Where Will Your Writing Come From This Year?

It's a new year and hopefully, for all or most of you, that means new writing projects. Maybe there will be lots of short things like articles, or maybe it's time to write that first or next book. Whatever it is, my question for you to kick things off is where will your writing come from?

When asked, many writers say their writing comes from their heart or their soul but it can be defined a bit further. What is driving those words to the outside from within? Do they come from the pure joy of writing about a subject or because you can't not write? Does your creativity well up to the point where it simply cannot be contained? Does it come from a place of prior suffering and survival? Do they come from a fire that's deep inside that burns indignant over injustice, the state of the world's oceans or someone else's pain? Likely, the answer changes from time to time and from season to season in your life. There's really no wrong answer, it's just useful to know what it is.

So, where will your writing come from in 2011?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

New Keyword Tool

If you write non-fiction, or if you have a website for your book (you do don't you?), even if it's fiction, I hope you are familiar with the term "keywords". Just in case you aren't, keywords are those words and short phrases people type into search engines. The search engine then looks for them on websites as they try to match a request for information. Keywords are also the basis for the ads that show up on the side of the results page. Basically, in the world of the Internet, keywords are everywhere and if you want to attract visitors you need to have at least a basic grasp of how they work and where/when you need to use them.

Over the years, there have been a variety of tools that help people figure out the most popular keywords are on any given subject. That's important to know because if your website has those popular words in the right places, it will come up high in a search. If you write or post and article on a blog, directory, etc. the same applies.

Today, I found a new tool that works a little differently called Keyword Questions It appears to be a new variation from Wordtracker. It's different in that when you put in a topic or potential keyword, it generates a list of recent questions posed by searchers rather than just phrases.

How does this help you? Type in the topic of your current book or book you're planning to write. Here are just a few ways to use the search results:

1. How many of the popular questions are you addressing? If not many, are you sure people have a need or desire for what you're offering?

2. Pose and answer one or two of the questions within your back cover blurb and use that copy on summary pages on Amazon etc.

3. Make sure your website utilizes the questions or keywords within the questions in the appropriate places including in the text.

4. Even if you write fiction, you may be able to enter locations or other central themes of your book and see what people are talking about and also get blog posts or ideas for hot topics to weave into the story.

What are your keywords & why?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Are We Having Fun...Still?

When is the last time you really enjoyed writing-your writing? Do you finish a section, an article or a few lines and get joy out of it occasionally, sometimes, often? Rarely? If the answer is toward the rarely scale, that's not good and it's probably time to step back and figure out why.

Even if you must write to make a living, hopefully, more often than not, you like what you're doing. Few of us are lucky enough to love every bit of work we do, and there is a reason it's called work, but with at least some frequency, when we use our gift, it should bring us happiness, joy, maybe a laugh, or at least a job well done, accomplished feeling.

Author Dee Stewart posted about this whole idea the other day on The Master's Artist blog and it made me stop and think about which of my writing I like best (my newest book) and why I stopped writing a newsletter (I really didn't enjoy it, could do something else instead). Take a peak at what she has to say then I hope you'll come back and share what makes writing fun for you.


Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Lots of Effort Goes into a Book

Most of you who read this blog are writers or authors so your first reaction to the title of this post might have been "well duh..." And you're right, writing a book, any book is usually not an easy, carefree process. There's a lot of work and effort that goes into every piece (if you are a serious writer).
Again, no argument there. However, have you ever thought about the fact that a book can take a lot of effort on the part of a reader too?

This point was brought up on an agent's blog last week one day and it made me stop and think for a minute. He was absolutely right. Even if someone loves to read, and the actual reading comes easy, it still most likely involves a fair amount of effort to make it through an entire book.

First, consider that most people (at least adults) have to carve out time to read for any period of time beyond a couple of minutes. Few have the luxury of just picking up a good book whenever the mood strikes. Getting to read at all may involve putting kids to bed quicker, picking up the house faster or scarfing down lunch to steal a few moments of reading time. Just getting the book in the first place for some right now may mean squeezing a little extra life out of a tight budget. Definite effort involved.

Second, there are those who either like to read, or who maybe need to read something (how-to etc.) but they aren't the best readers in the world. They need to take things slow and getting through a book takes them a bit longer than other people. Lots of effort involved here too.

