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Right Writing News, September 20, 2012 Issue #54 September 19, 2012 |
| Hello, Welcome to the 54th issue to subscribers of Right Writing News. If you are reading this issue forwarded from someone, be sure and use the link below to get your own free subscription. If you like what you see here, please forward this copy and use this link to subscribe. Table of Contents1) Let's Meet This FallBy W. Terry Whalin 2) Reach Beyond Book Reviews By Sandra Beckwith 3) Devour the Wisdom in This Book By W. Terry Whalin 4) One Place to Find Ideas By W. Terry Whalin 5) 4 Keys to Getting Started With an Online Business By Jimmy D. Brown 6) Learn the Basics By W. Terry Whalin 7) Going Local: the Importance of Local Search By Penny Sansevieri 8) Propel Your Writing To a New Level By W. Terry Whalin Let's Meet This FallBy W. Terry Whalin"What was I thinking?" I wondered when I took a serious look at my schedule for this fall. If I'm honest I can tell you my speaking schedule was not very well planned.People asked me to come to their conferences and events at different times over the last few months. Each time, I looked at the specific dates and if they were available, then I agreed to come to their event. Here's the important step that I missed in this process. I did not look at how the dates fit into my other plans for the month or weeks around that event. My calendar has a feature of being able to look at the entire month at once. If I had looked at the month, I would have noticed the events were stacked close together. With moving and other factors, I've not been traveling out of state to many conferences in recent weeks. That situation is about to radically change. You can see my speaking schedule (follow the link). September 21 and 22, I will be at the Southern Colorado Christian Writers Conference near Durango. I've glanced at their schedule enough to know they will keep me very active for those days. Then I come home for a few days and the next weekend, I'm teaching at the American Christian Writers Conference in Spokane, Washington. I get the next weekend off to spend with my family. In October and November, my schedule grows in intensity. In fact, I will be out speaking five weekends in a row. October 11 and 12th, I will be giving a couple of keynotes at the Breathe Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I've never been to this conference so I'm excited to have this opportunity. October 19th and 20th, I'm at the Fall Conference of the San Diego Christian Writers Guild. It's been several years since I've been to this conference and since I moved in mid-June, I'll be able to drive to it. October 25, 26 and 27, I'll be at Author 101 University in Las Vegas, Nevada. I'm excited to be with other members of the Morgan James team at this terrific event. November 2nd and 3rd, I will be back in Phoenix for the American Christian Writers Conference. November 8, 9 and 10th, I will be in Kansas City for the Heartland of America Christian Writers Conference. Yes, it is a busy time of year for conferences--and I'm excited to have each opportunity. I'm already planning on getting plenty of rest and taking care of myself in terms of exercise and eating right during this intense period of activity. Some of you may read this list of conferences and wonder why I do it. Yes, I can be productive sitting at my computer and not traveling to different conferences. I teach because it is my way to give back to other writers. When I look back at my own writing career, I've gained insight and information from the various instructors at conferences that I've attended. These professionals have built incredible information into my life and experience. Also I've made life-long friends at these events. We exchange business cards and contact information and it's a chance for me to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. At each of these conferences, I will have many one-on-one, face-to-face meetings with individual authors. I'll be listening as they pitch their book and I'll be asking some clarification and prodding questions about their manuscript or book proposal. Because of my role as an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing, I'm actively looking for great nonfiction and fiction books that I can champion to my publication board and help them move into the marketplace. I'm actively searching for new authors and I know I will find some of those authors on the road. For the last few weeks, my suitcases have not received a lot of use. In fact, I've purchased new suitcases since my old ones were badly beat up on the road. Where will we meet this fall? I look forward to it. Do you have a blog? Want your blog to make money? Check out my 65-page risk-free 31-Day Guide to Blogging For Bucks at: http://bit.ly/gtbfb Reach Beyond Book ReviewsBy Sandra BeckwithWhy You Need A Press Release That Announces Your BookI’m so impressed with so many authors promoting
their books in today’s crazy publishing environment. “I was thrilled that the press release generated a 100 percent response rate with the bloggers,” she says, adding that they either reviewed the book or asked Turner to be a guest blogger for the site. 5 ways to use your announcement press release Here are just five of the many ways that successful authors like Turner are using that important book announcement press release in an increasingly competitive marketplace: · They’re sending them to media outlets without review copies, knowing that most media outlets won’t review the book, but might use a short news item if the book’s topic is a good fit for their audience. · Fiction and nonfiction authors alike are supplementing their paid press release distribution with free distribution services so their books get maximum online exposure. · They’re sending them to their local newspapers and radio stations with a note suggesting that the outlets interview them for a “local author releases new book” article