Category: LDS Publisher

Posts on navigating the LDS publishing world.

You’ve Changed by Tristi Pinkston

Back when I was first published (yes, check out the picture of me … little baby author Tristi) I had one main goal.

You see, when I got my contract, a friend of my mother’s said to me, “I hope you don’t change now that you’re going to be published. An author lives in our ward, and as soon as she got published, she became totally different. She won’t give us the time of day anymore.”

Other people said pretty much the same thing. “I hope that when you’re rich and famous, you’ll still have time for us.” “Well, it was nice knowing you.” “You’ll be different now, I guess.”

These comments all really bothered me. Why would getting a publishing contract mean that I would change? Why couldn’t I be a published author and still be myself—wasn’t there a way to be both? And so I set a goal, the main goal I mentioned in the first paragraph: I was not going to change. I would always be me.

My plan seemed to work. No matter how many book signings I did or classes I presented or book clubs I did, I was careful that I was always myself. I never put on any airs or acted stuck up or pretended to know stuff I didn’t know. I didn’t name-drop … even though I actually know some really amazing, highly famous people … and I tried to stay pretty low-key about some of the awesome experiences I had. I didn’t want people to look at me and say, “She’s changed. She got published and now she’s a totally different person.” I was going to fight that tooth and nail.

But then I realized something. I had changed.

I was more confident.

I was more educated.

I was more outgoing.

I was finding new talents to share.

I was becoming an expert in my field.

I was funnier.

I was more popular.

I was learning how to respect myself more.

I was making money. (Not a lot, but some. Still working on that.)

I was sought after.

I was viewed as a mentor.

I was stronger mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Oh, no. I broke my promise … I had promised not to change, and then I went and did it.

Tristi2When I look at who I was back then and who I am today, I can’t say that I regret breaking that promise. The fundamentals of who I am have not changed. I’m still friendly and approachable and helpful and as cute as a button, but I’m also wiser and stronger and more able to hold my own. I have learned so much, and everything I’ve learned has shaped me. I’m a far, far better person than I was ten years ago.

And have I lost friends along the way? I’m sorry to say that I have. Some didn’t realize that I wasn’t going to dump them and they dumped me first, thinking they’d take it upon themselves. And some, even though I rarely even mentioned my writing, felt that I talked about it too much and thought I was bragging. What I’ve come to realize is this—the people who said “Don’t change” were really saying “Don’t leave us behind. Um, no, we aren’t going to pursue our own dreams—that’s too hard—so you stay back here with us so we can be more comfortable.”

I don’t like to think about the relationships that were left behind—it makes me sad. But a real friendship, a real relationship, doesn’t punish you for growing as a person, and I learned that the hard way.

Being an author does change you, whether you want it to or not. Every experience you have in life should change you—that’s what life is for. If your life isn’t changing you, you aren’t living it right. We should not leave this planet the same people we were as when we stepped on it. We should be stronger. We should be smarter. We should be more compassionate, more aware, more giving.

I like who I am now. I know I’m not everyone’s cup of tea—a little Tristi goes a long way—but I’m proud of the progress I’ve made. I still have a lot to do—weaknesses I want to turn into strengths, character flaws I’m not too crazy about—and, unfortunately, I know that growth will hurt. That’s just part of it. But what it all boils down to is this—I’ve changed. I’ve changed for the better, for the smarter, for the wiser, and no one should ask you to stay the same either.

Experiences that don’t change you aren’t worth having.

 

Tristi Pinkston is the author of seventeen (and counting!) published books, including the Secret Sisters mystery series. In addition to being a prolific author, Tristi also provides a variety of author services, including editing and online writing instruction. You can visit her at www.tristipinkston.blogspot.com or her website at www.tristipinkston.com.

A New Renaissance in Literature by Karen Jones Gowen, WiDo Publishing

One of the hallmarks of the Renaissance of the 15th century was that new voices were heard in the areas of art, literature, religion and basically all aspects of cultural life, touching and influencing thought from the highest levels of power down to the lowest, allowing the common man to finally realize his potential.  William Tyndale, who translated the Bible to English, was key in this transformation. He captures its essence in these few powerful words to a noted clergyman:  “If God spares my life, ere many years, I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost!”

For the past five decades, the publishing industry, represented by what is commonly known as “the Big Six,” have been the ones controlling what books were available in bookstores and libraries. When the offerings were the best literary voices of our time, nobody complained; but when it veered to commercial garbage that sold in huge numbers (think Harold Robbins, Jacqueline Susann and their copycats), then people wondered where all the good books had gone.

Small niche publishers emerged to offer books not available through the large publishers. The self-publishing movement is often seen as a backlash, not only to the power held for so long by the big publishers, but also to these small independents  with their choosy submission guidelines. By self-publishing, you can write what you want, how you want, publish it immediately, and avoid the gatekeepers altogether. This movement is quite accurately referred to as the “self-publishing revolution” because its proponents are revolting against all the old rules of publishing.

Although William Tyndale revolted against the rules of the Pope in his day, and subsequently gave his life for his principles, I believe his role was more Renaissance than Revolution. The word renaissance means “rebirth,” the word revolution according to Wikipedia is “from the Latin revolutio, a ‘turn around’, a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.” The Renaissance took centuries, a revolution happens quickly.

There’s no doubt that a publishing revolution has occurred, and it has been a very exciting time indeed.  However, I believe it is time for writers and publishers to use these opportunities to create a literary renaissance, not just a publishing revolution. How to do that?

Think of men like Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, and Michelangelo Buonarroti. Were they simply revolting against the status quo, or were they contributing knowledge and truth through the medium of their art? Scientists like Copernicus and Galileo Galilei were first and foremost seekers of truth in scientific knowledge and methods.  Religious leaders such as Tyndale, along with Thomas More, Martin Luther, and John Calvin fit into the same category—not simply part of a revolution but because of their devotion to truth and the good of mankind, were part of something much more than a tirade against the Pope or the Church of England.

Millions of books are now available that could never have made it through the gatekeepers of old. To name just a few types: poorly written, barely edited “novels” written fast and published even faster;  10 or 20 page ebook summaries using widely searched keywords, like how to simplify one’s life or write a Kindle bestseller; erotica, basically pornography masquerading as romance for women.

In other words, if you can write it you can publish it; whether it’s any good or contributes to the literary culture is beside the point. The focus is on the selling rather than on the writing. Really, how is this any different than the era of The Valley of the Dolls? The publishers may have changed names from the Big 6 to one million ebook writers, but if the focus remains on churning out stuff for the mass market, where is the revolution? It’s just a whole lot of people now trying to get in on the action.  What the self-publishing revolution has done for writers is what the state lotteries have done for gambling. Remember when people had to go to Vegas to gamble? Talk about the old days! Now you can go to your corner convenience store, buy a lotto ticket and hope to win big.

As writers, why not turn this revolution into a renaissance? Let’s contribute to the literary culture, not just churn out stuff as quick as we can. Let’s write stories that are true, with characters who are “real,” using language that transcends common everyday speech. Let’s write books that, using the very best of our skills, polished and practiced, will carry our readers to a greater plane of understanding as we enlighten and entertain.

It’s time for writers who care about books to contribute to a re-birth of literary excellence. Opportunities abound. Let us take advantage of the many ways to make our voices heard as we do our best work, write meaningfully and well, and become part of a new renaissance in literature.

 

About Karen Jones Gowen: Born and raised in central Illinois, the daughter of a Methodist minister from Indiana and a school teacher from Nebraska, Karen Jones Gowen has down-to-earth Midwestern roots. Karen and her husband Bruce have lived in Utah, Illinois, California and Washington, currently residing near Salt Lake City. They are the parents of ten children. Not surprisingly, family relationships are a recurring theme in Gowen’s writing. She is the managing editor for WiDo Publishing and the author of four books, all of which fit loosely into the category of LDS Fiction. Karen’s website: karenjonesgowen.com. WiDo Publishing website: widopublishing.com

A Few Publishing Facts by Lyle Mortimer/Cedar Fort

There are a lot of things about the publishing industry of which most authors are not aware. By learning about what goes on behind the scenes with your publisher, and in the industry as a whole, you will be better equipped to understand the environment in which you are trying to sell your book.

Here are a few facts.

Average book sales are shockingly small, and falling fast

Combine the explosion of books published with the declining total sales and you get shrinking sales of each new title. According to BookScan—which tracks most bookstore, online, and other retail sales of books (including Amazon.com)—only 263 million books were sold in 2011 in the U.S. in all adult nonfiction categories combined (Publishers Weekly, January 2, 2012). The average U.S. nonfiction book is now selling less than 250 copies per year and less than 3,000 copies over its lifetime. And very few titles are big sellers. Only 62 of 1,000 business books released in 2009 sold more than 5,000 copies, according to an analysis by the Codex Group (New York Times, March 31, 2010).

