Apr 12, 2018 |
by Molly Jo Realy @MollyJoRealy
Ufta! Oh, my. The winds are blowing around Bedford Manor. It’s times like these I’m glad the FabFurFour are indoor cats. And just as the wind is blowing outside, the winds of change are sweeping on the inside.
First things first: Y’all may have noticed a few subtle changes lately. Yup. I done and did it. I streamlined my social media from @RealMojo68 to @MollyJoRealy. I figure it’s my name, it’s a good name (thanks, folks!), so why not use it? Also, I know you know, but it kinda helps people to find me easier online.
Second, I’m starting a new newsletter.
Frankly, My Dear . . . : Author, Etc.: a newsletter about writing. And other things in life.
Author, Etc.
As y’all know, writing isn’t just writing. We’re media specialists, marketers, editors, flame-throwers… whatever it takes to get the book noticed. Am I right? But we’re so much more than that. We’re creative people, parents/children/spouses/individuals. And we don’t associate with just writers. We watch movies, talk over coffee, love on our pets, clean our homes. A diamond isn’t a diamond because it’s flat. No! It has many amazing, beautiful, eye-catching facets. And so do writers. And chefs. And bus drivers. And people who breathe. This newsletter strives to bring a writer’s creativity into all aspects of our lives. Including how to create a newsletter and gather readers.
By the way, did I mention there will be a free download when you first subscribe to Author, Etc.? Still working on the perks, but you won’t want to miss this. I. Promise!
And of course, let’s not forget the Firsts in Fiction podcast we all know and love.
Then there’s the blog itself. And I know some topics are better than others.
So here’s the thing. It would help me out so much (and by so much, I mean SOSOSOSO MUCH!) if you would complete this ten question survey for me. You may have (should have) received it under separate email. But if you’re just looking at the blog without being a subscriber, click away! Your input matters, too!
CLICK HERE TO TAKE MY TEN-QUESTION SURVEY.
If you have shared Frankly, My Dear . . . in the past, please consider sharing it now so I can receive the right feedback to enable me to write more of what you want.
With a happy hug and wind-blown hair,
Thank you.
~Molly Jo
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
Frankly, My Dear . . . That One Time I Created a Survey for my Readers (that means you!)
May 15, 2017 |
by Edie Melson @EdieMelson
[Be sure to check out my post today on Edie’s blog, The Write Conversation. ~Molly Jo]
Edie Melson: You are Killing Yourself With a Weak (or Nonexistent) Bio
I’ve been accused of being blunt and forthright, and I suppose the title of this post proves it’s true. But really people, don’t you realize how important those few lines at the end of a guest post or article really are? That space is valuable real estate and you’re growing weeds on it.
I’ll say it again, you are killing yourself with a weak writer’s bio.
What a Bio is NOT supposed to do:
Let me share what a writer’s bio is not designed to do. It’s not there to make me want to become your best friend. Sure I want enough info so I know you’re a real person, but my time (and everyone else’s) is in short supply, so don’t make me wade through folksy humor to get to what I need. If I want to get to know you better I’ll look up your blog and follow you on social media.
What a Bio IS supposed to do:
There are several reasons to have a writer’s bio ( and several sizes—but more on that later).
- Because people are curious and suspicious. If I’m going to read something online, I at least want to know who wrote it. I’m leery of articles that don’t have an author. Is it computer generated (yes they can do that), is it stolen (happens all the time), is the author ashamed of having written it?
- Because I may like what you have to say and want to read more. If what you’ve written resonates with me, I’m going to want to go deeper. No bio either means a dead-end (if I’m busy) or a lot of extra sleuthing on the internet. Trust me when I say this, a lot of you are NOT easy to find—but that’s another post.
- Because I want to share the post through social media. I know I can share it even if there’s no bio or attribution, but then my followers run into #1 and #2 above. And they complain to me. I’ve worked hard to build a strong online community, so I refuse to send out things that will knowingly frustrate them.
What You Have to Have:
- Links. You want to be found, by readers, by friends, by other writers. That’s hard to do when you don’t at least leave us a trail of breadcrumbs. Here are the links you need:
- Blog/website
- Facebook
- Twitter
These are the bare minimum.
- A sentence or two about your credibility. For me it’s a quick line about how long I’ve been in the industry and how many books I have.
That’s it. You probably thought you needed all sorts of things, but you don’t. Now you’re probably wondering how you organize all this information and I’ve got you covered there, too.
