A friend and well-respected author, Robbie Cox, recently completed writing a series of articles on Author Etiquette at Book Conventions/Signings, including tips and tricks to help authors succeed when attending these conferences.

The series is chock full of excellent advice, especially for first timers. Actually, every author can do with a little brushing up and I recommend reading him because things change. We should all keep up with what’s new and trendy. Besides, common sense sometimes needs a good kick in the rear, right?

Sometimes it seems that writers and authors can be rude or careless in their dealings with others. In some instances, the thoughtless actions aren’t malicious, just unthinking. No excuse people!

Remember that every action you take as an author is a reflection of you, the businessperson. It is a measure of your character, your integrity and your reputation. Think it doesn’t matter? Trust me, word gets around when an author is less than considerate or is in fact a jerk. On the other hand, an author that builds strong relationships with gracious attention to detail, professional attitudes and an honest way of doing business makes you someone people will trust and therefore, invest in.

Robbie’s articles got me thinking. I remembered some recent events that I found disturbing or annoying when dealing with other authors, publishers and business associates. These thoughts led to a realization that I can add some sage advice to Robbie’s. I hope he doesn’t mind.

So here is a baker’s dozen of Do’s and Don’ts for Authors in Everyday Dealings in two parts.

PART I

BOOK BLURBS

1. If asked to provide a “blurb” for someone’s book, DON’T do it if you haven’t read him or her before. What can you actually say that has validity if you don’t know the work? Don’t demean your professional name by telling generalities or falsehoods.
2. If you have been asked to provide a “blurb” for someone’s book, and you know the work, DO provide said blurb by the requested date. If no date is given, use the three-day rule and advise the author that you will meet this date. Telling the author does two things. First, it holds you accountable and second, it gives the author a heads up and an opportunity to tell you if there is a need for it earlier.
3. If you are the one asking for the blurb, remember that you sought out the other author. Be gracious and show your gratitude for their belief in you by sending them a copy of your book when it is published. Their contribution helped you; the least you can do is provide a free copy to say thanks. And yes, showing gratitude is always better than telling right? Writers know this.

PHONE CALLS

1. How much work do you do on the phone? More than you think, probably. If you are like me, I let all calls go to the answering machine and then I return calls from those who leave messages and from names I know.
   1. Just because you know someone is no reason to treat them with less respect than strangers. In fact, it is more reason to give them your very best because you know them. Show your respect, and DO return calls to familiar folks within 24 hours (unless they ask you to call sooner). I try to return calls from friends and co-workers on the same day. DON’T take those closest to you for granted. Believe me, one day they will resent you for it.
   2. If someone calls you and this is an unknown connection, remember your professional self is on the line. DON’T keep people hanging. DO return calls within 24-48 hours, unless asked to do so earlier. DON’T turn to emails or text messaging instead. This is insulting and unprofessional, unless told this is permitted.
2. I have the luxury of being able to work from home. Many authors aren’t like me and you have to remember this when using the phone. DON’T always expect people to call you during the day. Most authors have (forgive me) a “real” job (I call it the filler job), and won’t be available until after 5pm or later. When reaching out to authors, DON’T be upset if you need to leave a message. DO tell the contact when you can be reached. Allow for some time in the evening to take calls. In my case, I don’t take business calls after 7:00pm unless time zones require it or pre-arranged agreement are a factor. My evenings are my family time and I try to give the same respect to other writers. Have boundaries and make them a professional standard to be emulated.
3. I really hate to mention this one but, manners, people! Take yours out and dust them off. DO say please and thank you. DON’T say “yeah” to professionals who are only able to gauge your professional self by what they hear. Are you a “punk” or wouldn’t you like to be received as a smart, sharp, pro? Think it doesn’t matter? Just think of every phone call as a potential job interview. Whom would you hire? Would you leave a strong, good first impression over the phone?
4. Okay so you are now dealing with an asshole on the phone. Does it make you become one, too? I hope not. DON’T ever, EVER, lose your professional cool on the phone. DON’T raise your voice. No shouting matches. Never lower your standards just to make a point. Continue to behave professionally even when you want to crawl through the phone and beat someone. Remember you have standards and, by jove, use them at all times. Let the assholes learn something from you. Maybe they are only an asshole that day. Tomorrow, they might remember how cool you were under pressure. DON’T ever lose sight of your image and your reputation.

