Come for the Mysteries. Stay for the Characters.
Welcome to my writing pages! The main focus of this website is to offer writing tips, prompts, and inspiration to writers, no matter what their genre or skill level. You’ll also find information on my published works and the ones in progress. My schedule for posting is:
Monday Sparks: Writing prompts to fan your creative flame.
Thursdays – Writing tips based on a monthly theme
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As I wrote last week and the week before, the first key to publishing is research, and the second is networking, both to find people to help you along your writing path and people you can help. The third key to publishing is persistence. This is the one key of which you have almost total control. All the research and networking will do you no good if you don’t persist when the going gets tough. And the going is tough most of the time.
Although I’d been writing stories since I was seven, I didn’t write consistently until I was eighteen. In my twenties, I began researching how to get published. But I didn’t publish my first piece of fiction until I was forty-seven.
Part of the problem was I didn’t do enough research into the craft of writing. I thought you either had the gift or you didn’t. I didn’t realize writing was an art you could learn and get steadily better at. I also didn’t network to gain a better understanding of the publishing industry.
It wasn’t until 2015, when I joined my local chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers, that I learned how difficult both the art of writing and the business of publishing are. At that point, I could have given up and written for my own enjoyment, which is a fine choice. Or I could dig in and learn.
So my persistence had to kick in. This meant starting a website when I knew nothing about blogging, and keeping up the blogging when it seems like nobody reads my posts. It also meant establishing a schedule for social media posts and sticking to it whether I get a response or not. I had to research newsletters and figure how to put something together of value each quarter. (By the way, you can sign up for my newsletter in the sidebar. See where my persistence comes in?)
I went to pitch session after pitch session with agents and editors, getting all sorts of feedback, including that I should switch from writing mysteries to romantic suspense. I gave up the YA crime novel I’d worked on for literally decades when the characters in my Christmas mystery, “A Rose from the Ashes” sprang to life so vividly that I had to write about them, and the publisher of “A Rose” wanted to see what else I could write. I pushed through back and shoulder pain, crazy schedules, and family conflicts to complete my latest novel.
All of those actions come under persistence. From the time I decided wanted to write a novel to the publication of my first one, A Shadow on the Snow, in 20201 was thirty-two years.
So don’t get discouraged when the pitch session with your favorite agent goes nowhere or your views on your website take a nose dive. Slow and steady persistence will win the race.
Out of the three keys to publishing–research, networking, and persistence–which do you find the easiest to do? Which one is the hardest?
Publishing is a whole different world from writing, a world I find fascinating. And sometimes frustrating, if we start talking about marketing. Authors, what surprised you the most about publishing?
What surprised met the most was how much I enjoyed working on the cover design for my mystery, A Shadow on the Snow. First, it’s a privilege for an author to have input on the cover. At big publishing houses, authors have no say in what cover goes on their book. Mt.Zion Ridge Press is a small publishing house and wants authors to give their opinions.
I loved working with Tamera Lynn Kraft on the cover. I filled out a detailed questionnaire on what I thought the cover should look like. Then Tamera sent me pictures, and we seesawed with emails, exchanging ideas until we created the cover below. The challenge of designing a cover that accurately reflected my novel was so interesting. I couldn’t be more pleased with the results.
So I’d love to hear from authors what you surprised you the most about publishing.
Last week, I wrote about what I see as the first key to publishing, researching the industry. This week, I’m discussing the second key to publishing, networking. I don’t really like the tern “networking”. Although it refers to professional relationships, it still sounds cold and a bit predatory. So when networking, not only should we get to know people who can help us in our publishing journey, we should look for people we can help as well. Networking should be a two way street.
I would have published nothing if I hadn’t crept out of my introverted shell and began talking to people in the publishing industry. My first step was to join the Ohio chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers. Writers with different sorts of successes were in the group and welcomed me as a rookie. Two years after I joined the chapter, two authors, Tamera Lynn Kraft and Michelle L. Levigne, proposed our chapter publish a collection of Christian fiction short stories set in Ohio. I jumped at the chance.
Tamera and Michelle decided the anthology would be the first book published by their new press, Mt. Zion Ridge Press. Because I worked hard to write a decent story and acted professional as I met deadlines and helped to promote the anthology, I established some credibility with them. When they asked for submissions for a Christmas anthology, I wrote “A Rose from the Ashes”. Tamera and Michelle like that so much that they wanted to see what I wrote next, which led to A Shadow on the Snow.
All of these stories saw the light of print because I got to know writers in my writing group.
