Category: Writing

4 reasons to attend the Taylor University Professional Writers Conference

lindaktaylor1 Comment

One of the hats I wear is coordinator of the annual Taylor University Professional Writers Conference, held every summer on the university’s beautiful campus. And I am inviting you.

Just a little over 10 years ago, we started this conference, wondering, “If we build it, will they come?” Well, came they did, and we’ve been running a successful conference ever since. The conference is a natural outgrowth of the Taylor University Professional Writing major, where students are trained, among other things, to navigate the world of publishing. Meeting and networking (and sometimes interning) with agents, authors, editors, and social media experts from across the Christian publishing industry is just one of the many plusses of our program.

Here are 4 reasons you should attend our 2025 conference:

1. It’s short and inexpensive.

Our General Conference runs a day and a half and is packed with sessions and fun. It runs from Friday, July 25 at 1:00 to Saturday, July 26 at 5:00. During that time are options of 32 different sessions, 3 keynotes, open mic readings, faculty book signing, and one-on-one appointments.

And all of that (including meals) for just $139. You’ll get Friday dinner, and Saturday breakfast and lunch, and all of the activities above. If you’d like to stay overnight on campus, you can for an extra fee of $70/night.

2. Add a day for some extra, advanced training.

For $139, including meals, you can opt to come to one of our pre-conference tracks. Beginning at 1:00 on Thursday, July 24 and ending with lunch on Friday, July 25. This is an opportunity to go deeper with a particular topic. You can choose from the following two options.

Option A: Deep POV / Prepping Your Proposal

In this Advanced Track, you’ll be privileged to learn from literary agent, Linda Glaz, who had been acquiring manuscripts, editing them, and coaching writers for 13 years. You’ll learn on Thursday about deep POV, the kind of writing that will deepen the experience of the reader and allow him/her to stay in the characters’ points of view. Then, on Friday, you’ll do a deep dive into how to write a solid book proposal–one of your first steps for the gatekeepers in the publishing work.

Option B: Comics Unlocked

​Your teachers (two Taylor U students) have been interested in comic books for their entire lives and are excited to share their knowledge with you. In their Comics Unlocked sessions, you’ll learn the history of comics, the craft of comic book creation (including formatting, script writing, pacing, and page layout), the artist/writer collaboration process, and possible paths to publication. You’ll also have the opportunity to work on your own comic book pitch and plan.

3. Do both a pre-conference track and the general conference for a reduced price.

If you choose one of the pre-conference tracks AND the general conference, you get both for $249. You’ll move seamlessly from having lunch on Friday after your pre-conference session to the general conference that begins at 1:00 p.m.

Some snapshots from our 2024 conference.

4. We’re great for all ages, types, and levels of writers.

Never been to a conference before? We’re ready to help you navigate with our friendly faculty and helpful staff (who just happen to be Taylor U Professional Writing students).

Just getting your feet wet in the writing world? We’re great for beginning writers to learn about what it takes and how to get started when it comes to being a writer.

Think you’re too old to start writing? You’re never too old. Lots of Bible characters have taught us that.

Think you’re too young? If you’re at least 16, we especially want to invite you to the conference. You’ll get to take part in all the sessions and networking, plus our college student staff will give you evening activities and a sense of what college life is all about.

Thinking you’re too advanced to need a conference? Maybe you’ve been around the industry a long time; maybe you’re a published author. Even so, there is never a time that you don’t need a refresher or some encouragement. And even better, you bring your expertise to those newer writers.

Check out the conference website at www.tupwc.com and register today!

A “Find Your Tribe” gathering of nonfiction writers at the 2024 conference.

Trying to meet the AI challenge: Part 2

lindaktaylor1 Comment

As I noted in this post at the end of December, I was studying ways to teach my students how to use AI (artificial intelligence; in this case, specifically ChatGPT). However, “teaching them how to use” is a misnomer because I quickly discovered that students already are using it. And I was naive to think otherwise.

