Category Archives: A blog about the topics of writing

A blog about the topics of writing, Writing ways

When do you start promoting your manuscript?

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This topic landed in my email box. When should you start promoting your book?

The writers I know in this area start once their manuscript is complete. To me, that is getting on this way too late. I mean, once your book is complete and you tell your friends and family, then what?

I started on my social platform brand once I had my first draft of my Jasper, Amazon parrot series. By the time the drafts, edits, cover, and more, I had grown a following of people engaged in me as I was in them. I had people to shout out to saying, “Finally, my book is done.”

If you wait until the end of your book, you are shouting into the wind in hopes someone will take an interest.

Your book deserves more than that. You deserve better than that.

And one more thing. When submitting my first book to publishers, they always asked where I was. It meant what is your social platform?

Fortunately, I was able to point to where I am at. If I had not done the work, I am unsure if the publishers would have picked up the book.

It does take time. You do a quick search online, which will show you the various platforms. Not all will work for you. Take one platform at a time. Put the work in. If it does not feel right, dump it and try another.

Some of these platforms allow you to schedule the posts, which helps since this frees up time.

Start slow as you build your social platform, your brand, and a gateway for you to shout to a larger audience once your book is complete and not only full but complete and published.

A blog about the topics of writing, Topics on writing

Do you support other authors?

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Do you support other authors? Whether it is someone you know or not, do they get that from you?

I have seen both ends of the stick with people only concerned with their book journeys to those who support other authors by buying their books, giving them a shout-out on social media, or attending any event they might be hosting.

I have always had the mindset of supporting authors, especially those who have helped me or been with me on my writing journey. Those are the ones I will lend my support to.

It doesn’t have to be off a mountain with a bullhorn telling people how great your book and you are. That would be nice. But to have people in your corner along the way are those you want to support back.

My thought is simple. I didn’t get to where I am alone. I had people off of Twitter help me with my query letters. I have had people in line to do classes about writing at the library. I even have an editor who doesn’t charge me for her work.

I have no problem shouting out people’s names, referring others, and giving reviews here and there. It is my way of paying back those before me who helped me.

Writing is mostly a solitary profession. You can meet with your writing group in real life or online. But even then, you are doing the majority of your creation alone. Finding a fellow author who I can feed off is a golden nugget.

So, I don’t get why writers go alone on their own. Hey, if it works for you, good. It is something I have not tried and prefer to not do so.

A blog about the topics of writing, Writer's platform

Do you know any pantsers?

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How cluttered is your workspace where you write?

I like my office organized. But a small part of me is okay with the mess. I can say the same for any WIP I am working on.

I attended a local writing conference a few years ago. The speaker asked if there were any pantser in the room, and a writer raised her hand and pointed at me.

I, to that point, never heard what this word meant. Looking it up, I liked it. I liked it a lot. Granted, this has gotten me in some bit of a jam on certain WIPs, making me go back and do a brief outline to get myself unstuck.

Did I learn my lesson? No, I did not. I am the writer who likes to sit down and go for it, writing page after page, knowing there will be work to get done on getting the timeline correct.

So, why don’t I bite the bullet? I love the freedom of writing. My juices flow better, and the ideas come faster. It works for me. I know very few pantsers. Wait, that isn’t right. I can’t think of a single writer that, like me, without an outline. It would be cool to find some so we could have that connection.

An outline gives you direction, a timeline that will be adjusted and adjusted as it gives you focus on the material. It can help you with plots, characters, and scenery. It might help you look up in the air less as you try to work out a problem that you are having. From everyone I have talked to, this is the route they feel flows.

And that is what it is what flow works for you.

I never knew my style had a name. I like it because it describes my writing style to the letter. It works for me and my characters. Why change that up now?