IWSG Blog Hop: Self-publishing or Traditional Publishing?

IWSG Blog Hop---the first Wednesday of every Month.

Hello and welcome to the Insecure Writer's Support Group Blog Hop!

What is the Insecure Writer's Support Group?

Founded by author Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writer’s Support Group offers support for writers and authors alike. It provides an online database, articles and tips, a monthly blog posting, a Facebook and Instagram group, Twitter, and a monthly newsletter. To find out more, click this link:  Insecure Writer’s Support Group

The purpose of the group is 

* to share and encourage. 

* Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. 

* Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. 

*It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! 

You're invited to become a member of this supportive group. Click here to sign-up to join.

September 5 question - What publishing path are you considering/did you take, and why?

I sent out 24 queries for my book for middle grade girls in 2009-2010 and received 24 rejections. Still believing the book was (and is) an inspiring book for girls, I decided to self-publish my first book. Let's just say, I've learned a lot about self-publishing from that experience. It's hard to sell books when you are all alone. 

Being part of  a network is an essential part of selling books because it helps to have many voices shouting about your book online. My first traditional publisher met me thanks to the network I joined when participating in an online course. I was blown away when she chose my first mystery story for her publishing company. After joining this publisher, I learned that a built-in network is a perk when one is published traditionally because all the authors in the house join together to promote each other. 

Meeting folks here at IWSG is also networking. These helpful writers share experiences, offer information about writing publishing, and marketing, as well as support each other with friendship and promotions.

If you have a strong network, then you'll have an easier time selling books, so you may consider self-publishing. You can build a network, but it takes time. In my case, with traditional publishers, I've had lots of support instantly from fellow authors.

Today I'm a "hybrid publisher." My mysteries are with a traditional publisher, Books We Love Publishing, and my non-fiction books are self-published. I'd say I have the best of both worlds!

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The 5 W's of Story Guest Authors Event

Looking forward to hosting more guest authors this month and sharing the Five W's of their stories! Come back and discover authors and great reads. AND, You may win a giveaway from an author.

You're invited to be my guest on the 5 W's. Send me an email at jqrose02 (at) gmail (dot) com.

SEPTEMBER

12           C. Lee Mackenzie

26           Susan Davis

Follow this blog-- Focused on Story 

The IWSG members blog the first Wednesday of every month.  The list of bloggers is always available so you can hop around to the author blogs filled with humor, advice, and thought-provoking topics on writing and publishing. Find the list of participants at
 Alex's IWSG page. 

Plan Your Own DIY Writing Retreat by Nan Sanders Pokerwinski

I am a Writer!

Hello and welcome to the J.Q. Rose blog. 

I invited my good friend and writing partner Nan Sanders Pokerwinski this week to share her plan for her own DIY (Do It Yourself), writing retreat. Don't we all wish we could escape and focus on our writing? Nan explains how she did it.  
Nan lives in West Michigan where she reads, writes, wanders the woods and makes collages. She's a former Detroit Free Press science writer and contributing editor at Health and Alternative Medicine magazines, with freelance articles also published in print and online media. Her journalistic work, under the byline Nancy Ross-Flanigan, has garnered awards and a Pulitzer nomination. 

Thanks, Nan, for sharing your DIY retreat with us! 

My DIY Writing Retreat by Nan Sanders Pokerwinski

Every time I open one of the writers' magazines I regularly read, I see ads or articles about writing retreats and residencies. Ten days in a rustic cabin in Denali National Park. Up to twelve weeks in "the secluded hills overlooking the Temecula Valley in southern California." Two months on a 450-acre estate in New Hampshire, with private room, studio space and meals provided. Two to four weeks at Steepletop, the former estate of Edna St. Vincent Millay in Austerlitz, New York.

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Ready to write.

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​I imagine myself in one of these settings, free of all responsibilities, with nothing to do but write, take walks, think and write some more. What a blissful and productive existence! Then I think: Wait a minute. I live in the woods, in a relatively secluded setting. Why can't I have my own writing retreat right here? 

