Friday Fun – Traditional vs. Indie Publishing

Friday Fun is a group post from the writers of the NHWN blog. Each week, we’ll pose and answer a different, get-to-know-us question. We hope you’ll join in by providing your answer in the comments.

QUESTION: It’s the million-dollar question – would you rather get that traditional publishing deal, go the entrepreneurial route with independent publishing, or come up with a hybrid arrangement? Explain your preference.

Diane MacKinnon: I’m in my 40′s, so I grew up imagining myself a published author with one of the big publishing companies, with an editor assigned to me and a big marketing budget! Well, that dream’s gone, but I still think it would be fun to have a publishing company want to publish my book. Having said that, I don’t think self-publishing has as much stigma as it used to. It depends what you are looking for. I can see the benefits of both. A lot of my coaching friends have self-published and they are very happy with with money they are making and the credibility they have gained from becoming authors. I think I’d still go with a traditional publisher if I ever finish the novel I’m working on (I’ll finish it, just not in the very near future.) I love that many authors are now publishing their own work and that publishers are then asking to represent them after the fact. I think a more equal playing field between publishers and authors is a very good thing!

Wendy Thomas: If we’re talking about hopes then I’d have to go with a big publishing house. It’s the same dream of an actress who wants to see her name in lights. If we’re going with reality, however, I think it’s more likely that I would go with an indie press. They seem to have a bit more marketing skills (hitting the specific audience) than the bigger houses do. To date, I have not looked into an indie press, but if and when the day comes, you better believe that I will put a lot of research into it. While there are some incredibly upstanding and reputable independent publishing houses out there, there are still far too many whose goal it is to part you from your money.

.

Deborah Lee Luskin: My first novel was published by an independent micro-publisher with considerable success – including helping me have a choice of agents for my second book, which I’m hoping will come out with a mainstream house. If I were publishing non-fiction to a niche audience, I would definitely go indie by setting up my own imprint. Breaking into the market for literary fiction is harder. I learned a lot about both publishing and marketing with Into the Wilderness – and I took it as far as I could without an even greater investment in time, money and energy. In the end, I was glad to receive critical success with reviews and a prize and to sell 2,000 copies. It’s still available as an eBook, and I hope it will become available in soft cover again. The rights have reverted back to me, and I think about bringing it out myself, but right now I’m engaged in writing a new book, and I don’t want to break my momentum.

.

Lisa J. Jackson: All of the above! For my novels I’m hoping for a traditional publisher, for romantic novellas I’ve gone with an e-publisher but now have my rights back and will be self-publishing, and for business non-fiction I’ll look into indies to see what’s out there. I’m open to whichever avenues seem to fit my needs best at the time. To land with one of the Big Houses for my mystery novels would be spectacular, but I know a lot of successful novelists with smaller houses, so I’m open to that, too. As long as I’m writing and publishing to reach my audience, it’s all good.

Julie Hennrikus: Boy, is this a good question. I have a book I have been working on for a long time. And I may go the independent route with that at one point. But I also aspire to a traditional, mass market paperback deal. (Remember that I write mysteries.) There are so many opportunities for writers these days–the important thing is to make a deal with a reputable company, to know you will have to help (or do) marketing for you book, and that the business is a tough one. And learn from others, as much as possible.

Susan Nye: Definitely the traditional route. Many people distrust the taste and skills of publishers. They point to the twelve or thirteen publishers who turned A.J. Rowlings down. However, one didn’t. Publishers understand the market better than my family and friends who love my work. Not because it’s any good (even if it is) but because they love me. An editor will ensure that my book meets a certain standard of both interest and quality. He or she will then work with me to help make it the best it can be. Once published, the publisher has the knowledge, staff and network to provide marketing support and sales infrastructure. And yes, I know brand new authors need to do much of their own marketing but I don’t underestimate the connections a publisher has with the press, blogosphere, book wholesalers and retailers.

Read Full Post »

Friday Fun – (How) are you building your author platform?

