Samhain Publishing

Do you agree that to be productive a writer needs a degree of good health?

Writing stresses the mind and the body. Whether first draft or final edits, the brain is exercised by constant choices and decisions. We must sort through thousands of words each day and make decisions about each. Which ones will stay on the page? How will this word affect the story in its past, its present and its future? Is the pacing spot on or is the pacing lacking? Are my characters acting logically, given their personalities?

The myriad of judgment calls boggles the mind.

Then there’s marketing and administrative work and family. Marketing (including social media and a personal website) can gobble up time and energy if we’re not careful. Today’s writer is under tremendous stress. Lack of energy, a harried feeling can tear at one’s health. Responsibilities can drain energy and leave none for the fun part—writing a novel. Good health can break down if we’re not diligent.

What to do?

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I’m an optimist. Are you?

I inherited that quality from my paternal grandmother. She was always saying, “Every cloud has a silver lining” and “always look on the bright side.” So I do.

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You can take it from me that it’s never to late to follow your dream. I’m a senior citizen and I dreamed of getting an agent. I even wrote it down as one of my goals for the New Year. Last week I signed with Agent Dawn Dowdle of the Blue Ridge Literary Agency.

That doesn’t mean that having the dream is enough. Nor is it easy getting there. I took a lot of baby steps before I got to the end result. Those steps started almost ten years ago.

My first manuscript was finished within a year of early retirement, although I had been writing on it here and there for almost four years. My goal of being published was to supplement my social security and IRA account. I knew that to get the best chance of making money in the business, I needed to sell to NY publishers. To get to NY houses, I most often needed an agent.

Now, the work began. I studied online courses on how to write an eye-catching query letter, how to create a compelling synopsis and how to make my book into a page turner. I needed to show I could meet deadlines and was willing to market my books. I branded myself and my novels around the theme of “courage”. My website designer chose colors of my site and my stationery that matched my personality and I focused the website toward publishers and agents. (When I sold, I had the site redesigned to focus on what readers want.) 

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Have you ever attended a booksellers tradeshow?

I had my first experience with one. My local chapter of the California Writers Club decided to rent a booth at the Northern California Independent Booksellers trade show. The CWC offered exhibit space to eight members on a first-come, first-served basis. I took the plunge and signed up.

The seven other authors and I paid our pro-rated portion of the booth’s rental cost to exhibit our books. The subjects ranged from my medieval romantic suspense novels to children’s stories and an historical narrative of life in pre-World War II Punjab, India. We had been assigned a booth against the far, right wall, straight back from the entrance door and next to the lunch area. We chose our exhibit locations at the booth on a first-come, first-served basis.

We set up our exhibits at the booth on Thursday afternoon, along with a crowd of other exhibitors that mostly consisted of small publishers. Since our local chapter has over a hundred members, that afternoon was the first time some of us got to meet each other and to explain the books we had written and published. For the next two days we got very close indeed as we talked up our wares to the trades how attendees.

Since this was my first experience, I had no idea what was required of me. I found out that, because I had done so many author events, the marketing techniques used for those events transferred to the trade show. There were certain limitations, though. When doing a meet-and-greet at a bookstore, the author is set up at a signing table by the front door and expected to say “hi” to everyone coming into the store. At the trade show, our booth was in the back. We had to wait until attendees walked our way before we could promote.

What did I learn from those two busy and exhausting days?

Foremost, I learned that the location of the booth is important. You want a location with the busiest foot traffic.

Another thing I learned is that it’s good to have other authors with you. Exhibit hours from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. become exhausting. The other authors can promote your books while you take a break. And vice versa.

The last thing I learned is that it’s good to have authors who write in a different genre or time period. You’re not in competition. You’re willing to share tips. For example, when we learned that a bookseller focused on particular books, we’d introduce them to the one of us writing in that category. It’s not possible to speak with everyone who drops by, but this way, word about you and your books goes to those booksellers most interested in your genre. The other authors handed off booksellers who were looking for romance to me. I handed off booksellers who wanted nonfiction or children’s stories to them.

Exhibiting with other authors also cuts down on the booth cost, which can be considerable.

The tradeshow gave me a venue to get my books into smaller bookstores in Northern California and Nevada and to set up over a half dozen author events. In the end, it was worth the expense and exhaustion.