or segment. · Like Turner, those scheduling virtual book tours (also known as author blog tours) e-mail their announcement release to bloggers as essential background information. · They’re adding them to their own online press rooms to help with the SEO (search engine optimization) that brings them site visitors. Don’t make these mistakes You’ll get the most mileage from the press release that announces your book if you write one that incorporates the content and format that journalists want and expect. (Some can be kind of cranky about this, so it’s important to follow their “rules” so your press release isn’t deleted immediately.) There are step-by-step instructions in my e-book, Get Your Book in the News: How to Write a Press Release That Announces Your Book, but here are a few common problems to avoid in yours: · Making grammar and spelling mistakes: We all make them, so we have to figure out how to avoid them. I print the release so that I can proofread a hard copy. I also e-mail it to myself before I send it to the press. For some quirky reason, I can see mistakes in the e-mailed version that I miss in the Word version. · Focusing on the author instead of the book. Unless you’re J.K. Rowling or Joan Didion, you want to put the spotlight on the book. · Being too promotional. Your press release should read like a news article, not a magazine ad. Avoid superlatives, exclamation marks, and statements you can’t prove. Finally, make sure you e-mail your book announcement press release to the press the right way (yes, there is a wrong way). Join those authors who have figured it out: Write the best press release for your book that you can, and use it to promote your book as many ways as possible. If your book announcement press release is online, please share the link here so we can learn more about your book! Sandra Beckwith uses her background as an award-winning publicist to teach authors how to promote their books. Subscribe to her free bi-weekly e-newsletter, Build Book Buzz, for tips and advice. Editors and literary agents do not read manuscripts (a surprise to authors). They read book proposals. Learn more at: http://bit.ly/wbkpro Devour the Wisdom in This BookBy W Terry WhalinLife provides us with amazing experiences--some tragic and some joyful. As you go through these experiences, people will say to you, "YOU SHOULD REALLY WRITE A BOOK." Because almost everyone has a computer and keyboard, writers put their fingers on the keyboard and produce manuscripts. In fact, millions of these "books" are circulating inside publishers and agents. I wish each one of them could carefully read and apply the information inside this book.I've got many shelves of how-to-write books which I have carefully read and written about for years. In a matter of a few pages, I knew YOU SHOULD REALLY WRITE A BOOK was a winner and rang with solid information mixed with what every writer needs--the truth about this complicated business of publishing. The key reason for getting this book is highlighted in the subtitle--"How to Write, Sell, and Market Your Memoir." This benefit for you the reader is substantiated on the second page: "People may have told you that the events in your life have been so dramatic that you should really write a book. The challenge, though, is not only how to write the story and make it readable, but how to sell and market it, too. While this book does not aim to give you line-by-line writing, editing, or structural advice, it is designed to show you how to turn your dream of writing a published memoir into a reality, from conceiving the story to selling and marketing it. "Writing," "selling," and ""marketing" are the operative words here. Most people assume that it's best to write a memoir first and then consider how to sell and market it. But these days, that's a counterproductive idea. Working through YOU SHOULD REALLY WRITE A BOOK can make the difference between producing a manuscript written to appeal to friends and relatives versus one that can convince an agent to invest energy and time on your behalf in trying to sell it to an acquisitions editor for publication." This book is full of relevant insight for every writer (and especially writers of memoirs). The contents are divided into three major sections: an overview of the genre, details about the major categories of memoir and finally the publishing business aspects of working with a collaborator and contacting an agent. Through reading this book, I learned the term RU or what the authors call "Relative Unknowns." As the authors explained, "It was designed for RUs, people generally not widely known or recognized outside their own circles. It is especially for those who do not have household names. Our aim is to level the planning field for those who are not super rich, or famous, or powerful. Written to give you a competitive advantage, this book will teach you to think like publishing professionals, so you will know what they will expect of you." (Page 13) This book achieves this purpose. If fit their target audience (Relative Unknown), then I hope you will read this book cover to cover--as I did. Keep your yellow highlighter handy because it will call to your attention memoirs that you haven't read but need to and much more. YOU SHOULD REALLY WRITE A BOOK is a title I enjoyed and highly recommend because of the how-to information mixed with personal storytelling and current publishing insights.