Friday Fun is a group post from the writers of the NHWN blog. Each week, we’ll pose and answer a different, get-to-know-us question. We hope you’ll join in by providing your answer in the comments.

QUESTION: Part 1: Are you building your author platform? Part 2: IF you are, how are you doing it?

Lisa J. Jackson: I’ve been building my author platform for a while now. I use the pseudonym Lisa Haselton for all my fiction. I started on MySpace with an author page, but that has since gone by way of the dinosaur. Right now I have a Facebook author page and a blog that get my name out there. Also, I use my pseudonym in my role as chat moderator at The Writer’s Chatroom to also build name recognition. I currently have short stories published; no novels yet, but it’s never too early to start building the platform!

Deborah Lee Luskin: My author platform is secondary to my first love, which is writing. I publish about five essays a month: two are broadcast on Vermont Public Radio, two appear on this blog, and one appears in our local, independent, newspaper. These are a great way to reach and build an audience between novels, which I complete with much lesser frequency! I’m also on Facebook, with a page for myself and for my published novel, Into the Wilderness, and I have a wonderful webpage, which averages 50+ hits/day – which adds up to more people than I know. I have plans to update the website, to consolidate my Facebook pages, to learn how to tweet – and when it becomes imperative, I will. For now, it’s more important I just keep writing.

.

 

Julie Hennrikus: I have a Facebook page, and I use Twitter. A lot. I also have a blog (which I am terrible about keeping up with, but I try). And, of course, I am here. This year I am the President of Sisters in Crime New England, and I just joined Mystery Writers of America. All of these add to my platform, as does the rest of my life. I use social media for my StageSource life, and for Sisters in Crime, so it is all part of the practice. My social media mix is that you should tweet, share/like 80% for and about other people. 20% for yourself. So a lot of building a platform is being part of a community, and paying it forward for the day when I am (please please please) releasing a novel.

Wendy Thomas: It’s so important to build your platform. It’s one of the first things any agent is going to ask you about when you submit a manuscript. Basically your platform should answer the question of why you are qualified to write what you write. It also answers the secondary question of “how many people could potentially buy your work?”

To be qualified in writing means that you have to get your name out there in your field and it has to be out there often. To accomplish this I’m on Twitter, Facebook, and write for several blogs. I write for newspapers, magazines, have been featured on TV and on radio.  I teach classes and give presentations. I try to comment on others blogs in the same genre as mine (quite honestly, that’s my weakest link simply due to time constraints.) I also send out press releases to local publications when I have something that is newsworthy.

At one point I was spending about 2 hours a day just on building my platform, I don’t have to allocate that much time anymore, but that’s only because I spent the time building up a solid foundation. Like it or not, part of writing is selling your expertise to the world and the only way to do that is to market your work.

Jamie Wallace: I have not yet begun to build a platform as a fiction author, but I have put a lot of time and effort into building my platform as a marketing writer. Like Wendy, I write regularly for multiple blogs (mine as well as collaborative sites) and have guest posted on others. I have been interviewed on podcasts, presented and co-presented webinars, given in-person trainings and talks, and spoken on industry panels. I am also very engaged in social media, primarily Twitter. (Facebook, for me, is all about being social (not about business), and although it’s making some strides, LinkedIn is still a bit too stodgy for me.) In the world of my “day job,” I can trace almost all of my current work back to social media interactions. For instance, I met a woman several years ago while taking an online course about white paper writing. A year or so later, she referred me to an agency who then hired me for a project and has since hired me for about a dozen more. In another case, a friend who I originally met in that same online class gave me the heads up on an alert from a writing mentor who was going to be in town and was inviting people to join him for brunch. Both my friend and I showed up (and had a wonderful time). During the event, I connected with the woman sitting to my right. She and I have become great friends and she constantly refers work to me.

If you’d like to read more about my thoughts on this topic, you can check out my four-part series on building the writer’s platform. You may also like Building Your Social Network from Scratch. Good luck!

Read Full Post »

It’s easy to get published . . .

            It’s easy to get published, but hard to be read.