Tell me, have you marketed at a trade show?

What were your experiences?

JoAnn Ainsworth

http://www.joannsmithainsworth.com
Join me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

But I did. And it was terrific.

My brother’s birthday was an occasion for a family reunion. Since I was flying across the country and hadn’t done much book promo on that coast, I decided to stay a month and cold call on bookstores and libraries to bring my two medieval romantic suspense novels to their attention. I started in the northeast side of Pennsylvania, traveled to Wilmington, Delaware, then into New Jersey, and towards the end I traveled over the state line into New York. All along the way, I said hello to family and friends I hadn’t seen in years.

My next goal was to set up talks with reader groups, at libraries and in bookstores. Nine organizations responded that they could accommodate me as speaker within my travel timeslot. One of those that replied was my hometown library. I was offered a signing and talk. Since I had a positive response from the library, I decided to ask to give a talk at the high school and was invited to speak the day before my library talk. Terrific. Bunched like that both talks worked well into my travel commitments.

So it was that soon after my arrival on the east coast I found myself early morning one spring day driving on the northeast extension of the PA turnpike. As I drew closer to my hometown, more and more places looked familiar until I eventually found myself reviewing in my head what happened in a particular town or building one day so long ago.

As I drove the curve of the highway that reveals my hometown nestled in the cleft along the river, memories flooded in from so many years before when I had just graduated my small town high school and had gotten a city job. I had to learn to travel to the city by Trailways bus and to the room I had rented on Roosevelt Avenue by trolley car. Scary adventures for me until the travel became routine.

The main street of town with the county courthouse, bank and hotel looked the same, but the metal diner with its red leather booths each having its own jukebox (with the old-time records of the 40’s and 50’s, not the digital kind) had been torn down. That made me sad since it had been in business the last time I was in town. It was a part of my high school years where we could stop for a fountain coke before walking home from the library farther up Broadway.

I drove past the railroad station where I left to spend summers in Michigan with my relatives and crossed the bridge over the Lehigh River to the east side of town where I grew up and where I would find the high school.

The high school building, situated next to Memorial Park, was as I knew it is, but a modern addition with parking and sports areas was added and is now the school entrance. Instead of graduating 37 like with my class, they now graduate a couple hundred.

It turned out the principle was the nephew of one of my classmates. I was escorted to the media center with its row of computers alongside shelves of books which included my high school yearbook.

Although the three English classes I spoke to were the first young adult talks I’d given about the publishing process, I felt very much at home. I spoke about walking the halls of the older building under the watchful eye of a principal who is long dead and whose name is now on buildings.

After my talks, I continued my nostalgic tour by driving around the east side of town to remember where things were and what had changed. My hometown church still looks the same with red paint and white trim, but it’s now a Masonic Hall. The dirt lot where my brother played baseball is a tended field with bleachers and permanent structures for supplies and a snack bar. The cemetery expanded farther toward the woods and the old dump. Three of my neighbors when growing up still live in town. One was at home and I stopped to chat. My home was bought by a young man who was fixing it up. He and his friends were on the front porch and he invited me in to see what he had done. I told him how things looked in the house and the yard when I was living there.

A nostalgic tour which did my heart good.

At Dimmick Memorial Library the next day, I found that my relatives, who live an hour away, had traveled to hear me talk. Two classmates living in town dropped by to have me sign books for their wives.

This Carnegie style library seemed huge when I was a child. Adult eyes see things differently. It is the original building with dark wood, but no longer with the hushed atmosphere of when I was young. Computers were available to update the 1890’s look.

The children’s section really tugged at my heart strings. My sister and I used to walk with my Aunt Mary to the library twice a month to get stories to read at bedtime.

The main part of my home town is now a tourist spot. After the library talk, I had a NY-priced hamburger in the home of a Civil War general restored to its former glory.

I spent the afternoon walking the Broadway Street shops and seeing the renovations to the American Hotel (now called The Inn). I didn’t see a single person that I knew from when I was growing up.

A more distant perspective from having been away for so many years allowed me to see the beauty of the town in its Appalachian Mountain setting.

So I did go home again. Instead of “former resident” I came as “published author”. That new status may have been the edge that made my visit so rewarding.

http://www.joannsmithainsworth.com. Follow on Twitter and Facebook.