A book has less than a 1% chance of being stocked in an average bookstore

For every available bookstore shelf space, there are 100 to 1,000 or more titles competing for that shelf space. For example, the number of business titles stocked ranges from less than 100 (smaller bookstores) to approximately 1,500 (superstores). Yet there are 250,000-plus business books in print that are fighting for that limited shelf space.

It is getting harder and harder every year to sell books

Many book categories have become entirely saturated, with a surplus of books on every topic. It is increasingly difficult to make any book stand out. Each book is competing with more than ten million other books available for sale, while other media are claiming more and more of people’s time. Result: investing the same amount today to market a book as was invested a few years ago will yield a far smaller sales return today.

There’s little agreement among publishers about what advertising does, other than make the author and the author’s agent feel better, and demonstrate that the house is capable of spending money on ads.

If you’re lucky enough to publish with a house that has a publicity and marketing staff so much the better. You’re one of the lucky ones. Advertising and marketing are some of the gambles that make trade publishing so risky.

Most books today are selling only to the authors’ and publishers’ communities

Everyone in the potential audiences for a book already knows of hundreds of interesting and useful books to read but has little time to read any. Therefore people are reading only books that their communities make important or even mandatory to read. There is no general audience for most nonfiction books, and chasing after such a mirage is usually far less effective than connecting with one’s communities.

Most book marketing today is done by authors, not by publishers

Publishers have managed to stay afloat in this worsening marketplace only by shifting more and more marketing responsibility to authors, to cut costs and prop up sales. In recognition of this reality, most book proposals from experienced authors now have an extensive (usually many pages) section on the authors’ marketing platform and what the authors will do to publicize and market the books. Publishers still fulfill important roles in helping craft books to succeed and making books available in sales channels, but whether the books move in those channels depends primarily on the authors.

No other industry has so many new product introductions

Every new book is a new product, needing to be acquired, developed, reworked, designed, produced, named, manufactured, packaged, priced, introduced, marketed, warehoused, and sold. Yet the average new book generates only $10,000 to $20,000 in sales, which needs to cover all of these expenses, leaving only small amounts available for each area of expense. This more than anything limits how much publishers can invest in any one new book and in its marketing campaign.

You may have noticed that the numbers of bookstores have decreased significantly over the past decade. Most notably was the demise of Borders, which had a large market share. You have probably also seen that the ranks of publishers are thinning.

As you understand the risks and responsibilities of publishers you will be much better able to interface with them, your expectations will be significantly refined, and your project is much more likely to succeed.

 

Lyle Mortimer and Lee Nelson started Cedar Fort in 1986. Lyle has been an active participant in the company for over 25 years. Cedar Fort’s vision is to publish uplifting and edifying books. You can connect with Cedar Fort at the website, www.cedarfort.com.

How to Properly Pack Your Purse for Promotional Possibilities by Tristi Pinkston

… Or, How to Well-stock Your Wallet for Wonderful Writer … stuff.

You never know when you’re going to run into a potential reader. If you keep your eyes open, opportunities are everywhere. Did you see an old neighbor at the grocery store? Did you overhear someone at the library saying they wanted something new to read? Did you see someone wandering the aisles at Barnes and Noble with a lost look on their face? You might not feel the urge to approach a total stranger in a store, but nearly every time you leave the house, you will have the chance to share what you do with someone else. Don’t let that moment pass you by without making the most of it.

Make sure you always, always have business cards or bookmarks in your purse or wallet. And don’t tuck them clear in the back, or let them float around in the bottom where you can’t find them and where they’ll get crumpled. Have a specific place to keep them. Know that you can reach in at any moment and put your hands right on them. Replenish them often – when you see you’re down to five, it’s time to put more in there.

Successful businessmen are always on the lookout for new clients, new opportunities. You should train yourself to be on the lookout for those same things, and you should be prepared with hand-out material. And if you don’t feel comfortable blatantly saying, “Buy my book!” you can use the back of your business card to write down other information that person might need. Do they need the name of the PTA president? Pull out your card, write it on the back, and you’ve not only gotten your information in their hands, but they have the name of the PTA president.

This new mindset—this constant awareness of opportunity—does take a little while to get used to, but soon, you’ll be marketing like a pro.

Read Tristi’s previous guest posts on Promotion:

 

Tristi Pinkston is the author of seventeen (and counting!) published books, including the Secret Sisters mystery series. In addition to being a prolific author, Tristi also provides a variety of author services, including editing and online writing instruction. You can visit her at www.tristipinkston.blogspot.com or her website at www.tristipinkston.com.

Scrivener is On Sale at Amazon

I almost never endorse a product like this but… Scrivener is on sale at half price from Amazon right now.

The PC/Windows version is $20.00. (Update 4/25: Currently unavailable; don’t know if they’ll authorize more. Update 4/27: Available again.)

The Mac version is $22.50. (Update 4/25: Still available.)

I’m not sure if it’s on sale at other places, nor do I know how long the sale will last. But if you’ve been thinking about it, now might be the time to get it.

If you’re not ready to make the purchasing decision right now, I’ve heard that NaNoWriMo winners (hit the 50,000 word mark) can get Scrivener at a reduced price. Scrivener also offers a 30-day free trial.

Scrivener is a software program that lots and lots of authors love. I have heard a few people say that they couldn’t get the hang of it—but those same people have trouble with the basics of Word, as well. So I think it’s a general level of tech competency in those cases and not so much the actual software.

Want to see screen shots of what it does? Click this.

In my opinion, the best aftermarket book for how to use Scrivener is Scrivener for Dummies, available in both paperback and Kindle.

Readers, chime in. Are you a Scrivener user? Do you love it? Hate it? Give us specifics in the comments section.

 

An Unexpected Path to Publication by Darrel Nelson

LDSP Note: Normally, I don’t post personal stories of how a writer finally got published, but this is a unique case of an LDS author being picked up by a traditional Christian publisher. I get asked all the time if that can happen. It’s rare, but here’s proof that it’s possible!

My route leading to publication has been a thirty-year journey, culminating in a contract with Charisma House, a Christian publisher situated in Florida. An LDS author associated with a traditional Christian publisher? How did that come about? I could say accidentally, except that I believe I was guided to where I am today. Still, it’s been an unexpected path.

During my thirty-year journey I wrote ten novels, trying a different genre with each in hopes that one of them would be my “breakthrough.” I frequently queried Deseret Books and Shadow Mountain Publishing in Utah and every major trade publisher I could think of, but to no avail. Letters of rejection became a way of life for me, and I eventually gave up saving them because I ran out of storage space. But with my eleventh novel, the result took a pleasant turn.

It came about in this manner. One day my wife and I took our parents on a day outing to a heritage park. En route our parents began reminiscing about their courtships and how their friends had planned a shivaree on their wedding day. A shivaree was a local custom of friends separating the bride and groom after the wedding, as a prank, and keeping them apart for an hour or two. Harmless fun. Anyway, on the drive that day, our parents explained that for one reason or another, the shivarees intended for them failed to occur. But my mother-in-law reminded us that on her son’s wedding day, his bride was whisked away in a car by friends and involved in a car accident. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but it got me wondering . . . what if ? So I grasped that thread of an idea and decided to see where the story led.

When I completed the novel, which was entitled In Due Season, I sent out the standard letters of inquiry. The result? Nothing! No one was interested. So I decided to take a leaf out of Richard Paul Evans’s book and turn it into a Christmas story, hoping to tap into that market. When the book (now retitled The Christmas Waltz) was done, I sent out more letters of inquiry—this time by email to literary agents. Within two hours, Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary Agency replied: “This is such a beautiful story. I’ve got to have it.” I waited for more responses, but when none came, I decided to ride the horse in the direction it was going, so I signed with Joyce. I didn’t know at the time that she was a Christian agent who dealt exclusively with traditional Christian publishers. All I knew was that she was an agent who had expressed interest in my work when no one else had.

Joyce began shopping my book around, but after a year we had no nibbles. I decided that perhaps the book’s Christmas theme was too narrowly focused, so I took another few months and rewrote it again, changing the Christmas setting to an anniversary one. Now entitled The Anniversary Waltz, Joyce shopped it around for another year. And then, would you believe it, two Christian publishers expressed interest. Yes, two! In the end we went with Charisma House because they were willing to publish the book a whole year ahead of the other one.

This is the story of my journey to publication and how I ended up in the traditional Christian marketplace. The thing about the Christian marketplace that appealed to me from the beginning was a disclaimer Joyce posted on her webpage: If your book has bad language or sexual content or gratuitous violence, then I’m not the agent for you. The same standards apply to my publisher. Content is expected to be of a high moral level, which is exactly how I like it.