So what does that mean for us writers and authors? Simply put, what we offer our readers must be worth the effort.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

You Get to Choose

If you're around my age, you may remember the book series called "Choose Your Own Adventure". Apparently, there's a series out now too so you might also be familiar with that one.They were fun to read because, unlike any other book, these allowed you to take part in creating the story to an extent. Everyone started out in the same place, but then as you read you were given options. Turn to page 20 and X would happen, turn to 14 and it would be something different. That kept happening until you eventually wound up at an ending. More time to read? You could try an entirely different combination. It was and still is a great concept I think.

Now jump forward to 2010 and add in the creative mind of Jon Acuff of the very popular blog "Stuff Christians Like" and in today's post you'll find his version of choose your own adventure-blog style. Seriously. What he's done is decide to have a little fun with the Christian romance novel genre and he's started posting bits and pieces on the bottoms of past blog posts. Follow along and you get a mini-story in 4 or 5 clicks or so (at least in the combination I did). If you can't wait to read click here (but please come back :-)

I think the whole idea is a bit of genius. Not only has he given his regular readers something new and interesting to do (and to share) using the previous posts may get new visitors to read well beyond the adventure part. Beyond what it does for him, think about the possibilities for you, your book, your blog, linking up to other people's blogs, trying out a story line, hooking readers for an upcoming book. Lots of possibilities here. Any ideas strike you right away? Would love to hear them as always. If you didn't click above here's the link again. Enjoy!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Questions to Get You Going in the New Year

I don't know about you, but I'm not ready for it to be Christmas yet, let alone 2010. This year flew by for me for the most part. Even though most of us are pretty busy the next couple of weeks, it really is a good time to start planning at least for the first part of the year. Take a few moments sometime around New Year's Eve or Jan 1 to think about what you want for your writing, yourself in 2010.

Here are a few questions to help you jump start the planning process:
Do you have a book in mind to start, to work on, to finish?
Do you want or need to take your writing in another direction?
What did you like about what you did with regard to writing/publishing in 2009?
What didn't you like?
Where would you like to be as a writer/author a year from now?
What will it take to make that happen?

In addition to these, Seth Godin posted a good list earlier this week that relate to almost any career/work including writing and publishing a book. Check them out here on his blog.

Whatever those goals, dreams and plans are, it will be my honor to walk with you on your journey. I thank you for reading, commenting and otherwise supporting Publishing Answers in 2009 and I look forward to learning and sharing alongside you in the New Year.

I also pray that you and your loved ones have a most blessed and joy-filled Christmas.
For Unto You is Born this Day in the City of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Inside the Mind of a Writer

I'm sure you, like me, often wonder how other writers work. Especially the ones that are so prolific if you are not so. I recently came across this cool interview where James Patterson gives us a peak into his writing life.

One surprising revelation to me is that he doesn't write alone. The reasons he outlines make sense, I just never gave it a thought that that kind of author would collaborate. Take a look and see what you can apply to your own publishing aspirations.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Where Does Your Book Fit?

At some point during your book writing process, you need to answer the question, "where will my book fit?" This means which section or shelf does it go in at a store, or what category will it fit in an online situation like Amazon or B&N.com?

If you intend to do any retail business at all, you must have a precise answer to this question. If you feel your topic/story is very unique, there's nothing like it, this is not a good thing. If a retailer doesn't know how to categorize it, they'll likely pass as they aren't going to create a new section for one book.

Now it is true that there are times when a book may combine genres/topics. If you're in that situation, you'll need to check and see if such combinations are currently found stores/on retailer websites. If not, if you plan to sell via established outlets etc, you'll need to pick the topic/genre you feel will help the book sell best.

If you mainly plan to sell on your own site, the issue is not as critical. However, you'll still need to make sure potential readers understand where the book fits within the topics/genre's they're already familiar with. Saying something like "you've never read anything like this" will only garner so much interest. If you can't quite pin down your category yet, keep writing, keep working at it until you can. This is one of those times where getting it "sorta close" probably won't be close enough.



Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Wordsmiths and their Words

Usually, when I find something I like or believe will be helpful, I share the link with you. This time I've included it below in it's full form as it is a Note on Facebook and if you aren't friends with the writer you wouldn't be able to see it. It's an entry in an exercise called Slice of Life, a challenge to write a short piece about your life each day for a month.