The start of a new decade gives one pause, doesn’t it?

When I look back over the years, the decade seems to be the defining container for major changes in my life: finding an identity away from the family, seeking social contacts, seeking adventure, starting my own family, launching a second career.

Because of these major shifts in life focus, each decade has its own landscape and identity. You can look back at the decades and know how they made you the person you are today.

But what about this new decade? How will this new decade define you – or you define it?

The last decade made me a published author of two medieval romantic suspense novels, MATILDA’S SONG and OUT OF THE DARK. This was the first time in my life I worked without getting a monthly paycheck. Always when I expended effort on a job, I’d know I would receive the reward in a weekly or bi-weekly or monthly paycheck. Not so with writing. It’s an aspect of being an author that’s not much talked about in classes.

We learn a lot about plots and dialog and pacing, but who ever gives a class on how to live for a decade without a salary if you want to do the thing you love?

Along with building a novel, I had to build a viable business structure. That included a credible business plan on how I would target audiences and promote my books. I had to find a bookkeeper and a tax preparer who knew how to set up accounting procedures for writers and who understood our specialized tax provisions.

I was my own employer. All those things done for me in the past, I now had to learn to do.

On top of that, once I did sell I had to market the books. Talk about throwing an introverted author into the cold, cold world.

Fortunately, I had a lot of experience behind the scenes with the public by being a volunteer in my community. Also, authors DO get warned about needing to market. I was able over the years to find excellent online classes to help me brand myself, find my message points, develop my elevator pitch, create a query letter and do live pitches with an agent or editor. With practice, one improves. I can now cold call on booksellers, give a talk to readers groups or be a panelist—and enjoy myself while doing it.

This last decade left me feeling like a newborn colt. I struggled to get my legs under me as a published author. It was a drawn-out, almost decade-long birth. I learned what to do—and what to watch out for—from writers who’d been there and done that. I learned not to totter, but to market with confidence.

So what challenges and opportunities will the new decade bring? It’s an unwritten slate before me as it is for you.

For certainty, I will get better and stronger at those things I’ve learned over the past ten years. But what new opportunities will open up? What will we make of our new decade?

Tell me your plans.

Be sure to visit my website. Join me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

Have you ever gotten to a point in your writing career where your critique partners believe you’re ready to rise to the next level of writing craft, but you’re not so sure?
That’s where I am now. Since Tuesday’s meeting, I’ve been struggling with whether to scrap the considerable work I’ve already done on my western romance novel, POLITE ENEMIES, or continue reworking it for sale. My face-to-face partners say to start again because I’m ready to bring the story to a higher level of craft. My online critique partners say that the story is entertaining and to get it out to readers who are waiting for my next novel.

My bi-monthly critique buddies want me to go back to the step-sheet outline and to rewrite the novel based on the craft level I now possess. On top of that, they say it’s time to take steps into new skill levels like indirect dialogue as a way of differentiating characters, a story world seen only from the point of view character’s eyes and no back story until it needs to be revealed.

Whew!

They have the faith I can do it. I’m not so sure.

To me this new level of craft feels like stepping off a cliff blindfolded. It’s only when I hit bottom that I’ll know whether I’ll bounce back and walk away safe and sound with a powerful story or whether I’ll crash land.

In the end, this crisis is as much about the reader as it is about me as a writer. Would my readers prefer an entertaining tale available now? Or would my readers wait until I learn the craft needed to write a passionate drama of human frailty and re-deeming courage?

As authors and readers, what would you advise? The Ainsworth coat of arms says “courage san peur” (fearless courage). Is this the time to step off the cliff?

JoAnn

http://www.joannsmithainsworth.com

Have you ever found your life going an unexpected direction? That’s exactly what happens to my heroine, Matilda.

In MATILDA’S SONG, the Anglo-Saxon heroine is faced with a dilemma. She either marries a brutal man—who is collecting on a political I.O.U. from the local earl—or she “gets out of town,” leaving behind all she loves — family, friends and village. She chooses to go.

She pretends she can’t become betrothed because she has married her widowed cousin from a village two days’ travel away. This decision cuts off any chance of seeking “the man of her dreams.” If she cheats and the knight discovers she lied about being married, it will be the death of her—literally.