One Place to Find IdeasBy W. Terry WhalinOften new writers wonder, “Where do you find good ideas?”The operative word in this sentence is “good.” Years ago, Guideposts contributing editor Elizabeth Sherrill told me, “Writers are swimming in a sea of ideas.” You can take your writing in a million different directions. If you need some ideas in this area, check out the first chapter in my Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. The chapter is FREE so use this link. One of the best places to find good ideas is through focused reading. You can read magazine articles or books or the newspaper. Through the reading process, you can just absorb information and not come up with a single idea for your writing. Or you can take a more focused approach and ask questions like: —Where would you like for your writing to appear? —Who is the audience that reads that type of writing? —Can I write what this audience is wanting to read? With some answers to these questions, your reading can be more productive. I would encourage you to keep a notebook with your ideas. As you read newspaper articles and think about what you want to write, cut out the clippings and tuck them into your notebook. It will only take a minute but these clippings can stir your writing. Now that you have a list of ideas, what are you doing to take action on them? —Are you creating book ideas into a proposal format and properly pitching them to agents or editors? —Are you writing short query letters and getting them out to magazine editors and getting assignments? —Are you writing full length magazine articles and sending them to editors on speculation that they will be a perfect fit for the magazine and get published? These questions are not mutually exclusive. You can take the same idea and write a magazine article and a book pitch from it. There are several keys: focus on a particular market and audience. You need to understand the potential reader and write with that reader in mind. Then move on your ideas and pitch them to a specific professional. Here's the wrong way to begin your pitch—and I received one of these pitches this morning: “To Whom it May Concern: I am writing in regards to gaining information and feedback on my story. At this point, I am not an established writer, or even a writer for that matter. I simply have an amazing life story to tell.” Yes, I've actually quoted this email—but what followed was pages and pages of cathartic rambling writing—not for any target—just a cry for help. I don't know how many of these emails this author fired into her email (maybe a few or maybe many of them). I expect most people hit the button to throw it into the trash without giving it a second thought. Many of my editor and agent friends receive hundreds of these pitches each day. I could have ignored this email too—but I did not. I wrote the author and asked who was the target audience and was it a magazine article or a book pitch or what—and encouraged the author with several free resources that I've created to help answer those questions. The email in my view was a cry for help. Unfortunately many people are floundering in this situation. This writer claims not to be a writer. If that is the case, this person needs to reach out into the marketplace and find someone to help her. Maybe go to a writer's forum (there are hundreds of them) and ask for help. There is not one path but many different paths (and this is confusing to many people. Each path involves taking specific action. Many people feel overwhelmed with publishing and like they have few opportunities—yet if you look closely at what they are doing, they are not taking action and trying different possibilities. What steps are you taking today to make your reading more focused and targeted? How are you capturing your ideas and taking specific steps to move forward and get those ideas into the marketplace? Book reviews promote your book.Get a FREE special report from Dana Lynn Smith (@bookmarketer). Download the replay at: http://ht.ly/9RjGT 4 Keys To Getting Started WIth An Online BusinessBy Jimmy D. Brown, IMvestments PublisherHave you ever wondered why some people never get their businesses off the ground? You see them on marketing forums for years, yet they're not making any money. They're spinning their wheels.They're completely overwhelmed by all the available information on the market... so they end up not taking any action at all. It's a common affliction - but it doesn't have to happen to you. Avoid spinning your wheels by follow these four keys to starting a business... 1. Choose One Business Model One of the first decisions you need to make is which business model you'll use to pave your path to success. These include models such as affiliate marketing, making and selling your own information products, drop-shipping products on eBay(r) and similar models. So, which one should you choose? Truthfully, it doesn't matter. If you're selecting from a list of proven business models like those listed above (and not some unproven "fad"), then any of them will make money for you. As such, the one you choose depends on your likes, dislikes and your ability to do the required work. Example: Making and selling your own products is a great model and usually considered one of the most profitable models. However, if you hate doing things like creating products or dealing with customer service issues, then you might not enjoy this model - and thus it won't be profitable for you personally. Point is, choose a model that's a good fit for you. And once you've made your choice, move to the next step... 2. Select One Training Course Just as there are many models to choose from, there are also many gurus and training courses that can teach you about the model. Again, make a list of proven courses and teachers - and then select just one. It should be more than enough to get you on the path to success. Tip: Yes: Later on, you can purchase additional materials to take your business to the next level. But for now, stick with one course. 