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Cowboy Musings
Volume
Two click
to browse Volume One
Sleeping
in Prophet without
honor Cowboy
talk The Sweet
Smell of . . . . ? How
Do It Know? The
Reading Test Special
Gifts It's Ba -
ack Literary
Agent The
First Line The
Rogue Character The Take-a-way Time to add words
Too late to write? Christian
Fiction Players Changing Hoosier Cowboys
It's
only Fiction Programs Writing habits Interesting
Characters? Always wanted to write? Outpouring In Memoriam A Collectible?
Western Book Sales In Perspective Shepherd's Son
Releases Visiting
blogs again Website
and or blog traffic What are good sales numbers? A new generation of
readers? What
do the numbers mean? Christian Content
Old Dogs – New tricks OWLS are great! Programs Getting hung up Ouch! A Cozy Mystery Out and About Answered Prayer Online Presence The Good Old Days Fish gotta swim, Birds
gotta Fly . . . My
Bookstore Self-fulfilling
Prophesy Blog Suggestion
Book
Reviews Where
do stories come from? Mentoring Networking Bad Road New Cover Lone Star Rising Fellowship Peace of Mind Christian
Fiction is Changing I'm International!
It's Personal
Hunting Readers If I Were Put On Trial
For Being A Christian
Patience
I was going to sleep
in. I'm in a motel room in Tulsa Oklahoma after presenting a program to
the Fellowship of Christian Writers, I
don't have to be home early, so why not?
And why would the Lord get me up at a quarter to six by putting things on my
mind? I suppose for God, sleeping in is
something he doesn't do.
Ah well, I've
finished the little chore he put on my mind (today's chore , at least so far)
so I'm checking mail and beginning my day. The meeting went very well getting
to see long time friend Carla Stewart who helped me so much doing a first read
on
It's always good to
get writing affirmations. We send our babies out alone into the world and it's
always good to get feedback on how they are doing. I had an email this morning
from a lady reading
Also in the old
email sack was a notice from Paula Miller that she had read Brothers Keeper and
was putting up a review and interview on her site at http://reviewsbytwo.blogspot.com/ and had reviewed the book on Amazon and B
& N. Paula is part of a set of twins, and was drawn to the book because the
story is drawn around twins, one of which chose the high road and the other the
low. I was pleased with her review and enjoyed the interview. You know, I have
no control over the daily Bible verse on the site, it's there automatically
each day, but today, Luke 15:3 pretty much sums up the story of the third book
in the MW series, Shepherd's Son.
Well,
I'm up early, wrote the notes I woke up with on my mind, ready for my second
cup of coffee, so I suppose I'll get on the road back home. I don't much like
doing these trips without Saundra, kinda like I left the biggest part of me at
home. Shucks, I even had to make my own pot of coffee here in the room this
morning. >>>smile<<<
The Bible talks about "A prophet is
not without honor save in his own
country, and in his own house." If there's anything I'm not it's a
prophet, but I get it. I'm on my way to
A couple of weeks ago my pastor asked me to
talk to the congregation about my writing, how I was called, and how Christian Fiction can reach out to
people, sometimes in ways that Biblical material, pamphlets and tracts, and
other materials sometimes cannot do. The
same way that Jesus often used stories, parables, to help people relate to his
teachings.
Most of the folks had no idea my books
were available through most bookstores if not shelved there, and in libraries
all over the country. How could that be? I was just the guy that sat in services
with them and talked too much in Sunday School Class. Same with my family, one of them stumbled
across one of my books somewhere and at a family reunion asked about it. The
whole family was fascinated to find out how my books were out there.
I
think most writers go through this. If we begin making some headway becoming
known, the last people who will realize it are those closest to us, and even
then they'll always underestimate the extent of our success. Don't get me
wrong, I'm not claiming to be any well known writer, or even to have major
sales, but I guarantee it was more than these people had ever thought.
Now that they have found out I do these
workshops all over, a number of folks at our church want to know why I haven't
done one there. The answer is simple,
I've never been asked.
