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Suiting Up is Never Enough

1/29/2012

It's one thing to be very good at what you do. It's a whole other thing for others to know how well you do it; and still another whole other thing for them to support you in your endeavor(s). Having a high opinion of your skills only serves to get you out of bed in the morning, but it's not enough to move anyone else. The time to show and prove is always right now. Don't just suit up. Show up and show out.

All writers have a high opinion of our skills, but that's not what gets us read. Writers who claim to only write for themselves are probably full of bunk, and has yet to work through their issues with criticism. If that "writing for myself only" stuff were truly the case, then they would be writing in private journals where no one had access to the words.

Most writers I know want to be read. Some want to make money at it, which means that they want a lot of traffic to their blogs, and they want a lot of readers of their works. If that is the case with you, then work at it constantly.

Work to improve, even though perfection is a complete impossibility. Study others. Interact with others, writers and readers. Listen as much as you talk. Read more than you write. Be more than just a person who knows your words should move the world. Be a person who nudges the world along with your words. Put in the work to improve, then the moving will work itself out.

PREVIOUS POST: Got the Goods? Prove It!

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Got the Goods? Prove It!

1/9/2012

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Stop being shy about what you're selling. Stop it!

Writing a book, creating a blog, and maintaining a website are all great beginnings, great building blocks for your platform. Hooray for product and service awareness, sharing, and support. But the old saying that you can show 'em better than you can tell 'em is especially true nowadays. And nowadays, with all of this great technology at our fingertips, we have no excuse not to show, show, show, and go, go, go!

If we really know that we've got a product or service that's worth someone's time or money, we've got take it to them! When we ask people to come to us, visit our pages, it's like a kind, yet timid invitation to them to stop by our stores, homes, or vendor stands, to sample our wares. But we have to be willing to do more than that. Get up, get out and greet them at the door. Sometimes, you've got to walk down the sidewalk and around the corner.

If you've got the goods, prove it. Show 'em off a little bit. Or a lot.

Stop waiting on somebody to walk through your neighborhood, happen by your house, and look in your direction, as you're hoping they'll stop in. All that, "Maybe they'll visit my website. Maybe they'll read about me. Maybe they'll buy my book. Maybe they'll send a friend," stuff is for the birds. The hell is that about?

AFTER you've laid all the ground work (writing a book, building a site, and creating a blog) is NO time to get lazy or suddenly shy. If all you do to promote your work is blast people with messages about where to find you, and you don't offer them any reason to look for you, then you're going to miss out...waiting.

Building is only the first part of getting folks to come. Let's get out of our comfort zones of blogs and writing groups, where it's safe, and get out there and take it to them!

As always, this is just what I'm learning as I go. Use what works for you, and brain dump the rest.

Take care, all. Happy writing!

PREVIOUS POST: Take Your Writing Seriously, So That Others Will, Too

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Take Your Writing Seriously, So That Others Will, Too.

1/7/2012

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Here is your main take-away from this post:

Serious writers should strive NOT to be junk peddlers.

If you're going to make a business of your writing, do your best to make it worth someone's time and money.

Here are a few things to increase the chances of your writing being well-received.

1. Read more books.
One of my college professors told me that reading expands the vocabulary, improves the attention span, cures laziness, and staves off over all ignorance. So, I guess that makes it a cure all. But if nothing else, the more you read, the better you write. No one wants to read any work that looks like it was written by someone who never read a book...ever. Spend some time in a library and/or a bookstore and just read.

2. Read articles and blogs.
Find useful information and apply it to developing your craft and preparing yourself for publishing, including learning what to look for and what to avoid.
Here is one most excellent blog by the Passive Income Author, Skellie with tons of great insight.
Here is another one from Maria Murnane about the importance of editing.
One more, from Mallary Jean Tenore, speaking with bestselling author, Jennifer Weiner about social networking tools.
And Writer Beware and Preditors and Editors are excellent reference sites for authors looking for publishing options, editors, and agents. Yes, I know "predators" is misspelled, but I'm sure they thought it was a really clever play on words at the time. It's still worth a look.

Speaking of being aware, the publisher, PublishAmerica, has a bad reputation. I do not recommend working with anyone who has so many bad reviews, complaints, and negative publicity; but by all means, do your research, and consider your sources before making any decisions. Remember: Be careful out there. Form your own opinions.
Look around. Read, read, read!

3. Observe other writers and learn from them.
For this, you should be willing to read through some other up-and-coming authors' work, and not just authors whom you already admire. Visit their websites and blogs. Attend author events, workshops, and conferences, if possible. If you can't attend a conference or workshop...you guessed it. Read! Learn what other authors do well, and decide what you want to emulate. Learn what they don't do as well, and decide what you'd like to improve for your own writing platform and future works.

4. Write openly, honestly, and without inhibition.
Yes, this takes work. Writing is personal, and it's hard enough to allow someone else to see your work without the added pressure of someone not "getting" it, and therefore not enjoying it. Take your time to get to this point. You'll be ready to share when you're ready to share. But at some point, you'll need to put fear and inhibition in your back pocket and move. And a lot of it will be painful and scary, but that's what good writing is, in my opinion.

5. Write for readers, not for other writers.
If you're developing a story, a character, or something else in draft form, or if you're writing just to vent or blow off steam about the challenges and lessons of the journey, then it's always a good idea to bounce your thoughts off of other writers. For that, find a good writer's forum, like She Writes. But once you're ready to push forward with a finished work, understand that your audience is different. Most of your reading audience doesn't care about the journey. They just want you to bring the story home. In order for your readers to care about you and your work, and to want to support it, they need to feel connected to you and what you're offering. Write about things that they care about, and they will care about you.

