing, or historical trivia, or romance, or mental illness, or whatever—we’ll likely draw readers to our blogs who are interested in that specific topic. And those readers may not necessarily be interested in our fiction. Sure, there may be some overlap. But let's say I geared my blog around historical trivia. There's no guarantee that the history buffs who seek out my posts would be interested in my historical romances. In other words, with topical blogging, we could end up building a different readership than we have for our fiction.

Blogging is an excellent tool for non-fiction writers hoping to develop a readership. Non-fiction writers should use their blogs to showcase the topic of their books and draw in future readers. But I’m realizing that for average fiction writers, unless we’re a big brand name with a hug fan base, it’s not likely our blogs will be a huge magnet for our readers.

So what’s a fiction writer to do? What should we blog about?

When I tossed around ideas for the direction to take this blog in 2011, I came to the realization that perhaps I don’t need to switch what I'm doing. I’m passionate about writing and publication, and since that’s something I love, why not keep blogging about it? Writers seem to find my posts helpful and insightful. Perhaps some of the readers of my books (when they do stop by my blog) will enjoy getting an inside glimpse of the writing and publication process.

Here are a few questions we can ask ourselves when trying to discover what to blog about:

What are we most passionate about? What topics interest us?

Then once we’ve narrowed down our focus and topic, we should begin to ask: How are we going to make the world a better place through that topic? How can we help others with our blogs? What can readers take away from our posts? If we want them to continue to come back, then we must meet a need they have.

Question for readers: If you’re a reader, what would you like to see in author blogs? What would draw you back on a regular basis?

Question for published authors: If you’re a published author and you have a steady, growing population of your fiction readership visiting your blog, what are you doing to keep them coming back?

I’d love to hear your opinions. Do you think fiction writer blogs can really attract their fiction readership on an ongoing basis? And if so, how?