Looks like I'll be
putting one on for them.
What do cowboy's talk about? You want to
get an online group of western writers that I'm in talking non-stop you just have to talk about horses
or guns. That'll do it every time.
You take a group of cowboys that tend to
talk like a reticent Gary Cooper saying little other than "yup" or
"nope" if you get them in a rodeo meeting will talk non-stop for
hours recounting past glories and talking about how things ought to be done.
Back behind the chutes participants want to talk about their last ride, sorry
judging, the next ride and the animals involved in each.
You take everyday people and a
conversation is over when people quit talking. Not a cowboy. One may say something to another hand as they
ride off to go work a herd. He may add something a couple of hours later as
they ride by one another and the conversation may go on that way for days. If a
cowboy has little to say it may not mean he's sparing with words, it may just
mean he isn't through talking.
A great example of this is shown in a
great movie, Cheyenne Social Club. In that movie they ride for days on their
way to
Learning to talk like a cowboy is not so
much a matter of learning to use words as it is learning to think about what
you want to say, then distilling it down into as few words as possible.
There used to be this very western banker
in a small town I was managing a chamber of commerce in. J.T. was a man of few
words and tended to sit over to the side and listen as people wrestled over a
problem, then was quite likely to put the matter to rest when he finally got
around to having his say. I'll never
forget one such meeting where a problem was discussed at great length. Finally
he got up, put his hat on, and as he turned to go out the door said, "I
think we're trying to put a saddle on something we can't ride."
Meeting
over – idea dropped.
A good friend that I
have tremendous respect for as a writer
is looking over my work in progress.
A comment that keeps coming up is bringing in the smell. I mention
shrimp being butterflied on a hot grill and the smell of heating garlic and butter. How do I express a scent beyond that, give
something it smells like? Nothing smells like hot garlic and butter,
nothing smells like onions grilling or popcorn cooking. When you mention one of
those to me that triggers my memory of what it smells like. The item in question
IS the smell to me.
Whatdaya think?
Now sound is
different. Or is it? I've heard birds that sound like a gate creaking open.
I've heard static that sounded like bacon on a hot grille (or vice versa) but how
about fingernails on a chalkboard. You need a simile there? Just mentioning it
does it for me, thinking of it makes my skin crawl.
Maybe familiarity is
the key. If it's a sound or smell that's universally recognizable, perhaps it
defies comparison, where a sound or smell that people aren't familiar with need
comparison to something people ARE familiar with. Could that be the case?
Just
kinda set me to thinking . . . .
So how does a writer know before sending a
manuscript off if it will appeal to an
editor?
That is the question.
Two men were about to have lunch on a
jobsite.
One, not the
sharpest knife in the drawer looked over
at the other and
said, "What be that?"
The man responded, "It's a
Thermos."
"What do it do?"
"It keeps things hot or keeps them
cold."
"How do it know?"
Les posed a good question yesterday and
the answer is as simple as the answer to this guy's question. Doing it is
tough, and the people that do it well are the ones that publish. Writers want
to write, period. We don't want to research or market or promote or do all the
other things that go into developing a career. We want to write.
But the key to doing a good job with
queries to an editor or a agent is knowing before we ever put it in the mail
that they are a real possibility for the product that we're pitching. Too many
people buy the big market guide and go through it sending off a letter to
everybody that even lists their genre in their listing. That's a guarantee a huge number of rejection
letters will soon be on the way.
The ones that know their business look for
indicators that the person they are querying really has published or handled
some comparable work. They find other books and writers that are targeted at
the same people they figure to be the reader base for their book. The numbers
and products they develop that convince them this is true is the same thing
they need to give to an agent or editor to demonstrate they know who their
reader base is and have really written a book that will reach them.
What are these indicators? That's the hard
part, because it's different for every book and may differ for each editor and
agent we pitch. We search the market and search the bookstore for products that
cause us to believe we'd be right for a certain agency or house and we try that
pitch on them. If we've figured right we've got a good shot at it. If not,
well, there's always the next one.
