Gay Ingram's Blog
June 2, 2016
What's Your Platform?
Ever been urged to build your platform as a writer/author? Do you have any idea what that person was talking about? An author's platform has come to be the most important factor in determining whether or not a project will be accepted for publication.
Editors and agents typically look for someone with visibility and authority who has proven reach to a target audience. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Google+ are only small pieces of the author platform. Other pieces of the pie include contacts, previous books, ability to execute, personality, and readership.
Some novelists kick off their own careers by indie publishing, manage social media to advantage, build a readership and then offer their following books to a traditional publisher or small press. Platform building will be different for every single author.
Growing your own platform isn't difficult, but it does take time...time most of us would rather spend writing. Remember just by being you comprises a large part of the pie: expertise, personality, and ability to execute. You can keep growing it, a day at a time. Push yourself outside your comfort zone as much as you can, but not to the place you are overwhelmed with what needs to be kept up.
There's lots of online advice on some of the slices of the pie you can incorporate to create your own unique platform. Here are a couple sites to get you started:
https://janefriedman.com/author-platf...
http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-...
http://www.forbes.com/sites/booked/20...
Editors and agents typically look for someone with visibility and authority who has proven reach to a target audience. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Google+ are only small pieces of the author platform. Other pieces of the pie include contacts, previous books, ability to execute, personality, and readership.
Some novelists kick off their own careers by indie publishing, manage social media to advantage, build a readership and then offer their following books to a traditional publisher or small press. Platform building will be different for every single author.
Growing your own platform isn't difficult, but it does take time...time most of us would rather spend writing. Remember just by being you comprises a large part of the pie: expertise, personality, and ability to execute. You can keep growing it, a day at a time. Push yourself outside your comfort zone as much as you can, but not to the place you are overwhelmed with what needs to be kept up.
There's lots of online advice on some of the slices of the pie you can incorporate to create your own unique platform. Here are a couple sites to get you started:
https://janefriedman.com/author-platf...
http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-...
http://www.forbes.com/sites/booked/20...
May 24, 2016
Finding My Way
This world of internet promotion & marketing is a constant learning process. Recently came across some new, to me, terms. The first is "opt in" and refers to a procedure that you make available via a click-on button installed on your website or blog page. This allows the visitor to share and give permission for you to send emails to them. In the world of book-selling on the internet, the constant word is to build your email mailing list. This 'opt-in' feature is a valuable asset to accomplish that project.
I found out recently that unless you collect your mailing list addresses using this feature, sites such as the popular Mailchimp will reject your list.
Over the years I've spent attending book events, speaking to groups, and holding book signings, I collected many email addresses as people would hand me a card or write them out in our face-to-face contact. When I loaded this carefully-acquired list into a campaign I intended to promote the newly released Not Bound By Blood ( http://amzn.to/1V4OKQx,) Mailchimp disabled my account because it violated its requirements.
It's taken a couple days of digging on my part to correct the situation. First I had to own a domain name and create an email address at that site. Then I had to add an 'opt-in' button to my blog page. Only those addresses from contacts who click the 'opt-in' button and agree to receive future correspondence from me will be admissable to include in a future campaign or mass mailing through Mailchimp.
Consequently, all the time and effort I spent gathering email addresses in the past was wasted effort.
The whole situation reminds me of a form of entertainment I recently discovered available on the computer thanks to friend, Becca Anderson. She introduced me to a site that features jigsaw puzzles. I think I have all the pieces of this puzzle of using Mailchimp - just need to put the pieces together.
One last caveat: read the instructions first. Oh yeah, I'd appreciate if you'd submit your email at the top of the page...and add a comment...I love comments!
I found out recently that unless you collect your mailing list addresses using this feature, sites such as the popular Mailchimp will reject your list.
Over the years I've spent attending book events, speaking to groups, and holding book signings, I collected many email addresses as people would hand me a card or write them out in our face-to-face contact. When I loaded this carefully-acquired list into a campaign I intended to promote the newly released Not Bound By Blood ( http://amzn.to/1V4OKQx,) Mailchimp disabled my account because it violated its requirements.
