Weekly Progress Check-In

Welcome!  This is the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter's weekly progress check-in.

Did you meet your writing goals last week?  What do you plan to accomplish this week?

(The best prize is achieving your writing goals, but as an extra incentive, we will award gift cards from Powell's bookstore to the chapter member and the non-member who check in for the most weeks in 2012.)

FLEXING YOUR FLEXIBILITY

Current Project: Book #7 of Halo Legacy Series
Status: Almost finished!
Posted by: Genie Gabriel

I've come to think one of the most useful traits for a writer is flexibility. Why? Let's consider:

--Most writers also have a "day job," at least when they start writing. So you write when you can.

--Most writers also have other commitments and roles (spouse, mother, daughter, aunt, friend, pets, volunteer, etc.--you can add to this list). So you juggle your many different roles and hope everything doesn't come crashing down.

--When polishing a story, a critique partner might not like a particular part of your story or, heaven forbid, one of your main characters. Do you revise or feel strongly enough to leave it alone?

--When trying to get published, an agent or editor might not like a particular part of your story and ask for revisions, with still no guarantee of a sale. So do you revise or submit somewhere else?

--After you've sold a manuscript, an editor might request revisions. Do you revise or risk losing the contract? 

--Your cover sucks. Do you request something different or make the best of it?

--Sales are so-so or almost nonexistent. Do you hide in your cave or come up with a different marketing plan?

Yes, it's been a week or so of needing flexibility for me. How about? Are there other instances for you where flexibility has been your friend?

Weekly Progress Check-In

Welcome!  This is the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter's weekly progress check-in.

Did you meet your writing goals last week?  What do you plan to accomplish this week?

(The best prize is achieving your writing goals, but as an extra incentive, we will award gift cards from Powell's bookstore to the chapter member and the non-member who check in for the most weeks in 2012.)

Adventures in Self-Publishing: Building Reader Loyalty Workshop Highlights

Today I'll be talking about my impressions of this workshop from the 2012 RWA National Conference:

17-056 BUILDING READER LOYALTY 

Speakers: Nancy Berland, Sheila English, James Rollins, Barbara Vey, Rebecca York

The speakers were:

Nancy Berland of Nancy Berland Public Relations (bestselling clients like Debbie Macomber)

Sheila English of Circle of Seven Productions (she popularized the book trailer) 

James Rollins, author of bestselling thrillers 

Barbara Vey, book blogger at Publishers Weekly 

Rebecca York, NYT betselling author 

What a line-up! This workshop was packed with information on connecting with readers. I'll try to highlight some of the discussion, but I highly recommend getting the workshop audio on this one as well.

Here are some of their tips, in no particular order:

•First, last, and everything in between: be respectful, kind and interested in all your interactions with readers. Treat readers well and they will be loyal.

•subscribe to Barbara Vey's twitter feed--she's one of the top 10 book bloggers 

•the core of reader loyalty is forming a relationship. Ways to do that: answer your own email; provide a contact button on your web site; make interaction with you easy and fun.

•social media takes time from writing. You have to balance it. You must get the writing done first. The book is most important.

•Rebecca York: only put up positive stuff on social media; make people feel excited about you. Do not engage with negativity. Don't respond to bad reviews or negative people. Stay positive. People are attracted by positive personalities.

•Be consistent in your writing (consistent with your book brand, in other words). Tone, genre should be in keeping with your writing style. Don't write dark and gloomy posts if your books are humorous. Don't get into off-topic areas that clash with your brand.

•Off-topic areas that are consistent with your brand are great, though. For example, if you write cozy mysteries, topics like cooking, gardening, or travel might be of great interest to your readers. Just keep with the same type of topics that your readers will be interested in.

•You have to care about your readers. Connect with them. Don't just push books at them, but talk about common interests and find ways to get them involved. Talk about them, too, not just about yourself. See things through their eyes and ask them questions.

•Consistency builds trust; be consistent in your books and in your social media.

•Readers want to believe you are a wonderful person; don't betray that trust.

•Some people hire assistants to tweet or post for them. No one on this panel liked that idea. It's a kind of lie to the reader, to imply they are getting to know you but you're not even there. It feels forced and false, and betrays that trust you want to build with them.

•Maintain a privacy wall. Don't reveal personal things you want to keep private. Don't talk about your kids or your location in detail if you want that private. Choose your topics wisely. Sharing a recipe is great. Sharing your child's school location is not.

•Remember that if a reader contacts you, they are trying to engage. Welcome them and make them feel happy about that connection. Ask them about themselves; don't always talk about yourself. Ask questions.

