Writing To Be Read

Those of you that follow the Southern Colorado Literature Examiner will know that November is National Novel Writing Month, (or NaNoWriMo for short). To celebrate, The Office of Letters and Lights issues a challenge each year to all writers. For more information on this, check out my article; Write a novel in 30 days for National Novel Writing Month. Anyway, so it sounded like fun and I decided to try it. Starting November 1^st, I’m going to begin writing a novel. Only problem is, I don’t have the slightest idea what I am going to write about. I need inspiration, and of course, this is when my muse decides to take off for parts unknown on vacation. So, between now and then, I have to come up with some ideas. Inspiration can be found in some of the most unlikely places, and I am always on the lookout for new places to look. So, here a few online inspiration spots where I have found my muse hanging out. Muses stick together, so perhaps you’ll discover yours in on of the following places.

·        oneword.com – On this site, you are challenged to take one word and write against the clock for a period of sixty seconds to see what you can come up with.

·        Writer’s social networks can often bring information, just by listening to what other writers have to say. I have my own network, Writers’ World, which includes a group called Inspiration Corner, where writers can keep a journal of things that have inspired them and share that with others, as well as sharing inspirational quotes or links to inspirational articles and blog posts. There are many other networks out there, too, such as The Writer’s Box, The Writer’s Network, AuthorNation, All Who Create, IMPnow, My Writers and Authors, etc….

·        Follow your favorite writing blogs. (Don’t forget to put Writing to be Read at the top of your list). Some of my favorites include Editor Unleashed, Writer Unboxed, Chinese Whisperings, Writing About You, Electric Alphabet, The Blog of Fascination, The-Writing-Bug, and Urban Muse.

My apologies. I did not get this finished as quickly as I had hoped and in the interim have been too busy trying to get this novel thing together to come up with a poem for this post. I know this is kind of my signature for Writing to be Read, but I’m hoping you will all forgive its omission just this once. It’s either that or post it way after the fact, which doesn’t seem like the good choice to me. Until next time, Happy Writing!

Well, it’s that time of year once again, I fear. October is a time of fear, isn’t it? During this month you are liable to see a little of everything that scares you: spiders, bats, witches with black cats and pointy hats; ghost, ghouls, and goblins too; werewolves, vampires, and zombies galore; mad scientists, Frankenstein, psychos and more.  I think that for writers, this is a great time of year, because we can let our imaginations run wild and never worry that readers will think we are just too far out. That may be true the rest of the year, but in October, readers just chalk all of outrageously dark stories up to the season, and they assume we’ll return to our normal selves, (as opposed to our Halloween transformations), and write about normal things once again as soon as November comes round. Of course, there are writers, like Stephen King, that can get away with writing scary stuff all year long. His readers just know that he has a warped mind and they love him for it.

As for me, I’ve got a whole series of scary Colorado articles swirling around in the head of the Southern Colorado Literature Examiner, so be sure to pop in there once in awhile to see what I’m brewing up. I am currently reading Retribution: An Anna Strong Vampire Novel, by Jeanne C. Stein in preparation for its review, for starters. I’ve also got an idea for an article on Colorado ghost stories, and maybe one on books about Colorado ghost towns, as well. I’m on the hunt for a Colorado author of dark fiction for a profile and my eyes will be open for any other good scary Colorado literary stories.

Of course, I couldn’t leave out Writing to be Read. A big fan of horror myself, I enjoy the master of the macabre; the one and only Stephen King, but I also enjoy great reads, such as Anne Rice’s Vampire and Mayfair Witch series, Dean Koontz, John Saul, Clive Barker and Peter Straub.  For this site, I thought I’d try to encourage some reader participation, so here’s the deal. This month I want to hear who your favorite author of dark fiction is. They can write horror, sci-fi or even just some very intense thrillers. All you have to do, is leave a comment at the end of this post. You don’t have to be a member of the site, or anything, just leave a comment telling me who is your favorite and why. At the end of the month, I’ll publish a list of all the books that readers think are the scariest. So that’s it, kids. Just let me know who does it for you. Who writes the novels that make you want to sleep with the lights on, or the ones that won’t let you sleep at all.  

Spooky Things

Black cats and witches hats

What a scary time of year

Ghouls and ghosts and goblins;

All that you might fear

Vampires and werewolves

Shape shifters, too

Monsters of all shapes and sizes

Sent to frighten you

Creepy, crawly, slimy things

You don’t want in your bed

Flesh eating zombies;

Walking, talking, living dead

Not so friendly aliens

That stir the urge to run

Wait, where are you going?

The fun has just begun

Copyright ©2009  Kaye Lynne Booth

September has been a hard month for me. Not only was the 21^st the anniversary of my son’s death, but the 9^th was his birthday, as well. Needless to say, I feel like the Green Day song, Wake Me Up, When September Ends. I tried to figure out a way that I could just sleep through the entire month, but I wasn’t too successful. Actually, I was lucky to sleep at all, as Michael has been heavy on my mind. Then, I was  so tired all the time that my concentration is off, making it hard to get anything else done either.

