As our writing journey begins we are immersed in our words, characters and plots – this is the honeymoon stage of writing. Our creativity runs free, there are no obstacles, anything is possible. Once our story is written there is the inevitable editing, revision and practical aspects to work through and consider. With a polished manuscript before us we need to look at the ‘advertising’ side of this journey.

Many of us have no experience of media or a promotional background so this becomes a daunting prospect. I found this great post by Jamie Sheffield, which lists tips for marketing. Go check it out.

http://www.jamiesheffield.com/2013/04/9-marketing-tips-from-writer-who-hates.html

Obviously there are companies that offer to help you with promotion and the internet is full of helpful guides and tips from other authors. You need to find your comfort level and determine how much time you want to commit to this aspect of your journey. Some of us may ‘go all out’ but in practical terms we still have to balance the other facets of our lives.

Research your options and find the ones that you are most comfortable with and focus on them. Trying to promote on multiple sites several times a day is certainly not practical and will only lead to a ‘burn out’ as well as frustration. Focus on genre specific sites and use your connections (although care must be taken here too!) Be realistic in your expectations – slowly build a following and the sales will come.

http://nowastedink.com/2013/05/17/writing-space-mandy-eve-barnett/

Thanks to Wendy for including me. How do you feel about your space? Care to share?

Today’s word has no connection – Precipice – definition: a very steep and high face of a rock or mountain : cliff.

One way to ‘turn people off’ around you is boasting about your accomplishments, it is seriously uncool! If you share your triumphs and give back with them then that is much more acceptable. Therefore I am sending out a huge thank you to my newest followers – I hope my words and encouragement will help you along your writing journey. As always I love to hear about your own experiences. That is the premise of my blog and the global community it is linked to.

I’m open to suggestions for topics and love sharing others enlightening words as well as have an open door policy if another author would like to be interviewed.

We are all familiar with the editing stage of the writing journey. In some ways it is harder than creating the story in the first place. Reading our work out loud is a good way of not only finding errors but also discovering if our voice is strong.

Listening to how the sentences and dialogue sound is a great way of identifying mistakes but also the tone of our work.

See these links:

http://onewildword.com/2013/05/15/tell-your-story-to-find-your-way-into-writing-it/

http://lisathewordnerd.wordpress.com/2013/04/06/reading-my-manuscript-aloud/#comment-480

I use my writing group as a sounding board when I read my work out loud. If you are not already part of a group I strongly suggest you find one and join. Ensure that you are not only comfortable within the group and its members, but also that the format and the group’s mandate is favorable. My group, The Writers Foundation of Strathcona County ensures everyone is treated with respect and critique is favorable and kind in its presentation.

Obviously some people are uncomfortable sharing within a group setting so ask people you trust to hear your words. Having a candid response will be helpful.

How do you get feedback and find errors?

The publishing industry is in the midst of radical changes as they compete with the increase in self publishing . I could site story after story of authors managing their own novels and being extremely successful. Some have been approached by the traditional houses; others not, but all made the decision to send their work out into the world.

A major factor in an author’s choice of a publishing route comes down to money – that necessary evil. Once you begin researching the actual costs involved and what may be your return for your book, the choice becomes clear. On average agent get 15%, book distribution 35% and book stores approximately 40% – this leaves the author with about 10% give or take. (**these are approximate figures**) Now as a famous author with global sales this figure may be alright, although I’m sure many of them have contractual clauses that differ. For the rest of us with a book or two these figures bring into sharp focus what we really want for our story and ourselves.

If you go into publishing with an idealistic view of millions of sales and making your fortune then sadly you will be disappointed – on the whole. ( Yes, I know there have been a few exceptions!) However, if your wish is to share your words, even with a few people, then you will accomplish your dream. I’m not saying being rich and famous isn’t something we would all love, but having practical expectations will give you the opportunity to relish the ‘success’ of your book even if it is a ‘close to home’ one.

For me knowing my stories will live beyond my life in libraries and hopefully handed down from generation to generation is reward enough.

What are your thoughts?

Castles, mansions, and grand estates all made up a wonderful hobby for my friend, Deb and I when we lived in England. The historic houses and ancient sites we visited are far too many to name or list here. Suffice to say we travelled around a great deal of England to gazed in awe and learn about our history.

Some places are known globally, such as Stonehenge and Buckingham Palace but there are hundreds of other magnificent places that would inspire anyone. Painted ceilings, tapestries, carved furniture and wooden paneling not to mention thousands of paintings of Lords and Ladies from days gone by.

 Cambridge and Oxford have cloistered courtyards as do many other buildings of the time period when such buildings were made by skilled stone masons. With close inspection you will see how each section has been crafted to lock with the next. Workmanship  like this is sadly in short supply in today’s modern age but their are some who are trying to keep the craft alive.