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Responsibilities at home

​Well, for one thing, "right here" is home, and home is where bills appear in the mailbox, demanding to be paid; where laundry piles up; where groceries must be bought and meals cooked; where the telephone rings and the UPS guy knocks on the door; where household projects, hobbies and other interesting activities beckon; where I have a mate who gives me plenty of time and space to pursue my interests, but still deserves my attention.

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​Still . . . what if I could take a break from at least some of those things for a whole week? How much time could I free up for writing? I decide to give it a try.

Schedule your dates

​I take a look at my calendar, find a rare week in November with no appointments or meetings, print "WRITING RETREAT" across five days and make a plan. I'll do-ahead as much as I can—laundry, grocery shopping, bill-paying—and I'll figure out quick-to-prepare meals. I can even write and lay out that week's blog installment in advance and schedule to  post automatically on the appropriate day.

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Write out your goals

​I set a few goals (or at least intentions): revise and send off a chapbook-length piece I want to submit to a writing contest, finish a read-through and light revision of my memoir manuscript before starting a new round of queries, make headway (any at all) on my novel-in-progress, which has been moving slowly. Notice I don't impose any word-count goals on myself. I realize that works for some writers, and I certainly know how to crank out the pages when I need to, but I want to work more deliberately and thoughtfully during my retreat.

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Yoga and exercise included in the plan

​Then some decisions to make. Besides writing, what will I do—and not do—during retreat week? Keeping up my yoga practice and exercise routines seems essential—I don't want to turn into a slug—and not only my daily regimens, but also Monday morning group practice with the Woodland Yoga Women and Friday afternoon's hike with the Wander Women, which will give me doses of social activity as well. (None of this is such a departure from what writers do at "real" retreats, some of which have hiking and yoga built in.)

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​TV-watching won't be an issue—we don't have it—but I'll allow for one or two Netflix movie breaks. As for email and social media, I'll try to answer only essential emails and ignore Facebook and Twitter as much as possible. Ditto online news stories, which have been snagging my attention lately.

​So far, so good. The next decision takes some thought, though. Some years ago, I read Clarity Quest, a book about preparing for and taking a week-long mini-sabbatical. It stressed the importance of letting all the important people in your life know that you're taking time out to focus on something that matters to you. I get the rationale: announcing your plans not only serves notice, it also strengthens your resolve by making you accountable.

Don't broadcast you are planning a retreat.

​I get it in theory, but in practice I find that advertising my intentions doesn't always work the way it's supposed to. Sometimes it seems that broadcasting my unavailability makes people all the more determined to interrupt me ("I know you're busy,but ... ") and me all the more irritable when they do. So I don't talk much about my DIY retreat beforehand. I mention it in passing to my hubby Ray and a couple of friends but don't elaborate.

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​The designated week arrives. How does the retreat work out? 

Verdict: Like a good book, this week had a satisfying ending.
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​RETREAT RECAP
In some ways, retreat week was not so different from any other week in the writing life. Many writers put in this much time—and a lot more—week in and week out. I certainly did when I wrote for a living. Yet something did feel special and retreat-y about this week. I gave myself a time-out, granted myself permission to ignore things that normally distract me from writing, and committed to squeezing writing into as many spaces in my days as possible. 

​At the end of the week, I felt satisfied that I'd met my goals, modest as they were. Even more than fulfilling objectives, I'd discovered I can have a productive retreat without leaving home and husband. Now I know I can choose another week and repeat the process without turning my life and usual routines upside down.

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​Can you? Maybe it's not writing you want to focus on, but some other passion or project that gets pushed aside by daily demands. How can you carve out a little more time to pursue it? If you create your own DIY retreat, let me know how it goes.

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Thank you, Nan! If you would like the full account of her retreat, click here to go to Nan's blog, HeartWood.  Spend some time there exploring her witty and warm stories about cultivating creativity, connection and contentment wherever you are.

