I\u2019ve been out of the office more than usual in these last four days. Thursday and Friday, I attended the Cat Writer\u2019s Association Conference in Los Angeles and I\u2019ve been hanging out at the Ventura County Writers Weekend since. I spoke on self-publishing in LA and yesterday, I talked to a group of about 30 on the topic of book promotion.<\/p>\n
I have a booth at this event and will return this morning to talk to the Sunday attendees about SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) as well as my books and services. <\/p>\n
It always fascinates me to attend an event with so many first-time authors\u2014most of them in the beginning stages of writing their first book. Just when I think the tremendous surge in new authors is waning, I meet dozens and dozens more. And most of them are entering into the huge publishing arena completely clueless. Thankfully, they are out and about attending conferences and asking questions. <\/p>\n
Some of them don\u2019t like the answers, though. Publishing and book promotion are hard! And most authors are looking for a respite from the intense task of writing their books. There are a whole lot of people devoted to educating authors as to the challenges ahead. And there\u2019s a lot of information for authors if only they would settle down and study it before rushing to publish.<\/p>\n
Next week, as promised, I\u2019m going to change the pace a bit and introduce five novelists. We\u2019re going to find out how they got started writing fiction and how they approach the process of writing fiction. All but one of them are published; one has some bestselling novels. And you might find it interesting that an English teacher in eighth grade flunked her and told her, \u201cDon\u2019t even think about becoming a writer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here are quotes from a couple of the novelists whose interviews I\u2019ll be posting on this blog staring Monday. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe test I use to determine if I have a viable scene? Either it moves my character toward his goal or throws a barrier in his way. If it does neither, I trash it or set it aside for revamping. Now I begin arranging the notes in what feels like a logical order, subject to future change, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fun of writing is the suspense of not knowing what\u2019s going to happen next.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNaming characters is like naming children. It\u2019s an awesome responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Be sure to tune in all next week to learn how other novelists approach their projects. I\u2019ll start with bestselling novelist, Margaret Brownley. Monday, November 5, 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve been out of the office more than usual in these last four days. Thursday and Friday, I attended the Cat Writer\u2019s Association Conference in Los Angeles and I\u2019ve been hanging out at the Ventura County Writers Weekend since. I spoke on self-publishing in LA and yesterday, I talked to a group of about 30 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,5,15],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t