Writers: a reminder of the basics, courtesy of J.K. Rowling

Thanks (again!) to Infinity Publishing for this great post.
"J.K. Rowling may be one of the bestselling authors of all time, but she's never forgotten where she came from. Her roots as a poor single mother struggling to publish an unusual book cause her to help out other beginning authors whenever she can. Rowling's been interviewed on writing hundreds of times, but she emphasizes the same basic lessons each time she's asked."


Here is an excerpt:

1. Planning is crucial.
   The worst way to create a great book is to dive into it without any plan at all.
   
2. Write in what time you have. 
   If you want to be an author, you have to make the time or steal it, one small bit at a time.
   
3. Rewriting is as essential as planning.
   Rowling wrote the first chapter of her first book 15 times before she was satisfied.
   
4.  Pay attention to pacing and plot. It's possible to ruin the pacing of a book or series by excitedly telling too much, too soon.
   
5.  Write your passion. Rowling has said that what you write becomes who you are, so it's important for you to love what you write.

I am especially grateful to see this quote from her:

Sometimes you have to get your writing done in spare moments here and there. 

J.K. Rowling

See the full article at Infinity Publishing

Finding time to write well

Does this seem familiar? The writer, Hilary Mantel, writing in The Guardian, exemplifies what so many of us experience in trying to put writing first, and hoping for the essential sense of flow will stay around for a while.

"I used to be a late starter, but now I get up in the dark like a medieval monk, commit unmediated scribble to a notebook, and go back to bed about six, hoping to sleep for another two hours and to wake slowly and in silence. Random noise, voices in other rooms, get me off to a savage, disorderly start, but if I am left in peace to reach for a pen, I feel through my fingertips what sort of day it is. Days of easy flow generate thousands of words across half a dozen projects – and perhaps new projects. Flow is like a mad party – it goes on till all hours and somebody must clear up afterwards."

Enjoy the full essay here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/16/hilary-mantel-my-writing-day

Snow storm reading recommendation

All eyes are on the news about the east coast storm, putting New Englanders at risk and hunkering down at home. CNN's analysis includes tips on what to stock up on. How great that my book, Release Your Writing, showed up in an ad on the same page today!  My sympathies are for those who have to bear such a storm, and the public service workers who have to restore services. My second thought is folks might be buying a lot of good ebooks!

February 23rd: Join us in Hinsdale for a workshop

Inside Writing & Publishing A Writer’s Guide to Tech Tools

Saturday, February 23
2:00 p.m.
Join author and national speaker Helen Gallagher to learn about the tools and skills you need to gain visibility for your writing and publishing. Blogs, social media sites, eBooks and other digital options will be explored. Register at the Library, over the phone or online...

Is 2013  the year you reach your writing goals?

Helen Gallagher

New York Times article on self-publishing

There's an informative update on self-publishing and digital books here: The Joys and Hazards of Self-Publishing on the Web:

In particular, note:
The single toughest part of self-publishing is getting attention for your book. Nearly 350,000 new print titles were published in 2011, and 150,000 to 200,000 of them were produced by self-publishing companies, said Kelly Gallagher, vice president of Bowker Market Research, which conducts an annual survey of new books.

Same stuff I've been telling people for five years now.

This is what I wrote in the front flap of Release Your Writing: Book Publishing Your Way:

Attract a publisher if you can, but if not,

don’t wait your life away….

Publish your book yourself.

Things have sure changes since I published that book, but the message remains as true today. We've seen the publishing world move from a few big firms, to strength in numbers with indie publishers, ebook creators, and individuals who achieve high sales through self-publishing on their own. 

I continue to say there's never been a better time to be a writer, and to get published. 

In fact, today mainstream Penguin Books announced they are purchasing Author Solutions - which is a conglomeration of Author House, iUniverse, Trafford in Canada, and Xlibris, 

Why would Penguin buy up the top POD firms? Because self-published books increased 60 percent in 2011, over the prior year, according to Bowker's statistics. Penguin was eager to acquire  the firm to "gain skills in customer acquisition and data analytics that will be vital to our future," said Penguin chief executive John Makinson.

Looking for Helen? Upcoming event schedule

I have quite a few events coming up as part of the North Suburban Library system program "Inside Writing and Publishing."

All are free for attendees, and there are several topics I'll be discussing. Each library has a full list of the events on their web site - some calendars show the Jan-Feb "Inside Writing and Publishing" events, and others are updated to include these March-April dates as well. All of the speakers on the schedule offer great information at libraries all over the north and western suburbs. Like indie book stores, we owe a debt of gratitude to our Illinois libraries for recognizing the need for more writing/publishing/technology programs:

My events:
Feb. 25, Helen Plum Library /2:00 p.m. / Topic: Everything E!  -- ebooks, epublishing, emarketing
Mar. 25, Geneva Public Library / 1:00 p.m. / Topic: Writing effectively for today's markets
Apr. 28, Ela Area Library / Lake Zurich / 11:00 a.m. / Topic: Blogging for authors/writers
Also Apr 28. Fremont Library, Mundelein / 2:00 p.m. / Topic: same program as Lake Zurich


Check all library websites for further details and other events you might want to attend on the same dates.

