He requested the full manuscript...
He requested the full manuscript.
THE FULL MANUSCRIPT!!
What a great Christmas present this would be if only...if only...
Jeez, I'm going to give myself a heart attack. I need to calm down. Where's the chocolate?
More later.
An excellent resource for all you hopeful authors out there
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
I'm Officially Official!
Hello Everyone!
I told you that I'd let you know when my website was up and running....
My website is up and running! I'm very proud of it. It's beautiful thanks in large part to my friend and tech-wiz, Anne. Thank you Anne. You are a blessing beyond measure.
Here's the link: http://jenniferbfields.weebly.com/. On my site, you can read summaries and excerpts from all of my work as well as find some very helpful links. I'd appreciate it if you visited the "Get Jennifer Published" link and left a little encouraging word for any agents or editors that may pop in.
I'm looking for unpublished authors to feature in the upcoming "Author Spotlight". Here, I will post a short bio about a promising author to watch along with an excerpt from their work among other things. Each author will remain on the "Author Spotlight" page for up to two weeks. If you're interested in being featured, contact me here or on the "Contact" link on my website. It's a great way to get your name and your work out there.
So, I'm officially official! My name is Jennifer Fields, and I have my own website. How 'bout them apples? :-)
I told you that I'd let you know when my website was up and running....
My website is up and running! I'm very proud of it. It's beautiful thanks in large part to my friend and tech-wiz, Anne. Thank you Anne. You are a blessing beyond measure.
Here's the link: http://jenniferbfields.weebly.com/. On my site, you can read summaries and excerpts from all of my work as well as find some very helpful links. I'd appreciate it if you visited the "Get Jennifer Published" link and left a little encouraging word for any agents or editors that may pop in.
I'm looking for unpublished authors to feature in the upcoming "Author Spotlight". Here, I will post a short bio about a promising author to watch along with an excerpt from their work among other things. Each author will remain on the "Author Spotlight" page for up to two weeks. If you're interested in being featured, contact me here or on the "Contact" link on my website. It's a great way to get your name and your work out there.
So, I'm officially official! My name is Jennifer Fields, and I have my own website. How 'bout them apples? :-)
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Characters in Your Midst
Those that enjoy writing novels, poems or essays share the same mentality, I've noticed. It can be paraphrased as a "creative mind", but that label doesn't seem to cut it. Imagination abounds for writers and artists. They see the world differently than those with literal or analytical minds, and thank goodness for that. If no one had any imagination, books would be terribly boring.
I got out of the house the other day, which is a rare accomplishment for a writer. (Most suffer from self-imposed agoraphobia.) As I was driving down the street, I spied two old men sitting in the old-style metal lawn chairs with a black and white dog in between them.
They'd obviously been working on the property and were taking a break when I happened by. Their flannel shirts were rumpled and faded, their jeans hopelessly smudged with dirt. Both men had scraggly, Santa Claus beards and one man puffed on an elaborate pipe as they chatted with their faithful herding dog looking on. What a picture! A snapshot that was worth a million words. I could create a story just from that image alone.
People watching is a great way to find characters for your books.
For instance, I met Tom at karaoke one night. I live in a small town and I thought I knew everyone. But up walks Tom, a bow-legged old cowboy with a belt buckle as big as his head. He grinned an enormous, toothless smile and let out a rolling cackle of a laugh that was reminiscent of an old pirate. This was character worthy enough, but my character meter went into overdrive when I saw his expertly-curled handlebar mustache and long gray ponytail beneath his gallon-sized cowboy hat. I was in love! I had to stop myself from salivating and scramble up a napkin to scroll down what I saw. It was too deliciously juicy to pass up.
They're out there folks, but you have to keep your eyes peeled.
Inspiration is everywhere. The next time you're hurrying about your errands and fighting your way through traffic to get home, stop a moment and look around. The crazy old lady with the rainbow-striped socks that seems to endlessly be waiting for the bus every time you pass by, the woman with the really bad wigs at church or the toothless old cowboy you saw at the bar the other night; you never know which one is begging to be a part of your next book.
And hey, they sure make life interesting, don't they? Imagine what they'll do for your writing. ;-)
I got out of the house the other day, which is a rare accomplishment for a writer. (Most suffer from self-imposed agoraphobia.) As I was driving down the street, I spied two old men sitting in the old-style metal lawn chairs with a black and white dog in between them.
They'd obviously been working on the property and were taking a break when I happened by. Their flannel shirts were rumpled and faded, their jeans hopelessly smudged with dirt. Both men had scraggly, Santa Claus beards and one man puffed on an elaborate pipe as they chatted with their faithful herding dog looking on. What a picture! A snapshot that was worth a million words. I could create a story just from that image alone.
People watching is a great way to find characters for your books.
For instance, I met Tom at karaoke one night. I live in a small town and I thought I knew everyone. But up walks Tom, a bow-legged old cowboy with a belt buckle as big as his head. He grinned an enormous, toothless smile and let out a rolling cackle of a laugh that was reminiscent of an old pirate. This was character worthy enough, but my character meter went into overdrive when I saw his expertly-curled handlebar mustache and long gray ponytail beneath his gallon-sized cowboy hat. I was in love! I had to stop myself from salivating and scramble up a napkin to scroll down what I saw. It was too deliciously juicy to pass up.
They're out there folks, but you have to keep your eyes peeled.
Inspiration is everywhere. The next time you're hurrying about your errands and fighting your way through traffic to get home, stop a moment and look around. The crazy old lady with the rainbow-striped socks that seems to endlessly be waiting for the bus every time you pass by, the woman with the really bad wigs at church or the toothless old cowboy you saw at the bar the other night; you never know which one is begging to be a part of your next book.
And hey, they sure make life interesting, don't they? Imagine what they'll do for your writing. ;-)
Monday, December 6, 2010
Platform: A Jumping Off Point
If you're like me, you're a writer who's earned their chops on the page and shamelessly promoted yourself a time or two. You're also trying to get published and doing whatever it takes to stand out from the crowd. Unfortunately, if you're anything like me, the one area that you fall short is your platform.
Are you familiar with this term?
A platform is an editor-invented word for "a way that the author can pick up the publicity slack." Fewer people are being signed to book deals nowadays, due in large part to the slumping economy. Agents and editors can only spread their funds so thin. If an author has a strong platform--there's that word again--it gives him or her a leg up on other hopeful authors. Possessing a strong public presence can make agents and editors salivate when you approach them.
It also tells them that you are: A) A serious writer
and B) You know what you're talking about
Until recently, a solid "platform" was more of a concern for non-fiction writers. Along with a winning book proposal, an agent would ask the author about their platform. In other words "What are you planning to do to take some of the advertising heat off of us?" This practice has spread to all genres. It is now an vital part of any authors life.
So how do you develop a platform?
Here's where it gets interesting. We live in the internet age. Throwing yourself out there just got that much easier. Start by setting up your own website. That's what I'm working on now. I went with weebly.com. It's a free hosting website and there are lots of free sites to choose from.
On your new website, link the crap out of yourself. I'm not kidding! This is your chance to shine. Don't worry about how conceited you look. Slather the self-promotion all over your website. It's yours after all. It's all about you. Get a Facebook page just for your writing and link it. Get on Twitter, start a blog. Enter all the writing contests you can handle. Get yourself out there any way that you can.
Ta-da! You're off to a good platform start.
Then check out any number of books on the subject. For instance, an author friend of mine and Facebook buddy Christina Katz wrote a book called Get Known Before the Book Deal (See below.)
Excerpted from Get Known Before the Book Deal by Christina Katz
Having your own platform is something of a mystery to aspiring writers like me. I'm a nobody. I come from Small Town Nowhere. Who's going to remember me? There are ways and I intend to find them. You're officially caught up to my level of expertise. Can any of you supply me with a marketing idea that I haven't thought of yet? I'd love to hear about it. In the meantime, good luck to you and good luck to me. I'm sending my friend Christina a knowing wink ;-)
TTYS
Are you familiar with this term?
A platform is an editor-invented word for "a way that the author can pick up the publicity slack." Fewer people are being signed to book deals nowadays, due in large part to the slumping economy. Agents and editors can only spread their funds so thin. If an author has a strong platform--there's that word again--it gives him or her a leg up on other hopeful authors. Possessing a strong public presence can make agents and editors salivate when you approach them.
It also tells them that you are: A) A serious writer
and B) You know what you're talking about
Until recently, a solid "platform" was more of a concern for non-fiction writers. Along with a winning book proposal, an agent would ask the author about their platform. In other words "What are you planning to do to take some of the advertising heat off of us?" This practice has spread to all genres. It is now an vital part of any authors life.
So how do you develop a platform?
Here's where it gets interesting. We live in the internet age. Throwing yourself out there just got that much easier. Start by setting up your own website. That's what I'm working on now. I went with weebly.com. It's a free hosting website and there are lots of free sites to choose from.
On your new website, link the crap out of yourself. I'm not kidding! This is your chance to shine. Don't worry about how conceited you look. Slather the self-promotion all over your website. It's yours after all. It's all about you. Get a Facebook page just for your writing and link it. Get on Twitter, start a blog. Enter all the writing contests you can handle. Get yourself out there any way that you can.
Ta-da! You're off to a good platform start.
Then check out any number of books on the subject. For instance, an author friend of mine and Facebook buddy Christina Katz wrote a book called Get Known Before the Book Deal (See below.)
- Learn the definition and meaning of an author platform
- Find out why most books fail
- Answer the three key questions about platform to increase your chances of success
Excerpted from Get Known Before the Book Deal by Christina KatzHaving your own platform is something of a mystery to aspiring writers like me. I'm a nobody. I come from Small Town Nowhere. Who's going to remember me? There are ways and I intend to find them. You're officially caught up to my level of expertise. Can any of you supply me with a marketing idea that I haven't thought of yet? I'd love to hear about it. In the meantime, good luck to you and good luck to me. I'm sending my friend Christina a knowing wink ;-)
TTYS
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Look Mom, No Computer Skills!
I do not speak computer. My mind doesn't work that way.
That is why I am thanking the shiny stars above that I have a computer savvy husband and tech-literate friends who love me. Without them, I would never start a website of my own.
That's what I've been working on today. It's not up and running as of yet, but the prototype looks beautiful! I am in awe of the intricacies of the process; click this, add that, drop-down menus, control/V, text boxes, formats, jpg's, click this box, don't click that box...YIKES! My head would have imploded within five minutes if I'd tried it alone.
Thank you Anne for all your hard work today. And to all of my followers, my website should be ready soon. You'll be the first to know.
So don't kill your computer. It may not be able to show it's affection for you, but it does love you all the way down to its little pixels.
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