"How do it know?" That's the
key question all right.
The
I've
handled a few proposals already.
Submitting proposals myself I found early on that it was all about
the readers. Most readers make
buying decisions based on reading a pretty small sample standing there at
the bookrack. They may sample in different ways, but the biggest test is
whether that first page or two draws them into the book enough to carry
it to the checkout stand.
Editors
understand this, and tend to judge a submission the same way. If a book doesn't
pull them in immediately they tend to set it aside and look at something else.
They may look at the synopsis to see if it holds out enough interest for them
to test it further, but probably not. Agents know that readers and editors both
feel this way and tend to apply the same test.
They want something they know will appeal to the editor and for the most
part neither really has the resources to drastically alter or work on a
manuscript when there will be others coming in that are ready to be submitted
up the line.
My
success rate improved once I understood this and knew I had to catch that agent
or editor's attention before they would get down to reading and judging the
actual merits of my writing. Now I find myself on the other side of the table
and it is even more clear to me. If I read a proposal and it doesn't draw me
in, and if the synopsis doesn't bowl me over to suggest it'll really improve
down the road, there's far too much work that will have to be done to interest
anybody in it. The next one on the stack may be ready to go.
So I'm
new on this side of the table. I was asked to be on this side because I
understand how it works and learned how to make that appropriate submission.
Those who get published understand, those who aren't publishing don't get it
yet. But they will . . . or they'll join that large group that gets discouraged
and quits, or just puts something out themselves.
There's
nothing new about this. If I want to play a sport I have to learn the rules and
develop skills. If I want to learn to cook or sew I have to learn how it is
done and develop skills. If I want a job I have to have knowledge that will
enable me to do it and develop skills. Why would we think writing would be any
different?
Comment: I agree that readers buy based in part on the first paragraph to
maybe the first two pages. I do this myself, however, the interest must be kept
up through out the entire story or the reader will lose interest. I used to
read all of a book once I started it, even if I had lost interest. My feeling
was that once I started the book, I was going to finish it. As I got older, it
became apparent to me that there are too many books out there and not enough
time to read them. Many is the book that grabbed my interest in the first few
pages, even the first fifty pages that I lost interest in and put aside for the
next book on my reading stack. I can understand how a writer may read and like
what he or she wrote, but that does not necessarily mean editors or book readers
will feel the same. So how does a writer know before sending a manuscript off
if it will appeal to an editor? That is the question.
Les
The Bible says that
all believers receive at least one special gift, the gift of faith. It also promises in multiple places that we may receive others.
We have a revival going on this week and that brings this to mind for me.
I went to the
Christian Writer's Workshop at Glorietta one year. As I went I was looking for
direction as to including my faith in my writing, and I got it. (See writing testimony on my website) But I've talked about that. As a product of getting there I went through
a course designed to identify special gifts. It was pretty extensive and very
revealing. They concluded I had three in
addition to the one we all have, writing, music, and the gift of encouragement.
I accepted that, and
it has seemed to be the areas I needed to work in. The writing is pretty
evident and I've talked about it enough. The music is pretty much confined to church as we sing
in the choir and Saundra and I are known for doing duets. We're singing in the
revival choir each night now.
Then there's the
gift of encouragement. I do a little teaching at church, but my schedule
doesn't let me do that on a regular basis.
Mostly I've used it in the writing groups I've been in and continue to
be in, trying in my limited way to pay forward
all the help others have given me. I consider the programs and workshops that
I've been doing more and more of another means of trying to use it, and it was
the motivating factor in my deciding to accept Joyce's offer to work as an
agent, to give me a chance to help other's get their words out.
Mostly I hope to do
it through a daily walk that is a mute testimony to my faith. We talked about
that in Sunday School yesterday and there was a quote I really liked about a
Christian that needs to "be in the world but not of the world." The
lesson said that a boat must be in the water to be useful, but the water
shouldn't be in the boat.