Writer Nancy Sanders Pokerwinski

Nan is working on a novel and a series of autobiographical collages. She is currently seeking publication of her memoir, Mango Rash: Survival Lessons in the Land of Frangipani and Fanta, excerpts of which were finalists for two literary awards

Here's the blurb for her excellent memoir, MANGO RASH:

With a mix of in-the-moment teenage sass and decades-later perspective, MANGO RASH chronicles an American girl's stumbles through two alien landscapes at once: adolescence and the remote U.S. territory of American Samoa, which was experiencing its own growing pains in the 1960s, while undergoing "modernization," American-style.

You can catch Nan online at these links:

TWITTER: @nansanpo

HeartWood

Insecure Writers Support Group Blog Hop: Love and Hate for My Critique Group

Hello and welcome to  the IWSG blog hop. 

What is IWSG? Founder of the  Insecure Writer’s Support Group and author Alex J Cavanaugh explains the group's purpose is "to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!" You're invited to become a member of this supportive group.

The group blogs the first Wednesday of every month.  The list of bloggers is always available so you can hop around to the author blogs filled with humor, advice, and thought-provoking topics on writing and publishing. You can find the list of participants at Alex's IWSG page. 

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Love and Hate for My Critique Group by J.Q. Rose

When I re-read the title of this post, I thought it really sounded harsh. Let me explain. I don't hate my critique partners. In fact I love them for all their encouragement and support for my writing projects. I would not be a published author without them.

We meet every week in the summer at a local coffee shop. We spread out on the biggest table we can find because there are four of us, eat sweets, and try the different coffees and beverages. Not only do we share our submissions, but also family news, work news, etc. And sprinkled throughout the meeting, are a lot of laughs and just pure joy. 

One of our members was having trouble with stress headaches a couple of weeks ago. She reported to us that after the meeting her headache was gone! 

Brainstorming is an essential part of the critique group's meeting.
Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net by Stuart Miles

One of the highlights of our meetings is the brainstorming. I love when we throw around ideas to help solve problems in our manuscripts,  develop a character, decide how to kill off the villain, and more. I sometimes check the room to see if any patrons are eavesdropping when we talk about guns, poisons, ways to murder characters!! I hope they realize we are only using our imaginations!

I also love my crit group for offering feedback in my story such as 

• The mc begins eating her burrito, but never ordered it from anyone.
• A joke or a scene doesn't work
• The character's name is Brian in previous chapters and Herb in the present submission. Of course, I have to laugh when they look up with questioning eyes--Who's Herb? (Last week I had missed a few chapters of one gal's story and was reading about Hank. I decided not to ask "who's Hank," so I kept reading. When I read "Hank trotted off with a saddle pack on his back," I laughed out loud. He was a horse, not a man!)
• The same information is repeated several times. Once is enough.
• The action is going too fast.
• The scene needs the mc's internal thoughts

I'm sure you've had similar experiences. And I bet you appreciate the constructive criticism as much as I do.

So what do I hate about a crit group?  For instance, I submitted a chapter where the bad guy and his sister had to go to police headquarters. I had them together in the same room to give their statements. The give and take in the conversation was good, and the body language was fine. However, they informed me, this is not correct police procedure. The police would never allow them to be together to give a statement. Aaarghhhh. That's what I hate--I had to re-write the entire scene. 

So I put on my big girl panties, thanked them for finding this flaw, and re-wrote the chapter in a different setting. To tell the truth, it turned out to be much improved over the first attempt.

Not only can a crit group help you in writing your story, push you to complete it, and submit it to a publisher, but the group can market their books together too. We have made presentations to local groups and shared opportunities to promote our books at different venues. 

In this big world of publishing, it's good to know you have friends who will help you through the roller coaster ride of success and insecurity. Everyone needs someone to be a supporter to applaud your victories and be there for your rejections.

