Teamwork Ensures a Successful Blog Tour

I was recently asked: "Crystal, what makes or breaks a book blog tour?" I wish I could tell you it's the blog tour manager (that's me) that makes the difference. Some people think it matters how many blogs you visit, what day of the week, how many followers the blog has, how popular the book is, etc... all of those things play a role, but ultimately it's the teamwork that can make or break the tour. The blog tour manager approaches the bloggers to line up the stops. Then the blog tour manager works with the author to set up the initial interview and work through the guest posts, spotlights, and other stops along the way. Once the tour is launched, the blog tour manager, bloggers, and the author must do their part to engage the audience and spread the word about the tour and the stops. The team is only strong when each teammate is engaged and involved (no different than team sports such as swimming, football, etc.)

If the blog tour manager schedules a tour stop at a highly visible blog but the blogger forgets to promote the author or the author doesn't take time to visit, comment on, or promote the stop ... the stop will have limited success. Similarly, if the blog tour manager drops the ball by failing to provide the blogger with the tour details or guest post, the tour stop will provide less value to readers and less chatter about the book. 

Whether you are a reader, writer, reviewer, blog tour manager, blogger, or author you'll want to consistently use your social media and mailing lists to promote a tour. Use hashtags and tag people as you are able and spread the word. Publishing a book is a big deal and we are a team; let's cheer one another on and ensure one another of a successful tour! 

*If you are a book reviewer, optimize your reach by using Goodreads, Ezine Articles, Amazon Reviews, Smashwords, and any other sites you cam (including your personal blog if you have one). You took the time to read and review the book, now tell everyone you can. This is a priceless gift for an author.

*If you are a blogger, connect with readers on as many levels as possible. Use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, G+, and email to spread the word. The author took his/her time to prepare a guest post or interview for your site, help them reach your readership and encourage readers to comment and ask questions.

*If you are an author, be sure to promote your own tour using your social media outlets and then visit each blog. Make comments, ask questions, and engage readers. Enthusiasm is as contagious as a smile, share yours with every one you can!

What role do you play with book blog tours? What has worked for you? What is your favorite promotional tool? Leave your comments or links below: we love hearing from you!

Get Involved! If you have a website or blog and would like to host one of our touring authors or schedule a tour of your own, please email us at blogtour@wow-womenonwriting.com.

Crystal is a church musician, business owner, active journaler, writer and blogger as well as a dairy farmer. She lives in Reedsville, Wisconsin with her husband, three young children (Carmen 6, Andre 5, Breccan 7 weeks), three dogs, two rabbits, four little piggies, and over 200 Holsteins. You can find Crystal blogging and reviewing books at: http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/

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6 comments author blog tour, blog advice, blog hop, blog tour manager, book tour, teamwork, wow blog tours

A Blessing in Disguise

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about blessings in disguise. I experienced a very difficult life change when I was 24 years old that I am now very grateful for. Here’s my story:

The year was 2001, and my husband and I were newly married. I had a job in media planning for an advertising agency and my husband worked as an account executive at another agency across town. While the job didn’t have anything to do with what I studied in college (it involved a lot of math and number crunching!), I had a steady salary and good benefits. We made the decision to purchase a small starter house in a beautiful neighborhood. It wasn’t huge, and it needed some TLC, but we were thrilled when we were approved for the loan and moved in.

Two months later, I lost my job, along with more than 100 other people. I walked out of work with my belongings in a box and a heavy heart. I had no idea how we would make ends meet and keep our bills paid. I felt like a failure.

I spent the first few months sending out countless cover letters and resumes and did a little freelance copywriting with some other agency folks who had also been laid off. I collected unemployment. Then the work dried up and interview after interview failed to result in a job. Desperate one afternoon, I wandered into a local restaurant and told them I had experience waiting tables and needed a job. Luckily, they hired me on the spot. The first time I saw the movie “Office Space” I laughed my head off because Jennifer Anniston’s character could very well have been me at that point in my life, flair and all.

