What Advice Would You Give to a Younger You About The Writing Life?

What advice would you give to a younger you or someone who wants to be a writer? Here are my thoughts.

1. Don’t give up. If you want to be published, be persistent.

2. Work on your craft. You get better by writing and revising your drafts.

3. Stick with it. See a project through to a good solid draft.

4. Find a group of like-minded people. You need the support and guidance from other authors.

5. Don’t take yourself too seriously.

6. Learn from criticism, but don’t dwell on it. A bad review shouldn’t send you into a tail spin.

7. You are not in competition with other authors. You need to work to improve your skills.

8. Help others when you can.

9. Learn how to say no nicely. People will ask a lot of you. If you take on everything, you’ll stress yourself out.

10. Guard your writing time. Schedule it if you have to.

11. Find a good critique group or writing partner. You need a sounding board to read your drafts and to provide constructive feedback. Make sure everyone contributes.

12. Celebrate other’s successes. And celebrate your own. Writing is hard work.

Who is Your Target Audience? Analytics Tips for Authors

Who is your target audience? When I started writing my answer was, "Everyone who likes mysteries." That is a broad category. To be effective and to know your audience, you need to narrow that down a bit. You need data to see who your primary readers/followers are. And you can glean that information from your social media platforms. All of these bits of information will help you put together a picture of your readers and their likes. 

How do you know who's interested in your type of book? You can use analytics and demographics from your followers.

Facebook - The amount of analytics you have access to on Facebook depends on the number of followers you have. Every time you reach a follower milestone, you'll be able to see more details. On your author page, click Insights. You will see information about page views and page likes. You can click on any of the information for more details like age, gender, and city/country of origin. This information helps you to target readers in certain age or gender groups.

Click on the Posts link to see how well your posts do. You can see the number of interactions, time of day when people visit your site, and which posts get the most/least attention. This will help you if you decide to do Facebook ads or boosts. This information helps you target the right groups and times for posts/ads.

Twitter - Twitter also has an Analytics link. There is a dashboard that will show you your top followers, top tweet, and number of follower mentions. If you click on the Follower Dashboard, you can see high level interests, occupations, buying styles, gender, and household income of your followers. It will also show you the top language. This gives you insight into who is following you and what type of tweets get the most attention.

Your Blog/Website - Check the analytics on your website. I get numbers on visits and comments. I also get yearly, monthly, weekly, or daily data about popular posts, who's visiting, what browser they use, and what country they are in. If you know when people visit your site, you can target posts on other platforms to drive traffic to your site. I get a lot of overnight visits when I'm sleeping. I use an app to schedule tweets in the early morning hours.

Goodreads - Use the information on your Goodreads author dashboard to view your followers. Each of your books has a wealth of statistics on the page. Also there is a link (far right) for See Top Shelves. This shows you who has saved your book and what keywords they used to find you. This is helpful if you're trying to build your keyword lists or to see how others view your book.

This is like an Easter egg hunt. Each site gives you different information that is often platform specific. But if you look at it holistically, you will get a better picture of your average reader. Mine is female between the ages of 35 and 65 from the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. It can also help when planning your marketing campaigns. 

Best wishes with your writing and book marketing efforts. There are no hard and fast methods that work every single time, but your data will help you make decisions and provide you information on who's visiting your social media platforms.

Book Promotion Tips for Authors - What I Learned at JRW's The Writing Show

Recently, I attended James River Writer's "The Writing Show." The topic was Discoverability: Beyond Social Media with Sarah Lapallo Beck, Angela Dominguez, and Ellen Whitfield. Here are some of the things I learned about book and author promotion.

1. Being an author is a job, and you need to be professional.
2. You need a unified presence (e.g. website, give-aways, blog, social media sites, etc.)
3. Always do your research on agents, publishing firms, and those you hire to assist you with your book.
4. Networking is key for authors. Go to conferences, book events, and join writers' groups.
5. Newsletter swaps are a great (low cost) way to expand your audience. Find another author who does a newsletter, and be a guest or do a take-over of his/her newsletter. When you share, you introduce your book to new readers.
6. We almost always think about editing and proofreading our work. Sometimes, we forget about our marketing materials and website. Make sure that your materials are as polished as they can be.
7. As an author, you need a press or media kit.
8. Make sure that you have a professional author photo (no selfies).
9. Blog tours are a great way to get the word out about your book and you as an author.
10. Make sure you have an elevator pitch for your book. Write it out and practice it. It needs to be a few sentences with a hook. Your goal is to create a connection and for people to want to buy your book. Practice delivering your pitch and find others who will critique it for you. 
11. Look at your promotional materials and social media sites.Find ways you can improve.
12. If you're sending out advance reader copies (ARCs) for reviews, and they're ebooks, you may want to explore companies like NetGalley and BookFunnel.