Advances in technology have made it possible for anyone with access to the internet to self-publish. Unfortunately, finding readers is not as easy – especially for those writers who do not have a specific audience in mind. Worse, the ease with which one can rush work into public on a blog, eBook or even print-on-demand (POD), can easily compromise the quality of that work – so that no one will read it. While the stigma of self-publishing has waned, the flood of impatiently published work continues to mar a great deal of that work. Impatience is the bane of self-publishing.

Consider my friend Abe (not his real name), who contacted me recently for advice about publishing his poems. He had “35 poems which are almost at the stage of showability,” and he’d contacted iUniverse, CreateSpace and ExLibris. He wanted my advice about which one he should use.

His request raised two red flags: 1) “showability” is not the same as “ready for publication,” and 2) these self-publishing giants make publishing easy and profitable – for them.

In an effort to be both gentle with Abe and protective of my time, I suggested he read Sonja Hakala’s, Your Book, Your Way, which clearly spells out a variety of self-publishing options, including publishing independently.

I also asked him how he planned to market the book.

“If people aren’t delighted by my poems, or haven’t taken the trouble to know about them, that is their problem. If I have to market my stuff to get it read, I probably shouldn’t have written it in the first place!”

I replied, “Abe, I’ve known you for eight years, and I never knew you wrote poetry!”

I asked Abe if he belonged to any workshops, ever read any of his poems in public, or did any of the other legwork involved in building an audience. And I told him how engrossing and exhausting my own marketing journey was with Into The Wilderness. I’d like to think I’m a realist, not the pessimist Abe reacted to:

“Gosh, Deb, you make it sound like so much fun! If I didn’t have to manage a full psychiatric practice and a full teaching load, if I weren’t rowing and singing in operas, if I didn’t have nine and a half grandchildren strewn all over the northeast – I would dig right in!”

In the end, Abe chose to go with CreateSpace. “At $2.15 a copy, I plan to distribute at least 100 copies to friends and other key people, asking them to spread the word.” He also thanked me. “Our vigorous dialogue was helpful,” he said.

Abe can easily afford the monetary outlay for this publishing venture, and he will gain an audience for it. He will be read, and that is, after all, the point of being a writer.

But is all writing suitable for publication? Just who is it we write for?

As a published writer with a growing audience, I can tell you that hearing from readers who have been moved by my work is both extremely gratifying and humbling beyond belief. Hearing from readers reminds me that publication brings with it responsibility, a responsibility to write with honesty, clarity and grace – all of which take patience, revision, time.

Deborah Lee Luskin is a regular commentator on Vermont Public Radio and the author of Into the Wilderness, winner of the 2011 IPPY Gold Medal for Regional Fiction. Learn more at www.deborahleeluskin.com

 

 

Read Full Post »

Overwhelmed by marketing? Start marketing.

I originally published this post at my Suddenly Marketing blog, but I think it has a lot of relevance for writers and authors as well as for entrepreneurs. In today’s publishing world, authors are brands – like it or not. Whether you’re hoping to sell a lot of books through indie channels, or attract the attention of a traditional publisher, you will need to do some marketing – branding, platform development, social media engagement, and digital PR. It can be overwhelming. Most of us hardly have time to do our creative work, never mind being responsible for hawking it via a marketing plan. This post delivers a little reality check. Marketing is just like writing – you reach your goals one step, one day, one task at a time. There’s no magic – just getting it done – little-by-little, however you can. 

Are you feeling so overwhelmed by the marketing you think you should be doing that you don’t do any marketing at all?

Do you start to gear up to tackle one marketing task and then realize that it’s connected to something else that’s connected to something else that’s connected to something else, and then you give up?

Does the very word “marketing” give you a case of vertigo?

You’re not alone.

I hear these kinds of things all the time from people who want to take charge of their marketing, but just don’t know where to start. I don’t blame them. I’ve been at this gig for a decade now, and even I feel overwhelmed now and again. There is just so much to take in – new strategies, new technology, new tactics. I subscribe to over a hundred marketing blogs just to try and keep up with what’s happening in this crazy marketing landscape.

So, how do you get unstuck?

