Best Advice

by Cathy Pickens

What's the best writing advice I've ever gotten?  In many cases, it's the same as the worst advice I've ever gotten.  For starters:

Write what you know.


Now, that's good advice.  I know about the Southern Appalachian Mountains, about being a lawyer and a daughter and a sister and an aunt.  I know where to find good food to eat (but not much about cooking it).  And I know I like mysteries.

But when told to write what you know, it's tempting to think you don't know nearly enough.  So you wander off to research all kinds of stuff that you'd like to know ... and that you would like people to think you know.

That can waste a lot of time and can easily get in the way of your story.

So I'd modify that advice a bit:

Write what you know ... but don't get lost on the way to your story.


The other useful advice I've gotten?  Ruth Cavin, my legendary editor, told me:

Write the book that's in you.


That's really good advice.  It might not be the book anyone else wants, but at least you'll be happy with it.  And Ruth, in all her years as a reader and an editor, had figured out that any writer's best book would be the one the writer wanted to write, not the one someone suggested she write or that the market was looking for at the time.

That's the gift of a writer's editor.  I'm very grateful for that advice.  Ruth also gave me another valuable piece of advice:

Walk beside your characters and listen in.


All good fiction (and most good nonfiction) starts with interesting characters.  Those characters bring with them the conflict that keeps us turning the page (whether we're reading that page OR writing it!).  We have to know them well -- and trust that they know the story that needs to be told.  We need to stay out of their way and not try to save them from their troubles all the time.

At the Apartheid Museum in South Africa.

And lastly?

Use the BIC method.


The only real secret to writing is ... writing.  (And, of course, reading.)  The BIC method is my tried-and-true, patented and registered method: the Butt In Chair method, with pen in hand.  Every day, whether I feel like it or not.

Inspiration ain't gonna chase you down in order to strike you.  You better be waiting where it can find you.

The Importance of Goals

The Importance of Goals

In preparation for the 2012, I clean house and set goals for the new year. This week, I found a Polaroid of my daughter taken when she was in kindergarten. It was fireman’s day, evidenced by the lopsided hat atop her tiny head. She stood with her friends, all were smiling, looking directly at me and the future ahead. Beside the picture was a Steven Covey journal with a ten year old personal mission statement which read, “someday I would like to write a book.” Blinking away tears, I realize so much time has passed. My daughter has grown into a beautiful teenager and my dream is a reality.

Becoming a published author made me realize the importance of community. It also added pressure to produce more than one book. This year instead of finishing the novel I was working on, I released: Stress-free Marketing: Practical Advice forthe Newly Published Author… a project that was not on my “to-do” list.

I wrote Stress-freeMarketing: Practical Advice for the Newly Published Author after meeting two North Carolina authors at a conference. One had a beautiful memoir filled with professional photographs. However, in today’s market the $ 34.95 price tag was professional suicide. The second author remortgaged her home only to see her dream disappear in foreclosure while unsold stock gathered dust. Each day images of these women haunted me making it impossible to focus on my manuscript. Then the muse fell silent.

Upon sharing my intent to write this book, my husband and I had quite the “discussion.” He argued I was making a terrible mistake. He believed emerging and self-published authors are obstinate, opinionated and “dead set on doing what they want to do regardless of who tries to help them.” Further, he explained, “this is why they self-publish, because they don’t want to listen to anyone in the industry.”

I defended that “even though I am not self-published, if someone had tried to share marketing tips with me when I was starting out, I would have listened.” Surely, I reasoned, newbies would listen to someone who had “been there” and “done that.” Surely they would want to do everything in their power to sell the books they had worked so hard to write.

He crossed his arms and reminded me that I am “not like everyone else.” He reminded me that I had spent months researching my market and compiling contacts. Then he gave me a we’ll see look before saying, “Trust me, writers aren’t going to listen to a word you have to say.”

I tried not to cry as his resolve remained. I explained that writers help each other and that I am “doing my part to pay it forward.”

The eternal skeptic was unmoved.

Veteran authors whom I interviewed agreed with my husband. They suggested I lead marketing workshops, instead of authoring a book aimed at emerging authors. I listened…kinda.