That discovery meant that my lesson preparation turned from presenting the opportunity of AI to instead focus on the ethical and practical uses of AI when writing. From a course like Essentials of Written Communication (business writing), students need to learn to be able to use AI well when they get into their internships or jobs. In fact, ability to use AI, write prompts, and yet understand AI’s limitations, will be a requirement by employers.

https://learn.aiacontracts.com/articles/

But first …. let’s understand what AI can and can’t do. I had the students read the article: “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of AI Writing.” Here’s a synopsis:

AI can be good and helpful because it can save time, thus making employees more productive, and it can help reduce human error. (For instance, even using a program like Grammarly or the Editor in Microsoft Word is using AI to help clean up writing.) I want my students to see that AI can be helpful with time-saving idea generation, editing, and yes, even some first draft preparation.

For my students, it will be important to learn how to write good prompts and create perhaps some initial ideas for drafts of documents they will need in their future jobs, help them with research, provide guidance when making sense of statistics, etc. Learning how to use AI well will be a timesaver, allowing them time to do other important aspects of their job.

But ..

AI can be bad for myriad reasons. It is only as creative as what is already “out there”; thus, it really has no creativity or originality. It only takes what others have done as everything appears online. (As a writer, this for me is the nonstarter. I refuse to let it do any writing for me. Indeed, I am writing this blog post all on my own!)

Students who use AI to write their papers end up with writing that (ahem) is often easy for teachers to spot. (Not always, but sometimes.) One of the key assignments my colleagues and I are doing is to have students write something in class at the beginning of a semester, which gives us a sense of their writing ability and style. That provides us with a benchmark to work from. And we check all quotes and sources to make sure they exist and are correct.

Students must never depend on AI to deliver a final product. It needs their human eyes and human voice. Thus, they need to know how to edit, what to look for, and how to take what AI gives them and polish it.

But …

AI can be ugly because it doesn’t have ethical standards. It’s happy to write pages of uninspired, generic material, make up quotes, make up sources, make up statistics, all while using everyone else’s ideas that exist in online world.

My students need to find the uses for AI that are helpful but not unethical, such as brainstorming, clarifying material that is difficult to understand, even help with foreign language learning. As a professor, I have had it create some games to make the point of a lesson, or give me some case studies to use, or even advise on how to simplify a concept for my students.

For instance, one assignment we did in class was to have each student write an email to a prospective student. We discussed audience, format, and structure of good emails. We put the characteristics of our target audience on the board.

I gave them a worksheet on which they did the following three activities — all three of which would be turned in. First, write an email in class, without any kind of AI help. Second, create a prompt and put it in ChatGPT, then copy and paste onto the worksheet both the prompt and the generated email. Third, create a final email starting with the original and incorporating anything from AI that seemed helpful (and highlight those things).

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that, in most cases, the first email written on their own was just fine, but they did at times incorporate another point or even a particular phrase that they liked from the AI-generated version. And I did ask them to run their final version through the Microsoft Editor (yes, still an AI) to help them clean up any grammatical or spelling errors.

I’m hoping from this lesson they learned that some helpful ways to use ChatGPT can be for them to write a first draft, get a bit of help from AI, and then adjust their final product if the program did indeed give them something useful. And then, of course, to let it help them make sure of their grammar and spelling.

In other words, it’s only supplemental, not the final say.

Stay tuned. I’m still learning and working …

Just write one . . .

lindaktaylor7 Comments

Lunchtime was a big deal during my elementary school years. I recall spending much energy on exactly which lunchbox would provide my “ethos” for the upcoming year. After all, during every lunchtime, that lunchbox sat in front of me, open, back side available for all to see. Everyone at those long cafeteria tables would set up their boxes, pull out the thematically matched thermos and unscrew the cup and lid, take out the various foodstuffs, and spread it all out on the opened lid.

Yes. The lunchbox was ME. Who was I each year? Was I Holly Hobby? Peanuts? The simple butterfly design with flowers? Fairies?

The drama of the annual lunchbox choice still resides in my psyche.