Why Collaborators Need a Style Guide - Advice for Writers

Years ago, I hired a technical writer at my day gig, and we quickly realized we needed a style guide to define how we do certain things. We had a division called Multifamily, and the title appeared as "Multifamily," "MultiFamily," "Multi-family," and "multi-family" in our technical manuals. Consistency was important, so we created some definitions of how things were going to be used. 

I use the Chicago Manual of Style as my reference guide, but others prefer the AP or the MLA guides. 

If you're creating a collaborative work such as an anthology or collection of stories, a style guide will save a lot of time and headaches during editing. It will also stop a lot of arguments about who is right and who isn't. And it's also a good idea if you give the contributors the guide during the writing phase.

Here are examples of things you should include:

• Specify how you want the submissions formatted (e.g. spacing, font type, font size, etc.)
• Decide how you want paragraphs indented. Some folks use the tab key, while others use the margin/first line indent feature on their word processor.
• How are you going to define story or scene breaks? Do you want the author to use symbols (e.g. ###) centered on a line?
• How do you feel about the Oxford or serial comma? (e.g I'm bringing apples, peaches, and grapes to the picnic.) I'm #TeamOxfordComma.
• Define how the dialogue tags or attributes appear. Example:
  • "Go away!" said Fred.
  • "Go away!" Fred said (preferred)
• Italicize names of movies, TV shows, magazines, and books.
• Are you going to use the American or British spelling of words? (e.g. canceled or cancelled)
• Is it T-shirt, t-shirt, tshirt? What about Ok, OK, or Okay? TV, t.v., or tv?
• Use All Right and A Lot. Both are two words.

Start with some standard guidelines and then add ones that are important to the group. Remember that many publishers and editors have their own style guides, so more changes could come in the final editing stages.

I keep a style guide for myself too when I'm writing my novels, so that I am consistent between the books in a series. 

What else would you include in your style guide?

It's Okay to be Choosy!

When I had my first short stories published, I was excited to be a part of every writing and book event that came along. For the first two anthologies, our group did about fifty events a year to promote the books. Some of these events were wildly successful, and others were less than stellar. As I go along my writing journey, I've found it's okay to be selective about the events you attend. Here's what I've learned...

1. Your time is valuable. You need to guard your writing time and ensure that you are writing the next book. 

2. Look at the event. Is it inside or outside? (I sunburn easily!) Look at the logistics. Do you have to bring your own tent and table? Look at the schedule. When do you have to be there and how long are you expected to stay?

3. Is this the first time for the event? It's exciting to be a part of an inaugural event. Just make sure the host publicizes the event. It's fun to be on the cutting edge, but keep in mind that there my be some snags since this is the first time for everyone.

4. Is there a cost to participate? Make sure that the spend can be covered by your sales. I've split a table with other authors before. We shared the cost and the schedules. Book sales are unpredictable. Sometimes, you sell 50 books, and other times, you'll sell 2. The latter is more disappointing if you invested a lot of money in the entrance fee.

5. What is your purpose for attending the event? If it is only to sell books, then you need to evaluate your return on your investment of time and money. If you're there to support the library or to network, then sales may not be your first concern. I've given away hundreds of bookmarks at events, and many of those interactions turn into online book sales.

6. Consider the travel, meals, and overnight stays when you budget for an event. 

7. I keep a calendar, so I can look at what I did last year and also see what's on the horizon. I have a little paper one that I carry around with me. And I record everything -- in person events as well as social media ones.

8. It is okay to say no. If you're lucky, you'll be approached to participate in a lot of events. If you have a conflict (and you're interested), ask the organizers to keep you on the list for next year. Your time is valuable, and you need to consider how much time will be needed to prepare for a panel, workshop, or class.

9. How are books sold at the event? Is there a book seller, or are you responsible for sales? I have some author friends who don't do events where they have to sell books.  Make sure you know the logistics ahead of time. Also if the books are sold on consignment, make sure you know how/when you'll be paid. (And even if there is a book seller, I always have a stack of books in my car. I've been to events where there were book mix ups.)

Don't feel guilty that you turn down events? You need to make the best decision for you, and if you're stressed or too busy, then you're not writing your next book. What else would you add to my list?

How Do You Get Recharged? Tips for Writers

Everybody hits a slump or a block from time to time. Sometimes, there's an awful feeling of being overwhelmed. The key is not stay there or wallow in doubt, despair, or fear. Here are some ideas to get you recharged and back on your writing projects.

1. I go to my monthly critique group meetings. Having a deadline for submitting work to be reviewed helps me keep on track. Plus, I love interacting with talented and creative people. I learn as much from others' critiques as I do from those of my work.

