Liz Alterman's Blog

Hi!

Hope you've been well and are enjoying some great reads!

I wanted to let you know there's a giveaway for my suspense novel, You Shouldn't Have Done That, now through November 4. I hope you'll enter!

In other news, my next suspense novel, A Different Type of Poison, comes out Nov. 25. Stay tuned for a Giveaway in early November. In the meantime, I'd be so grateful if you'd add it to your Want to Read shelf.

Thanks so much for your support!

All the best,
Liz

Hi Everyone!

Hope you're having a great summer filled with good books!

I wanted to let you know my latest thriller
You Shouldn't Have Done That comes out on audio July 29.

Preorder link: https://www.audible.com/pd/You-Should...


I hope you'll consider giving it a listen!

All the best,
Liz

Hi Suspense Readers!

My novel The House on Cold Creek Lane comes out August 6. (Yay!)

I'm putting together a launch team to help spread the word.

If you'd like to be part of it, please complete this form: https://forms.gle/dQ6qCo5HfyEv2SMAA

As always, thank you for your support and happy reading!

Best,
Liz

Hi Suspense Readers!

My novel The House on Cold Creek Lane The House on Cold Creek Lane comes out August 6. (Yay!)

I'm putting together a launch team to help spread the word.

If you'd like to be part of it, please complete this form: https://forms.gle/dQ6qCo5HfyEv2SMAA

As always, thank you for your support and happy reading!

Best,
Liz

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Hi Friends!

Hope everyone is having a great spring and enjoying some wonderful reads!

My next thriller, The House on Cold Creek Lane, will be released Aug. 6. If you'd like to read an early copy, you can request it here: https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/boo...

I'm excited that my memoir Sad Sacked, previously available only on audio, will be released in print and ebook June 11. If you'd like to read an early copy, you can request it here: https://booksirens.com/book/Z3DRIIL

If you'd like to keep up with what I've been reading and writing, please subscribe to my newsletter: https://lizaltermanwriter.substack.com/
I hope to run some new giveaways soon!

Please feel free to leave a comment with any great summer reading recommendations!

As always, thank you for reading and be well!

Best,
Liz

                                           Jorge Salvador/unsplash

Hi & Happy New Year. (According to Larry David, I can say that until today.)

Over the weekend, I called a friend to wish him a happy new year. We've texted a bit over the last few months (mainly about which TV shows we're watching or books we're reading) but we hadn't spoken in a while. 
After a bit, talk turned to jobs. The company where he's worked for years just laid off five percent of its workforce in a rather cruel fashion--calling people down to HR, releasing them, and then asking "non-impacted" employees to box up their desks. 
While stories like these strike fear in my heart and dredge up terrible memories, my friend remained pretty calm and said if he's handed a pink slip he wouldn't mind retiring. 
I almost blurted, "Retiring? What's that?" 
Then he asked how my husband's job was going. 
"Where did we leave off?" I asked him wearily.
Reader, where did we leave off? 
OK, I just checked and the answer is February. Whoops. Sorry about that. This year has been a bit of a blur. So about my husband's job...
In the fall of 2022, he left a startup for what sounded like a great opportunity. (Don't they all?) More money, more growth potential... Until he got there and suddenly they were letting people go daily. 
Frequently, I'd catch the end of a conference call and hear the person leading the meeting ask, "Can everyone stay on for a minute?" Awkward silence followed before the person announced, "Next Thursday is my last day..." 
Each time this happened I'd feel my blood pressure skyrocket. Was this a bad omen? I'll cut to the chase. Yes. Yes, it was. My husband wasn't laid off but the person who was supposed to train him in his new role was. Rich thought, "That's okay, I've still got this peer who can show me the ropes."
Not so fast! That guy was let go too. On and on it went like that for eight grueling weeks and suddenly Rich's new exciting role felt like winning a cabin on the Titanic as it races toward Newfoundland.
He left on his own and within a few weeks he had two offers on the table. 
"Well that was easy!" we rejoiced. 
Rich made his decision based on the manager he sensed he could learn the most from. That role was slightly more appealing than the other, so it felt like the right choice.  
And he was happy ... for four months... 
Unfortunately, his manager had a health issue that, initially, seemed like something that would only require a few weeks off. Then he resigned. 
The recruiter who'd placed Rich in that role called him that evening and said, "Don't worry. The project will continue to move forward. We're already looking for a replacement for (man who just resigned)..." That was at 7 p.m. on a Thursday. 
By 9 a.m. Friday, the same person who assured Rich he could rest easy told him to pack up his laptop and return it to HQ. The project was cancelled. 
"No!" I cried, sinking to the kitchen floor. "How?" 
Of course, Rich's manager's health concerns certainly put things in perspective, but still, being told not to worry and then instructed to return your supplies ASAP was whiplash-inducing and did nothing to bolster our already-shaky faith in Corporate America. 
But as this wasn't our first (or even second or third) layoff rodeo, so we absorbed it with less shock than on previous occasions.
That said, my first thought was, "OMG, how can we tell anyone about this?" then I said to my husband, only half-kidding, "People are going to start asking if you're exposing yourself in stairwells."
You see, Rich was at the same company for close to twenty years. Since 2013, he's held more roles than we can count. 