So when I read Anne Lamott’s book Bird by Bird and her chapter about school lunches, I immediately resonated. As she describes, there’s so much going on when I consider my school lunches back in the mid-1960s. If I would try to write the scene, I might find myself overwhelmed. The lunchboxes, the long tables, the smell from the hot food line on pizza or taco day, the small square milk cartons, the cliques, the snack trading, the teachers walking around and monitoring, the noise and clatter before recess, the internal angst of walking across the cafeteria in a new outfit …

So much. Too much.

Lamott addresses this, giving advice to writers to not try to capture it all. Instead, to write the “one-inch picture frame.” To take a mental shot of the entire cafeteria scene, and then to Zoom in on one small piece of it — such as a lunchbox.

On her Instagram page beside a photo of a small picture frame, Lamott writes:

This is the 1” picture frame I keep on my desk to remind me that all I have to do one day at a time is to write the one scene or portrait that I can imagine or remember and see (if I squint) through that one inch picture frame. Not a whole chapter or essay or book, just one piece of that, the best I can do. I’ve had my writing students give these to each other for nearly 40 years now. It seems silly, but it helps a little, and that can be a miracle.

It sounds similar to Ernest Hemingway’s advice, in A Moveable Feast, to “write one true sentence”:

Sometimes when I was started on a new story and I could not get going, I would sit in front of the fire and squeeze the peel of the little oranges into the edge of the flame and watch the sputter of blue that they made. I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, “Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know.”

One-inch frame . . . one true sentence.

The idea is to not get overwhelmed. To not give in to imposter syndrome. No matter how many chapters still to go, no matter how long the article, you can just write that one beautiful sentence. You can focus on that one small bit of the big picture, working word by word, sentence by sentence.

Eventually, yes, you’ll go back. You’ll edit. You’ll rearrange. You’ll cut. You’ll write more. But to get there, you need to start.

Break it down. Focus in. Take your time. A little bit every day.

One inch. One sentence.

My next teaching challenge: The AI effect

lindaktaylor6 Comments

The chair of my department came into my office and said, “Linda, brush up on AI. You’re going to need to teach your students to use it.” He was referring to my Essentials of Written Communication class, a class where I teach the format and strategy of different types of writing that is important to both their lives on campus and beyond into the business realm.

And I must teach my students to effectively and ethically use AI platforms (such as Chat GPT) to truly prepare them for their future careers. The world is heading that direction and they need to be ready.

I have to admit, I’m a little worried. I’m a veteran of the 5-1/4-inch floppy disk era. Even before that, I navigated my way from typing class in high school (on typewriters) to computers with various floppy disk sizes and on through the many, many versions of Microsoft Word (remember when “Clippy” would give writing advice?).

Clippy, courtesy of Mental Floss

And then came email (woo hoo! Files could be attached and sent instantaneously) and the Internet. So far I’ve managed to move through these past 50 years of my writing career with a minimum of turmoil.

But I have to admit that the world of Artificial Intelligence is setting me back on my heels a little. While many of my colleagues have embraced and are using it well, I’m setting aside January to catch up. Here’s my reading material, Teaching with AI.

I have my concerns. As a writer, I’m honestly worried about my students deferring to AI and not understanding the creativity needed for every kind of writing — an email, a news release, a report. Having an AI just generate these annoys every part of me.

But I’ve been teaching long enough to know that writing doesn’t come easily to everyone. Even as I teach my students to use programs like Grammarly or Microsoft Word’s editing tools on their papers means I already have been teaching them to use AI.

So as I prepare for my spring Essentials of Written Communication class, I will be rewriting my curriculum to continue to teach the formatting and structure of various types of writing, while planning for students to use AI. I plan to create assignments for them to write and then edit with AI; I’ll be showing them how their human touch is still vital to anything they use AI to create; I’ll be talking about the ethical use of AI so they understand its creative limitations (and potential for plagiarism).

As the book says, “It is essential that educators start to talk about these issues with students. if we want students to use AI responsibly, both in school and beyond, AI ethics must be baked into curriculum and include AI literacy, an emerging essential skill” (3).