Practicing these good behaviors will only help you in your career.

Let me hear from you! And thanks for stopping by!
Yours Between the Lines,
Sherry

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****The following items will always appear to keep you posted on activities.*****

WIP (Works in Progress): – NEW BOOK OF POETRY! – expected release July 2016
– first novel in the Evening Bower series, about vampires and other supernatural creatures
– fictional memoir – November 2016!
– four-part fairy story (part one complete)

On the Desk: (next reading): TBD

Off the Desk (book just finished): League of Dragons – Naomi Novik

Coming Soon:  Interview with new folks and more about upcoming projects. Plus meet my assistant (yes, you want details!)

 The Truth is….Writers Lie About Writing

I’m going to do for you what few writers actually do — I’m going to tell you the truth about why writers lie and what are the lies they – we – tell.

That in itself is a miracle statement because as Stephen King once said, “Fiction is a lie. The good fiction is the truth inside the lie.” So buckle up.

FICTION:  Writing is an adventure.

     Truth:  Writing is not an adventure. Writing is hard work. Writing is misery. Writing is painful. Writing is like pulling your socks up through your stomach. Learning to write is also not an adventure. It is time consuming and tedious and never ending. The act of writing is hard work. And you have to really want to do it – no, you have to feel compelled to do it — no, you must be obsessed to do it – in order for you to get through all the trials and tribulations that is the act of writing.

FICTION:  Writing is its own reward

     Truth:  No, chocolate is its own reward. Some writers won’t admit it but they write for money. Other writers won’t admit it but they write because they don’t know any other way. Me? I write because if I don’t all the stuff in my head will make me crazier than I already am. The reward I get from writing comes if I hear just one person say, “Oh I loved it.” That is the truth. Oh sure I write for myself but I’m never going to say I like it. That reward must come from without. Meanwhile, I’m eating chocolate.

FICTION:  Write a little every day and you’ll finish that book in no time.

     Truth:  Bologna! Yes, if you write a little every day you might finish a book. It will be “no time” for sure, meaning that it will take you an incalculable amount of time to finish. You won’t finish in any reasonable time. First because you won’t feel like writing every day and second, because if you only write a little very day, your book will read like a piece of hopscotch. Yes, write every day but when it comes to writing a book, write as much as you can every day, and let it be a great deal. Write until you can’t write anymore that day. Write until your brain is screaming. Write write write!

However, if in doubt that a book is possible, Stephen King will tell you, “Write a page a day. Only 300 words, and in a year you have written a novel.” (That’s a 109,500 words before editing).

FICTION:  The more you write, the better writer you’ll become.

     Truth: This is a tough one. The more you write, the more you will produce. However, getting better at your craft depends on more than just the prolific writing habit. It depends on your studying how to write. It depends on your reading all the books you can get your hands on – not just about your favorite wizard or dystopian planet, but also about dialogue and punctuation and correct word usuage and how to build plot and write deep characters (just to name a simple few things). THEN the more you write, the better your chances are that you will become a better writer than you were.

FICTION:  If you are having a hard time, just stop and walk away for a while. You’ll be better for it.

     Truth:  NO. DON’T DO IT. Bad advice. The only stopping should come when you are between projects. Never stop in the middle of one. Coming back to it is hard. Remembering what you intended is nearly impossible. Recapturing that feeling you began with is not going to happen. If you let go of the magic while you are in it, you will lose the initial momentum of a good thing. It won’t feel better when you come back. In fact, you will be more tempted to quit.

Stephen King, “Stopping a piece of work just because it’s hard either emotionally or imaginatively is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on when you don’t feel like it & sometimes you are doing good work when it feels like all you’re managing to do is shovel shit from a sitting position.”

