On a limb with Claudia

As a writer, you have take your reader’s mind and heart on a journey. You take them through the trials and tribulations of your characters. Your reader weeps for your characters, cheers when they win, and, at the end of the book, sighs for the joy of the journey.

Right?

If you can do all of that, why not try to improve your reader’s well-being at the same time. Nic Marks and the Happy Planet project created these Five ways to well-being.

I challenge you to include them in your work and report back. How did you do it? What worked? What didn’t work?

After all ou’re a writer. It’s your God given mandate to change the world, if only for the duration of your story.

Why not change it for your reader’s well-being?

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In an exclusive interview with Jeff Rivera of Media Bistro, Seth Godin swears off traditional publishing.

Here’s the exact quote:

“I’ve decided not to publish any more books in the traditional way. 12 for 12 and I’m done. I like the people, but I can’t abide the long wait, the filters, the big push at launch, the nudging to get people to go to a store they don’t usually visit to buy something they don’t usually buy, to get them to pay for an idea in a form that’s hard to spread … I really don’t think the process is worth the effort that it now takes to make it work. I can reach 10 or 50 times as many people electronically. No, it’s not ‘better’, but it’s different. So while I’m not sure what format my writing will take, I’m not planning on it being the 1907 version of hardcover publishing any longer.” (GalleyCat)

Huh. That’s interesting. Having read and been around Seth for a long, long time, I know him to be very specific with his language.  Let’s look at it bit by bit.

“I’ve decided not to publish any more books in the traditional way. 12 for 12 and I’m done.”

Ok, this is a little bit of a misnomer. Seth Godin published his first book the old fashioned way – query, wait, agent, wait, wait, wait,  you know the drill. After that, he’s chosen a variety different routes – self publishing, big house publishing, and everything in between. For each of the twelve books he’s written, he’s also published a myriad of free ebooks, paid for ebooks, and interesting articles on his blog.  Seth Godin has tested every known way to get his material out there.

“I like the people, but I can’t abide the long wait, the filters, the big push at launch, the nudging to get people to go to a store they don’t usually visit to buy something they don’t usually buy, to get them to pay for an idea in a form that’s hard to spread … I really don’t think the process is worth the effort that it now takes to make it work.”

Let’s face it. We all hate begging our friends and family to purchase books. In fact, there’s a whole group of people who say we should make our money on speaking and creating ‘experiences’ and give our books away. There’s no question that he’s right about this. Trying to get people to purchase books is a lot of effort that doesn’t advance your skills, story or capacity as an author.

“I can reach 10 or 50 times as many people electronically. No, it’s not ‘better’, but it’s different. So while I’m not sure what format my writing will take, I’m not planning on it being the 1907 version of hardcover publishing any longer.”

Seth Godin has tested this model over and over again. In fact, he’s the person who says if you really want to get people to read your material, give it away for free. He’s not saying here that he will give all of his material away. He’s only saying he’s going electronic.

To me, this last quote is the most fascinating part of the quote. I wondered what he’s going to do – give it away? sell ebooks? I also wondered why this is news. As I’ve said before, he’s always had free and not so free ebooks available for additional or complimentary information.

Seth Godin is a man with a mission. He has a hopeful message that he spreads via his blog, his books and his lectures.  He’s worked hard, and I assume will continue working hard, to get his message out there.

Yet, I’m left with two questions:

1. If Seth Godin is dedicated to getting the message out there, does it really matter that he’s giving up traditional publishing? And,

2. How do we get so impassioned about our messages that we focus only on the distribution of the message instead of the status, money, and power of involved with traditional book publishing?

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This photo was taken outside the Brockton Enterprise (Brockton, MA)  in December, 1940.
The newspaper posts the headlines in their window so passersby can read the news.

You have to ask yourself :  How will they make any money? Where are their advertisers? If people read it here they won’t buy a paper!

Isn’t that what everyone says about giving their work away now?

Free is not a new concept. It worked in 1940. It works now.

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In this fascinating interview, Eben Pagan discusses what he feels are the limitations of being an expert. Put simply, experts believe:

• The world to find them,
• Good enough content will bring them an audience.
• What they have to give (or say)  is more important than the needs of their audience.

There’s no question; his thoughts are controversial.

He encourages people to give away their best material to let your market know what you’re capable of. He encourages people to focus on their market, not on their expertise. More than anything, he encourages people to give up what is not working.

How does this apply to writers? My answer: In every way possible.