I am a big believer in strategy. When you put together a strong, sensible strategy, all that gooey stuff that was confusing the heck out of you suddenly becomes clear. When you have a plan that’s built on goals, resources, and ability, you can stop stressing about what to do and just get on with doing it. Yep – I really like a good strategy. In fact I’m very excited that I’ll soon be unveiling a whole new Suddenly Marketing that delivers a unique way to think about and approach your marketing strategy, BUT…

I totally understand that for some people (especially solopreneurs who are wearing six different hats and working eighteen hours a day), it’s not feasible to carve out the time (or budget) to dedicate to brand development and marketing strategy. Believe me – I get that. The “new” Suddenly Marketing has been in the works for THREE YEARS. (No, I’m not kidding.)

SO … I’d like to offer you a get out of jail free card:

Just. Start. Marketing.

I know, I know – sounds like empty advice, right? It’s not.

In a perfect world, each of us would have the luxury of time and money to spend developing a seriously well thought out and buttoned up plan. However, the world I live in is anything but perfect. I’m guessing your address isn’t in Perfectsville either.

Here’s what you do:

1. Stop beating yourself up.
2. Step back and take a deep breath.
3. Know that a plan is a good thing.
4. Start to cultivate a geeky love for a good plan.
5. But, while you’re waiting for time to sit down and craft that plan, pick a marketing task and do it.

Don’t overthink. Don’t overanalyze. For the sake of all that’s holy to you, don’t compare your marketing to anyone else’s marketing. There will be plenty of time for that later. For now, you just want to get your “marketing legs” under you, so to speak.

Your goal is not marketing brilliance, it’s marketing momentum.

You know that if you want to read a book, you have to read one page at a time.

You know that if you want to have six-pack abs, you have to do one crunch at a time.

You know that if you want to amass million dollars, you have save one dollar at a time.

Marketing is no different.

Start somewhere. Start anywhere. Just start.

The best thing about this non-strategy strategy is that it gets you doing something. It gets you experimenting. You’ll be learning a lot: what works, what doesn’t, what you’re good at, what you never want to do again. The more you talk about your business, the more you’ll understand how to talk about your business. The more you talk to your customers, the more you’ll understand your customers and their needs.

Pick one thing.

Start today. What one thing can you do to kick start your marketing momentum?

• Join a LinkedIn (or Quora or Focus or …) group and answer a question
• Write one blog post
• Write one guest blog post
• Unleash your blogging honey badger
• Update your “About” page
• Update your LinkedIn profile
• Brainstorm topics for your next three months of blog posts
• Brainstorm the stories behind your brand
• Retweet some posts to your Twitter followers
• Make a list of your favorite brands
• Make a list of your least favorite brands
• Make a mindmap of your brand’s purpose
• Make a mindmap of what your customers say about you
• Go on vacation
• Offer to speak to a local group or class
• Have coffee with a colleague
• Install sharing tools on your blog
• Sign up for an email service (like Mailchimp)
• Read a few blog posts – on marketing or your competitors
• Face your marketing fears
• Set up a new social media account – Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.
• Take yourself for a walk and rediscover your enthusiasm

Each of these is a valid and valuable marketing task. Don’t worry about whether you’re picking the “right” thing or the “smartest” thing or the “most important” thing. Just pick something and do it. Read that first page. Do that first crunch. Save that first dollar. Before you know it, you’ll be building up your marketing momentum and then the sky’s the limit.

What keeps you from tackling your marketing monsters? Which tasks do you fear most? Which do you kinda-sorta-almost enjoy? What are your marketing goals between now and the end of the year? 

Jamie Lee Wallace is a writer who also happens to be a marketer. She helps her Suddenly Marketing clients discover their voice, connect with their audience, and find their marketing groove. She is also a mom, a prolific blogger, and a student of voice and trapeze (not at the same time). Introduce yourself on facebook or twitter. She doesn’t bite … usually.

.

Image Credit: Angela Cirrone Smith

Read Full Post »

Dear self-publishing writer …

Me – preparing to climb up on my soapbox at NHCC’s self-publishing event.