I
like that.
Dunno why, but when
I saw those boxes of author copies of Shepherd's Son sitting on the porch
I could just hear Arnold Swartzenegger's
voice in my head. Don't remember the movie it was from, but they quote that
phrase on him all the time. The
missing pages were
back in the books, and they are now on their way back to bookstores and
libraries.
That means I'll be
back on the road. Wait, when did I get off the road? Oh, I remember, Saundra
and I were still going each weekend only it was family rather than writing. Now
I'm looking to schedule more events, only now I get the entertaining sideline
of scheduling appointments to look at
proposals along with doing programs. I've already found a couple that interest
me. I've always thought as we get older that life was supposed to slow
down.
Had a young lady
tell me I was so lucky writing with my kids grown, that I should try to work in
writing time around caring for a family and three kids. I sympathize, I've had
to work around that family time, but I pointed out that kids are replaced by
senior parents and grandkids. I go by
and spend time with mom each day, try to see the grands as often as possible
and still have the demands of making a living.
Writing time is
never 'spare time' it seems to me, but has to be carved out regularly and
jealously protected. There's an old
cliché about "if you want something done, give it to a busy person because
the others don't have time to do it."
I
told her while she was making, gardening and weeding all those lists, I was
just doing the tasks. It's not about keeping track of things, it's about
marking things off those lists. That's
what life is all about, working down our lists.
Comment:
LIFE IS ONE BIG LIST! We only need to prioritize
that list. In my opinion, a good starting point would be...
1)GOD
2)FAMILY.
Everything
else follows.
Les
Here's a little
change in my writing career. I've been recruited by Joyce Hart at Hartline
Literary to work as an agent. Making literary deals is not unlike the way I
represented business making deals for over 25 years as a chamber of commerce
manager. I think I'll enjoy it.
I've already had a
taste of it as I've sold much of my work myself and helped some of my friends
get published. I'm very active online and go to a substantial number of
conventions, workshops and events, so I have a good base of contacts to build
on.
There will be a
learning curve involved, of course, but Joyce has promised to work closely with
me getting up to speed. The submission guidelines, procedures and the like are
in place at http://www.hartlineliterary.com/guidelines.htm and of course more info on the agency itself
is at http://www.hartlineliterary.com
Joyce has twenty
five years in the business and is highly respected. Other agents include Janet
L. Benry, who in addition to working at
Hartline co-writes mysteries with her husband Ron. Tamela Hancock Murray writes inspirational
romance and non-fiction in addition to her duties as an agent., and Andrea Kuhn
Boeshaar has 12 published novels to her
credit and was an agent with Ciske and Dietz in addition to owning her own
agency before joining Hartline.
Yes,
I suppose I'll be the token male, but I'm okay with that.
Comment: God bless, Terry. Sounds like we're
all busy with one thing or another. I've just gotten back from 3 weeks in
Ronda Del Boccio said...
Couldn't happen to a nicer
guy! Terry, I'm so pleased for you. I don't expect your new agency will see
much of me because I'm partial to SF/fantasy and other paranormal works for the
most part.
On another note, remember I told you that I co-authored a book that we had with
a publisher? I'll Push, You Steer: The Definitive Guide to Stumbling Through
Life with Blinders On comes out next month with AWOC books. Bonnie Tesh and I
are SO excited.
I often refer back to the notes I took at your presentation to the OWL meeting
back in August.
Best wishes in your new endeavor.
Ronda Del Boccio
There's a book that
provides the first line and all submissions have to tell a short story
beginning with exactly the same opening sentence. That intrigued me and I tried
it once and my entry was published. If
it interests you more info is at http://www.thefirstline.com/submission.htm
"It was a dark
and stormy night . . ." may be the most famous first line of all, but it
surely hasn't led to Snoopy being able to finish his long-awaited book. The
first line is critical as it has to make the person read down into the first
page which needs to make the person turn the page and hook the reader enough
that they'll carry our offering to the checkout line.