September doesn’t seem to have the same effect on everyone else though, so I am still expected to meet all of my obligations. Easier said than done, I’m afraid. For example, I was going to write a piece on September, which would have been more appropriate at the beginning of the month, but since I did not get it done before, I am doing it now. Better late than never, right?

Although it is a difficult month for me, September is a month for literary celebration. That’s why I had planned to write an article about it. Those that enjoy writing, and reading should know that September is Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month. I don’t know who thinks these things up, but I’m glad that someone thought to recognize the hard work of all the editors and writers out there. I imagine we all need to know that our work is appreciated occasionally. Even best selling authors, who sell oodles of books and are famous, like to hear from their fans how much they’ve enjoyed their books. For writers like myself, who are not even in the same league with those authors, checking each day to see how many hits I’ve had on my sites can bring a smile to my face, even on the glummest of days. I hope someone thought to make a (Be Kind to Loyal Readers Month.) So, even though the month is almost over and I’ve been so terribly tardy in getting this information out, before the month is out, send flowers or candy to your editor, or just drop your favorite writer a note or an e-mail, telling them that you enjoy reading their work. There’s still a little time left to make September a great month.

Other September dates to take note of:

• September 2 – e.e. cummings died
• September 4 – Richard Wright’s birthday
• September 6 – Henry David Thoreau left Walden Pond (1847)
• September 9 – Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Tolkas move in together in Paris (1910)
• September 11 – D.H. Lawrence’s birthday
• September 12 – Publisher, Alfred Knopf’s birthday
• September 13 – Ronald Dahl’s birthday
• September 15 – Agatha Christie’s birthday
• September 17 – Ken Kesey’s birthday
• September 21 – Stephen King and H.G. Well’s birthdays
• September 24 – F. Scott Fitzgerald’s birthday
• September 25 – John Steinbeck received Nobel Peace Prize (1962)

                                      Shel Silverstein and William Faulkner’s birthdays

• September 26 – T.S. Eliot’s birthday
• September 28 – Herman Melville died

Now You Walk With Angels

It has been a year now

Since you were taken from this life.

Our family now is broken.

Your death has caused such strife.

You were a very special person,

An old soul, if you will.

You had a whole life ahead of you

Since you left us, time stands still.

Now you walk with angels,

Perhaps soaring on new wings.

We cry and miss you oh, so much

We can’t go on to other things.

It feels like only yesterday

That you were still right here.

We long to hear your voice once more,

To see your face, so dear.

It’s not right that you were taken

When you were still so very young.

You were whisked from life so brutally

Before your song was fully sung.

Now you walk with angels,

Perhaps soaring on new wings.

Someday we will be with you, but for now,

We can only wait, to see what fate will bring.

We miss everything about you

Your smile, your hugs, your voice.

The potential stood before you

To create the destiny of your choice.

What hurts the most, is knowing we won’t

Watch you grow into a man.

To know what fate held in store for you

It seems God had other plans.

Now you walk with angels,

Perhaps soaring on new wings.

Through our tears, we long to hear

The music you now sing.

Copyright ©2009  Kaye Lynne Booth

Hello. I guess I haven’t written anything for this site in awhile. I have been busily pumping out articles. Between the writing and the research required, I haven’t even had a moment to breathe. I believe I mentioned in my post, Building A Portfolio, that other reasons to write, besides the minimal amount of money that I make, building readership and references, as well as web exposure. Well since then I have discovered some other perks in writing for Examiner.com.

My position as Southern Colorado Literature Examiner can also be used as a form of networking. Now I am not talking about the kind of networking that is aimed at building readership, (although it does). I am talking about making connections with my fellow writers, authors and other professionals in the writing and publishing fields. Since I do author profiles, I usually contact the authors and ask them to answer a few questions, so my profiles will be accurate and also so that I can include some direct quotes and information that you won’t find anywhere else on the web in my articles. At first, I looked at this as just a necessary step in getting the story, but to my surprise and delight, many of these authors have joined my Windows Live Network and/or correspond with me regularly via e-mail or Facebook. Believe it or not, friendships with other authors and writers are blossoming from my article seeds!

These friendships are the kind that both parties can benefit from, too. For instance, authors that correspond regularly keep me updated as to their activities, and I write about anything they are doing that is newsworthy. As a result, they get their name out there and several authors have asked to link to my profiles and/or reviews on their websites, which in turn brings traffic my way. One author even shared information about the Southern Colorado Literature Examiner with her writing group, which brought me several new readers, as did contacts with members of The 5^th Monday Writers in Chaffee County. Both the authors and I benefit from these connections and I become more and more of a professional in my field every single day. Let me tell you, it feels great!