FICTION:  Once you finish that first book, the second will be easier.

     Truth:  I equate this to something I heard in a movie once, “The first murder is the hardest. After that, they get easier.” Only a sociopath might think this!  I can tell you for a fact that once you finish the fist book, you should dance and celebrate. Finishing is awesome. You are ready to keep going, right?
     Time for the second book? I’m here to tell you that it is JUST AS HARD AS THE FIRST OR THE LAST.  There is no “easy” book. There is no “fast” book. Every book wrenches something out of you and the pulling and and taking is more like cutting yourself open and bleeding for a while. Nothing easy about it. (unless you’re a sociopath!). 

Writing any book is hard. Each book is just as hard in its own way. Every book is a unique challenge. Does it get easier to plan or plot or do you feel smarter about your craft? Probably. Possibly. I hope so. But the work itself is never easier. Don’t let anyone fool you.

FICTION:  You are too old to start now. There’s no point.

     Truth: Bologna. Here’s Stephen King again, “You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.”  Writing has no age. It simply is. It calls and you answer. Writring is a need, a calling, a desire, an obsession. If you want to write, then write. If you feel strongly about it, nothing on this world will stop you. Will you be published? Will you be a best-seller? Those things are issues for another day. For today, just write. Write because you believe there is nothing else you can do.

FICTION: Writers need inspiration in order to write.

     Truth: Bologna. Writers WANT inspiration. Writers crave it and sometimes do need it. But if writers waited to be inspired to write a book or a story or a poem, very little would get done. Writers who want to succeed and/or publish have a motto. Butt in chair. All that means is if you want to get the job done, you have to simply do the work. (see first truth). Stephen King will tell you, “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”

Work. Writing is work. Oh once in a while you hit a magical nirvana when the writing flows and you feel as if you won’t ever stop the train of prolific thought. And then you do. Yes, there will be moments when you think you are in the groove and it will always be this marvelous feeling of achievement.
      And then reality sets in. Writing is unglamorous. Writing is sometimes tedious. Writing is sometimes writing the same page over a dozen times. Writing is sometimes frustrating. Sometimes impossible.

And sometimes writing is  the most incredible, wonderful, surreal work you will ever accomplish. But if you are waiting to be inspired, you are just looking for a way to talk yourself out of doing the work.

THE BOTTOM LINE:  Writers lie. We finish our books mostly in solitary confinement. We work hard. We scream at the page, we edit until we hate our work. We write because we must. We breath ink and vellum and when we are holding the final product, we lie.

We tell you and others what a wonderful journey it was to get the book done. And why do we do this?  Well, I’ve never had a human child but my mom told me that the horrible pain fades and only the joy of the child remains.  So when the book is finished, it is our baby, our joy.  Given this truth, we tend to diminish the work with an honest lie.

Writers lie but we don’t really mean to (Is that truth or a lie?). We writers only want one thing — for you to find your moment, the joy of birthing your own book, project, play, whatever. We are happy and proud in the end and we want that same joy for you, the would-be writer, and the reader.

Think of this the next time someone asks you, “I want to write, but…..”

Let me leave you with more words of Stephen King, “A person is never too old for stories. Man and boy, girl and woman, we live for them.”

and remember my opening quote — “Fiction is the truth inside the lie.”

Given that truth, go and tell some lies. But now you know the truth why you are doing it.

Thanks for stopping by!
Yours Between the Lines,
Sherry

(the philosophy above is my opinion based on my experience and in discussion with other writers)

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****The following items will always appear to keep you posted on activities.*****

WIP (Works in Progress): – NEW BOOK OF POETRY! – expected release July 2016
– first novel in the Evening Bower series, about vampires and other supernatural creatures
– fictional memoir – November 2016!
– four-part fairy story (part one complete)

On the Desk: (next reading): A Potion to Die For – Heather Blake

Off the Desk (book just finished): Rock-a-bye Bones – Carolyn Haines

Coming Soon:  Are you writing every day? Why you should and how I can help!
                          Guest Interview coming in June!