Now what about specific LDS content? I want my books to appeal to a broad cross-section of readers so that I don’t alienate anyone. Therefore, the religious content is presented in generalized terms. I use a recurring theme of love overcoming adversity in the face of overwhelming odds. People everywhere understand principles of love, faith, courage, and trials. I keep my message as inclusive as possible without compromising my personal standards. I don’t water down my religious beliefs, but I’m not “in your face” about it either.

Would I encourage other LDS authors to try the Christian market? Of course. My agent and my publisher have been nothing short of amazing. They are supportive and encouraging and have bent over backwards to help and guide me. Besides, most of us don’t have the luxury of being choosy. I mean, how many publishers or agents have come knocking at your door lately?

Having said that, I do believe that LDS readers accept general Christian ideals and standards more readily than Christian readers accept LDS ideals and standards. So personally I paint with a wide brush and am careful not to get “preachy” or “sneaky” in my writing. I don’t slip LDS doctrine in and then smirk to think I pulled one over on my readers. I have no hidden agenda. I simply want to tell a story that appeals to a broad base and makes my readers feel better for having spent some time with me.

Likewise, I hope those who read this article feel a little better for having spent some time with me too. We need to fulfill the Church’s clarion call for LDS writers, artists, musicians, producers, and composers to step up and make their voices heard. As standards continue their rapid decline, we can and must make a difference in this world.

Darrel Nelson taught school for 37 years and began writing full-time after he retired. He has two published novels, The Anniversary Waltz and The Return of Cassandra Todd. He’s currently working on a third novel, Following Rain, which deals with the saving power of truth and love. Visit Darrel at http://www.darrelnelson.com or email him at darmarn@telus.net.

Conflict Fuels the Story by Rebecca Talley

In life we generally try to avoid conflict. We tend to avoid confrontation and contention in hopes of finding peace and tranquility. We work hard to avoid problems at home or in the workplace.

In writing fiction, we must create as much conflict as possible because without conflict there is no story.

Conflict can be classified in the following categories:

1. Man vs. Man
2. Man vs. Self
3. Man vs. Society
4. Man vs. Fate/God/Nature

Man vs. man is when the antagonist is another person. The main character, or protagonist, is trying to obtain his goal but another person stands in his way, preventing him from his goal.

Man vs. self includes stories when the protagonist fights against himself and he stands in his own way of accomplishing his goal. Perhaps, his goal may be to become a heart surgeon but his fear that he’ll never be smart enough to get through medical school paralyzes him and prevents him from becoming a surgeon. Self-doubt can be a strong adversary and makes for dynamic stories.

Man vs. society is when the protagonist fights against the rules or laws of society to obtain his goal. A woman may want to marry a man that her society forbids her to marry. She must then struggle against society in order to reach her goal of marrying.

Man vs. fate/God/nature includes stories when the protagonist fights against elements out of his control. A man who wants to reunite with his family after an argument but runs into a hurricane, must fight against the hurricane in order to reach his goal: his family. Natural disasters or other unexplained difficulties placed in the way of the protagonist would be classified as man vs. fate/God/nature.

You must include conflict in writing your fiction because conflict is what fuels the story. You aren’t limited to only one type of conflict, but whichever conflict, or combination of conflicts, you choose to use make sure they are not only realistic, but that they are organic to the story. Otherwise, your story will soon run out of gas.

 

Rebecca Talley grew up in Santa Barbara, CA. She now lives in rural CO on a small ranch with a dog, a spoiled horse, too many cats, and a herd of goats. She and her husband, Del, are the proud parents of ten multi-talented and wildly-creative children. Rebecca is the author of a children’s picture book “Grasshopper Pie” (WindRiver 2003), four novels, “Heaven Scent” (CFI 2008), “Altared Plans” (CFI 2009),  “The Upside of Down” (CFI 2011), and “Aura” (2012), and numerous magazine stories and articles. You can visit her blog at www.rebeccatalleywrites.blogspot.com.

The GoodReads Giveaway by Shauna Bray/WiDo

Giving away a book can actually increase sales.  And an excellent way to give away and get attention for your soon-to-be-launched book is through Goodreads.

A Goodreads giveaway generates excitement about an upcoming book launch.  Prior to launch, the typical author is blogging, building relationships with other authors, setting up the blog tour, arranging reviews and blanketing social media with reminders about the release date.  The author is definitely excited, but an author needs reader excitement as well.  And what piques the avid reader’s interest more than a brand-new, FREE print novel?  Go where the readers are to dangle that incentive in front of them.  Right now, the gathering place for avid readers is Goodreads.

Goodreads members relish the chance to discover new books and authors, and pass on recommendations to their friends.  These are dedicated readers, the type that post reviews and follow their favorite authors.  Setting up a giveaway of your book allows Goodreads members to discover new books and authors, like you!

Once a book is offered in a giveaway, the number of readers posting it on their “to read” list increases.  Winners generally post a review of the book they’ve won, and more reviews mean a chance to boost an author profile.  And consider that the recent purchase of Goodreads by Amazon could mean reviews and to-read lists are likely to be incorporated into Amazon as well.

A Goodreads giveaway is pure promotion; a book is being exposed to a huge audience of readers. (Click here to see a list of current Giveaways on Goodreads.) In addition, the cost is minimal.  Running a Goodreads giveaway for a few weeks is  equal in exposure to any paid promotion and probably much more effective.

Starseed author Liz Gruder generated more than one thousand “want to reads” for her book when it came out in February.   She said she wouldn’t hesitate to do a giveaway again.  “They gather lots of “want to reads” and exposure for your book, and for free…  I’ve heard of authors griping about winners selling their books on Ebay or Amazon after the giveaway, but really, who cares? Exposure is exposure. What they do with their winnings is their business.”  Liz had a highly successful launch and is still garnering great reviews as a result.

Goodreads provides authors with the tools to make a giveaway easy to set up and even easier to publicize.   Go to this page to find out the guidelines.

To maximize your giveaway’s effectiveness, keep these tips in mind:

  • Schedule your giveaway to run for a month, maybe two.  If you have more than one book coming out, you may want to overlap your giveaways.  This allows an author to have plenty of time to promote and push readers to enter.
  • It takes the Goodreads staff at least two business days to approve your giveaway, so submit your dates well in advance of when you’d like it to start, particularly if it’s during a holiday.
  • Try ending your giveaway midweek, rather than on a weekend.  That way, readers are more likely to see it on the “Ending Today” list.  This creates a sense of urgency that can leads to more entrants.   Remember, also, that the giveaway ends at midnight.  If you want the giveaway to end on Wednesday, put Thursday as the date, so it will end at 12:00 am Thursday.
  • How many copies you want to give out is up to you, but don’t go overboard.  One or two copies are great, but ten copies is overkill.
  • Don’t limit yourself to just a national audience.  The more you open up the contest to people in other countries, the more participants will add your books to their “to-read” list.
  • Mention your giveaway in your blog, social media pages or on your website.  Post the link so that readers can go there automatically.
  • If you mail out your books yourself, make sure you send them immediately.  You don’t want to mar your event with  a complaint that the winner never got the book.
  • Consider adding a personalized note to the reader, along with your autograph inside the cover, thanking them for their interest and expressing hope that he/she will enjoy it and post a review.  A small personal touch can go a long way in turning a giveaway winner into a loyal reader.

 

About Shauna Bray: Shauna is WiDo Publishing’s marketing director and social media coordinator.  She started her career in television news and through many twists and turns found her way into the publishing world, where she’s happy to be.  Shauna lives in Houston with her very literary husband and two exhausting children.

“Their” As a Singular Pronoun by Annette Lyon

A reader recently called me out on using their as a singular generic pronoun. (I forget who right now; feel free to claim the comment as your own!)

The issue: What pronoun do you use in a situation where the gender of the person acting either isn’t known or isn’t relevant? For example:

When an employee arrives . . .

The rest of the sentence is about the employee, who must sign in. What pronoun do you use?

When an employee arrives, ____ must sign in.

At one time, writers simply used he as the generic pronoun:

When an employee arrives, he must sign in.

But eventually came the complaints of sexism. (What if the employee is female?) That’s when we started seeing a lot of he or she, just to be sure we covered our bases:

When an employee arrives, he or she must sign in.

That’s seriously clunky and awkward, but it’s better than the other weird compromise, s/he.

Others have opted to use she instead of he. That’s annoying to me as a reader, because a) it’s reverse sexism and b) historically he has a far more neutral feel than she, which jumps out like a flashing red light.

(Good writing should move smoothly, without jolts or flashing red lights.)

To keep the gender thing fair, some writers alternate between he and she throughout a piece. Personally, I think that goes beyond annoying and enters the range of shoot me now.

I’ve seen magazines that alternate on an article level: this article uses he, and the next one uses she. Not a particularly elegant solution, but at least it doesn’t have me wanting to hit something.

So the gender-neutral problem persists: English simply doesn’t have a singular, gender-neutral pronoun.