It's taken a couple days of digging on my part to correct the situation. First I had to own a domain name and create an email address at that site. Then I had to add an 'opt-in' button to my blog page. Only those addresses from contacts who click the 'opt-in' button and agree to receive future correspondence from me will be admissable to include in a future campaign or mass mailing through Mailchimp.
Consequently, all the time and effort I spent gathering email addresses in the past was wasted effort.
The whole situation reminds me of a form of entertainment I recently discovered available on the computer thanks to friend, Becca Anderson. She introduced me to a site that features jigsaw puzzles. I think I have all the pieces of this puzzle of using Mailchimp - just need to put the pieces together.
One last caveat: read the instructions first. Oh yeah, I'd appreciate if you'd submit your email at the top of the page...and add a comment...I love comments!
May 20, 2016
A Little Known Heroine
I love the way you can discover interesting individuals when doing research. I don’t even recall what I was seeking when I came across this bit about someone called Sybil Ludington.
She was the daughter of Colonel Henry Ludington and lived near the town of Danbury, Connecticut, in 1777. The same evening of the famous Paul Revere ride, a rider came to the Ludington household to warn them that British troops and British loyalists had attacked the nearby town. Since Colonel Ludington had to prepare for battle, he asked his sixteen-year-old daughter Sybil to ride through the night, alerting his men of the danger and urging them to come together to fight back.
At 9 pm the night of April 26, the young girl set out to recruit the Colonel’s disbanded regiment. Ludington rode all night through the dark woods, covering forty miles through Kent to Farmers Mills. She covered forty miles, damp from the rain and exhausted, before returning home just before dawn.
When she got home, more than 400 men were ready to march. Statesman Alexander Hamilton wrote to her, praising her deed and she was later commended by George Washington for her heroism. A statue of her was erected along her route in Carmel, New York, along with many other markers of her historic ride.
You can read a detailed account in her own words at:http://ludingtonsride.com/history.htm.
She was the daughter of Colonel Henry Ludington and lived near the town of Danbury, Connecticut, in 1777. The same evening of the famous Paul Revere ride, a rider came to the Ludington household to warn them that British troops and British loyalists had attacked the nearby town. Since Colonel Ludington had to prepare for battle, he asked his sixteen-year-old daughter Sybil to ride through the night, alerting his men of the danger and urging them to come together to fight back.
At 9 pm the night of April 26, the young girl set out to recruit the Colonel’s disbanded regiment. Ludington rode all night through the dark woods, covering forty miles through Kent to Farmers Mills. She covered forty miles, damp from the rain and exhausted, before returning home just before dawn.
When she got home, more than 400 men were ready to march. Statesman Alexander Hamilton wrote to her, praising her deed and she was later commended by George Washington for her heroism. A statue of her was erected along her route in Carmel, New York, along with many other markers of her historic ride.
You can read a detailed account in her own words at:http://ludingtonsride.com/history.htm.
May 16, 2016
It's National Flash Fiction Day
Wednesday, May 16th is National Flash Fiction Day . Flash fiction is also referred to as micro-fiction or sudden fiction or short-short stories. It consists of a beginning, a middle, and an end with character development and descriptions, all within 150 to 500 words. The story must have structure, plot, point, and dialogue.
How can writing flash fiction help us become better writers? Flash fiction banks on action and an active voice. Avoid passive voice; have the action immediate and now. Adjectives and adverbs need to be banished from the page. Be precise and use words that really matter.
You don’t need more than one or two characters. By limiting your characters, you don’t have to waste words as tags. Focus on one main conflict; don’t try from a complicated plot. Start at the beginning of the conflict. Choose a powerful moment in a character’s life and place your story there.
1. 1.Start in the middle
2. 2. Don't use too many characters
3. 3. Make sure the ending isn't at the end
4. Your title, make it work
5. Leave the reader with something
6. 6. And try ending in a different emotional place than where you start
Reduce, condense, and write like a poet—lyrical, dense passages that grab the reader from the first sentence. Remember Hemingway’s famous iceberg dictum: only show the top 10 percent of your story, and leave the other 90 percent below water to be conjured.