In order to do reviews, you have to read the books that you are reviewing. Since most (not all) of the books I review are either getting ready to come out or have been just recently published, I foresaw difficulties in getting my hands on these books. Another pleasant surprise was that most of the time, if I just contact the authors and request a review copy (or ARC), they are delighted to send me one. Again, this is an opportunity for them to get some press, so they have no problem in sending out the materials to be reviewed. So reading the works has turned out to be much easier than I had anticipated, and has in fact, turned out to be another fringe benefit of the job.

While it is true that these benefits are probably niche specific and if I had opted for another area to write in, I would be looking at different advantages, I would bet that every topic area has a few. Entertainment or celebrity examiners probably make connections with celebrities, rather than authors, and relationship or domestic examiners may make contact with counselors or social workers, but I would bet that the connections are being made, no matter what the area of expertise. The point is that there is more to this writing business than just making money. While I would love to make enough to write full time, I see this to be a slow uphill climb, and these little perks just make it easier along the way.

(If you would be interested in writing for Examiner.com, please leave a comment here or contact me at angelslight34@hotmail.com, and I’ll show you how to apply.)

To Be A Cat

To be a cat wouldn’t be so bad

Lazing around all day in the sun

Sharpening my nails on the scratching post

Maybe teasing the dog just for fun

Of course, there’s all that fur to clean

The hairballs must be horrendous

And eating mice doesn’t sound so good

Trying to catch them would be stupendous

Then there’s always the possibility

Of being chased by a dog

And you wouldn’t be very fast, you see

Because you’ve lain around all day like a log

On second thought, I really don’t think

That I would want the life of a cat

There has got to better things to do

Than to lay around and get fat

 Copyright ©2009  Kaye Lynne Booth

Modern technology is truly amazing.  Computer and Internet technology transfer information super fast. However, they still don’t do the job as fast I can think.  I constantly find myself sitting idle while I wait for sites to come up on my screen, so I can post my latest brainstorm of an idea, or respond to a brilliant comment that someone else has made.  Networking is important to promoting your writing, as we discovered in my post on Self Promotion.  So how do I get the word out there about my writing without taking away so much time from the act of writing?  As I wait, I find my brain thinking up all kinds of brilliant ideas for new topics to write on, as well as other places I need to post, or tasks I need to take care of, but if I try to pop onto another site, or worse yet, tap the keys or the mouse repeatedly in an effort to speed things up, I risk freezing the whole thing up and loosing everything.  My son used to catch me trying to urge the computer to work faster with a constant tap, tap, tap several times, and listened to my rantings when my laptop would freeze up on numerous occasions before he finally clued me in that each time I touch the mouse, the computer thinks I’m giving new instructions, and when it tries to do too many tasks at the same time, it overloads and shuts down.  So in essence, I was causing my computer to freeze up and then blaming the machine when the fault was my own.  “You just have to have a little patience, Mom.” was his advice to me.

Easier said then done.  I’ve tried to have more patience, but when ideas are popping into my head faster than I can get them down, and I am stuck sitting there watching then little circle that tells my my hard drive is working on it, it becomes difficult, if not impossible to not pull up something else in the meantime, (although I have stopped the insistent tapping), even though I know that it slows the whole process down in the long run.  To avoid loosing my ideas totally, (for it seems they disappear as fast as they came at times), I have gotten into the habit of quickly pulling up a new page on Microsoft Word as soon as the chance arises, and jotting down a title for the idea and saving it, so that later I can come back and (hopefully), pick up the thought and produce an outstanding article, blog, poem or story.  That’s the idea anyway.  So now I find my file folders filled with documents that consist of only one line, until I have time to develop the idea more fully.  So far it has proved to be a successful strategy.  I still get stuck waiting on my laptop to work its wonders, but now at least I’m not loosing my ideas while I wait, and my computer freezes up only occasionally.  Since I can’t seem to slow my brain down or speed my technology up, I guess it is what I must settle for.  It seems patience is a virtue that I just don’t have.

Hurry Up and Wait! 

My fingers fly across the keys

As fast as they can go.

I hit publish and wonder why

The Internet is so slow.

Hurry up and wait!

Hurry up and wait!

Seems that’s all I ever do.

If my computer would go faster

I’d already be through.

I watch the little hour glass

That tells me it’s working hard

But nothing seems to happen

From what I’ve seen so far.

Hurry up and wait!

Hurry up and wait!

Seems that’s all I ever do.

If my computer would go faster

I’d already be through.

I have stories bouncing in my head

Just waiting to be written down.

My computer won’t go faster

No matter how I scowl and frown.

Hurry up and wait!

Hurry up and wait!

Seems that’s all I ever do.

If my computer would go faster

I’d already be through.

