Aug 31, 2017 |
by Molly Jo Realy @RealMojo68
Firsts in Fiction cohosts and their photobombing producer
Hey, peeps. We’re gearing up for another great podcast next Tuesday.
And since I’m starting a new career swing this week and a little scattered, today’s blog post is just to encourage you to give us a watch.
Every other Tuesday, 6:30 pm, live at AaronGansky.com/firsts-in-fiction-live.
Next week our topic is The Care and Feeding of Your Idea.
What questions do you have about maintaining a healthy work in progress? Leave a comment and we’ll do our best to answer. You can also leave non-topic Ask The Author questions, too.
Now ain’t that a refreshing gulp of sweet tea?
TWEET THIS: How do you maintain the health of your work in progress? @RealMojo68 @adgansky @altongansky #podcast #amwriting #WIP
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
Aug 16, 2017 |
by Molly Jo Realy @RealMojo68
Firsts in Fiction co-hosts Aaron and Al Gansky, and their photobombing producer (that would be me.)
So this was us a year and a half ago [has it really been that long?!] at Blue Ridge. They’re celebrating awards and I’m celebrating the fact I could jump in high heels.
Ahh, good times.
So, next week we’re doing a slightly different podcast, which y’all may have surmised from the title of this post.
Everything you wanted to know about writing but were afraid to ask.
This is where you come in. As with any creative endeavor, we want to do it right. And while the hosts and moi have our ideas and questions to ask each other, we know it’s you, the audience, whom we do this for. So leave your questions in the comments, and we’ll see if we can add them to the mix.
Watch next week’s Firsts in Fiction podcast live at 6:30 pm PST, or catch it later on YouTube or at AaronGansky.com.
And don’t forget, you can Ask the Author any time by leaving comments on our blogs, Facebook, or Twitter feeds.
TWEET THIS: Everything You Wanted to Know About Writing But Were Afraid to Ask @RealMojo68 #amwriting #podcast #socialmedia
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
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Feb 22, 2016 |
Here’s a not-so-secret: I love social media. It’s where I connect with others, share my life, promote authors and their projects, and yes, play my fair amount of Candy Crush. I know. Gaming isn’t the same as social media. But when all you have to offer is candy life, it counts, okay?
But not everyone feels the same. I can’t quite get my head around what I’m about to say, but I hear tell there are actually people out there who dislike social media.
Can you imagine? People who would rather get a tooth pulled than post a status update, or swallow castor oil rather than share a photo. Yes, there are actually people like this out there. I’m not naming names, but I’ve met them.
Of course, by no means do I even pretend to fully understand them, but I try.
Then, of course, you have your people who want to wade into the water but aren’t sure how. Do they dive in? How deep? Which pool? Do they know how to swim, or at least stay afloat? Can they survive in the treacherous seas of social media?
Folks, I’m so glad you asked. That’s where I come in. For the better part of a year, I’ve been slowly developing a platform to assist others develop their social media presence, as well as managing media for other people.
How To Do Social Media for People Who Are Antisocial
It was going to be a blog post but I realized it’s so much bigger than that. I currently run a semi-monthly column for the newsletter of the California Writers Club, High Desert Branch. I offer one-on-one consultations to help local writers start their internet experience. And now it’s turning into a platform, presentation, and potential book!
Last week I was given a monthly contributing blogger spot on Edie Melson’s blog, The Write Conversation. [Check me out the third Monday of each month, starting in March.] As the social media diva herself, she’s one of my go-to girls whenever I have a social media question. We met last year at Blue Ridge and I was so thrilled to participate in her social media course.
Edie Melson, Social Media Steampunk, and Molly Jo Realy, Woman of Mystery, at BRMCWC
She told me
“I hope you’ll stay in touch. We’re cut from the same cloth, and you’re going places.”
Now how could I not share that with my social media world?
And since when it rains it pours here in the desert, I was also given the opportunity to lead this week’s Firsts in Fiction podcast. The theme? You guessed it: Social Media. I’m typically the heckler of the group, the one who keeps the chat room chatting and throws “shut up!”s to Aaron and Al as we converse on the art of writing fiction.
