Jessica Russell's Blog

Connecting with like-minded people is one of the best ways to find solace in this crazy industry. However, don’t make the mistake that so many writers make and join every “writing community” that you can find. If you do so, you will probably quickly discover that many are nothing more than a source of aggravation. Not because the groups themselves have something wrong with them, but because you don’t belong in all of them, pure and simple. There are many stages in careers. I’ve been a professional web content writer for about 16 years, so this whole writing for a living thing is old hat to me. While it’s true that last year was the first time I published a novel length work of fiction, I’m not new to the industry. Therefore, when I look to join writing communities or follow Facebook pages geared toward writers, I admit, I search for ones with members who make their living as writers and have been kicking around in this line of work for a long time.

The reason is because I have things in common with those people. Sometimes I’ve ended up in groups where a young person would come on and post “I’d like to write a novel, what should it be about?” And I’ve got my head bitten off for saying “If you don’t know, WE don’t know, LOL,” until I realized that the entire group was young, aspiring writers, most of whom were not even out of college yet. Well, there was nothing wrong with that person’s post, I just didn’t get it because “Writers Group” to me meant other people like me, who earn their living this way and can’t get RID of all the ideas for novels in our heads if we tried.

Bottom line, that just wasn’t the group for me. When joining communities and following pages, sometimes less is more. Hone in on the ones that offer you the most rather than making the mistake of joining everything and anything. If you’ve been at it for a long time and know the ropes, the best groups you can join are ones made up of other people just like you. They’ve been in the trenches for decades, they know how the novel publishing game is played, and they have the experience to understand what you’re talking about without you having to leave continuous explanations.

It works the same way with newbies. They are best off in groups where they can express the common frustrations that occur when someone is first breaking into the business. It’s not that any writing organization or forum is “wrong,” it’s just that a group might be wrong for YOU. Be selective! Discover where your peers are and join those groups. You’ll be glad you did! You’ll find yourself in interesting conversations, sharing good advice, and offering and getting support from people who “know what you mean.” Write on!

For decades mailing lists have been touted as a top way to sell anything. Not surprisingly, many people say this is also true concerning books. If you’re an author who released a book in the last year or so, you probably have some kind of reader mailing list built up, and I’m sure you used it to advertise your book. I also have a hunch you might’ve been a little bit surprised with the lackluster results. Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that mailing lists are useless. A contact is a contact is a contact. However, don’t delude yourself into thinking that building a massive mailing list is the solution to every advertising/sales problem you have. It’s not.

To prove my point, think about how many things you willingly signed up for and then take note of how many times you actually read what you receive from that particular merchant. More to the point, how many times do you ever actually make a purchase on impulse from an email solicitation? And these are typically vendors that you signed up with. Usually, at some point, you signed up for SOMETHING in order to get on that person’s mailing list. But how interested were you? Maybe you signed up because you couldn’t advance further on the website without giving an email. Maybe you couldn’t make a comment on something unless you created an account, and then bingo, your name was sold to other merchants.

There’s a million reasons you might be on a mailing list, but when you look at the volume of inbox pieces you get every day, versus the ones you actually read, and even fewer, the ones you actually make a purchase from, I bet it’s a minuscule minority. Unfortunately, that’s the same way it works with reader lists.

You may have hundreds or even thousands of email addresses from people who read books, but when you did your big email blast after your book launch, how many sales actually tracked back to that list? If you got a lot, then stick with it, it’s working for you! But if you didn’t, move on to a different type of advertising. The bottom line is, growing a list just to say you have a big list doesn’t do anything to advance your career unless the people on the list are buying your book. So go look at your email stats and see if it’s worth it to continue frantically collecting emails or if it would be better to move on to a different type of advertising. Just food for thought. Write on!

Here is something I have touched on before, but I want to reiterate. It pains me when I see so many newly published authors falling for scams and gimmicks, so I will make this very short and not so sweet. I’ve been making a living as a writer for about 16 years, so I was ready for the influx of spam once my book was published. Unfortunately, not everyone has that kind of experience, and some people are just a bit too trusting. Here it is straight: there are no “secrets” to making your book a bestseller that you can “learn” from someone online because they are “passionate about helping other authors.”

Don’t be naïve in this life. If there was some “best kept secret” about “how to make your book a bestseller on Amazon in 30 days,” NOBODY would be selling it on Facebook for $99. PERIOD. Therefore, NEVER give money to ANYONE unless it is for a legitimate add targeted to your demographic. And yes, advertising is expensive, but legitimate advertising is also effective and the other stuff, well, all I can say is use the money to go to a concert or dine out! At least that way you’ll get something out of it. Write on!