•Reader appreciation luncheons (like Debbie Macomber does) are wonderful. Any in-person event is golden. Book festivals, signings.

•Pick some venues. You can't do everything. Website is the basic starting point. (Look at James Rollins' website--apparently it's very well done.) They recommend also doing something more immediate than a website--Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. Something immediate with a lot of interaction.

•Give gifts and prizes. Digital giveaways are good, like a short story or first 3 chapters of a book. Enter to win a book dedication; enter to win a mention in the book (make sure they sign a disclaimer so they don't sue if they hate their namesake character!); enter to name the pet of the hero, etc. These are really fun for readers.

•James Rollins sends bookplates overseas--see his website to see how he does it.

•Asking for volunteers or ambassadors or street teams (whatever you choose to call them) is a great thing for readers. Many love to feel they are helping you succeed. Send them periodic thank yous/excerpts/bookmarks. They are glad to talk up your book, like it on facebook, retweet for you, write reviews, etc. Be appreciative; let them know how much they are helping you.

•Reward loyalty. Make the reader feel special.

Whew. Like I said, I recommend this workshop if you're getting involved with promotion, because it focuses on what's important: connecting with readers and making them feel involved.

Next time, I'll be posting a summary of the book video workshop I attended. Unfortunately that one wasn't taped (probably because it had so many visuals), but it was fabulous and I'll try to gather some coherent thoughts from my notes to share here on October 31st.

Happy writing, everyone!

Barb

http://www.BarbaraCoolLee.com

Weekly Progress Check-In

Welcome!  This is the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter's weekly progress check-in.

Did you meet your writing goals last week?  What do you plan to accomplish this week?

(The best prize is achieving your writing goals, but as an extra incentive, we will award gift cards from Powell's bookstore to the chapter member and the non-member who check in for the most weeks in 2012.)

WRITE FASTER!

Current Project: Halo Legacy Series
Status: writing book #7

Because I'm in deadline mania, writing faster is much on my mind. What helps me write faster? Here are some suggestions:

1. Deadline panic! I'm past my deadline and my publisher is being soooo nice.

2. BICHOK--the old "butt in chair, hands on keyboard" really does work for me. When writing moves to the top of my priority list--well, except for doggies and eating--I produce words.

3. Write every day. This kinda goes along with BICHOK. When the story is fresh in my mind, jumping back into it is much easier.

4. Make sure the research is done. When I have to stop in the middle of a book to do research, it really slows me down. I enjoy research and can become sidetracked easily. That can be very time-consuming.

5. Detailed plotting. I can hear pantsters moaning, but if I know where I'm headed, I get there faster. 

6. Know the craft of writing. Much of what slowed me down in the early years of my writing was I didn't have an intuitive feel for the structure of a novel. Well, that "intuitive feel" was a learned skill for me. I had to write a lot (some say at least a million words) before I knew when I should be introducing new issues and when it's time to wrap up subplots because the black moment is fast approaching.

7. Don't be afraid to "slash and burn." There comes a point in my editing when deleting is my friend. Notes to myself, phrases that make me go "huh?", scenes I love but don't move the story forward--all gotta go!

This is soooo much different than when I first started writing. It took fourteen years from the start of my first book until it was published. Granted, the first book was completely rewritten six or eight times. Also, I drafted several other books while I submitted the first one to publishers. However, this is still a long time. 

There are more ways I use to speed up my writing, but how about you? Do you have techniques that help you write faster?

Weekly Progress Check-In

Welcome!  This is the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter's weekly progress check-in.

Did you meet your writing goals last week?  What do you plan to accomplish this week?

(The best prize is achieving your writing goals, but as an extra incentive, we will award gift cards from Powell's bookstore to the chapter member and the non-member who check in for the most weeks in 2012.)

Adventures in Self-Publishing: Audiobooks Part 2

In my July 25th blog, I discussed creating audiobooks through acx.com, which helps you find narrators who can produce a finished audiobook for you. The audiobooks are then distributed to Audible.com, iTunes and Amazon. 

I dipped my toes in the audiobook water with my first project, Cat's Blood, a vampire short story. In the three months since its release, the audiobook for this short story has earned back only about the cost of producing it. So it's not exactly a barnburner, but it broke even, and I own the audio rights for seven more years, so it might in the end be a bit profitable.

I decided to do a second project, just to see how a full-length book would work.

For this project, The Honeymoon Cottage, the first book in my Pajaro Bay series, I wanted a young woman's voice to match the age and personality of the heroine.

I ending up working with a narrator named Elizabeth Siedt, a younger actress (in fact, I think this may have been her first audiobook project). I went with a newer narrator because the price was a lot more reasonable than the very experienced actor I had hired for my short story. Since you pay by the finished hour, I was able to produce the entire full-length book for about the same cost as the short story.

