THE PAPERBACK BOOK LIVES!

One of the key components being a successful writer is being in the community of writers and readers so last week I attended the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, and what a grand event it was, thousands of people, music, food and literary workshops made up the landscape on the campus grounds of USC.

I attended the workshop “Non-Fiction, Sounds and Visions” and I am so happy I went, there was a publisher from Brooklyn, and he gave me so much hope. There was much conversation about how the Internet has changed the entire publishing industry. There is good, or great news for self-publishing authors.

The old boy network is gone, and a lot of New York traditional publishing houses are suffering. Well known best-selling authors are now self-publishing because they want to maintain total control over their projects, and keep ALL the profits from the book.

It was music to my ears, in the world of traditional publishing, armed with many rejection letters the author was made to feel like a second class citizen in the publishing industry. It’s hard to get a literary agent, and the chances that you can get your book in the chain book stores are slim to none. After all the big publishing houses have to have the edge, right?  Wrong, NOT ANYMORE!!  Yeah, we have power! The field is wide open and all it takes is good solid writing, and a business plan better known as a book synopsis.

In the world of e-books, I concede that they have sold gazillions on the Internet, I’ve even bought a few, but nothing, can take the place of the paperback book. You know the kind, you hold in your hands, and turn the corner of the page down, the kind that you highlight and mark in, the books in your bookshelves or your nightstand, that product is not going anywhere. 

So my fellow Writers, keep writing and use as many avenues as you can to get the written word out, such as blogs, and there are tons of websites, online magazines and newsletters that are always looking for content.  Find the ones that fit your genre because this is a great way to build a presence on the Internet.  Besides, somebody needs to read your words and it’s not helping anyone as long as it’s in the notebook or your computer. 

For those of you in the Los Angeles area, we are starting another creative writing workshop in June, and the goal of the workshop is to produce an anthology of the work that is created in the workshop, thus you become a published author!! More info will follow and I invite you to follow me on www.reflectionsph.blogspot.com

 Debbie Bellis, Publisher/Writers Coach

NEW TRENDS IN SELF PUBLISHING

I recently attended a workshop with the Independent Writers of Southern California and the topic was Current Trends in Self Publishing. It was quite interesting. There is great news, this is the best time for authors, because self publishing is starting to stand out like mainstream publishing.

Authors are putting out quality material that is packaged much as the same as traditional publishing. As a matter of fact, some of the surviving traditional publishers now have self publishing companies. Traditional publisher Random House is the parent company of Author House, and now Penguin Books is merging with Random House and the list goes on, and in case you didn't know, Createspace is the publishing company owned by amazon.com.

There is a new kid in town, the old boy network is fading fast, Authors are become business savvy, more creative, and knowledgeable about the many options that are available, that's the key, in order to move your work, you must become a salesperson of your own product.

Writers are creative, we don't want to think about selling, we want to romance our work, writing the story as it unfolds and dream about it becoming the next million dollar best seller. How do you do that? According to the information in the workshop, it's all about social media, build a buzz and a platform. This is the most cost effective way to build interests in your book which equates to book sales.

How do you do it you may ask, here is one answer:
Find one segment or chapter of your book and hone in on it. Find something that is related to something that is going on right now in the world. Create a character or a question, then answer it. Example:
One of my authors wrote a children's book on safety, it was geared to the age group of 3-7. All about safety tips inside the home and in the community. She illustrated items under the kitchen sink, cleansers, disinfectants, etc, and she showed how these things are off limits to the child. She created herself as a character named "Safety Mom" she called the local library, fire department and parks, and asked to bring in a presentation for young children on safety tips. She made an apron, and glued a lot of items that are off limits for children, and began to teach the children what not to touch in the home. She sold a lot of books, and spoke at many of her communities events.

As a author or writer, even if you haven't finished your writing, you must begin to build a platform. who is going to read your work? What questions does the book answer? Readers want a character or subject that they can relate to. Your readers invest with their time and money in a character, your character or subject can be a series. Once you build a buzz about the material, readers want more, thus developing a following.

