Writing, Publishing, Marketing -- Oh My!

How do I get started writing?

You can read this book on my website -- navigate to Phyl's Books/Children's Books/Weird Pie.

I get this question (about getting started) at least once a week, so I decided to make a blog post I can refer people to. Then, if I get ambitious, I might create new blogs that talk about the next steps based on answers to these questions and link them here. Comment on my FB page if there's a specific answer you'd like me to create for you!

Round one:
What are you going to write? Fiction? How To? Memoir? Poetry?

Round two: Do you keep a journal or have you created blog posts on this topic? Are you someone that writes an outline first, or do you write things as you think about them? What's the longest thing you have ever written before? What is your motivation for writing a book (money, sharing history/something to pass down, book is a bucket list thing, urge to write, sheer boredom, example for kids)? Will your family be supportive of your writing? Will you be able to write without their support? Are you a goal-setter? Do you have a time-frame for writing a book? If you're planning to make $1M selling your first book, know that you CAN, but few do this without a major investment of TIME and MONEY -- one professional did an informal study that showed that people making a thousand dollars or more a month in book sales invested $1500.00 per title in marketing, freebies, and other promotions in the book's first three months. And most of them spent six months before that setting up other marketing events and plans before the book was available. (I linked to her Amazon page. When she posted about her study, it was part of a FB group that is no more. But you should be able to learn more from her via her books or blog.) I am not looking to discourage anyone. But like running a marathon, joining a gym, going back to college -- knowing why you are going to do something plays a big part in how to make yourself successful at it.

Round three: Around what central idea are you going to organize the book? Do you have one, two, or three books (or more) in the works? (If you think you have more than one, write or heavily prepare three before launching the first one)
What are your credentials (for non-fiction book)? Who makes up your SUPER-SPECIFIC audience?

Answering these questions should make you excited to write and get your book out there. If this questionnaire makes you more anxious than excited, stick to blogging or writing in your journal for now. You're free to change your mind later, but having material to draw from is always better than thinking about filling 200 blank pages! Ultimately, know that you are perfectly valid in whatever decision you make!!

Happy Writing!

#25Reasons to Celebrate!!

After ten years of writing, not writing, and hitting walls, #25Reasons is finally approved by CreateSpace (had some formatting issues) and should be available (live) on Amazon.com by this weekend.

The official launch date is May 2 at the WACO fairgrounds in Fayetteville, AR. At that time, I will also be launching Confessions of a Grammar Enthusiast*, which came out last month.

I don't know whether #AMuseMeant will be ready in time for a triple-threat launch. On one hand, hitting that final PUBLISH key always leaves me feeling very high. On the other hand, fixing formatting issues is both exhausting and brain frying. I sat outside yesterday (it was beautiful) -- rain was threatening, not too hot, windy -- and reattached the bumper pads to my son's trampoline. I need to spend more time outside (not counting time spent in a car). I've been wanting to get my publishing "to do" list knocked out, but sharpening the saw is also good for the heart, mind, and soul.

Next week is my 13th wedding anniversary, my son's 12th birthday, my son's birthday party, and the local Renaissance Faire. Time to get out and enjoy them!

*Since I don't know how long it takes CreateSpace and Amazon to fix things -- I found an error in the "About the Author" online section. Read at face value, it alludes that I jet-set between active teaching in Arkansas and working in a library in Lexington, KY. The Lexington library and ESL teaching experiences were vital contributors to the path that led me to Confessions, but I left Lexington in 2006 and am a full time NWA resident and muck-raker.


Phyl Campbell is the author of all the books you see above. She writes and teaches (privately or in workshops) in NWA. She is easiest to contact through Facebook: Phyl Campbell Author Page.

Work in Progress Friday: Matt Summell Explains Why Writing Is Hard

In a post from a member of the Insecure Writers Support Group, I found this post by author Matt Sumell. I feel this one. I plot and plan now more than I used to, and I'm on my third draft of anything I'm writing the first time my fingers touch keyboard keys to record my ideas. Draft three rarely bares more than slight resemblance to draft one. I spend so much time recovering from memories -- putting experiences into useable art -- and keep my fingers busy without being productive. It happens.

