Writing and Publishing News from

It seems that most people I meet at writers’ group meetings and those I hear from through my blog, my website and SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network), have more reasons why they do not write than hours they put in actually writing. While many of them definitely have legitimate excuses for not writing, even though they say they truly want to, some just can’t seem to pull their lives together enough to write on a regular basis.

When you have to work full-time, devote you days to caretaking a loved one or have preschoolers in the home, you don’t have much time to spend capturing your thoughts on paper, writing your memoir or a how-to book or penning a novel. (However, I certainly know people who do this.) In fact, I work with a few clients who are living full lives AND writing a book.

There are hopeful authors who don’t have regimented and complex lives, yet who still can’t make themselves sit down and write the book that’s in their hearts. Is this you?

Whether you are wildly busy and over-committed; disorganized and lack a schedule; desirous of writing, but can’t seem to get started, there is hope. But you have to really want it and you have to be motivated.

Dedicated, committed writers all have one thing in common. They are all motivated to write. There is something that motivates, drives them, spurs them on. These people write and they actually produce written material even though it is difficult or even inconvenient.

What is the impetus or incentive that prompts some to write? That varies. For some it is the story. They have lived with a story inside long enough and they are ready to get it out. It’s almost a compulsion. Others become addicted to the process of writing. They can’t not write. Not all of these people are self-directed, though. For some of them, just the act of writing is enough. They desire only to create lovely prose or stories without any need to share them. They write in the closet. But others, of course, write primarily to be read. This is their motivation—to be published.

In this economic climate, more and more wannabe writers are becoming writers for the purpose of supplementing their income. The world will be graced with some wonderful, new writings because of it and, at the same time, tainted by many less than literary or even cohesive works.

I’ve learned that just because we want to write, doesn’t mean we have something to say or that we can say it in any sort of meaningful or eloquent way.

If you are new to writing, be sure to seek the right kind of guidance in your pursuit. Sign up for a well-recommended writing course. Join a writers’ critique group and listen carefully to what your peers say. Before deciding to go down the publishing road, study the publishing industry. And hire an editor.

In times like these, editorial assistants, book shepherds, publishing consultants, writing teachers and others are hanging out their shingles, perhaps, for the first time. When you decide it’s time to consult an expert, do your homework.

Check this person’s background.
• Study their websites/brochures to find out what they claim and what they offer.
• Read the testimonials on their website/in their brochures.
• Ask for references and then follow-up with them.
• Offer to pay an editor for a sample edit. (Some editors offer this for free.)

For additional help in the form of books, online courses and articles for hopeful and struggling authors and freelance writers, spend some time at http://www.matilijapress.com

Last night I was the speaker at the Women’s Artistic Network in Simi Valley, California. This is a group who welcomes writers, poets, artists, composers, speakers and journalists to their fold. They meet on the second Monday of the month at 7 p.m. September through June. And their members come from both Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. If you live in these counties, you are artistically inclined in any area of the arts and you desire an encouraging environment of support for your work, contact president, Margaret Brownley at mbrownley@womensartisticnetwork.org. Visit their website at: http://www.womensartisticnetwork.org
Annual dues are only $35.00.

Do you belong to a writers support group or critique group? How’s it going for you? Is it providing the networking opportunities, education and help you envisioned? What would make your experience better?

I can tell you that, while some clubs or organizations lack appropriate leadership or guidance, usually, when the member is less than satisfied it is for one or more of the following reasons:

• The member doesn’t participate to a great enough degree in order to benefit.
• The member has unreasonable expectations.
• The member tends to take more than she gives.

A club or organization is only as strong as its membership. It works best when each member uses his or her voice and when each voice is heard. Where there are discrepancies in members’ goals and visions for the club, sometimes it is necessary to create two entities from the original. Better still, when you are shopping for a club or organization, join one that meets your particular needs. Don’t join a writers group that focuses on education, professional presentations and fund-raising, if your interest is strictly in a critique group. Don’t join a nonfiction critique group if you write only fiction.

I know people who shop constantly for a writers group that suits them. They ask me where they can find a particular type of writers group. Here are my suggestions:

• Ask at your local library.
• Check with your arts council and senior center.
• Watch the calendar section of your local newspaper for writers’ events.
• Do a Google search to locate writers groups in your area.
Attend writers’ events/book fairs and ask other writers about local groups.

But some writers visit other groups and can’t find one that suits them. In this case, why not start your own? How?

• Contact writers that you know.
• Get names of other writers through your local librarian and arts council.
• Plan a meeting and put up flyers inviting other writers.
• Outline your goals for a club at your meeting and see if yours match those of others.

