Janis I. Monroe's Blog, page 7

Creating a Writer’s Platform

Creating a writer’s platform is a very engaging task. I have my facebook page set up and my Twitter feed going. This blog is the last and the most time consuming to get going. I say that because there are pages to create, customizing the theme I’m using, linking my other social media accounts and then deciding what to write for a blog post. But in the end, I know the time I spend setting things up will pay off in the end.

As I go along and set up my platform, I am reading, Create Your Writer Platform, by Chuck Sambuchino. There is so much information in this book. I’ll give you a break down of what’s inside by adding the table of contents:

The Principles of Platform

Chapter 1: What is platform?

Chapter 2: The Necessity of Platform

Chapter 3: The 12 Fundamental Principles of Platform

Chapter 4: Choosing Your Niche

Chapter 5: Platform for Fiction and Memoir

The Mechanics of Platform

Chapter 6: Platform Avenues: Which Should You Choose?

Chapter 7: Your Website: The Foundation

Chapter 8: Your Blog: The Extension

Chapter 9: Your Newsletter: The Outreach

Chapter 10: Article and Column Writing

Chapter 11: Public Speaking

Chapter 12: Social Media: Twitter, Facebook, and More

Chapter 13: 4 Side Doors to Platform

Author Case Studies
Final Thoughts

In the book, Chuck, even says not to wait until you have finished reading the book before you start building your writer platform. So, that’s what I did. I did NOT wait. Now I haven’t read all of this book yet, but so far it has been helpful.

If you’re working on your writer platform, or just starting out, I recommend this book

Latest Decision in Publishing

Since the last time I have written, I have made several changes. For the last few years I have had four poetry books up for sale in print through CreateSpace and through KDP for Kindle. I thought about it and contacted CreateSpace and had those four titles retired. I decided I wanted to try and get my poetry books traditionally published. Poets and Writers Magazine (www.pw.org) has a great listing of publishers who are looking for poetry so I am going to go through there list and see what happens. I am starting with the small presses. Here is the link if you’re interested: https://www.pw.org/small_presses

I still have yet to remove the Kindle versions so you will still find them on Amazon.

Last November (2016), I finished a novel for NaNoWriMo. I have been editing that book and was going to traditionally publish, however, I found Tablo (www.tablo.com) and decided to try publishing through there and see what happens. I’m curious to see how the company does things. It depends on how things go if I decide to keep my book published through there, or pull it. But first I have to finish adding chapters. I hope to have it published before the end of February.

There is also another website I’d like to tell you about called Authors.me (www.authors.me). It’s a site where you create your profile, talk about your writing style, add any book projects you’re working on and then based on the information you put down for your book, the website will pull up agents and publishers who fit the criteria for your book and you can submit it to them. This saves a lot of hassle trying to find agents and publishers. Note that only the agents and publishers who are using Authors.me for submissions will show up in the search.

If you’ve exhausted your search results through there it would be a good idea to return to WritersMarket.com for more results. (You have to subscribe to Writers Market. If you can’t pay the full price up front for a year’s access you can pay $5.99 monthly which will renew each month. I like this because it makes it more affordable for those who need such resources.)

I hope these resources help you on your path to publication.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them in the comments. I happy to hear from my readers!

The Creative World is here!

Yes, folks. I have started my own podcast. I decided to take a leap of faith and do my own podcast. The blog is about beginnings in writing, questions from listeners, and author interviews with a focus on self-published authors, and any writing news I find that I’d like to chat about. I don’t pretend to be a professional podcaster or professionals like Joanna Penn, Jeff Goins, Joel Friedlander, or other established writers. I’m not as far in the writing and publishing world. I’m down to earth and looking more to reach an audience that is in the begging to middle stages of writing and publishing, which is where I am also at. In the podcast I will also be sharing any experiences I have looking for self-publishing, looking for literary agents, publishers, to formatting your book for different avenues.  Feel free to contact me at jisoucie@hotmail.com if you have any questions, suggestions or comments for the podcast. I look forward to hearing from you. What would you like to hear on the podcast?

Printed Manuscript

That’s it folks! This is the printed first draft of my NaNo novel. I’m letting sit for a few days and I’ll start planning a new novel before I do any read-throughs of my manuscript. Need to give my brain a break on that one for now. Hopefully, I’ll be able to catch more errors when I go back to it.

I don’t know where you live, but here in Maine there frost most every morning so it was cold waiting for the bus to pick up my daughter. For me this is just the kind of weather to be working on a novel. Or reading a book to help inspire me. Reading always makes me want to write and writing makes me want to read. lol Too bad I can’t do both at the same time. Then I’d be set.

Well, I’m off to walk on the treadmill and start that next novel which is tentatively titled 1977.

Before I go, if you have a finished manuscript I would love to see pictures of it. If you can, leave a picture in the comments or send them to jisoucie@hotmail.com

Good luck everyone.

NaNo Winner!

Okay so it was about 25 days ago since I made my last post. That’s how focused I’ve been since NaNo started. I usually start out with participating in NaNo but never end up finishing  it. This year even with a 9 month old I was able to do it. My little guy was so good in the mornings he would just sit in his jumper and play while I wrote my word count for the day. But often he was so good I just kept writing until he needed me. I was able to get ahead some days and boy did that pay off.

There are still four days left of NaNo! I can’t believe it! If you finished your novel already congratulations! If you’re still plugging away at it keep going you’ll get there. I know you ! With that fierce determination a writing has there’s no doubt you’ll sail to the finish line.