Do you use AI? How has it helped you? What concerns do you have about its use?

What kinds of jobs can a writer get?

lindaktaylor4 Comments

OR How can I turn my writing into a career?

Helping my students turn their love for words and ability to write into a career is exactly what I’ve been trying to do with my life for the past 15 years.

I’m planning a class for spring 2025 that will be the introductory class to my Professional Writing major here at Taylor U. But I’ve set my sights a bit bigger as I also want to invite into the class any student who might be sitting around considering their major and thinking, “But I’m also a pretty good writer.” I want to offer a class where they can explore how their ability with words (which, believe me, isn’t something everyone has) can be leveraged into many types of jobs in their chosen fields.

Here’s the deal: Even though I teach the students who major in Professional Writing about the ins and outs of writing well and book publishing, I don’t leave them with the unrealistic dream that they’ll be able to make a living off the royalties from their published books (if, indeed, they get published). My students who have had their books published often still have day jobs — or have spouses who have day jobs. (I know you writers, laboring in the evenings or early mornings on your manuscripts in between bouts of “real life,” understand this.)

Gif from plaidswan.com

Most of my alumni are using their ability with words in many fields. I currently have former students in the following jobs:

  • Copy writer
  • Magazine editor
  • Book editor
  • Freelance editor
  • Digital content strategist
  • Communications director
  • Marketing director
  • SEO specialist
  • Publicist
  • Acquisitions editor
  • Literary agent
  • Author
  • Technical writer
  • Social media director
  • Proofreader
  • Email marketing manager
  • Blog writer
  • Web writer
  • Content writer

And no, AI is not going to replace all of these people. In fact, I plan to teach ways to use AI strategically to help us (and it can). However, we’re going to learn what we humans still need to know to help AI do its thing, as well as to help it deliver what’s needed.

Thus, as I create my syllabus for the coming semester, I hope to expose my students to the many opportunities available to anyone who can string words together in a coherent, concise, and clear manner. Good writers are desperately needed because content is desperately needed almost literally everywhere. Even writing a good email has become a lost art.

What jobs are you aware of that need good writers? Even if you’re a novelist by night or hammering away at your opus, where else do you use your writing skills?

Help me give my students some encouragement!

Create a personal social media calendar

lindaktaylor1 Comment

As I mentioned in a previous post (4 keys to your author social media strategy), you as a writer need to be on social media, you need to choose the platform(s) that most works for you, and you need to be posting consistently.

“Aye, there’s the rub” (to quote Shakespeare). It’s difficult to be consistent.

In that post, I suggested that you create a weekly schedule that you can keep up with (and because that weekly schedule can repeat, you easily have a monthly schedule). I said that perhaps on Monday you’ll share on Facebook about something you learned in research for your book. On Wednesday you’ll post on Pinterest some photos you found about the time period of your historical fiction. On Friday, you’ll share the link to an article you read that was pertinent to your book’s topic. On Saturday, maybe a Canva-created quote from your book.

But if you’re a visual person like me, perhaps putting this on a calendar (physical or electronic) will help this make sense. This will keep you from worrying about posting or getting behind and having lapses of days or weeks at a time.

As I was posting around the release of Pathway to Publication, I needed to create a visual plan to help me to both remember to post and not stress about remembering to post.

Below is a sample week that I created at the time. This one week provided a template for the rest of the month — which then created a habit that’s easy to remember. Each day I describe a post or two and which platform. Of course, when I feel inspired, I can post more often. I take Sundays off and breaks on Saturdays between blog posts. And I only blog once a month. I wish I could do more, I just don’t have it in me with my other responsibilities.

Sample One Week Social Media Calendar

MonTuesWedThurFriSat
Insta and X: Create a Canva with helpful line from book.
Post.		FB and X:
Post regular weekly Typo Tuesday pictures.		X: Share a link to an article of interest about writing or books.Insta and X: Post humor meme about writing, teaching, or books. X: Ask convo starter question. Insta: Photo “day in my life.”Website: Work on blog. Plan 1x or 2x month. Share on FB & X.