Here are a couple online markets to submit your work: http://www.theguardian.com/books/flas..., http://nanofiction.org/submit, http://flashfictiononline.com/main/, or, check out http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showt... for a complete listing of markets paying for flash fiction stories.
How can writing flash fiction help us become better writers? Flash fiction banks on action and an active voice. Avoid passive voice; have the action immediate and now. Adjectives and adverbs need to be banished from the page. Be precise and use words that really matter.
You don’t need more than one or two characters. By limiting your characters, you don’t have to waste words as tags. Focus on one main conflict; don’t try from a complicated plot. Start at the beginning of the conflict. Choose a powerful moment in a character’s life and place your story there.
1. 1.Start in the middle
2. 2. Don't use too many characters
3. 3. Make sure the ending isn't at the end
4. Your title, make it work
5. Leave the reader with something
6. 6. And try ending in a different emotional place than where you start
Reduce, condense, and write like a poet—lyrical, dense passages that grab the reader from the first sentence. Remember Hemingway’s famous iceberg dictum: only show the top 10 percent of your story, and leave the other 90 percent below water to be conjured.
Here are a couple online markets to submit your work: http://www.theguardian.com/books/flas..., http://nanofiction.org/submit, http://flashfictiononline.com/main/, or, check out http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showt... for a complete listing of markets paying for flash fiction stories.
May 14, 2016
Listening To My Characters
Someone once asked: where do your books come from? Lots of times, a character will make itself known to me in my head, and as we communicate, I begin to learn where and when that character lived and what the story is about.
Inspiration for another book came out of a dinner conversation. My husband asked me once if I knew that our first president, George Washington, was a surveyor. I did not. Curious, I did some research and found out the event of his father’s death (who had been a surveyor) became the catalyst for a major change in George’s life. Upon discovering his father's surveying instruments, George taught himself the trade and began to earn a living from surveying. My research motivated me to write a biography for Young Readers about those momentous ten years between his father’s death and his first Army commission; years that influenced the direction of his life. As yet unpublished, I have high hopes for an eventual publication of George Washington; From Surveyor to Soldier.
One of my earlier novels, Troubled Times, is set in the years before, during, and after the Civil War. I included incidents portraying historically important people at the time. This led me to look deeper into the life of a barely-mentioned character, Harriet Tubman. As I did more research, I discovered what an amazing person she was and felt compelled to share her life's story. I have since written a fictionalized biography for Young Readers about her unusual life.
My present work-in-progress is about another individual who lived during the Civil War era. Belle Boyd was a Southern lady in the truest sense. Only sixteen but her patriotism to the southern cause was so keen, she used her interactions with Federal soldiers of her acquaintance to gather vital information for Andrew Jackson. She even went to prison for a short period abefore being forced to flee to England where she lived for several years and wrote of her experiences there.
My stories normally begin with a character, someone living an ordinary life but experiencing extraordinary circumstances. Some way or other, a comment regarding a person of little regard will catch my attention and with a whole lot of research, I’m off and running to share the story about this fascinating person I’ve just learned about.
Inspiration for another book came out of a dinner conversation. My husband asked me once if I knew that our first president, George Washington, was a surveyor. I did not. Curious, I did some research and found out the event of his father’s death (who had been a surveyor) became the catalyst for a major change in George’s life. Upon discovering his father's surveying instruments, George taught himself the trade and began to earn a living from surveying. My research motivated me to write a biography for Young Readers about those momentous ten years between his father’s death and his first Army commission; years that influenced the direction of his life. As yet unpublished, I have high hopes for an eventual publication of George Washington; From Surveyor to Soldier.
One of my earlier novels, Troubled Times, is set in the years before, during, and after the Civil War. I included incidents portraying historically important people at the time. This led me to look deeper into the life of a barely-mentioned character, Harriet Tubman. As I did more research, I discovered what an amazing person she was and felt compelled to share her life's story. I have since written a fictionalized biography for Young Readers about her unusual life.
My present work-in-progress is about another individual who lived during the Civil War era. Belle Boyd was a Southern lady in the truest sense. Only sixteen but her patriotism to the southern cause was so keen, she used her interactions with Federal soldiers of her acquaintance to gather vital information for Andrew Jackson. She even went to prison for a short period abefore being forced to flee to England where she lived for several years and wrote of her experiences there.
