“I’d Rather Be in the Studio!” An Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion
I was just on Cynthia Morris’ Original Impulse Blog this morning listening to her interview Alyson Stanfield, author of, “I’d Rather Be in the Studio! The Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion.” I came away with some fresh insights that some writers might find hard to swallow. I know I did.
Ms. Stanfield said that as writers (and artists,) we need to get past the excuses. We must “want” to succeed as writers. To make a living as a writer you, must leave excuses behind. Otherwise, we will feel overwhelmed and won’t be able to complete our novels, plays, short stories or whatever projects we’re working on. It is the writing, not the money, that must motivate us.
A known artist coach, Ms. Stanfield shares encouraging insights that you can “do it,” and how to find the support you need to complete your project. You’ll also learn what to do when you get stuck in the creative process, as we all do at some time. Every writer, every artist needs to get a copy of this book.
Until next time …
No day without a line!
10 Web 2.0 Sites for Writers
Below is a list of 10 Social Media Sites specifically for writers. On these sites you can upload, share, bookmark and market your books (be sure to check out their policies before blatantly marketing your books. Follow proper netiquette). Social Media Sites are a hot book marketing tactic.
Social Media Marketing is getting big. Even large book publishers like Random House/Crown Publishing, Harper Perennial and Putnam are starting to use Web video and social media to market their books. Just take a look at this episode at The New Media Minute for more details.
Social Media Marketing brings higher rankings and more targeted traffic. Give it a try and let me know what you think in a comment. If I missed a Social Media Site that you think would be useful for writers, post it in a comment.
I’d also like to thank @MargHamp and @sduffyphotos for their suggestions.
Here they are in no particular order …
http://www.shelfari.com/Create a virtual shelf to show off your books. Connect with your friends. Discover exciting new titles. Voice your opinion. All for free. Read. Share. Explore.
http://wordsy.com/
Strongly inspired by Digg.com. You can vote on stuff, and if more people vote on something it’ll get promoted to the homepage. There are many places on the web to find stuff about books and reading - like reviews, previews, discussions, newspaper articles, blog posts, videos, podcasts. Wordsy is a place to put it all together. And let you be the judge…
http://www.scribophile.com/
Scribophile is a community of writers just like you. Publish your works and get valuable critiques and feedback from their writing community. Read the works of other authors and write helpful critiques. Interact and grow with a vibrant community of authors and poets. And, when you’ve put the finishing touches on your work, publish it as a PDF eBook.
http://ficlets.com/
A ficlet is a short story that enables you to collaborate with the world. Once you’ve written and shared your ficlet, any other user can pick up the narrative thread by adding a prequel or sequel. In this manner, you may know where the story begins, but you’ll never guess where (or even if!) it ends.
http://www.facebook.com
Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.
Note: When you sign up for Facebook, send me a friend request. I enjoy connecting with writers.
http://beta.booklamp.org/
BookLamp.org is a system for matching readers to books through an analysis of writing styles. Similar to the way that Pandora.com matches music lovers to new music. Do you like Stephen King’s It, but thought it was too long? The technology behind BookLamp allows you to find books that are written with a similar tone, tense, perspective, action level, description level, and dialog level, while at the same time allowing you to specify details like… half the length.
http://issuu.com/
Issuu is the place for online publications: Magazines, catalogs, documents, and stuff you’d normally find on print. It’s the place where YOU become the publisher: Upload a document, it’s fast, easy, and totally FREE. Find and comment on thousands of great publications. Join a living library, where anyone finds publications about anything and share them with friends.
http://www.22books.com/
22books is dedicated to the creating, sharing, and viewing of book lists. Start out by browsing some of the featured lists to the left and then open a free account and start creating lists of your own.
http://www.booktagger.com/
Tired of cruising bookstores trying to judge a book by its cover? Now you can ask those who’ve read it before. Booktagger is an online bookshelf application to list the books you’ve read and to share them with others.
http://www.mixbook.com/
Mixbook was started with the idea that friends should be able to create books together. Though Mixbook software makes book creation easy and fun, it also allows groups of people to build books together. Now friends finally have a way to share their memories online!
Did you enjoy this article? Please subscribe to my RSS feed so that you don’t miss future articles that will help you to Earn a Living from Your Writing.
Until next time …
No day without a line!
Are You Overlooking this Simple Readability Tool?