Compose Your Bio:
It’s important to remember a bio isn’t a resume. It’s not necessary to include information that isn’t relevant to what you’re writing.
- Keep it Relevant: For example, if you’re not writing about how to sell something, it isn’t important to mention your job fifteen years ago as an outside sales person.
- Organize it with the important stuff up front. I know our families are important to us, that’s not what I mean. This is a business and although I’m happy to learn you have a successful marriage, that’s not the first thing I need to know. So start with your credibility, then move into how I find you and your books.
- Include EMBEDDED hyperlinks when you send a bio for someone else to post. Don’t type out the full URLs, but actually embed the link to the words BLOG, TWITTER and FACEBOOK, as well as any others that are relevant. The reason you want to have the words already linked is because of the word count guidelines you’ll run into. You don’t want to waste your word count on a hyperlink—especially if you only have 20-25 words.
How Many Bios Do I Really Need?
In a word, several. Depending on the guidelines of where you’re submitting it could be as few as 20-25 words or as long as several paragraphs. I try to keep several current versions of my bio in a file for easy access.
Here are some examples:
25 word bio:
Edie Melson is an author, freelance writer and editor with years of experience. Connect with her on her blog – The Write Conversation, Twitter or Facebook.
50 word bio:
Edie’s an author, freelance writer and editor. She’s the co-director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, Social Media Mentor at My Book Therapy, and Social Media Director for Southern Writers Magazine, as well as the Senior Editor for Novel Rocket. Visit her on her blog, Twitter, and Facebook.
100 word bio:
Edie Melson is the author of four books, with two more due out January 2014. Her popular blog, The Write Conversation, reaches thousands of writers each month, and she’s the co-director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. Her bestselling ebook on social media has just been updated and re-released as Connections: Social Media & Networking Techniques for Writers. She’s the Social Media Mentor at My Book Therapy and the social media director for Southern Writers Magazine. She’s also the Senior Editor at Novel Rocket. You can connect with Edie through Twitter and Facebook.
150 word bio:
Edie Melson is the author of four books, with two more due out January 2014. As a respected freelance writer and editor with years of experience in the publishing industry, she’s connected with writers and readers throughout the country. Her bestselling ebook on social media has just been re-released as Connections: Social Media and Networking Techniques for Writers. Her popular writing blog, The Write Conversation, gives her the opportunity to share what she’s learned and mentor others. She’s the co-director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, as well as a popular faculty member at numerous others. She’s also the Social Media Mentor for My Book Therapy, the Social Media Director for Southern Writers Magazine, and the Senior Editor for Novel Rocket. Be sure to connect with her through Twitter and Facebook.
300 word bio:
Edie Melson is a leading professional in the writing industry. She’s a sought after writing instructor; and her heart to help others define and reach their dreams has connected her with writers all over the country. She’s the co-director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, as well as a popular faculty member at numerous others.
She’s a prolific writer, publishing thousands of articles over the years, and has a popular writing blog, The Write Conversation. Edie is a regular contributor on the popular Novel Rocket and Inspire a Fire websites, as well as social media director for Southern Writers Magazine.
In keeping up with the leading edge of all things digital Edie has become known as one of the go-to experts on Twitter, Facebook, and social media for writers wanting to learn how to plug in. Her bestselling eBook on this subject, has recently been updated and expanded and re-released as Connections:Social Media and Networking Techniques for Writers.
Fighting Fear, Winning the War at Home When Your Soldier Leaves for Battle, is Edie’s heart project. This devotional book for those with family members in the military debuted on Veterans Day, 2011. Look for her two newest books for military families debuting in January 2014: While My Son Serves and While My Husband Serves.
She’s a member of numerous civic and professional organizations, including Blue Star Mothers, the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, The Christian Pen, and American Christian Fiction Writers. She’s also the Social Media Mentor for My Book Therapy, the Social Media Director for Southern Writers Magazine, and the Senior Editor for Novel Rocket.
Edie has been married to high school sweetheart, Kirk, for 30+ years and they’ve raised three sons. You can also connect with Edie on Twitter and Facebook.
I think you get the picture, and now it’s your turn. What questions do you have about a writer’s bio? Share them in the comments section below.