Poetry Smoetry – Why Should I Care About Poetry?

We are three weeks into National Poetry Month and I continue hearing people groan about having to listen to, recite or read poems. “Why,” they implore, “must I bother? I don’t care!”

Ah, my metaphoric padawan, you might want to rethink that position!

To begin with, poetry has its roots in history.
Just as a reminder, poetry comes from an oral tradition. Before we could write, we told stories and sang songs. These “tales” were a record of the community, of history, of births and deaths. The anecdotes and the tragedies, everything was oral. And to make it easy to remember, clever rhymes and catchy tunes were used, even a sing-song style to help children remember the difficult and even exhaustive stories.

Celebrations were usually done in music and once again, it was easier to apply a rhyme to help others remember what to say each time. With repetition, as with the oral histories, songs that celebrate events become traditional and provided a sense of community and security. Roots.

Poetry was also a device for relaxation.
Long ago, before there were radios or televisions, phones or Facebook, poems were put into small compact books. These small volumes were easily carried and often found their way to the seaside, on a picnic, in the library or drawing room, at parties and by the beside. Poetry was an abbreviated form of a story that both men and women could share. Read by a practiced voice, it could be delightfully humorous, or scary, or loving. The joy was in the peaceful gathering. Additionally, small volumes were easily used in private for quiet reflection (given that women didn’t care a purse, this was something women could keep in hand).

Poetry was used for social interaction.
Being able to read aloud was an encouraged talent as was dancing or art or needlepoint or cooking. Various “ages” though time have maintained that reading poetry well signified a graceful spirit and mind, a healthy education or even a dramatic talent. No one went to an event without having something poetry memorized or able to be referenced. Up through the 1920’s poetry was standard fare at parties. Today, open mic café’s and beat poetry is making a comeback.

Finally, poetry engages the imagination.
Poets, beyond being historians and entertainers, teach us to see the world in new ways. Words are synthesized, and in their economy of use we discover more succinct visuals, opening our minds to new ways of visualizing, sensing and dreaming of our world. Poetry has a rhythm and flow that binds us to what could be, not just what is. We discover the power of words in both our dreams and our truth. This is the power of imagination and poets understand the power of this tool.

You don’t have to “understand” a poem in order to gain something from it. Often comprehension takes many readings before an “ah-ha” moment is reached. However, while you are reading, you can be feeling the flow, the passing and falling of the words. You can be sensing emotions though the words. Even without a depth of knowledge, poetry can enlighten through the senses and this enhances thinking and imagination. Poetry gives a sense of perspective through the music of the words.

Why should you care about poetry, a literary form that offers so much? No one says you have to be a William Shakespeare groupie. Neither do you need to be an avid follower of the dark deliciousness of Baudelaire and Poe, the satire of Ogden Nash or the love of the Brownings. But when you open yourself to just one poem once in a while, you are giving yourself a gift of truth, of history, of peace and relaxation, grace and adventure. You allow your soul to fly and be enriched.

Samuel Johnson said, “Poetry is the art of uniting pleasure with truth.”
It’s the best of both worlds. You don’t have to be a Poetic Jedi and that’s why you should care.

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Recommended reading: Poems by Agatha Christie (1973) Christie’s first book of poetry, The Road of Dreams, was self-published in 1925.

Paper Bones by me! Contemporary social issues poetry written for everyone and anyone.

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****The following items will always appear to keep you posted on activities.*****

WIP (Works in Progress): 

– NEW BOOK OF POETRY! – expected release July 2016
– first novel in the Evening Bower series, about vampires and other supernatural creatures
– fictional memoir
– four-part fairy story (part one complete)

On the Desk: (next reading): Soulless by Gail Carriger (#1 in a series)

Off the Desk (book just finished): Burned (Alex Verus #7) by Benedict Jacka

Coming Soon:  Princess Week and Guest Blogger PJ LaRue