 The IWSG writers certainly fit this need for all of us who work alone. We come together to help fellow writers with their insecurities and do a happy dance when one of us celebrates a milestone in their writing career.

Do you belong to a critique group or have a critique partner? What has been your experience? Please leave a comment below.

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Future Readers, This Week, FREE Writing Tips Book

Once our words are inked to paper, they continue to speak for generations to come. A writer has an infinite voice that travels through time, impacting those who wish to hear it. 

- Susan Hornbach 

Bag Full of Books for Kids

Photo by J.Q. Rose

Future Readers by J.Q. Rose

When I read Susan Hornbach's quote above, I got goose bumps. I've had my nose in my WIP trying to "fix" plot holes, enhance my characters, and decide on a satisfying ending to the story. I never thought about the longevity of my writing. Susan is correct. Whether our books are in print or e-books, once we as writers let them go, they are "out there" for the generations to read.

I doubt Shakespeare looked into the future and believed his plays would be performed in the 21st century. Do you think Mark Twain ever imagined folks would still be laughing at the shenanigans of Huckleberry Finn today? To think my great grandchildren, yet unborn, might pick up a book that I wrote boggles my mind. I'm sure they will be reading or listening on some contraption not yet invented. 

Have you ever thought about how your stories will impact both present and future readers? This question drives me to develop the best stories I can write and to believe in the message I am sending through my words. That's a whole lot of responsibility to shoulder. 

As we come to the close of this year, many of us choose goals for next year. Will you choose to write the best stories possible with messages that will resonate with generations to come? 

This Week:
Thursday, December 18--Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing has over 100 writing tips for you in The Insecure Writers' Support Group Guide to Publishing and Beyond. One of my tips on marketing is included.

Find it  FREE at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, Goodreads.

I am giving the romance and mystery authors a break for the holidays. 

Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing series will resume January 9, 2015

We'll resume the series on January 8 when mystery author Sara-Jayne Townsend offers her writing tips and advice. Sara's newly released title, Dead Cool: A Shara Summers Mystery, is second in the series of the Shara Summers Mysteries. Find it at amazon, MuseItUp Publishing, and all major online sellers.

DEAD COOL
They were dying to be famous.
And someone was prepared to kill for it.
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Take a break during the holidays 
with this quirky, entertaining short story from J.Q. Rose.

The Good Neighbors.

Jim and Gloria Hart, snowbirds from Michigan, always help out the neighbors in their Florida retirement community when asked. 

Who knew being good could turn out to be so bad? 

The Joy of Writing

Promising writer and fisherman

It was my pleasure and delight to listen to my six-year-old grandson read his story to me yesterday afternoon. He was so excited to share it--and oh, yes, the illustrations that accompanied it. The story was about a "trdl" and a snake named Hiss. His eyes grew wide with excitement as he read the two animals went to the "mestrius" (Mysterious) Woods. He giggled when those words rolled off his tongue.


I told him I loved his choice of "sithering" slithering to describe the snake. And he agreed it was the right word for a snake.


I cannot tell you the end of the story because he is only on page 6 and it is going to be 13 pages long. It may be awhile before he finishes the tale because he has to draw the "trdl" and Hiss as they go along on their adventure.


Let me tell you what an adventure it was for me soaking in all the joy and delight this six-year-old exhibited at sharing this wonderful story. I hope he never loses this very special feeling of satisfaction and happiness he receives while writing a story.


I too sometimes get giddy when reading my own story. Or should I admit that? I chuckle at some of the particularly humorous phrases (funny to me anyway) and cringe at frightening scenes and even get a bit misty-eyed when I read an especially warm and meaningful conversation. I must say I enjoy the "work."


Yes we all have those days when we can't stick three words together, but then I remember the exhilaration when just the right phrases and emotions tumble out on the page. That keeps me going.


Hearing my grandson's giggles and chuckles as he read his work certainly reminded me of the joy of writing.