It was a hard time for me. I was very humbled. My husband and I worked different schedules and rarely saw each other. I wrote a lot of really bad poetry and fiddled around with a few short stories as a way to pass the time, but never did any serious writing. I was too depressed. One night my husband came to see me at work, with an e-mail printout in his hand. I had a nibble for a job. A local public relations agency five minutes from our house had a position to fill and wanted me to come in for an interview. I almost jumped for joy right then and there. Actually, I probably did. I was tired of spending my nights cleaning out sweet tea urns and rolling silverware for very little tips.

Almost a year after getting laid off from work, I landed a job at that public relations firm. Not only did it pay me better than my ad agency job, but it got me back to writing. I wrote every day—press releases, magazine and brochure copy and product taglines and descriptions. I will forever be grateful for that opportunity, because I might still be running competitive reports for a tobacco account and dreaming of being a writer one day if I hadn’t accepted it. Even though that time period was a very hard time for me, I now consider it a blessing in disguise. I was meant to write for a living, and that experience helped get me back on track.

What blessings in disguise have you experienced in your life?

Renee Roberson is an award-winning writer and editor who blogs at Renee’s Pages.

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9 comments becoming a writer, blessings in disguise, career choices, life transitions, Renee Roberson, the writing life

Friday Speak Out!: Anthology Success Recipe, Guest Post by Linda O'Connell

In everything you do, even the most mundane tasks, without even thinking about it, you have a strategy, a plan, a recipe for success.

Occasionally I grocery shop without a list, and I have to return to the store. Whether I'm shopping or writing, when I don't have a plan, I have to repeat my actions; then my work piles up and I feel overwhelmed.

While some writers can toss a few words onto the page and write a great story without effort, most of us need a formula. I have been published in 20 Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Each of my stories has had universal appeal, a beginning, middle and end, a uniqueness. Sometimes it was my message and other times my adventure that made my story stand out from the others. With each story, I followed a recipe and then flavored it my way.

Imagine you're scoping out Facebook and come across a recipe for the perfect cake. You would like to enter it in a contest for an upcoming church bazaar. You gather necessary tools and ingredients, mix, bake and create a masterpiece. The only problem is, you and half the population in your church discover the same recipe, bake the cake in a foil 9x13 pan and frost it with chocolate icing. Lined up on a countertop, you can't distinguish yours from the others. What about your masterpiece will earn you the blue ribbon prize? Is it how you decorated it? The elegant presentation? What will be the attention grabber?

Anthology competition is tough. Chicken Soup for the Soul receives a 1,000 or more submissions for each title call out. Editors whittle selections down to 200 and then select 101 stories for publication. Following writer's guidelines is similar to following a cake recipe.

• Choose the preparation tools and technique that works for you. Do you free-write and then edit, or edit as you go? Always edit one last time.

• Every cook adds their own touch, something special which distinguishes their product from the rest. Season carefully. Adding a shot of bourbon (expletives) or a dash of cayenne pepper (wisecracks) to a Chicken Soup story won't spice it up. Your recipe will flop. However, tossing in metaphor, blending humor, sprinkling inspiration will catch an editor's attention.

• Your title must have immediate appeal. Chicken Strips or Chicken Fingers, which recipe heading is more creative and interesting?

• Sometimes like similar cakes at a bazaar, there are too many of the same type of story submissions. Therefore, not every one of them gets chosen. Rejection has little to do with you and your product, and more to do with market needs.

• Just as the last bite of your cake should be as tasty as the first morsel, your story ending should be as delectable as your opening. Leave the reader with a wonderful taste, a powerful, uplifting message, a desire to try to replicate your success. Write from your heart.

* * *

Linda O'Connell, an award-winning, multi published writer, beach lover and preschool teacher from St. Louis, MO blogs at http://lindaoconnell.blogspot.com

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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!

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22 comments anthologies, essay tips, essay writing, Friday Speak Out, Linda O'Connell, writer inspiration

What Makes You Buy a Book?

What makes you buy a book? This is a question I've been thinking a lot about lately for different reasons. Of course, the most obvious reason is because I'm trying to sell a book. (It's historical fiction for ages 9 to 12 if anyone is interested. . . (winks) ) But also, in the last month, I've been to a Scholastic Book Fair, a librarians' conference, a writers' conference, a book signing, and a school visit. I see people buying books. I see people reading books. I see people get excited about books. But I also see a lot of browsing and not a lot of buying. SO, what makes you buy a book?