Copyright ©2009  Kaye Lynne Booth

When I first began writing, way back when the dinosaurs still roamed the earth and there was no such thing as Internet, I entered a poetry contest that was advertised in my local paper.  Not long after, I received a letter stating that my poem had been chosen to be included in their anthology.  I was elated.  One of the first poems that I ever submitted was going to be published.  Soon after, I began getting mailings offering to let me purchase the anthology with my poem in it.  I was new to this writing stuff, but I had thought that publishers would at least give you a free copy, especially when there was no monetary compensation.  Guess again.  Over the next year, I received numerous mailings offering to let me buy a plaque with my poem on it,  bookmarks featuring my poem, even refrigerator magnets featuring my poem.  One mailing informed me that my poem had been chosen to be read by me at their annual conference, all at my own expense, of course.  I didn’t have much luck back then in getting my writing published, although I did manage to have one poem accepted and even made a whole five dollars off of it.  I put my pen and pad away, deciding that I would never be a published writer, and went on to pursue other ventures.  

Several years later, I got my first computer with Internet, and somewhere down the road, I decided to give writing another shot.  Before I had actually made that decision though, I received an e-mail advertisement from a company with a familiar name, requesting that I submit a poem to their online poetry contest.  It was the same company that wanted to publish my poem in their anthology, oh, so many years ago.  (I don’t know if they actually did publish my poem, because I had not purchased their anthology, and apparently, that was the only way that I could find out.)  They were looking for poems with Halloween themes, although I think the advertisement came in March or April.  I was already onto their game, but I figured, what the heck.  I sat down and quickly jotted down a poem about Halloween and submitted it, just for laughs.  (I included this poem in my blog post, Can You Feel It?, as an example of a poem that was not very good, if you care to read it.) 

I soon discovered that not much had changed since the Internet came on the scene, as my e-mailbox quickly filled up with offers to purchase anthologies, plaques and every other kind of gimmick they could think of to get money out of me.  What had changed with the Internet was the information that I had access to and I soon learned that this company and others like it were called vanity presses, because they played on the author’s vanity to get the author’s money.  I also learned that they would publish just about anything that was submitted, whether it was of good quality writing or not, so acceptance by them meant very little.  The Wikipedia definition of a vanity press is:

            “According to the US National Endowment for the Arts, “For the purposes of this           

            category, a vanity press is defined as one that does any of the following: requires individual

            writers to pay for part or all of the publication costs; asks writers to buy or sell copies of the

            publication; publishes the work of anyone who subscribes to the publication or joins the

            organization through membership fees; publishes the work of anyone who buys an

            advertisement in the publication; publishes work without competitive selection; or publishes

            work without professional editing.”^[3] 

            A vanity press will generally agree to print and bind any author’s work if the author is willing

            to pay for the service; these fees typically form a vanity press’s profits.”

Many vanity presses will publish books for you, too, at the author’s expense, of course.  Now don’t get me wrong.  There is nothing wrong with self publishing, if that is the route that you choose to go, but I’d rather go with a publishing house that will tell me straight what needs to be changed to make my work better, so that I can make it the best that it can be.  Vanity presses are not very selective and nor are they very critical.  You won’t get honest feedback from them.  They will tell you that your writing is good, even if it stinks, because they just want your money.  Although I do enjoy writing and receive great pleasure from producing work of good quality that I can be proud of, it is for that very reason that I want to earn money from my labors.  I want to make a living doing something that I can enjoy.  Is that so much to ask? Well, maybe, but the point here is that the idea is to make money, not to spend it.  I don’t think that I am alone in being an author on a limited budget.  If you can afford to self publish, that is great, and I hope that you find a really great publisher that will honestly help you to make your work shine.  My problem with vanity presses is that they try snow you, and that, in my opinion, makes them a big group of professional scam artists.

I went on with life, ignoring their e-mails, for the most part, and I made the decision to give my writing career one more shot after I discovered how many avenues were available via cyberspace, and how much easier access to them had become.  Then one day, I noticed that I had several e-mails from my vanity press and it made me curious as to what they were trying to sell me now.  So, I opened the first one, which had been sent earlier that morning.  It said that my poem, the same one that had been accepted months ago, was not good enough to make the cut and requesting that I submit another poem instead.  I was flabbergasted!  I knew the poem wasn’t good, but I also knew that these people accepted just about everything sent to them and this poem had previously been accepted, so I didn’t understand what was going on.  I then opened the next e-mail from them, which had been sent that afternoon.  It stated that my poem, (the same poem they had already accepted and now, rejected), had been selected to be featured on their home page, indicating that this selection was quite an honor.  That was it.  I wrote and submitted the following poem, just to see if they would really accept anything submitted:

The Scam 

9:30 am I get a rejection from poetry.com

Woe is me, I want my Mom.

I’ll tell you though why I had to smile.

All I had to do was wait awhile.

10:30 am poetry.com sent another e-mail

About the very same poem, without fail.

Another rejection? Oh, no. This time

A spot on the home page could be mine.

The first message wants me to submit a new poem

I’ll sit down right now and e-mail it from home.

They didn’t understand my poem last time.

