Last week I posted L.A.’s article, My Journey As A Lesson/Inspiration/Gift. What I didn’t mention, was that last week’s article was written as the bio for this article, Retire? What are you talking about? When I read it, I felt that her journey needed to stand alone, to provide a lesson, inspiration, and gift to us all. If you missed that article, it’s worth checking out.
Retire? What Are You Talking About?
A few weeks ago, I was talking to a neighbor and telling him about my latest book when he interrupted me.
“You retired from one job, when are you going to retire from this one?”
I was absolutely flabbergasted and speechless – which is a rare occasion for me. Thinking for a minute as I was trying to decide if he was telling me something like I should consider retiring because I wasn’t getting rich from this, or gulp, that I was getting older.
Finally, I asked him what he meant.
“Why are you working so hard at this point in your life?”
“Because I love it and frankly hope to write until I can’t think of another story,” I replied without hesitation.
Retired
We chit-chatted a few more minutes and he went back to his yard, probably not giving another moment’s thought to the conversation. While I, on the other hand, thought about it for days. Then I recalled a conversation we’d had a few years ago when he mentioned that once he’d retired, he wasn’t using his brain much and his body seemed to be falling apart.
It dawned on me that I was doing what I loved, and he was bored out of his mind. Was he jealous? Maybe. Not of my income certainly, as he was wealthy already, but that I was engaged, constantly learning new things since I indie publish, and wear all the hats associated with creating and publishing a book.
And most of all I have something to look forward to every morning.
So there is a lesson in this conversation that stays with me. Find something to do that you love. Never let anyone tell you that you can’t do it and when you’re done with that love, find another.
Prince of Granola by L.A. Sartor
Prince Of Granola is my 7th book, and I have so many ideas and series that I want to write, I can’t imagine retiring.
I have a favorite saying, it’s not mine, but it summarizes my thinking perfectly.
To Be Happy You Need Three Things Someone To Love Something To Do And Something To Look Forward To
And I truly believe in what it says.
L.A. Sartor is a bestselling, award-winning author. She began telling stories around the age of 4 when her mother, at L.A.’s insistence, wrote them down and L.A. illustrated them. As an adult, she writes suspense and action-adventure novels with a dash of romance, and screenplays—she’s had a contracted adaptation! She lives in Colorado with her husband whom she met on a blind date. L.A. loves to travel and thinks life is an adventure and we should embrace the journey. She has a blog and a mailing list.
We welcome back L.A. Sartor to Thyme for Writers! When I learned about L.A.’s journey in becoming a successful author, I asked that she share it for our readers, especially since her latest novel, Prince of Granola was just released. Thank you L.A. for your lessons, inspiration, and gifts!
I started writing as a child, really. A few things happened on the way to becoming a published author … a junior high school teacher who told me I couldn’t write because I didn’t want to study … urk … grammar. I went to college, moved a few times, came home and found the love of my life (that is another novel worthy story, but for later), and got married.
We were super busy with our respective careers, mine a custom jewelry business with my mom, who was also teaching metalsmithing at the time, and my husband a crazy law career. We had two fur babies, Fudge (and briefly her brother Smudge, but sadly he didn’t live very long) and Two. Our cats would sleep with us and when they’d stretch out to their full length, we’d end up sleeping on the edge of the mattress.
Fur Baby
I have always been a voracious reader and one night after throwing a particularly bad book at the wall (even putting a small ding in said wall), I realized that I could do better. I told my husband, and he said go for it. I called Mom and she revealed the junior high teacher story and she told I’d been writing all the time up to that point.
Thyme to Write
That blew me away. I didn’t remember any of it. But I started writing again, nearly the next day, pen and paper, learning, making mistakes, winning contests, nearly getting an agent, becoming disenchanted with the publishing industry and moving away from novel writing to screenwriting, getting a contract for a script and doing really well in screenwriting contests.
But none of that was making me much money. After numerous scary robbery drills I wanted to move away from my bank job (yes, this is many years later and a lot of stuff in between) and write full time for the green stuff.
