Is It Self-Sabotage?

Today I offer you a link that offers help if you think you may be battling self-sabotaging behavior in your writing, your business and relationships, or your life. May you find liberation from whatever is blocking you.

http://www.marieforleo.com/2015/04/self-sabotage/

Am I Writing?

Yes, I am. I can’t blame you if you don’t believe it. It has taken so long from the start of this journey of dreaming about getting published to being close enough I can smell it.

Some people take a very linear route: from idea to outline to manuscript. That has not been my path, partly due to inexperience, partly to distraction.

Even now, it is NOT the novel I am wrapping up. That manuscript is next. It is a novella, about 10,000 words, called Strange. The cover art is done. The final edit is a week from being complete. Formatting the manuscript is next, then off to the publisher, Acorn Book Services.

I am getting close to achieving the dream. Very, very close.

Washington, DC Area Authors Event for All Ages

Today I received an e-mail from my author friend Penny Clover Peterson: “I’ll be at the Cascades Library in Sterling April 11th from 10:30 until 1:00. I will actually have advance copies of ROSES ARE DEAD MY LOVE!!! Hope you can make it.”

The all-genres author event may appeal to you, so I am sharing the details below.

LEESBURG – More than 60 authors from the D.C. metro area will share their work in a Local Authors Fair at the Loudoun County Public Library on Saturday, April 11 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Children’s, teen, fiction and non-fiction authors from Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and West Virginia will read from their work, sign their books and discuss their writing during the half-day fair at the Cascades Branch of the Loudoun County Public Library.

The event kicks off with children’s authors reading aloud during story time, and includes informal opportunities to meet and talk with writers, book sales and signings. It concludes with a special presentation by Sue Fliess, author of 18 children’s books including many in the Little Golden Books series.

The Local Authors Fair is for all ages and is co-sponsored by the Friends of Cascades Library and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).

Participating authors include:  Mary Amato, Maya Corrigan, Moira Rose Donohue, Tracee L. Garner, Tracey Kyle, and Penny Clover Petersen

For more information, visit the Cascades Library, 21030 Whitfield Place in Potomac Falls, or visit library.loudoun.gov.

Suspending Reality–Just for a Minute

If I could suspend reality for a minute, here’s what would happen in Fay World.

I would twitch my nose and bob my head as Jeanie did in the old TV show I Dream of Jeanie, and my  current novel re-write would be done.

In fact, the other two novels rattling in the deep space of my mind would also magically translate from thought to printed word and be done.

Wouldn’t that be lovely to pull the rabbit out of the hat, just like that?

Shazammm.

A Peek Behind Oz’s Curtain

As an author, one has to be aware that life will occasionally torpedo the work. I am not talking about a hiccup or a brief interruption. I am talking about an outright sinking of the ship.

Since the purpose of this blog is to chronicle my journey as an author, and since my goal is to help and inspire those who aspire to the writing life, then I have to be honest in the telling of my experiences–even when the information is personal and negative. After all, if I am to be of genuine help to others, then forewarning them is forearming them for their own conflagrations.

Today I received an e-mail from a blogging friend who is concerned about me. She is aware of some of what has taken me off-track. She is supportive and offers constructive advice at points when I am scorched and dysfunctional. I respond to her with encouraging news.

After I hit the “send” button, I think that what I have written may be helpful to another author who is struggling with similar demons who would destroy the work. It is in that vein that I share my reply to my friend. It is meant as a help–a life line or life-saving ring–to the drowning ones, smacked down from the surface to a dark place beneath the waves that is devoid of oxygen.

You know who you are. If you recognize yourself as being in this place, then I hope this bit of personal revelation will help you to hope, to believe:

There is an end to the suffocation of your creative spirit. The breath of inspiration does return to what appears to be a corpse.

My reply to my friend:

Hi, sweetheart.

Thank you for asking about me. Still working through the life changes. The adjustments go a bit slower than I would like, but I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel. I am back to work on editing my novel, though the work goes slowly. I am rebuilding a life, establishing new supports, loving my rock-solid friends and family with all my heart, and reconnecting to God to keep my life centered on what is important.