"What I need is
a disguise," opens
To Keep a Promise
starts, "A wagon leaving the safety of a wagon train to strike out on its
own is a lonesome sight."
Trails of the Dime
Novel starts with "My name is no name for an adventure writer."
Do these spark any
interest? Make you want to read on down? I hoped they did when I used
them. I know it didn't make the
impression of "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
from Dickens Tale of Two Cities. Or how
about "It was a bright cold day in April and all the clocks were striking
thirteen" from Orwell's 1984. Maybe "Amergo Bonasera sat in New York
Criminal Court Number 3 and waited for justice." Mario Puzo's The
Godfather.
How
important is the first line? How much difference has it made in your book
buying decisions?
When I start writing a story I do 2-3
placeholder chapters just to get the story going until my characters become
real and take over the story. It's as if I watch them in a movie in my head.
If the story ceases
to move it's generally because I've tried to make a character do something that
is not in their nature to do, or have handed them a plot device that just
doesn't work.
Then along comes the
rogue character that insists on a larger role than they are intended to have.
It happens all the time. My new one is a mystery built around a missing woman.
They're supposed to find her and restore her, thus solving the mystery. But no,
she shows up by the 4th chapter. The people hunting her don't know
where she is, but the reader does, some mystery.
Okay, the mystery can
be what she's up to. Nope she reveals that a couple of chapters later, muscling
herself higher and higher into the plot structure. Then finally I see, there isn't a mystery
built around her, she IS the mystery.
She's a complicated woman and defies pigeon-holing.
The reader opens the
story with the expectation that the male protagonist will be the focal point of
the story, but it isn't long before a female protagonist and female secondary
character have pushed him aside and seem to be competing to be the focal point
of the story. Or maybe that is the point of the story.
It's always so
interesting when a character absolutely and categorically refuses to stay where
they are written and tries to take over the story.
Every story generally has a take-a-way,
a point, a moral or a message. Why is the story being told? I seldom go into one where I have that
in mind however. They just sorta come out on their own.
I've said before that most of my stories have a
degree of faith in them, but I don't do that intentionally either. At least one
of my characters will be a person of faith, maybe some others are and it is
that action and reaction that brings it to the book.
What is the take-a-way in each books? The River Oak
books all have a writing guide in the back. I've done some discussion groups
with them, and guess what? Different people seem to get something different
from the book. I was fascinated to see the differences in what people got from
each one, often something entirely different from what I would have said
myself.
Symbolism is something else that interests me. I'm a
pretty simple old boy and I don't spend a lot of time on symbolism and deeper
meanings, yet I've sat in these groups and had them talk to me about the way I used
symbolism to represent this or that. Maybe I did, unconsciously, but I
guarantee you it wasn't uppermost on my mind. For me it's just about telling a
good, clean entertaining story, and the rest of it just enters into it in some
manner. I know where it comes from.
The only time I really know about the symbolism is
in the new one, Shepherd's Son, coming out in a couple of weeks. It talks about
the flock of real sheep contained in the book and draws a parallel to a
spiritual flock. Yup, that was symbolism.
Just finished the
first draft of the new WIP (work in progress), a cozy mystery with some nice
twists and turns. But it's about 10k short of what I need.
Bummer, I like the
story. I'd much rather be cutting words, tightening and condensing to get down
to a word count rather than having to add. The trick to that is adding words
without just adding fluff. A couple of thousand is easy by just adding
description and enhancing setting, a few words here, a few words there. It adds
up.
10k requires a whole
new thread through the book, or perhaps a brand new subplot. Right now that addition is not evident to me,
but it'll come. I've got a couple of people looking it over, people whose input
I trust. I'm hoping fresh eyes will make a difference.
I'm
enjoying writing in the new genre. I've
been watching with interest discussion on a couple of writing groups about
"branding," a topic that means something entirely different to a
cowboy. The crux is we need to stay with a genre and get ourselves established.