Partnering with local brick and mortar bookstores and small businesses, I now offer workshops to emerging authors at a ridiculously low price. Workshop attendees receive a copy of the book, a password to a community blog specifically designed for new authors, and two hours of instruction from yours truly. Businesses who host a workshop receive half of the fee. This is my way of saying thank you for shelving copies of In the Garden with Billy: Lessons about Life & Tomatoes. I hope these classes will encourage and teach emerging authors as well as benefit small businesses, especially in the winter months when business is slow. The workshops will not make me independently wealthy and the fact that I am not promoting this book with a tour means those who monitor sales information won’t be pleased. Insert pouty face and crossed arms from the beloved.

I like to think of Stress-free Marketing: Practical Advice for the Newly Published Author as a community service project…voluntary, not court-ordered. Someone needed to guide the fledglings and who better than a fellow fledgling that experienced extraordinary success with her first publication. Thank you readers, booksellers and book clubs! Offering the workshops have allowed me to rest knowing that I have written something that, when read, will guide others on their pathway to publication. I have done my part. The rest is up to referrals and the magic of social media. If I can save one author from financial ruin, my work is done. Once again, the muse is smiling. Once again it is time to set attainable goals. Have you set goals for 2012?

As 2011 closes, many of us wonder what the future holds. Hopefully I will finish the novel or perhaps the sequel to In the Garden with Billy. I will continue to support independent booksellers and volunteer at the public library, both need our help. And my personal mission statement remains, “I will write a book.”

Visit Renea Winchester’s website for more information about her work, or visit her blog: http://adviceforauthors.wordpress.com .

Book Publicity

by Cathy Pickens

This topic consumes writers.  And writers get plenty of advice from agents, editors, and others about what they need to do to promote their books:

“You have to have a website!”

“You have to do appearances.”

“You have to blog!” (Oh, wait – that’s what this is.)

“You have to hand out bookmarks, talk about your book endlessly to anyone who even looks as though they’re listening, and generally make people want to run and hide at the faintest sight of you.”

Nowhere on the “You have to” list do I find what I consider the most important promotional tips:

• Be nice.

• Write the best book you can.

Need specifics? 

• Be a fan yourself.  Read other writers’ books.  Talk about their work, not just your own.  It’s a community and you are just a part.
• When you visit a bookstore to do a signing, to sign stock, or simply to introduce yourself, buy a book.  Granted, you might not be able to do this in every store, but you certainly want to support the stores in your area that support your work.
• Learn the gentle art of thank-you notes.  Offer a helping hand whenever possible to those learning the craft, to kids who love books, to libraries and bookstores and readers.  I don’t care if you did just win the Pulitzer Prize, no need to be a prima donna. 
• Most important of all: Write the best darn book you are capable of writing.  Your readers deserve nothing less.

If any of the above suggestions mean you have less time to “promote,” so be it.

If you want more practical advice, I offer a commercial announcement: Sisters in Crime has recently published the third edition of Brazen Promotion for Shameless Hussies, available to members (membership is $40--and includes lots of other support for crime writers) for $1.99 download or $11.99 paperback.  See www.sistersincrime.org for information.

Or get Jeffrey Marks' book, Intent to Sell.  Both books offer loads of advice.

But I stick with my advice: 

Be nice.  Write good.

RESPECTING THE STORY (or the oil and water of this business)

Dear Friends, Fellow authors, and A Good Blog is Hard to Find Faithful Readers,

Here we are gathered in this room hanging out on the edge of the net and touching one another with our words. And that's exactly what I want to talk about. This month we are speaking about publicity, what to do to give that book a push, to find its readers, to connect with the world but I realized that Patty Callahan Henry just waxed eloquent on the joys of getting out and getting to know your public. Last summer I drummed up a few mistakes I'd made along the way. You can find that post here. 