Statistics say the readjustment takes two years. I am just past the one year mark, so I feel my progress is healthy and normal. I am still cleaning up clutter, both emotional and physical, in the aftermath, but the “house” is coming into order!

Editing–In Life As In Writing

For some folks, writing may be the cure to get through a life in serious need of editing.

For me,  I want–no, need–my life edited first before I can write. My unedited life disables my will to create.

So, I drop the writing to edit the life, to seek equilibrium. I don’t need the life perfect, but I can’t work when my life bangs around like an unbalanced tub in a washing machine.

Today, for the first time in a long while, I hear a familiar voice inside me singing a forgotten song. Though distant, I recognize  the voice of my muse. The far-off song hints completion of my life-editing task is ahead. It suggests the writing is coming back.  Hopefully soon.

 

July 2013 Guest Blog from Lauren Carr

Lauren Carr, a bestselling author on Amazon.com, has words of wisdom for authors.

Get Out of Your Backyard

You Have Friends & Followers in Cyberspace

A few months ago, a journalist from a local magazine working on a feature about local authors called me at home. My name came up while she was interviewing other local authors and she had never heard of me. When she went online to find out what these authors were talking about, she was floored to see my author ranking on Amazon (top-100 in overall sales for mysteries/police procedurals) and more than one of my books listed in the top-100 in their categories.

Here was a best-selling author living right under her nose! Not only was I a best-selling author on Amazon, but I was a publisher to boot! She interviewed me. I sent her free copies of my books (print versions). The magazine ran a spotlight feature on me.

It was everything that new authors dream of, except for one thing: I saw no jump in my book sales as a result of that feature. I wasn’t one bit surprised. That’s why I don’t concentrate any effort on the local media, which is why this local journalist knew nothing about me.

In 2004, when A Small Case of Murder was released, the local newspapers sent reporters out to my home to interview me, which meant I had to get dressed, and published big features on their front pages—above the fold (a coveted position in the newspaper game). The features contained both my photograph and a picture of my book cover. My first book signing, a local coffee shop that has since gone out of business, was listed and there was a line out the door of people who had read the article.

In January 2013, when Blast from the Past was released, I sent out a press release to over two hundred bloggers and reviewers and a dozen or so of the local media. A local morning radio show interviewed me, which they always do. None of the newspapers called me. I didn’t call them. Some friends did tell me that they saw the press release buried somewhere in the local section. I never saw it because I don’t get the local newspapers.

That’s okay. Despite the lack of attention from the local media, Blast from the Past still made the Top-100 in sales for mysteries and police procedurals (both e-book and print) within the first week.

Unfortunately, new authors with visions of the local newspapers beating on their doors for an interview about their new book coming out are bound to be disappointed. Unless the writer is friends with the newspaper editor or their book is about a really hot topic, the local media is barely going to notice because “Local Author Publishes Book” is not big news anymore. Every week, the newspapers get press releases or phone calls from people in the local area who have published a book. There’s not enough room on the front page to print a feature about every local author. So, they have to pick and choose.

A couple of the local newspapers in our area will occasionally do one feature in which they will list every new or local author and their latest books, like the magazine that had called me. They reserve features that spotlight one specific author for those who have risen above the crowd in some way.

Along with the rest of society, I have shifted my attention in book promotion to online blogs and reviewers. They are my bread and butter. So much so, that in some ways, I ignore the local media.

Authors who want to get the word out about their books need to get out of their own back yard and go out into the world—beyond the world—they need to get the news out into cyberspace.

Think About the Numbers

The biggest newspaper in our area has a circulation of twenty-thousand. Estimating from various sources, only fifteen percent of the population reads books. That’s three thousand out of the twenty-thousand who might be interested in your book. Not everyone reads every type of book. For this exercise, let’s say that it’s an author, like yours truly, and the feature is about my latest mystery.

According to Publishers Weekly, out of readers, fifty-three percent read fiction and forty-three percent read nonfiction. The favorite fiction category is mystery and suspense (good for me) at nineteen percent.

Do the math: One thousand, five hundred and ninety out of the three thousand book readers read fiction. However, not all of them read mysteries. Nineteen percent of them may be mystery fans. That leaves a target of three hundred and two people out of the newspaper’s circulation who may see and be interested enough in me and my book to buy it. Suppose, out of those three hundred mystery fans, not all of them are home when the newspaper arrives or they don’t get a chance to read the newspaper on that day. Suppose they don’t see the article. Suppose they don’t like dogs, but prefer political thrillers.