As I’ve blogged and attended writing conferences, I’ve met writers I can help. When author Philip Rivera, who writes funny family stories, asked for critiques, I was able to give him my opinion. When YA author M. Liz Boyle asked for information on doing audiobooks as an independent author, I asked Michelle Levigne, who provided detailed advice. Author Therese Van Meter and I phone each other regularly to offer encouragement on our writing journeys.
I feel better if I can help someone, especially if I can offer help that I wished I’d had when I first looked into writing and publishing.
What’s your opinion on the best way to network?
Although writing conferences can be expensive, you can’t beat them for education in the craft of writing and access to agents and editors. What writing conferences do you recommend?
If you write Christian fiction, I recommend American Christian Fiction Writers national conference. I’ve attended 3 times and learned a lot both about writing and marketing. I also signed up for 15 minute appointments with agents and editors to pitch my novel. Those appointments make the price of the conference worth it because agents and editors take a writer, who has invest time and money in a conference more seriously, than someone who just sends a query letter.
If you write Christian fiction or nonfiction, try the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. I’ve attended once, in 2020. Then the conference was much smaller, which I liked. So I don’t know if a fully attended conference would feel overwhelming. Again, they had great sessions and opportunities to talk to industry professionals and successful authors one on one.
If you write anything in the mystery genre, check out Killer Nashville International Writers Conference. I attended in 2019. I liked the smaller conference and the sessions are what any mystery writer would love. There were sessions on writing, marketing, and with law enforcement professionals talking about what they do.
The biggest problem with conferences is the cost. But if you want to stay at home and save money, you should try the conference hosted by Mt. Zion Ridge Press. They offer sessions for both fiction and nonfiction Christian writers. The appointments with editors are not only for Mt. Zion Ridge Press but other small Christian presses. I’ve attended and taught at the conference and enjoyed being on both a teacher and student.
Now it’s your turn. What writing conferences do you recommend?
Over the next two weeks, I’ll be highlighting what I think are the three keys to getting a book published. The first key to publishing is research. I’d like to tell you that there’s a book or website with directions or blueprints on how your book can become traditionally published. But no such resource exists. Understanding publishing comes down to research. But how?
Publishers Weekly is the bible for the publishing industry. It has articles about what’s going on in the industry as well as book reviews. Reading book reviews for the genre you write is critical to learning how your manuscript fits into today’s market. After you’ve read them for awhile, you’ll know who are the bestsellers in your genre and be able to spot trends. I always pick up Book Page, a free book review magazine with author interviews, at my library, and I read book reviews in my local paper. I’m also a member of Goodreads, and when they send out their monthly email, listing new books, I look at mysteries and YA books.
Once you begin reading review journals, you start to see what genres different publishing houses specialize in. You can visit their sites to learn what their rules are for submitting manuscripts. All big houses require you to have an agent, who will submit the manuscript for you. Smaller houses may not have that requirement. That’s when you dig in and research.
Check out the acknowledgment section in books published within the last five years that are similar to your manuscript. Often in the acknowledgements, the author will thank his or her agent and editor and mention their agency and publishing house. Go to the sites for those businesses and see what the submission rules are. More well-established agents may not be taking on new clients. But younger agents in a respected agency are eager for new authors, and you may be able to approach them.
Writing conferences are a wonderful way to meet other writers and provide access to agents and editors that you might not otherwise have. But not all conferences are created equal. You should ask yourself these questions as you research a writing conference:
Writing groups are another great way to meet writers in a mutually beneficial exchange of support, expertise, and advice. But again, not all writing groups are created equal. When I first started writing, I joined several groups in which the members each read a portion of their work in progress at each meeting. Some people would comment, but really, the groups existed just to let the members show off.
When I joined the Ohio chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers, a national organization that had 15 years of history, I met writers of various skill levels and publishing success. They took writing seriously and offered serious advice on how I could advance in my writing and marketing.
First, you only have so much time. It’s better to spend it in research than going to worthless conferences and writing groups until you happen to hit on a good one.
Second, there are way, way, WAY too many people just waiting to take your money and give you little or nothing in return. If a publishing house requires any money from an author to publish her book, that publishing house is not a traditional publisher. It’s either a vanity press, which will publish anything as long as you pay them, or a hybrid publisher, which charge authors for certain services. But some hybrid publishers are vanity publishers with a new name. Again, research is key.
I don’t mind repeating the most important point: If you want to be traditionally published, then you don’t pay any publishing house a dime. They don’t get paid until you sell books.
Authors, what do you think are a key to publishing?
JPC Allen Writes