However, I note quite a number of western writers write in both western and
mystery, so perhaps this is not such a stretch
Have talked to several Senior groups
lately and to some writing organizations that have a lot of senior members. I
run into folks who say, "I'd love to do some writing, but it's really too
late in life for me to take it up."
Nonsense.
These are folks who have time on their
hands and a lot of experiences to relate. We've got a bunch of WWII vets who
have always refused to talk about their wartime experiences, but are now ready
to tell someone. It makes a great low impact hobby, and we have family and
friends who are eager to hear it. My father in law, just before he died wrote a
little book called "As I remember" and one of his daughters produced
a few copies on the computer. I'm sure they will treasure it.
Will these books get traditionally
published and sell in bookstores around the country? If that's why the person
is writing it, that's a different ballgame. The answer can surely be yes, but
the person has to get on a short-track to learn the craft, get in a group, take
courses, just writing words down and taking it to a print on demand house isn't
going to produce the results we have in mind.
There's a difference between hobby
writing and doing it for real. It's a difference we probably can't see in our
own words because we love them, but we can see it in the works of others. We've
all seen the difference in the way books read that are traditionally published
in a big house versus some put out by people self-publishing because they don't
want to go though all that is entailed in the big process.
The common response is "I don't
have the time left to go through all of that." That's a perfectly valid
response and quite correct, but we shouldn't expect the same results as the
people who are putting in the time learning to do it right, to format
correctly, to query, to research markets, years of work not only in the writing
but in the attendant tasks associated with publishing.
Does that mean we shouldn't do it? Of
course not. There is a market for all of our words, people who want to read
them and like my father in law, will treasure them. If we have stories to tell
we have an obligation to tell them. But we should be realistic that the results
we see from those words will be commensurate with the amount of time we put
into the process.
Put those
words on paper, somebody is waiting for them. And read everything you can read
to help you have a feel for the writing.
Christian Fiction Players Changing
In 1980, Christian companies produced just over $1 billion worth of
books and other products a year. Today, annual sales of Christian books and
products exceed $4 billion. It's the
fastest growing segment of the publishing industry and has been for several
years. Christian Fiction is the fastest growing segment of the Christian
market. This fact isn't lost on the publishing world, and a lot of publishing
houses are jumping on board, like the following:
- Cook Communications, large educational and
church publication house bought River Oak a few years ago which signaled
to me that they were going to branch out into Christian Fiction. That’s
when I got involved with them. They have a moratorium on buying fiction
now but I hope that they get back into it.
- Harper-Collins bought Zondervan, launches
- Wicks bought Standard, and Warner Faith sold
off.
- Simon and Schuster bought Howards Publishing,
small Christian house looking to get a foothold into the Christian market.
- Penguin company has announced the creation of
Penguin Praise, a Christian publishing program.
- Thomas Nelson was bought out by a group of
investors who think the Christian market is worth investing in. They are purchasing Integrity
- The Harlequin Steeple Hill imprint is an
- Random House bought Multnomah and they intend to
merge Multnomah with Waterbrook.
There are others, but that's a good
sampling. Amid cries from my friends who are lamenting that it is very hard
right now to sell various kinds of manuscripts, these folks are trying to get a
handle on how they are going to fill out their new lines. I just have to figure
out how to get in line.
For the western genre to grow and
survive we need to be growing a base of young readers. Kenny Yocum, a teacher
up in Indiana is teaching a class on western genre books, and I've helped out a
little. I just got a note on my website this morning on their progress and I
thought I would share it with you:
"Terry, Just wanted to drop you
an update on my American west class here in
I have to say that warms the cockles
of my heart, if I have cockles that is, I don't know what they are so I'm not
sure. I'm in a group of Christian Writers called
I do a few school visits. I did a
writing workshop for the metropolis of Groom,
I'm greatly appreciative to teachers
like Kenny, and Lisa Rosken in Groom, wish I could clone them all over the
country.