You may have other social media to post on, or you might set aside a day each month to work on a newsletter. The point is to decide what you need to do and then schedule time each week or month to get it done.

So much less stress when you just have to do what is scheduled on each day to do!

Beyond the weekly schedule, I try to be aware of annual holidays and special days throughout the year tied to my brand — writing, editing, books, communication, teaching. (The following are courtesy of the Days of the Year site.) These can help focus the quotes I use.

  • January: New year, resolutions, how you can set up for a successful writing year, setting goals; January 9 (National Clean Your Desk Day); January 23 (National Handwriting Day)
  • February: God’s love for us; February 7 (National Send a Card to a Friend Day); February 14 (International Book Giving Day); National Library Lovers Month; Freelance Writers Appreciation Week (second week)
  • March: March 2 (Dr. Seuss Day); March 2 (World Book Day); March 4 (National Grammar Day); Easter (March or April)
  • April: Easter (March or April); spring cleaning; April 6 (National Bookmobile Day); April 20–26 (National Stationery Week); April 23 (World Book Night); April 27 (World Stationery Day); April 30 (Independent Bookstore Day)
  • May: My college students graduating; May 3 (Write a Review Day); May 16 (National Biographers Day); May 19 (National Notebook Day); Memorial Day
  • June: my professional writing summer academy week; June 23 (National Typewriter Day)
  • July: Info about the upcoming Taylor University Professional Writers Conference (held end of July); July 1 (Write a Letter Appreciation Week); July 4 (Independence Day); July 30 (Paperback Book Day)
  • August: Prep for the teaching semester; August 5 (Blogger Day); August 9 (National Book Lovers Day); August 31 (We Love Memoirs Day)
  • September: Back to teaching; Read a New Book Month; Sept 1 (World Letter Writing Day); September 6 (National Read a Book Day)
  • October: October 1 (International Coffee Day); October 18 (National Chocolate Cupcake Day—I love cupcakes; sue me); October 29 (National Cat Day—I own way too many cats)
  • November: November 4 (Fountain Pen Day); November 15 (I Love to Write Day); Veterans Day (I’m an Air Force brat); Thanksgiving
  • December: December 21 (National Short Story Day); Christmas

Now if you check up on me, you’ll probably not see this continued activity because I know what I should do but am not very good at execution. I did fairly well around the release of my book but have not been consistent since. Writing this post is making me think I need to get myself back on track.

What about you? What do you do to stay motivated and consistent with your social media postings?

Gif courtesy of https://metricool.com/social-media-gifs/

How to spot (and avoid) publishing predators

lindaktaylor2 Comments

I’ve seen it happen one too many times (and one time is too many) — well-meaning writers get caught in the net set by predatory “publishers.” The writers thought they were getting published, only to find themselves with an inferior product (if indeed they end up with any product at all) and out a whole lot of money.

In a writers Facebook group recently, someone posted that they had received a phone call from a publisher who wanted to publish her book. She had some red flags (how did they even get her number, she wondered), so she asked the group for advice. Thankfully, every response warned her that this is a scam. I so appreciate all those seasoned writers in the online world helping one more person to not be a victim.

It’s sad to say, but the world is full of folks who are ready to take money from us moony-eyed writers who simply want to get our words out there. So how do you spot a scam?

You can spot these “publishers” by how eager they are to publish your book. Their process is simple. They will target you, do a sales job, flatter you and your book, make big promises, and then ask for money.

The fact that they target you is the first red flag. That’s not how the publishing process works. Generally, literary agents and acquisitions editors are wading through piles of proposals. They are working with the folks who know the process, not out seeking newbie writers and calling them on the phone offering to publish for a fee.

Let’s say you wrote a post on Facebook about finally finishing the writing of your book and then, magically, you receive an email or phone call from a company that effuses about your book and says they want to publish it!

Wow, you think, I didn’t realize it could be so easy!

Well, my friend, it isn’t. These folks are simply preying on new authors who haven’t yet gained the knowledge and experience of what it takes to publish a quality book. In short, they will publish anything as long as they get their money from you up front. They have no editorial standards. Their goal is not to create a quality product or see your book do well.