I finally got traditionally published! I loved being an Indie author but I am excited to start this next part of my life as a traditionally published author!

Here’s today’s fast fact: There is an old saying that doesn’t get nearly the appreciation it should, and it goes like this: “familiarity breeds contempt.” Of course, that certainly does not apply to OUR relatives or OUR friends. Except that it does. Fortunately, not ALL of them, so I’ll rephrase that: it applies to MANY of them. But we’re never ready for it. I have relatives and friends who are stalwart supporters of all my endeavors, and probably most of you do too. Sadly, I also have had a few that allowed the green-eyed monster to take over every time a few more book sales are added to my tally or I schedule another event.

It’s beyond me why we can’t just support each other in ALL of our successes, but the warning here is: DON’T allow individuals like that to negatively affect your emotions. Those types of people will ALWAYS be there. They will be the one constant thing in your life for the duration of your career: those who sit there making snarky remarks or wearing sarcastic little smiles because you’re celebrating your success. Ghost them away.

I’m not saying literally cut a relative or friend out of your life completely over something like that but ghost the negative vibe away. Pretend you didn’t hear it, pretend it was a stranger who said it, pretend it doesn’t exist, do whatever you have to do to get that stuff out of your mind, because otherwise it will drag you down every time. Don’t let naysayers live rent free in your head. Stop them immediately and remind yourself how successful you truly are and just how far you’ve come. Once you do that, you’ll realize how little what they have to say actually means. Write on!

To keep it short and sweet today, there's nothing wrong with doing a book giveaway on this site or any other. There’s also nothing wrong with handing a free book to someone if you really want to. However, nothing gives off the vibe of desperation more than chasing after readers, or even worse, other writers, offering them free books in exchange for reviews. Great things are worth the price, and you are instantly devaluing your work when you do the aforementioned dance. It instantly inserts into the person’s mind “how great could this novel be if the author has to hand it out for free?”

A much better approach is to focus on driving traffic to where your book is sold. Once you get sales, reviews magically take care of themselves. But if you get ahead of yourself and give your book away, you are simply working against what you are hoping to accomplish.

Let’s say that people who get free books consistently do the reviews like they’re supposed to– and a lot of times this doesn’t happen – so what? Even if you get 15 or 20 reviews on Amazon or somewhere else, it’s not going to get you sales because no one is landing on that page to see all these great reviews? (And I’ll give you a hint: a lot of times people who review for free rate very very hard and you end up with a mediocre rating, where if you just would’ve let it happen organically, your rating would be much higher.)

You put a lot of work and effort into the creation of your novel. Don’t tattoo “I’m desperate” on your forehead after all that time and energy. Advertise, do podcasts, schedule book signings, get a good book trailer made and posted on social media, but don’t hand away your hard work for free and fool yourself into thinking you’re going to get ahead. You’re not. Write on!

It seems like we are absolutely inundated these days with articles and posts containing all types of “critically important “do’s and don’ts that supposedly make or break the careers of new authors.

Here’s the reality check: SOME things matter one time and one time only, and that’s when the editor reads the manuscript. I’m not trying to say anything negative about editors; they are doing their job. Nevertheless, there are certain things that ONLY matter to editors, such as “smiling words,” split infinitives, and opening a chapter with weather. I don’t know any reader, including the one writing this post, who EVER cared about those things.

Proper punctuation, grammar, spelling etc., are certainly important because if those things are flawed, it makes the writer look amateurish and unprofessional. Beyond that, no author should drive himself or herself crazy with picky nonsense because they are convinced that editors, or worse yet “expert reviewers,” will find fault with their work.

All novels need proofreading and editing, but at the end of the day, you’re not selling your book to the editor, you’re not selling it to the proofreader, you’re not selling it to the “expert reviewer,” you are selling it to the READER. And readers don’t give two hoots about the Oxford comma.

Readers only care about the darn story and whether or not it is any good. Put your effort into spinning great tale and when it comes to deciding if you should use a period or a colon, flip a coin, pour another glass of iced tea, and keep going. Write On!

An old saying that's been around probably longer than I've been alive is "Write About What You Know."

It was always regarded as good advice for new authors who may not have traveled the world, lived in a city for 10 years, or even graduated college yet. In a way, it's very true and definitely has some merit. After all, it's difficult to write about things with which you are entirely unfamiliar.