It’s not that hard to locate or to create a suitable writers group. It just takes a desire on your part and a little effort.

Do you have some of your own ideas about starting a writers group or maintaining a membership in one? We would like to hear about it.

I consider The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book like a writers group in paper form. Herein, you can learn, have your questions answered and acquire the resources and information you need in order to successfully write, produce and market your book. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

You have only 4 days to take advantage of the Valentine’s Day offer on Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats. Order your copy by February 14, 2009 and receive a dollar back with each book you order. http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

Do you have a blog or web log? How long have you been blogging? How often do you post something new? Do you add an article every day, once a week, monthly or whenever you feel like it?

What is the purpose of your blog? Is it to sell books, to promote your services or just for fun?

I consider my blog to be a commitment to my audience. After blogging for over 3 years and having posted over 400 blog entries, I figure that many of you are aware of my blog, visit it often for new information and resources and look forward to reading something new practically every day.

But how in the heck does one come up with something new to report, almost every day? That’s a tough one for many. I want to start a cat blog to accompany my new book of cat stories and my webmaster said to me, one day: “After you share all of the stories from Catscapades, then what will you blog about?”

Having come from a background of 35 years writing articles for magazines and newsletters and content for websites, I can’t imagine that being a problem. Think about it: There are, of course, the cat stories that I know about. Other people have great stories to share about their cats. And then there are incidents related to cats—my daughter’s cat once used the toilet all by himself, what about cats who are crazy about certain un-catlike foods or scents, cats with strange habits, cats that snore (is there such a thing as feline sleep apnea?). Cat photography is a subject that many would like to know more about. What about cats with unusual friends, such as dogs, rats, horses or the moose that frequents your backyard? We could explore cats that like water, cats who have found their way back home, cats that travel and then there are a total of around 800 cats who work at libraries and business offices and warehouses. There are famous cats, happy endings for throw-away cats and cats who have experienced something harrowing. Cats have different dispositions, unique ploys to get attention, good and bad manners, and levels of health. How does one properly care for a diabetic cat, a cat that matts easily or one that is obstinate?

There are health issues in cats, emotionally unstable cats, cats with disabilities. The subjects related to cats, or practically any other subject, are endless, as those of you who have been following this blog have discovered about the subject of writing and publishing.

How skilled are you at taking your topic of interest, dissecting it, dividing it, scrambling it, adding to it and creating numerous sub-topics? Could you maintain a blog on your subject of interest for a year or several years? Why don’t you take this on as an assignment this week? Make a list of all possible sub-topics related to your main topic of interest. Then break each of these sub-topics down into numerous themes. Next, choose two of three of these issues or ideas and write a complete 300-600-word mini-article with a beginning, middle and end (introduction to the subject, the meat of the subject and a conclusion). You might be surprised at how easy it is when you know your topic or know how to conduct the necessary research. If you have trouble with this assignment, practice. You’ll get it.

If you want to know more about the process of coming up with ideas to write about, sign up for my online, on-demand article-writing course. http://www.matilijapress.com/courses.htm Order my book, A Writer’s Guide to Magazine Articles. It’s only $6.50. And don’t forget to purchase your copy of Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats. It will make you laugh, cry and go hug your own cat. http://www.matilijapress.com

I get a lot of questions related to the query letter. In fact, one came in from someone yesterday. I’m always happy to see writers and authors taking the query letter seriously. It is a mighty important piece to the publishing puzzle—whether you are seeking a home for an article or a publisher for your book manuscript.

Some random writers, clients and students are seeking an exact template for their query letter. They are crushed when I tell them there is no such animal. Your query letter, while it can certainly follow specific guidelines, must have a personality of its own. It has a job and you must help it to do that job in the most effective and efficient way.

Other writers try to be too creative with their query letters. Sure, you want yours to stand out, but you also want it to be professional, succinct and perfectly clear.

Let’s dissect the query letter. Those of you who are queasy, turn away now. (That’s a little query humor—ha ha.)

1: Address your query letter to the appropriate editor. In this time of complete chaos within the magazine and publishing world, it won’t hurt to call the office and ask who the current acquisitions editor is.

2: Make it clear that this is a query letter. Don’t assume that the editor will know that you are proposing an article or a book project. These companies receive all kinds of mail from all kinds of charities, cranks and so forth.

3: Present your project with clarity. Write it succinctly, but so that someone from Mars would understand what you are presenting.

4: Give some back-up for your story idea. Why would their readers care about this piece or why would this publisher want to consider publishing your book manuscript. Offer statistics or other information to prove its validity.