Finnish does have a gender-neutral pronoun, and I have to say, it’s really convenient when you see a baby but can’t figure out the gender. You can totally compliment the kid without offending the parents. Too bad English doesn’t have an equivalent of hän.

(Another side note: Finns often use se instead of hän . . . which means it, even when referring to people. Totally works in Finnish. Not so much in English. Can you imagine referring to your friend and saying you’re going to lunch with it?)

Chicago and a lot of other style guides suggest avoiding the problem altogether. Either 1) reword the sentence so you don’t need the pronoun, or 2) change the sentence so you can grammatically use the plural:

When employees arrive, they must sign in.

That works fine at times, but it’s still not a solution. Sometimes a piece needs the singular, and making it plural or otherwise doing acrobatics to avoid their as singular sounds odd.

This is precisely why their is becoming increasingly accepted as the singular pronoun, at least in conversation and informal writing. I’m in the camp that accepts this usage already (obviously), although some people still foam at the mouth when they see their used this way. (Just as I foam at the mouth at infer used for imply and other losing usage battles.)

That said, if I’m writing for a professional journal or something similar, I avoid using their as a singular. You write to fit the register you want the piece to fit in. If something isn’t accepted in that arena, don’t use it, and no, their is not accepted as Standard English.

Yet.

I believe it’s just a matter of time before their is considered correct and perfectly fine to use this way. People already do, often, sometimes by accident and other times absolutely on purpose (raising my hand here).

The new rule actually reaching style guides? That may take some time, but it’ll happen.

Grammar Girl agrees with me and adds that “it takes a bold, confident, and possibly reckless person to use they with a singular antecedent today.”

What can I say? I live on the edge.

 

Annette Lyon  is a Whitney Award winner, the recipient of Utah’s Best of State medal for fiction, and the author of nine novels, a cookbook, and a grammar guide, plus over a hundred magazine articles. She’s a senior editor at Precision Editing Group and a cum laude graduate from BYU with a degree in English. When she’s not writing, editing, knitting, or eating chocolate, she can be found mothering and avoiding the spots on the kitchen floor. Find her online at blog.annettelyon.com and on Twitter: @AnnetteLyon.

Need a little extra grammar help? Get Annette’s grammar book, There, Their, They’re: A No-Tears Guide to Grammar from the Word Nerd.

Why Going Through a Reputable Publisher Makes Sense by Rodney Fife/CFI

Recently, there have been many authors who have thought about self-publishing their book. While it is understandable why this may be attractive in regards to profit, there are advantages to going with a traditional and reputable publisher.  So you may ask, What does a Publisher do that I can’t do myself?

A reputable publisher can help you in many ways. First, most publishers have a marketing team that knows how to market and present your book to the media and ultimately the end-readers. These marketing teams usually have developed relationships with media sources. This allows them to get you attention from the media easier then someone going alone. The Marketing team also has experience in what works best for each genre. Hand in hand with the marketing comes the sales team. Most publishers have established accounts with large buyers of books. A lot of these buyers will not take a look at a self-published title.

Additionally, when publishing through a publishing house you have production support. The publisher usually has a design team, editing team and a warehouse. These are all services that come with the publishing contract.

When someone self-publishes they are alone. They either have to hire someone to perform a certain task or do it themselves. So they had to first write a great title. Then they have to design, edit, market then sell it. Just think about the effort, time and cost involved. The self-published author also has 100 percent of the risk involved with failure. How many self-published titles do you see on the New York Time’s Best Seller list?

Going with a reputable publisher is beneficial not just in the operational support. But, you have someone who is behind you 100 percent. Their focus is aligned with yours. They want your story to be told loudly so they can benefit right alongside you. A great publisher will always be there ready with advice, encouragement and support.

Rodney Fife is a publicist with Cedar Fort, Inc. If you are looking to publish a title. Cedar Fort Inc. is always looking for good titles. You can submit your ideas to submissions@cedafort.com or by filling out the form on http://www.cedarfortbooks.com/author-submission/

Pinterest for Authors

It’s been awhile since I, LDS Publisher, have actually written a post here. My day job is consuming me right now, so I do a lot of book posts and have a lot of guest posting. And this post really won’t be much different because I’m supplying some links to other bloggers who have already talked about Pinterest in depth.

But I feel I need to chime in here because a lot of my day-job clients are asking me how they should best use Pinterest to advance their writing career. And I figure if they’re bombarding me with questions, some of you might be interested in this as well.

This is the advice I give to all the authors I work with:

First. Remember that your main job is to write good stories. That is your focus. Protect it with a vengeance! Don’t dilute your writing time with social media, including Pinterest. Set a specific time of the day or week to deal with social media and stick to it. Otherwise, you’re going to get sucked into the great black hole of the Internet and your writing will suffer.

Second. Understand what Pinterest is and what it isn’t. It is NOT a giant ad for your book. It’s a way for readers to get to know you and the things you’re interested in, which should organically lead to interest in your book. Of course, you absolutely should have boards dedicated to your book(s) but that shouldn’t be all there is. Also, Pinterest isn’t the be all/end all of promotion but it can be a valuable support to the other social media and online marketing you’re already doing.

Third. Is it right for you? Only you can determine that. Do not be pushed into another social media mode that you’re not going to keep up with. Nothing is worse than setting up a Pinterest account and adding one or two pins to some of the default boards, and then never doing anything again. If you’re going to do it, do it right. And as with all social media, if you don’t want it spread all across the universe, DON’T pin it.

With that said, here are some links to really good blog posts about how authors can use Pinterest to their advantage:

Want more info? Google “how authors use pinterest” and browse.

Are you already using Pinterest? Leave a link to your boards in the comments and share what you feel are the best tips for authors who are just getting started.

Camp NaNoWriMo

Did you ever wish that NaNoWriMo was held at some time other than November, when you’re trying to get ready for the holidays?

Well, give Camp NaNoWriMo a try! There will be two sessions this year. The first one starts on April 1st and the other one starts July 1st.  Not sure if I can do April, but I’m definitely thinking of July…

From their website:

What is Camp NaNoWriMo?

 

Based on November’s National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), Camp NaNoWriMo provides the online support, tracking tools, and hard deadline to help you write the rough draft of your novel in a month… other than November!

What: Writing a novel from scratch in one month’s time.

Who: You! (And about 20,000 other novelists around the world.) Let’s write some perhaps-awful, but definitely lengthy, prose together.

Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era’s most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties.

When: You can sign up anytime to add your name to the roster. Writing begins at 12:00 AM on April 1, and again on July 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach your word-count goal by 11:59 PM on the last day of the month. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.

To join, go to campnanowrimo.org

After you sign up, post your Username so we can connect with each other as friends on the CampNaNo site. If you’ve participated in the regular NaNoWriMo, your user name is the same.

Finding Story Ideas by Rebecca Talley

I’m often asked where I find ideas for my stories. As a writer, I’ve learned that ideas are everywhere.

Many of the magazine stories I’ve written have been based on a true experience. One such story was about my son. He’d saved money to buy a set of Legos. He was so excited when he’d finally accumulated enough money from doing odd jobs and chores to buy the Legos. He thumbed through the catalog and found the order form. He placed the order form and his money inside an envelope and left it on my desk. While the envelope sat on my desk, Hurricane Katrina hit.

My son came home from school and talked about the devastating effects of the storm and how many children had to leave their homes, pets, and toys. He then ran to my desk and scooped up the envelope. He told me he wanted to donate all of his money to a local Katrina fund. Not only was I proud of my son for his decision, I had a basis for a story that I then sold to a magazine.

Ideas are everywhere. Tidbits of conversation can become the base of a story. Newspaper stories, friend’s experiences, historical accounts, local folklore, myths, or dreams can all provide nuggets for stories. The trick is becoming aware of potential stories.

Here are some ideas:

Take a notebook to the mall. Write down different bits of conversation, descriptions of people you see, and play with various scenarios.

Sift through some newspapers and look for human interest stories. I once read an account of a woman whose husbands all ended up committing suicide in the same way. Children of the dead men accused the woman of killing the men. Is there a story? Perhaps.

Watch TV news and see if it triggers ideas for stories. What about a man who risks his life to save homeless people over and over again? Or the woman who lives with a chimpanzee that then goes berserk? These wouldn’t be full-blown novels, but could form a foundation for possible novels.

Family history can also be a valuable place to find story ideas. I have an ancestor who emigrated from Italy, became a chef, and cooked meals for some of the presidents of the United States. Or what about the ancestor who was a horse thief when America was still a frontier?

Look around you. Ideas are everywhere. Once you start looking, you’ll discover so many ideas you’ll have a hard time keeping track of them. Be sure to write them all down in an idea notebook. And then you’ll be like other writers who declare, “I’ll never live long enough to write about all the ideas I have.”