For more bang for your time and effort, you need to get out of your own back yard and take your book into cyberspace into a galaxy where there are beings waiting to welcome you.

With over two thousand friends on Facebook, plus almost two-thousand friends on Goodreads, a great review will be seen by almost four thousand people—all of whom are readers! They wouldn’t be on Goodreads if they weren’t! Plus, since they know I’m a mystery writer and have friended me, they have to be somewhat interested in mysteries. With a growing list on Twitter, when I tweet that news, it goes out like a spiderweb to thousands more.

These are thousands of readers worldwide. Yep, with the right promotion, you will have readers in Spain buying your book while sitting in your bathrobe and slippers. Twenty-seven percent of my book sales are overseas. I guarantee none of those readers are buying my book because of an article in the local newspaper.

Behind the Fence In Your Backyard

Your local area contains how many people. Out of that population, fifteen percent read books and only a fraction of them may be interested in your book. After promoting your book for six months, going to every bookstore, shopping center, coffee shop, and being featured in the newspaper every chance you can convince the editor to run an article about you, you can reasonably believe that everyone who lives within a hundred mile radius knows about your book and has bought it if they intend to.

Now, your readership pool is dry.

In the Openness of Cyberspace

The pool is always getting new readers who only come into the galaxy because they are seeking books. If they chose, if your book is good enough, these beings have the ability to take your news deeper into space into their galaxy to spread the word to even more readers. As you make new friends and followers, they have the ability to spread the word about your book, even years after its release.

Book Promotion Has Come a Long Way, Baby!

Back when A Small Case of Murder was released, my publicist at that time told me that I had three months to make it a hit. Reason: That’s how long brick and mortar bookstores would allow it on the shelves. If a book is not a hit in three months, it is taken off the shelves to make room for new releases.

In cyberspace, the bookshelf space is infinite. Authors can continue promoting their books indefinitely.

It’s Murder, My Son, which was released in June 2010, made Number 1 in cozies in August 2012, two years after its release, when discovered by mystery fans via an Amazon promotion and word of mouth from readers. It has continued to be listed in the top-100 since that time with sales every day to even new fans while word is continuing to spread across cyberspace.

It’s a brave new wonderful world!

Lauren Carr has authored a new book to help authors sell books.

How to Succeed Without Getting Dressed

Who doesn’t want to be successful while sitting in their own home, with their feet up? Well, Authors in Bathrobes tells budding writers what it takes to do just that. In her new book, Lauren Carr tells writers the truth about what it takes to be a successful writer today: determination, hard work, a dependable laptop, a full pot of coffee, comfy slippers, and a durable bathrobe.

Lauren Carr is the best-selling mystery author of the Mac Faraday Mysteries and Lovers in Crime Mysteries. Based on book sales for her mysteries and anthologies, Amazon regularly lists her among their top one-hundred mystery authors in both e-book and print.

A popular speaker, Lauren is frequently asked for advice about how to succeed as an author while running a business, cooking dinner, feeding dogs, and doing laundry. “Ten years ago, it wouldn’t have been possible,” Lauren says. “Nowadays, with a good wi-fi connection, an author can reach readers on the other side of the world while sending their child off to school and having a bad hair day.”

The owner of Acorn Book Services, Lauren is also a publisher. This year, fifteen titles written by independent authors (not counting Lauren’s own titles) will be released through the management of Acorn Book Services.

Available through: Amacon.com Kindle Store

About the Author

Lauren Carr is the author of the Mac Faraday Mysteries, which takes place in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. It’s Murder, My Son, Old Loves Die Hard, Shades of Murder, and Blast from the Past have all been getting rave reviews from readers and reviewers. The Murders at Astaire Castle will be released September 1.

Lauren Carr is also the author of the Lovers in Crime Mysteries. Dead on Ice was released in September 2012 to rave reviews. The second installment, Real Murder, will be released later this year.

