This past weekend I had the good fortune to attend a writer’s conference, and I learned SO MUCH. The hour is late, and I have “miles to go before I sleep,” but I want to share a few of the things I learned before calling it a day…or rather, before beginning another homecaring task (ugh) or reading the discussion board entries of my internet students.
Okay, here are half a dozen things I learned:
- Writers always help other writers. Everyone has a message to share or a story to tell, and if we can help another person get the word(s) out there, then that’s what we’re obligated to do.
- Unfortunately, I also learned that blogging takes you away from your “work” since it is so time consuming. That’s true, but I LOVE it. How else would I have met some of my cyberspace friends?
- There are dozens, no hundreds, of sites out there to help fledging writers. I’ve only just begun to explore some of them. My job is interfering with my investigation. Rats! If only I were independently wealthy and didn’t have to work.
- To get a publisher’s attention, don’t waste your time sending a query directly to a publisher. Send it to an agent instead, and when you do so, always use the person’s name.
- Go to publisher websites to get specific names.
- People who are self-published (like me with my second book) are never going to be successful unless they learn a little more about self –promotion. Hence, I’m going to put my book in the sidebar with a link to Amazon. Please check it out!
mom's musings 
Oh, wow! I wonder if it’s some that I get e-mails from (the conference)? I read a lot of writer’s websites and have learned an enormous amount from the content shared. I don’t know that I agree with the blogging taking away from the writing because it has helped me to realize we are not so different and not everyone will have a sarcastic criticism. There’s a waiter in NY who had a blog (I’m recalling “waitersrant”) and he got a “book deal” due to the blog and was interviewed on radio shows. Haven’t checked in lately (not so crazy about some of the language) so I don’t know what’s the latest.
Self-promotion (marketing) is a must in everything now-a-days, it seems, and will entice a publisher since they know you will be active in selling the books.
Thank you for sharing this…I wasn’t sure what the meeting was about and if you wanted to be secretive, that’s your preogative! LOL Just kidding you, Marla jayne, but if you like, I have some excellent sites saved with helpful material if you want me to share them with you1I agree that writers are obliged to help each other and one of the reasons I avoid the job boards is the bidding gets ridiculously (insultingly) low.
I would love to know more about your books, please!!!
God Bless Your Efforts!
I’ll definitely have to check it out. Do you get my email address from the comments I leave? If not… help me figure out a way to send it to you without posting it publicly. 🙂
Oh, and by the way, maybe I do agree with everything you say. But I’m not sure. Because you haven’t said everything you’re ever going to say yet, and so I play it safe and say, I agree with ALMOST everything you say. LOL!!
Odale, it wasn’t a meeting (as in me with an agent or anything). It was the SC Writer’s Conference, and hundreds of different types of writers attended. By different types, I mean mostly what types of things they write. The people too were “different.” All ages, shapes, sizes, colors, and backgrounds were there.
Yes, yes, yes, I would be interested in any sites that you think might be helpful. And what do you mean by job boards? I’m lost here.
I can sort of understand about blogging taking away from the writing if you’re involved in a project, and yet I enjoy it so much that I doubt if I’m ever going to stop. I might be a little more disciplined as soon as I get serious about my next project, but we’ll see.
About that self-promotion, I put a link to the book in my sidebar links, and I put a picture and description on a page that you can get to at the top of the page. It’s beside “About MarlaJayne.” I’m not the salesperson type, so it’s a huge step for me to do this, but after last weekend, I’m feeling more confident.
Nosurfgirl, I just sent an email to what I think might be your address, so you’ll have to let me know if you get it.
Nice answer to that agreeing statement. I don’t expect anyone to agree with everything I say. In fact, in my classes I sometimes beg people to disagree just to shake things up a bit and add a little variety.
Writing helps me work out my thoughts on things…that’s why I like blogging.
There is a woman in Chicago who also wrote a book from her “Blogging”. It’s not Christian for sure but it was pretty funny. The title was “Bitter is the new Black”. It was all about how she lost her job after 9-11 and how her life totally changed as a result.
I’ll have to look it up. You can see how much I listened to the advice at the conference, right? Here I am blogging when I should actually be working on an article or a few paragraphs for a book or whatever. I have, however, set myself a time limit of 30 minutes so we’ll see if I can stick to it.
I thought I answered this but do not see it…??? Maybe I really am losing it ! LOL I laugh b/c that’s long since past…;-))
Anyway, I put some links in the del.icio.us link on my blog. That’s easier than posting them all here and I will add to them as time allows…they’re in my favorites and other places but ever since AT&T took over Bellsouth, I seem to have a slower connection… (did you get my e-mail? I can’t tell b/c I keep getting an “internal server error”… )
Before I forget, the “Absoltue Write” link is one of my favorite sites and after a few years, I still have not read all the articles offered…
God Bless and Keep You, Marla Jayne! I hope everyone knows what a jewel you are!
I saw the links; thanks. I haven’t had a chance to check out yet, however. My job is seriously interfering with my blogging!
Yes, I got an email from you and wrote you back with lots of probably worthless advice. I could never be a success as a counselor because I always want to give advice instead of sitting back and letting people come up with their own insights. I think that most people who are at least halfway “together” can come up with some pretty good answers to their situations if they’re allowed to talk without being judged or criticized.
Sure hope you get the email.
Actually, you helped me a lot with your ideas and confirming that my thinking may not be so out-of-balance! 😉 We probably like to give advice to help, b/c we’re Moms and from experience. I was serious about opening another blog to be helpful to others. I met a lady at the store today and we shared some things, then said a prayer together, right in the stroe. Although we didn’t get into “old war stories” ;-), we both felt like we were on a path with Jesus to learn our way thru His ways…btw, I put an Addendum to the “Equipped” post…like you said before, women will talk and figure things out! What reminded me of the addendum is how drawn I am to the woman at the well story!!
Okay, I’ll hush! God Bless You.
When I noticed the number of categories in my sidebar, I started thinking that maybe I need to get more focused on concentrate on fewer topics or else get another blog. Your idea of the general theme sounds good.
About your experience with the women at the store, I read something in Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking that really appeals to me. No, I don’t read all the time in case you’re wondering. I recently bought this great book at a Friends of the Library sale for $1, and since then I’ve been dipping into different parts of it in sort of a haphazard way. Without going into a lot of detail (think I’ll do a blog on this later), he talks about the value of prayer and says, “I believe that prayer is a sending out of vibrations from one person to another and to God….When you send out a prayer for another person, you employ the force inherent in a spiritual universe. ”
To make a long story sort of short, he goes on to say how he prays for people as he sees them and/or passes by them. Dr. Peale gives several examples of how this has worked out, and I felt really inspired to follow his example.
Did I write an “Equipped” post or did you??? I’m going to have to look this up!