My stories normally begin with a character, someone living an ordinary life but experiencing extraordinary circumstances. Some way or other, a comment regarding a person of little regard will catch my attention and with a whole lot of research, I’m off and running to share the story about this fascinating person I’ve just learned about.
August 19, 2011
Book Signings Real Purpose
Since I'm having a book signing for Twist of Fate today, I thought I'd pass along a great lesson I learned from Terry Brooks in his Sometimes The Magic Works.
He wrote about his first book signing.
The point of a book signing, he said, is not about you, your success or selling lots of books.
It is about...and I quote..."making a connection between readers and books." He went on to say, "It is about making readers feel so enthusiastic about books that they cannot wait to come back and buy more. It is about generating a feeling of goodwill toward the bookstore and the staff."
I found learning this lesson put a whole new prospective on book signing events for me.
Your attitude determines the success or failure of a book signing. How to make this event a success? Here are a couple tips he shared.
Be cheerful and welcoming toward everyone, from the staff to the customer who walks by you.
Speak to everyone; make them feel welcome.
When you sign a book, look up at the person; speak to them; thank them for coming.
Remember, you owe everyone in that store a good experience, both customers and staff.
Don't base the success or failure of a signing entirely on whether or not a sale was made.
Instead, think of it as an opportunity to create excited readers and to make connection with new readers.
He wrote about his first book signing.
The point of a book signing, he said, is not about you, your success or selling lots of books.
It is about...and I quote..."making a connection between readers and books." He went on to say, "It is about making readers feel so enthusiastic about books that they cannot wait to come back and buy more. It is about generating a feeling of goodwill toward the bookstore and the staff."
I found learning this lesson put a whole new prospective on book signing events for me.
Your attitude determines the success or failure of a book signing. How to make this event a success? Here are a couple tips he shared.
Be cheerful and welcoming toward everyone, from the staff to the customer who walks by you.
Speak to everyone; make them feel welcome.
When you sign a book, look up at the person; speak to them; thank them for coming.
Remember, you owe everyone in that store a good experience, both customers and staff.
Don't base the success or failure of a signing entirely on whether or not a sale was made.
Instead, think of it as an opportunity to create excited readers and to make connection with new readers.
August 12, 2011
Best Websites For Writers
Her's just a few sites to check out:
nanowrimo.com - month-long challenge in Nov. to write 50,000 words in 30 days
writingfix.com - Useful lessons and tips along with fun writing prompts
grammarbook.com - basic grammar and punctuation rules with interactive quizzes
sfwa.org/beware - devoted to helping writers avoid getting scammed by agents and publishers
agentresearch.com/agent_ver.html - where you can check prospective agent's public record
anotherrealm.com/preditors - Preditors & Editors provides info and contact as well as warnings
duotrope.com - free data base of over 2,300 markets for short story, poetry and novel/collections
fictionfactor.com - everything you want to know about fiction
kidmagwriters.com - get a better understanding about writing for children's magazines
critiquecircle.com - give and receive reader feedback for writers of all genres
Hope you will find them helpful.
nanowrimo.com - month-long challenge in Nov. to write 50,000 words in 30 days
writingfix.com - Useful lessons and tips along with fun writing prompts
grammarbook.com - basic grammar and punctuation rules with interactive quizzes
sfwa.org/beware - devoted to helping writers avoid getting scammed by agents and publishers
agentresearch.com/agent_ver.html - where you can check prospective agent's public record
anotherrealm.com/preditors - Preditors & Editors provides info and contact as well as warnings
duotrope.com - free data base of over 2,300 markets for short story, poetry and novel/collections
fictionfactor.com - everything you want to know about fiction
kidmagwriters.com - get a better understanding about writing for children's magazines
critiquecircle.com - give and receive reader feedback for writers of all genres
Hope you will find them helpful.
August 5, 2011
Banish The Writer
When you've revised and tweaked your story until it's as good as you can make it, that's the time to banish the writer - yourself - and become the reader - that's you.
Let the story rest for a day or so, maybe even longer. Then find a time when you can begin and finish reading your story in one sitting. It's important to absorb the experience of your story with this read-through.