Comments: That warms my heart, too, Terry. Especially since I
was born and raised a
Hoosier! We've always had good taste in books and authors. Mary
Terry,
I had to do a lot of soul-searching
when I decided I needed to include a little faith into my writing, (see writing testimony) after all I reasoned, "I only
write fiction." Then one of the faculty members at a Christian writing workshop said, "That's
true, and Jesus told parables."
Well, okay, they got me there, so I
started including it. Not my own faith you understand, that'd be too preachy,
but my characters either have faith or don't have it, and their interaction is
what brings it to the book. My pastor wasn't much on Christian fiction, said he
only read the Bible and books intended to amplify his study and understanding of
it. I understood that. Even when he said it a number of times from the pulpit,
it hurt my feelings, but I understood what he was trying to say.
Then he read one and decided I might
have a chance to reach out to somebody not likely to be reached in other ways.
He became a strong supporter, even saying it from the pulpit. That kinda
embarrassed me too, but in a good way. His support means a lot to me.
I've had the amazing experience of
hearing one of my books has actually made a difference in a few people's lives,
and I treasure those notes. For the most part I know that isn't my function. As
a writer friend said, "My job is the mustard seed, not the plow." If
I can just give a little encouragement, maybe get somebody looking in a new
direction, that's what Christian fiction does. Somebody else gets to close the
sale, but that's all right.
There is a place for Christian
fiction in people's reading habits, in church libraries and even in public libraries.
Even if there isn't a strong message in it, it's good, clean family
entertainment. And if you haven't read it lately, the writing is much stronger
and takes on entirely different topics than the Christian fiction of old.
Read any lately?
I'll be headed down to
I dread these things, but once I get
there and get the public persona turned on, he enjoys working the crowd,
playing off their questions, being on stage. He scares me.
The best sales tool is
word-of-mouth, however, and giving programs are one of the best ways of getting
that. I have a program page on this site http://www.terryburns.net/program_page.htm
that talks about what my friend is currently doing, although I know him, he can
do other type programs as well if they are something he's knowledgeable about.
Other good word-of-mouth tools
include getting shelved in libraries which I'm trying hard to increase, online
exposure which I work hard at, booksignings, which granted are more promotion
than sales, and reviews and influencers. Interviews online, in newspapers and
radio, occasional TV help a lot too, but are easiest to get in connection with
a program.
There are other things involved,
such as this or a couple of other blogs, mailings of former buyers, libraries
and bookstores, and a "Writing Update" newsletter. Writing friends in
various groups that I'm involved with as well as friends and relatives can be a
big help creating word-of-mouth exposure.
Most of the time I
don't get much input as to what is working or not working, just have to do
everything I can and hope for the best. And hope the publisher's sales reps
remember to mention me once in a while.
Seems like the topic of interest
this week is writing habits. That's being discussed several places. I don't get
fixated on X number of pages a day or writing X hours a day, but I do some
writing every day.
For me it doesn't necessarily mean
putting words on paper, however. Writing is a much broader term than that. It
means doing the research necessary to write a scene, it means editing and
re-editing what has already been done, it means doing the marketing and
promotion for books that are already out. It means all of the tasks necessary
to make it happen, though most days I manage some words on paper as well. It
means sitting on the deck staring off into space seemingly doing nothing, but
maybe doing the most important thing I will do, trying to work a scene out in
my head or crystallize an idea so that I can put it down.
I do a lot of that while driving. I
seldom listen to music or the radio because I know if I give my mind that
amount of uninterrupted time that it'll print out something I have been working
on in my subconscious. If I'm by myself I use a voice activated hand held
recorder to keep from killing myself. If Saundra is with me she takes the wheel
and I get out the old laptop. Takes a lot of editing after writing like that
particularly to take out all of the duplicate strokes. You can just have so many
'T's' in a word and particularly if we're going across
I keep a small journal in my pocket
and capture concepts, ideas, potential characters, thoughts I can use, and
that's writing too. If I'm working on one book but have an idea for another or
a thought that I can't use right now, I never let it get away, even if it's the
wee hours of the morning. Our brain may consider it has done its job once it
gives us something we have been working on and it may never give it to us
again. These things are writing too.