Self-publishing is big. Really big. Everyone is talking about it – writers, publishers, retailers, the press, industry analysts … everyone. It’s no surprise. Today’s technology gives anyone anywhere the ability to bypass traditional publishing and take her work to the street, so to speak. Three cheers for the emancipation of the artist!

Or not.

I recently had the absolute pleasure of speaking, along with two others, to a group of writers and artists at the New Hampshire Creative Club (NHCC). (Note to any creatives looking for a great professional organization – these people are super nice and super talented. Worth checking out.) The topic at hand was self-publishing. The other speakers covered things from the perspective of the writer and the publisher. Lee Richmond, a published author, told the story of his adventures in old school publishing as compared to his new adventure with self-publishing. Peter Randall, an indie publisher since 1970, provided an inside look at what goes into making a book – from printing to distribution. Me? I talked about marketing.

I got up on my soapbox a bit, too.

As an aspiring novelist (I can say that even though I haven’t written a word of fiction in three years), it pains me to see how frequently marketing is tacked on as an afterthought. I get that the creative piece is The Thing. Crafting the story is the soul of our efforts. It is driven by our deepest, most heartfelt “why.” There is a reason so many people compare writing a book with giving birth to a child. We put so much of ourselves and our lives into the process; it’s easy to be blind to anything outside our cocoon or ideas and words.

But, if our intention is to make the project profitable, we have to balance our inner work with the realities of the outside world. We have to tear our bleary eyes away from the screen, pry our fingers from around our lucky fountain pens. We must think beyond the creation of the book and consider the audience for the book. Who will read this story of ours? How we will get it into their hands?

That’s where marketing comes in.

In my presentation to the folks of the NHCC, I explained that marketing is not – as many people assume – about selling. Sales is about selling. Marketing is about connecting. If you do a good job with your marketing, if you create a strong enough connection with your audience, sales will take care of themselves. Nice, right?

So, how do you do that?

The answer is certainly longer than I can cram into this modest blog post, but I pulled together a few relevant posts and other information and created a resources page for the NHCC gang. (Oops! Their site clearly states that they are not a gang … just a club). I don’t think they’d mind if I shared it with you. (They really are that nice.) So, dear self-publishing writers and self-publishing writers-to-be, I hope that you will take a few minutes to peruse this selection of posts (many from my archives here on Live to Write-Write to Live) and think about how you can start getting into a marketing mindset for your book project. It’s never too early to start thinking about how to brand yourself and your work, how to build your platform and your network, how to get yourself and your book “out there.”

If you have any additional resources you’d like to share on the topic, please feel free to add them to the comments on this page or the resources page. Writers helping writers is what it’s all about – I’d love to hear your insights and suggestions. 

P.S. New England area artists and writers – don’t forget to check out the NHCC!

P.S.S. If any of you are writing books that need illustrations – there’s a serious pool of talent at the NHCC. You can cruise the NHCC business directory for more details.

 

Jamie Lee Wallace is a writer who also happens to be a marketer. She helps her Suddenly Marketing clients discover their voice, connect with their audience, and find their marketing groove. She is also a mom, a prolific blogger, and a student of voice and trapeze (not at the same time). Introduce yourself on facebook or twitter. She doesn’t bite … usually.

Photo Credit: Kevin Harkins (Thanks, Kevin!)

Read Full Post »

Resolutions…

I have a love/hate relationship with New Year’s resolutions. Hate in that I almost never keep them. Love in that they are a terrific way of reassessing. So every year I wrestle, and end up making a few. This year I am trying to be more specific. Instead of “get in shape” I wrote “Tony Horton’s P90x”. Instead of “Declutter” I wrote “Spend 15 minutes a day sorting”. You get the drill.

Making my writing goals specific has been an interesting exercise. What do I want to do in my writing life this year? Here are my resolutions so far:

• Keep 10-15 queries out at all times.
• Sign up for a couple of conferences.
• Write a short story and submit it to Level Best Books.
• Finish manuscript.
• Blog regularly.