They suggest that I write something that rhymes.

Now my poem is great, they’ve got something to sell

So they think that my poem is really swell

I’m glad that they want my poem in their book

But for my money, I will not be took.

Copyright ©2009  Kaye Lynne Booth 

 I disproved the theory that they would publish anything with this poem, because they never even sent me one response regarding it.  What a surprise!  Soon thereafter, I unsubscribed from their mailing list and we parted company for good.  I had known the poem wasn’t good to begin with.  After all, I just thought it up in about 15 minutes.  I never even revised it.  I guess it’s a good thing that I am not vain about my work. 

There are a lot of writing blogs out there these days.  I tell you the competition is fierce.  Well now I have discovered that there are two different sites out there running contests for the top writing blogs.  This will be a quick and simple post, just to get the information out there, so don’t expect one of my usual long winded blog posts today. (Do I hear sighs of relief?  Come on guys, I’m not that bad.) 

The first has a deadline for nominations of September 1, so hurry and get your vote in.  It is a contest for The Top 25 Writing Blogs, being featured at Maria Schneider’s Editor Unleashed.  All you have to do to nominate a blog is leave a comment with the blog name and URL and why you feel it qualifies as one of the top 25 writing blogs out there today.

The other one, you have a little longer to get your vote in, but only until September 11.  This contest is the 4^th annual Top 10 Writing Blog Contest, being run by Mike Stelzner’s Writing White Papers blog.  The rules specify you only get one vote and a blog must be nominated more than once to get in.

Of course, I would like to see every one of you drop in to these two blogs and nominate Writing to be Read, but I know there are a lot of really great writing blogs out there, so I’ll try to understand if you vote for a writing blog other than mine.  In fact, even if you don’t vote at all, it is worth dropping by these two blogs to discover a plethora of really high quality writing blogs.  I have shamelessly nominated Writing to be Read on both sites, because of course my own blog is going to be my favorite. Here are two chances to voice your opinion on which is your favorite writing blog, so go vote already.

For Heavens Sake, Pick Me!

What better blog could there be

Than Writing to be Read?

I end each post with a little poem

That should stick in your head.

So you will ponder all day long

On what you have read here.

With any luck, it will bring you back

Loyal readers are held dear.

So when you log onto those sites

And all those writing blogs, you see,

Remember all that you’ve read here

And for heavens sake, pick me!

Copyright ©2009  Kaye Lynne Booth

Today’s world of cyberspace has opened up many new avenues for authors and writers to be published, but it has also created the need for those same authors and writers to promote their own work.  While you can get your work published today without the assistance of an agent and self publishing is on the rise, if no one is reading your work, none of it does much good.  The promotion of your work can be quite costly, but there are avenues out there in which your work can be promoted for little or even no money from already tight budgets.   I asked several writers and authors that I know about their self promotion experiences and discovered a slew of helpful information that I would like to share here.

In the world of digital promotion, many avenues have become available to writers that simply didn’t exist before the Internet hit the scene.  Gary Val Tenuta, author of The Ezekiel Code, advocates online promotions that are basically free to promote his work.  He mentions My Space, Facebook, and social networks, such as my own, Writer’s World, where one can make connections and get the word out by investing a little time, but not touching the pocketbook.  He also has used banners and video trailers, but warns that when using these methods, you should shop for those that are reasonably priced and make sure that sites they are placed on will be cost effective.  In other words, be sure that the sites where you place them will generate enough traffic and produce enough interested readers to make it worth your effort.  The idea is to create exposure for your work; as much as possible for as little out of pocket as possible.  The placement of video trailers in particular, must be well chosen, as they are more expensive and if they don’t reach your target audience, will not be very effective.  Val Tenuta states, “For example, one of my trailers on YouTube has been viewed something like 26,000 times the last time I checked. But I can tell you nowhere near 26,000 people have bought my book! LOL! I think I know the reason behind that. I think the vast majority of people who surf YouTube are probably in the age range of 12 to 25 and are not typically into reading books. If it doesn’t move, have music and plenty of visual treats then they’re not particularly interested. They are the video generation and I get that. On the flip side, however, I think video trailers can be very effective in the right place.”

Maria Schneider just published an article ranking the social media networks by the amount of traffic generated from them to her Editor Unleashed site.  According to Schneider, the social sites that generate the most traffic for her are Twitter, Stumble Upon, Delicious, and Facebook, in that order.  Cynthia B. Ainsworthe, author of Front Row Center, recommends hitting every social site that you can, “The time I invest every day yields 2 or 3 book sales per month.”  To generate traffic and/or books sales, Val Tenuta recommends posting synopsis, taglines, blurbs and possibly video trailers on your personal pages of social sites.  I would add to that links, since my published works so far are short stories, poems and articles.  (When Heather Hummingbird comes out, that will change.)   Published author Scott Martin Locke suggests using the web to your advantage.  He recommends Elemental Publishers, which allows him to link all of his recent and archived writings in one place.

