Deborah Halverson's Blog, page 7

Prospecting & Publication

Much like with prospectors at the peak of California’s Gold Rush, there was a time when writers rushed to self-publish because they saw other writers striking it rich when editors at traditional publishing houses spotted their books and signed them to lucrative deals. I understand the temptation.

Much like those prospectors found with the reality of digging for the gold, the big strike proves far more elusive for self-publishers than those big success stories suggest. Gold is struck, certainly… but enough time has passed in the history of self-publishing that we know banking on the big strike is a very shaky strategy.

That’s the topic I take up in today’s DearEditor.com today question-and-answer post.

On Usage

I was perusing the 16th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style this weekend, as editors are wont to do, when I noticed this statement:

“The great mass of linguistic issues that writers an editors wrestle with don’t really concern grammar at all–they concern usage: the collective habits of a language’s native speakers.” (5.216)

This spoke to me. As an editor, I guide writers in honing their narrative voices and their characters’ voices. It’s in usage that “voice” comes to fruition. The phrases we use, the way we construct sentences to emphasis one thing and deemphasize another. Another way to think of “voice” is as the personality of a piece of writing. Usage conveys personality. Therefore, I spend a lot of time helping writers identify how their usage can shift for different projects, different characters, different scenarios.

It may seem obvious that this comes into play with fiction, but it’s also vital in nonfiction. There’s a reason readers connect with one piece of writing about a specific topic, such as a historical event, let’s say, while feeling completely unmoved by another book about the same topic. The voice of that narrative resonates for you for some reason, and that “reason” is very likely rooted in the way the author used the language. Is it grammatically perfect? Probably not. There are so many grammar “rules” that grammar perfection is probably a white whale. Anyway, I don’t think readers want grammar perfection. I think they want grammar that isn’t feeble, that doesn’t have obvious and distracting failures, of course, but more importantly they want a voice that resonates for them, leading to a book they can love.

And a book they can love is its own form of perfection.

When Movie Love Leads to Book Love

Have you seen the trailer for the new movie adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time? Wow, please let the movie be as fantabulous as this trailer looks. This is a classic story I’ve not read — I just couldn’t ever get into it. Sometimes that happens to readers, even with classics. One readers’s beloved favorite can be another reader’s “meh.” I hope to love this new movie and find my way into the book that so many adore.

All Hail the Persistent Writer

Yesterday I raised a virtual butterbeer toast to two picture book writer clients who just signed with agent and publisher, and to two other writer pals who just signed agents. I celebrated them on Facebook, posting the celebration to inspire other writers. Today, I heard from another writer who just received a contract offer on her picture book. It happens, fellow writers. The publishing journey can be an emotionally challenging one, but PERSIST. BELIEVE! Celebrate every new word written and every draft completed to keep your positivity stimulated and yourself moving forward with submissions and new projects. You can bet I’m rooting for you. Cheers!

Writers are Business People Too

Being a writer isn’t just knowing how to wield words or weave tales. Writers are also business people. People forget that… even writers themselves, sometimes. Among the tasks of running your own business is generating, paying for, and maintaining promotional materials, both digital and print.

After all, we’ve got websites, postcards, bookmarks, social media accounts, etc., all requiring up-to-date bios, images, and presentations that reflect who we are NOW as storytellers and public speakers. A writer’s gotta stay on it to stay stocked, up-to-date, effective, and sane.

So to writers I recommend maintaining a Promotional Materials Review Schedule. That is, have scheduled calendar reminders in place that prompt you to regularly assess the content and presentation of your materials. It’s dangerous to wait until a new book publication or author event to review your materials—you end up trying to squeeze in updates and rushing to reorder in time. That’s stressful, and things will very easily slip through the cracks. Sometimes opportunities for promotion arise suddenly, such as the out-of-the-blue request for a blog interview. It’s imperative to have your general short-form bio at your fingertips to shoot on over to the interviewer for inclusion in the post. Bloggers can’t wait—if you’re not ready when they need a bio, they’ll grab something old (sometimes VERY old) from the Internet. Same thing with author photos—keep current or see your old one go up, old hairstyle and all.

As I prep for my upcoming SCBWI LA faculty appearance, where I’ll be delivering the market report, critiquing manuscripts, and teaching a workshop on writing dialogue, I’m also doing my early-summer review of my promotional materials. I know I need to order more bookmarks. I won’t have to drop everything to update those bookmarks, though, because I’ve maintained a Promotional Materials Review Schedule. I’m happy with the bookmark’s most recent redesign. Later this summer, I’ve got a scheduled day to sit down and plan my redesign of DearEditor.com. It’s time, and my web designer is ready because my New Year Promotional Materials Review reminder triggered me to give her a heads up in January that this would be on our plate in the fall. She’s ready, I’m ready; I predict a smooth, unrushed, and productive collaboration.

A writer’s primary focus in writing craft and productivity. Without a doubt. But it’s vital to keep your presentation of your business on your radar, too. A Promotional Materials Review Schedule is a valuable way to do that.

