Month: February 2016

Want to Be a Successful Writer? Ten Ways to GO PRO!

Well, I certainly feel inspired! “Come on”, I tell myself, “You’re exclusively nursing your new baby, cooking, cleaning, picking up oldest kiddo from track practice, and still working on promoting your first published book, “Forbidden” AS WELL AS writing other books! Congratulations, lady. Keep it up!” *Twitch, twitch* Heh. 🙂

Kristen Lamb's Blog

Image via Drew Coffman courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons Image via Drew Coffman courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons

We have done a lot of talking about FREE! in the past couple of months. And I will continue to boycott Huffington Post , because I believe they’re parasites who’ve helped set this industry-wide trend that writers only need to be paid with “exposure.” Owned by AOL (a.k.a. Verizon) they have the ability to pay, just don’t want to and unless writers start valuing what they do? They won’t pay.

Ever.

Not until we GO PRO.

To catch up on the rant, read No More Literary Booty Calls.

But back to this “valuing what we do.” I feel one of the reasons the arts are particularly vulnerable to plundering is many writers (artists) have a chronic case of low self-esteem.

Yes, society and pop culture are partly to blame.

It seems movies cast only two types of writers—The Starving Hack…

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How to Start Your Own Book Publishing Business

Groovy, baby. Groovy. 🙂

Savvy Writers & e-Books online

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Where to find all these publishing business information – including lots of links:

95% of all authors have to do the marketing for their books – even if they are the “lucky” ones who found a major, traditional publisher. Only celebrities and star-authors, such as James Patterson or Danielle Steel get publicity from their publishers.  The question for authors is now: Why should they sell their manuscripts for a pittance to publishing houses at all, if these publishers are sending out a mass-press-release only and are otherwise not involved in the marketing part? What are they good for?

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Authors are smart and able to start their own publishing business, REAL publishing, not POD and not Vanity Publishing: Finding and getting quotes or referrals for an editor, a book lay-out company or book designer, cover artist, e-book formatting company and a printer is not difficult.

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Does Hillary Clinton know the difference between public education in China, India and the United States?

“In China mandatory education ends at age 15 before senior high school begins—grades 10, 11 and 12 are not mandatory—and millions of mostly rural Chinese students have already left the academic public education system by the end of 6th grade.” Hmmm.

Crazy Normal - the Classroom Exposé

At a recent Town Hall event in South Carolina, audience member John Loveday asked Hillary Clinton a question. He wanted to know if she would support a longer school day or school year to keep up with India and China.

Loveday introduced himself as the principal of a charter school and claimed that his charter school offered 230 instruction days versus the traditional 180 days for public schools.

But there is a BIG difference between offered and actual days children attend class as you will discover, because Karen Wolfe did her homework and learned that Loveday is the principal of a virtual charter school, and that reveals a lot. She wrote about what she learned in a February 25, 2016 post called Joe the Plumber takes on public education.

Virtual charters might be open more days but does that mean students at home on their tablet, desktop, laptop…

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R.I.P. Umberto Eco and Harper Lee

🙂 Learned a lot more about Umberto Eco that I don’t recall from my high school days.

charles french words reading and writing

Harper-lee

https://tr.wikipedia.or

The world lost two of its most important writers today, Friday February 19, 2016: Harper Lee and Umberto Eco.  I offer this small post in remembrance of their brilliance.

Eco,_Umberto-1

https://en.wikipedia.org

Umberto Eco was a renowned professor of semiotics, the study of language and signs, as well as a best-selling novelist, and he died at the age of 84. He is probably best known outside of the academic world for his novel The Name of the Rose and the successful Hollywood film based on it, which  starred Sean Connery.  The book was, on the surface, a medieval murder mystery that was heavily influenced by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his great detective Sherlock Holmes. It was also a multi-layered exploration of the medieval as well as the contemporary world. Eco incorporated a difficult series of puzzles and codes within the text by utilizing his knowledge of semiotics, and his labyrinthine…

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Writers, If You Beta Read, Read Before You Comment

The Clerk

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I was a member of two writer’s groups up until recently. A book by public speaker and writer, Brian Tracy, motivated me to find a writer’s group in order to learn from other writers. That’s not a bad idea at all. But I learned that many fellow writers can’t turn off the competition switch. They will constantly compare their writing to your as they read your writing, or even if they just hear about it. They will snub your story without hearing the whole plot. This is done to protect themselves. To make themselves feel more secure about their work. This behavior reminds me of a story Robert Kiyosaki, Author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, shared about a fellow writer at a conference he went to. He offered her help with marketing. She was an excellent writer, just not a good saleswoman. She had trouble getting her book exposure. Well, she…

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Twitter Tips for Authors

Wonderful, sound advice. Thank you! 🙂

Ask the Agent

 Ok. I admit it. I just don’t get Twitter.  My promotion savvy brother, Ken Ross, advised me when I was becoming an agent, that I should market myself on social media, which means Twitter. So I signed up and waited around for followers. After the first 20 prostitutes tried to contact me, I gave it up. Today we are having a guest blog from Charlotte Ashlock, who is digital editor at Berrett-Koehler Books in Oakland. She likes to tweet and seems to be having more luck at it than I had. Here’s her advice.

Use what you already know

I’ve introduced a lot of beginners to Twitter, and they always have anxiety about how to behave in this new environment.  My answer?  Use the social skills you have been practicing for decades of your life!  Those skills will serve you just as well on Twitter, as they do…

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You Can’t Write That.

You Can’t Write That. Oh really? Just watch. 🙂 The title of this blog post comes from a very tender spot in my life as an author and a Black woman growing up in the USA. Several years ago, I dated a close-minded individual (Who Shall Remain Nameless) told me that I couldn’t write my … Continue reading You Can’t Write That.