Do you want to improve your chances of receiving an acceptance letter instead of a form rejection in response to your query letters? Of course you do …
How? Simply mirror the readability of the magazines that you’re submitting queries to.
Developed by Robert Gunning, an American businessman, the Gunning-Fog Index is one of the methods used to measure the readability of a passage of English text. The resulting number is an indication of the number of years of formal education that a person needs to easily understand the text on the first reading. For instance, if a passage of text has a Gunning-Fog Index of 12, it has the reading level of a U.S. high school senior, an 8 would indicate that a U.S. 8th grader could easily understand the passage.
Writers and editors who want their articles, stories or essays to be easily understood by a large segment of the population commonly use the Gunning-Fog Index. Texts that are designed for a wide audience generally require a Gunning-Fog Index below 12.
Typical Gunning-Fog Indices of some popular magazines:
12 — Atlantic Monthly
11 — TIME
10 — Newsweek
9 — Reader’s Digest
8 — Ladies’ Home Journal
7 — True Confessions
6 — Comic books
Calculating the Gunning-Fog Index
The Gunning-Fog Index is calculated in the following way:
- Take any passage of text that is around 100 words.
- Find the average sentence length by taking the number of words in the passage and divide by the number of sentences.
- Count the number of complex words, words with three or more syllables, within the passage. Do not include proper nouns (for example, Ravikant), compound words or common suffixes such as -es, -ed, or -ing as a syllable, or familiar jargon.
- Divide the number of complex words by the number of words in the passage and multiply by 100. This will give you the percentage of complex words. For example, 8.3%, not .083.
- Add the average sentence length and the percentage of complex words.
- Multiply the result by 0.4. This result is your Gunning-Fog Index, your readability.
While the index is a good indication of reading difficulty, it still has limitations. Not all multi-syllabic words are difficult. For example, the word “engineer ” is generally not considered to be a difficult word, even though it has three syllables.
While I can’t guarantee that by simply matching your article’s Gunning-Fog Index to that of the magazine you’re querying will result in an acceptance letter. I do feel confident saying that if you thoroughly analyze your magazine market, including its Gunning-Fog Index, you’ll begin to receive more acceptances than rejections.
Here’s an example. This passage of text is from an article that ran in INC. MAGAZINE, March 2008:
LIKE so MANY technology entrepreneurs, Williams, whose friends call him Ev, is a software engineer. But unlike many of the most successful, he’s no genius when it comes to programming. His specialty is taking a tiny, almost nonsensical idea and turning it into a cultural phenomenon. “He’s like a master craftsman,” says Naval Ravikant, a serial entrepreneur who is an angel investor in Twitter. “There are entrepreneurs who are financial geniuses, and there are raw coders. Evan is the master of creating a product where there wasn’t one before.” If Williams’s art is the conception of inconceivable products, then Twitter is his chef-d’oeuvre.
- The passage contains 103 words and is 7 sentences long. 103 divided by 7 gives us an average sentence length of 14.7 words.
- It contains 16 complex words (in italics). 16 divided by 103 equals 0.155. Multiply that by 100 gives us 15.5% complex words
- Adding 14.7 (the average sentence length) to 15.5 (the percent of complex words) gives us 30.2.
- Multiply 30.2 time 0.4(constant) gives us 12.08, or a 12 grade reading level.
Simple, once you’ve calculated a few.
So, the next time that you’re sending out a query, match the text of your letter with your magazine market and let me know when you get your acceptance letter. I’ll be cheering for you!
Until next time …
No day without a line.
Find Your Writing Voice
My daughter Chelsea loves to sing. She’s been singing even before she could speak in complete sentences - she’s a teenager now - I’m still not sure about her ability to speak in complete sentences sometimes. Anyway, about a month ago I downloaded and installed Audacity on my computer and she’s been playing around with it. She sings along to her favorite songs, recording herself and then playing it back. She has a beautiful voice. Except when she tries to make herself sound like someone else. Then her voice sounds strained and stressed. It’s actually painful to listen to for any length of time. But, when she sings in her own voice, it’s beautiful … music to my ears to use a cliché. The same happens when you write.
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. That’s not true in music - unless you’re Michael Buble - and it’s not true in writing. You need to write in your own voice. Ask any editor what she is looking for in a new writer and, 9 times out of 10, she’ll answer “a fresh voice.”
What is your writing voice?