For Twitter, Val Tenuta’s advice is, “It’s not a good idea to just continually post blurbs about your book without ever posting anything else. People will soon tire of it. They’re likely to feel bombarded with your “buy my book” routine. To avoid that response I post other little “tweets” (as they’re called) in between my promo tweets.”  This advice is echoed by freelance writer and author of The Urban Muse blog and Museletter, Susan Johnston, who says to be sure and include conversation in your Twitter posts and really interact with the other members of the community.

Johnston also recommends creating an e-mail signature, which is something that I have done, placing links to my work right in the signature.  The only problem I have found with this, is that length is limited and I have reached my limit, so when I have new links to add now, I must decide which links to include and which ones to leave out.  Since all my creations are like my children, this will be a difficult decision to make.

Short story author, Art Rosch, on the other hand, is leaning away from the social networking sites and publishing on Authonomy (produced by HarperCollins), where other writers critique and respond “in a polite way”.  Rosch claims that, “The world of book writing is in a state of utter confusion, no one really knows what to do. Not publishers, not agents, nor writers.”, and I think that we all can relate to that.  In additon to my blog posts here and my articles on Southern Colorado Literature Examiner, I use publishing sites such as Triond for short stories and poems, and Hubpages or Hellium for articles and opinion pieces, all of which pay a minimal amount, which is a nice plus.  (Hellium requires that you read and rate the work of others, which can be very time consuming.)  Rosch recommends reading The Truth About Writing and On the Survival of Rats in the Slushpile, both by Michael Allen.  Another good ebook you might want to try is Marketing Your Book Profitably, by J.A. Faulkerson.

Novelist, Lee Murphy says that “going to conferences targeted to your subject matter, actively participating in message boards (not just to plug your book, but PARTICIPATE and make friends), and doing internet radio interviews have been sure-fire for me.”  These are not areas which I have explore as yet, so I’ll have to take Murphy’s word for it, (and so will you). Again, we see that making connections is an important key. 

Many of the writers and authors that I asked agreed that one thing that should not be done online is to promote so strongly that people feel your work is being forced upon them.  (This can also be construed as spamming and get you banned from a site.)  Take the time to make contacts and get to know a little about each person, rather than making your very first contact with someone a “buy my book” or “read my article” type of message.  If you know a little about the person, you will have a better idea of what their interests are, so the article, story or book that you do pitch will be more likely to be of interest to them..

Colorado Springs mystery author, Beth Groundwater used a month long Blog Book Tour in the promotion of her latest novel, To Hell in a Handbasket.  For those of you that don’t know what a Blog Book Tour is, it is where, “Instead of traveling hither and yon making personal appearances to promote a new book release, instead an author visits online web logs, or blogs, from the comfort of his or her personal computer at home and posts articles as a guest on those blogs.”  Groundwater says that the key to a successful Blog Book Tour is planning; gathering a list of potential host blogs, keeping an organized spread sheet of tour dates, links and points of contact for hosts, topics, photos and due dates.  Promotion of the tour is also crucial, listing tour dates on all of your social network sites and sending e-mail notices, so that people will know that your Blog Book Tour is out there and will make a point to read your guests blogs.  To increase reader response, Beth ran a contest with every comment to any of her blog posts in May earning a chance to win autographed copies of both of her Claire Hanover Gift Basket Designer Mystery series books: A Real Basket Case and To Hell in a Handbasket.  As Groundwater says, “There’s no reason to go through all the work of writing the articles if you aren’t going to tell people about them.”   She recommends two sites for those thinking of doing their own Blog Book Tour: The Blog Book Tour Website, and The Blog Book Tour Guide.  (A list of the guest blogs on Beth’s Blog Book Tour).

Even though we seem to swim in the cyberspace ocean these days, traditional marketing strategies are not dead.  Beth Groundwater still did a good, old fashioned book tour, complete with personal appearances, in addition to her digital promotion efforts.  Cynthia Ainsworthe recommends local book signings, as well, along with other personal appearances such as judging beauty pageants, etc…and word of mouth from loyal readers.

Published writer and illustrator, Sue Midlock emphasizes the value of a well written query letter, which promotes both you and your work before the publishing stage.  There are still publishers out there who require an old fashioned query letter, to be sure.  Sue’s advice for writing queries is to be confident, know and follow submission guidelines, and don’t be surprised if you get rejected.  “Stephanie Meyer, before her big break with Twilight, was rejected 20 times.”  Make sure to address the person you are contacting, pitch your story to sell it, and sell yourself by highlighting all of your positive attributes.  Art Rosch recommends a site called QueryShark, where a writer can learn how to write a proper query and agent Janet Reid, who runs QueryShark, occasionally will pull a manuscript out of the “slush pile” to represent.

