An Author's New Years' Resolution

New Year's Resolution: An Author's Plan

New Resolution:
Click the "publish post button on blog", so this will become published at the right time! Okay, I goofed. Now you know I'm only human!


Have you hoped to become an author? Are you working on a second book? Do you have a plan? The most prolific authors that I know are those who are well organized and have a plan.

If you have not considered writing one, today is the day!

Goals for 2010  

Research:

If you are an author, research is your best friend whether you write fiction, non-fiction or poetry. Understanding how to write is half the battle of becoming an author. Having a well researched topic is also important. I remember researching England for a novel based in a country I had not visited. I have folders of information pertaining to the city, history and local delicacies. After my research I felt I had traveled there. Know your topic.

Education:

Do you know the essential steps for writing your book successfully? It takes much more than just placing your words on paper. Well, that does help! If you would like a course that takes you through weekly lessons, assignments and must-have information join my exclusive writer's ecourse here: http://WritingMembership.com You not only receive an ecourse you receive a private email to ask me questions, a writer's membership website full of writing and publishing information, and for a limited time, a free phone consult with me!



Hire a Consultant:

When I began writing my first book I had no where to turn. Writing consultants were not readily available and not at a price I could pay. I asked several of my friends who were published and while well meaning, their advice was spotty at best. Literary consultants come in all shapes, sizes and costs. if you are serious about getting your writing going, quickly this may be an option for you.

Felice to the Rescue: I am a consultant for those who want thirty minutes of my time or longer. It is affordable, email me at felice (at) mediaangels.com and explain your needs. I can design a customized plans depending upon your needs. I have been consulted to rewrite entire manuscripts as well as analyze a publishing company saving one customer thousands of dollars (all after a thirty minute phone call). Don't be fooled by publishing companies that appear to be legitimate publishers but in reality are vanity presses.

Read:


A good author in any genre is one who is widely read, or an expert in their field. I had the pleasure of reading an excellent manuscript by an aspiring author, who happened to be a relative. When I asked her how she was able to write so well, she shared that she had read over 200 books in her chosen genre. That is doing your homework! Her work reflected an understanding of the writing process.

Read good blog posts from authors in your genre, or those who understand the publishing process. Follow blog posts of publishers or agents. Remember to post on those blogs. Get known. I posted regularly on several blogs and when I emailed the person, they remembered my name because of blog post interaction. It helps.

Write:

This is what divides the professional author from those who are aspiring. Authors write. Aspiring authors talk about writing a book. Spend the time daily, or at least three times a week or more getting words down on paper. Schedule and give yourself a deadline. That is the only way I can accomplish my scheduled writing of blog posts, e-course lessons, or my own full length writing projects. 

I did talk about writing, for about ten years. Even after I completed two full length fiction novels, I let the work sit after a few rejection letters. Even though these rejection letters included personalized comments (that is considered close, but not close enough!). Plan. Schedule, and do it!


Become Published:

Whether it is your completed book or not, you can become published. Write articles, write blog posts for your own blog or others. Get your writing known. Having a following on a blog post is a start. If you do not have a blog, it may be better to offer guest blog posts on other blogs. Do you follow any blogs? Make sure you post often, get to know the author, get to know the author's following, and contribute positively. In this way it will not come as a shock to the blog author if, at some point, you offer a literary piece as a guest blogger.


Send out our Manuscript:

As previously mentioned, you need someone to read your work. If you are writing only for yourself you have accomplished your goal. If you are writing for someone else to read your book, you have to get it off your computer and into the hands of someone whose opinion counts. This means someone other than a personal family member (unless that person happens to be a literary consultant!). Ask my daughter, a co-author on the Truth Seekers Mystery SeriesTM, if you want to know what a critique looks like! We received many of them with our first drafts, but that only encouraged the two of us to write better.

Market
Not sure how to begin? Read this blog backwards. Start with some of my earlier posts and you will learn what I call the ten most effective ways to market your book. You will find these techniques work especially well for first time authors, as well as veteran writers.


Start a Page on a Popular Site
Have you heard of Squidoo Lenses or perhaps HubPages? These are two websites and I am sure there are many others that allow you to become published. HubPages is a bit daunting as you are graded on the website based on an algorithm only known to the site creators. I was not happy with my first score so I tried harder the next time. Try you hand on writing with these sites, but don't stop there. In fact I was once tempted to post a HubPage on how so many talented authors were wasting their time putting up HubPages. (You can earn revenue with these services, but for most it's not enough to buy a meal). Why did I try these sites? Because some of those I consult asked me about them and I wanted to learn if there was value. The value I give it is getting your work in print.


Teach a Class
We are not all teachers, I know that, but if you have any ability this may be a way to get others to learn about your books. I have many non-fiction books, which easily lend themselves to teaching. If you can create slide presentations, you can teach a class. If you are interested in monetizing your class, you can here, http://www.ScholarSquare.com.