Publishing
My husband told me repeatedly that independent publishing was becoming a valid way to publish a novel and people were making big dollars. I didn’t believe him even after he showed me several Wall Street Journal articles. I thought indie meant vanity press.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I started pursuing this direction seriously, retired from the bank and hit the keyboard, learned a litany of new things and published my first novel. My second book became a bestseller, and while I’m not rolling in dough, I’m absolutely on the right course in my life.
So if you have a dream, pursue it as hard as you can. Life can get in the way, but never give up.
L.A. Sartor Home Page
Please come visit me at www.lasartor.com, see my books, some pictures, some screenplays and sign up for my mailing list. I have a gift I’ve specifically created for my new email subscribers. And remember, you can email me at Leslie@LeslieSartor.com
Kathryn Ross is our guest today on Thyme for Writers as she shares the next in her Write Spice Series: Preparing Your Writer’s Garden to Grow: 6 Steps to a Fruitful Manuscript Harvest.
Preparing Your Writer’s Garden to Grow
March is still pretty chilly where I live. Unseasonable warm days are kept in check with bursts of unseasonable cold and the last few roars of winter snow storms. I am dreaming about springtime and harvest, but not keen to venture out into the yard with spade and hoe in preparation for such dreams to come true.
In fact, I tend to regularly make the mistake of waiting until a happy, sunny day in May before I venture to the local garden shop looking for some green veggies to plant or springtime bulbs the wise gardener buried last fall. With a patient smile, the shop attendant explains that the reason there are so few vegetable greens left for planting in May is that they should have been planted in March for a truly fruitful harvest. But in March, I was only dreaming about such a thing, bundled in my sweater and hoping the wind chill and gray sky wasn’t so foreboding.
Sweet Italian Basil — Home Grown
Better gardeners than I brave chilly March days with solid plans and preparations for lush foliage and home-grown vegetable goodness later in the year. Whether it is planting trays of select seeds to sprout indoors before replanting after the frost dies or taking hoe in hand to whack away at the winter hardened earth, clearing away the leftover debris of last season greenery, smart and serious gardeners get to work by March to reap rewards in summer and fall.
I may never attain Master Gardener when it comes to preparing my floral and vegetable fields in a timely manner. But I can apply this principle of preparation and planning to my writing life and the harvests I dream of reaping from my Writer’s Garden.
The Writer’s Garden
When we don’t take care to prepare our fields…
When we don’t take care to prepare our fields for the desired harvest of a fruitful writing life, we reap little, with no healthy green goods to take to market. Here are six things you can do for properly preparing your Writer’s Garden in hopes of harvesting a manuscript in due season:
Break Up Fallow Ground in your lifestyle to prepare your Writer’s Garden soil for creating life-giving words. Removing the things that block you from your writing goals. This can be bad habits like procrastination, poor organization, a cluttered workspace, or an overburdened schedule of busy activities that dry up your mental focus and vitality. List the fallow ground blockages that keep your creative soils from being prepared and whack away at them.
Plant Inspiration SeedsEarly by jotting down your ideas as soon as they come to you in a file or binder. When you come across a resource that you think will prove fruitful in the future, plant it right away. This could be a book (hard-copy or digital) you know will be invaluable to your research, or a computer file with website URLs saved to follow-up on later. Perhaps an image is inspiring to you for your project purposes, or even a physical object. Collect them as you find them and plant them in your creative space where you can brood over them for a time.
Water Ideas Daily with free writing on your project topic. If you’re working on a series of online posts, a fiction book, a non-fiction manuscript, poem, play, or what-all, visit your ideas on the project regularly. Discipline yourself to water it, in effect, by expanding on your previous work. This could mean reading another resource to add notes to your research. It could mean writing another chapter, or just adding another layer to a character description or plot outline. Visiting your Writer’s Garden with the water can of daily work feeds your inspiration seeds to take root and sprout.
