Choices is very happy to host Linda Stewart Henley while she's on her Women on Writing WOW! virtual book tour. Her book, Waterbury Winter, a heart-warming novel about ordinary people reclaiming their dormant potential, celebrates the restorative value of art and the joy to be found in keeping promises. And especially for Choices, Linda has also written about the advantages of hiring an editor to ready our books for publication. I agree. Editors have been so valuable when I was getting ready to publish my books as well. Here's Linda: WHAT A DIFFERENCE AN EDITOR MAKES by Linda Stewart Henley When my debut novel Estelle was accepted for publication my first reaction, not surprisingly, was one of exhilaration. I had written a novel that had caught someone’s attention, and I would become an author. Then reality set in. How could the publisher judge its worth from only the first fifty pages? Maybe it wasn’t good enough. Maybe I would embarrass myself by sending it out into the … [Read more...]
What’s a platform anyway?
A few weeks ago I was a panel member at a writer's conference workshop. The subject was building a platform. Today, I'd like to share a few points that we made at the workshop. But first, here's my go-to person for all things writer-ly, Jane Friedman, who tells us what platforms are and are not: "What editors and agents typically mean by platform They're looking for someone with visibility and authority who has proven reach to a target audience. Let's break this down further. Visibility. Who knows you? Who is aware of your work? Where does your work regularly appear? How many people see it? How does it spread? Where does it spread? What communities are you a part of? Who do you influence? Where do you make waves? Authority. What's your credibility? What are your credentials? (This is particularly important for nonfiction writers; it is less important for fiction writers, though it can play a role. Just take a look at any graduate of the Iowa MFA program.) … [Read more...]
Meet Eric Trant – author of Steps!
Please welcome Erik Trant, best selling author of Steps. He's here for his second blog tour stop with Women on Writing - WOW! Eric's subject is very dear to my heart since I spent a lot of years squeezing my creative writing aspirations in between the proposal deadlines I had to meet working my day job in the aerospace industry. Even now, my writing life has gone by the wayside for a few months while I work a consulting job. I can barely eek out a journal entry each day. However, I truly believe my work as a technical writer/editor and proposal manager taught me the discipline I needed to become a published author. Eric's insight into this topic teaches us how we all can benefit from a second career. Here's Eric. Part-Time Authors: How a Second Career Improves Your Writing by Erik Trant I suppose the dream is to begin writing around year ten, publish somewhere just north of puberty, bang out a Masters of Fine Art at the local institute, and scoot your way onto the best-seller's … [Read more...]