Your platform must match your book, the stand alone subject is dead, you must find something to hone in on and work. Know your audience, and being part of the literary community is key.

Community book stores will survive, they all have co signment agreements for self published authors, and will take a few copies of your book and for a large percentage of the sale display your book in their bookstore.

Last but not least, social media is key, create a blog, and try to update often(something I am to busy to do) but I'm committed to making small entries, just to stay current. Create a fan page on facebook. Our fan page is Reflections Publishing House and you will find a literary community of online writers and highlights of what we are doing. The key is to communicate with the readers, offer tips for writers, and share the journey. You must have your work in as many venues as possible. www.selfgrowth.com is a great site to build a free website, and write articles which will give you a presence on the web, a must as you create the business side of your writing project.

Work the blog community, become friends with well known bloggers and have links to other blogs on your blog. It's the creative vs business hats that you must wear, even while you are still writing. YouTube is a sure way to get out in front of the public.

Let's start a dialogue, post your questions and comments and become part of the literary community.

Is Romancing the Story Preventing You from Telling the Story?

I am coming across a problem with many aspiring writers. There seems to be a movement of romancing the story, the writer is so in love with their subject, or topic, or idea of what they want to write that they are having trouble writing the story

So the first thing you must do is FOCUS. Can you come out of the story long enough to develop an outline, or a solid foundation?  You probably don’t even know that you are in a romantic relationship with your idea. Just think about how you feel when you are imagining the book. Warm and fuzzy, excited, all kind of emotions emerges when you are thinking about writing.  Then reality smacks you in the face, frustration, and fear sets in and you don’t know where to start, so you write a few pages, it doesn’t come together (yet) so you go back to romancing the story; does it sound familiar? Knowledge is power, so let’s start at the beginning.

What do you want to say in your book?  What is the message? Let’s take the memoir genre for example, in the last few days I talked with two students in my writer’s workshop. They had the same problem. It took time to pull out what they want to say, so here are some tips to help you focus enough on what you are trying to say in memoir writing.

1.  What are you writing from?

Is it Pain, Frustration, Fear, Hope, Love, Courage, Freedom, or simply a need to tell a story. Knowing what is within helps identify and determine what you want to tell the reader.  Do you want them to identify with you? Do you want to give them insight on a particular subject; do you want to inspire them to change? Are you just telling a story to entertain? Are you educating the reader through your personal experience? Feel it authentically, and then identify it.

 2.  Why do you want to tell the story? Find your motivation. Can you explain why you feel driven to write the story?  You can only accomplish this by coming out the story and rationally looking at the work in a detached way. It is the only way you can successfully START the process. This is personal, and private, and it's the drive that you can't get away from. Many writers are writing from a personal pain, or frustration with an issue, what is yours? What issue or problem do you want to resolve or expose with your story.  Remember a memoir is your story.

 3.  Define your audience. As you write begin to see a group of people in front of you, they are the ones you are writing to. It’s safe to say that’s not everybody. When I wrote this post, I see the writer who is having problems with writing their stories.

 4.  Now you begin to see something emerging….a solid idea of what, why and who. Write it out, and then begin your first chapter.  Begin to see yourself as you romance and daydream about the story, you can’t change what you can’t acknowledge. keep writing, and begin to see yourself as author whose goal it is to finish the story!!! 

The Value of an Outline

The Value of an Outline

 

The outline is one way you can develop your story around the concept of problem/resolution. Also, an outline is a fluid document. You're free to refine and change it as your story takes shape during the first draft.

 

  The rest of the process is straightforward. With an outline the writer can start a new draft and know precisely where to focus your narrative drive. Having established a solid foundation, you begin to concentrate on characterization, dialogue, pacing and all the other ingredients that make for a compelling read.
 