The road not taken is not the road forgotten. [MorgueFile]

And it's never the big scary or sad memories. It's the description of someone's hair that reminds me of someone I used to know. It's the color of the sky that I never quite get on paper because it takes me to a different place and time. I get lost there. It's the reason I remember the (really, it's not) silent letter C -- because an ex used to tease me about it -- and other grammar rules that are deeply embedded in my daily usage. It doesn't matter who dumped whom or what the circumstances were. Even the worst date had something funny: the purpose of some lives IS to serve as warnings to others. Looking back, many of my warnings were hilarious.

And then there's the moments where I can't breathe. And it's all these teeny straws that just can't be explained to someone who wasn't there back then. The camel's back is broken, but each little piece of hay seems insignificant for explaining the memory. These little straws have me running for covers and my couch -- or wide awake at 3am, reminding myself to breathe.

And like this blogger, it's why I can say sincerely that although I might have drawn upon some experience in creating my fiction, no character is ME. I mean, they're all me. Jagged pieces of me.

ICYMI: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/65849-why-writing-is-so-hard.html






Phyl Campbell writes fiction, non-fiction, and pretty much whatever floats her boat. She's struggling to finish editing a book of grammar, which just exacerbates all her typographic fears!!

Work in Progress: Invitations and Rejections

"I really thought publishing books would be enough," she laughed. "Boy was I wrong."

January first, I decided to start charging a speaker fee (one which could be offset or eliminated by an equivalent or greater purchase of my books) and I am actively seeking out more and different venues in which to sell my stories.

As a result, I have TWO paid speaking engagements lined up, and one sale event. I am giddy beyond belief that two groups who couldn't find time to arrange for me to come speak to its audience when I was offering to do it FOR FREE are now paying for the privilege of my company and expertise.

But some rain must fall on my happy news, as I am still getting rejections like this one:

"Thank you for your interest in [LIT FEST NAME]. Yes, our roster is set and about to be announced. The Foundation realizes that the face of publishing is rapidly changing but at the moment the policy is to invite authors who have been paid for their manuscripts. Many wonderful independently published books are being written everyday. Still, I am sure this policy will remain in place for the foreseeable future."

I know more than a few of the authors on last year's list. There's an eclectic mix of not quite obscure to obscure writers being represented.  Some are University professors with an audience limited to students in their classes. Many are small press, which could include niche press. Like a poetry book with a stapled center and a cardstock cover could be considered superior to one of my books because a university press put its name on it.

On one hand, I understand that not all independent books are created equal. But being arbitrarily excluded from events and libraries because I am not employing middle men (and getting involved in disputes such as HACHETTE V AMAZON) hurts me, readers, and the industry.

There's not much I can do about it -- unless someone wants to buy my book(s) when it's (they're) still in manuscript form? Sure -- I'd like that, too. Give the responsibility of marketing, editing, cover design, LAYOUT (my most frustrating publishing element) -- to an army instead of making me do it myself. Give me more time to write and attend workshops and do speaking tours. If I wanted to take the time to research

But I don't like giving up control (and ultimate responsibility) of and for my books. Is there a grey area to exploit here? Without giving up control -- I need some investor with deep(ish) pockets willing to pay me for my manuscripts and yet let me keep control of their being published in book form. But that sounds like a small press. And around I go again!

Work in Progress: Timeline of a Sick Kid and a Worried Parent

Fridays posts are about work(s) in progress. Parenting a sick kid is tons of work, and it's hard to gauge progress. But let's try anyway.

Officially, this parent is on day two (though it feels like longer) of the really sick kid bug.This entails:

First: about a week of general irritability, complaints of stomach and headache, often resolved by eating and or playing XBOX, made worse by doing homework or discussing grades.

1:30PM WEDNESDAY: low grade fever, headache, stomachache, runny nose, intermittent cough. Picked up early from school, brought home and put to bed.

2PM: Parent goes on trip to store for medicine and comfort items and sets off fire alarm in unfamiliar section of store. Then gets to the check-out line and realizes that the forgotten cough drops are in the same section of the store where the fire alarm was tripped. Is viewed suspiciously by all employees. Acquires cough drops without further incident and returns home.

