Let’s Talk Politics

Tis the season for negativity.

How quickly we have gone from the season of Thanksgiving to one of discord. We are bombarded at every angle: as we sit down for dinner, attempt a little couch time, try to read the daily newspaper.

While some people revel in political “discussions,” most are turned off by the constant bombardment of negativity.  Really, am I so unintelligent that someone must twist my arm, spoon feed me, and then maybe even clobber me over the head until I vow to vote for the person they think is right for the job?

Voting booths still have curtains and screens for privacy…right?

Painfully Honest Tip

Before adding your opinion via Twitter, Facebook or on any social media outlet, pause…ponder…and please, please do not post.

Unless you have penned a political expose’ covering one of the candidates, your readers do not need to know your political leanings.

Your readers do not care.

Your opinion will not sway their decision.  However, offering your opinion may change how they think about you?

So what? You ask. I consider it my right to voice my opinion. You may be thinking, Renea Winchester, who do you think you are telling me that I can’t discuss politics?

“Just a regular gal trying to help you sell books, that’s all.”

Painfully Honest Message

Readers have a right to not purchase your books. If they are gagging on your political rhetoric, odds are they will not reach into their wallet and buy your book…even if it is a great book.

Remember, many a friend has been lost over politics. As an author, you should be trying to build (and maintain) relationships not alienate readers.

Before launching into a career damaging revival for democracy ask yourself another question: Am I conducting myself in a professional manner?

Truly, I hope that you are.

Do you endure political memos from your boss?  Does he sit beside you at lunch and yammer on about the latest polls? Does he withhold your paycheck unless you promise to vote for “his candidate?”

I hope not.

Yet I am continually amazed at authors who would be wildly successful if they would just (to use a couple of idioms) get out of their own way and stop shooting themselves in the foot. For those who think I am apolitical let me avow that I am not. Not only do I attend the local government meetings, I take my children with me. I am a patriot descended from patriots.  I phone and write my representative. Still, voting is a personal matter. (Amen?)

I do not care who you vote for, of greater importance is that you vote (insert overuse of exclamation marks!!!!)

For a perfect example of public content I shall direct you to Jolina Petersheim. Her entries provide joyous content. While I have never personally met her, she purposes to write content that delights her readers. I have a sneaking suspicion that she just might be a registered voter.

Dear ones, aspire to do the same.

Be like Jolina.

Purpose to write positive content.

Purpose to make readers fall in love with your words.

Purpose to take the political high-road as often as necessary.

Your readers will love you for it.

As always, thank you for reading my blog.

Renea Winchester is the author of: Stress-free Marketing: Practical Advice for the Newly Published Author FREE to Amazon Prime Members.

$ 2.99 for Kindle Owners

And, In the Garden with Billy: Lessons About Life, Love & Tomatoes, the book that launched me on this journey.

Visit her at www.reneawinchester.com or visit her at one of her workshops.

The Editing Process

Today I offer a rare glimpse into my writing world, an actual photograph of (revision number one) for my current manuscript.  Before I begin, let me clearly state this is my way of editing; it is not the only way. Find what works for you. Don’t force yourself (or your muse) into a painful routine that doesn’t work.

Writing should not be (all that) painful. A little bit uncomfortable, yes; blood on the forehead, no.

Looking at the photo let’s be honest…it is a jumbled mess. Many authors would take one look at this debacle and run. I actually find comfort in this.

You are witnessing the birth process.

You can see there is an entire section blocked off with a big NO written on it. However, the confusion begins with the words “Keep this sheet” noted at the bottom of the “no”page.  Why would I emphatically write NO, but still decide to keep this sheet when I clearly do not like anything on it?

Primarily  because I may decide to use it somewhere else. Since I continually try to improve and grow as an author, saving this edit reminds me of the areas that need improvement. (hint: no writer is perfect).  Being a sensory writer; meaning that I must touch the paper and physically print a manuscript before I bleed edits upon it; you will see on the left of this photo is a simple sheet of notebook paper whereby I have freewritten an addition (which I marked through a portion of).

This my friend, is the process. That of writing, READING, marking through, bleeding upon, until finally we release a manuscript to a professional editor who will do exactly the same thing. This is why books take years. This is why we press on, scribbling across pages that ultimately look like train wrecks.