That is plenty to do. But I need to step it up in a couple of areas. Just plain writing (and making the time). And figuring out what I want to do, should the querying process not result in an agent. (Small presses? Ebooks?) Strategizing my writing career more. These are worthy of being  a resolution. But I hesitate to put them on the New Year’s list, because not doing them isn’t an option.

They are too important to be a New Year’s resolution. And these are the goals that matter most to me. I was wrestling with my resolutions when a friend posted this TED talk on New Year’s day. I have watched it twice. Forgive the logic leap, but this talk speaks to my real goal/resolution for 2012. To live wholeheartedly. All the rest? Steps towards that goal.

***************************

J.A. (Julie) Hennrikus is the Executive Director of StageSource. She is a mystery writer. Her story “Her Wish” was published by LevelBest Books this fall. She is a huge social media fan, and tweets under @JulieHennrikus. She wrestles with allusions of athleticism, is an avid theatre goer and a proud member of Red Sox nation. Her website is jahennrikus.com. Her short story, “Tag, You’re Dead” was published by Level Best Books in Thin Ice, an anthology of crime stories by New England writers. Julie is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Guppies. She is a board member of the New England Chapter of Sisters in Crime.

Read Full Post »

Kindle Fire vs. Hard Copy Books – who wins?

Last week I wrote a post about the new Kindle Fire I had gotten. Since then, it turns out my college son has won a Fire in a school auction making us a two Fire family and I’ve got to say, we couldn’t be happier. We are now able to share our electronic library, he at college, me at my office. There is no longer any geographical distance or time constraints on what we read and pass on. 

I’ve continued to read books on my Fire and watch movies. (Cowboys and Aliens, le sigh) and even my husband has gotten into the act and has watched all three of the Dragon Girl European movies. Although he admits that his tablet now feels heavy, he is in agreement that the Fire should be considered a personal entertainment device and not something on which to do work.

It’s small, portable, easy to use, and literally gives me any book at the touch of a screen. What’s not to like, right?

Except that if you followed the conversation under the post, you’d see that actually there are a few things not to like about the Fire (more accurately e-readers in general.)

The first point raised was that a hard copy books feels good in your hands. Those of us who are readers know where this argument is going. There is a sensual quality to holding the story, in being able to quickly flip back a few pages, and in opening a book to the last page you were on without having to press a button first and wait for the system to turn on.

I get it, trust me, I get it. I have a few thousand books in my house (no lie) I’m right up there with you about liking the feel.

But I also know that the more I use an e-reader, the more I get used to reading from it. Holding the book doesn’t mean as much as it used to. The cover I have (Marware Jurni) opens up like a book, it’s a similar sensation. I’m not sure if I’m just getting used to the e-reader or if the feel part of a book, really wasn’t that important after all.

Bottom line is the more I use my Fire, the weaker that old “in my hands” argument becomes.

Another point was that with e-readers, local independent bookstores will most likely go out of business.

That one I can’t argue, it’s true, local small book shops might be a thing of the past, like the local butcher (um, even large bookstores are a thing of the past, Borders, anyone?) Times change, media changes, there are very few out there using 8-track cassettes anymore, we’ve moved on. Sure I’ll mourn the passing of small bookstores but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the “indie” author voices won’t get heard. With the ability to download a book file at a cost of roughly 1/3 that of a hard copy book, chances are I am going to be reading a lot more books than I would normally. That means I’m going to be supporting a lot more authors.

There is a chance, that e-readers will get authors’ books out to many more people than if they were solely found on an independent bookstores shelves. My guess is that e-readers are going to be the best friends of up and coming authors.

Lastly, the point was raised that e-readers contain plastics ,metals, and chemicals and are actually horrible for the environment when disposed. And while that may be a valid point, once purchased, the e-reader could potentially help to lessen the direct impact publishing has on the environment. After all, if you follow the life of a book, someone has to print it, drive the trucks that deliver it, and create the advertising that promotes it. Take the entire Harry Potter series, the trees, the travel, the fuel used to transport. Harry made more than just a literary impact.