3. Take Action Now you have a model and you have the training you need to use this model to make money. Your next step is to take action on what you just learned. You might feel overwhelmed when you consider all the work you need to do. Here's a tip: Stop thinking of it as a big project, and instead break it down into easily manageable steps. So instead of thinking, "I need to build a website," instead break this task down into little steps such as choosing a domain name, buying hosting, installing a WordPress blog... and so on. 4. Stick With It Until You See Results One of the reasons many people fail is because they don't stick with their model or training long enough to see results. They see something else bright and shiny, and they abruptly move in a new direction. Example: The person might set up a blog, make a dozen posts and then write ten articles to promote the blog. But before the blog makes even one sale, the marketer decides to drop the blog and try domain name flipping instead. End result: He chases every new idea and never makes a dime from any of them. You can avoid this simply by committing to stick with ONE thing until you see results. Example: If you decide to become an affiliate marketer, then follow your training guide's instructions exactly, and stick with it until you see results. No matter how alluring other models or new products on the market are to you, just keep your eye on your goal. Tip: Set mini milestones and goals for yourself, such as getting so many visitors or so many subscribers. That way you'll see some measurable results early on, which keeps you motivated and focused. Summary The keys to starting a successful business include choosing one model, choosing one training guide, taking action and staying focused. And here's one final key: Start now, because there will never be a better time! ----------------- Jimmy D. Brown is the publisher of IMvestments: How To IMvest in Internet Marketing for a Great ROI, a comprehensive course teaching 7 ways to buy internet marketing related assets and quickly realize significant profitable yields from them. Details at http://bit.ly/P6F1lN Do you love taking photos? Sell those photos if you know the inside tips. Get my 31-Day step-by-step risk-free Guide:http://ht.ly/9F2GH Learn the BasicsBy W. Terry WhalinI've made my fair share of mistakes in the writing business. In my college magazine writing class, we had to write three ten-page magazine articles. I'm certain my professor taught us to research the target audience and the publication BEFORE sending in our submission. I was probably daydreaming or something when that lesson came across since I didn't follow it.Passionate about my new faith, I decided to write for the Christian magazine market. I wrote articles like “A Christian view of Vegetarianism.” I had little understanding of the marketplace and I'm sure my submissions were not targeted properly since they were quickly returned with form rejection slips. About ten years later, I returned to writing for the magazine world and learned the importance of studying the publication and the target market—before sending my article or query letter. Just this basic alone will give you a higher degree of success in your submissions. Format Matters Recently I read a couple of manuscripts before attending a writers conference. Each of these writers had large amounts of passion for their particular topics and it came through loud and clear in their writing. Yet each of these writers had no understanding about the expected format for magazine articles. The format matters and is the basic building block of the article like a brick is the basic building block for a wall. Every writer needs to meet the expectations of the magazine editor. If you don't learn about those expectations and meet them, then your work will not be carefully read and considered. It will instead land in the rejection pile and you will stumble along without without learning why it was rejected. Each of these new writers that I critiqued had not met the basic expectations. Because I've written for over 50 magazines and also been a magazine editor, here's some of these basics: 1. Submit your material in the basic format—and learn that format. The fist bit of information to include at the top of your manuscript is your word count. 2. Magazine editors are looking for publishable material of a certain length. If you haven't included your word count, no editor will count your words. You have to give this information. With this critical information, the editor can glance at your submission and see if you are in the range that is needed. If so, then they keep reading. If not, then it is rejected and they press on to the next submission. 3. Give your name, address, phone number and the rights you are selling t the top of the page where you have to word count. 4. Editors are busy and do not have time to look around for this information. The writer needs to make it easy to access. 5. Double-space your manuscripts with standard margins. Do not change the margins to cram more words on the page. 6. The manuscript that I was reading was spaced at 1.5 instead of double-spaced and the words were at the edge of the paper—on every side of it. It looked like the writer was trying to save paper and what she achieved was producing something that was screaming for rejection. Yet I still read it since I was going to meet with this writer face to face. If your format is uninviting and wrong, then your content will never be considered. If you want to be successful in the magazine world, then follow these guidelines. With an attractive manuscript, the editor can dive into your words and see if they will work for their publication. I continue to be a proponent for writing for different magazines. The short form of writing is one of the best ways for writers to learn and practice their craft. What are you writing today that you can send to an editor for consideration? Is it in the expected format? Going Local: the Importance of Local SearchBy Penny SansevieriGetting found locally used to be pretty easy with phone books and ads in local papers. But most of us don't even have a Yellow Pages in our homes and, instead, turn to our research online or to our phones. Smart phones are driving a lot of that search and according to a recent survey done by ISACA, 58% of consumers who have smart phones use location-based marketing applications despite concerns about safety and personal information. The