Only after a complete read-through will you then take up a pen and make notes as you ask yourself a few questions.
Does the title suit the story's tone and subject? Did it engage you, tease you into reading the story? It may be as the story evolved during the reading that you realized it needed a different title. There could be a key phrase or passage tucked inside the story just waiting to be discovered.
Did the story's opening lines compel you to continue? Or is your opening too cluttered, or delays the start of the story? Search for an opening that will launch the reader directly into the story. Then keep the action in forward motion. Take the reader somewhere interesting.
Stories, like life, are about human problems. Characters need to struggle toward those solutions -- and be changed in some why by their struggles. A satisfying story leaves the reader reminded of their own life's struggles and encouraged by the characters' victories.
Let the story rest for a day or so, maybe even longer. Then find a time when you can begin and finish reading your story in one sitting. It's important to absorb the experience of your story with this read-through.
Only after a complete read-through will you then take up a pen and make notes as you ask yourself a few questions.
Does the title suit the story's tone and subject? Did it engage you, tease you into reading the story? It may be as the story evolved during the reading that you realized it needed a different title. There could be a key phrase or passage tucked inside the story just waiting to be discovered.
Did the story's opening lines compel you to continue? Or is your opening too cluttered, or delays the start of the story? Search for an opening that will launch the reader directly into the story. Then keep the action in forward motion. Take the reader somewhere interesting.
Stories, like life, are about human problems. Characters need to struggle toward those solutions -- and be changed in some why by their struggles. A satisfying story leaves the reader reminded of their own life's struggles and encouraged by the characters' victories.
July 29, 2011
Who's Going To Tell The Story Best
Somebody is giving words to your story. Sometimes deciding who will tell your story is as important as determining how it will be told.
So who is your point-of-view character? There are multiple ways to tell any story. Which set of eyes will provide the best choice for the reader to see your story evolve?
Here are some questions to ask yourself:
What do you want the reader to know?
Who is in position to be present during critical scenes?
Who has the most investment in the story's outcome?
Who will be changed by the story's events?
And lastly, what tone do you want your story to have?
An important exception: if the point of your story is to portray a world that is fragmented, unraveling, absurd or complex, perhaps it will be necessary to jump from one point-of-view to another to convey this feeling.
As you begin to write your story, take time to weigh the various possibilities. Maybe the main character's Uncle Joe would be the best pair of eyes through which to view this story.
So who is your point-of-view character? There are multiple ways to tell any story. Which set of eyes will provide the best choice for the reader to see your story evolve?
Here are some questions to ask yourself:
What do you want the reader to know?
Who is in position to be present during critical scenes?
Who has the most investment in the story's outcome?
Who will be changed by the story's events?
And lastly, what tone do you want your story to have?
An important exception: if the point of your story is to portray a world that is fragmented, unraveling, absurd or complex, perhaps it will be necessary to jump from one point-of-view to another to convey this feeling.
As you begin to write your story, take time to weigh the various possibilities. Maybe the main character's Uncle Joe would be the best pair of eyes through which to view this story.
July 22, 2011
SuggestionsTo Freshen Your Fiction
Write in the voice that narrates your thoughts. Too much reshaping and worrying about how something looks on the page produces unconvincing writing.
Avoid generalized adjectives if you must use them. Seek comparisons that make the images snap.
Using fewer words to describe something is better.
Have a good time telling your tale.
Think of each scene as a street you want your readers to walk down until they turn the corner into the next scene.
Find yourself stuck in a passage? Choose the most outlandish ending that comes to mind and work backward.
Break out of the usual thinking pattern; twist the ending. What if a western ends with the bad guy apologizing to the heroine?
Avoid generalized adjectives if you must use them. Seek comparisons that make the images snap.
Using fewer words to describe something is better.
Have a good time telling your tale.
Think of each scene as a street you want your readers to walk down until they turn the corner into the next scene.
Find yourself stuck in a passage? Choose the most outlandish ending that comes to mind and work backward.
Break out of the usual thinking pattern; twist the ending. What if a western ends with the bad guy apologizing to the heroine?