Story Plotting: Turn off the GPS by Julie N. Ford, WiDo Publishing

Every now and then I’ll hear a writer say that plotting is his/her least favorite part about writing a novel. Okay first of all, “novel” and “plot” are nearly synonymous. Without a plot, there is no novel, no story. So technically, if a writer doesn’t like to “plot,” said writer probably shouldn’t be wasting his/her time writing a novel. Just because a person enjoys writing doesn’t mean he/she must become a novelist. There are other ways one can express oneself through the written word—columns, editorials, poetry, blogging, journaling.

And second, maybe the reason so many writers have a hard time plotting is because we as a society have become too dependent on technology doing our thinking for us. We don’t memorize phone numbers anymore because all of our contacts are stored in our cell phones. We don’t have to think about how to spell because Word and even our phones do that for us.

I’m showing my age here but I remember when telephones still had party-lines and TVs were black and white. *Gasp* Viewers had to actually get up and turn a knob to change channels. (Currently, I don’t even know where the on and off switch is on my TV much less how to change channels without the remote.) And when I started college, students were still using typewriters for term papers and libraries to do research. Ah, I do miss the days of rifling through the card catalog . . .

Back in the good ol’ days when we needed to travel somewhere we’d never been before, we used something called . . . a map. For those of you who don’t have a firsthand knowledge of such a thing, maps are somewhat cumbersome, accordion folded sheets of paper that often hitch at the seams and have a tendency to flap away at the slightest breeze. But when laid out flat, a map is a vision to behold—a colorful labyrinth of intersecting paths that offer options to one’s destination while branching out into a myriad of possibilities. Stretched out across a table or the hood of a car, maps are a visually pleasing tool that allows an individual to plot his/her path to a desired destination while highlighting each and every point of interest along the way.

The beginning, middle and end of a new journey.

When traveling with the use of a map, one needs to be keenly aware of where he/she is at all times, pay close attention to mile markers and state lines, watching for signs indicating the next turn in the journey. The traveler is an engaged, active participant in the success or failure of reaching the desired destination.

Enter the GPS.

An ingenious piece of technology you can feed an address and then like magic, the course to follow appears on the screen accompanied by a pleasant voice that guides you effortlessly to your destination.

Easy, peasy.

The last road trip I took was from Nashville to Kansas City. I plugged the hotel’s address into my GPS and then started driving. Along the way I passed small towns and big cities often asking myself, “Where am I?” But it didn’t matter. I didn’t need to know. Dave (the name we gave the voice that comes from our GPS) dutifully warned me of every upcoming turn, while repeatedly reminding me of the impending change in course, followed by an exact measure of when to make the change in direction. And I never even questioned, never wondered if Dave was leading me the right way, never thought to check the correctness of his course. I blindly followed Dave, and he led me straight to where I needed to go.

Like going back to the “dark ages” and planning out a trip on a map, plotting our story seems tedious—a waste of time and effort. You see, plotting a story is much like mapping out a road trip. Our stories must stretch out in front of us with a beginning, middle, and then an end. If we don’t know how to visualize the possibilities, experience wrong turns, back track, take unexpected stops along the way and roll with diversions from the path, then how can we envision the same for our characters?

We’ve become lazy.

And this lack of plotting ability may just be the reason that many novels and movies are sent out to readers and viewers with holes in the storyline. Could it be that we are losing our ability to step from one point to another without the help of technology? What’s next, electronic story plotters? One day, will Dave be capable of plotting my novel for me as well?

Good gracious, I hope not. Plotting is, after all, half the fun in writing a novel.

 

Julie N. Ford is the author of four women’s fiction novels, The Woman He Married (March 2011) and No Holly for Christmas (November 2011), published by Whiskey Creek Press. Whitney Award Finalist, Count Down to Love (July 2011), published by Bonneville Books. And Replacing Gentry to be released April 2013 by WiDo Publishing. Currently, she lives in Nashville, TN with her husband, two daughters and baby hedgehog, Wallace. Julie’s website is julienford.com.

Anaphora and Epistrophe by Annette Lyon

Anaphora is a funky term that essentially refers to a stylistic effect with repetition at the beginning of sentences or phrases.

Before your brain starts spinning with “what the huh?” let’s look at some examples you’re probably already familiar with. Note the bolded sections:

One of the most famous examples in modern times is from Martin Luther King, Jr:

I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi a state, sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

Then there’s one of the most famous openings to a novel, where Charles Dickens used anaphora in A Tale of Two Cities:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair . . .

Or how about Abraham Lincoln in his second inaugural address:

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right . . .

A general writing rule is to avoid repetition. But as with any rule, there are exceptions, and this is one.

My critique group is great at catching weak repetition (so, not anaphora), whether it’s when one of us gets redundant with concepts (“beating a dead horse; you already showed that . . . a lot”) or words (“on these two pages, your characters looked twelve times”).

When I find that kind of repetition, I cut it out and revise, and I suggest the same to editing clients. A great way to find repetition is to read you work aloud. Your ear will catch things your eyes don’t.

But anaphora is a different animal; it’s repetition with a purpose. It’s used for a specific emphasis in meaning or to create a desired impact on the reader or listener.

There is another type of repetition that is similar to anaphora, and that is epistrophe, which is repetition at the end of a line. I used epistrophe in Lost Without You, my first published novel (*cough*now on Kindle for cheap*cough*cough*).

It’s a minor moment, when Brooke falls into a lake. Greg and Russell worry at first that she’s hurt herself, but

Brooke was only wet. Very wet.

I remember circling “Very wet” during revisions, wondering whether I should take it out. In the end, I kept it in for emphasis, even though I didn’t realize that what I was doing had a name. In that case, I think it worked.

Once you’re aware of them, you can find examples of anaphora and epistrophe everywhere. Without resorting to Dr. Google, can you think of other examples of anaphora or epistrophe? Any favorites?

 

Annette Lyon  is a Whitney Award winner, the recipient of Utah’s Best of State medal for fiction, and the author of nine novels, a cookbook, and a grammar guide, plus over a hundred magazine articles. She’s a senior editor at Precision Editing Group and a cum laude graduate from BYU with a degree in English. When she’s not writing, editing, knitting, or eating chocolate, she can be found mothering and avoiding the spots on the kitchen floor. Find her online at blog.annettelyon.com and on Twitter: @AnnetteLyon.

Need a little extra grammar help? Get Annette’s grammar book, There, Their, They’re: A No-Tears Guide to Grammar from the Word Nerd.

Why You Should Avoid Succeeding as a Writer by Michaelbrent Collings

I am often asked questions about the business of writing – how to self-pub, how to market, how to amass a group of loyal fans – but the question I am most often asked (in some form or other) is this: “How do I become a successful writer?”

For a long time I tried to answer the question, babbling about sales and marketing and hard work and blahblahblahblah. But then I realized what I should have been saying, and what I now say to you: if you’re asking yourself – or anyone else – how to become a successful writer, you’re asking the wrong question.

Success is an ever-retreating illusion. Like the end of the rainbow, it looks beautiful, laudable, something that people just over there clearly can lay their hands on. So why not you?

Well, because even if you manage to get to the end of the rainbow, even if you somehow contrive to grasp the edge of that many-colored illusion, you will find in the next moment that it moves away from you once more. And your version of “success” moves right along with it.

How many times have you said this in your life?

“If only I could get that promotion – then I’ll be a success.”
“If only I could buy that car – then I’ll know I’m a success.”
“If only I could afford the big house – then I’d know I was a success.”

And what happens? You get the promotion, you buy the car, you put the down payment on the big house… and like the rainbow, your measure of success immediately moves. You’re not successful unless you are constantly moving onward, upward, forward. “Success” is a beast with a relentless appetite.

So what do you do? Is the only answer to eschew success as a writer? Do you put all your manuscripts in a box and bury them somewhere, then go off and live as a hermit in a cave?

Not at all. But you must stop thinking in terms of being “successful,” and instead ask yourself this: as a writer, what will make me happy?

In other words, what is my goal, my aim, which will give me satisfaction once reached?

Is it to simply write a book?
Is it to win an award?
Is it to pay the rent on a regular basis?

Each of these is an attainable goal, but each is different, and each carries with it different responsibilities. Recently, the finalists for the Whitney Awards were announced. Several of my friends were among them, which was great.

My name, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen on the list. I’ve sold oodles of books, my novels are consistent bestsellers on Amazon’s major lists, my most recent novel Darkbound is doing great and getting rave reviews.

But none of my books were there.

Did I break down crying over this? No. Because long ago I decided that my goal, my reason for writing, my “happy place,” if you will, was to write full-time, and take care of my family doing by doing so. So while it would have been nice to get on the list (if only to see the look on the judges’ faces, given the kind of books I tend to write), it mostly would have been nice inasmuch as it might have driven a few more sales my way. Because that’s my goal: to sell books.

Other people crumple into a fetal position when their names are missed for some honor or other. Not me. And it’s because I’m too busy achieving my goal – the thing that I decided will make me happy – to worry about incidentals.