survey also reports that the use of location-based marketing apps is up one-third from a year ago.In a prior article we looked at the importance of mobile marketing ( http://huff.to/S8FxqG). Now, it's time to focus in on why it's key to grab your local search real estate. If your business does business locally, whether it's through an actual storefront or some other means, you'll really want to optimize your local visibility. Keep in mind that in order to do this, you'll need to make sure that your website is optimized for local search, This means checking to see if your title tags and meta descriptions reflect local text. When we think local, we often think of sites like Yelp which allow consumers to review local businesses. Reviews are great but often need to be encouraged. Adding buttons to your website to encourage customers to review your business is also great. A local dog groomer near me encourages reviews on Yelp by offering $5 off their next grooming visit. Another idea is to get to know your local bloggers and businesses and see if you can get them to link to you from their pages. You might have to return the favor but it'll be worth it. Especially if they are established sites and bloggers, this will really help to enhance your local visibility. I spoke with Susan Gilbert of Online Promotion Success ( http://www.onlinepromotionsuccess.com/) about local search, which is one of the specialties her company offers: What is local search? Local search is when someone 'searches' the Internet for a local business or service. It wasn't so many years ago that we would have reached for the Yellow Pages phone book - but today, we let our fingers do the walking across our keyboards and mobile devices and search online. A search that includes a location modifier, such as "Seattle" or "zip code," is an explicit local search. Examples of local searches include "pest control 98029," "Seattle restaurants," "doggy daycare San Diego" and "emergency plumber San Diego." Local searches exhibit local intent and often times will produce listings with a corresponding map especially on Google. Can you talk to us about Google Places? As with much of online promotion, Google rules. Google is aggressively marketing against Facebook right now and offers local businesses a leg up on the competition. Google provided every business owner with their own Google website called Google Places several years ago. Many local business owners aren't even aware of this and didn't claim their Places Page. The Places Page is a static page, not to be confused with a business website - but important to claim and integrate with a business website. Google determines local search order and ranking results by looking at 3 factors: - Relevance - Prominence - Distance If you were to search "dry cleaners in Brooklyn," here's how Google will determine the results they will deliver: - Relevance: You will only be offered dry cleaners and not unrelated business like coffee shops. - Prominence: You will be offered the most prominent which is determined by the best choices based on SEO, Citations, Reviews, etc. - Distance: Google calculates how far each dry cleaner is from Brooklyn and offers you the closest locations. Note: If you don't specify Brooklyn in your search Google will show you dry cleaners based on your general location (as determined by your IP address) Google algorithm changes (Penguin, Panda) - how does that apply to local search? The local pages I mentioned recently changed from Google Places to Google + Local which is really an extension of Google+. Google forced 150M businesses that had a Google Places page to Google+ Local (called Google Search) to compete with Facebook. Note the incorporation of "Google +" and the new local listing tabs for local businesses can be found underneath the "Circles button" in the social site of Google+. Click on the icon that says "Local" to view more. Mixed terminology is still in use - it's sometimes called Google Places and other times Google Search. If you open up a search window in Google, look at the options on the left starting with Web > Images > Maps> etc. Click on More and you will see Places. The red push pins are Google Place listings. However, if you open a Google Place listing, it now turns into a Google + account. Here are some of the changes Google made: - Google Places were a static one page listing with address, telephone number, website, and reviews. - The new Google Local pages are dynamic and interactive with things like Write a Review; and, is within a Google + page now. As people begin to Search more from within their Google + accounts, it becomes all the more important for a business to have a Google Local page. What are Citations? Citations are the highly ranked and individually searched listings like Yelp, Merchant Circle, etc. Other factors being equal, businesses with a greater number of citations will probably rank higher than businesses with fewer citations. Every local business should have a listing with many different citations like Merchant Circle, Superpages, etc. making sure that their NAP: name, address, phone number - are exactly the same across all online properties. If you operate a business but do so out of your home, you cannot use a PO Box, or UPS address. Google wants to list local businesses, not work from home business. If you don't mind listing your home address, then that works fine. Google doesn't care if the business is in your home. But if you don't want people arriving at your front door, you can get around this by renting a virtual office space where you receive your mail or piggy backing onto a similar business and paying them a rental fee so that you can use their mailing address. There are also business specific Citations like Healthgrades for medical and AVVO for lawyers and Foursquare for retail. The searches for local are staggering, aren't they? Can you speak to this? Today there are well over 10 billion unique searches done each month, and