Weed Carefully, at least once a week, with focused editing. Clear out unnecessary material and keep your writing and project work focused so only the strongest shoots are getting the nutrients of your skilled efforts. Don’t allow unruly vines to grow and choke out the full potential of your project.
Control Pests that seek to steal, kill, and destroy your precious harvest potential. Culprits such as Fear, Complaint, Laziness, Stress, Depression, Envy, Disobedience, and more can eat away at every new stem of writing produced if allowed to remain in your Writer’s Garden. Look for them hiding under the leaves of your work and brutally remove them.
Harvest on Time—not too early and not too late—to get the best nutrient return on your fruitful garden of words. In due season, under the blessing of the Lord, you will reap the benefits of what you have sown and stewarded, enriching both writer and reader.
This month, when farmers are already tilling the soil and planting crops for summer and fall harvests, are you planning how you’ll prepare and tend your Writer’s Garden?
(C) 2018 Kathryn Ross
The Write Spice: Writing Tips for Flavorful Words By Kathryn Ross
Writer-speaker, Kathryn Ross, ignites a love of literature and learning through Pageant Wagon Productions and Publishing. She writes and publishes homeschool enrichment and Christian living books for home, church, and school. Her passion is to equip women and families in developing a Family Literacy Lifestyle, producing readers and thinkers who can engage the world from a biblical worldview. She blogs and podcasts at TheWritersReverie.com and PageantWagonPublishing.com. Connect with Miss Kathy on Facebook.
The Gatekeeper’s Key by Kathryn Ross – Nominated for Christian Indie Awards 2018
Writer, speaker, teacher, and enrichment artist, Kathryn Ross, sweeps readers into the story-worlds of Jane Austen, C. S. Lewis, Hannah Hurnard, Marguerite de Angeli, John Bunyan, and others, exploring powerful truths to fulfilling God’s plan for your life in her latest publication, The Gatekeeper’s Key—nominated for the Christian Indie Awards 2018 in the devotional genre. Discern your place and season, with encouragement to see purpose in boundaries, find comfort in trials, and gain fortitude in going forth. Short story, personal testimony, excerpts from classic literature, visual imagery, challenge questions for discussion, and journal prompts for writing assignments draw you before the Gatekeeper. It’s quite a journey—but you’re never alone. Always in His Presence, with an Invitation, a Gatekeeper, and a Key. Perhaps more than one. Purchase on Amazon or direct from Pageant Wagon Publishing.
We welcome back Candee Fick to Thyme for Writers with Spicing Up a Book Launch!
Thyme For Writers: Spicing Up a Book Launch with Candee Fick
As a writer seeking publication, there are a few dates that will stand out in your memory almost as much as the day you got married or when your children were born. There’s the day you got “the call” that you were being offered a contract. Then there’s the first day you hold that advanced reader copy in your hands and smell the ink (don’t pretend you didn’t!) And then there’s launch day…
A typical book launch revolves around spreading the word. “Hey, I’ve got a new book coming out and you should buy it.” (Which I do. And yes, you should. But that’s not the point of this post…) Authors roll up their sleeves, create memes and other graphics, schedule guest blog posts, email their list, plan a party, get some prizes, set up a few giveaways, and maybe even buy a few ads on Facebook to gain visibility.
Marketing
Which is all good stuff to do as you generate buzz for your new book. After all, marketing experts say it takes seven exposures to your message before someone will act.
However, with the hundreds of books coming out this year and all those authors doing the same pre-launch tactics, how do you make your book stand out above the crowd? How do you attract a reader’s attention long enough for them to take those second, third, sixth, and seventh looks so you can make the sale?
It’s “thyme” to spice up your book launch with a theme that somehow ties into your book (or at least into the season). Perhaps the best way to make this point is with a few examples to spark your own creativity.
Football
For my debut novel with a college football setting, I planned a virtual tailgate party to “kickoff” the book. During the event, we discussed topics like tailgating food, uniforms, mascots, and marching bands to capture the favor of a college football program. I also used words like pre-game, halftime, fourth quarter, and overtime in some of my marketing language.