5: Show why you are the person to write this article/book. What is your background in the subject and as a writer?

6: Ask for what you want. Say, for example, “Please let me know if you are interested,” or “Give me the go-ahead and I will send you the completed manuscript within the week.”

For those of you who are still a bit worried about exactly what to write, use your imagination. Adapt your topic and your personal story and expertise to fit this guide. Don’t look for some sort of exact template. It doesn’t exist. Just put yourself in the editor’s desk chair and the publisher’s head while devising your query letter. What is their bottom line? What will entice them to accept rather than reject your idea? What will make your idea stand above the rest? Well, that’s a whole new blog post, isn’t it?

Let me say that basically the book publisher is interested in high sales figures. Does your book idea truly have a potential to entice a large audience? The magazine publisher wants to sell ads and increase his circulation. What is it about your idea that can help them achieve these goals?

Remember, writing is a craft, but publishing (whether it is books or articles/stories) is a business and you must approach it as such.

If you have additional questions about the query letter or would like to see some query letter examples, order my book today: The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

Do you need something to smile about? Order the ebook version or the print version of my brand new book, Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats. http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

Someone told me the other day that she finds it difficult to write a straight how-to or informational piece. She said, “It’s hard to write instructions.” This woman’s writing has a literary quality to be envied. But she claims that she cannot write in simple terms.

I also know people who think that because they can write fiction or academic material, a how-to should be easy. When they attempt it, however, their writing just isn’t organized and clear. If this describes you, maybe the following tips will help.

1. Rather than writing the how-to or instructional piece from scratch, create an outline. Keep it simple. Start by listing the steps or the points you wish to make.

2. Organize the steps or points logically.

3. Write out how to approach and carry out the steps.

4. Weave the instructions together with connecting words and other useful narrative.

5. Consider any questions that might come out and make sure that you respond to them within your article or instructional booklet.

6. Refine and edit the work. Pretend that you are someone from Mars seeing instructions for making popcorn, for example, for the first time. Make sure that you’ve written your material so that even this alien will understand and can follow the entire process.

Here’s what you want to achieve when writing your how-to or instructional piece:
• The language and sentence structure are simple, making your piece easy to read.
• Readers can easily follow the steps or techniques you have outlined.
• Readers’ questions are answered.

Writing a how-to or instructional piece is not exactly a science, but it does require someone who can visualize the process he is writing about, organize it in his mind and write simple instructions that anyone can understand and follow.

Perhaps you need help structuring your article or booklet. You wonder, should you just make it a “list” piece or narrate with a few bullets. Will you include examples/anecdotes, diagrams or photographs depicting the process?

If you need additional help for writing this type of article or booklet and, perhaps, some fresh ideas, study similar writings. Find articles and books on your topic and see how they are structured. What makes them work or fail?

Are you one of the many writers who are turning to article-writing as a way to make ends meet? You will benefit from reading my book, A Writer’s Guide to Article Writing. You’ll find it among my wide array of books at http://www.matilijapress.com

Writing is a rather self-serving activity, don’t you think? We derive great pleasure from the process of stringing and weaving words together. We thrill at the idea of moving someone to tears or laughter through our writing. We love coming up with new and interesting ways of presenting a thought, dialog or information. And, as writers, we can create material strictly to please ourselves—that is, until we start writing for publication.

Some writers, when they decide to turn their writing into earnings, find a niche—a specific area of interest. Two of my writer friends write almost exclusively for animal and pet publications. Others do only travel writing. There are freelancers who write primarily for the childhood education, gardening or senior markets.

How do they earn enough money to keep writing when they write only on one subject? By using every creative fiber in their being to expand on and rework that subject.

For example, let’s say that you typically write a pet column in a local newspaper, submit regularly to a paying newsletter for dog owners and occasionally contribute to various national pet and animal publications. You could conceivably increase your earnings by doing a little extra research, altering some of your pieces and submitting them to regional, family, environment or senior magazines, for example. Your column piece on local dog parks and how to behave when visiting them could be reworked to fit any community or state publication and several other types of magazines. Your article featuring the dangers of walking your dog in wilderness areas could be altered for any number of regional magazines.

I once wrote a piece for a parenting magazine on how to teach your children responsibility. I sold a similar article called, “How to Teach Your Child Responsibility Through Horse Ownership,” to a horse-related magazine and, “How to Teach Your Child Responsibility Through Owning a Cat,” to a cat magazine. So an article that originally paid around $400, suddenly blossomed into a $800 or $900 paycheck.