1. The world is not going to find you:

The world is busy running from appointment to appointment. No matter how beautifully fabulous your writing is, if no one has read it, it doesn’t exist in the public mind. Taking this one step further, you can tell anyone you want to that you’re a writer. Until you have an audience, you’re just a guy or gal with a computer.

2. Good enough content will not bring you an audience:

Most writers believe if they write a manuscript, their audience will form around them. They send their queries to publishers and agents without ever considering who might want to read their work. In fact, there’s a common expectation among authors that a good enough manuscript should be good enough to bag them large royalty checks regardless of audience.

To be a successful writer, you must consider your audience first. Who is going to read your work? How do you know? Unless you’ve tested your material, you have no idea who will want to read your manuscript.

Why should you care? In the words of Todd Rutherford of Yorkshire Publishing, “There are thousands of well-written books to choose from, the platform or author marketing plan is important.”

3. The needs of your audience are paramount to your success.

Your job as a writer is to fulfill your audience’s needs. If you’re writing in your journal, then feel free to express yourself. If you’re writing for the public, it’s time to get really really clear on what need you fulfill for your audience. This need might be apparent or hidden. Maybe your audience doesn’t know they have this need.  It doesn’t matter.

The key is to be aware of the person on the other side of the page. That person’s needs are more important than yours. That’s just how it is.

What do you think?

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I’ve been asked this same question five times in the last few days.

Person : “Claudia, I’d like to write a (book, novel, serial fiction, non-fiction, etc). How do I get started?”

Claudia : “Turn on your computer. Sit down in your chair. Start typing.”

What am I missing here? How else would you get started writing something?

If you have questions for me, feel free to leave them in the comments or email me.

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I was recently introduced to Charlie Gilkey and his productivity planners for creative people by Rachel the Caffeinated Elf.  While looking around Charlie’s site, Productive Flourishing, I read his post about mapping out the time you’re most productive. The basic concept is that we are unique beings with unique internal rhythms.  Thus each of us has a unique schedule for when we’re more productive. Charlie uses:  Red to designate most productive time; Orange to designate the times you’re productive but not exactly on; Yellow (that says Yellow) designates an idle status; Green is for the time when you want to work ,but nothing happens; and Grey are the times you should just be asleep.

Because the heat map dove tails into the planners, I thought I would give it a try.  After working with a productivity heat map for the last week, I now think everyone should do complete a map like this.

What did I learn? First of all, I learned that by scheduling meetings and appointments in the afternoon, I was missing a key creative productivity time.  I learned that I start the mornings hot but tend to deflate between 10 and noon. I also learned that I can keep working all the way until I fall asleep.

This information changed my life!

Here’s how things have changed:

• Rather than giving up almost a whole days work by going to an appointment in the afternoon, I now schedule meetings and appointments at 11 am. I can work in the mornings and afternoon. A simple half hour appointment is just that – a half hour.
• Because my brain can keep working right up to when sleep takes me, I’ve started making sure I have work end rituals. I close my antique pocket watch, meditate, work on my gratitude journal, then close the door to my office. Day’s over. These rituals help me close out the day rather than keeping my brain reving until I attempt to sleep. I’m actually sleeping better because of this.
• I use the time between 10 am and noon to make phone calls, answer emails, and generally take care of things that don’t require creativity. The cool side effect? I’m actually getting these boring, non-writing tasks accomplished.

After working with the heat map for week, I started to track whether I’m on input or output mode. When I write, I must be on output mode.  I’ve discovered that in the early mornings, I tend to be on input mode. I’m very receptive to messages given to me.  Mid-morning, I shift to more of an output mode. And, it’s much easier for me to output something in the afternoon.

In response to this information, I’ve started listening to inspirational CDs or interviews in the early morning. I’m able to settle down to output in the mid-morning and trust that the bulk of my work will happen in the afternoon.

I’ve spent so much time and energy fighting with my own internal productivity system. Learning more about the way I work has helped me become more productive and better yet work more efficiently.

Here’s a link to the map. Try it and let me know how it goes!

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The super powers of the Bronte sisters :

All right, the video is a joke. And funny too.

But you have to ask yourself : Have things changed that much?

There are still old boys clubs in publishing. People continue to believe that the only good books are those published by the big New York City publishers. There are plenty of people who will tell you that you can’t get published.

What super-power will you use to overcome these barriers?

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I often hear people quote (or misquote) famous author’s writing advice. “Editing means minus ten percent.” “Writing is like driving in the dark. You can only see to the edges of the lights.” “Make a word count goal and stick to it every day.” And on and on.

If writing is a creative process, why do we follow and repeat this advice?