How do you “succeed” as a writer? How do you “make it”? Beats me. But that doesn’t matter.  Because more important is your determination of what will make you happy. The question is subtly different, but the difference allows you to focus on concrete steps that will aid you in achieving that goal. It also allows you to avoid the poisonous practice of comparing yourself with others, because no matter how “successful” other writers may be, their success is irrelevant to the question of your happiness.

What is your goal as a writer? What is your happy place? Answer those questions. Then push away everything else, and work to achieve those ends. And once you have achieved them, recognize that you have done so, and find joy in the attainment.

But oddly enough, you will most likely find that in the doing you achieve as much joy as in the accomplishing of them.

Michaelbrent Collings has written numerous bestselling novels, including his latest novel Darkbound.  His wife and mommy think he is a can that is chock-full of awesome sauce.  Check him out at www.facebook.com/MichaelbrentCollings or  michaelbrentcollings.com.
 

When Shameless Self-Promotion is Shameful by Tristi Pinkston

Last year, I wrote a post about shameless self-promotion. You can read the full thing here, but essentially my point was this: if you have created something, why be ashamed to let others know you did it? Sometimes we are hesitant to say we have a new book coming out or that we’ve started a new business because we don’t want to sound like we’re bragging, but in reality, if we don’t tell others what we’re doing, we are missing the boat in expanding our endeavors.

As people stopped by and left comments, the conversation turned to a discussion of, “Yeah, but what about times when it really is inappropriate to self-promote?” I promised a follow-up post, and at long last, here it is.

Yes, I’m all about taking every opportunity to self-promote, but I’m also going to be the very first to encourage you to choose your moments. Let’s take a look at some completely made-up and over-dramatized examples.

The Right Way:

1. Standing in line at the grocery store, you overhear someone say, “Oh, these awful tabloids. I’m so tired of reading this mindless trash. Why, oh, why can’t I find a book that is intelligently written, reaches my inner core, and makes me think about the world around me in a new and different way?” And you hand her your card.

2. Walking down the aisle at the library, you spot a lady with a wistful, lost expression on her face, and she sighs, “I wonder what I should read next.” And you hand her your card.

3. You are at a class reunion and the person who broke your heart comes up to you and says, “So, what are you up to these days?” After mentally taking note of just how much they have let themselves go since letting you go, you hand them your card.

Seriously, if you are looking for opportunities, they will present themselves to you. Just don’t be afraid to open your mouth when they come along.

Now, let’s take a look at The Wrong Way:

1. Your best friend calls you up on the phone. “I’m getting a divorce,” she says. “Oh, I know how to cheer you up,” you reply. “My new book is on sale at Deseret Book! Go buy a copy. You’ll feel better in no time.”

2. You are walking through Barnes and Noble and you see someone approaching the register with Robison Wells’ new book in their hand. You dive in front of them. “Excuse me, you don’t want that book. You want this one instead,” and you shove a copy of your own book into their hands, then kick Robison Wells’ book under the counter.

3. You are at the reading of Great-Aunt Mildred’s will. Each person there was left the paltry sum of $20.00, and the rest of her vast estate was given to The Brotherhood of the Bunny Rabbits Who Wear Purple Pants. You stand up and say, “Twenty dollars? That’s great! Now you can all afford to buy my book!”

Seriously, there are times when you need to hold back, and obscure religious cults don’t always have to be involved.

Last April, I was given the opportunity to sign at Women’s Conference. My table mate was Tiffany Fletcher, author of Mother Had a Secret. Read my review here. It’s a nonfiction memoir of Tiffany’s childhood growing up with a mother who had multiple personalities. As people came by our table and we gave them the rundown of our books, they seemed to need to hear what Tiffany had to say. Many of them had grown up with parents with mental illness, and she was able to bear them her testimony of how the Atonement helped see her through a rough childhood and bring her closer to Christ. Often, they left the table in tears, thanking her for what she’d said. Was I going to interrupt that and try to sell them one of my books? Absolutely not. Those women needed what someone else had to offer. As a result, I sold about five books, and Tiffany sold fifteen—all the store had in stock. Was I disappointed that I didn’t sell more? Of course. But the fifteen people who left that bookstore with Tiffany’s book will be uplifted as they read her testimony, and why on earth would I begrudge that?

I believe in karma, that when we do good, it comes back to us. I believe that when we are patient and wait for the right moment, that moment will come. It’s good to be actively seeking marketing opportunities, but it’s good to be sensitive to the situation and to know when to be quiet. You’ll get another chance later. It’s how the universe works.

 

Tristi Pinkston is the author of seventeen (and counting!) published books, including the Secret Sisters mystery series. In addition to being a prolific author, Tristi also provides a variety of author services, including editing and online writing instruction. You can visit her at www.tristipinkston.blogspot.com or her website at www.tristipinkston.com.

How to Get Your Books Into the Public Library by Natalie Giauque

Note: Natalie works for the Salt Lake County Library system and is speaking specifically to that. However, many of her tips will apply to any library system.

Have you ever wondered how to get your books into the Salt Lake County Library system?

Here is all of the information you’ll need, and a few helpful tips.

A little bit about me and what I do:

I’m Natalie and I’m the LDS fiction buyer for the Salt Lake County Library System. The SLCLS system consists of 18 branches across the Salt Lake valley, and I buy books for all of the branches. My job is to buy as much LDS fiction as I can, while keeping within my budget constraints.

Each month I order new titles from Deseret Book, Cedar Fort, Covenant, Brigham Distributing and Walnut Springs Press. So if your book is being distributed through these channels, I’m going to see it and I’m going to purchase it. For those of you who publish independently, things get a bit tricky. There are two websites that I use to find new books, LDS Publisher and LDS Women’s Book Review.  I’ll see a new title coming out, I do a little research and then purchase the title if I feel it will be of interest to my patrons. I have limited funds, so I have to be a bit selective. If you are an author I’m familiar with, I’ll buy more copies. New authors, I’ll pick up a few copies and monitor demand.

Here are some important points if you want me to see and purchase your books:

  • Make sure you have some sort of web presence. Promote your book! This isn’t a time to be modest. With any new author, the first thing I do is Google you. If I can’t find a blog, web page, or a Facebook page, I’m going to think you aren’t interested in promoting your book. If you aren’t interested in your book, why should I be? I can’t tell you how many books I’ve passed by because I couldn’t find any information about the author. Out of date blog? Forget about it. Promote! Promote! Promote!
  • Make sure that you have the title of your book on your webpage, the price, the ISBN, and where I can purchase your book. Make sure all of your links are current! This is really important. If I have to hunt for an ISBN or a price and it takes me too long, I’ll pass on your book. Make it easy for me. I purchase books through Seagull book and through Amazon, so if you get your books into those two vendors, I can buy them.
  • Understand that purchasing books, getting them cataloged and out to patrons takes time. It can take about three months from the time I make a purchase to the time the book is circulating. So please don’t send in purchase requests if you don’t see your book in the library catalog right away. If your book has been out for a few months and it isn’t in the catalog, go ahead and send in a purchase request, as I may have missed your book.
  • Once your book is in the library system, make sure your fans know this. If your books don’t circulate well, they may end up being deleted and when you publish your next book, I won’t buy as many copies, if I buy any.
  • I discourage authors from sending books to me for the library system. If the books don’t get to me, they will end up going for book sale. I prefer that you promote your book where I can find it and I’ll purchase it through my vendors.
  • What about e-books? Many authors are now publishing in this format exclusively. The library system uses OverDrive as an e-book vendor. If you publish independently and want to get your books into our catalog, you need to publish your book through Authorsolutions (www.authorsolutions.com) or Smashwords (www.smashwords.com). Make sure you choose OverDrive as a distribution channel. We’d love to have you in our e-catalog. OverDrive is working with other publishers to get more LDS e-books into our catalog as well.

Questions? Leave a comment and I’ll do my best to answer your questions.

Natalie

Beware of POV Shifts by Rebecca Talley

Point of view, or POV, can be tricky. POV can be defined as the character(s) through whose eyes readers experience the story.

Usually, the POV character is the main character, but that’s not always the case. Once you decide which character will be telling the story, you’ll also need to decide if it will be in first person (I) , second person (you), or third person (he, him, she, her). Only you, as the writer, can determine how best to tell the story, and which character needs to tell it. If you decide that more than one character needs to tell the story (mysteries and romances often employ more than one character POV) you’ll be using multiple POV.

First, you need to decide which character needs to tell the story and then how to best tell that story. To help you determine this, you can ask yourself which character grows and changes the most. Usually, that’s the best character to tell the story. If you’re unsure, try writing the first few scenes from different character’s viewpoints and experiment between first, second, and third person. (Most writers shy away from second person because it presents such a difficult voice).