In an attempt to take back a bit of control, he/we have started a college essay tutoring business and are hoping to start marketing it in the spring. If you know of any students who need some guidance, we'd love to help them. 

In other writing news, this fall I worked on edits for Sad Sacked, which will come out in print and ebook June 11. I had a chance to add in things like lists and multiple choice quizzes (mocking Corporate America's hiring and downsizing practices, which, sadly, are still relevant--see above!) that were originally cut as they don't work as well for audio.

I also accepted an offer on my next domestic suspense novel, The House on Cold Creek Lane, which will be released in August. 

I've also been freelancing and wondering if maybe it's time to really look for a full-time job again. Then something like this happens...

Last week, I had a call with a recruiter who had reached out about a part-time opportunity. When we spoke she told me that after doing a little more research on the role she had me in mind for, she learned the company (Verizon) was not looking for “senior” people. She admitted that was "ageist" but said there was nothing she could do about it. 

I wanted to tell her, "Look, I can totally act younger. I'll pop in my AirPods, scroll TikTok, and use words like 'lit,' 'fire,' 'mid,' and 'rizz.' I even know how to Zoom from my phone..."

But I saved my breath. Chances are if I got the gig it wouldn't last long anyway.

 

As always, thank you for reading and I hope your career is going better than mine!

 Baim/Unsplash.com
Over the past few months I've spoken with several people who've said that, for different reasons, college isn't the right path for their child. 
You don't need to be a parent to know that college tuition has become outrageously expensive—to the point that you begin to wonder about return on investment—depending on where you go, what you study, and, most importantly (at least according to my dad) how hard you apply yourself, of course.
EducationData.org estimates the average four-year Bachelor's degree debt from a private college at $58,600 and $31,900 from a public institution. 
Without going down an economic rabbit hole, being saddled with this expense has a ripple effect. For example, graduates burdened by debt can't afford housing and tend to live with their parents longer (cue my screaming), which, in turn, impacts landlords/real estate agents, home inspectors, etc., etc.  
I often joke that the most useful thing I learned in college was how to start a conversation with strangers (mostly around a keg), which I guess has been helpful when it comes to networking (over coffee while wishing it were a keg).
Even with a more reasonable price tag of $12,000 a year—the cost of my tuition back in the early '90s—that seems like quite an expenditure for what I loosely call my "skillset." 
Though I loved majoring in English, it probably comes as a shock to no one how infrequently The Canterbury Tales comes up in conversation. 
Still, I wouldn't change my experience—or my major. I'm beyond grateful that I had that opportunity. 
That said, I can completely understand those who question if college is worth its current cost—especially in light of rampant layoffs and the constant chatter about robots coming for our jobs. 
Fortunately, there isn't a single path to success. Yet the idea of applying for a job without a college degree on your resume seems daunting. 
So, when I received a press release offering tips on how to land a job without a college degree, I was intrigued and wanted to share it. 
(Side note: A friend asked me if I was getting paid to post these expert pieces. Reader, I'm not, but if I could figure out how to monetize these I'd probably be a lot less stressed about how I'll help my kids pay for college! I receive between 50 and 100 press releases on any given day. The topics range from career insights to innovations in carseats and canine breath mints so I select the ones I find most helpful to this audience, like this one...) 
In his new book  EXPERIENTIAL INTELLIGENCE : Harness the Power of Experience for Personal and Business Breakthroughs , Soren Kaplan explores how experiential intelligence (or “XQ”), a combination of mindsets, abilities, and know-how gathered from life experience, shape our opportunities in ways we often don’t recognize. 