Is it the cover?

Is it the jacket copy?

Is it because you know the author personally?

Is it because you've read something else from the author?

Is it because you heard the author speak?

Is it because you read a good review about the book?

Is it because someone you trust recommended it?

Why do we buy the books we do?

When I look at the bestseller list, I often wonder how these books made it big. What is it about Twilight that made it stand out from all the other vampire novels? Why did Divergent make it big when there are hundreds of dystopian novels? How about Nora Roberts or Danielle Steele? Why are people drawn to their books over the other hundreds of romance writers out there?

I wish I had an answer. I am asking all the questions, and I don't really have any answers. All I can do is tell you why I buy a book.

I buy a book because it sounds interesting and fascinating.

I buy a book because I've read others by the author or in the series.

I buy a book because a friend recommended it.

I buy a book because it's an award winner.

Sometimes, I buy a book because of the cover, but not very often.

So, I would love to hear why you buy a book. There's no right or wrong reason--let's just discuss this and shed some light on the subject for authors.

post by Margo L. Dill; Margo teaches classes for WOW! Find out more here: http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/WOWclasses.html

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13 comments book, Margo L. Dill, marketing

The Three Sentence Pitch: A Tool to Focus Your Writing

Last summer, I ran a picture book manuscript past my critique group.  It was ready to go.  I just wanted their stamp of approval and then I could send it off.

The problem was that I didn’t get it – the stamp of approval. 

It seems that in the process of rewriting my work, I hadn’t smoothed out bumps and made it tighter, but instead had lost my focus.  The telltale sign that this had happened was the chorus, or actually two choruses (chori?). 

In picture books, there is often a repeating line of text that echoes throughout the story, much like a chorus.  You don’t see it after every page turn, but you see it often enough that readers learn what is coming when they hear the first two or three words.

In the first draft of my story, I had created a chorus based on my theme of the story.  It worked because it made the story cohesive. 

But then I had to strengthen the character.  While I was doing that, I started to play here and there with the text and another chorus emerged. In a longer book, this might work but mine comes in at less than 500 words.  Nope.  No room for a second chorus.  With it, the story felt unwieldy. 

The only solution was to rewrite it and get it back on track.  It was going to be tough to evaluate each spread for what could and couldn’t stay in the leaner meaner version.  I needed something to keep me on track and help me focus. 

Fortunately, I remembered the three sentence pitches we practiced writing at a Missouri SCBWI writing retreat.  A three sentence pitch is just enough to give an agent or editor an idea what your story is about.  It deals more with theme and character than plot.  With only three sentences about your story, you have to focus if you are going to fit your character, her problem and a hint at the theme all in three sentences. 

It’s still rough, but this is what I came up with:

No one knows what’s going on at Sappington’s Superior Circus better than Felicity Fernandez. She finds lost children and car keys and can point the way to the next act. The problem comes when she can’t find her place in the Circus and she wonders if she would be better off someplace else.

In 53 words, I have the character (Felicity Fernandez), the setting (Sappington’s Superior Circus), the story problem (Felicity can’t find herself), and a hint at the theme (even if you know where everything else belongs, it may take some time to find your place). 

With this in mind, and on an index card, I can evaluate each paragraph of text. Does it develop this idea?  If not, cross it out.  When I am done, I will have a tightly focused story with a chorus that once again has the space to ring out.

--SueBE

SueBE blogs about writing at One Writer's Journey.  

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6 comments picture books, pitch, rewrite, Writing Picture Books

The Work-at-Home Writer’s Troubles: Are You Asking For It?

The other day, I called a friend—it was after five, when I knew she’d be home from her job. She said, “Can I call you tomorrow morning? I’m not working—and I can catch up with you then.”

I said no, politely reminding her that I'd be working.