Outlines need not be lengthy, nor should they take long to complete. If you can't seem to finish your outline, this may be a sign that all is not well with your story idea. If you're stuck, ask yourself: does your character have a compelling and strong enough problem to build a story? Does your resolution solve your character's problem? Do your plot developments logically take the character from his problem to his resolution? If not, can you come up with a series of events that do?
 
Some stories have a mountain foundation, the main character is climbing up the mountain,  moving through the problem,  life experiences, challenges, and situations, until something changes, or the character reaches a plateau. Discovery, transformation, and understanding occurs as the character begins to descend down the mountain, armed with the strong emotions of change which ultimately leads to resolution of a problem.  
Another visual of the development of the story is the movement through hills and valleys, moving up the mountain with life experiences and then falling down without permanent resolution, only to climb another mountain, hit a plateau where change may or may not happen as the character descends down the side of the mountain, this continues until something drastic happens, or the character makes a decision to change which ultimately finally leads to resolution of the problem.

Don't leave your story's development to chance; instead, use an outline to build a solid foundation. This fundamental step will quickly and clearly show you: (1) the depth of your character's problem; (2) how the character goes about solving his or her problem, and (3) whether the final resolution supports the rest of your story.
This outline can be used for many different kinds of genres such as memoirs; poetry; children’s books and motivational self-help books.

What is the problem or what are you solving in your story/self-help book???

Inner Writing Purpose

All readers have expectations. They assume what they read will meet their expectations. As a writer, your job is to make sure those expectations are met, while at the same time, fulfilling the purpose of your writing.

  Now here is where everything shifts, often when writing we don’t think about the reader’s interpretation of the writing. The reader may interpret your writing on a personal level, you may answer a question for them, and you may remind them of something that has been long buried until they read your words. 

  I actually developed a relationship with an author who I never met, but identified with because his writing is powerful and touched me deeply. Identification is the spiritual connection that the reader receives, a powerful emotion that is a gift from the author to the reader. I feel it when it happens, when I am writing, it’s a feeling that is almost supernatural, and I just know that the reader is going to connect with me in a way that instinctively makes me happy.

  Because you are honoring your spirit and not your mind, this awareness will inspire you.  This is the inner purpose that you may not understand, but you know that it is powerful.

  Creating a legacy for your family, helping the reader through a hard time, with your interpretation is extremely influential. Someone may be nurtured from your writing to the point that it frees then from their chains.

  These inner purposes give your writing a new angle; you begin to understand that the writing is not for you, it’s for the reader who is going to be transformed by your words.  Wow!  What an honor!                         

  I venture to say that keeping this understanding in mind while writing helps a writer to make it through the dry spells and through writers block.

  Someone somewhere needs your words.  Whatever genre it is, someone will be freed because of the words that YOU wrote. The power of your words is not something to be taken lightly.

 

Excerpt from my book, Breaking the Chains of Writers Block with Passion, Purpose and Perserverance

Developing Your Writers' Approach

What is a writers approach? Basically, it's your writer's platform that sells you. Not necessarily your book, but you. And in selling you, the book will naturally follow.

It's the special positioning that will get you in front of the public, into schools, libraries, luncheons, seminars, anywhere where you can go and talk to people. You are not going to plug your book. You're going to plug you.

How do you find your writers approach? If you don't know your platform, answer these questions:

        ·         What is the subject matter of your book? 

·         What is the message of your writing project?

·         Who is your audience? 

·         Why do you write what you do?

·         Who do you hope to impact?

·         What is your long-term goal?

In answering those questions, you've started to come up with something to talk about. But now you need a one-sentence 'mission' that shows you as the expert in what you are creating.

Look up words that identify what you do, that mean something to you. Here are the ones I chose empower, teach, train, inspire. These words describe what I would like to have happen to people.