2. I also attend writers' group meetings and events. Many of these have a learning component, and experiencing new things always recharges me. It's also a great way to interact with other writers. I can't say enough about how valuable my writing network is to me. I get ideas, critiques, and support from people who have the same experiences.

3. If it's not feasible to join a group in your area, there are plenty online. I receive a digest of the threads each day. Even though I don't have the time to read and respond to every thread, I do check out interesting topics and keep up with new projects. And it's nice to know that you're not alone in your writing cave.

4. Take some time off and do something interesting or fun. Usually, the break is all I need to get back into writing mode. 

5. Volunteer some of your time. There are so many  groups that appreciate the help. Time away helps you clear your thoughts and get focused.

6. Exercise. Get those endorphins pumping. You'll feel better. (I recently got a stand-up desk at my day gig. It is wonderful. I feel so much better at the end of the day.)

7. I get overwhelmed when I have too many projects going at once, even if they're in different stages. I need to prioritize and focus on the critical tasks. That helps me quell the anxiety and stress.

8. Learn how to say "no" nicely (but firmly). It's hard. There are so many people making requests of you, and you can't do it all. It takes a lot of effort to balance your writing with the rest of your life. I would love to participate in every author or volunteer event that comes along, but sometimes, it's not feasible. Your time is valuable. Guard your writing time.

9. If you don't have a writers group, invite a couple of writers to lunch or coffee. Make time to network and share ideas. Peer groups are important.

How do you recharge? What would you add to my list?

Getting it Together - Organizational Tips for Writers

How do you keep your writing projects organized? When you don't tame the details, chaos takes over (and I end up with way too many sticky notes stuck to my desk).

Writing/Book Details

1. I keep a Word table for each series I write. The first column contains all the characters and locations. Then the other columns represent books in the series. This helps me keep the details about each organized. I can also see if I overuse character names. And I can track which books characters appear in.

2. I create a Word document with blurb, synopsis, book links, and author biography for each book or anthology that I'm a part of. I make sure my website, press kit, and social media sites are updated with the new information. This document becomes my reference when someone wants the ISBN, number of pages, etc. 

3. I also keep a spreadsheet of ideas (e.g. character names, crimes, or cool locations). I can sort by the columns. And I know I have one place to go when I want to look up something. (Before, there were hundreds of sticky notes.)

Emails and Contacts

1. I create a subfolder in my email software for events, promotion, and business. I keep all critical emails in these folders for reference. I also make sure that receipts go immediately to the tax folder.

2. When I get someone's contact information, I write down when and where I met them. I try to transfer phone or business card contacts to my email contact list when I get them. 

3. Back up your email and phone contacts regularly. I'd be lost if I couldn't access them.

Social Media

1. My social media feeds are clogged with all kinds of posts, and I don't always see what I'm interested in. I make friend lists in Facebook and lists in Twitter. This help me to see a customized newsfeed of what I'm looking for.

Prizes and Book Swag

1. I have a section in my storage area for give-aways and swag. You never know when you need a prize or a gift. I can put together a nice swag bag in a matter of minutes.

2. I have notecards with my book covers on one side. I use these when I write thank you notes.

3. I keep a bag packed with pens, bookmarks, and books. It's all ready. I just need to grab it for the next event.

What else would you add to my list?

ROI Can Mean More Than Book Sales

It would really be nice if I could trace all of my author and book activities to book sales. Sometimes, it's very clear that you did a marketing event and had a certain number of sales. But then there are other times that you'll do events and promotions, and it's hard to tell if they had any impact at all. I'd like to suggest that sometimes book marketing can have different types of returns on your investments. I would challenge you as an author to think of your investments of time and money in a broader sense. And here are some examples...

1. I have attended book events where I didn't sell many books, but I made contacts that led to other collaborations, interviews, or paid speaking engagements.

2. Networking is key for writers, and there is value in participating in events where you get to talk to readers and other writers. And if feels good to know that you're not alone in your writing journey.

3. I give everyone I talk to a bookmark or whatever promotional give-away I have (e.g. pens, pencils, etc.). I have seen my ebook sales spike after events. I may not have sold a book when I talked to them face to face, but they bought one later in a format they prefer.

4. I attend library events and speak to school groups to support libraries, teachers, readers, and future writers. I know that at a lot of these events I won't sell books. But sometimes, I'm surprised. I spoke to a high school group once about mysteries, and many of the students brought their copies of the book for me to sign. 

5. The time I spend on social media doesn't transfer to book sales. But I do meet people, share ideas, and build relationships. Your activity on your social media sites also helps with where you appear in search engine results. The more active you and your sites are; the more you appear at the top of searches.

Your time and money are valuable. And it's important to balance your writing life with the other things you have going on. But I challenge you to look for other benefits as you plan your event calendar and your marketing promotions. If you plan everything in terms of how many books you'll sell, you may miss out on some other benefits.