I’ve worked as a freelancer for years, and I’ve spent many hours fuming about friends, family and neighbors thinking that what I do is not a job. But honestly, I’ve played a role in that sort of thinking. I want people to take me seriously in my stay-at-home job as a working writer, but there were times when I was just asking for trouble. Maybe you'll see yourself (and a solution), too.

The Accommodating Writer

I have lots of friends who work jobs outside the home. I wouldn’t think of calling them at work unless it was an emergency. But friends call me at home—where I work—just to chat, or to ask a favor since I’m “at home, anyway.” For too long, I’d answer my phone, all the while resenting the person encroaching on my time and me.

So I stopped answering the phone during my workday. I call back, after quitting time (At 5:00, in case you want to call me). And folks got the message.

Sometimes, I’m perfectly happy to accommodate my friends, but only when my work can accommodate the interruption.


The There-In-A-Crisis Writer

Because I set my own hours, I have a certain flexibility in my schedule. So when there’s a crisis, it’s expected that I’m the one who has the freedom to immediately lend a helping hand.

And the truth is that often, I can let my work go, and go where I’m needed. But flexibility is not another word for freedom. I still have job responsibilities and deadlines to meet. There have been many times that my work suffered while I jumped in to help in a crisis—and watched everyone else go about his or her business. Of course, resentment eventually reared its ugly head.

Until I realized that I was allowing the situation. I can jump in, but I don’t have to do everything, all the time. I figured out that it’s okay to bend with my schedule, but it’s not okay to let others take advantage of my work schedule.


The Subtly Undermined Writer


What about all those people hanging around, sharing our work space? Sure, they support us and love us—and annoy the stuffing out of us. They always seem to want something (it might even be stuffing if it happens to be Thanksgiving).

It’s hard to work at home with constant distractions—and it doesn’t matter if it’s young kids, grown-up kids, roommates or spouses. But I was subtly undermining my position as a self-employed writer when I’d stop my work to give a listen to them, and then put my work aside for their needs.

It didn’t take long for me to see that subtlety wouldn’t work. Now I shout, “Working!” whenever anyone walks into my office. They walk out because they know I’m not going to stop (until 5:00). I set work boundaries—and stick to them.

And guess what? Those people who live with me still love me. (My stuffing? Not so much.)

~Cathy C. Hall

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12 comments Cathy C. Hall, freelance career, stay-at-home work, writing discipline, writing habits, writing schedule

Family Tree to WIP

What do you write? It’s usually the first question people ask after they establish that you’re a writer. It’s funny how non-writers want well-defined groups. In room A we have the fiction writers, the poets are in Room B, the memoir writers are on the other side of the building in Room H. But in reality there is a lot of shifting. So many of us are children’s writers/article writers/novel writers/essayists or some other mixture.

Recently, I was contacted by a cousin’s teenage daughter for help with a school assignment since I’m the “writer girl” in the family. She had to capture an oral tradition from our family (if you don’t speak teacher that means write down one of those funny family stories we tell year after year as we sit around eating apple pie after Thanksgiving dinner). Our family had a lot to choose from. We are a family of storytellers…and our family tree is populated by characters with lives with stories worth telling.

As I went through a list of stories about her parents, grandparents, and other relatives she knew well I realized that, although I remembered the stories, we were telling them less and less. So I decided to replace my ten minutes of free writing at the beginning of each writing session with a family story. I found I liked it a lot better because I felt I was accomplishing something instead of writing something that most likely would end up in the trash. And since our stories were short (the time it took to eat a piece of pie) I could often finish a story in one free writing session.

It was fun but I found a totally unexpected benefit. Although our family’s stories are mostly funny they also include many themes: devastation, pride, success, anger, love, friendship, coming of age, triumph. And in writing the stories out I felt those emotions, something I discovered could transfer to my WIP. When I wrote about my nana’s reaction to her oldest son leaving for World War II – a story I had heard told and retold countless times – I could really feel her emotions. Mid-free writing I suddenly realized that they mirrored the fear of change my WIP main character was feeling about another issue. I rewrote that scene and feel it was much richer as the experiences of my nana found their way into the scene.