Do you have any ideas of how to begin this year? If so, please share.

CIA 101: INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUES FROM THE TRENCHES

by Jeanette Windle

Your writing can only breathe reality and authenticity if you know intimately what you’re writing about. Is it true, I am frequently queried, that I have been able to write fiction about counternarcotics operations in Bolivia, guerrilla warfare in Colombia, the Islamic militant threat south of the Rio Grande, or today's Afghanistan with enough authenticity to have government sources demanding to know where I got classified information?

Yes, it is, an interesting tale in itself (bottom line, any place on the planet government intelligence can send an agent to dig around, some missionary or humanitarian worker will already be there and know more than they do). It helps to have lived in six countries and traveled thirty or so. But what if one doesn't have those travel opportunities? How to learn to see, hear, smell, touch, taste and understand a wider world to bring it alive for readers? Here's a few principles I've picked up along the way that can be applied by any writer.

1.    Collect experiences: The wider your base of experiences, the greater variety of situations on which you will be able to write with authority. That doesn't just mean how many places to which you’ve traveled.   My life experiences have allowed me to know jungles, deserts, mountain precipices, hurricanes, earthquakes, drought, fire, cold, heat, thirst, hunger, riots, coups, roadblocks, personal assault, and death--with all the sights and sounds and smells and emotions attached. Much was not pleasant at the time, but all are invaluable to my writing.

2.    Collect contacts:  You don't need to know all things about every subject you want to write about. You just need to know someone who does.  I always have my eyes and ears open for people with expertise and experience in a background where I do not yet have contacts. For  my last novel, Veiled Freedom, set in Afghanistan, I tapped Special Forces, private security contractors, counternarcotics, humanitarian aid workers, embassy personnel, bush pilots, and so many more who have been boots on the ground in Afghanistan.  Nor are they as hard to approach as one might think. But that is a subject for another day.

3.    Collect characters: People are not only your best source of on-the ground intel, but of color for your writing. Along with an interesting profession, I always have my ears pricked up for an interesting life story or just eccentricity of character. Again, the wider the sphere of people with whom you allow yourself to interact, the greater the pool you will have from which to draw characters, whether a jungle chief facing off with a condescending environmentalist (The DMZ), a cartel heir racing around in a red Ferrari (CrossFire), or a supercilious Special Forces sergeant determined to intimidate a female civilian--me! (Veiled Freedom).  And don't avoid the unpleasant ones. My motto as a writer when eccentric, annoying or even nasty people cross one’s path is simple and effective. Don’t get irritated or even. Just write them into your next book!

4.    Immerse yourself in your subject: It isn’t enough to collect interesting experiences and interview people. These must be tied together with thorough research so that you understand the implications of what you have seen and heard. Before I tackle a book set in a new country or political environment, I saturate myself in that place. Histories, biographies, political commentary, regional literature, travelogues, video documentary--I will have easily read 20,000 pages material before I ever pick up a pen or computer keyboard.  Now the people I’ve met, the bits and pieces of what I’ve heard, seen on the news, etc. make sense and I’m ready to write the book.

5.    Use the Internet as the invaluable tool it is: The Internet is an invaluable tool—how much information is out there really is enough to make any law enforcement nervous. Want to make that Colombian guerrilla commander in your pages real? Try reading his actual speeches posted to his website. Want to know the weaknesses of Hanford Nuclear Reservation security? Read studies and blueprints posted by environmentalist groups protesting the place. For every place I write about, I keep a Google Alert set for daily news digests. I follow blogs and travelogues of 'boots on the ground' whose lives and professions mirror the characters I am writing about. 

6.    Combine experiences you do have with thorough research to create a reality you can’t experience: The secret is to develop a wide frame of reference in which to fit your research so that you can describe as vividly as though you’d really been there. ‘A jungle is a jungle is a jungle’. So is a desert.  Whether an earthquake, the bitter cold of a blizzard, the vertigo of a thousand-foot precipice, terror of a mugging, the adrenaline tension of a military roadblock, once you’ve gone through any experience, you can use it in any similar setting on the planet. The secret is to research carefully those details unique to the setting in question. Again, those blogs and travelogues as well as Lonely Planet and other tourism guides can be invaluable.

7.    Have experts read it afterwards: On the other hand, I have often had plot holes caught and details corrected just by having an expert on the subject read it—often details I wouldn’t even know to ask ahead of time. On a recent novel, I had Coast Guard, DEA, counter-narcotics, military intelligence, weapons and nuclear experts, fire marshal, experts, clinical psychologists, former ambassador. That they found only a handful of errors was confirmation that I'd researched well. But I'd have hated for the specs of a certain air battle to have made it into print as I originally wrote it, even if few readers would ever know the difference.

The ultimate compliment for an author is to get fan mail from those who are or have been in the field of which we write that say, "You really get it; I can tell from your writing that you’ve been where we’re at." Fiction or not, that should be our ultimate goal as a writer.