So, did I learn anything from this second project? 

First, if your book contains any regional terms or foreign words, you'll need to tell your narrator how to pronounce them (think of how someone from outside of Oregon might pronounce Willamette for a good example!). I had several Spanish phrases in my book, and of course the title of the series itself contains a Spanish word, Pajaro (the Spanish word for bird). Many of the auditioning narrators didn't pronounce the words correctly, and I realized how, because of my own background, I hadn't considered the variation in accents and pronunciation in other parts of the country. So I ended up creating a pronunciation guide for narrators. I was able to find a vocabulary lesson online that provided audio of Spanish words, and linked to that. If you are using something more unusual (say, you created a new language for your fantasy world), you might need to record yourself reading those words and upload it. Funny how we don't think about things like that until we hear our own work read aloud.

With that little issue solved, I narrowed down the auditions to a couple of potential narrators. One was an experienced actress from San Francisco. She had a wonderful delivery, but had a bit more mature and soothing voice that wasn't quite what I was looking for. The other was the one I picked. I had several people listen to the samples, and the decision was unanimous to go with Elizabeth Siedt. She captured the tone of the story well, and read in a really appealing way that seemed to fit the young heroine.

The audiobook was released September 19. Surprisingly, it immediately jumped into the top 40 in audible.com's romantic suspense category. It's been selling steadily since release, though I haven't done any real promotion for it. I noticed the majority of buyers were audible.com regulars who used their membership credits to buy the book, so I think they were just stumbling across it.

This project has already, in twelve days, earned back more than its production cost, and appears on its way to becoming quite profitable. I'm now scrambling to get another one produced ASAP, and would love to have my Christmas book available in audiobook form by holiday time.

My second attempt at producing an audiobook appears to have been more successful. It's hard to tell at this point, but I understand some listeners like to read along in the text while they listen, so that may account for a bit of a spike in e-book sales for this title that happened around the same time.

So, as I asked in the first blog, is it worth the bother to produce an audiobook version of your self-published work? In this case it clearly seems to be. I'm already making money on the book, and two of the reviews specifically mentioned wanting more in the series to listen to. So I think this could be a good supplement to my writing income.

Now I just have to scramble to finish my Christmas story and see if I can get it produced before this year's Christmas trees end up in the recycling pile....

Happy writing, everyone!

Barb

Hear a free sample of The Honeymoon Cottage

http://www.BarbaraCoolLee.com

Weekly Progress Check-In

Welcome!  This is the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter's weekly progress check-in.

Did you meet your writing goals last week?  What do you plan to accomplish this week?

(The best prize is achieving your writing goals, but as an extra incentive, we will award gift cards from Powell's bookstore to the chapter member and the non-member who check in for the most weeks in 2012.)

Woops forgot to do this last night!

Current Project: Catching Meara
Status: almost finished (should complete today)

I spent a couple of days yurt camping at Beverly Beach so I'm a little, no quite a bit behind on most everything. We enjoyed wonderful weather but the beach was terribly windy. Took several nice long walks, watched my granddaughter play and learn to ride her hot wheels. I must have had a great time. Even with the long walks, I gained two pounds. 

Tying up all the strangling ends, such as blogs and correspondence them I'm just writing.

This is the lighthouse at Yaquina Head and the setting for The Locket.

Now, back to work!

I'M DOING MY OWN mini-NaNoWriMo

Current Project: Halo Legacy Series
Status: Writing book #7
Posted by: Genie Gabriel

G'day, all!

Here's a video that would have been fun to see when I was writing my book with the doctor heroine the last couple months: . These guys are "A group of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists that create and perform musical medical parodies throughout the United States." Great voices and funny songs. 

(The cover for that book is at left. This is the one several of you helped me choose a title for during the summer. Yes, I went with your suggestion. So thank you!)

Although it's probably good I didn't find this or I could have been side-tracked on the Internet for hours. For me, this is one of the dangers of research. 

Fortunately, my current book doesn't require as much research. I really would like to have a solid draft of this book done by the end of September--that's about 4500 words a day. Doable? Well, my world has narrowed pretty much to writing and meeting the basic needs of my herd of doggies. Other requests are met with a frown and a growl. (From me, not the doggies.) 

Well, except when I receive a link to a fun video from a friend or need to write a blog post. After all, I do need a break from the computer once in a while so I don't become a permanent part of the chair. :) I hope to have good news about the status of my latest book to share at our meeting next Thursday!

Weekly Progress Check-In

Welcome!  This is the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter's weekly progress check-in.