So if you find yourself hitting a brick wall in your WIP or just need a prompt to loosen up your writing muscles try the family stories that your family has told but never written down. Future generations will have a record of important historical as well as family events from your relatives’ viewpoint and you may find yourself with a new source of material to mine when you need to make your characters more “real”.

Have you recorded any of your family's stories? What do emotions and events do they portray?

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6 comments free writing, memoir, writing prompts

Career Advice: Getting Ahead in the Writing World

A couple years ago, I interviewed Kate White, who, at the time, was editor of Cosmopolitan magazine. It was an interesting interview for a couple reasons. First, I always felt like I had to balance home and work, and she gave me some great tips about finding balance between the two. Second, in our hour-long chat, she convinced me that I needed to be a gutsy girl when it came to career options. I needed to be proactive, be my strongest supporter.

That can be difficult, especially if you don't like to toot your own horn.

I was rereading the notes from our talk the other day and I drew four pieces of advice from it that I have put into practice recently.. Each of these are basic approaches that can boost not only your writing career but your personal life, as well. Think about these hints and how they can help you:

1. Learn to say 'No.' This is one of the hardest steps I have had to take. I'm a people pleaser, so saying 'no' tends to be difficult. I find that I want to smooth things over or make things better. Yet, there comes a breaking point and sometimes I KNOW I need to tell an editor 'Thanks, but no thanks.' In the last year, I've pushed myself to say 'no' more often, especially to potential projects that are going to suck my time and not offer fair compensation.And guess what? I am not as stressed and I can devote more time to better paying projects.
2. Learn to negotiate. I hate to negotiate. But, if I don't stand up for me, who will? I ran into a situation requiring negotiation just a month ago. I did my homework and found information from a variety of sources that helped negotiate a higher paycheck than originally anticipated. The editor didn't even balk at what I asked for. Lucky, I know.
3. Learn. Period. Make every attempt to accelerate your learning curve. I have always wanted to learn French, but seriously, how will that advance my employ ability? Most likely, it won't. For a new gig, I use InDesign. A lot. I know the basics, but I need a class that will give me a bigger range of skills. By taking a class now (and juggling my schedule to do so), I'm showing my new editor that I am willing to take the necessary steps now to ensure I am qualified for the position, rather than waiting until later. And P.S., I can tell my new boss appreciates my efforts.
4. Learn to plan ahead and look behind in your career. In other words, evaluate or reflect on your growth as a person and writer. Discovering what you've done in the past can help chart a future course. 

While some of these pieces of advice are easier than others to accomplish, I've discovered by being proactive and treating my career seriously, I have a boost of confidence that I had not noticed previously. Maybe it's because I'm more serious about my writing. Maybe I've found balance between personal and career choices.

And maybe, I'm becoming a bit more gutsy.

by LuAnn Schindler. Read more of LuAnn's work at her website.

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3 comments advice for writers, advice from editors, cosmopolitan magazine, kate white, learning, LuAnn Schindler, negotiating, planning, saying no

Book Review: My Father’s Gardens by Karen Levy

My Father's Gardens by Karen Levy

My Father’s Gardens is a memoir written so eloquently it reads like poetry. Levy tells the story of her upbringing and coming of age. She is an Israeli native torn between her home land and the United States just as she is torn between her warring parents. Levy writes: Beautiful families keep ugly secrets, contained in pretty boxes. Yet Levy herself keeps no secrets from her readers. She shares her lessons and her love through her art of storytelling. My Father’s Gardens is beautifully written and will tug at your heartstrings from cover to cover.

Levy’s style of writing reads like the loveliest poetry. I found myself highlighting sentences and phrases because of the pictures I was able to conjure through her words:

·         Bolts of electricity mythological in proportion rip through the night skies…

·         I can’t remember what you said that made me feel beautiful. Maybe because you were beautiful too, there under the olive trees…

·         …was gone, but like water streaming into a freshly dug hole in the sand, someone else steps right in to take his place.