How many times do we find ourselves in a “damned if you do” or “damned if you don’t” situation? All our choices seem to be bad ones, but we have to decide anyway. Life doesn’t stand still. . Each moment, we must make choices on what we want to do with the next moment. Matilda made her choice.

Her saving grace is that she’s an eternal optimist. No matter what, she believes she can build a life that is satisfactory, if not ecstatic. Her optimism saves the day.

Life has unexpected twists and turns. Even the best of plans can fall apart. Still, she kept focused on her heart’s desire of a truly happy life. Eventually what she focused on showed up—even when she was least expecting it. In Matilda’s case, it was a Norman baron.

But the baron brings up a new set of problems and they aren’t the subject of this blog post. You’ll have to read the novel.

If there’s one thing I learned in life, it’s to stay focused and be as positive as possible given the circumstances thrown at you. Life may not work out entirely as planned. But in the end, it usually works out for the best.

My question to you is, “Have you ever found yourself taking a new—and unexpected—path?”

Visit http://www.joannsmithainsworth.com.

I usually don’t think about creativity. I’m a disgustingly practical person—my writing is like a 9-5 job. I get up in the morning, exercise a half hour and start in. I don’t expect—and most often don’t get—writer’s block. When I get stuck, I take a day off and a new path opens up for me.

But these past three days I was on a camping retreat—away from cell phones and the Internet. It gave me time to think about creativity and I learned just where creativity kicks in in my writing.

When editing!

Already built is the structure as an outline, the story question and conflict points, and a roughing out of the dialogue interlaced with setting. The novel by this point has form, but it doesn’t have life.

Editing to me is like creating sculpture. The beauty is found as the excess parts are chipped away.

Life enters the novel during the multiple times I go over the words on each page. It’s where I find that exact combination of words which look good to the eye and ring true to the ear. Editing seeks the hidden, buried life in the draft, exposes it to the light and makes the novel a breathing, pulsating story.

The first novel I breathed life into was MATILDA’S SONG. It took me four years of polishing and re-polishing until I learned enough craft to build a gripping story out of the tribulations of the characters.

I’ve been blessed with finding a creative endeavor that brings me joy. Now, I can produce a novel a year. It’s work that I want to keep doing for the rest of my life.

I found my life purpose. My question to you is: How and when does creativity express itself in your life?

JoAnn Smith Ainsworth
www.joannsmithainsworth.com\reviews.shtml

I learn life lessons from book characters that show courage in the face of adversity. When a heroine gets herself out of hot water, I say to myself, “I should try that.”

My stories are about people going about everyday life. Something slams into them that knocks them of kilter. It could be a scheming person or a physical threat or Mother Nature acting up. Whatever the cause, my heroines must respond. There’s no getting away from it. Just how she’ll respond is something I often don’t know until I start writing the scene.

It’s one of the aspects I like best about writing. I know the crisis I’m going to throw at the heroine, but I don’t always know how she’s going to face it. Will she crumble? Will she fight back? Will she take another direction or turn a blind eye? I know where I want the story to go, but that character might not be the one to take me there.

The answer comes from the heroine herself. Depth is built into her character from the way she interacts throughout the novel. How she reacts to the problem is a natural follow-on to the way her character was forged to that point.

You might think from what I just said that I don’t plan ahead. The opposite is true. Before I write the opening sentence, I create the characters, research the time period, develop my theme, my pitch and my story question, and outline the whole novel. But just like with life, you can plan all you want. It’s not until you’re in the middle of the disaster that you know for sure what you’re going to do to get yourself out.

As readers, we can learn from these literary examples.

I find there are certain themes about courage that my characters discover as they face up to life’s difficulties. They learn that ethics matter, sometimes you have to fight, and rewards come with risk. We learn similar lessons as we face up to life’s challenges. It’s why seeing a character exemplify courage draws me into the story.

Then again, maybe I focus on courage because the Ainsworth family motto on its coat of arms is fearless courage.

JoAnn (http://www.joannsmithainsworth.com/reviews.shtml)
OUT OF THE DARK
(a medieval romance with a touch of paranormal and a lot of suspense)
Twitter JoAnnAinsworth