Did you meet your writing goals last week?  What do you plan to accomplish this week?

(The best prize is achieving your writing goals, but as an extra incentive, we will award gift cards from Powell's bookstore to the chapter member and the non-member who check in for the most weeks in 2012.)

Make it Worse!

In Real Life®, I've tried to avoid conflict whenever possible. Personal drama so isn't my thing. Mind you, it doesn't always work, but I think I've been fairly successful in developing positive conflict-avoidance techniques. My life is primarily even-keeled, with only a few big waves now and then, and that's the way I like it.

As a writer, however, my job is to create as much conflict as I can for my characters. To give them seemingly insurmountable obstacles to overcome, and when they conquer those obstacles, throw even harder problems in their paths. Conflict, as they say, keeps readers turning the page.

You see the dichotomy, don't you? How does someone who does her best to avoid conflict in her own life figure out how to create conflict in her writing?

It ain't easy, let me tell you. At least, it hasn't been for me. I think one reason my early stories fizzled out within a few chapters was my inability to create strong conflict, as well as my inability to sustain that conflict. Who wants to read stories where everybody works at getting along and understanding one another? Can you say boring? I knew you could.

Even now, I struggle with writing conflict. In fact, one of the major things I check for during editing is conflict. Right now, as I'm working my way through THE LAZARUS GAMBIT for the third—and hopefully final—time, I have a list of things to watch out for and at the head of that list is this: Make it Worse! I've already strengthened the conflict in several scenes and won't be surprised to rewrite several more.

I wish I could say that I've figured out how to easily inject believable conflict into my stories and no longer have to worry about this impediment to my writing. But the truth is, I doubt that will ever be true. I'll always have to consciously work on conflict, because it doesn't come naturally to me.

How about you? As a writer, do you struggle with conflict, or do you find that aspect of writing easy (and, oh, how I envy you if you do)? As a reader, how do you feel about conflict — does it ever feel like writers are throwing everything but the kitchen sink at characters, or can there never be too much conflict?

Deborah Wright
Twitter: @DeborahBWright
Facebook: Deborah.Wright.Author

Weekly Progress Check-In

Welcome!  This is the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter's weekly progress check-in.

Did you meet your writing goals last week?  What do you plan to accomplish this week?

(The best prize is achieving your writing goals, but as an extra incentive, we will award gift cards from Powell's bookstore to the chapter member and the non-member who check in for the most weeks in 2012.)

More Memories

Current Project: Edits for A Marriage of Inconvenience
Status: Pub date: December 1, 2012

Throughout the life of this chapter, it has struggled to survive. The only time we had enough members to really function well was during Genene's presidency. At that time, I believed we had made it and the chapter would continue to grow. Not really sure what happened. 

If Genene joined the chapter in '92 I must have joined around 1990. I know that I was only a member for a couple of months before I was elected secretary. The members were thrilled to have an eager new author among their ranks.

Before I could blink, I was president. I don't remember how long I held this office. I know it was at least four years. It might have been longer. 

Genene do you remember how long I was president?

Anyway once again, I held the office until I could talk someone else into doing the job. If my memory holds true that person was Michelle Marks. Again, Genene jump in any time.

As a chapter we held a conference every year. We met authors such as Susan Wiggs, Stella Cameron, Robin Hatcher, Lisa Jackson, Catherine Anderson, and so many more...

I would never give up those times. They were so rewarding. I hold them dear to my heart and am so saddened by the end. Although like Genene I understand that it is probably the right decision. I would love to get together with the authors of this chapter from time to time, however, I fear that this will most likely not happen. 

I hope someone with lots of organizational skills can put something together a couple of times a year. 

It's been such a great journey. As tears brim in my eyes, I'm going to quit.
Thank you to all the wonderful people I have met through this chapter.

MEMORIES

Current Project: Halo Legacy Series
Status: Wrapping up book #6
Posted by: Genene Valleau, writing as Genie Gabriel

With the vote at the last meeting to dissolve our chapter, I feel the need to blog about something related to that. I'm just not sure what direction my ramblings will take. 

I joined RWA and the Mid-Willamette Valley chapter in 1992--twenty years ago. I didn't need to think about joining very long. I walked into a group of writers as a visitor and wrote out a check that night. I thought I'd found heaven. 

Over the years, I attended conferences and meetings, frantically taking notes from speakers who were writers--published writers! Oh, the things I learned! And realized I had so much more to learn. 

I found critique partners, entered contests, submitted to editors, became a chapter officer. And became a published author that others looked to for suggestions and answers. 

Over all those years as I was evolving, so was the publishing industry and technology. A number of factors led to the dwindling membership in our chapter. I am sad to see the chapter dissolve, but I also think it was the right decision for this time in our history. 