My second novel was set in a dinner theater so, like in real show business, I encouraged folks to buy their “tickets” to Opening Day with a countdown until the curtain would rise. Backstage tours, glimpses at the costuming, plus lots of videos to capture the music and rhythm of dancing feet all helped pull readers into the story world and pique their interest.
One friend’s book was set around a fashion consignment store in Hollywood. Her online launch party held a “red carpet” theme where she actually introduced each character as if they were arriving to the party and even described what they were wearing.
In addition to finding inspiration from the book’s setting, you can also plan to build buzz around the title. To launch her book, Charming the Troublemaker, another friend had a bunch of fellow writers at a conference pose for pictures holding a Snicker’s candy bar with the word “troublemaker” on it. During the countdown to launch, she posted those pictures on Facebook and asked people to vote whether that particular person was sweet, salty, or both. Weekly votes narrowed the field until there was one winner of the troublemaker title…and everyone remembered the name of her book (or at least part of it!).
Focus on Love by Candee Fick
While brainstorming plans for my next release on Tuesday, I too found inspiration in the title, Focus On Love, along with the fact that both main characters in the book are photographers. In January, when everyone was focused on new resolutions and a word for the year, I blogged about that theme. But once the calendar turned to February and Valentine’s Day approached, everyone had “love” on the brain. That’s when I started a photo contest and asked people to share pictures of love in action or things that they love with the hashtag #FocusOnLove. (Winner gets an autographed book and a Shutterfly gift card…because it’s photography. The contest ends on the 17th so there’s still plenty of time to participate!)
It’s too soon to tell if I’ve made my launch unique enough to be memorable, but I certainly have done my best to make my book stand out from the rest.
What about you? How can you spice up your next book launch? Is there a unique element or feature in your book that would get readers interested long enough to take another look at your story? Maybe it’s the setting. Or a career /profession. A family recipe or historical tie-in. Is there a holiday to celebrate like Christmas? How can you weave that into the graphics, prizes, party plans, and even headlines?
P.S. In case you wanted to know more about Focus On Love, you can pre-order it here. In addition to the photo contest mentioned above, you can also enter to win autographed copies of all three of my novels as well as another Shutterfly gift card here.
Author Candee Fick
BIO: Candee Fick is a multi-published author in both fiction and non-fiction. She is also the wife of a high school football coach and the mother of three children, including a daughter with a rare genetic syndrome. When not busy with her day job, writing, or coaching other authors, she can be found cheering on the home team at sporting events, exploring the great Colorado outdoors, indulging in dark chocolate, and savoring happily-ever-after endings through a good book.
Find all of her books on Amazon here or sign up to receive email updates and get the first chapters of her novels for free. You can also find her online at www.CandeeFick.com.
Focus on Love by Candee Fick
BOOK BLURB: Free-spirited Elizabeth Foster turned her back on her father’s photography business to pursue musical theater, but with a one-show contract, she’s a few weeks from unemployment forcing her home. Meanwhile sought-after photographer Ryan Callahan has put his career on hold to help his sister’s family while her husband is deployed, but the promise of a bigger assignment could lure him away from building a family of his own. If given the choice, what dreams would develop? Or will they learn to focus on love instead?
I am so happy to have Candee Fick as my guest today on Thyme for Writers! Candee Fick is a multi-published author in both fiction and non-fiction. She is also the wife of a high school football coach and the mother of three children, including a daughter with a rare genetic syndrome. When not busy with her day job or writing, she can be found cheering on the home team at sporting events, exploring the great Colorado outdoors, indulging in dark chocolate, and savoring happily-ever-after endings through a good book.
So Little Time to Conquer This Mountain
by Candee Fick
Most writers fall into the “I wish I had more time to write” camp while those lucky few who seem to have plenty of writing time are still members of the “My To-Do list never ends” club. The pursuit of publication or a writing career can seem as daunting and exhausting as scaling Everest, but every year thousands put their fingers on a keyboard…only to discover—or rather remember—that everyone has the same limited amount of time in which to get it all done.