Blessings,
Edie
CLICK TO TWEET: Edie Melson: You are Killing Yourself With a Weak (or Nonexistent) Writer’s Bio
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
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Apr 25, 2017 |
Ways to Support Your Favorite Blogger
by Molly Jo Realy @RealMojo68
Frankly, My Dear . . . : Ways to Support Your Favorite Blogger
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
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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!
May 3, 2015 |
I have a two-inch peacock and he’s only visible through my story window. I’m not crazy. I’m a writer.
This month, I’m reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. If you’re serious about being a writer, or just like a well-told narrative, this is that book. I’m nearly a quarter through, and loving every page, every paragraph, every sentence.
Now here’s something you may not know about me: I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my writing and media. I want it to always be right. I don’t want just the end result to be perfect, I want it all to be right. And that often gets in my way because I find myself editing as I go. Which sometimes makes for longer sit-downs at the computer than necessary.
I’ve been coached, often, on just moving forward. It’s not in my nature to run rampant over the keyboard and let typos, incomplete thoughts, and mismatched storylines flow like too much wine. Because then it reads as though I’ve had too much wine.
Writing with Wine
But the truth is, I’m starting to see the beauty in the #CrappyFirstDraft. There’s something freeing in just letting my fingers go at it without worrying about is this spelled right or did I get the vernacular correct?
Josie discovers New Orleans
So to my critique groups, my writing mentor, and Anne Lamott, I say
I hear you.
I’m moving forward. This week, I’m starting with Chapter Fifteen of NOLA as though all the changes in my head are already on paper. No more revisiting Chapter One. Just. Move. Forward.
It does help to have a plan. At last week’s Orange County Christian Writers Conference, my first session was with Sharon Elliott. It was a hands-on workshop titled ‘Breaking Your Book Into Manageable Bites’. And it was amazing. The very first step in creating a storyboard/outline is to know your topic.
The topic isn’t the same as the title or the outline. It’s strictly the topic. Until that moment, I’d not had a concise logline or description of my book. Sure, I know what it’s about. And if you give me half an hour I can tell you start to finish. But Sharon was asking us to write our topic on a three-by-three post-it note and I didn’t even have it in my head yet.
I grabbed my stickie stack and my pen and applied pressure. I prayed more quickly than I’ve prayed in quite a while. I didn’t want to be the only person in the room with a blank note. So I wrote the first descriptive word that came to my mind, and the rest followed.
NOLA topic
Boom. There is was. And there I was, standing next to Beckie, beginning to cry. Five minutes into my first conference, and I’m in tears because my writing life has forever changed.
I’m a writer. And I have a topic.
Two more take-aways from Bird by Bird is how the book got its name, and how to not be overwhelmed. Write just this piece. Write just this much. She illustrates this concept as a one-inch photo frame on her desk. Her task, when she sits to write, is to write only what is visible through that one-inch frame. No more. No less.
Who cares about the world at large? Write about that one corner your character is in. Who cares about the voices calling the shots from outside the border? Write only what your character hears.
I love this. I love this like the day is long and sugar is sweet. It gives me freedom to fail. And that’s what we really all need, don’t we? The freedom to find out what doesn’t work, the freedom to change this when they need to be changed. The freedom to discover what we don’t like, and then the freedom to expand it.
Start small. Focus. Then shift. Then embellish. But start.
To remind myself of this, I created my own one-inch frame. Okay, it’s more like a two-by-three because the craft store didn’t have anything smaller. And it’s not empty, because I want to be reminded that right now, my focus is on finishing NOLA. So it’s not perfect. But isn’t that the point?
Supplies for the Two Inch Story
After picking out my supplies, I came home and assembled my own story window.
Two Inch Peacock
There were too many stickers and embellishments to choose from, even in the stock I bought. With the limited room allowed, I chose the peacock and fleur-de-lis. And there’s that lesson, again: you can’t do everything at once, and sometimes you can’t do everything at all. Just piece by piece. Bite by manageable bite. Bird by bird.
My reminder now sits on my side table. It’s a symbol of everything I need to be reminded of. And the best part? It’s small enough to fit in my suitcase so I can take it with me to Blue Ridge next week.
My goal is to have my own Crappy First Draft finished by the end of June and then start the editing because, as they say, that’s when the real writing happens.
And Frankly, My Dear . . . that’s all she wrote.
You may also enjoy reading:
Why I Write. Every Day.
Five Things Friday: Peacocks
Orange County Christian Writers Conference, 2015