6. Treat your writing like a business.
If you want exposure, and possibly to publish and distribute your work, create and build a presence, online and in real life, and that's more than just spamming people with BCC emails and regularly blasting ads for your book on their Facebook walls. It's lazy, ill-mannered, annoying, and usually ineffective.
Remember: Engage and connect. While your Facebook page is a great place to socialize and network, you'll find that it's not the best place to sell books. Think about it. How many books have you bought from your Facebook friends? How much actual support have you given to a business listed on Facebook, other than "Like" the page? Exactly. All the more reason to get out and about on the Web and broaden your cyber horizons.

7. Create a website, or at least a blog, that's geared toward attracting readers. Take an interest in what interests your readers. Search for and find readers who are actually interested in what you write, i.e., your genre or subject matter.
Don't assume that one person's audience will be drawn to your writing just because you write in the same genre. Put in the work. Research. Pay attention.

8. Compartmentalize.
If you have a personal website, Facebook page, or Twitter profile, consider creating and maintaining a second website or profile that is exclusively for your writing business. And for the love of beans and gravy, please treat your website with care. Check it and update it regularly, especially to catch and correct typos, and to make sure your links work. No one will take you seriously as a writer, editor, publisher, etc., if you don't take the care to maintain your web presence. There are tons of places that you can build free or inexpensive websites, such as Weebly. And believe me when I say that they make it super user-friendly, and still help you put together an attractive, professional site. If you want to invest in a professional to build your site, then okay; but just know that there are some free-of-charge options out there.

9. Keep it professional.
Whatever you do, don't treat your business website like an old MySpace page, with music and graphics bouncing all over the place. It's distracting, especially if it's a song that I know, and too many moving parts and too much noise will make it look (and sound) amateurish. It's all right to be an amateur, as long as you put a professional foot forward. For an occasional sanity check, ask family and friends to look over it and give you feedback. A fresh set of eyes will often catch things that we miss in our own work. I prefer a silent website, but depending on your target audience, music and a few subtle graphics may work for you. Just keep it professional.

Well, that's it for now. As always, this is just what I'm learning as I go. Use what works for you, and brain dump the rest.

Take care, all. Happy Writing!

PREVIOUS POST: Off the Top of My Head

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Off the Top of My Head

1/7/2012

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Considering the things I've learned over the years from reading various blogs and articles, browsing websites, observing the work of other authors and publishers, and my own experiences, I try to take away as much as I can by reading, watching, listening, and remembering. The Internet is full of great advice, lots of free advice for the taking, including this blog. You'll find nothing here that you couldn't find on your own by just browsing, reading and researching.

The only difference is that I'm trying to collect and share the information in one place, sharing as much as possible and hoping to contribute something of value to your journeys. So, for my first post in the Writers Should Know This Blog, I'll share what I can remember off the top of my head.

First things first. Are you serious? By that, I mean, if you're going to be serious about writing, be serious about writing. Be about it. Figure out why you write, and then own it.

Do you write for love of the craft?

Do you write for the sense of validation that you feel when others enjoy and appreciate your words?

Do you write for the hustle and racket you want to make off of it?

Do you write as a hobby? For fun? For cheap therapy?

Whatever your reason, if you're going to expose yourself to the world, it's probably better to know now than later that if you want to be a writer who gets read, you must take the craft seriously, and take yourself, as the saying goes, with a grain of salt. Start developing that thick skin and sense of humor as soon as possible. You'll need them.

Treat your writing like the business it will become. If you don't take your writing seriously, then no one else will, nor should they.

One of my biggest fears as a writer is not being read; or being read and someone thinking my work is garbage, which is decidedly worse, because people remember writers who peddle garbage.

I don't want to be remembered by any reader as a writer or publisher who peddles garbage. The most important reason is because I write for love of the craft, and it would break my heart if I delivered some crap to a reader. Another really important reason is that memories are very long and word of mouth travels really fast when it comes to bad writing. It's a credibility thing.

As writers, we should all want to be credible, unless of course, you're in it for the hustle only. Here's a hint: If you're a get what you can, while you can, from whomever you can kind of writer, then you're not a writer, you're a pissant hustler, who, frankly, has ruined a perfectly good word that was once synonymous with hard work.

We've probably all bought books by writers whose work left something to be desired, some probably even bestselling authors. But the thing is this. Readers may help you get on the bestseller's list once, but your first hit will be your last if the work is not any good.

I know many junk peddlers who have gotten my $10, $20 or $25 supporting their first books, but they'll not get me again. To paraphrase that old saying: You can fool some of the people some of the time, and maybe all of them once, but after that, it's time to move to another hustle. Leave the real writers to do this.

Well, I hope this starter post is helpful, and until next time, maybe it gives you some things to think about.

All of this is just what I'm learning as I go. Use what works for you, and brain dump the rest.

Take care, all. And happy writing!
~Regina. rys

NEXT POST: Take Your Writing Seriously, So That Others Will, Too

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Writers Should Know This is a no frills, learning-as-I-go blog for new writers seeking insight on the writing and publishing journey, and for any readers who may be interested in what we do to get written, published and read.

Suiting Up is Never Enough

Got the Goods? Prove It!

Take Your Writing Seriously, So That Others Will, Too.

Off the Top of My Head

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