Derailed Deadlines

by H. Linn Murphy

Luce sat at her desk, unprepared and oblivious to the encroaching deadline. She had an article due but hadn't thought about it in a couple of months, having buried herself under a mountainous pile of work she couldn't shuck off.

Her helium hand was continuously getting her in trouble, until she barely had time to deal with her own manuscript. She offered to drive for school field trips, bake cookies for an end-of-the-year choir party, sew costumes for the last school play for her high school senior, teach five hundred cub scouts how to paint, organize and execute a family dinner for battling siblings, and do the accounting for the family's nearly due taxes, among a thousand other tasks. Cinderella had nothing on Luce Lamont.

Luce ran her fingers through her shaggy up-do and looked up from the pile of receipts, realizing she hadn't done anything on her own manuscript in weeks. The taxes were driving her insane, she'd sewed the arm on her daughter's princess costume on backwards, that evil carbon smell was eking out of the oven again and she smelled like a longshoreman.

"Forget this!" she thundered. "I'm going back to my book!" She slapped on her blinders and prepared to spin the threads of her story into the Great American Novel.

But it didn't come.

She sat there staring at the monitor detesting her book for its recalcitrance. Why couldn't it be the one thing in her life to fall gently and easily into place? She glanced up at her calendar.

Then she saw it.

She had a deadline, which was nearly past.

Luce banged her head into her keyboard, causing several of the buttons to pop off and fling behind the adjacent armchair and bookcase. She just stopped herself from swearing and crouched down to try and find the errant buttons. Why did everything have to crash down on her at once? And when had she gotten so allergic to calendars and marking things on them?

She felt like a magician. Someone had asked her to pull a rabbit out of her top hat and then stomped all over it until it was a puddle of black silk. How was she supposed to do it with all the other obligations she had nipping at her heels?

She finally put her head down and began to pour out her heart in prayer, her troubles flooding out in a cathartic rush.

At the end of it all, the words fell into line like tiny black soldiers.

Pushing to Reach New Audiences....

Valerie J. Steimle

As a published author of five books, sales wax and wane. I am in a financial slump in book sales and I need a bigger audience to discover my work. How do I do this?

From the Futurebook conference held on November 21^st sponsored by The Bookseller website there were some pretty good suggestions.  Push Entertainment’s Simon Scott talked about what authors can do. He focused on the importance of always trying to understand how to connect with people and “keep to the core fans of your work who are willing to buy” up front.  Announcing upcoming books to remind “lapsed” fans that you still exist which also helps them connect with you again is a great way to keep the sales numbers up. Authors (especially self-published ones) who go the extra mile will reap the benefits of better book sales.

Ruth Spencer, a marketing manager at Random House, suggested a concept not really known to publishers and authors: verticals or vertical integration.  Meaning authors get together with other like authors and promote each other.  Banding together to help each other promote books helps reach higher audiences. There is always power in numbers.

Another suggestion came from author and entrepreneur, Joanna Penn. She talked about what self-publishers have always known: the need to take a lot of risks.  Self-publishers “must always be writing new books (or articles) and have a consumer focus”. Keeping to one category in writing is like cutting off your availability to readers. There is a whole world out there waiting to hear what you have to say in many areas of life such as social media, speaking engagements or website articles. Using e-book promotions also help authors reach a bigger audience. They really do work.

This is a very well needed boost in the arm for authors who are trying to keep their heads afloat in the publishing world.  A well managed push into more areas of expertise helps authors reach more readers….and in reality….that is the name of the game.

See original article from Forbes.com 

Another Venue To Write In…

Since I’m primarily an article writer, I thought I would give you my two cents worth about writing articles.  Okay, so you have the greatest American Novel going on in your computer but you need to take a break and do some other writing for some fast cash or recognition or just a break.  They are all wonderful. The best way I know how is to write articles that are about what is near and dear to your heart.

These next Five suggestions came from a writer friend, Carolyn.  Very timely and very helpful.  I have used them myself.

Informational- This article answers a question. If you want to know more about something chances are other people do too. More about the swine flu, the truth about global warming, more about the effects of mold and where it grows... whatever. Do your research and then write your heart away.

How-to- Begin with your own experience but make sure you FIND AN EXPERT for this type of article. An example of this was a story a writer did on "The Healtcare Jungle" that explained her experience trying to find insurance. If you've been given the run-around, write about how-to avoid your mistakes. The writer also spoke about "Take control of the clock" and talked to a number of time management experts. She loved it because it was something she wanted to do better. Nothing like free advice AND getting paid for it.

Profile- If you hear or read about someone who's done something remarkable, call them and ask for an interview. She spoke about a woman who was told she couldn't make a scrapbooking magazine but did anyway and just sold it off for $15 million. That's a story! She heard about another woman that was in counseling that was speaking about her adopted teenager. The counselor explained that she had given a baby up for adoption and they found out it happened to be the same child. Wow! The person doesn't need to be famous to be fascinating.

Personal Experience- If you have started a business, lost your wallet, entered a clutter contest, these are great ideas for articles. Do wild (not too wild) things so you can write about them.  Think travel magazines. Personal stories are always a good bet on an interesting story.

Inspirational- As the economy gets tougher, inspirational stories will sell well. Look for people that have triumphed and tell their story. Sometimes it’s not any further than your own neighborhood.

You might not get paid for all the article writing you do, (I don’t) but you get your name out there and your foot in the door.   Give article writing a chance.  It is a very satisfying career.