Author, Karen Levy

My Father’s Gardens is written in cinematic short meaning short scenes with the focus on showing the reader instead of telling the reader. I absolutely love this style as it allows for so much emotion from the reader. I was able to envision the beautiful landscape of Israel but what amazed me most was Levy’s ability to draw me in. I am a native of the United States and she somehow managed to help me feel as though I was looking at my own country through new eyes. The passion of Levy’s story and her passion for writing come through very strongly on each page.

For anyone who has ever felt they did not belong, or has felt torn about where they belong, the moving memoir, My Father's Gardens will really hit home. Levy questions whether she is more Israeli or American and she works through finding herself and realizing where she really belongs. She comes to the calm and confident realization as her worry fades and she arrives, no longer conflicted! I would certainly recommend this book and will be ranking it on Amazon with five stars! 

Thank you to Karen Levy for contacting me requesting 

I read and review her memoir.

~Crystal

Crystal is a church musician, business owner, active journaler, writer and blogger as well as a dairy farmer. She lives in Reedsville, Wisconsin with her husband, three young children (Carmen 6, Andre 5, Breccan 6 weeks), three dogs, two rabbits, four little piggies, and over 200 Holsteins. You can find Crystal blogging and reviewing books at: http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/

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3 comments book review, karen levy, memoir, my father's gardens

Want to contribute to The Muffin?

Want to contribute to The Muffin?

Friday's are "Speak Out!" days. We allow posts from contributors for promotion. If you'd like to submit a post, please make sure that it's about women and writing.

Your post can be about: writing inspiration, balancing family life/parenting with writing, craft of writing fiction/nonfiction, how-tos, tips for author promotion/marketing/social media, book reviews, writing prompts, special opportunities (paying markets for writers), publishing industry news/gossip, and anything you think our readers will love.

Please make sure that there is take-away value to our readers. No press releases please. We're more interested in hearing from our core audience--personal essays and humorous anecdotes are encouraged as well, as long as they provide something useful to our audience--including a good laugh! ;)

How To Submit: Submit your 250 - 500 word post in the body of your email to our blog editor Marcia Peterson: marcia@wow-womenonwriting.com. Please put "Friday Speak Out! Submission" in your subject line. Upon acceptance, we will ask for your bio, links, bio photo, and any other pics to illustrate the article. We look forward to hearing from you!

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2 comments Friday Speak Out

Don't Dismiss Your Dislikes

Are you a Longfellow, berets
and roses kind of writer? Or something else?
Photo credit | Elizabeth K Humphrey

I'm a serial NaNoWriMo signer-upper. I don't always compete. Sometimes, like this year, I've yet to put down a word despite all my incredibly good intentions.

I encouraged a friend we'll call Joe to dive in this year. And he encouraged himself. We would motivate each other. Then a deluge of paying work came my way and I've had to bow out. But I am cheering from the sidelines, which takes a lot less time than writing an entire novel in a month.

Recently Joe viewed some videos of people who signed up for NaNoWriMo. Folks were admitting their fears and sharing encouragements and  motivations. A nice enticement for people on the fence to join in the month-long marathon of writing a draft of a novel in 30 days. But for my sexagenarian friend, who has been a published writer for decades, the videos had the opposite effect.

Why?

Because Joe didn't identify with the folks he saw. There wasn't a participating writer he identified with. He wasn't sure he wanted to go the distance with hundreds of thousands of people who didn't fit into his group of writers. Reading and writing is so personal. If you don't like a book after fifty pages, don't you have a pass to move along to something you do like?

Which brings me to my photo. I was trying to think of how to illustrate a writer who I wouldn't necessarily feel a kinship with--would it be someone who recited Longfellow holding a rose and wearing a beret (see photo)? That's not really the type of writer I like. Come to think of it, I've always had difficulty finding ways to describe myself and where I want my writing to fit, until I talk about my dislikes. (Have you ever heard, "I didn't like the character in that book, so I put it down and now I can't pick it back up."

It can seem a negative exercise, but to reach out and try something and then know what you don't like about it (such as, "I don't identify with this kind of writer and don't think I belong here") is essential and constructive for a writer. You should know what you--and your characters--don't like, as much as you know what you do like.

Joe is deciding whether to continue NaNoWriMo at this time. He may continue and just keep his blinders to move forward. Deadlines are a great motivator.