Cynthia Ainsworthe suggests that you might try getting a professional press release or obtaining and agent, just like in the old days, although these options are a bit more pricey.  While Lee Murphy included attending conferences in his worthwhile promotion methods, he also cautions that you should be careful in your selection of promotional venues that are expensive and may not prove to be cost effective.  He tells of spending $800 on a booth and extra book copies, etc… to participate in The Los Angeles Times Book Festival in order to make 12 books sales over the entire weekend.  Murphy says it was one of those things that he just had to learn from experience, but learn, he did, “My philosophy today is, if I can’t afford it, then I do not need it.”

Whatever methods you choose to promote your work, be sure they are aimed at your target audience, (in other words, people that will actually want to read what you’ve written).  Get to know people when networking and let them get to know you, then steer them toward your work.  This is the principle behind book signings and other personal appearances, as well.  No matter the method, the idea is to get out there and get exposure for you and your work.  Don’t spend more than you can afford, especially if you don’t know how well it will pay off.  If your purse strings are tight, look toward some of the less expensive or free methods of promotion.  While we all must learn from experience, we can also learn a lot from one another, so listen to what those who have been there have to say.

Promotion in Cyberspace 

Gone are the days when an agent is required

To sell a book or get a writer published or hired.

We do it all ourselves now,

Which can make us quite tired.

These days we turn to cyberspace to hold all our labors.

We network and pitch our work, and cash in on favors.

We search for a market for our work

In which it will be savored.

It is a lot of work these days to make our work be seen.

It must stand on its own merit, polished to a sheen.

We must learn the new tricks of the trade

Or appear very green.

But our readers may know us better, than they have in days of past,

And once they find they like our work, their readership will last.

So get your work out to the world,

Don’t keep it behind glass.

Copyright ©2009  Kaye Lynne Booth

Although I have not been posting as often as I like, Writing To Be Read has been on my mind.  In fact, I’m in the process of researching what I hope will be a great blog post about self-promotion.  I have been learning a lot about self-promotion and other writing issues that I was previously ignorant regarding.  One lesson that I am learning, oh so well, is how time consuming research can be.  I had heard all the talk about being able to meet deadlines, but I guess I really didn’t get it until recently.  Meeting deadlines can be tough, even when the deadlines are self imposed and vague. 

I am currently committed to my blog, here, which I had hoped to make at least a couple of posts a week to, as well as being the Southern Colorado Literature Examiner, which requires three to four articles per week.  Doesn’t sound like a lot, does it?  Okay, now figure in the fact that I am not making enough off of these endeavors to make even a fair living, so I must hold a “real job” in addition.  Lately, it has been necessary for me to pick up extra shifts at my “real job”, which has cut into my writing time considerably.  Suddenly, my self imposed blog quota and Examiner requirements have been thrown way behind schedule and it’s not just a matter of sitting down and writing, because I want to write things that people will actually want to read, so I am faced with doing the research that will make me an expert on my subjects. 

The upside to this has been that I have been privileged to make the acquaintance of many prominent authors, as well as those who are just breaking into the scene and it has given me access to many new books to read and review.  The downside is that there have been times when other obligations, like work and family, clash with those of my struggling writing career.  Because of this, I am starting to realize what seasoned authors were talking about when they emphasized the importance and/or difficulty of meeting deadlines. 

When you have obligations that seem to conflict or prohibit one another, something has to give.  Priorities must be set, but the question is, what will take priority and how do you decide?  Working extra shifts to make enough to satisfy those that I owe?  A husband that acts as if he is terribly neglected, (and probably is, if I’m honest)?  My loyal readers that check into my sites regularly to read my latest blog posts and articles?  My sanity that could be lost if I short change myself on me time?  Sleep, (half the time I don’t even know what that is)?  Hmmmm…

In her feature article for Worldwide Freelancer, Help for Writer’s Stress - 6 Tips to De-Stress Your Life, Dawn Arkin, (author and senior moderator for Writing.com), gives as her number one piece of writing advice, “Don’t take on more than you can handle. Keep in mind that the more you promise to do, the less time you’ll have to do the things you want to do. If you really can’t write that article this month either see if you can push the due date to something more doable or just say no. Don’t over book yourself.”  I think that this advice applies to prioritizing, as well as de-stressing your life.  I have signed up and submitted one or two pieces to other sites, such as Helium, Hubpages, and Textbroker.com, thinking that they might pay better that the two that I already write for, but haven’t had time to do more than that.  Although they may pay better, I haven’t written for them enough to find out, because there simply is not enough of me to go around.  Although the only deadlines that I have with these sites, are the ones that I set for myself, I know that if I want to build a readership, I must post regularly and as it is, I’ve been lucky if I get one post a week done for Writing to be Read lately, as well as my Examiner articles.  Of course, it goes without saying, that I haven’t written any new stories or poetry to submit either.  I just didn’t realize how much work must be put into writing an article, but I do now.  Boy, do I.