I write on a variety of topics. But, over the years, I’ve also submitted hundreds of articles to a niche market. That niche is writing and publishing. I’ve also written over 400 blog entries related to writing and publishing. How can one person come up with so many different ways to present material and insight on a single topic? By knowing the questions.

What does that mean? Well, in order to write for a particular audience, you must know what that audience cares about, needs to know, is interested in, could benefit from and what they are asking. Listen to people. Visit forums and blogs in your area of writing interest. Read newsletters, magazines and books on your topic. Be in constant research mode whether you are surfing the web, watching TV or chatting with someone in the supermarket.

And once you come up with the original article idea and sell it, begin immediately looking for ways to change or expand on it. Here’s another concrete ideas for those of you who find this difficult: I once saw an article in the newspaper about raised gardens for the disabled gardener. My research led me to eventually write several articles on therapy gardens, therapeutic gardening, gardening tools for the handicapped gardener, healing gardens for the ailing and meditation gardens. These articles appeared in family, senior, regional, general, health and walking magazines.

This week, why don’t you work on expanding and altering some of your most promising or popular articles to use in other types of publications. I’d love to hear of your successes.

For additional help, check out my array of books at http://www.matilijapress.com

Among them, you’ll find, A Writer’s Guide to Magazine Articles, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book, The Successful Writer’s Handbook. And, if you love cats and need a warm fuzzy experience, order your copy of Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats.

Have you noticed the little button just to the right toward the end of each of my blog entries? It says “Subscribe To My Feed.” How many of you have subscribed? Do you even know what this means? Well, RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. And when you subscribe at my blog site, updated information from this blog is automatically downloaded to your computer.

As most of you who visit my blog know, I post a new entry almost every day. If you haven’t established a habit of visiting my publishing blog daily—as part of your morning email ritual, for example—this may be the solution. Your subscription to my Feed will bring you the updates rather than you having to remember to go to my blog site to get them.

I’d like to know if any of you are using this Feed and how it is working out for you.

I’d also like to dialog with you about the economy and how this downturn is affecting you as a writer, author or hopeful writer/author. Is it affecting your writing or book promotion? In what way? And here’s the big question, what are you doing about it? What changes are you making in the way that you work, in your expectations, in your short-term goals? Have you gone back to a paying job? Have you lost your paying job and are turning to writing? Are you having difficulty finding your niche in the world of freelance writing? Are having trouble collecting for the work you have done? Have you found a new way to make a few bucks within the writing realm?

What is your demeanor? Your mindset? Are you frightened out of your wits? Or are you secure in your abilities to always come out on top?

Anyone who has been in this business for any length of time has experienced difficult periods because of the economy or maybe other circumstances. If you become ill or otherwise become distracted and stop promoting your services or pitching your articles, for example, your income will suffer. You’ve probably learned this lesson a time or two during your career. And here it is facing you again. But the situation is even more dire.

There’s more competition for the work that you do, people are not as readily spending on services, they are putting off educational opportunities, magazines are not getting the advertising dollars and are either folding or they’re faltering when it comes to paying their contributors, publishers are receiving more projects and investing in fewer. It’s tough. It really is.

So what is your answer? How are you managing during this difficult period? I’d like to hear from you. PLFry620@yahoo.com.

In the meantime, if you need help jumpstarting your writing career, making the right moves that will entice a publisher, coming up with ideas for promoting your book, for example, check out my wide array of books for writers and authors at http://www.matilijapress.com

And if you want to escape for a moment from the reality of life and living and enter into a world of fur and whiskers, order Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats. It’s a sweet read. (Click on the picture of the cat, top row of books, far right.)

I want to give you something to think about as you write your memoir, a true story about your cat or dog, for example, or an account of something you witnessed. While it’s not okay to fabricate to the point that some authors in the news have done recently—to write blatant lies—it is okay to ignore some of the details. In fact, I tell authors that it is sometimes okay not to tell the entire, complete truth. Many times, it’s best that you don’t.

If it is not pertinent to the story whether you used your right hand to open the door or your left, don’t mention it. Give your reader the information he needs in order to visualize the story—to help him to be a part of the story—but not so much detail that he becomes distracted by it.

Maybe, in reality, you had to cross two streets and walk around the other side of a green Honda with a dangling license plate and a child’s car seat inside to reach the dry cleaners where you picked up your linen table cloth for your intimate dinner that night. But is all of this detail necessary to the story you are telling? If not, drop it. Say, instead, that you walked around the corner to the dry cleaners and picked up the linen.

Sometimes keeping to the order of things rudely interrupts a story. Maybe it happened that John came to your door and walked right in. But it may make a better story if he hesitates at the door before knocking and reconsiders what he’s going to say. Instead of writing the true account—that Jayne called the doctor three times before she got an answer—if this isn’t important to the story, just have Jayne dial the phone and speak to the doctor.