When I have participated in the month-long event, I appreciated the community, but with three kids, a job, and freelancing, I more often than not find that I put into the community what I'd like to. Which is another one of those things I don't like. I'm the kind of writer who likes to participate. If I can't give 100 percent, then I'll sit on the sidelines.

Even on the sidelines this month, I don't think I'll be alone, but I do think I'll learn a lot about what my characters and I like and don't like. I might even try reading some Longfellow and wear a beret.

Elizabeth King Humphrey is a writer and editor living in North Carolina. She recently let her favorite magazine subscription lapse and is simultaneously feeling guilty and incredibly free.

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2 comments Elizabeth King Humphrey, NaNoWriMo

Ready, Aim, Submit!

My daughter's solution to my writing anxiety--chore coupons!

Since this is a place where I feel comfortable coming and “letting it all hang out” (within reason, of course!) today, I’d like to discuss my absolutely paralyzing fear of the submission process.

In the past, I’ve blogged about procrastination and my need for deadlines in order to get anything done. I think that’s what makes the submission process so difficult for me. Unless you are submitting a grant proposal or writing competition with a specific deadline, there really is nothing to push you to submit that service article idea or book query/synopsis.

Some would argue that the passion to succeed and see your own work published should be enough to motivate you, but for me, it just isn’t. It’s gotten even more difficult for me to send out queries since I took on a contract editing job a few years ago. Don’t get me wrong. I love having a steady paycheck that arrives six months out of the year for that bi-monthly magazine, but it does give me the illusion of not needing to prospect quite as much. In reality, I should be prospecting round the clock to meet my financial goals. Another problem is that I let all the little details bog me down. Details like:

•  Perfecting the query letter for a national magazine. I fret over sending it to the absolute right editor in order to prevent getting deleted or ending up in a slush pile. I agonize over making sure there aren’t any typos and that I’m sending seasonal article ideas far enough in advance. I worry that I haven’t read six back issues of every magazine I’m querying even though I know that in the interest of efficiency, sometimes that just can’t be done. This past year, I attended a conference for non-fiction writers where a managing editor of a large writing publication told us that he’s accepted queries from writers that had typos in them. As long as the meat of the query piques his interest, he understands that people make mistakes. That eased my anxiety about the process just a little.

• Submitting a book. About three years ago I finished a novel, and still floating on the endorphins of having completed 80,000 words, I dashed off a few queries to about five or six agents. Within two days I had received rejections from all of them. I immediately knew the book must need work if I couldn’t even figure out how to hook an agent with a query letter. I’ve been working on polishing my fiction ever since. I’ve attended conferences and learned more about the industry, what type of query hooks an agent, and how to submit to smaller publishing houses. I researched and created a spreadsheet of agents I wanted to contact. I soon found myself sweating the small details again, like “how do I make sure I submit to the agent this project is the best fit for?” and “how to I find a common interest with this agent without sounding cheesy?” Finally, I powered through my anxiety and sent out those first few queries, and I think the process will get easier as time goes on.

Do you have any neuroses or fears when it comes to the submission process?

Renee Roberson is an award-winning freelance writer and editor who blogs at Renee’s Pages.

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3 comments finding an agent, query letters, Renee Roberson, submission process, writing advice, writing anxiety

2013 Spring Flash Fiction Contest Runner-Up, Jayne Martin

Today we have Jayne Martin with us who placed in our 2013 Spring Flash Fiction contest for her heartfelt story, Finders, Keepers. If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, click on the story title then come back here to ‘meet’ Jayne. Trust me, she has some wonderful insight for you.

Jayne Martin is a TV-movie writer whose credits include “Big Spender” for Animal Planet and “A Child Too Many,” “Cradle of Conspiracy” and “Deceived By Trust” for Lifetime. She lives in Santa Ynez, California, where she rides horses, consumes copious amounts of great local wines and shares her view of the world on her blog, “injaynesworld – where nothing is sacred.” Her book of humor essays, “Suitable for Giving: A Collection of Wit with A Side of Wry,” is available in paperback and digital formats through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords.