Basically, your writing voice is how your words “sound” on the page. It the way you write. It’s your tone: are you friendly, formal, chatty, or distant. It’s the words you use: are they simple, everyday words or scholarly, technical words? It’s the pattern of your sentences: are they short and choppy or long and drawn out or a combination of both? It’s the way you put these elements together.
So, how do you find your writing voice?
It was the great American sports journalist Red Smith that said to write, “you just open a vein and write.” Don’t fear, finding your voice doesn’t have to be difficult or even painful. Here are 5 steps you can take that will have you writing in your own authentic voice in no time.
- Write as much as possible. The more you write, the better you’ll write.
- Keep a journal. Journaling is an excellent way to develop and strengthen your own voice.
- Turn off the computer when writing and write with pen and paper. As author and teacher, Heather Sellers points out, “Writing by hand is the difference between store bought cookies and from scratch. Everyone can tell.” Give it a try.
- Quiet your internal critic. This is easier then you may think. Simply write fast. Writing as fast as your hand can move quiets your inner critic and your own writing voice will emerge.
- Try writing in different forms and genres. If you write romances, try westerns. If you normally write mysteries, give science fiction a try. Experiment here
Follow these exercises and before long you will find your own voice and dramatically improve your chances of getting noticed by publishers.
Until next time …
No day without a line.
The Need to Write
This past Thursday evening I attended a talk on The Yoga of Eating, given by author and speaker, Charles Eisenstein. At one point during his nearly two-and-a-half-hour talk, Mr. Eisenstein mentioned that many people use food as a substitute for one of their needs that aren’t being met. He went on to list the needs that every one of us has.
- The need to love and be loved
- The need to know and be known
- The need to laugh
- The need explore and have adventure
- The need to create, especially something of beauty
- And, the need to give
“Interesting,” I thought to myself, “Can I relate these needs to writing?” As writers, I think that we all write for some, if not all of these reasons … these needs. Examine the list again and see which ones apply to you.
Do you want your writing to be loved? Do you want to be loved as a writer? I think that everyone who writes wants their writing to be accepted and, maybe even respected, by others. I know I do. So, yes, we want our writing to be loved.
Do you want to be known? I recently read The Rise of the Author, by Mark Joyner. In it he tells the story of the first time that he was recognized in public as an author. His “heart nearly exploded from [his] chest with confidence and joy,” he said. Do you want to be known as a writer? I think to some degree we all do, even if it’s only to our friends and family.
Do you need to laugh? This one might be a little more difficult than the others, but if you change “laugh” to “enjoy what you do,” I think that it makes sense. Do you enjoy writing? If not, find another line of work. Life’s too short to be doing something you don’t enjoy.
Do you have a need to explore and have adventure? If the writing life isn’t exploration and adventure, what is it? Yes, again.
Do you have the need to create? That’s all us writers do is create, even when it looks like we’re just watching the snow melt or the grass grow, we’re creating.
Finally, the need to give. When we finish a poem, a play, a short story, an article or a book, we’re giving. What do we give? We give hope. We give comfort. We give knowledge and wisdom. We give a smile.
So, the next time that you feel like giving up as a writer, think about your own needs for a minute. I think that you’ll find that by continuing to write you will meet at least some of your needs. And remember, the world needs your words too.
Until next time …
No day without a line.
My 14 Point Query Letter Checklist
Have you ever paid any attention to the return envelope utility companies send you in their billing statements? The next time that you sit down to pay your bills, look at the back of one of the envelopes. There’s a good chance that you will see a checklist of things to do before mailing back your bill so that your account gets properly credited with your payment. Have you:
- Enclosed payment portion of your statement?
- Enclosed check for your payment?
- Completed return address area?
It’s the simple things that often get overlooked …
Anyway, I have a similar checklist that I review before I mail any query letter out to an editor. My checklist includes:
- Have you addressed the editor by name? - No “Dear Sirs” here!
- Have you included a Self-Addressed, Stamped Envelope (SASE)?
- Have you included a phone number where you may be reached during the day?
- Have you listed your prior publications?
- Have you included clips? - If you got them include them. Don’t mention it if you don’t.
- If photos are available, have you mentioned it in your query?
- Have you stated the length of your proposed article?
- Did you mention your working title?
- Have you included a list of possible sources, whom will you interview?
- Have you spell checked your query?
- Have you grammar checked your query?
- Have you stated how long it will take you to have the completed article on the editor’s desk?
