Category: Blogger

Did you get the memo? It was delivered with the Rule Book.

No, not that old dating gimmick, The Rules, but the “The Internet Rule Book.” It was written sometime after “Everything You Need to Know You Learned in Kindergarten.” “The Internet Rule Book” addresses social media. You didn’t learn that in kindergarten.

Rule #1: If you have a blog, you must do an End of Year Reflection. So here goes.

My novel, A Reasonable Price, didn’t sell in 2014. Boo hoo. Question is, why not? If I knew that, I would have fixed it. Then again, maybe I did and we just don’t know yet. Over the past twelve months, I worked diligently to find my novel a home. I received excellent feedback from major lit agents (who shall remain nameless lest they be embarrassed that they passed on a future bestseller) and my instructor and fellow classmates at a novel workshop at the ISWF. Incorporating their best suggestions, I spent September through November doing a major rewrite, then sent out a few queries in early December. I will send out more as soon as the holidays have returned to work days. At times it feels like I’m navigating my little ship through cyberspace—with no certainty of ever finding a place to land. Or, maybe I did make all the right changes, and will soon query the right agent who will snatch it up and sell it tout de suite!

Rule #2: No whining.

This is why 2014 saw so few posts here on your favorite website. They say, “Write with authority to gain readership.” Well, believe you me, I’m an authority on a lot of things … just not on being an author (apparently). For instance, in late June, I got a new puppy. She is George Eliot, a Havanese. I’ve become an authority on her, but I didn’t want to confuse things by writing about my dog on my writer’s blog. Sure, I could have posted an update every day of the year, but “Didn’t Sell Novel Again Today” and “Wrote Some, Deleted Some,” both qualify as whining. I thought it better to stay silent until I have real news.

Rule #3: Be Kind to Others

This rule was stolen from Ellen Degeneres, but I doubt she’ll mind. Only Stephen Hawking could explain how the Internet is both endless and intimate. You can search forever in less than one second. Bullying, name-calling, whining … they will all come back to haunt you. So, as you did learn in kindergarten, if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. Just go back to your novel and work harder. The harder you work, the luckier 2015 will be.

With that, cheers to 2015, friends! Let’s all play by the rules and make 2015 the best year ever.

In these times of turmoil, when the definitions of words such as “marriage,” “employed,” and “publishing” are all in flux, we fiction writers must unite and find a leader.

I nominate Jane Friedman.

For the past several years, I have called myself a writer. Truth be known, I am a “retired” art dealer who picked up a laptop and tapped out a novel, then a second, a third, and now a fourth novel. I wasn’t an English major. I don’t have an MFA. I guess you could say I’m trying to sneak in the back door of publishing—and I’m holding out for a traditional publisher. But, I have read a mountain of books on WRITING. I have read a mountain of GOOD LITERATURE (and some not so good). I have attended a WRITERS’ CONFERENCE in the mountains. And I have read blog post after blog post after blog post on query letters, blogging, publishing, networking, grammar … You name it, I’ve tried to absorb it. I am that determined to teach myself the art of good writing.

Then, about a year ago, I had a long conversation with my son, Elliott, about sifting through all the contradictory advice that’s out there. (Did I mention he is getting his MFA at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop?) He suggested that I stop reading everything I can get my hands on, and narrow myself to two or three trusted sources. Huh. Not bad advice.

The name Jane Friedman popped to the top of my list.

Jane Friedman is the straight-talking, walking-Wikipedia of publishing. I trust what she says above just about anyone else in the industry.

[For the record, I am crossing my fingers that Ms. Friedman—if she reads this—considers me a fan, not some creepy stalker. I did meet her once, at a Writers’ Digest Conference, but she wouldn’t remember me. I tried to make some ice-breaking joke about Bourbon (which she loves, and I know absolutely nothing), so she probably thought I was a little odd, but really I was just nervous about making a good impression. Yeah, no.]

My current campaign was inspired by one of her latest blog posts on Writer Unboxed, another helpful writing source. Friedman writes, and I happily quote: “If you’re a totally new, unpublished writer who is focused on fiction, memoir, poetry, or any type of narrative-driven work, forget you ever heard the word platform.” Yes, that’s right. She tells writers who are working to publish their first book of fiction to STOP BLOGGING. I might be inclined to say she buried her lead by sticking this gem in the center of a long post, but the article is chock full of great advice.

(Stop blogging? Okay, logically, I would end this post here, but because I call myself a writer, I have the uncontrollable urge to type out another 200 or so words.)

After I finished my first novel, I followed the rules and sent out beaucoup query letters. I got one request for a partial, but now I am grateful that it didn’t get published. It was crap. I did learn, however, that I had “no platform.” Any agent who tried to look me up would have seen a lot of dead links to my former art gallery, but nothing about me as a writer. So I started a blog. Then I wrote my second novel, and joined Twitter and Goodreads. I had one request for my complete manuscript, but no offer. Next, I wrote my third novel, and started a Facebook Author Page. Still—not quite there. I now have hundreds of blog posts, 676 Twitter followers, 379 Goodreads friends. A modest but decent platform. My numbers are not staggering, because I always felt lost when it came to blogging.

As a non-published fiction writer, what the heck was I supposed to blog about? My fictional characters? My struggle to get published?

No.

The blogging experts say, Keep a tight focus. They say, Offer advice. They say, Blog three times a week. They say, Above all, don’t whine!

I suppose a lot of great coaches never made it as superstars of their chosen sport, but still, I felt a bit like a fraud offering advice as an unpublished fiction writer. Yes, I know a good book when I see one, but wouldn’t most of us rather take advice from someone who has succeeded? Exactly.

More importantly, as Ms. Friedman says, imagine how much more I could have accomplished if I had spent all those blogging hours writing. I might be published by now!

And so, dear followers, I will keep blogging—sporadically, as always (I’ve never been good at that three times a week rule)—but from now on I will NOT feel guilty about NOT blogging! I am getting closer and closer to my dream of being a published author. (The details are a secret; you’ll just have to trust me on this.) (Okay, I can give you this hint.) Until then, I will dedicate my time to writing unputdownable stories.

Meanwhile, Jane Friedman for President of the United Fiction Writers!