Although books are recyclable, as thekalechronicles pointed out, I have yet to ever recycle a book, other than to donate books to Senior Centers or the Goodwill. Those of us who love books rarely send them off to the recycle center. It would just break our hearts in half. As one who reads up to three books a week, this drug of choice of mine can over time end up having a significant impact on the environment – the Fire can certainly help to ease that load.

Look, I’m not a techie. I hate the fact that every time I get a new phone I have to get a newer version (complete with new functionality.) Why can’t I just get what I had? I tend to like things the way they are.

To a degree.

But, when I look at my kids, the writing is clearly on the wall (or in the case, in the e-reader) this is a new generation of kids who are learning to read off of computers. Although they are willing to gobble up everything on a subject (including all relevant books), they have absolutely no interest in buying books at the bookstore. Why waste the time in travel and browsing haphazardly filled shelves when you can do a quick electronic search and immediately find what you need?

“Geesh, get with the times mom.”

 

***

 

Wendy Thomas is an award winning journalist, columnist, and blogger who believes that taking challenges in life will always lead to goodness. She is the mother of 6 funny and creative kids and it is her goal to teach them through stories and lessons.

Wendy’s current project involves writing about her family’s experiences with chickens (yes, chickens).

All I want for Christmas is an Amazon gift card. 

Photo credit: AlishaV

Read Full Post »

Micro fiction – stories in 140 characters or less

There is a site called Seedpod Publishing that will “publish” (push out on Twitter under their account) your 140 character piece of micro fiction.

That’s right, a full story in one tweet. 

The idea is based on Hemingway’s “saddest story ever written in 6 words”

“For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.”

And yes, for the record, that little story can bring tears to this mom’s eyes.

Last week we played around with anagrams of our name, how about this week we play around with a complete story in 140 characters or less. The only requirement is that you have to include your twitter username (for attribution) in your story. Mine is @wendyenthomas which cuts greatly into my word count, oh why wasn’t I named SueWest?

With only 140 characters, you’re going to have to put some thought into your story. It must have tension, convey a bit of a plot, and get readers interested. In short, it may not be as easy as it looks.

Some previous stories from Seedpod’s twitter feed are:

His wife: “And just what are we supposed to do with a used gondola now?” @darrencormier

“If only you were born one hundred years earlier,” my wife said, “you would have been fifty years ahead of your time.” @EvertAsberg

Old now, toes gnarled and deformed; it hurt to walk, but she had loved wearing stilettos. Pretty shoes came at a high price.@GayleBeveridge

And here’s my entry:

By buying the wrong brand of coffee, I knew that once again, my mother was wishing I’d never been born @wendyenthomas

So go ahead, try your hand at micro fiction and then send it off to Seedpod Publishing and let us know what happens. Who knows? Perhaps you’ll end up being a published micro fiction author, 140 characters at a time.

***

Wendy Thomas is an award winning journalist, columnist, and blogger who believes that taking challenges in life will always lead to goodness. She is the mother of 6 funny and creative kids and it is her goal to teach them through stories and lessons.

Wendy’s current project involves writing about her family’s experiences with chickens (yes, chickens).

And yup, you can bet 140 character stories are being added to my “get the juices going” exercises. 

Photo credit: roadsidepictures

Read Full Post »

BlogHer Writers ’11

BlogHer, one of the Internet’s best known sites for women bloggers and blogs of interest to women is offering a one day conference for “writers ready to use social media skills as authors”

The conference is sponsored by Penguin Publishing, home to such imprints as The Penguin Press, Penguin, Berkley Books, and The Viking Press among others. Many of the speakers and mentors for the event will be Penguin staff, authors or agents who have successfully worked with Penguin in the past. Penguin’s imprints represent a broad range of authors and titles, for example, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World by Alan Greenspan and Otherwise Known as Sheila The Great by Judy Blume.

BlogHer Writers ‘ll is structured to be a mix of large group learning and small group mentoring and brainstorming. According to Erin Groh, from BlogHer, “[A]ttendance is capped at 200 people, including our speakers and small group leaders/mentors. We intentionally keep this event small to foster a sense of intimacy and in depth networking.”