Last week we had a few questions on how to develop social media so Aaron suggested I take the next episode and run with it. Right when I’d gotten used to thinking of myself as just another pretty face . . .
How do you do social media? Join Firsts in Fiction this Tuesday at 6:30 PST and let’s have some fun.
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
Nov 30, 2015 |
On this week’s Firsts in Fiction podcast, we’ll be chatting with author/editor Kathy Ide about Holiday Fiction and the dos and don’ts of writing about popular holidays. You can watch the live stream and join the chat every Tuesday evening at 6:30 PST.
On today’s blog, Kathy shares her ideas for maintaining your credit as a writer:
The buzz word in publishing is platform. And for good reason. Authors need to get the word out about their books. After all, if no one knows about them, no one will buy them.
But there’s another “p word” that, in my opinion, is even more important than platform. It’s proofreading. No matter what you write or how you choose to publish your work, typos, inconsistencies, and mistakes in punctuation, usage, grammar, and spelling (what I call “PUGS”) will brand you as an amateur. And that will affect your sales as much as, or more than, your platform.
- Proofread your manuscript.
Before you submit a manuscript to a publisher (book, magazine, or other), check it carefully for typos, inconsistencies, inaccuracies, and PUGS errors. And make sure you use the appropriate style guide and dictionary for the type of publisher you’re submitting to.
If you plan to self-publish, you’ll need to proofread even more carefully, because you won’t have a publisher’s in-house proofreaders to check your work before readers see it.
- Proofread your queries and proposals.
The content of your manuscript might be brilliant, and you could have a fantastic platform. But if an acquisitions editor notices typos, inconsistencies, inaccuracies, and PUGS errors in your query or proposal, you won’t be presenting a very polished, professional image. And the editor will likely be thinking about how much time it would take their proofreaders to fix all those mistakes. If another proposal she’s considering has fewer errors, she may very well choose that one instead of yours.
- Proofread your galleys.
The term galleys refers to the final version of your manuscript before it goes to print. This is your last chance to catch typos, inconsistencies, inaccuracies, and PUGS errors before your readers see what you’ve written. Don’t rely on the publisher’s in-house editors or proofreaders. Even professionals can miss things.
- Proofread your back cover copy.
A friend of mine once picked up a book at a bookstore and noticed a typo on the back cover. When she reported it to our critique group, she didn’t say she’d found a mistake on a book published by “XYZ Publishers.” She said she found the mistake on a “Jane Doe” novel. She didn’t connect the error to the publishing house but to the author.
- Proofread your promotional material.
As you’re creating promotional flyers, blogs, social media posts, handouts for your talks, even e-mails you plan to send to colleagues in the industry, read through them multiple times to check for typos, inconsistencies, inaccuracies, and PUGS errors. Your reputation, and your book sales, will be affected—positively or negatively.
For a lot of avid readers, typos and inconsistencies practically jump off the page. And many are familiar with the rules of punctuation, usage, grammar, and spelling. If your reader knows the rules and you don’t, that’s not going to make you look very professional.
Readers who find a lot of mistakes in a book will not be as likely to recommend that book to their friends. And who knows? A creative writing teacher might just read your book and want to recommend it to her students . . . but she probably won’t do that if there are a lot of mistakes in it.
Most people have a hard time finding typos and inconsistencies in their own writing, because the eye tends to see what the mind expects to see. And many new writers aren’t familiar with the reference books that publishers use for punctuation, usage, grammar, and spelling. That’s why I wrote Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors. It has tips from multi-published authors on how to catch typos, inconsistencies, and inaccuracies. It also contains industry-standard guidelines on the PUGS issues that most writers struggle with.
Once you’ve got your manuscript, galleys, or promotional material as polished as you think they can be, you may wish to consider hiring a professional proofreader. I’m not talking about your neighbor who’s a high school English teacher, but someone who knows and understands the publishing industry’s requirements. You can find professional freelance proofreaders at writers’ conferences or by filling out the form for Authors Seeking Editors at the Christian Editor Connection (www.ChristianEditor.com).
The investment you make in proofreading could make a tremendous difference in the success of your writing journey.