It is possible that I can imagine where my travelling troubadour, Guillem Ruet resides so easily due to my years of visiting such glorious places.

Publicity techniques are as numerous as there are stories. Whether you are happy to have your tales shared only with family and friends or explode it onto the global community, a little augur goes a long way.

The internet is full of tips, publicity companies and helpful blogs from other authors. These can give you ideas on how to promote your stories to best effect.

The first step is to identify your story’s genre. This may seem easy at first but every story has may elements within them. The trick is to identify the main theme and make it the focus of how you promote your book.

I am not going to list endless examples or sites that can help – each of us has our own view and idea of how we want our story to be perceived. However, giving our potential readership teasers and an insight into the world we have created is a good place to start.

Use genre specific forums and sites as places to enthuse and share your forthcoming story.

Due to my immobility this week I have found it difficult to sit for any length of time at my writing desk. This has given me time to watch TV, which is unusual for me. As an animal lover when I watch programmes of animal cruelty all I want to do is find the brutes responsible and give them a taste of their own medicine.

I cannot fathom how anyone can torture a defenceless animal. What kind of mindset do they have? Are they devoid of any emotion at all? It is probably not politically correct to want to harm these mindless brutes but given the chance I sure would. Watching animal care authorities rescue abused ‘pets’ I only get angry, how these volunteers do not react stuns me. In the same position I would be beating the owners with the nearest heavy object.

All life is precious and should be respected as such. I have rescued numerous animals in my lifetime and brought most of them back to health with the help of my daughter; the animal expert. Some unfortunately were beyond our abilities or the local vets and we gave them relief from pain and suffering.

I applaud the many people who give their lives to the rescue, rehabilitation and re-homing of abused animals. So please always consider adopting from a rescue center before a breeder. These animals are the more loving despite their previous experiences.

My own Twinkle was from an animal shelter. She was surrendered at four weeks unwanted, poor little thing. Much too young to be separated from her mum and siblings. She was put in one shelter then taken in a van to another center miles away. That is where we found her. She was in the company of a Jack Russell and a Labrador pup. Twinkle was thought to be the mix of a lurcher and a Labrador but it was only a guess.

She was the most intelligent, loving and endearing dog you could have ever met. Friendly with everyone and all other animals. With a fairly regular influx of rescues in the house as well as our other pets, she was gentle with them all. She would even give up her food and water bowls for them.

I have the great pleasure of having a sister in law who sings like an angel. She and a friend sung at my wedding and had the whole congregation spellbound. She and my brother now have three children who excel at music too.

Music was an important element in my childhood with my parents introducing my siblings and I to the classics but also tolerating our modern music. I was the heavy rock type into Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, Status Quo and the like. The boy bands and baby faced singers did nothing for me although my school mates were obsessed with them. Each to their own I suppose.

With an eclectic taste in music now which ranges from rap to rock to contemporary, I prefer classical when writing. Do you have a favorite type of music when you write? Does it reflect your genre?

I found this article which links fantasy and music – very interesting. As well as the fact my fantasy centers around a travelling troubadour who spins his tales to the lords and ladies around the medieval English countryside. It must have been wonderful to hear the stories sung.

http://suddenlytheyalldied.com/2013/04/14/paperback-writer/

I’m suffering chronic back pain at the moment, with crutches to walk and pain med’s. This has highlighted how much we take for granted in our everyday lives. The simplest task becomes a trial and brings into focus how indifference to our wellbeing has consequences. Yes, I’m guilty of lifting heavier objects than I should but also for forgetting how little I ‘move’ in my regular day. I will blast around cleaning the house and digging the garden and then pay the consequences of over exertion.

Instead a little exercise every day would be easier on my body and to that end I had signed up with the 30×30 challenge for May. See here: http://30×30.davidsuzuki.org/  I had started well going out on evening walks which were very pleasant.

Obviously I can not participate at the moment, walking across the living room is painful enough! But I hope that my chiropractor will set me right after a few more visits. At least after two manipulations he has eased the pain and I don’t have pins & needles in my foot now. That did worry me a lot.

So I pledge here and now that I will exercise regularly once I’m fully recovered and not go from the work desk to my home writing desk without ‘movement’ of some kind. Although I don’t have my canine companion around anymore I will walk every evening. It’s a start and from there I hope to do more.

I know how easy it is to be drawn into the cyber world and look up to see hours have passed while sitting on my behind!

If you have any tips I would be more than interested to hear.

A timely article I found today – http://www.writersrelief.com/blog/2013/05/the-body-brain-connection-does-your-sedentary-lifestyle-damage-your-writing-talent/