As a serial entrepreneur, Kaplan sees innovative companies looking “outside the box” at a wider selection of candidates, based not on college degrees, but on experiences, skills, and passions. Candidates are now empowered to seek opportunities they may have avoided in the past, tapping their full set of skills and experiences.
Kaplan explains that employers increasingly value actual job and life experiences over college degrees on resumes, and more companies (from IBM to Tesla) have relaxed such requirements. Kaplan proposes 5 Strategies for Getting a Job without a College Degree:
1.  Explore Experiences  – Consider all your work and life experience and identify specific things you’ve done that could present unique assets you can leverage in your resume. 
Consider travel, volunteering, community service, clubs, sports, art, family rituals, or anything else that may impact your thinking, specific skills, or abilities. 
2.  Create Connection Points  – Select a few of your experiences and identify how they gave you assets that may benefit a specific job or position. 
For example, traveling abroad may have instilled an appreciation for different cultures, which might support a position in marketing since empathy is an important ability for understanding customer needs. 
3. Share a Story – Select one of your experiences and write a 1-2 paragraph story about it, and how it supports your ideal job or specific opportunity. 
Use the story in your cover letter and weave it into interviews to highlight your unconventional experience and how it will help you excel in the job. 
4. Get Certified – Many opportunities exist to gain certifications for specific jobs that sidestep the need for a formal college degree. 
Coursera, for example, has partnered with Google and others to offer career certificates – an instant qualification for various high-paying jobs. 
5. Volunteer – While you might not yet have direct work experience in a field, seek out volunteering opportunities to support your vision of the ideal job.  
For example, if you want a job in a specific field(s) but lack experience, explore volunteering; i.e., offer tech support at a nonprofit to qualify for IT, or get trained as a community mediator to help get into HR.
Even if you have a college degree, these are useful suggestions for showcasing your life experience to illustrate your value. I hope you find them helpful. 
As always, thanks for reading! 
To subscribe to this blog, follow this link: https://follow.it/ontheballsofourassets?action=followPub.

 

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Last spring I received an email from a website I'd contributed to in the past. The editors were seeking submissions for a summer issue and the topic was coupling or uncoupling (hat tip to Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin) at midlife. 

Typically, for better or worse, I write whatever moves me. In other words, I don't usually respond well to call-outs or writing prompts. But I'd had an idea in my head for a few months that sort of fit the bill. I'd put off writing it for no other reason than sheer laziness. When I read this email, it felt like the universe prodding me to just write it already. So, I drafted, revised, mulled, polished, and eventually sent off the piece. 

While I wasn't expecting a quick response, I was expecting a response—especially when it got to be a month past the submission deadline. Still, I heard nothing. I waited a month and followed up with a polite, "Just checking to see when you'll make a decision for this upcoming issue..." Nothing. 

I waited another month and by this time it was mid-to-late-summer—even the mosquitoes and fireflies were over it—so I thought, "Surely this summer issue must be dropping soon." As such, I felt I deserved a "yay" or a "nay." I decided I'd send one more email, a quick, "Hi! Just wondering if you're interested in including this piece in your upcoming issue? If not, I'd appreciate it if you could let me know as I'd like to submit it elsewhere. Thanks!" 

Again, nothing. Days shy of September, I received a form rejection. Now no one likes to have their work declined, but sometimes in the writing world you're just grateful to receive a response. (Sad but true.) Plus, I'd given up hope of hearing back at all.

But that didn't mean I'd given up on the piece. If I've made something, I don't want to see it go to waste. (Don't get me started on the rom-com that sits unloved in my iCloud.)  I'm the same way with food. Whether it's two leftover quesadilla triangles or a half-inch of Thousand Island dressing, I stare into my refrigerator's bright white glow and say to myself, "I'm giving this to someone and they're going to enjoy it!" (Side note: I just learned my pal Alison Y. feels the same way! We bonded over the fact that we will eat two whole avocados in one sitting rather than allow them to get overripe and wrinkle up like raisins.) 

I apply this philosophy to writing as well. So I thought about it for a while, wondering, "Where else could I send this essay?" By late October, I came up with the answer. I submitted just the pitch for the piece and within days an editor asked to see a draft. Since I'd already written it, that was easy. I sent the essay and three days later the editor wrote back to say she'd like to run it. 

Now, reader, here's the best part—not only does this publication have a much wider reach than the first place, but also I was paid six times what the other site would've offered. 

I'm sharing this not to be all "Yay, me!" or "Please go read this essay!" but because so often we take rejection personally. We view it as a sign that we aren't good enough, that our work isn't good enough. It's hard to not internalize it and give up. Yet so much—especially in writing or even job hunting—is beyond our control. A lot is purely subjective. I was on a webinar yesterday and the word "resonate" was used no less than 1,200 times so I won't say that here. But what I mean is this: Often whether something  "clicks" with a reader or hiring manager is out of our hands.

Instead of feeling down about it, what if we viewed rejection as redirection—a road block or detour that pops up to guide you to a new, better destination? It's not easy, but that's how I'm choosing to see it.

As I mentioned a few posts ago, the final months of 2022 were rife with rejection for projects I believe in. (More on that in another post.) 

These rejections stung—like bees multiplied by jellyfish raised to the power of murder hornets—but I'm not giving up. I refuse to let them go to waste. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to enjoy a zucchini that's been shriveling in the bottom of my crisper.

Thanks for reading! 
To subscribe to this blog, follow this link: https://follow.it/ontheballsofourassets?action=followPub.