that's just in the United States! Of those searches: * 30% of queries have Local intent * 30% of all searches contain a city, state, or zip * 82% of local searches result in an offline action * 50% of offline brick and mortar purchases are preceded by an online search * There are over 53 million smart phones in the US * Mobile Internet traffic is exploding, double-digit monthly growth * Smart phones pull data from local listings The combination of traditional SEO (search engine optimization) combined with local listings and citations will bring new and continued customers to local businesses. Can you explain how reviews are key to local promotion? Did you know that 92% of Internet users read product reviews? Reputation management, or the monitoring of and acquisition of good reviews are critical for a local business to get their phone ringing with new clients. Think about it - would you call a plumber who had 3 low reviews versus someone who had all great reviews? However, the recent changes to Google have left many business owners feeling bewildered. For instance, did you know that in order for a customer to leave a review for a business on their Google + Local page, they must now own a Google account? This means that in some cases local businesses must create a Google account before even beginning the review acquisition process and the same holds true for clients that want to leave positive or negative feedback about their experience with a business. Google purchased Zagat last year, and is now following their 0-3 scale rather than the more typical and prior used 5 star system. A business must have at least 10 Google user reviews before Zagat will score it; and then it ranks that business with a 0-30 scale. Whew! - how much more confusing can Google make it? Reviews are available on all the citation sites. Besides being listed on citations, you want to consider how people use these citations when determining who they will do business with. Let's use Yelp as an example. You search for dog groomers + your location. Three have great reviews, the fourth bad reviews. As a potential customer, which one(s) will you call? What is Map Maker? Google Map Maker is the replacement for My Maps. It first was released in August of 2008 targeting the Third World (specifically Africa), and has since then spread to 183 countries. As of April 2011, it has completely replaced Google MyMaps and is the dominant Mapping facility from Google. The primary difference between the MyMaps technology and Map Maker is that Google Map Maker has gained regulation. Now, a human will review new Maps to "review" for quality and to avoid abuse by people attempting to game the local rankings. The review process includes internal employees as well as a peer-to-peer process. The more experience you get, the more "trust" you will have with Map Maker. This is similar to Wikipedia. Here are some other thoughts on local promotion: * Do you blog and, more specifically, do you blog about local interests? You can also optimize your posts with local references as well as tags and keywords. * Are you listed in local directories such as YellowPages and SuperPages? Check out GetListed.org if you want to see how your business is coming up in local search. This site will also tell you where you should be listed. * If you're ready to dig into local, check out this listing from HubSpot on the top 50 business directories for local search: http://bit.ly/QDAxGc Be sure your social media pages are optimized for local as well. Sometimes just adding a local to status updates, Tweets, and your "About" page can be really helpful. In other cases, like Twitter, you can take advantage of local tools such as these to find local people: * Nearbytweets.com * Twitterholic.com * TwitterLocal.net * Twellowhood (twellow.com/twellowhood) Local promotion can be incredibly beneficial so if you haven't started reaching out to your local market, give it a try. I think you'll find a wealth of new business right in your own back yard! ABOUT THE AUTHOR Propel Your Writing To a New LevelBy W. Terry WhalinWriting is an isolated discipline. Each of us write alone then fire our submissions off to editors or agents and hope some sees something worthy to be published. Or we give it to our spouse or a friend who will only give praise and not wise advice for improvement.Every writer or would-be writer can profit from the insight and information in THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO WRITERS GROUPS THAT WORK. Author B.J. Taylor knows from many years of personal experience what works. In the opening pages, she writes about her motivation saying, "Out of desperation to keep my passion alive, I started a writers group. The members were all writers, sure, but I thought of them as cheerleaders. They were just what I needed to keep writing, keep submitting, keep doing what I needed to do in order to be published." Whether you are meeting face to face or online Taylor has detailed information about Who, What, when Where and Why. These specifics are for every writer. She says, "In order to be successful at reaching a wide audience, you need to bounce your stories off others first. Your writers group can help you fine-tune your writing so that it hooks an editor from the very first sentence. Your writers group will encourage and motivate you if you're feeling down when you receive that seventh nonacceptance letter in the mail. Your writers group will listen to your second, third, fourth, and even fifth revision of the same article, and will applaud when they feel you've reached the point where it is finally ready to send out."(page 2) If you are stuck with your writing and need a boost, I highly recommend you get THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO WRITERS GROUPS THAT WORK. Then read the book and apply the information to your writing life. It could be your breakthrough moment if you take action. |
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