Other writers stress the importance of “me time” and/or physical exercise, implying that this is where our priorities must lie.  Get out from in front of the keyboard and move a little.  In fact, I responded to this advice from romance author Barbara O’Neal and blogger, Carlene Brice in an earlier post Exercise is Good Writing Advice.   I suppose that is good advice, but do I let everything else go, just so I can take an afternoon in the woods?  Don’t get me wrong.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy that type of thing.  In fact, it’s one of my favorite things to do and I often find it quite inspiring.  When I’m at a loss for something to write, it can be exactly what I need.  But times like now, when I have an abundance of things to write about and not enough time to get it all down, and I should have had three articles written three days ago, spending an afternoon being non-productive is not what I call a stress reliever.

What I’d really like to do, is skip all the extra shifts and put that time into writing.  Then I could meet all of my deadlines, plus some.  It’s no secret that I would love to be able to make enough writing to give up the “real” job altogether.  Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening anytime soon.  It’s kind of a catch 22, because as I’ve said, I don’t have the time to take on any writing projects that would pay better.  In order to do that, I’d have to quit my job, and I can’t afford to do that.  I’m realistic enough to know that if I don’t pay the bills, I wouldn’t be able to write at all.  Again, it all comes back to time management.  It seems the only choice I have is to leave off sleep, because my other priorities just won’t wait.

What is Sleep? 

My husband says, “You should get some sleep.”

I don’t know what that is.

I have way too much to do to rest.

My life is just a whiz.

I worked all day, but can’t stop now.

I’ve got deadlines drawing near.

My fingers speed across the keys.

I won’t be done, I fear.

With seven different articles, two stories

And one poem to write.

Researching authors and writer’s groups,

I may be up all night.

I’m so tired, I can’t think straight.

What I’ve typed doesn’t look like words.

To think that I will get all this done

Is really just absurd.

Don’t try to ask me anything

Because I can’t even speak.

Don’t worry about little me

I’ll get some sleep next week.

Copyright ©2009  Kaye Lynne Booth

Embracing ProgressThe newest literary device in cyber-technology is, of course, the e-book.  Everywhere I look the term keeps popping up.  As a writer, I have to wonder how legitimate the e-book really is.  Many business type persons on social business networks, Twitter, etc… offer free e-books as an incentive to get you to buy their product, and some authors have used it as a gimmick to get you hooked, in hopes that you will want to read more and purchase other works by them.  Many of the books offered by Amazon are advertized as “available on Kindle”, and apparently there are several other e-book readers available.Can something that is being offered for free in so many places, which requires a special reader to access it, really be a profitable option for writers to publish their work?  Is publishing via e-book jumping on the bandwagon or abandoning ship?  Can cyber-literature really compete with the traditional turning of the page?   What benefits are there for authors in cyber-publication?  Does going with an e-book publishing house, (yes, there really is such a thing), cheapen or enhance the author’s reputation?  These are the questions that I have been asking myself, so I set out to discover the advantages and disadvantages of e-book publishing.  In my research, I discovered the answers to some of my questions, as well as some unexpected information that I wasn’t looking for, but improved my understanding of the e-book industry.First, I learned that although digital publishing is a relatively new industry, it has the potential to explode onto the market, in a similar fashion to what happened with social networks, blogs and even with the Internet itself, which seemed to appear on the scene almost overnight.  I found that contrary to what I had believed, you do not have to have an expensive digital reading device, such as Kindle, to read the e-books produced from digital publishing.  E-books can be read, even on cell phones, which expand the potential market and makes e-books available to virtually everyone.  This makes digital publishing look quite a bit more appealing to writers, who naturally want to reach as many readers as possible, as well as generate income from their work.   According to Editor Unleashed, there are other advantages to going with a digital publishing house, including more opportunity for new writers because it is such a new industry, and the potential to earn a higher income from your work.  Although digital publishers tend to offer lower advances, they offer higher royalties, which editor Maria Schneider claims can actually generate a higher income in the long run.  Schneider also points out that many digital platforms include an option for ordering a physical book, so it is possible that you may actually see your book in print eventually, and there are many new opportunities for new authors to get in the door, because the digital publishing industry is so new.I also learned that e-books are already out there in abundance.  What I viewed as an industry just being introduced onto the scene, is actually a publishing garden that is already coming into full bloom.  While cyber-publishers are just beginning to test the waters, such as Quartet Press, are limiting themselves to a single genre (romance), to get their feet wet, I was pleased to find that e-bookstores, such as Books on Board, have donned fins and dove right in, advertising titles by best selling authors that are familiar names, such as James Patterson, Greg Isles, Daniel Silva, James Rollins and Patricia Cornwell.  If these best selling authors are already embarking on the digital publishing journey, perhaps I should not be so quick to scoff.  I think this also says that the publishing industry is beginning to consider this a viable branch of literature.  While I don’t think that e-books will ever take the place of traditional paper and ink books, I do think that e-books are already making their own place in the publishing world.