ASIN: B00CO81LY0 Pub. DateMay 6, 2013 • Kindle • $2.99

WRITERS CONFERENCE NEAR HARPERS FERRY, WV IN OCTOBER

http://acornbookservices.com/Writer_to_Published_Author.html

If you live in or travel to Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania or Delaware, or if you have friends who write living there, please share the news about the upcoming writers conference. A total of twenty authors will share what they know on a broad range of topics. And to make the event really enticing, attendees can meet with a traditional publisher, a small press and a self-publisher’s book service to talk about how to get published.

Space is limited! Reserve your seat today by clicking on the link above.

 

Date: Saturday, October 5, 2013

8:45 am-5:00 pm

Place: Oakland Church

70 Oakland Terrace Charles Town, WV

Cost: $60 (lunch included)

Panel Discussions on Writing, Publishing, Illustrating, Writing Children’s Books

Sponsored by Acorn Book Services

The From Writers to Published Authors Conference offers writers the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of writing and publishing directly from those who have gone before them. At this first annual event, authors and publishers will gather together to spend the day helping new writers to reach their goal of not only publishing their books, but doing it right.

Attendees have a choice of panel discussions to attend based on where they are in their journey toward authorship. The forty-five minute panel discussions will cover writing tips (getting your books done/research), publishing (social media/cover design).

Currently Scheduled to Appear: Lauren Carr (publisher and mystery author)

Austin Camancho (publisher and mystery/thriller author) Beth Rowland (publisher) Tim Rowland (columnist/author) Cindy McDonald (author) Ed Steers (historian and author) Thomas L. Trumble (author/playwright) Michael T. (children’s author) Joe Santoro (illustrator) Malcolm Ater (young adult/middle school author) Penny Clover Petersen (author of children’s and adult books) H.L. Grandin (author) Mary-Ellen Low (author) Victor Nieves (author) Fay Moore (author) Daniel Claggett (illustrator) Debbie Brenneman (author) George Johnson (author) S.J. Brown (author/photographer) Todd Aune (cover designer) D.B. Corey (author)
This conference also includes two Super Panel discussions which are foremost on most writers and published authors’ minds: The Future of Books and Using Social Media for Book Promotion.

Three publishers are schedule to appear: Lauren Carr of Acorn Book Services, Austin Camacho of Intrigue Publishing, and Beth Rowland of Black Walnut Corner Book Production.

The fee for attendees is $60. Lunch is included. We encourage attendees to not be shy. We encourage writers to feel free to talk to authors and publishers about their projects and ask any questions they may have about completing their books and advice on publishing.
But Wait! There’s More! Intrigue Publishing will have a special presentation during lunch:

Working With a Small Press – A Reality Check.

Writers won’t want to miss this interactive presentation that will answer many questions about the differences between publishers and  how using a small press differs from self-publishing.

*Schedule Panel Topics *Topics may change due to author’s schedules before the conference

Writing

Get ’er Done: Committing to your book to complete it.

Let’s Get Personal: This panel is made up of authors who have successfully put pen to paper to tell their stories.

Research: Get it Right: Even in fiction, nothing can kill a book like having your facts wrong.

Laughing It Up: Writing humor.

Publishing

Judging a Book By Its Cover: Cover Design.

Picture My Book: Working with Illustrators.

Who’s Going to Read It: As much as we like to think everyone will want to read our book, that is just not the case. This panel will discuss determining your readers so that you may focus your book and your marketing toward drawing them in.

How to Sell It: Different from the Social Media Super Panel, this panel discussion will focus on basic marketing techniques that every author should know.

Children’s Books

Kiddie Lit I: Writing for Children. Writing for children is not as easy as it may appear. This panel will discuss the basics to know when it comes to writing a children’s book.

Kiddlie Lit II: Where’s the Line? Is your book appropriate for your age group? Does your middle school book have too much romance? Is it appropriate to have your grade-school-aged protagonist curse? This promises to be a hot discussion.

 

Space is limited for the From Writers to Published Authors Conference. So don’t delay. Sign up today!

Email acornbookservices@gmail.com or phone 304-285-8205 for more information.

 

Guest Blogger: Author Lauren Carr

M. S. Fowle provides a post from best-selling author Lauren Carr.

Mission Accomplished

The writing getaway was a success. The first draft of my novel is complete.