Pub-It latest self-publishing service from Barnes & Noble

Publishers Weekly reports: "Barnes & Noble officially launched PubIt! today, its digital self-publishing platform for authors and independent publishers. Under the PubIt model, authors are charged no startup fee and will receive a royalty that ranges from 40% to 65%, depending on price of the e-book (or other digital content). Using a Web-based platform, publishers, upload their e-books, set the list price and track their sales and payments. Titles can be priced between 99 cents and $199.99. For e-books priced at or between $2.99 and $9.99, publishers receive 65% percent of the list price with B&N receiving the balance. For those priced at $2.98 or less, or $10.00 or more, publishers receive 40%."

So PubIt! joins Lulu and CreateSpace as great options to get your book produced and made available for sale online. Remember, though, no one will buy your book if they aren't aware of it. so, after the easy publishing process, put your energies into author marketing.

Agent's role: Or a roll of the dice?

Here are a few imiportant excerpts from a Wall St. Journal article today entitled: The Death of the Slush Pile

These excerpts point out the critical value of author marketing. That's why one-third of Release Your Writing covers the marketing strategies authors need, to keep their book alive, and why I started the Pajama Marketing blog as well. Keep visiting for ideas, and keep your marketing active. Look how critical it is today: (emphasis mine)

excerpts from The Death of The Slush Pile, WSJ

Even in the Web era, getting in the door is tougher than ever
• Don't be a barista waiting for someone to stumble upon your genius. "Our editors travel, they get around. They look at writer's conferences, at MFA programs. They look at magazine articles and at blogs. That's what editors do, they sniff things out from so many different sources." —Carol Schneider, Random House Publishing Group

• Contests! "I'm always wary to recommend to writers that they go to competitions too much because there are fees and they can end up spending a lot of money. But the ones that do get industry attention are really fantastic opportunities to network and to make important relationships." —Hannah Minghella, president of production, Sony Animation Studios, formerly in development at Miramax

A primary aim of the slush pile used to be to discover unpublished voices. But today, writing talent isn't necessarily enough. It helps to have a big-media affiliation, or be effective on TV. "We are being more selective in taking on clients because the publishers are demanding much more from the authors than ever before," says Laurence J. Kirshbaum, former CEO of Time Warner Book Group and now an agent. "From a publisher's standpoint, the marketing considerations, especially on non-fiction, now often outweigh the editorial ones."

In 2008. HarperCollins launched Authonomy.com, a Web slush pile. Writers can upload their manuscripts, readers vote for their favorites, and HarperCollins editors read the five highest-rated manuscripts each month. About 10,000 manuscripts have been loaded so far and HarperCollins has bought four.

--

Holiday gift ideas: Not too late to ask for these...

Friends and family don't know what to buy you for a holiday present. Why? Because they observe you hunched over your computer, or writing in notebooks. They can't buy you time, they can't buy you inspiration or courage, so they might buy you a new journal, pen, or another mug.

Besides suggesting all the wonderful books written by writers for writers, here are a few other great ideas that don't require wrapping! Ask for a subscription to an online writers organization. They'd never think of it, but you would so enjoy getting grounded in such a group.

Drop these ideas around the house so you can connect with writers of books, blogs, business and lucrative freelance venues.

links:
American Society of Journalists & Authors
asja.org

Freelance Success
freelancesuccess.com

MediaBistro (with the AvantGuild add-on if you've been very good)
mediabistro.com

SPAWN - Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network
www.spawn.org

Please comment below to add your ideas for the writer's dream holiday gift!

No Women In Top Ten List?

With hundreds of great books opting for the coveted "Top Ten" spot on any book list, chance are something will be neglected, and not make the list. When Publishers Weekly released their Best Books for 2009, though, they may have stopped too soon. There are no winning books by female authors. Ten top books of the year, all written by men...?

In their selection criteria, Publishers Weekly's 11/02/09 news item states: "We ignored gender and genre and who had the buzz. We gave fair chance to the “big” books of the year, but made them stand on their own two feet. It disturbed us when we were done that our list was all male."

Let's make it a point to buy the books further down the list written by women, like those who almost made the list:

Fiction
Dark Places
Gillian Flynn (Crown/Shaye Areheart)

The Man in the Wooden Hat
Jane Gardam (Europa)

The Believers
Zoë Heller (Harper)

and in non-fiction:
Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America
Barbara Ehrenreich (Metropolitan)

Yes Means Yes! Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape
Edited by Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti (Seal)

NANOWRIMO: Don't worry about getting it right, just get to it.

Keep going with National Novel Writing month. If nothing else, it reminds you that you CAN find time to write every day. But don't worry about being perfect:

"The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can always do it better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping simile."
Robert Cormier

Quote freshly pilfered from WorldwideFreelanceWriter, worldwidefreelance.com

Pen to Press workshop success

Yesterdays symposium "Pen to Press" at John Marshall Law School was a well-run, well-attended event, with perhaps 80 interested writers in attendance. Let's hope this is the first of many future "Pen to Press" events they sponsor.