However, there is another argument to consider. These days, we're not fond of hearing both sides of a story regardless of what the subject is, because we're fixated on a "right way" and a "wrong way," and convince ourselves there's nothing in between. This isn't true.

Writing about what you know is definitely a good approach in many cases, but what about those who only know things that won't interest many people? Okay, so that's politically incorrect, but it's the truth. If the main things you are an expert on are cooking pea soup or making lace tatting, you may find there's no broad range market for your specialty.

And please, all the fans of pea soup and lace tatting, don't come after me now, I happen to like both. I've just never seen anyone write a bestseller about either one.

This is where writing only about what you know can be a double-edged sword. Sometimes, in order to gather a broad, general market, you have to research what you DON'T know and write about IT.

That might be why people have difficulty selling memoirs. You're certainly writing about what you are most familiar with. (Yourself.) But, how many people are going to stand in line at a bookstore to read the life story/thoughts/feelings of someone they never heard of and don't know?

I'm certainly not saying there isn't a market for memoirs. That was not my point, before I get in trouble for THAT! I'm just saying that the person who wrote a great science fiction story, historical fiction novel, or rockin' children's book, etc. etc., simply has a wider audience to play to, and therefore a higher chance of success.

So, yes, write about what you know, but don't be afraid to learn what you DON'T know, and by doing so, open up your potential market exponentially. Just something to think about. Write on!

Just a quick post today to reach out to any fellow author who is thinking about that odd novel, short story, poem or article but you are afraid to write it.

Sometimes the best things we have inside of us are muffled because in this day and age we' re supposed to go along with what "they" say, and if not, something is wrong with us. This approach eats away at our creativity, and we hold ourselves back by saying "what will 'they' think if I write it that way?"

Unfortunately, this philosophy sometimes leads to a mediocre life. Imagine going through life afraid to do the things you really want to do because "they" might think you're strange? Guess what? We're all strange in our own way. So if it's the difference between living a mediocre life and doing the thing you're scared of doing, why not just go ahead and do the thing you're scared of doing? Go write it!

I love a good political thriller. I read Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum. I like Jack Ryan and Jason Bourne, and a lot of other characters by a lot of other great political thriller authors. So what's my point?

Well, that's a specific genre, and it's supposed to be that way. But it is my humble opinion that that's where politics belong. In their own genre. Nevertheless, a trend was started decades ago that every novel must have social-political overtones or the work is meaningless. I don't believe that. Sometimes people just want a good story. Sometimes they're reading to escape heaviness. Sometimes they're reading because they want to feel better. Sometimes they're reading because they want to see if they can figure out a mystery before the novel ends. Sometimes they're reading to GET AWAY from politics for a while.

There is tension all over the world, but as a United States author, I become utterly fatigued with the political civil war being waged in my country right now and I wish that more people would be willing to walk away from extremes and try to be at least somewhat moderate on some issues so that we can talk again instead of spewing hated each other. (I know. I'll be waiting a long time for that.)

Sometimes when I'm reading, I'm reading to escape all the insanity and I just want to read about people who are simply PEOPLE, rather than party members. I know I'm not alone.

We all have political bias, but when and where does it belong? Launching a political campaign in your novel is probably not the best idea in this day and age. For one thing, you don't know who's reading. You may have someone who's completely absorbed and engaged in your book, but he or she becomes so turned off at the political slant that the book eventually gets tossed. At that point, you have to ask yourself it was worth it? You got your licks in for sure, and you let people know where YOU stand politically, but did it help you or hurt you, and was it really necessary?

Those are the questions I urge writers to ask themselves. If you know why you're doing it and what you hope to accomplish, and you feel it's the best way to write your stories, then of course, go for it! But if you're doing it just because you think you're supposed to, you might be losing some readers for no other reason except that you're doing something "just cause." And "just cause" really isn't enough of a reason as far as I'm concerned. That's why I stay away from it.

Of course, depending on the era you are writing in, there may be a lot of political unrest or war or something similar, and of course that has to be worked into the story to make it authentic. However, you can do it in a neutral way. The latter of which essentially means do it without inserting your opinion. LOL.

I won't mention the author's name, but a very very popular romance writer got so political with her books that it actually started to hurt sales. Virtually every novel was a 350 page object lesson about why you should belong to a certain party. I'm sure even people in that party got tired of it after a while. We need a break from that stuff, peeps. That's the bottom line.

I urge other writers out there to consider eliminating politics from a novel every now and then and simply write an engaging book that other people can relate to and enjoy without working in your political bias.