Who should attend? Bloggers and other social media writers looking to expand their writing outlets. Groh says “As bloggers, our audience are already experienced writers in the online and social media fields. This conference is an opportunity to help them leverage that experience to break into more traditional publishing.”

Writers ’11 will be held Friday October 21, 2011 at the Hilton New York. A welcome reception will be held the night before from 6pm – 8pm. The cost is $199 (+ a $5.97 processing fee) per person. Conference details are at http://www.blogher.com/blogher-writers-11. Registration information can be found at http://blogherwriters11.eventbrite.com/. BlogHer has a block of rooms at the Hilton for $299 per night. There is also a conference community where you can find a roommate, discuss conference expectations and meet other attendees before the event.

What do you think?  Are you attending? Why? Why not?

Disclosure: Information presented here is for educational purposes only. NHWN has no relationship with BlogHer or Penguin.

Lee Laughlin is a writer, wife, and mom, frequently all of those things at once. She blogs at Livefearlesslee.com. Her words have appeared in a broad range of publications from community newspapers to the Boston Globe.

Read Full Post »

Know your rights – owning your work

Congratulations, you’ve landed your first contract. A publisher (whether book, newspaper, magazine, Web site, or some other entity) wants to publish your piece. That deserves a celebration. Pop the cork! Enjoy.

Okay. After you’ve taken the time to savor the moment, you need to review your contract. All parties involved want to make the best deal for themselves, so make sure you know what rights you are giving up.

• First serial rights / First rights – The publication will be the first to publish your piece. You retain the option to submit and publish the piece elsewhere.
• One-time rights – You permit the publication the right to publish your piece once. (This could be your first printing or a reprint.) You retain the option to submit and publish the piece elsewhere.
• Second serial rights – You permit the publication the right to be the second to publish your piece.
• First North American serial rights (FNASR) – You permit the publication the right to publish your piece in a periodical. It’s common for a length of time to be added to this stipulation, such as “for six months after publication,” meaning they own your piece for six months before you can shop it elsewhere. (Terms can range from a month to several years.) It also means that if the publisher wants to publish your piece in different forms, they will negotiate separate contracts and pay for each.
• Electronic rights – You’re giving permission to publish your piece electronically.

Beware of these:

• All rights – You agree to give up all rights to your piece forever. You allow the publisher to do whatever it wants with your piece. You receive a onetime fee regardless of what is done with your piece in the future. (You could pursue buying the rights back in the future.)
• Work for hire – Your written piece becomes the property of the publisher and the publisher can reprint it however and whenever it wants without compensating you further.
• All rights for all media that exist now or will exist in the future – There’s always new technology on the horizon, so this caveat covers all ways to distribute written work including turning your piece into a longer piece, movie, book, digital recording, and so on. If you agree to this term, you’ll receive your one-time fee with no recourse for additional income.

If you are faced with any of the above three terms, negotiate for a better deal. Push for more money or limit the publisher’s rights in some way. (For instance, depending on circumstances, you can offer to not resell your piece to a competitive publication.)

It is crucial to read every contract you sign. Your agent may tell you it’s a great deal, and pages and pages of contractual lingo may be intimidating, but this is your piece, know what you are signing away. If you don’t understand something, research and ask questions until you do understand.

And, of course, you always have the right to say “no, thank you.” It may be tough, but it may be the right thing for you to do.

Celebrating receipt of your first contract is still worth doing, so do it and then delve into the contract.

Two resources to help with contract terms:

National Writers Union

American Society of Journalists and Authors – do a search for ‘serial rights’, etc.

How have you celebrated your first contract?

Lisa Jackson is an editor, writer, and chocolate lover. She’s addicted to Sudoku, cafés, and words. She writes fiction as Lisa Haselton, has an award-winning blog for book reviews and author interviews, and is on the staff of The Writer’s Chatroom where she gets to network with writing professionals on a weekly basis — and you can, too!

Read Full Post »