Now you've got your words, think about something in this world that you are passionate about and would like to do something about. This can be anything, if you write non-fiction; it will very often be your book topic. It can be political, financial, educational, self-help, motivational, or entertaining.  Be specific, mine is to “provide a positive forum and environment for all writers, and to guide them through the writing, publishing and book marketing processes.”

Now you have your words, and topic, now you must combine them, and create a strong, passionate mission. Here is mine: "Reaching writers, with empowering techniques and solutions to complete their writing projects.

My platform/approach doesn't have to have anything to do with the subject matter in my book Breaking Writers Block through Perseverance, Passion and Purpose. But it does have everything to do with why do what I do. And it has everything to do with how validated I feel as a woman, doing something I love, and I can't think of a better way to help a writer (goal) by providing workshops, coaching and resources, creating published authors, and creating avenues for writers to leave a legacy for their family and friends.  Now when I use this formula, I think of my platform, and can tweak it to any group, depending on who my audience is.

What's your platform or mission statement for your writing and/or business?

 

 

Moving with your writing project

So all the buzz today is about building your platform, and/or billing yourself as an expert in your field. I consider this to be the next step in your writers journey. If you have published, or if you have not, it's time NOW to take that crucial step moving from the creative side of writing to the business side of writing.

Timing is everything, pacing is everything, and creating interest and excitement about your work is the name of the game. Creating a buzz about the information that only you have and using your red hot passion about the material is the most powerful and successful way to prove this point.

How? You may ask, well I have answers, and if you have some answers, please share them with me. I'm always open to exciting ways to define ourselves.

But before I give you some of the answers, ask yourself :

• Am I ready to move to center stage
• Why I have to become a sale person
• How will reading my book/story/poetry help the reader
• Am I open to attending writers events
• Why I need to join a writers/community organization
• How do I feel about someone editing my work

Sounds like a lot of work, it is so worthwhile. One of the vehicles to help answer these questions is Reflections Intermediate Writers Workshop. We call it intermediate but it really is transformational. You see, there is a important step between writing and publishing, and it's the stage in which you believe in yourself, you change and grow by transforming into the great writer that lives inside.

One of the most important things about transformation is momentum:
Momentum can make all the difference between achieving your goals and having to live with the disappointment and frustration of never actually realizing what you desire. Momentum is a powerful force that is not only necessary, but also essential in achieving real success. Without momentum you have to consistently apply a lot of effort and willpower that will eventually cause you to just give up.
Small actions are nothing but the building blocks of big actions and great successes. Every big goal only consists of a series of smaller goals. When you act immediately, your action puts you in a psychological state that encourages more action and consequently greater results.

(Excerpts from Intermediate Writers Workshop)

I'm talking about gaining the sustaining power to complete your work and create yourself into a successful author. I hear all the time about people who start something, but never finish it. I must confess I used to be one of those people, but not anymore and another thing that helped me and continues to help me when I'm in a transformational stage is affirmations.

Affirmations are powerful tools to help you move from one state of mind to another. You have to speak the process of change into existence. You have the unique ability to define or redefine your identity, which affects your behavior. Affirmations will help you modify your behavior to obtain the results that you seek.

Developing your elevator pitch, understanding time lines and deadlines, learning different writing styles, writing on topics in this workshop will be personal stories of transformation, learn the copyright process and achieve the next step in your personal writing project by writing articles that you can use to submit for publications and/or to post on your own blog that you create in the workshop.

This is it!!! Now is the time!!!! Go to http://www.reflectionspublishings.net/ for more information about the workshop. Starting on Saturday September 22th. Sign up today, as a follower of this blog, sign up today for the Transformational Workshop. Take the next step in the writing journey, lets make this an interactive blog by posting your comments, suggestions and answers. See you on the 22nd at
Yvonne Burk Community Center
4750 W. 62nd Street
Los Angeles, CA
Saturday, September 22nd at 3pm

For those who can't join us, I invite you to follow us as this blog becomes more interactive with tips, lessons and information about the writers journey.