They are going to approach you first, flatter you, do a sales job, ask you to send them your manuscript, and ask for a credit card number for a large chunk of money (we’re talking in the thousands: $4K, $5K, $12K) for a list of services that they say they will provide (some of which are virtually meaningless, others that may or may not be delivered or may not be up to industry standards — such as their editorial process). They will send you a contract but generally the terms are not standard in the industry.

Hear me say this: These publishers are not trying to work with you to create a book of high quality. They just want your money.

https://tenor.com/view/alert-scam-sheep-zombie-lies-gif-21519331

You see, with traditional or independent publishers, they invest in your book so they have an interest in it selling well. They vet your work before publishing by studying your book proposal and sample chapters. They edit and copyedit and proofread and lay it out and create a compelling cover design and help with marketing. Because they make an investment in your book, they want to see it do well. They want to make back their investment and make money on it so that you also can make money on it.

Not so with these scam publishers. You will pay money and have no say over anything. Most detrimental of all, they contractually often take away your rights to your book — meaning you actually no longer own your book. You’ll have paid out of pocket and lost control of everything — including your book. It’s a lose-lose. These predatory publishers can afford to publish anything (no matter how poorly written or how poorly someone they hire edits it) because they aren’t making money on the sale of quality books — they are making money off you, the client. You pay them up front, so they get their money regardless of what happens with your book sales.

There is absolutely no risk to them. Some may offer up a little bit of service, but very often you will find yourself with a poor quality product that only works against you. Again, it’s a lose-lose for you.

Note that I’m focusing on those places who contact you. These may fashion themselves as “publishers” or “hybrid publishers” or “self-publishers.” And unfortunately this puts a bad face on the legitimate self-publishing or hybrid companies that, while they do charge money for their services, are working on a business model that is trying to help you create a superior product. See the link in the bulleted list below of ratings of self-publishing companies.

The key is, if it sounds too easy and too good to be true, it probably is. So before you outlay a chunk of your life’s savings, do some thorough research.

  • Look for information about the company online, especially complaints.
  • Check out this list of ratings for self-publishing companies.
  • Insist on receiving a sample contract that you can review. (If they want money first, don’t give it to them.)
  • Ask for some names of books the company has published that you can review. (Even if the company is legit, you do want to see what other types of books they publish so you know if you want to be part of their catalog.) If you can get your hands on physical books, even better, so you can check the quality. Get in contact with those authors online to ask about their experience.
  • Check out this post with more information about what to look for in order to avoid publishing scams.
  • Check out Writer Beware for other advice.

Chances are, you do all of the above with that publisher who called and flattered you, and you’ll discover a scam. Steer clear. Ultimately, you may continue your quest to get traditionally published, or you may steer toward a hybrid or self-publishing route. But you’ll be in charge, you’ll research and contact legitimate companies, and you’ll be able to create a product you can be proud of.

4 keys to your author social media strategy

lindaktaylor3 Comments

As much as I talk and teach about social media, I have rarely written about it on this blog. Turns out, 2015 was the last time. In rereading that post from nine years ago, I see that it stands the test of time. While social media constantly changes, some things stay the same. One thing that is the same:

If you want to get your book published, you need to be out there on social media.

So how do you build a social media strategy? I know many of you struggle with this. But every publisher or agent will tell you that it is vital that you have a presence on social media. Let me help you get over your distress and offer four key points.

1. It’s not all about you.

That’s meant to make you feel better. Being on social media as a writer means the privilege of engaging with your “tribe” (a Seth Godin term), the community of writers — and not just writers, but writers writing in your genre, published and unpublished, local or around the world. On social media you find and follow those people. It has never been easier to connect with your favorite authors and with other likeminded writers working in the trenches. Seriously, we need one another.

Make your social media about those folks. Celebrate their successes. Read their books and learn from them, then share them on your social media, write reviews, be excited. Point to others, not at yourself. The more you do this, I guarantee you’ll begin to build a network of people around you who will support you when your time comes.