- Is your query only one page long, on white, 81/2” x 11” paper?
- Have you included a strong “call to action?” – For example, “I hope this topic interests you, and I look forward to your response. If you would like to see the article, I can have it on your desk within two weeks of receiving your acceptance.”
If you can answer “Yes” to these 14 points, your query letter has a good chance of being read and seriously considered by an editor. If you answered “No” to even one point, you need to go back and revise your query before you mail it out.
Until next time …
No day without a line!
Want to Improve Your Chances of Getting Published?
Follow the Rule of 12. Simply stated the Rule of 12 is, you should have at least twelve query letters in circulation at all times. That’s right, you should have twelve query letters on editor’s desks at all times.
Now having twelve queries in front of editors is a bit scary, because that opens you up to lots of rejection. And, while it’s part of being a freelance writer, being rejected is hard. On the other hand, having twelve queries making the editorial rounds will have a tremendous and positive impact on your success as a freelance writer.
How? You’ll get better at writing query letters - a good skill for any freelance writer. You’ll receive more acceptance letters. And, since you’re receiving more acceptances, you’ll earn more money. Now that may be over simplified, but I think you get the point. As Tony Robbins says, “Massive action will yield massive results.”
Getting to the point where you have twelve query letters out will take some time. Set a goal for yourself. Try to send out two or even three query letters every week until you have twelve in circulation.
Once you have twelve queries out, one of two things will happen. One, you’ll receive a rejection letter. In that case review your query to ensure that it is clear and concise and send it out to another editor. Two, you’ll receive a go-ahead for the article. In that case, write another query letter and get it in the mail or email, within 24 hours if at all possible, and get to work writing the article.
In time you’ll find that you are receiving fewer and fewer rejection and receiving more assignments. Congratulations on your assignment.
Until next time …
No day without a line.
I do the Stupidest Things Sometimes
This past weekend my daughters had a basketball game. And, since we also planned a small party for my daughter’s 14th birthday afterwards, my wife asked me if I minded running to Walmart to pick up some cake plates before the game started. Like a good husband I thought it was a good idea.
So, after dropping my wife and daughters off at the high school, I went to Walmart. It wasn’t crowded, so I was able to get the plates and get out of there in record time. “I should be back before the tip-off,” I thought to myself. While standing in the checkout line, I glanced at some magazine covers and there, on the cover of the February 2008 issue of O: The Oprah Magazine, was an article, Tell Your story! A Top Novelist Show You How. I had to have it! So, I paid for the magazine and the plates and practically skipped out to the car … I love buying books and magazines! (grin)
Anyway, on the way back to the game I realized that I had spent my admission money on Oprah’s magazine. Now what? Not even an ATM nearby. If I want to go back to Walmart I’d miss the tip-off. So, I did what any self-respecting man would do. I rummaged through the car hoping to find another dollars worth of change so that I could get into the game. I searched every nook and cranny. Nothing. I could not find a single penny!
I knew that my wife had cash. So, a little embarrassed, I asked the young man working the ticket counter if I could go get some money from my wife, who’s already been admitted, to pay for my ticket. He smiled and said that it would be okay.
I made it back for the tip-off! It was a close game too.
As for the article in O, novelist Wally Lamb doesn’t reveal any profound new writing wisdom. He does reinforce some solid writing truths however. Like, “In writing, as in life, voice is crucial … imitate no one. Your uniqueness – your authenticity – is your strength.” If you get a chance pick up a copy, it’s worth reading.
Oh, my daughter’s team won the game: 24-23.
Until next time…
No day without a line.
Weekly Writer’s Roundup for January 25, 2008
While surfing the blogosphere this week I discovered several posts that captured my attention …
Jennifer Mattern over at All Freelance Writing asks, What’s in Your Swipe File? And shares why it’s important for writers to have a ’swipe file.’
Angela Booth gives some good advice on Writing and Thriving in the Looming Recession.
Interviewing is one of the main ways freelance writers gather information for an article. Over at emomsathome.com, Tamara Berry shares 6 Tips for the Journalist Inside You: Performing an Interview.
If you want to be a high-profile freelancer, you have to check out 12 Incredibly Crafty Ways to Become a High-Profile Freelancer. Freelancing isn’t just for writers ya know.
Do you know How to Book End? Discover this simple techinique that Anne Wayman over at The Golden Pencil uses to git-r-done!