For those who are asking: How does this help me market my manuscript? the answer is simple. Clean manuscripts translate into error-free books. We endure this process to bring our readers something they will adore and, hopefully, something they will encourage their friends to read.

Thank you to everyone who subscribes to  my blog. Please forward it to others who are walking their own personal path toward publication.

Stress-free Marketing: Practical Advice for the Newly Published Author FREE to Amazon Prime Members.

$ 2.99 for Kindle Owners  Paperback

And, In the Garden with Billy: Lessons About Life, Love & Tomatoes, the book that launched me on this journey.

Have a wonderful day.

Renea

Today, A Little Humor

"I'm going to write a novel."

Today I would like to share a funny video posted by dwkazzie who has created an entertaining video. Please click the link below.

Truly a funny four-minute look at the misconceptions some authors have. Enjoy, and I dare you not to laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9fc-crEFDw&feature=player_embedded

Have a blessed weekend, and please share this post with friends.

Renea Winchester

Stress-free Marketing: Practical Advice for the Newly Published Author FREE for Amazon Prime Members

$ 2.99 for Kindle Owners

Also available: In the Garden with Billy: Lessons About Life, Love & Tomatoes

Finding Balance

The life of an author is filled with chaos.

Whether placing fictional characters in difficult situations, or personally pressing through the real-life anxiety of speaking to a crowd, those who have chosen the author’s life must be brave. Constantly bombarded with life issues as well as characters who-if we’re honest-love to misbehave, oftentimes our lives spin out of control. Today I want to talk about balance.

Dear one, you must take care of yourself.

Pouring your soul into a manuscript is an investment of time. Few authors can boast enough book sales to maintain a comfortable lifestyle. Instead, we have a “real job” that pays the bills. We write during our lunch hour, while waiting in line at carpool, before the sun comes up, or after it goes down. Writers seize every opportunity to put pen to paper, an act that sometimes leads to burnout. Following this initial release comes a period of editing, re-editing, asking veteran readers and authors their opinion on your work, and the assembly of a marketing list.

All necessary.

All tiring.

All worth the effort.

The industry classifies this as a “birthing process.” As a mother, let me say that childbirth is much less traumatic to the body than book birthing. Book birthing is exhausting, never for the weak or faint of heart.

Take heed those who are about to release a book, I am talking to you. Before launching your book into the world, take a moment to breathe. Seek peace and quiet, if only for a moment.

Step away from the work.

Let it rest while you do the same.

Treat yourself to lunch with friends; lounge in a bubble bath; take a walk; savor a steamy cup of coffee. You will be glad you did.

As always, I welcome your responses. Visit me on Facebook or my website.

Expressing Yourself!

Recently I attended a workshop where someone asked the question: “How many exclamation marks should my manuscript contain?”

The instructor replied: “Before I answer that question,  tell me how many your manuscript contains.”

“Approximately one hundred and thirty.”

The (multiple-award-winning) instructor’s response: “That’s one hundred twenty-nine too many.”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Recently I edited a chapter in which the words “of course,”  appeared eight times. 

After reading the chapter I wondered, what in the world was this author thinking?

Unfortunately, the author was me!!!!

Don’t you hate it when you read something you have written and then wonder, what in the world was I thinking?

Of course. Upon re-reading the work I realized that the phrase was, of course, completely unnecessary.

So are most exclamation marks! Especially sentences where the author uses multiple marks as a way to really express emotion!!!!!

Our job as the author, and storyteller,  is to choose words that adequately express emotion. While it is grammatically correct to write: “Watch out!” It isn’t necessary to decorate emotional dialogue with punctuation as in the example below:

“No!” I screamed as Angela inched closer to the edge. “Stop!”

While reaching toward her I said, “Take my hand!”

Shaking her head, Angela took another step backward. “Stay away from me!”

“Please!!! Don’t do this! You mean too much to me!”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Be honest, didn’t you get tired of seeing an exclamation mark at the end of every sentence?

Of course you did.

Readers quickly tire of exclamation marks and repeated phrases (which my critique group calls “an echo”).