We're writers, we work with words, but how often do we stop to think about how simple yet very complicated our tools are? That's what Vinnie Sorce did with his words through his slice of life for today. What are you doing with your words?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Take it away Vinnie-


Confines

Quays

Quilt

Widen

Sheaf

Words are interesting. Those particular words were used in the Facebook scrabble game I’m currently playing with Sharon.

It’s amazing how they can be strung together to form thoughts and dreams or tell of terrible tragedies.

They can be written or spoken, they can change lives in a heartbeat.

They can be reassuring and comforting or they can be hurtful and full of pain.

They can be in hundreds of different languages and dialects.

And yet somehow, with all that at our disposal, we still have trouble communicating.

Imagine that.

Why Should People Read Your Book? Or Mine for that Matter?

I was listening to the replay of a Podcast today and came away with a couple really useful ideas. The first comes from one of the guests, Carolyn Howard-Johnson. She was talking about how some people think that (for non-fiction) their potential audience is going to go to the Internet to find what they need. Why would they buy a book?

Her answer was basically this: because books assemble all the information in one place. The author has done the searching, the sifting, the organizing of all the bits and pieces so the reader doesn't have to. If you have a how to book, think about that as you do your marketing- I sure am.

The other thought that came to mind was in regard to questions like how do I become a better writer, how can I sell more books? My answer: take time to find examples, then take time to learn from them. It is often said you cannot be a good writer if you are not a strong reader. The same goes with learning how to sell and promote; there are others out there doing it, take advantage of opportunities to listen to what they do.

While I'm at it, I'll cover a couple of excuses for why you might not get to doing this too:

1. I don't have money to take classes or go to a conference
With podcasts and teleseminars you can do it for free or next to free maybe paying for minutes/a phone call.

2. I don't have time
Honestly, and yes this might be a bit harsh- If you don't think you have time to read or learn, I don't think you have time to be successful either. We make time for what we really want and value in life. If your book project isn't high on the list right now, that's okay. When it is, be ready to give it the attention it deserves.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

How to Create a Great Title and More

One of the toughest parts of writing a book can be coming up with the title and the sales copy (info) on the back. Here's a great strategy that makes that process easier from a world-renowned copywriter. It's simple, anyone can do it and it costs nothing but some time.

http://perrybelchermarketing.com/?p=19

You only have a few seconds to grab a potential reader's attention with a book's title/front cover and a few more if they turn it over to the back. What are you going to do to make it say "buy me or read me?"

Good Writing & God Bless,

Cheryl Pickett

Are You Prepared?

As you go to holiday gatherings whether it be for work or with family or friends, are you prepared for the inevitable question "So what's new with you?"

And by prepared, I mean ready to answer with a couple of short sentences as to what's up with your writing project.

Are you further along than you thought or further behind?
Is it almost ready to meet the world?
Is it available for sale?

If you do this correctly, you are not being boastful but rather sharing an important part of your life. Besides, even if you believe your friends/family/co-workers won't be interested in/want to buy what you write, you don't know who they know.

Their mom-in-law may love discovering new mystery writers, or their best friend may have just opened a business and is looking for the kind of advice you offer. In addition, you could make connections to help you along in your endeavors as well.

So, what's new with you?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Many Tastes, Many Flavors

For many families including mine, the Christmas season is full of food, food and more food. For us, a long standing tradition involves cookies.

As long as I can remember, my Mom has made dozens upon dozens of cookies at Christmas. At times we've had as many as 22 different kinds involving a myriad of flavors, shapes and sizes.

The list got to such a crazy number because, over the years, everyone found a favorite that Mom just had to make for that once a year special treat. A few new ones are swapped with old ones now and then, but many have remained a constant request for at least a decade or more.

Similar to preparing holiday taste temptations, as you work on a book project, you need to consider the taste of your audience. What "flavors" do they want? What are they absolutely salivating for?

For example, do they prefer shorter or longer books? Do they want some sort of downloadable version and for what device? What specific kind of romance or mystery are they devouring right now? Has the preference changed over time and how? Does your writing need to change too?

Answer these kinds of questions accurately, and you're audience will be much more likely to gobble up your next offering just like a beloved holiday treat.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett