Why You Need to Be a Reading Writer

Her: I don’t read fiction.

Me: But you write fiction.

Her: But I don’t like what they’re publishing today.

Me: They why do you write fiction.

There isn’t much about being a writer that is easy. What’s the exception? Reading! Yet, I talk to a lot of writers who aren’t readers. Some don’t read anything new. Some don’t read at all. Others read one or two books a year.

But if you are going to write and sell today, you need to read what is being published today. Here’s why.

Study the Market

Reading recently published books is the best way to study the market. When you read what is being published now, you get a feel for . . . can you guess it? What is being published now!

My sister and I both loved rhyming picture books. We grew up on Dr. Seuss. Yet that isn’t what you want to write today. In fact, a lot of publishers will say point blank that they don’t want to see Dr. Seuss-style rhyme. After all, Dr. Seuss already did it. Instead, you need to write in a way that meshes with today’s market. And the best way to understand what that is is to read what is being published now.

Study the Competition

Just as editors don’t want you to be Dr. Seuss, they don’t want you to be any of the contemporary authors they are currently publishing. So it may seem like a bad idea to read the competition, but it is actually a very good idea.

If you have an idea for a book about a little lion who lives in the suburbs, you need to read Dandy. When you do, you might decide that your story is too like Ame Dyckman’s. After all, that book has already been written. You want to do something different.

But you can’t be sure your book is different if you don’t know what is out there. Read new books!

Learn from What You Don’t Like

The writer I talked to doesn’t read fiction because she doesn’t like any of today’s fiction. The problem is that this is what is being published today. If you don’t like it, there’s a slim chance that your work will be a good fit for the current market.

But you don’t have to love everything you read. I recently read a book by an author I love. LOVE! I made it through this book through determination. I didn’t like it much at all. And I finally realized why. The main character was naïve and oh so very gullible. And it wasn’t like this character was gullible only with teachers. After all, a character might believe authority figures mean them well even when this is not true. This character believed everyone! And this was a character who should have had enough street smarts to be skeptical.

When I consistently find characters in a given genre annoying, I know I need to step reading this genre. I also know that I shouldn’t try writing in this genre. It just isn’t right for me.

Writers need to read. It helps us develop craft as well as knowledge of the current market. What are you reading right now?

–SueBE

3 Ways to Add Creepiness to Your Picture Book Manuscript

I love creepy stories. Jump scares, atmosphere, and . . . what is that sound? Gore and violence don’t play as well with me, but creepy-ness? Yes, please! The thing to remember when writing for the youngest readers is that these books aren’t horror. They are simply creepy. How do you make that work?

Weird Details

In Creepy Carrots, Jasper loves the carrots that grow in Crackenhopper Field. They are abundant, free, and delicious. But then the start to follow him. How is that even possible? Who knows? But the illustrations show Jasper being trailed by the shadows of creepy carrots.

A pair of shoes that is always out of place. A talking doll that makes a creepy, creaking noise. The smell of spoiled milk. All of these things are weird but they could easily be used to create a creepy picture book atmosphere, especially if . . .

Scared Character

You show that your character is afraid. A character that notices weird details or checks under their bed is going to look frightened. And the best part about showing your character acting afraid is that you don’t have to tell the reader “Jasper was terrified.”

Instead show Jasper trying to stay up all night, trying to get the family dog to sleep with him, or laying a trap.

Descriptions

The descriptions that you use can easily create a frightening atmosphere. A tree could look like a Greek column or a silent sentinel. The branches could be skeletal or grasping. The tree could creak in the wind.

Humor

Remember that for an especially sensitive young reader, a story could quickly become too creepy. How do you snap them back to a lighter frame of mind? Add some humor!

Jasper is being followed not by a bully but by carrots. A haunted toy could be a clown but some people actually think clowns are scary. Instead, it could be a bouncing ball.

As with every manuscript, a creepy picture book will not appeal to every child. What is creepy fun for one may be too much for another. All you can do it write a solid piece with your audience in mind.

–SueBE

Guest Post: There Are so Many Publishers; How Do You Choose Who to Submit to? by Emily Winslow

I’m taking part in a blog tour for Emily Winslow’s book, Time to Write. As part of this tour, Emily has written a post about how to find the right publisher for your book. Check out the other posts on the tour below but first I’m going to hand this post off to Emily.

Welcome, Emily!

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Guest post: There are so many publishers; how do you choose who to submit to?

By Emily Winslow

There’s no perfect list of publishers you should submit to. Whether a publisher is right for you to aim for depends on your book and its intended audience. And publishers and imprints are constantly changing with more being added all the time; any list would go out of date quickly. So in Time to Write I talk about timeless principles that you can apply to your publisher search whenever you’re looking. The three most important things are:

1) Look at what they’ve done before. If they accomplished exactly that for you, would you be happy?

Disappointment comes when you think they’ll do something and they fall short. If you assume they’ll get your book into brick-and-mortar shops and they turn out to be online only, that will hurt and frustrate you. If you assume they’ll get you reviewed in major media and they don’t, that will hurt and frustrate you. Look for their books. Where are they sold? Where are they reviewed? What is the quality of the cover art and binding? Are their prices competitive? Is the editing good? Is the content of their other books what you wish to have as your peers?

There’s nothing wrong with going with a very small publisher, or an online-only publisher, or a publisher who gets blogger reviews not major media reviews. But do it knowing that that’s what it is, and do it being excited, or at least satisfied, that that’s what it is. Or move on and look at different publishers.

2) If they’re a brand new company, look at the past experience of the founders and employees. Look at what they’ve done elsewhere. For example, if they’ve worked in editing or marketing at a publisher you admire, a publisher that—per the examples above—gets books where you want yours to be, then it could be worth submitting. But if the founders and staff are as new as the company, exercise caution. Publishing is a complex business and chances are beginners won’t know enough to do right by your book.

3) Self-publishing and vanity publishing are different things. Self-publishing is when the author controls the work of publishing themselves and likely pays for some services (such as editing and cover design), while at all times retaining control of the book. Vanity publishing is when an author pays not a service provider for specific, finite work, but pays a publisher for the whole process of publishing, and in the process gives up control of the book. Self-publishing can be a good choice; vanity publishing is NOT a good choice, for many reasons. These companies are wily and in Time to Write I go into detail about how to recognize them.

Querying agents and submitting to publishers are inherently daunting processes, but going into them with knowledge and a realistic understanding of what to expect makes it easier. It’s my hope that Time to Write will help people both with writing their books, and with what comes next, if publishing is part of their goals.

–Emily

Listen to Your Body

I have a book due today. I have the first chapter and outline of another project due in a week. I am prepping for Write Till Christmas which means that I’m outlining a third project.

Yet, I’m starting a new knit project, The Very Stripey Cowl KAL. Why? Because work-work-work is taking a physical and mental toll. My sciatica was acting up. Wednesday I started having vision problems (hello, migraine!). To say I’ve been out of sorts is an understatement.

I need a break. And that means that I’m going to finish my deadline today and take a break. Yes, I have other things to accomplish. That’s that wonderful thing about being a freelancer, a mom, a wife, and a church woman. I always have twelve or twenty things that need to be accomplished.

You want to write. You want to publish. I get it.

But I’m asking you to also pay attention when your body sends you signals! This might mean that you need to get up and move. This is a tough one for me because I tend to sit until I have it all done, whatever all happens to be. “I’m just going to do a little more…” Fortunately for me, my library sponsored the Fall Into Fitness Challenge for October. The goal is to work out for half an hour or walk or run a mile 30 times throughout the month. I hate the thought of failing and I don’t tend to count what I do over the weekend, so I’ve been doing yoga must days and walking on the treadmill. I hope to keep this going next month as well.

The migraines and vision issues? Yeah. That means I need to cut back on screen time. I’m going to accomplish that by keeping up the walking and yoga as well as knitting and even doing some writing by dictation.

What you choose to do with vary depending on the messages you are receiving from your body. Just be sure that you listen so that you have the energy and well-being to keep creating.

–SueBE

Character Driven v Plot Driven

I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of character driven books. Me? I’m a goal oriented person. So it makes sense to me that I like plot driven stories, but this book won me over.

If you don’t know the difference between plot driven and character driven, let me take a moment to explain. A plot driven story focuses on the action. There are twists and turns. The character has firm goals and works toward them. This doesn’t mean that the character always succeeds but the goals are there.

Character driven stories focus on (can you guess?) the character. This is about a personal journey. The plot, such as it is, focuses on character growth and often self-realization.

In this particular book, Arthur Less is about to turn 50. He is not taking it especially well. There is also the problem that the love of his life (he’s too clueless to have figured this out yet) is getting married. To someone else. So Arthur Less attempts to escape both ugly realities by undertaking a worldwide literary journey. Each destination is chosen for a different reason. In Germany, he teaches a university class. In Japan, he researches and writes a magazine story for a foodie magazine. In India, he visits a retreat center to rewrite his novel. Morocco is all about not being alone when he turns 50. He’s attending someone else’s birthday jaunt. The fact that she’s a complete stranger doesn’t strike him as odd because a friend invited him along.

Any goal that Arthur Less may have is ill-formed and vague. But he does eventually come to a few realizations about himself and his life and what he really and truly wants. And it is about time!

Why was this story character driven? Because it was driven entirely by his flaws. Because it could have happened to know one else. The focus wasn’t the journey, hilarious thought it was, but Arthur Less.

If the book was plot driven, I assume that Arthur Less would have had concrete goals. He likely would have failed repeatedly, thus pulling the reader through the book, but his goals would definitely have been more of the “trying to” vs the “trying to avoid.”

This was a selection for book club and I have to say that not everyone enjoyed it. Ironically, the ones who didn’t like it tend to be a little aimless. They remind me a lot of Arthur Less so I guess its a good thing that I liked him.

–SueBE

Review Force of Nature by Joan M. Griffin

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I agreed to review this particular title. Cover copy describes it as “equal parts gripping adventure tale, personal memoir, and vivid nature writing.” I adore nature writing although I have to admit that I knew very little about the John Muir Trail before I read this. Okay, let’s be real. Griffin supplied so many details but really? I still don’t know that much about this 200-mile long trail. That’s right. 200 miles!

Joan M. Griffin was reasonably fit but knew that she was going to have to seriously train to hike the entire John Muir Trail, a wilderness trail that requires special permits to enter. She and two friends prepared themselves and gathered their gear, but still weren’t entirely sure what to expect. They knew it was one thing to gather information about the trail and another to hike it.

From afternoon storms to mountain top lightning, altitude sickness and fording rivers, this trail threw challenges at them on a daily basis. Like all hikers both North and South-bound, they gathered information on Trail Legends — crossings at swift rivers, paths pummeled by waterfalls, and even rocky stairsteps up a mountain face. Would three women in their fifties be able to complete the hike?

One woman could not free the entire month needed to hike the length of the trail and only accompanied them half way. The group dynamic changed with her absence but then Joan and Cappy spotted a young hiker in need of help. Her pack fit poorly and the weight was rubbing sores on her hips and shoulders. Her hiking companion left her behind daily and berated her for her inability to match his pace. The two older women were able to convince her to hike with them instead, although it meant loosing her tent and cookstove.

Again, the group dynamic changed but they discovered that Zoe brought an energy and sense of humor to the group that they both appreciated. Together they met one trail legend after another. As a group they learned not to let the fear of what might happen keep them from realizing their goals. And, really? Isn’t that a vital lesson for us all?

I loved reading about the natural settings and their experiences. I cheered with their successes and eagerly read them past each hurdle.

That said, I feel like some things were not fully resolved. Plot Spoilers Ahead! I want to know what was wrong with Cappy’s feet and why they were causing her so much pain. Did Joan and Cappy stay in touch with Zoe after they headed home? And how did completing this daring hike change Joan’s day-to-day life? Hmm. She’s coming back for an interview (November 1) and I am going to take the opportunity to tack these questions onto the ones I’ve already sent her. Okay. I won’t ask about Cappy’s feet. That is, after all, Cappy’s story to tell if she chooses to do so.

–SueBE

Doing a Bit of Research Before You Say Yes (and 3 New Covers)

For ages, I would spot my covers on Amazon before the books were available and long before I received my copies. But more recently Amazon has been scooped several times by Barnes and Noble. I received a Google Alert about Cave and Mine Survival Stories at B&N and then found the other two — The Haunted History of San Antonio and the Alamo and Life as an Army Ranger.

When Red Line reaches out to me, they often present me with a lengthy list of series and titles. They give me the series names, the individual titles and the deadlines. It is up to me to select several books that appeal to me and that will fit into my schedule.

Way back when I wrote my first book for them, The Ancient Maya, I looked at the titles in the series. As an anthropology major with an MA in history, I was interested in all of them. But since it was my first book, they weren’t going to give me two in the same series. I needed to prove myself. Which one to choose? I did some quick searches on Google and my library’s catalogue. I knew a bit about the Maya and would be able to find plenty of material.

When I chose my topics for these three books, I wish I had realized what I was setting myself up for with Cave and Mine Survival Stories. The keys words there are “survival stories.” Especially when it comes to mines, the most dangerous job site globally, disasters and collapses are a lot more common than actual rescues. It made selecting the stories to feature tricky. Add to this the fact that some of the rescues involve special forces and . . . why were they on another nation’s soil without permission? Not only did I have to find rescues, I had to find rescues with good photos and no international headbutting.

I’m definitely happy that I took all three of these projects on. But I would have been happier knowing the problems I was facing in the cave and mine book. Still, my difficulties were so much less than the difficulties of the rescues on which I focused.

–SueBE

Review of Time to Write by Emily Winslow

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I am reviewing this book as part of the WOW! Women on Writing blog tour for Emily Winslow’s book. Read on for my review. For more on the tour. Check out the graphic at the bottom of the page.

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Recently a newer writer joined the critique group I belong to. She asked for advice on several key issues in writing a picture book. At first, she looked excited by the answers. but soon she slumped. We knew what she was feeling and reassured her that there is not way to know it all. She needs to ask questions, listens to answers and grab the piece of information that inspires her and makes her excited to move forward.

That’s how I felt reading Winslow’s book. Categories range from “Getting Started” to “Writing Skills” and even “The Profession Life.” This isn’t a book that dives into an in-depth exploration of any given writing related topic Instead, this is the book that is meant to inspire and help you move forward through the complicated pathways of the writing life.

The book is composed of 49 short chapters. I think the longest was 9 or 10 pages. Most are closer to 5. Winslow gives detailed information on the topic in question and then challenges the reader to carry the information into their writing life. Some chapters, such as one on punctuation, include information on the most common mistakes that Winslow sees (the semicolon used where a comma should be used). But other chapter end with questions – do you see how this reads more smoothly?

This may not be the type of book that you want to sit and read from cover to cover. But is the perfect book to pick up when you are stuck on dialogue or trying to select the perfect point-of-view for your next project. Winslow covers the roles played by dialogue as well as how different points-of-view function, their strengths and their weaknesses.

Whether the readers needs the answer to a specific question or the wise, encouragement of a teacher, this book is a great one to have beside the monitor, next to a reading chair, or some other spot close at hand.

–SueBE

Teaching vs Preaching in a Picture Book

Instead of delivering a lecture on why we need to learn to say other people’s names correctly, Joanna Ho has written a picture book about a group of children. Each of them has a name that is steeped in history and culture. Misnaming a child is, as Ho makes clear, the same as refusing to see that child.

Writing a picture book about a problem is tricky. Do it wrong and you end up preaching a sermon. I see this a lot when a writer wants to teach young readers about manners, hard work, or being good to the Earth.

Ho’s book focuses on each child as an individual. “My name is Nizhoni Yazzie.”

After sharing their name, each child than shares about themselves and their culture. “I am Tódíchʼíiʼnii, Bitter Water, born for Tótsohnii, Big Water.” For two spreads, each character tells the reader about their family and their life. And then they have one simple request. “Say my name.”

This book is an absolute must for anyone who has ever had “name issues.” Don’t you remember this from when you were a student? The girl whose name was mispronounced every single first day. The boy who had to explain that no, really. That is a boy’s name.

Me? I don’t use my first name. So every first day, I got to explain that no, you don’t get Sue from . . . yes, Sue is my name. No it isn’t short for Susan or Suzanne. More recently I had to explain to another woman close to my own age why I would not answer mail if someone called me by my husband’s first name. And, no, I don’t care if it is Mrs. His Name. And, still no, I am not legally required to answer to his name.

My problems are oh so minor compared to the children portrayed by Ho. She definitely picked the better story to tell, the story that would draw young readers in and make them what to learn each name syllable by syllable.

–SueBE

Write Till Christmas

Just over a week ago, my writing friend Kelly Sgroi sent out her newsletter. This issue was about her plan to finish a draft by the end of the year. Like many of us, she finds NaNoWriMo untenable. For me, it is a matter of Thanksgiving and family with days off and powering up to Christmas. For Kelly, who lives in Australia, she’s powering up for a new school year with new school uniforms and the like.

She may be busy, after all she is a mom and a wife and a writer! But she’s determined to finish her manuscript by the end of the year. To do this, she’s going to Write Till Christmas.

Her plan is to use most of three months to finish her draft. Me? I’m using October to do a bit more research and prewriting. When it comes to fiction I generally jump into my writing to early. I may be able to finish a draft but there is a detail deficit. It’s like my characters are acting out the story in white sweats in front of a white board. They are there, there are actions, but the setting is more than a little washed out.

After I finish doing this additional research and prewriting, I’m going to attempt something new. I’m taking a class right now on dictating fiction. So far we’ve discussed how to dictate (speak clearly and slowly until you and your app are working together), and what tools to use in terms of software (I’m still trying out apps).

I’m hoping that I can fairly easily dictate about 2000 words a day. That may be overly ambitious but we shall see. That should be, based on the numbers the instructor has shared, equal about 30 minutes of dictation. She has said that she generally dictates about 4000 words each day. Her maximum has been 11,000 words in one day. If I can manage 2000 words a day, I estimate that it will take me 40 days to finish a draft. Fingers crossed that this will be do-able.

Are you planning to do NaNoWriMo? I’m signing up but will be extending my project with Kelly to Write Until Christmas. And really, I even like the sound of that. At the end of the writing rainbow will be cookies and lights and glorious music. Care to join me?

–SueBE