So those of you who have finished, are you still updating your word count or are you taking a breaks from writing? I’d love to hear what you’re up to now. Even though I have reached the word count for the month I am still motivated to plug away. So that’s where I’m off too.

Have a wonderful day/night everyone!

NaNo is Here!

Today is the day to start busting out those words and starting the path to the goal of 50,000 words at the end of the month. Write more if you dare! I’m off to a good start having started at 5AM Eastern Time. As a busy mom I have to take moments where I can. It’s in those mini moments I am able to make even the slightest advantage on my word count. It’s cool outside so why not be inside cranking out your novel.

Have you started writing already? Do you have daily goals set other than the one NaNo puts on for daily word counts? I try to make sure I do the minimum word count but if I get more in a day than that’s awesome!

Well, I must go and get my daughter ready for school and then hopefully I will have another moment in time where I can get a few more hundred words in.

Best of luck to you all you writers out there!

~Janis~

One Day Until NaNo!

Okay so I’m sitting here while my son plays in his jumper and BabyTv is on for his delight. My daughter just got on the school bus and the day is starting off well. I can’t believe NaNo starts tomorrow! That came up fast. But I was able to finish my outline thought there are some sub plots I really need to work on adding into the story more. I’ll try to do that while writing the story. I’m feeling so positive and excited about this. I can’t wait. The hard part is always, or most always, the very beginning. Once I past that it’s usually easier. 

How do you feel about your novel going into NaNo? Are you ready to begging writing or do you still have some planning to do?

I look forward to hearing from you! Best of luck.

Janis

5 Days to Go Until NaNo!

Oh, my gosh! It’s just five days until NaNo starts! Yikes! I am so NOT going to have my full outline done in time. I think I write in too many details so my outline is outrageously long. I just don’t want to forget anything. lol Do any of you write a lot in your outline, or do you just do the basics of what you want to say?

I have eight chapters so far but I know that is going to get longer as I go along. I had this story written as nonfiction, but now I am changing it around to fiction and I am on chapter 5 now. I’m already changing so much and adding so much more. I think it is going to be much better written this way.

So, what is everyone doing to prepare for NaNoWriMo? I’d love to hear where you’re at right now and what your goals are before NaNo officially starts. Feel free to write to me in the comments!

 

~Janis~

NaNo Preppin’ Away

Well, NaNo is almost here and I’m making my way through the outline of my book. I’ve made it to chapter three and I’m almost finished with that chapter. I so have much more work to do but I doubt I’ll have that done before NaNo actually starts. I’m trying though.

The story I am doing this time around is a drama and is based on a true story. I’ve never written these kinds of stories before so it shall be interesting for me.

But it’s that time of year where the leaves are falling off the trees, apple cider is being freshly pressed and pumpkin spiced coffee comes back to the market. It’s also the time for rain which it is doing right now, so what better way to pass the time than by writing.

Well….if only my 8 month old would let me. lol He’s pretty good. I have two kids and I’m dealing with sleep apnea which I do not yet have a CPAP machine for so I have been too tired to do any writing after the kids are in bed which would be the prime time for it.

But I have another sleep study coming up where I’ll get my CPAP machine and then a good night’s sleep from now on. At least that is what I’ve heard. Then maybe my writing will be able to pick up more and I’ll more exciting content to write for this blog.

So what are you up to right now? Are you prepping your story for NaNo, or just writing away on a current story? Whether or not you’re working on a story for NaNo I wish you the best of luck!

WINNER Announced!

The winner of my first creative challenged is Heather Montford, from Sackets Harbor, NY with her story Freedom.

Freedom 

 

There was freedom in the water.

On the land… People weren’t free on the land. They hurried back and forth, their heads in their phones, in their tablets. Their heads were down because anyone who was seen as too proud or too free were looked down upon those looking down on the world from their windows in the high metal and glass buildings. People on the land worked for people they didn’t like, at jobs that drained the very lives from them. People on land went home to families who would not look up from their phones, their tablets, their computers, their gaming systems, their televisions and Blu-ray players.

People on the land had no sense of wonder, no definition of imagination. There was no time in the day to look up, beyond the grayness of their city worlds, to marvel at a sunset or wonder at the colors in a rainbow after a downpour. There was no time to read, to see movies of one’s own making playing in their heads as they read wondrous words across the pages.  

Nobody enjoyed the beach she now sat upon, the glorious cliffs of white stones and the faces carved into them by a nature much more patient than the world as a whole. None of the people on the beach with her stopped to look at the rays of sun streaming like rain through the clouds over the island just yonder. Nobody on the beach sat and listened to the music of the water, lapping gently over the stones and shells on the shore. For some of them on the beach, that had been their intention. To forget, even momentarily, the pressures of the world on land and lose themselves in peace, but their phones held their attention, and they were not free.

She was tired of life on the land. She was tired of not being free to see the world around her. She was tired of being alone in a world overflowing with people. She stood, and shook the sand from her skirt. She slipped off her shoes, and dug her toes into the pebbles, the shells, around her, relishing the feel of each one.

She stepped into the water, feeling it wash the dread and gloom of life on the land away from her. She walked forward, to her ankles, to her knees, to her waist. Her skirt drifted up and became a pool of white ever present around her. She walked until her feet lifted from the ground, and she stayed there, treading water.

She could already breathe better.

When the sun set over the horizon, and the sky turned from orange to a dark, navy blue, her legs turned into the tail she had so missed in her years upon the land. She dove beneath the waves, and she was finally free.