Using a yellow, orange, pink, and light blue highlighter, re-read your work and mark phrases that repeat and unnecessarily punctuation. Then take a moment to review how much color appears on the pages. You might , of course, wish to remove every single word that doesn’t strengthen your manuscript.

As always, I welcome your comments.

Blessings and bestsellers to you!

Renea Winchester is an award-winning author of the book In the Garden with Billy: Lessons About Life, Love & Tomatoes, (Little Creek Books 2010) and Stress-free Marketing: Practical Advice for the Newly Published Author (Make Your Mark Publishing 2011). Visit Renea’s website at www.reneawinchester.com and her other blog at http://blogthefarm.wordpress.com

Happy New Year

In preparation for the 2012, I clean house and set goals for the new year. This week, I found a Polaroid of my daughter taken when she was in kindergarten. It was fireman’s day, evidenced by the lopsided hat atop her tiny head. She stood with her friends, all were smiling, looking directly at me and the future ahead. Beside the picture I uncovered a Steven Covey journal with a ten year old personal mission statement which read, “someday I would like to write a book.” Blinking away tears, I realize so much time has passed. My daughter has grown into a beautiful teenager and my dream is a reality. 

This year instead of finishing the novel in progress, I released: Stress-free Marketing: Practical Advice forthe Newly Published author… a project that was not on my “to-do” list. I wrote Stress-freeMarketing: Practical Advice for the Newly Published Author after meeting two North Carolina authors at a conference. One had a beautiful memoir filled with professional photographs. However, in today’s market the  $ 34.95 price tag was professional suicide. The second author remortgaged her home only to see her dream disappear in foreclosure while unsold stock gathered dust. Each day images of these women haunted me making it impossible to focus on my manuscript. Then the muse fell silent.

 

Upon sharing my intent to write this book, my husband and I had quite the “discussion.” He argued I was making a terrible mistake. He believed emerging and self-published authors are obstinate, opinionated and “dead set on doing what they want to do regardless of who tries to help them.” Further, he explained, “this is why they self-publish, because they don’t want to listen to anyone in the industry.”

 

I defended that “if someone had tried to share marketing tips with me when I was starting out, I would have listened.” Surely, I reasoned, newbies would listen to someone who had “been there” and “done that.” Surely, they would want to do everything in their power to sell the books they had worked so hard to write.

 

He crossed his arms and reminded me that I am “not like everyone else.” He reminded me that I had spent months researching my market and compiling contacts. Then he gave me a we’ll see look before saying, “Trust me, writers aren’t going to listen to a word you have to say.”

 

I tried not to cry as his resolve remained. I explained that writers help each other and that I am “doing my part to pay it forward.”

 

Veteran authors whom I interviewed agreed with my husband. They suggested I lead marketing workshops, instead of authoring a book aimed at emerging authors. I listened…kinda.

 

Partnering with local brick and mortar bookstores and small businesses, I now offer workshops to emerging authors at a ridiculously low price. Workshop attendees receive a copy of the book, a password to a community blog specifically designed for new authors, and two hours of instruction from yours truly. Businesses who host a workshop receive half of the fee as my way of saying thank you for shelving copies of In the Garden with Billy: Lessons about Life & Tomatoes. I hope these classes will encourage and teach emerging authors as well as benefit small businesses, especially in the winter months when business is slow. The workshops will not make me independently wealthy and the fact that I am not promoting this book with a tour means those who monitor sales information won’t be pleased.

 

Insert crossed arms from the beloved.

 

I like to think of Stress- free Marketing:Practical Advice for the Newly Published Author as a community service project. Someone needed to guide the fledglings and who better than a fellow fledgling that experienced extraordinary success with her first book. Thank you readers, booksellers and book clubs! Knowing that I have written something that, when read, will guide others on their pathway to publication pleases me. I have done my part. The rest is up to referrals and the magic of social media. If I can save one author from financial ruin, my work is done. Once again, the muse is smiling. Once again, it is time to set attainable goals. Once again, I am writing. 

 

Have you set goals for 2012?

 

As we begin a new year, many of us wonder what the future holds. Hopefully I will finish the novel or perhaps the sequel to In the Garden with Billy. I will continue to support independent booksellers and volunteer at the public library, both need our help. And my personal mission statement remains, “I will write a book.”

 

Visit Renea Winchester’s website for more information about her work.