Being a writer isn’t just knowing how to wield words or w...

Being a writer isn’t just knowing how to wield words or weave tales. Writers are also business people. People forget that… even writers themselves, sometimes. Among the tasks of running your own business is generating, paying for, and maintaining promotional materials, both digital and print.

After all, we’ve got websites, postcards, bookmarks, social media accounts, etc., all requiring up-to-date bios, images, and presentations that reflect who we are NOW as storytellers and public speakers. A writer’s gotta stay on it to stay stocked, up-to-date, effective, and sane.

So to writers I recommend maintaining a Promotional Materials Review Schedule. That is, have scheduled calendar reminders in place that prompt you to regularly assess the content and presentation of your materials. It’s dangerous to wait until a new book publication or author event to review your materials—you end up trying to squeeze in updates and rushing to reorder in time. That’s stressful, and things will very easily slip through the cracks. Sometimes opportunities for promotion arise suddenly, such as the out-of-the-blue request for a blog interview. It’s imperative to have your general short-form bio at your fingertips to shoot on over to the interviewer for inclusion in the post. Bloggers can’t wait—if you’re not ready when they need a bio, they’ll grab something old (sometimes VERY old) from the Internet. Same thing with author photos—keep current or see your old one go up, old hairstyle and all.

As I prep for my upcoming SCBWI LA faculty appearance, where I’ll be delivering the market report, critiquing manuscripts, and teaching a workshop on writing dialogue, I’m also doing my early-summer review of my promotional materials. I know I need to order more bookmarks. I won’t have to drop everything to update those bookmarks, though, because I’ve maintained a Promotional Materials Review Schedule. I’m happy with the bookmark’s most recent redesign. Later this summer, I’ve got a scheduled day to sit down and plan my redesign of DearEditor.com. It’s time, and my web designer is ready because my New Year Promotional Materials Review reminder triggered me to give her a heads up in January that this would be on our plate in the fall. She’s ready, I’m ready; I predict a smooth, unrushed, and productive collaboration.

A writer’s primary focus in writing craft and productivity. Without a doubt. But it’s vital to keep your presentation of your business on your radar, too. A Promotional Materials Review Schedule is a valuable way to do that.

Deborah at SCBWI 46th Annual Summer Conference July 7-10, 2017

I’m excited to be on the faculty of the Society of Children’s Books Writers & Illustrators 46th Annual Summer Conference in Los Angeles, July 7-10, 2017. I’ll be presenting the annual Market Survey as well as a 3-hour writing intensive “How to Talk Like a Teen When You’re So Not One: Writing Dialogue in YA/MG Fiction.” I’ll also be doing critiques throughout the conference—I love that one-on-one time with writers. The SCBWI event is always fantastic!

Daring to Try New Writing Software

The creative process can be a fragile thing. Writers can be very set in their process, uninterested in trying new programs because they simply see no need to do so … yet. That’s the kind of writer I am. I’ve used Word so long that I’m no longer conscious of the program itself. And that’s just the way I like it. So, that’s what I use to write my novels, my nonfiction writing craft books, and my picture books. It’s what works for me.

But what if you’ve never written a novel? Or maybe you need a new way to handle a new kind of project, like a research-heavy novel when you’ve never needed to research before? How do you know what writing software is best for you? Word? Or maybe Scrivener or Power Structure or Evernote or Google Docs? There are many to choose from. This week, a first-time novelist asked me at DearEditor.com to help her decide. I’ve always meant to experiment with the other programs, but I’ve never had the free time to do so and I’ve never wanted to risk disrupting my creativity during front-burner projects. So how to guide her? Simple: I asked the writing community via social media to tell me their favorite program and why they like it.

The answers were fascinating. Some still use pen-and-paper, which isn’t a surprise to me. I’ve heard the praises of the tactile act of putting pen to paper as a creativity booster for years. What did surprise me was how many writers jumped from one program to the next during a single project, using one program for outlining, another for drafting, maybe a third for polishing. I was so intrigued by the details they shared that I gathered them together into a pdf (anonymously, of course) and shared it in today’s DearEditor.com post about choosing the best writing software. Pop over and take a look.

Picture Books Are for Kids of All Ages

Someone recently asked me if older kids really do still read picture books. Yes, they really do, and I have photographic proof. Tonight’s selection is inspired by current events (Kathleen Krull’s Hillary Clinton: Dreams Taking Flight), but just as often my 11.5-yr-olds just see a book in a nearby basket and can’t resist. Leave picture books strewn around the house and people of any age will pick them up and read them. They are irresistible.

Discovering Tone

My son, who is almost twelve years old, explained to me that writing can have a “tone” —  “You know,” he said, “like funny or serious. Sometimes it’s because of the punctuation and sometimes it’s because of other stuff.” He then invited me—“because you’re a writer and you’ll probably think this is neat”—to watch him pick out a paragraph from The Lightning Thief and type up his explanation of its tone for his homework.

Of course I watched.

And it was neat.