And by all, I mean life. Take me for example. As a wife and mother, my days get filled with cleaning, cooking, laundry, homework, carpools, and sports. Relationships with family and friends require regular interactions and if I’m not taking care of myself with enough rest, exercise, and mental growth, I can fall apart quickly. Add in a day job and my calendar is stuffed to overflowing.
Except I’m also a writer with a coaching business. I dream up adventures and arrange words on a page in order to bring characters and settings to life. Once those polished stories are in the capable hands of my publisher, I do it all again. It might be easy to squeeze in an hour or two per day before the kids get up or in lieu of television in the evenings, but crafting stories is only one side of this mountain.
So Little Time to Conquer This Mountain
The other side of writing’s Everest is marketing. It’s the side that beginning writers don’t see in the excitement of starting a book, but soon the rumors swirl as old-timers drop words like social media, platform, website, tax deductions, book launches, and blog tours. The faint of heart stick their fingers in their ears, yell “Lalalalala,” and revise their first chapters again or jump from idea to idea, never finishing anything. Those who are serious about writing perk up and listen for tips about how to navigate the trail ahead.
The Author Toolbox
There are two main reasons that I wrote The Author Toolbox. First was to share what I’ve learned the hard way so newer authors can work smarter as they build their books, platforms, businesses, and careers. But mostly, I wrote it all down in order to give writers hope. It’s a long climb, but there is a way to get there and you are not alone in the journey.
If you know what the next steps of your personal journey involve, then you can deliberately and strategically focus your limited time on the activities that will move you closer to your goals. Your writing goal this week might be hitting a first draft word count or editing another chapter. You might even block out an hour to pre-schedule the week’s social media posts or organize office paperwork.
We have so little time available to conquer the mountains in our lives, but my hope is that you find your next steps…then take them. Because the view from the top is worth every moment of work.
You may reach Candee or obtain her works at the following links:
The Author Toolbox is filled with over 100 practical tools to help today’s author build a book, a platform, a business, and a career. Why? So we can get it all done while freeing up both time and mental energy to do the one thing we really desire…write.
Thyme for Writers is a new blog series for writers and book lovers. As many of you know, my website focuses on adding spice to your life, whether it be with nutrition and health tips, delicious recipes, or through Hidden Bloodlines, my romantic suspense novel and associated adventures in creating it and its sequel.
Thyme for Writers Adding Spice to Your
Most of us are writers in one form or another (whether by choice or necessity). The purpose of this series is to help you along the way with
tips,
direction,
encouragement,
inspiration,
the research and adventure behind some of your favorite works, or
just something interesting and fun to bring a smile to your face.
While I may be authoring some, my goal is to invite fascinating guests with different life experiences and areas of expertise.
The Author Toolbox
The Author Toolbox
My first guest will be Candee Fick, author of The Author Toolbox. She is the reason I am able to create and maintain my own website. As a genuine techno-idiot, I volunteered to be Candee’s beta test project. Our goal was to determine if it’s possible for someone like me to gain the skills necessary to build a website and how long it would take. Needless to say, Candee is a miracle worker. In fairly short order, I learned the skills necessary and have continued merrily on my way.
Candee is an incredible writer and teacher and painstakingly created a blog series meant to help writers in all stages get their work created and a website begun. She compiled and added to this series in The Author Toolbox. Keep in mind, the tools provided and skills taught aren’t just for writers of books. Many pursue different artistic careers and businesses, but in today’s business environment, websites and social media dominate the marketplace if you want to succeed. The days of the telephone book are over. The reality is that websites and social media require writing.
Where to Start
Candee Fick author of The Author Toolbox
There are thousands of writing guides and resources out there, but where should one begin? I have personally found that The Author Toolbox is the best first stop. Candee not only provides “how to…” information, but makes recommendations on easy to use resources to make life easier. On September 7 I am excited to have Candee Fick as my first guest on Thyme for Writers. Stay tuned… .
If you have something to share and you’d like to be a guest, please email me at karen@KarenVanDenHeuvel.com.