As we wrap up our business affairs, that sadness is mingled with anticipation that publishing holds many opportunities for good stories with more options coming in the near future. 

I hope to stay in touch with many of our members, and look forward to watching the careers of fellow writers take flight. May you all believe in your dreams and keep writing!

Please visit my Web site at www.GenieGabriel.com

Weekly Progress Check-In

Welcome!  This is the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter's weekly progress check-in.

Did you meet your writing goals last week?  What do you plan to accomplish this week?

(The best prize is achieving your writing goals, but as an extra incentive, we will award gift cards from Powell's bookstore to the chapter member and the non-member who check in for the most weeks in 2012.)

Adventures in Self-Publishing: Copyright

(FYI: All of the following post applies to the issue of copyright for authors within the United States. YMMV)

Here's an aspect of self-publishing I totally overlooked--and I imagine I'm not alone in that.

Copyright.

Yeah. I know. Yawn. But hey, it's worth spending a little time thinking about.

If your work is published by a major publisher, generally they will register copyright for you, but if you self-publish, you need to decide if going through the registration process is something you want to do.

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf has a good explanation of copyright. Your copyright exists from the moment you create the work. That's the law. You don't have to do anything for your work to be copyrighted; it is automatically yours from the moment you create it. That means you may sell it, or give it away. It's yours. Others do not have the right to sell, loan or give away your work without your permission.

So if you already own the copyright, why register it?

For one reason, if you don't register your copyright, it becomes more difficult to prove that your work belongs to you. For example, some authors have received letters from Amazon.com asking for proof the author has the right to publish the book.

If the work was previously published, and the rights have reverted to you, it's generally easy to prove. You can show the letter or contract stating that the rights have reverted to you and the book is yours.

But what if this is original work and you just put it up online for the first time?

Yes, the law says it's yours, but registering your copyright with the United States Copyright Office is a form of protection. It is a legal record of your work, and a legal claim of your rights to that work.

So how do you register copyright? The United States Copyright Office has actually made this remarkably easy for digital authors.

Go to http://www.copyright.gov/eco/

You wil need to create an account with them, which enables you to file copyright claims.

Then you fill out the form online, pay the fee ($35 for online filing), and upload a digital copy of your book.

You will then receive a receipt showing you have applied for copyright registration, and approximately 2.5 months later (according to their site), you will receive your registration certificate.

That's all there is to it. 

Not the most exciting topic, but an important one, so I thought I'd mention it.

(I've been super-busy this week, or I threw this topic out there. Next time I'll get back to reviewing workshops from RWA National.)

Happy writing everyone.

Barb

http://www.BarbaraCoolLee.com

Weekly Progress Check-In

Welcome!  This is the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter's weekly progress check-in.

Did you meet your writing goals last week?  What do you plan to accomplish this week?

(The best prize is achieving your writing goals, but as an extra incentive, we will award gift cards from Powell's bookstore to the chapter member and the non-member who check in for the most weeks in 2012.)

Paris In The Fall (even though this was taken in the summer)

Current Project: Catching Meara
Status: Almost finish with rough draft. 

Paris -- ah -- I must be in need of a vacation!

School is starting for the second year without me. Woo hoo !!!!!!

The forest is closing for weekdays starting the day after Labor Day. (Enchanted Forest) 

My focus will be changing in the next couple of days. I told Genene "Things were going to be slowing down." She kind of laughed at me. I think the terminology was a bit off. The focus will be different but nothing will be slowing down. 

I want to write about characters or plotting or something, but I'm once again in dire need of a topic. So many blogs and not enough topics. I love the marketing blogs. 

Pinterest still befuddles me. (This is a picture I took several years ago) It is beyond me why people would post pictures they want to sell on a site that allows easy copying. There is no place to buy a picture and there are no watermarks. Sigh... I did love using the pinterest pictures. But alas, I have abandoned them.

However,  pinterest is another source to market your books. One can put excerpts, blurbs, loglines and covers on pinterest to promote your book. I'm not sure if Barb (or was it Deb?) covered this in her last blog. She did mention pinterest. I have put most of my covers up and I'm in the process of finding pictures of heroines and heroes that I can put on my boards. It's fun but time consuming. 

(I would be happy to post other authors covers on my boards) 

I've fallen down this last three weeks on a lot of my advertising and I have seen a decrease in sales. Don't know if that is because school is starting and people are returning from vacations or because I haven't been advertising. Food for thought...

I have however, come to the conclusion that constant advertising once place or another is essential.

More ideas, what works and what doesn't are all greatly appreciated.