Despite all the talk in the industry about the difficulties in getting published, the rumored death of publishing, and worries over ebooks and ebook reading devices (Kindle, Sony, etc). none of this will cause publishing to vanish. The enthusiasm among yesterday's conference attendees was palpable. Folks went home and wrote, I'm sure, and reconsidered their options in getting published.

For, above all, the conference conveyed the sense of hope and purpose for writers to continue along their path to publication. No one is stopping you from publishing your book, but also no one is pushing you forward to accomplish it either. You need the internal drive, motivation, and energy to take the next step.

So take that next step. Happy publishing days are ahead...

I'm pleased to have met so many who stopped by my booth and wish you all tremendous success.

Author Gay Talese on s-l-o-w writing!

excerpt from a Paris Review interview, posted at Utne.com 7-14-09:

PARIS REVIEW: You never write directly onto the computer?

GAY TALESE: Oh no, I couldn’t do that. I want to be forced to work slowly because I don’t want to get too much on paper. By the end of the morning I might have a page, which I will pin up above my desk.

PR: Surely there must be some days in the middle of a project, when you’re really going, that you write more than a single page.

GT: No, there aren’t.

* * *

There you have it. One page a day, and yet, looked what HE accomplished:

* A Writer's Life (2006)
* Origins of a Nonfiction Writer (1996)
* Unto the Sons (1992)
* Thy Neighbor's Wife (1981)
* Honor Thy Father (1971)
* Fame and Obscurity (1970)
* The Kingdom and the Power (1969)
* The Bridge: The Building of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (1964)

So the question is, what could WE accomplish with one page of prose per day?

Let me hear from you as you release your writing.

Helen

Upcoming Chicago-area event

You're welcome to attend, invite friends, or pass along this timely workshop notice.

Helen




You're welcome to attend, invite friends, or pass along this timely workshop notice.

Helen

How shall I blog thee? Let me click the ways...

Today is Shakespeare's 445th birthday, and here in Chicago, our Mayor Daley wants everyone to talk like The Bard today.

Here is a resource to give you the complete works of Shakespeare's 38 plays on your Windows computer: Follow link thusly, to New York Times article.

Book review: A Writer's Paris

A Writer's Paris, a guided journey for the creative soul, is by Eric Maisel, the prolific and thoughtful writer, a San Francisco-based creativity coach and author of more than 25 books.



This soft, lovely, illustrated book reminds us why we love Paris. In part, it is the allure of the intellectual traditions, of the time when George Sand, Gertrude Stein and Jean Paul Sartre roamed the cafés, when the life of a starving artist in a garret, eating one small café meal a day, was a reality for many famous writers. "Virtually any idea you can think of has been birthed or batted about in the studios, classrooms and cafes of Paris – it is the birthplace of the humanistic tradition," writes Maisel.

Read my full review at BlogCritics Magazine

Using Google Alerts to find your work online

If you've read "Release Your Writing," or are generally web savvy, you already know that setting up a free Google alert lets you find any reference to your book, or your other writing online. You'd be surprised where you might turn up.

Today I receive this Google alert:



I followed the link and was pleased to see it is imported from my publisher, not reprinted locally.

I was delighted to find my books, and those of some of my clients there. Set up a Google alert for your own name or that of your books, and request a daily email. You never know where you might turn up next.

Book Publishing: Who gets the money?

In traditional publishing, an author may earn, for example, a 10 percent royalty on sales, the agent gets 15 percent and the publisher keeps the rest. When an author receives an advance upfront, no royalties are paid until the publisher recoups that advance.

With self-publishing, the author deals directly with a printer and distributor, and produces a book at much lower cost than print-on-demand, perhaps $4.00 per book. At a selling price of $20, the author might gross $16 for each book sold. But then the distributor takes about 35 percent, warehousing and advertising costs vary but are unending. So the take-home, after managing the business of being a publisher, is still not grand.

Print-on-demand (POD) requires upfront payment to the printing firm, and they also take a percentage of each sale, to cover cost of the book, making it available to online retailers, and the POD firm processes and fulfills orders. Their fee also covers your presence on their web site, online catalog, and their profit. What's left for you depends on the firm and on your contract It is usually about 35 to 40 percent of the book's retail price, paid to you monthly or quarterly, on all sales, from the first copy sold.

You don't earn royalties on books that you purchase for resale, but you can buy them for about 50% off list price. So you have a low start-up cost, fast production and you earn back your cost from the very first book sold. Using POD, your book need never go out of print.

Ebooks cost almost nothing to make from an existing manuscript, and profits are upwards of 80 percent on each sale.

Isn't it time you release your writing?

Book marketing: Don't stop thinking about tomorrow

Here are a few resources to help push your book along toward Spring. Market to keep your name visible, to share your work with readers, and to keep yourself motivated. .

authorbuzzz.com
authornation.com
booktour.com
dearreader.com
goodreads.com
published.com

The internet is your most effective marketing tactic. Use it well.