Because as writers, we live face to face with our doubt. We are always looking for a way to relieve the risk of translating the words from our head to our page and screens. Following the leader seems like the best way to make sure we’re on the right track.

If Stephen King does this, then I must be doing the right thing. If Janet Evanavich does that, then I’m bound to be successful. If Earnest Hemingway didn’t use adverbs/adjectives, I won’t either.

Writing is about finding and keeping to your own track.

Following someone else’s advice won’t relieve your doubt. It will only make you certain you’re doing it wrong. Doing it someone else’s way is doing it wrong.

Stop following the leaders.

Find your own track.

Listen to your own muse.

Edit in the way that makes sense to you.

Breathe.

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“In the publishing space, the author’s brand is infinitely more important than the publisher’s brand. I’m going to read Charles Stross novels no matter who publishes them (and in fact Stross has a bibliography that spans multiple publishers). But the author’s brand is usually associated with story content. I buy Charles Stross novels because I like high-concept science fiction with an unflinching density of ideas and an unforgiving expectation from the reader. The Stross brand promises that and, so far, has unswervingly delivered. ” from Do I need the middle

When we’re first starting out, we’re indoctrinated with the idea that we need a publisher to be successful. If we’re ‘good’, we pretzel ourselves around to find an agent. With a little luck, the agent finds a publisher. Of course, our ego begs for which ever publisher we believe is best : Little Brown, Random House, Harper Collins, Putnam. We believe these brands to legitimize our efforts.

We are told, and believe, that the publisher’s brand will be the train that takes us to fame and fortune.

For a moment, if you will, think about your favorite author. Off the top of your head, can you name their publisher?

I can’t.

I remember the author’s name. I remember odd details about their lives:

• Janet Evanovich has been married forever;
• Stephen King credits his success to his long suffering wife and children. He’s also Maine;
• Sue Grafton is from California;
• Jasper Fforde is British;
• James Joyce worked all day then wrote at night, even though he could barely see the page;
• Earnest Hemingway didn’t use an adverb or adjective for a year;
• Ursula Le Guin tried to stop writing the EarthSea stories but the characters wouldn’t let her and so on…

Their publisher? Who cares?

I only care about the author and the work that opens doors for me. It comes down to the author’s brand.

If that’s the case, authors should get our personal brand going long before a publisher gives them a nod. In fact, many publishers prefer to hire authors who already have established brands.

How do you create a brand? There are some good ideas here in the #BookMarket transcript (#BookMarket on free Twitter chat, Thursdays 4 p.m. ET, co-hosted by me! )

What do you think? Is the author’s brand important to you? Or the publisher’s brand? Or both?

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“A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction. ”
–Virginia Woolf

Something about this quote bounces around in my brain.

Maybe it’s the money thing. I don’t have loads of money, yet I’m able to write.

Maybe it’s the room of her own thing. I’ve never really had a room of my own.

As a child, I shared with my younger sister until my younger sister threw me out when I turned 13 years old. She had ‘grow out’ of sharing a room, so I was bumped into my oldest sister’s room. Even though my oldest sister was at college, I wasn’t allowed to change the decor for two years. Any time she returned to the house, I was out of the room. I slept on the floor of the living room, den or wherever I could fit a sleeping bag.  When she stopped coming to the house, favoring her Iranian boyfriend’s company to crazy family time,  my mother started using the room when she was sick of my father. So I’d be out on the living room floor again.

As an adult, I’ve had a variety of apartments. Some awful, some quaint and some really super awful. I loved the chance to have a space of my own. Of course, like any vacuum, my apartments and life became full of other people’s lives and problems.  Apartments turned to a 750 square foot Duplex in Denver which became the 1907 home we live in now.

I’ve written almost everywhere: the bathroom, the basement, the kitchen, at the kitchen table, the living room couch, in the backyard, under the apple tree, and anywhere I could hold a pencil or set my lap top. I once wrote a version of an Open Grove newsletter at a brew pub in Bayfield, Colorado while the husband was helping his parents. Probably the only place I haven’t written is in the beeyard.

Currently, I work in our front room. The room contains our books, financial information and anything that comes into the house. Rose has a chair to sit on as well as a bed to lay on. On the floor, if you look carefully, you can find renegade bits of Costco Lamb treats and Chicken breast treats.  Everything that comes in or out of the house spends some time in this room. I share the room with Rose and our entire life.

Is it a room of my own? I’m not sure. I’m also not sure I need a room of my own to write.

Where do you write? What kind of space do you need to write?

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