WOW: Welcome to The Muffin, Jayne. Congratulations on placing in our 2013 Spring Flash Fiction contest. Let’s begin by having you share a little about yourself with WOW readers.

JAYNE: My mother was not big on setting rules and I was not big on adhering to those she did set. Consequently, I never learned to take “no” for an answer. Much like the proverbial bull in a china shop (and, coincidentally, born under that sign) when I want something I rarely let anything get in my way. As it turns out, this trait served me well in life, especially in my professional life as a screenwriter. It took a good decade to reach a point where I could support myself writing movies for television and I credit tenacity even more than talent for my success.

My two greatest passions are writing and horses and when I’m not at my laptop you’ll likely find me astride the current love of my life, a large black Thoroughbred named Levi. I live in a rural valley just north of Santa Barbara, California. My tiny cottage sits high on a hilltop in the airspace of eagles where I’m frequently visited by deer, coyotes, neighboring cows and horses, the occasional tarantula, and best of all, hummingbirds, which symbolize creative energy to me. I even have a tattoo of a hummingbird on my right shoulder. The valley is also one of the best wine-producing areas in the world, giving way to my motto: “It’s always cocktail hour somewhere.”


WOW: It sounds absolutely beautiful where you live, even with the tarantulas. You have quite an eclectic writing background covering everything from short story writing to screenplays. Please share your writing background with us. Do you have a favorite area you enjoy most?

JAYNE: I started writing for television in 1977. My breakthrough script was “A Child Too Many,” a TV-movie for NBC about a surrogate birth arrangement gone awry, and so began a 25-year career writing movies-for-television. “Big Spender,” the true story of a horse rescue program at a prison in upstate New York, written for Animal Planet, can still be rented on Netflix or purchased on Amazon.

In 2009, I founded my blog “injaynesworld-where nothing is sacred” and that gave me the freedom to explore other aspects of writing: humor, creative non-fiction and, most recently, the world of flash fiction. My collection of humor essays, “Suitable for Giving; A Collection of Wit with a Side of Wry,” is available in paperback and digital formats, and I was excited to receive a personal note from the iconic movie star, Kirk Douglas, telling me that he found a laugh on every page. Please buy it. I have a cat, a dog, and a horse to feed.

Currently, I’m putting together a collection of micro-fiction for those with the attention span of a gnat.

WOW: Holy cow! What a thrill that must have been to receive kudos for your work from Kirk Douglas! Good for you. Now, as I mentioned earlier, your heart-tugging story, Finders, Keepers, placed in our spring Flash Fiction contest. I actually needed Kleenex after reading it the first time. LOL! Please share with us the inspiration for this beautiful story and how it came to be.

JAYNE: I was intrigued by the concept of someone who finds something belonging to another and has no intention of giving it back, and began to play with motivations for such behavior. In the case of my character, Charlene, she felt that the love of her life, Richard, had been stolen from her and thus justified in taking back that small part of him – the locket he’d given to Lauren. The theme of unrequited love, while timeworn, will always be topical. I don’t know of anyone who can’t relate to it. In this story, it enabled readers to empathize with Charlene, even though she did something so unkind.


WOW: Exactly. It was very well written. We’d be very interested in hearing how you get down to writing. Do you have a set routine, or do you just write when an idea hits you?

JAYNE: I saw a cartoon once of a writer sitting at his computer and a “muse” standing behind him with a gun in her hand pointed at his back. I can relate to that guy. I prefer writing first thing in the morning and when I’m into a project that works great. However, on the many, many days when an idea is ‘not hitting me,’ I sit and agonize. I’m very big on writing from prompts, which seem to always ignite something – not always something great, but something. The truth is 99% of writing is just showing up.

WOW: You and I write from the same place. Much of my own work stems from a picture or experience. Thank you for sharing that. Do you have any pearls of wisdom for our contest hopefuls out there?

JAYNE: Those who succeed in life aren’t necessarily the best or the brightest. They’re the ones who never gave up.

WOW: Wonderful pearls, Jayne, thank you. Good luck with your future works and, hopefully, we’ll read you again soon.

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