Kathy Ide is a published author/ghostwriter, editor/mentor, and writers’ conference speaker. In addition to being the author of Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors, she is the editor/compiler for the new Fiction Lover’s Devotional series. Kathy is the founder and coordinator of The Christian PEN: Proofreaders and Editors Network (www.TheChristianPEN.com) and the Christian Editor Connection (www.ChristianEditor.com). To find out more about Kathy, visit www.KathyIde.com.
21 Days of Christmas
Kathy’s newest book, 21 Days of Christmas, is now available through her website, Amazon, and many bookstores across the country.
Join Kathy Ide, Aaron Gansky, Alton Gansky, and myself for this week’s Firsts in Fiction podcast on Google Hangouts. Have a question for the authors? Visit Aaron’s website for Ask The Author and if he uses your question on air this week, you’ll get a code for a free audio download of his novel, The Bargain.
The Bargain by Aaron D. Gansky
And Frankly, My Dear . . . that’s all she wrote!
Oct 13, 2015 |
So y’all know I hang with Aaron Gansky and associates, right? I mean, who could forget when Aaron, Beckie and I flew out to Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference a few months ago? [Read: And They Say Getting There is Half the Fun . . . ]
The Three Writing Amigos. . . and a Photobombing Flight Attendant
Long before the trip, I started running Aaron’s social media in exchange for his writing mentoring. Not a bad trade, eh? It has the added bonus of hanging with his family at least once a month when we play Magic The Gathering and eat food.
And, well, I am a social person. I know, I know . . . you’re shocked by this admission. What can I say? Not everyone is, however. Which makes me a great fit for Aaron’s social media ninja.
How To Do Social Media For People Who Are Antisocial
Yup. That’s a thing I’m working on. It was going to be a blog post. Then it evolved into a presentation. It’s been translated into workshops and now it’s growing up into it’s very own book. I’m so proud of my antisocial baby!
Ah, but back to the task at hand. Working for Aaron has its perks. Like pizza. Did I mention the pizza?
The Biltmore Pizza, Asheville Brewing Co.
So here’s how it all ties in together. I’m earning my way back to next year’s BRMCWC and more Biltmore pizza on my plate. See what I did there? Yeah, Naomi and Aaron are always mentioning how much I have on my plate, and how a great portion of it is his social media. But if it gets me more pizza, I’m so ready for more plates. Fine bone china, blue pattern, if you please.
I’ll take on as many plates as I can manage, if it means I’m being well fed. And let’s face it: Being well fed includes food for the body, the soul, and the creative part as well, yes?
So let me introduce you to Aaron’s Firsts in Fiction weekly podcast. Every Tuesday at 6:30 PM PST, we gather ’round the computer monitor and tell tales. Okay, sort of. We do meet at 6:30. Aaron and his dad, Al Gansky, interview guests on a live video feed while I facilitate the chat room. We cover all fiction-related topics from writing to editing to promoting to contests to favorite endings to overcoming writer’s block to . . . you get the picture.
I’m sort of a chatty cathy and I guess they picked up on that, because last month they made me official PRODUCER of the podcast. So not much has changed in what I do, just how I do it. Now I’m privy to early behind-the-scenes discussions. I get to video-meet our guests and do my ninja magic on air.
If you’ve seen the podcast recently (and by recently, I mean the last three weeks), you’ve also seen me looking at my phone a lot. No, I’m not bored. I’m tweeting. Sharing. Linking. Liking. Getting whatever visibility I can for the #podcast.
And then it dawned on me. DUH. I did. I literally said, “DUH.” To no one but the cats, but that’s another story and I’m sure Lizzie Cat will tell you all about when her computer privileges are restored. So anyway, I said DUH and figured, why not let my own peeps in on the fun?
All you have to do is follow Firsts in Fiction on GooglePlus and join the chat each Tuesday.
Which happens to be today. Huh. That worked out favorably, didn’t it?
Oh, and tonight’s guests? Bill Myers and Angela Hunt. Two of Al’s three writing partners for the Harbingers series. [Check out Al’s newest part, The Fog, at Amazon.]
So if you’re interested in writing, are a fan of Harbingers, or just like to hang out, you know where to find us. I’d love to meet you in the chat room. Let’s put some more pizza on that plate, okay?
And Frankly, My Dear . . . that’s all she wrote!
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