In other words, stick to your story, of course, but don’t be so truthful that it hurts your readers.

Computers and Cats
It has been a rough morning computer-wise. I got a message that I have a nasty virus. But that turned out to be some company trying to sell me virus protection. We are running my virus protection program now just to be on the safe side. Then someone emailed me at my website saying that they could not get an email through to my yahoo address.

We certainly become complacent with our computers, don’t we? We get so accustomed to the computer following our every command—on command—that we get frustrated when there is a glitch of any kind.

Sometimes my computer reminds me of my cats. At times, it’s unpredictable, finicky and seems to have a mind of its own. The computer, like a cat, can provide such pleasure. But you never know when it will decide to turn on you. While a cat who may nibble on your favorite house plant, use your garden for a litter box, upchuck a soggy furball in the middle of the night on your route to the bathroom and shed all over your black suit, your computer sometimes freezes up, looses contact with the printer or refuses to perform a simple, much-needed function.

Speaking of cats, I received a call from my sister-in-law yesterday in Idaho telling me how much she is enjoying reading Catscapades, Tales of Ordinary and Extraordinary Cats. She said, “The stories just make me smile. They’re so uplifting. And I’m really getting to know more about you. I love it.”

Others, who have bought copies, are coming back and purchasing additional copies for their cat-lovin’ friends and relatives. Don’t forget that I have a Valentine’s Day special going on. I send you a dollar back for every copy of the print edition of Catscapades that you purchase before February 14, 2009. And what a lovely and sweet Valentine’s Day gift this is for anyone who adores cats and enjoys reading about them.

Order your copy at http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

I am now taking new clients. If you need editorial help (every book manuscript needs an editor) and/or a publishing consultant, contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com.

I am frequently amazed and amused at how some writers shy away from using the period. Does it frighten them? Are they afraid that if they end a sentence, they will lose the essence of their message? On the contrary, the intent in a sentence that goes on and on is much more likely to be lost than the intent in a series of succinct, well-placed and pointed sentences.

Storytelling is a process. You rely on step-by-step momentum in order to develop your story and to carry it. When writing instructions or a self-help piece, you must use logic in presenting your material and present it so that it can be easily assimilated.

One clever little object that helps us to do this is the period. It indicates to the reader, the end of a statement, thought or bit of dialogue, for example. A story without a period, would keep readers from creating a connection to the theme, your characters and the flow of the story. He would get confused quite early on.

Commas cannot take the place of periods, nor can semi-colons or connector words such as “and,” “as,” or “so.” Try to sneak a lot of these guys into your sentences and you’re probably creating run-on sentences that go nowhere and say little.

A run-on sentence, one with more than 26 words max, it’s fragments woven together by commas and connector words, is generally so diluted by the time you finish it, and so confusing and hard to follow, that the meaning is completely lost.

Now that’s a sentence with 42 words. A bit long, don’t you think? It’s not awful, but it could be pared down and made more easily understandable.

When you write your next paragraph, article or letter, examine your sentences. Do you have any that seem terribly long? Do some of them carry on for several lines? Do you think this is okay because you’re sticking to the same topic throughout the entire sentence? Let me answer this by example. Take a look at the following sentence:

“She so wanted to have a child that, with a face flushed with embarrassment, she rushed to the front door of her apartment and, as she grabbed the doorknob with her right hand and opened it wide as she ran out the door and to the apartment next door and began ringing the bell as if she was desperate, which she was because, having a child was her destiny, or at least, she believed this and so did her parents who were pressuring her to have a child, even though she was still in her twenties and unmarried without a job or a future with a man.”

Sure, this sentence focuses on one theme, and it gives the reader some insight into the character’s situation and dilemma. But you’re asking a lot of the reader if you expect him to muddle through this mess of thoughts, facts and actions in one giant bite. Not only does this sentence include some unnecessary aspects (who cares which hand she uses to grab the doorknob?), it is terribly convoluted and downright muddy. Do I actually see writing like this in the course of my editorial work? Yes, I do. How do I handle something like this? I either break it down into reasonable bits and bites or I ask the author to do so. I suggest that she eliminate several instances of “and,” “as,” and “so,” that she write this with more clarity and that she create maybe three or four complete sentences from this one.

Don’t fear or hate the period. It is there to keep you looking good as a writer. The period is your friend. It can help you to get your point across, move or touch your readers and clarify your thoughts and ideas.

For more help with writing, punctuation and self-editing, order your copy of The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book today.
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html