3:30PM:Parent experiences singing, non-stop talking, thoughts of “why-did-I-pick-you-up-from-school-early” and conversations including “no, sick-boys-can’t-play-XBOX-and-must-rest.” Plans to return kid to school the next day.

5:30PM: True fever sets in, along with hacking cough. Parent cancels the notion of school. Advil for fever. Benadryl for congestion. Sleep. “Text me if you need anything” because the cell phone is the new bell. And this parent is tons grateful for that technology. (UPDATE: I'm wrong about this timeline, because sleep happened in the bedroom, but then kid felt better and moved to couch where he watched shows with parent(s). Second parent went to bed. First parent gave Advil again at the four hour mark, and around 1AM sent the kid to bed and tried to go to sleep herself.)

Poor Sick Kid (MorgueFile)

3AM: kid coughs himself awake. His fever is back. But he falls asleep again and doesn’t wake enough to take medicine. Unlike her nurse mother, this parent doesn’t fight sleep for medication. Puts new water bottle on his bedside along with an Advil and goes back to bed herself. Tired parent can’t play nursemaid.

8AM: Parent calls school to inform school of still-sick kid. Checks on kid. Goes back to sleep.

12PM THURSDAY: Parent wakes, checks on kid. Eats. Heads to computer to attempt some writing.

1PM: Kid wakes without voice. Cough is a seal bark. Bathroom issues. Fed Cheerios (maybe a handful), pancakes (dry – maybe three bites), and chocolate milk. More Advil and Benadryl.

6PM: More Advil. Mucinex (cut in half with a pill cutter) in lieu of Benadryl. Parents thanking many deities that swallowing pills is something kid does without a fight now.

7PM: Kid has diarrhea. Parenting lesson on hygiene and cleaning up after one’s self when sick ensues. Parent feels terribly guilty -- "You have to teach this now?" -- but knows she can't teach a kid about self-care when he's healthy.

Because he won't stay little forever -- and he's pretty big now. (MorgueFile)

7:30PM: Kid experiencing nausea and vomiting bile. Mucinex and Advil are hard on an empty stomach. Parent praises the kid who: made it to the trash can, asked for help to the bathroom, and cleaned up after himself. Parent experiences more guilt. The helpless-in-this-situation kind of guilt.

Makes one peanut-butter covered waffle for kid. Kid nibbles twice and says it’s undercooked. Parent tries again. Kid nibbles four times and says it hurts his stomach. Parent explains food-and-medicine- on-empty-stomach-syndrome, using a rock dropped on a sidewalk under water versus the same rock dropped on a dry sidewalk as an analogy. Kid nods in understanding. Parent experiences slight happiness.

Sometimes parenting happiness comes from wet rocks. (MorgueFile)

 

Middle of the second night. Parent doesn’t hear coughing. Parent still can’t sleep out of fear of being needed the moment sleep would come. No school for the kid again. Hoping the parent can sleep tomorrow, too.

This parent has a book to finish. This parent has been sick, and doesn’t want to screw up years of hard work because she was sick and tired and now she’s tired because her son’s sick. Tired people make mistakes. Oftentimes, mistakes take longer to fix. This parent has many mistakes to fix. And other things that need her attention when the current book is done. Things like other books. Many other books. So everyone around her needs to get better and she needs plenty of sleep so she can do those other things. So I can do those other things. 

So I can write a blog post and document these things for other parents whose kids are getting sick. But as parent is adding images and final touches to this blog post, a text comes in. 

4AM FRIDAY: It just says "MOM." Parent runs to the rescue, but it isn't needed. Kid is sitting up asking for water. Parent leaves and returns with water, thermometer, Advil, Mucinex, and pill cutter. No fever. Kid's throat is sore, but otherwise much improved. Doesn't want to eat. Doesn't want more meds on an empty stomach. Cough is better, but still exists. Parent offered kid a chance to move to the couch. Kid did not take parent up on offer, and curled back up to sleep. Definitely still sick. But parent thinks on the mend. 

4:30AM: Kid back in the bathroom. Hoarse shout-out in lieu of text. No vomit, but loose stool. Parent resumes thinking that it's going to be a long night. Can't defecate for kid. Finishes blog post and schedules it for more decent hour. Considers her progress.