Once you know who is telling the story, and why that character is telling it, you can start writing your novel. However, you need to be very careful that you don’t slip into the wrong POV. Unless you’re using omniscient (all-knowing, all-seeing), your character can only relate what he/she sees, hears, feels, thinks, remembers. If you find yourself describing what another character feels, sees, thinks, hears, knows, or remembers, you’ve had a POV shift.

For example:

Jenny felt scared. She didn’t know where the noise was coming from and she feared it was the intruder. She looked over at her best friend, Angie, who was remembering when someone broke into her house. Warning: POV shift! If it’s in Jenny’s POV, she can’t know what Angie is remembering unless Angie communicates that to her somehow. If you’re in Jenny’s POV, you can only know what Jenny knows. Otherwise you’re head-hopping (or in omniscient).

It’s easy to slip out of POV when you first begin to write. Beware. As you write, ask yourself, “Can this character see, hear, know, remember, think, or feel this?” If not, you’ve slipped out of POV and need to rewrite it.

 

Rebecca Talley grew up in Santa Barbara, CA. She now lives in rural CO on a small ranch with a dog, a spoiled horse, too many cats, and a herd of goats. She and her husband, Del, are the proud parents of ten multi-talented and wildly-creative children. Rebecca is the author of a children’s picture book “Grasshopper Pie” (WindRiver 2003), three novels, “Heaven Scent” (CFI 2008), “Altared Plans” (CFI 2009), and “The Upside of Down” (CFI 2011), and numerous magazine stories and articles. Her newest novel, Aura, was released in 2012. You can visit her blog at www.rebeccatalleywrites.blogspot.com.

Utilizing the Book Blog Reviewer by Karen Jones Gowen, WiDo Publishing

Note: WiDo author, Charity Bradford, did a Guest Post last month on Organizing a Blog Tour. She had some great tips. This month Karen Gowen, author and Managing Editor at Wido Publishing, follows up with more tips on how to find Book Blog Reviewers and establish a relationship with them.

Reviews are key to getting sales for your book, and a valuable resource is book blogs. On my sidebar (click the link to see Karen’s sidebar) is an extensive list, from the super busy who may not have time for you, to the ones just starting out who will be happy to get your request.

My Top Ten Tips on Getting Book Blog Reviews:

1. Start early researching reviewers. Don’t wait until your launch. Look for reviewers in your genre. They will have an About Us page and/or a Guidelines for Requesting Reviews page. Read it carefully to see if they’ll be a good fit for you and your book.

2. Develop a relationship with the ones you pick. Follow their blogs and show up regularly. Comment on their posts. Thank them for their reviews. You yourself will need a blog to effectively implement this important step.

3. Pay attention to how they review a book. Some will copy and paste a Goodreads summary, and then give just a word or two about the book. Sorry, but this is not a review. You are looking for valid book reviewers, not just those willing to make an announcement about your new release. Watch for those who are intelligent, fair, and thorough in their reviews.

Helpful reviews will give highlights of the story, discuss themes, plot and characters, share how the story made them feel, talk about what they liked about it as well as what bothered them. “I don’t like the cover,” is not a review and is not helpful. You don’t want a reviewer who gushes over everything, or one who is too critical– you’re looking for a nice balance

 4. Check out the title of their blog. It should be something that will display well with a quote or blurb on your website or your book page on Amazon. Again, check out my sidebar and see how cool some of these blog names are. They legitimize the review, add interest to the blurb.

5. After you have chosen your favorite reviewers and visited their blog so they know who you are and it’s finally time to email your review request to them, be sure to explain why you picked them.  Copy and paste requests are too easily ignored and refused. Make it personal.

6. Be patient but clear. Reviewers get a lot of requests and the good ones are busy. The good ones also read the book all the way through and take their time in writing a thoughtful response. Tell them your release date, give them a deadline if they ask, but let them know you’d still value their review regardless of when they get to it.

7. Don’t get upset if it’s not the 5 star review you had hoped for. Positive blurbs can be gleaned from just about any response. I once asked one of my English professors for a blurb. Her response after reading my ms of Uncut Diamonds, was critical and in the end said she couldn’t recommend it. But she did say that she really loved the dialogue. Cool. We went with that because “I really love the dialogue…” makes a fine blurb.

8. Thank them privately, even if the review was less than you had hoped for. No need to add a thank you comment on your Amazon or Goodreads site. You want to be invisible and not seem like you’re checking out all your reviews and commenting on them. That inhibits potential reviewers. But a private email showing appreciation is appropriate and should be sufficient.

9. Don’t pay for anything. There was a time when paid review sites were popping up everywhere. After the negative press that led to Amazon removing reviews, I wouldn’t think paying for reviews is even considered anymore. I never have done it or recommended it. Why should we pay? There are thousands upon thousands of book review blogs out there, with more popping up every day. They are book-lovers happy to get an ARC in exchange for a review. Do NOT pay for reviews. It’s completely unnecessary and even frowned on in the current climate.

10. Don’t stop now. After the excitement of your launch and those first initial reviews you may think, okay time to write the next book. Which it is, of course. But still continue following book reviewers, add to your repertoire, keep building those valuable relationships. New blurbs and reviews will add to the saleability of your book, even if it’s been out for awhile.

 

About Karen Jones Gowen: Born and raised in central Illinois, the daughter of a Methodist minister from Indiana and a school teacher from Nebraska, Karen Jones Gowen has down-to-earth Midwestern roots. Karen and her husband Bruce have lived in Utah, Illinois, California and Washington, currently residing near Salt Lake City. They are the parents of ten children. Not surprisingly, family relationships are a recurring theme in Gowen’s writing. She is the managing editor for WiDo Publishing and the author of four books, all of which fit loosely into the category of LDS Fiction. Karen’s website: karenjonesgowen.com. WiDo Publishing website: widopublishing.com

Every Day or Everyday? by Annette Lyon

Which do you use? When? What’s the difference? Is there one?

The everyday/every day mix-up is easily one of the most common mistakes I see in my editing work and one of the most common questions I’m asked.

Kinda figured it made sense to address it here. I do mention it in There, Their, They’re as well, and I think I do a pretty good job of it. But recently, I had a brain flash about how to explain it even better.

I’m hereby using that brain flash in this post and reserving the right to reprint it in the second edition of the book. ‘Cause I can do that. 🙂

Every day
This phrase is pretty much what it sounds like: something that happens on a daily basis.

Examples:
I brush my teeth every day.
Every day, I send my kids off to school.
I check the mail every day for another rejection.

It’s easy to know whether to keep the space.

Just ask: Can I add the word “single” between “every” and “day” and have it make sense?

If so, keep the space:

I brush my teeth every single day.
Every single day, I send my kids off to school.
I check the mail every single day for another rejection.

They all work. Woohoo!

Everyday (one word)
Going all technical for a second, this is one word because it’s an adjective. It describes what comes next.

Try replacing “everyday” with a different adjective, one that means something similar, like:

  • regular
  • usual
  • typical
  • normal
  • common

Does the sentence still work?

For example:
Running out of toilet paper around here is an everyday (normal/typical) event.

Her everyday (typical/regular) migraines are debilitating.

Is this type of outburst an everyday (normal/common) occurrence for your daughter?

 

If you notice, those kinds of words don’t work as replacements for the two-word variety (every day):

I brush my teeth every day (typical/normal?).
Every day (regular, common?), I send my kids off to school.
I check the mail every day (usual, normal, typical?) for another rejection.

 

In summary:

Ask: Can you replace the phrase with a word such as regular, typical, normal, common, or usual?

If YES: Make it ONE word, no spaces (everyday). It’s an adjective.

If NO: Use TWO words and a space (every day). The phrase is just referring to a regular time period.

If you’ve decided the phrase needs a space, test it further by adding “single” between “every” and “day,” making it, “every single day.” Does it still make sense? If so, you’re good to go.

See? Easy peasy.

Annette Lyon  is a Whitney Award winner, the recipient of Utah’s Best of State medal for fiction, and the author of nine novels, a cookbook, and a grammar guide, plus over a hundred magazine articles. She’s a senior editor at Precision Editing Group and a cum laude graduate from BYU with a degree in English. When she’s not writing, editing, knitting, or eating chocolate, she can be found mothering and avoiding the spots on the kitchen floor. Find her online at blog.annettelyon.com and on Twitter: @AnnetteLyon.

Need a little extra grammar help? Get Annette’s grammar book, There, Their, They’re: A No-Tears Guide to Grammar from the Word Nerd.

Dealing Positively With Negative Reviews by Michaelbrent Collings

Okay, so, you’re published. Your book is “out there.” It’s “in the world” and “up for grabs.” People can “read it” and “peruse it” at their “leisure” (I like quotation marks).

And at first, things seem all right. Fairly predictable. The book doesn’t become an instant bestseller, but it is selling. Your mom bought it, and your dad bought two copies, and so did that slightly weird person who sits in your closet and mumbles a lot. Or maybe that’s just what happens to me.