Yes, I do some writing
every day. I try not to do it on Sunday, but I admit I have a number of church bulletins
with some point that was made in the service that applies directly to something
I'm writing. God does that to me a lot.
I met Saundra at a
restaurant last night, but I got there early. I spent my time as I often do
jotting one sentence descriptions of people around me into my pocket journal.
Can you get a mental picture of folks from some of these?
The short cropped mustache
and beard gave him more hair on his chin than on his horse-shoe crowned head.
Ebony skin on his bald head
reflected the lantern above him as he sat with one leg on the side rung of the
chair next to him.
He wore a bemused
expression as if working on the clever comeback everyone wishes they had
thought of when the time was right for it.
Her hair limply framed her
round face adding to the unkept appearance of her dumpy body.
His dark hair and pencil
thin mustache gave him a Latin appearance although his facial features said
that wasn't true.
The silver hair and
mustache gave him a distinguished look and the air of casual disinterest marked
him as a man with little time for something as trivial as eating.
No telling when some of
these might show up in something. And to go with them there is a group of
people sitting up nights dreaming up names for me then disguising them in the
form of ads for Viagra, stocks, mortgage loans and various other subterfuges.
I spoke to a
seniors luncheon at the
Funny how so
very many people feel they have a book in them or have always wanted to write,
or maybe have done some writing and want to know how to take it to the next
level. The big key to starting to write is to park it in a chair and start
putting down words. Talking about it doesn't get it done.
However,
having said that, we wouldn't start working on a car without some detailed
assistance, or start sewing a dress without a pattern. So trying to get started
writing without some knowledgeable feedback, without getting involved in
writing groups, or other means of getting assistance about how to do it right
practically guarantees failure, and is the reason that 85% of all book
submissions are summarily rejected.
There's more
to it than meets the eye. There is proper formatting, attention getting
openings, a solid plot line that follows established structure and doesn't go off
chasing rabbits, page-turning hooks at the end of scenes and chapters, a myriad
of things that go beyond just telling a good story.
But the story
is still king. A perfectly formatted manuscript that follows all the rules is
laid out beautifully and follows the classic structure to a 'T' but which has a
story with no heart and no interest probably cannot be fixed. A wonderfully
engaging story that you can't put down, but which has a lot of writing flaws
can be fixed.
Every time somebody says they want to write I say to do it.
What's the worst thing that could happen? We end up with some stories to pass
down to our family? And if we have persistence and patience, learn our craft,
and learn the in's and out's of publishing we can make it happen.
Hundreds of emails, cards,
letters, phone calls and a wall of floral arrangements came in on the death of
Saundra's dad. We are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and sympathy.
Many of these came from
the various writing groups that I'm connected to. Such groups are an important
support mechanism for our writing. We need places to go to talk about writing
with people who understand.
We tend to forget that
even though we haven't met a large number of these people that we get so close
to in cyberspace, that they are still friends, and still care. The messages
were genuine and very caring and they were greatly appreciated.
There's a character in
one of my stories that doesn't want to go to the visitation following a service
because they don't want to have to endure all of the well-meaning people and
their plastic words. The pastor tells him the "people know they can't say
anything that will really help at a time such as this, but they are just
showing you their heart. They are looking to take just a little part of your
grief on themselves and carry it off. If enough do that you will have much less
to have to deal with, so don't concern yourself with the words, concern
yourself with the love and sympathy."
The character went to the
visitation and found it to be true. he gave each person a small parcel of his
grief to carry away with them, felt the genuine concern, and found it
comforting. The characters in my story knew this, and they taught it to me at a
time when I needed to learn it.
Thank you for being there for us.
We are in
Saundra's dad. I've
known him since we dated in
high school and he
really put me through it. A really
fine man and a good
Christian. The official release is:
POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. - Audrey Earnest “
Burial will be in
Mr. Pennington was born Sept. 16, 1917, at