Friday's scheduled blog posts were about works in progress. Parenting IS work. Parenting IS progress. And while parents and kids get sick, there are no sick days. You can't call in.

Please overlook any mistakes I made today -- my kid's been sick, you know.

Phyl Campbell is the author of Mother Confessor, The Carley Patrol, and Martha's Chickens and the Pirates. February 4th was her mother's birthday, February 5th was her nephew's birthday, and she really hates it when her kid is sick. She dislikes other things immensely, but is having trouble contemplating those things now. It happens.

Happy Friday! Enjoy a "Round" on Me!

Picture is a round of my actual books, taken with my husband's camera phone and run through a program in his phone's software.

Had I a New Year's resolution to do more with my personal blog, I'd be doing some justice to it. But motivation is not where it needs to be.

I'd like to say that this weekend I'm putting #25Reasons to bed with the publisher. It may still happen, but the battle is uphill yet. Even the cover -- I've had 5 I've loved now -- is giving me more problems than I think I deserve. Overall I will pick one that works and the rest of the world won't know the first world agony that went into choosing it. I guess so long as no one claims it looks like a cookbook!!

Here's the current cover, but I've already decided to tweak a few things in the final.

Have a great weekend -- three day weekend for some of you!

Cover Art Conundrum

I thought I knew the perfect image I wanted. A man holding a book, sitting on a stack of books, while a woman looked at him disapprovingly. Off to Morgue File I went. However:

With alternate search parameters, I found and dismissed tons of images. I've learned more about pixels and vectors and crazy ways images may be terrorized on the internet for fun and profit than I ever wanted to know, and still know next to nothing.

I will never be a visual artist. I worry over the words. Seriously.

But the more possibilities, the worse every one looks. I decide to look at comparable novels. In chick lit, (knowing what people pay for cover art) it's clear that thousands of dollars have been spent on clip art that resembles something one would find hanging in an elementary school classroom. I find myself thinking "I could do that." There's only one problem. I absolutely cannot do that -- who did I think I was kidding?

I kept the idea that I needed to simplify. The drawings look like clip art, not a digital photograph of an action-packed movie (like high fantasy). I could do simple. What could be hard about simple?

Plenty.

Back to searching. One idea I liked was that my male protagonist doesn't measure up to his wife's expectations. I found a measuring tape image. I was happy with it. I uploaded it to the box. I shared it with some people -- they said "maybe it's just this time of year, but it makes it look like a weight loss book." Ugh!

The idea behind #25Reasons is that Jane wants Charlie to be more romantic, and thinks he will gain this by reading parts of her favorite romances to her. And Charlie approaches the romances like one's average domesticated neanderthal -- partly because he doesn't "get it" and mostly because he doesn't want to.

So I thought about an image of books. I gathered 25 romance novels I just happened to have lying about the house, stuck sticky notes in, arranged them and started snapping pictures. My husband showed me how to use his camera to do all kinds of cool photograph to art stuff. I loved the end result. But when I stuck the image into the book cover template, it just lost some awesomeness. It lost a whole lot of awesomeness.

So now I'm trying to add a silhouette of a guy climbing the books. Even I can't screw up a silhouette, right? It's little more than a line drawing. But sticking it into the template box -- I don't know. It is not living up to my expectations.  My son said it looked like the shadow of a spy on the books. He isn't wrong. [Sigh.]

I'd say back to the drawing board, but I don't draw. Back to the search engine box? Possibly. And every new image means a new cover blurb and I've got to get those two things right before I decide background and font color -- right? Then the back blurb.

Oh, for the talents of an artistic monkey!

To add final insult to injury, last night I stumbled across Marriage: Illustrated with Crappy Pictures by Amber Dusick. I've half-heartedly followed her blog for a few years. She has a huge following, and only slightly better art skills than me. She released her book in December, and the reviews are not great. While our books are not THAT similar, I would not be surprised to see them side by side on a Barnes and Noble table of couple's humor books. If her fans are not ecstatic about her book, is there any hope at all for my little labor of love?

Oh, COVER, where art thou?

Phyl Campbell is the author of several books, including Mother Confessor, Carley Patrol, and Martha's Chickens and the Pirates. Her website is www.phylcampbell.com.