Me waxing on about the mistakes and learning curves of the publishing business - or what I know now that I wish I knew then: http://southernauthors.blogspot.com/2010_06_01_archive.html

And a few days ago Shellie told it the way it was about the rubber meeting the road here: 

Shellie Rushing Tomlinson wrote about taking it on, the real world and the art of publicity http://southernauthors.blogspot.com/2011/02/marketing-smarketing.html

And our gracious, talented friend Kerry basically taught a class on giving back with a photo montage from the road that speaks volumes here:

Kerry Madden talks about giving back while getting it right: http://southernauthors.blogspot.com/2011/02/tips-to-surviving-book-promotion-by.html

Then I literally spent time reviewing a year of blog posts on A Good Blog is Hard to Find. Amazing. Incredible. Honors and Kudos one and all. And again a special nod to Karin Gillespie for beginning this blog and for Kathy Patrick for the undertaking of it's continuance. How I wish I had been able to tap into this incredible resource so many, many years ago. I think this blog should be required reading for young people, old people and all those in between who struggle and strive to write a story, touch a heart, and get their work published and read in this wild and every-changing business. I think this resource so valuable that I'm going to settle in this week with coffee, notebook and pen in hand and honestly take notes from the authors that have had such incredible, down-to-earth, been there and done it raw advice. This is the kind of advice we PAY for at writing conferences and to PR firms. Seriously. 

That being said - I have nothing to add to this subject that hasn't been captured. Not a clue, not a key. 

BUT -  - - I do have a little something on my mind. 

As the days wear long, with The Miracle of Mercy Land only debuting a few months ago, with Praying for Strangers: An Adventure of the Human Spirit rising to the surface April 5th, 2011 - I have been in a constant state of editing, or promoting for months. (Yes, never mind that I do that little Radio show thing on the side - but people, I do so love author talks, festival news, a GOOD review, and a few great tunes to set the mood. - I'm kinda, well, addicted in the most wonderful way to a little Clearstory every week.) And what I want to say is - looks like those days of authors hanging in Paris with other writers and then moodily walking those smokey streets back to hang over the typewriter and stir up stories like the end of the world was pressing in and all humanity hung in the balance - are over~ 

These days - it's promote, promote, promote. Are you on Twitter? Facebook? How often do you post? Who do you know? What have you done to sell books TODAY? Traveling? Cruising? Talking?

All good and great and needed things in today's screaming society of plugged in professionalism - yet . . . I've got this story  waiting to be told. A big one. It's southern, dark, demanding, dreamy and full of the fight for redemption and the places we have to find in ourselves to forgive and find our way back to the truth. 

BUT - without those dedicated hours where I respectively step back from the PUBLICITY demands of the upcoming book, road tour, social media, Publisher emails, the bing of my smart phone, the call, the demand, the scream of the BUSINESS of this Writing life - there will be no writing life left worthy of all those efforts on my part, my publisher, or my publicist.

I've been looking at the serious output of creative madness of some of our counterparts from the days of old. Men and women with long lives, and histories of making love to the page with a touch of madness. God bless them everyone. Because we need them. We need those words that don't bear the rhythm of us simultaneously trying to answer sixteen emails and forty live chats while bidding on a leather bag from Italy while we write the next line. We need the words from a generation that respected the work of the writer, the REAL work of THE WRITER. The Words they weave into THE Story. 

And we need each other. We need the stories that usher us out of the silence of our souls. We need the incredible clarity that those stories bring to our cluttered lives. The words that so beautifully illuminate our existence and help us laugh at ourselves and love one another again.

. I thank you for every writer that gives a leg up to another writer, blogs on their work, facebooks

But I also ask you, beg you, implore you - step away from the blessed promotional work we all shoulder, burden, and carry - even celebrate - to write. To simply,  strongly, passionately - write. Step away from the noise. Carve out precious HOURS not moments to write uninterrupted. Find a corner, a coffee shop, a library or a graveyard but make a covenant with yourself NOT to answer the bells and whistles that scream for your attention. Dive in and gloriously lose yourself in the characters, place, setting, and creation that awaits.  I assure you, the world will be waiting for you, for me, for all of us, still clamoring and demanding when we return. 

IN the greediest moment of your life, grab that story asking to be told, and don't let go of it 'till it's told. In the most complete,  most powerful way possible.