Leo Babauta, better known for his Zen Habits blog, has created the Write To Done blog as a way to share some of what he’s learned as a writer. This week he offers some good advice on How to Write First Thing in the Morning. Check it out.
Dean Rieck over at Copyblogger.com reveals his 5-Step POWER Copywriting Method that can be used for more than copywriting.
Have a great writing weekend.
Blast your Incoming Links to A-List Proportion
- I was checking out some archived posts over at Jack Humphrey’s Friday Traffic Report when I came across this technique to get more backlinks to my blog. This web 2.0 link building technique, which was started by Alex over at HowtoSpoter.com, will absolutely blow your incoming links up to A-List proportions if you use it. Check out how this started then come back here and see what has changed on the review list below and you will see how this works immediately.
Thanks to Alex for starting this genius link building campaign!
— copy and paste the Reciprocal Review Carousel and instructions below this line —
Reciprocal Review Carousel idea is based on a few simple yet effective link-building and blogging techniques I have learned:
- Build value of the blog by creating a helpful link from within content.
- Provide value to community by doing a review on a blog you personally like.
- Link to YOUR blog has exact anchor text you want and helps you boost Google Rankings.
- No more than 30 outbound links from any page to prevent penalties for link farming.
- Viral effect of the link – as more bloggers participate, link to your blog with YOUR anchor text, coming from quality content post will spread.
Here is How to participate:
- Copy the entire text between the specified lines.
- Create a post on your site and put at least one paragraph explaining how you joined the Reciprocal Review Carousel.
- Paste the text you copied into your post.
- Remove the Bottom Review and At the Top add your own review with a link to a site reviewed, at least 2 sentences about the site and a note – Reviewed by: Your Anchor Text. Link your anchor text to your site.
Sites Reviewed:
- Caroline-Middlebrook.com writes about making a living online. Her Twitter Guide is an indespansible tool for anyone interested in marketing and building an online community. Caroline shares a wealth of information on using Web 2.0 tools and techniques to earn money blogging. Reviewed by: Writing Tips blogger, Bill Frederick
- Peter Lenkefi writes about Web 2.0 marketing strategies at Web2Center.com. He has some killer videos over there you should check out along with a ton of good information on blog marketing and various “new media” promotion tactics. Reviewed by: Link Building Maniac, Jack Humphrey, for the Friday Traffic Report
- FitForFreedom is well-established blog where you can find multitude of information on achieving financial freedom. Blog is run by Marco Righter and his writing style greatly adds to the value of information he provides. Reviewed by: WordPress Web 2.0 Spot-er
- Secure Your PC For Internet blog run by Colin and provides essential information everyone accessing internet should know. Identity theft is becoming more and more of an issue and by visiting his blog you can minimize the risk of being compromised. Reviewed by: Alex
- VI-SU blog is all about WordPress, AdSense, SEO and Internet Marketing. Although mostly written in German I have found that using Google translate is worth the effort for his posts. Reviewed by: Alex
- Home With Heather is a great informative blog targeting WAHM (Work At Home Moms) and run by … you guessed it – Heather Masson. Information on what works for her in Internet Business written is very easy to read and comes from her personal experience. Reviewed by: Alex
- A Copywriter’s Blues blog published by Alex Badalic, a veteran of advertising turned musician gives you great food for soul. I have found some nice old videos of Johnny Cash performance and he has a lot more of vintage videos to satisfy fans. Reviewed by: Alex
- Did You Smell That blog authored by one of the veterans on network marketing filled with business ideas you can use. David Ledoux is well known and respected in online community and now he makes his experience available via blog posts. Reviewed by: Alex
- Best Damn Blog run by Richard Wing is all about Internet Marketing. Your visit will be rewarded by honest reviews, freebies and information you need to succeed in this cut-throat business without sacrificing your integrity. Reviewed by: Alex
- PlugIM Blog is a support portal for a new post voting system and a contender that has gained popularity among bloggers. Active community that lets you promote your blog and spread your message. Reviewed by: Alex
— copy and paste the Reciprocal Review Carousel and instructions above this line —
To recap - copy the content above, including the two red lines. Write an opening paragraph like the one I started this post with. Remove the review at the bottom and add a review at the top like I did for Caroline Middlebrook’s site with a “Reviewed by:” linking back to your site. Be sure to use your anchor text as your link. Publish it and watch your fellow bloggers go absolutely nuts over it!
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