Regardless, your work is now on its own. Living, breathing, and (hopefully) being passed from hand to hand by readers who are—slowly but surely—going to become Your People. Your Followers. Your Army.

And then it happens. Among the four- and five-star reviews that have made you feel higher than a kite on meth, suddenly this rears its ugly head on Amazon:

A TERRIBLE read

I picked this boock up because of all the good revuews. But I guess the revuews were all dun by, like, the writers’ parents and stuff. Because the book stunk. It stunk a lot. It stunk like a dead skunk that has severe dysintary and then drowns in its own poop. Also, the author is a ca-ca doodie head and probably has lice and kix baby seals and stuff. Dont read this book, it will give you cooties.

– 1 star

You read it. And the questions start. Is my work really that bad? How could this reviewer have so completely missed the point of my book? Where did he learn to spell? What if I do have lice?

And, most urgently… how do I respond?

To that last, I have three little words: Ig. Nore. It.

Okay, maybe that’s four words, I don’t know.  I’m a writer, not an accountant.

Seriously, though, when you get a review like the above, you must simply rejoice within yourself. Why? Because it means your book is being read. It’s getting out into the world, meeting new people, getting beyond the closed circles of your family, friends, and writers groups. It will inevitably meet up with people that hate it—because it’s not their style, because you did an objectively terrible job writing the piece (it does happen), or even for no good reason at all.

And like any good parent, you will have the urge to rush to your “child’s” defense.

RESIST.

There are really only two likely outcomes if you choose to wage war on the review or (even worse) on the reviewer himself.

1)   You try to show the review is “wrong.” The reviewer takes offense and goes to war with you. You now have a dedicated enemy who will attack you at every possible turn, giving you low ratings wherever possible and urging his/her friends and family to avoid your work like a sack of rotten meat. You have just accomplished nothing more nor less than magnifying the effect and range of the viewer’s bile and hatred. Result: you lose.

2)  You try to show the review is wrong. The reviewer takes offense and goes to war with you. You mobilize your friends and followers and fight back. A comment war ensues! You beat back the scummy, evil, poor-spelling reviewer.  He/she is silenced forever. Huzzah! But wait… those comments are there forever. And you look like nothing more nor less than a prima donna bully. This will keep people from buying your books in perpetuity. Result: you lose.

Of the two, the second is gratifying to the author, but far more damaging. I am friends with a great many authors, some of them legitimately Famous People. And occasionally one of them will get their undies in a wad over some disparaging comment made regarding their work and will mobilize their fans to attack. The fans attack. Or some of them. Some don’t. Some become “un” fans, turned off by the author’s childishness. And though maybe Famous People can afford to lose fans, the average author just can’t.

An example: my most recent novel, Darkbound, just came out. It’s a deeply disturbing horror novel about six strangers who get on a subway train that turns out to go everywhere BUT where they want it to. When it was released, a very eminent horror review site called Hellnotes wrote up a stellar review. So did several other review sites. A friend who had received an advance copy sent me a note saying he was… well… less than enamored of it. It was too dark, too violent. Worried, no doubt, about typical author ego, he asked what my response would be if he posted such a review.

My response: “Do it!” People have a right to know others’ thoughts. The fact that this reviewer didn’t like Darkbound as much as he had liked other books I’d written was a bummer. But it didn’t mean the end of the world, and insisting that he love everything about my work, all the time, would be not merely ridiculous, but counterproductive.

The reviews of our work will at times be insightful, helpful, warming. And sometimes it will be shallow tripe that looks like it was probably written in crayon by a five-year-old struggling against some weird form of Tourrette Syndrome. Both are part of being a writer. Don’t respond to either (even the good ones—that can be a bit “stalky” and can also mess with your fan base). If you want to interact with fans, get a Facebook page, a Twitter account, or stand on a box in Hyde Park.

But leave the reviews—and reviewers—alone. Ig. Nore. Them.

It is three words. I counted with my fingers.

 

Michaelbrent Collings has written numerous bestselling novels, including his latest novel Darkbound. His wife and mommy think he is a can that is chock-full of awesome sauce. Check him out at www.facebook.com/MichaelbrentCollings or  michaelbrentcollings.com.

 

Author & Publicist: It’s Not a 50/50 Relationship by Kelly Martinez, Cedar Fort

One of the biggest misconceptions held by published authors is that once the manuscript and rewrites are finished, so is the author’s job.

Not so! Especially in today’s book market.

One of the points I diligently stress to the authors I work with is that ours is not a 50-50 relationship. If we go with the numbers game, then the breakdown is more like 80-20, with the author on the 80-percent part of the equation.

Unrealized by many authors—and, admittedly, a few of the ones I work with—is the fact that a publisher’s marketing rep is in place to help the author market, not do it for them.

I liken my role as a marketing publicist to that of a counselor: I can guide and offer suggestions of what to do, but ultimately it’s up to the author to sell the book.

We, the marketers at Cedar Fort, have an unofficial slogan we go by: Cedar Fort’s job is to get the books on the shelves and the author’s job is to get them off the shelves!

That said, a marketer’s responsibility is to offer marketing support, which, in my personal experience, comes in the form of keeping the author focused on our common goal of selling books.

From the author’s point of view, this goal can come in the forms of common book-promoting activities, including book signings, launch parties, blog tours, and media interviews.

To further illustrate my point that authors are their own best marketing resource, I’d like to share a personal experience.

I’ve pitched most of my authors to a host of media outlets and have had minimal success in attracting attention. Recently, an author of mine took the bull by the horns and pitched herself to a local TV show. A day or two later, she heard back from the show’s producer and now has a TV interview lined up.

I encourage my authors to do the traditional book-promoting activities—and whatever else comes to mind, no matter how farfetched it might seem.

Authors should never dismiss the power of social media and its ability to reach a large audience of prospective buyers. Facebook, Twitter, and author websites and/or blogs have the potential to meet hundreds, if not thousands, of people for whom the book was written!

It’s not enough to just set an account up on these social networks; the author needs to provide fresh, engaging, and entertaining material on a regular basis for it to work.

In summation, I can’t stress enough the importance that authors abandon the notion that a publisher’s marketing rep will do all the marketing work for them. Most marketing reps juggle multiple authors—in my situation, I’m dealing with upward of 30 authors at a time—so expecting us to devote the time that you would like to marketing your book is unrealistic.

This doesn’t mean we don’t want to devote all of our time to your book; it just means that we simply don’t have the time to do so.

Kelly Martinez is a Marketing Publicist for Cedar Fort, Inc. You can follow Cedar Fort on their blog, www.cedarfortbooks.com and their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/cedarfortbooks.

Great Beginnings by Anita Mumm

It’s January and I’ve got beginnings on my mind—in this case, the opening pages of your novel. In 2012 we read 1,029 sets of sample pages and from those we requested 81 full manuscripts. So what made the difference between a “no thanks” and a “tell me more”? Here are five key elements:

  • Voice. Every author has a voice, but what makes some stand out from the crowd? In Writing the Breakout Novel, Donald Maass calls voice “not only a unique way of putting words together, but a unique sensibility, a distinctive way of looking at the world…” Another key element is authenticity. Do the narration and dialogue ring true with the characters and story? This is particularly important for YA and MG—nothing turns young readers off faster than writing that feels like an adult trying to mimic them. In that sense, the voice should be invisible— effortlessly capturing readers without calling attention to itself.
  • Stand-out writing. We see dozens of fairy tale retellings and spin-offs every month. Nevertheless, one of our newest clients is the author of a reimagined Sleeping Beauty tale. Her secret? The story felt incredibly fresh while retaining key elements of the fairy tale—a recipe for reader satisfaction. Beautiful writing can make an old theme feel new; focus on polishing your craft, not worrying about what is in vogue.
  • Authentic world. While it’s especially important for sci-fi/fantasy and steampunk, world-building can make or break any story. Your goal is to create a literary microcosm that feels real (historical authors—don’t skimp on the research).
  • Stories with heart. We’re looking for novels that feature relevant issues without compromising story. Examples: stories about bullying, contemporary YA with teens battling real-life issues, LGBT stories.
  • Characters who face great challenges with grit and integrity. What they don’t do is become jaded, nasty, or overly angsty. That definitely works for some stories, but our personal taste leans toward characters who rise a little higher.

Keep in mind that these elements can—and must—be firmly established or at least introduced in your opening pages; we ask for thirty, but it’s usually obvious in five. Take a hard look at your opening pages and if they feel a little flat, it’s time to consider a revision. Because no matter how amazing chapter five is, without a dynamic start readers may never get that far.

May 2013 bring success and satisfaction in your writing career. Best wishes!

Anita Mumm is a Literary Assistant at the Nelson Literary Agency. This post was taken from their monthly newsletter and posted here with permission. To get more great industry news, subscribe to their newsletter.