RIVER JORDAN is the author of four novels, and a collection of essays.  Her first published non-fiction work inspired by a New Year’s Resolution – Praying for Strangers: An Adventure of the Human Spirit will be published by Penguin/BerkleyApril 5, 2011. Ms. Jordan teaches and speaks on ‘The Power of Story’  and produces and hosts the radio program, Clearstory, on WRFN, 107.1 FM, Nashville. Jordan and her husband live in Nashville, TN. You may visit the author at http://www.riverjordan.us or visit http://www.prayingforstrangers.com 

A Recipe for Writing

by Nicole Seitz

The other night, I dreamed I was standing in front of a classroom of teens, telling them about everything I've learned about writing. About being a writer. I've just finished the first draft of my next novel, and I find that I always learn new things while writing a book, or else my old beliefs are reaffirmed. It's all a great learning experience--the struggles, the joys, the pressing forward. After writing my fifth book, I've learned quite a bit more than I knew when I was going into this career. So if I had to give some advice to a writer just starting out, what would it be?

I tried to remember what I was going on and on about in my hazy dream the other night, to no avail. And then last night I was rereading my manuscript, exhausted, and couldn't muster any other thoughts but sleep. Sadly, this morning, I'm all about the coffee and we're out of it. So I was thanking Heaven when I flipped open the food section of the newspaper today and saw that there's a movie coming out about Julia Child and a woman who decides to go through all 524 of her cookbook recipes. There, on the second page of the article, were the words I've been looking for...and Julia was a chef, not a writer. But you see, writing is just like anything else in life...cooking, loving...I think you'll see.

In Julia's words:

"Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it."
I will second that. If you are not passionate about writing...if it does not fill that deep pit that continually needs filling within you, you might want to look elsewhere. If you think you're going into writing for any of these reasons: money, status, sex (hee hee, sexy authors), or doing something easy -- you will most likely burn out at some point.

"I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate."

I was 32 and pregnant when I got the first inkling to write. I thought writing a novel would be an impossible undertaking. My first basically wrote itself. Up till then, I just read a little and admired writers from afar. Sometimes people fall into that thing they were made to do after they've already done so many other things that just didn't satisfy.

"The secret to a happy marriage is finding the right person. You know they're right if you love to be with them all the time."

Just yesterday I was thinking how writing is like a marriage. You find a man you love, you get skinny, you plan for the wedding, dream about it at night, then you have the big glorious event...and then...and then, you're married. For the rest of your life. No more weddings, just the ups and downs of day to day. So much like writing. I thought when I got that first book published and in hand that I would have "made it" wherever THAT was. Little did I know that it was only the beginning. I had to live day to day with the writing now, the pressing for words, having them flood me at inappropriate times, being frustrated when I didn't know what in the heck they were doing, being scared the writing was taking me away from other important things like exercise, sunshine...and then, every now and again, I get a tiny little wedding moment. Much like marriage. You must love this person you're with forever. Same goes for writing. Find ways to keep the love alive even when it's hard. If you're truly passionate about it, you won't let the small things turn into burnout.

"Being tall is an advantage, especially in business. People will always remember you. And if you're in a crowd, you'll always have some clean air to breathe."

This is inspired, Julia. I am not tall by any means. I'm 5'3" and three-quarters, thank you. But this quote refers to writing as well. Do you want to be tall, original, and stand out? Or do you want to write the same thing someone else is writing? Sure, you can make a living, writing to formula and putting out things you know will sell, stuff just like everything else. Hey, I'm not against money, we all need to make a living. But to feed the SOUL, that deep pit that needs filling over and over, I say rise above. Do something different, original, be true to yourself. It's the only way to have fresh air wherever you're standing. Otherwise, there's hot air and back draft all around. After a while, you'll need to take a bow, step out of the room and breathe again.

For new writers out there, God bless your journey. For others who have been around a while and feel the pounds and wrinkles of a long writing marriage, I wish for you fresh wind in your sails. Always try to remember why you fell in love in the first place.

-------------------

Nicole Seitz is the author/cover artist of three novels and lives in Charleston, SC with her husband and two kids. Her latest book, A Hundred Years of Happiness, was inspired by her stepfather's service in Vietnam and the Vietnamese seafood restaurant she once worked in. Her next book, Saving Cicadas, is narrated by an 8-year-old girl whose single mother finds herself pregnant again, and in her dilemma, hauls the whole family into the car for the last family vacation they'll ever have. Through the eyes of innocence, Janie must learn the truth about the people she loves the most and the difficult choices grown-ups make. The book is available for pre-order and hits stores December 1.

Find other Seitz books including The Spirit of Sweetgrass and Trouble the Water (Library Journal's Best Books of 2008) plus her artwork online at http://www.nicoleseitz.com/.