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One of my grandmother's favorite sayings was, "You don't ask, you don't get." 
And yet even when you're not requesting something over-the-top or unreasonable, there's an inherent awkwardness to the whole business of "asking." 
When you put yourself out there, you run the risk of hearing "no." You also make yourself vulnerable in a way that feels brutally uncomfortable. 
Sometimes even when your ask results in a "yes," you may still want to hide in the trunk of your car (preferably with a layer cake) for a while afterward. 
But, again, if you don't ask for something you need or want, you're probably never going to get it.
Here's an example of where my reluctance to ask is holding me back: When my YA thriller came out in April 2021, my publisher's marketing team (and pretty much every book-industry PR person on the internet) said, "You need reviews! You have to get lots and lots of reviews! The more reviews the better! The more you have, the more the algorithms will promote your book, and, in turn, the more books you'll sell etc." 
There wasn't a single person out there who said what I wanted to hear, which was, "Oh, you have 8 reviews? Cool. That seems like plenty!" 
So each time someone said something kind about the book, a voice in my head screamed, "ASK THEM TO WRITE A REVIEW!" Then another voice fired back, "SHUT UP! That's a big ask. No one has time! It's enough that they read the book!" 
You'd think over time I would've gotten better at making this request. Reader, I have not. The few times I've done it, I feel vile and dirty—like I stole a little kid's lunch money or tripped an old lady so I could nab the last Swedish meatball free sample at Costco.
And yet...last summer when I began pitching The Perfect Neighborhood to local libraries, asking them to consider it for their book clubs, one responded with, "Get back to me when you have over 100 4-star or higher reviews."
Yikes! I know I'm not alone in finding this difficult. In an effort to overcome it, I'm going to write a piece about exactly how to get comfortable with asking for reviews for Writers Helping Writers, which will include scripts on exactly what to say. Stay tuned! (And thank you to everyone who takes the time to write a book review, it truly makes a difference!)
Over the past few years, I've written pieces on how to make difficult asks, like how to talk to your boss about continuing to work remotely post-Covid and how to make a similar request when you're caring for aging parents. 
Another always-challenging topic is asking for a raise. But, let's be honest, who couldn't use a bump in pay these days? I mean, have you seen the price of eggs? I'm on the verge of abducting a chicken. 
If you're a returning reader to this blog, you may be thinking, "ButLiz, what advice could you possibly offer on negotiating a raise? Bachelor engagements last longer than some of your recent stints!"
To which I say, "I know! I know!" 
So for this topic, I offer the advice of Andres Lares, managing partner at Shapiro Negotiations Institute and co-author of Persuade: The 4-Step Process to Influence People and Decisions. 
Lares's expertise ranges from coaching live negotiations for sports clients including the Cleveland Browns, the Brooklyn Nets, and more.
Here are Lares's top 4 tips for negotiating a salary increase:

1. Consider asking for a raise. Discussing inflation and worker pay is unavoidable at this point but a large number of companies don't factor in inflation when giving out annual salary increases and bonuses. If you haven't asked for a raise in the last year you’re likely kicking yourself which means you are aware of the shift in the market. Led by layoffs in tech, the employee market has clearly cooled down quite a bit so you don’t have as much leverage. But, depending on the role, your performance, etc. you still may have plenty of leverage. Inflation is still a thing and keeping an employee is always much cheaper and easier than getting a new one. But, make sure you ask nicely, with empathy. As a potential recession looms, there is more pressure on companies to cut costs and you need to be aware of this as you make the ask.

via GIPHY

2.  Come prepared. Script out what you’re going to say and then roleplay in the mirror or with a friend. This allows you to get confident, convey confidence, and start strong. You can initiate the conversation easily by mentioning after doing some market research and assessing the way that inflation has affected your cost of living, you believe that an increase in salary is appropriate. It may take practice, but the more you do it, the more empowered you’ll feel.

3. Communicate value. Simplify the desired end result in your mind, and use that as a starting point to map out the ways that goal is beneficial for everyone involved. Communicate your desire clearly and then highlight your accomplishments (i.e. you've worked at this company for several years, you have successfully managed multiple clients, contributed to the bottom line, etc). But, use the past as a prediction of the future rather than just looking backward. You aren’t getting a raise for what you’ve done but instead for what you are predicted to achieve.
 
4. Be open to other options. Remember employers can negotiate areas such as title, health insurance, 401k contributions, expensing commuting costs, increasing paid time off, etc. This is also very important because otherwise you can quickly get aggressive and negotiate in a fixed manner. Remember, the key is to negotiate to improve your situation but do so in a way that still at least satisfies your employer. After all, is a one-time 5% raise worth destroying a relationship with an employer? That should not deter you from asking, but it should guide HOW you do it.

Thanks for reading! 
To subscribe to this blog, follow this link: https://follow.it/ontheballsofourassets?action=followPub.