2. But you should also share about you–authentic you.

But at the same time, you need to let people see a window into your world. You’re not just lurking over in their world while presenting a blank slate about your own. That’s hardly helpful because the whole purpose is to join these networks of people. So let them know you a little. But be you. Be authentic.

Share about your writing process: was today a great day of writing? Why or why not? What works best for you? Share about what you’re researching and learning. All writers know the rabbit trails we can get on when we’re researching information on the internet. What new pertinent (or not) information did you learn today? Then you can get a little more personal.

Pinky is not helpful at all.

You don’t need to go overboard, but do know that people are interested. Talk about how your cats are not helpful. Pets are always safe and fun, especially if you don’t want to share family photos or information. Fine, just stick with your writing. I would advise you to stay out of politics unless that’s what your book is about. Just stay on brand. You can do all of these whether you’re blogging or posting on social media.

3. You don’t need to be everywhere.

You can’t do every social media platform and do it well. After all, you have a book to write and, I assume, probably a million other things going on in your life. You should be on the platforms you’re comfortable with and where your readers are. I would advise that you have a website, because that is your own piece of real estate that all of your social media can point back to. This is where you have your author photo and bio and your blog (and yes, you need a blog so it can showcase how you write and that you can indeed write).

From there, perhaps you just want to do Facebook. Or Goodreads. Or Pinterest. If you’re writing YA, then you need to be where the young people are, which is probably Instagram. Study how to use these platforms well. Find your favorite authors or writers you admire and see what they’re doing on these platforms to give you ideas.

4. Post and engage consistently.

This ties back to the “if you want to get published” theme and the “you can’t be everywhere” idea. You may despair that you haven’t been active for a long time or you don’t have many followers. That’s okay. Start back in again, and then create a weekly schedule that you can keep up with. It has to work for you or it won’t work.

Perhaps on Monday you’ll share on Facebook about something you learned in your research. On Wednesday you’ll post on Pinterest some photos you found about the time period of your historical fiction. On Friday, you’ll share the link to an article you read that was pertinent to your book’s topic. On Saturday, maybe a Canva-created quote from your book.

Then, as people engage with you, engage with them. While many social media experts will talk about how you need X number of followers to even be considered for publication, that’s not true everywhere. If you’re building a following and engaging with your followers, if you’re actively and consistently posting on brand, if you’re showing yourself as winsome and creative and someone any publisher would love to work with, well, you’re doing it exactly right.

Realize you’re building relationships. That’s the most important thing you can do as you build your social media and create your author platform. It’s not all about you. You don’t have to become an internet influencer posting selfies all day. In fact, that’s the opposite of what you want to do. Focus not on yourself but on your tribe and your readers. Put good content out there that will be interesting and helpful to them.

Be you. Be there. Enjoy. Drop your blog link or social media handles below so I can follow you!

Writing Real — More than a Dum Dum

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In my Freelance Writing class this week, we’re working on the “art of living” article — writing that seeks to inspire or help readers live life just a little better based on our ability to share our own joys and struggles.

Our text puts it this way: “The key to writing art-of-living articles is to write an article that will make a difference in someone’s life—to provide the reader with something to hold on to and take away into her own life.” —Handbook of Magazine Article Writing

To really make this work, however, that piece needs to provide transparency into the life of the author. Readers want writers to be real, to dive deep, to share their stories.

But it doesn’t need to be dark or traumatic. Sometimes the sweetest and most inspirational pieces of writing come from memories, moments, minute details of life that draw us back and make us think. To give my students that opportunity, I gave them a handout with their lives (so far) divided into segments. They were to write down five or six memories from sets of years: 0-5, 6-10 (elementary school), 11-14 (junior high), 15-18 (high school), and 18+ (college). As they began to scribble, I explained that the memories that came quickly are worth thinking about further. There’s a reason that those bubble to the top.

Their job then was to choose one of those memories and describe it. That gets the scaffolding in place. Now to get a solid art-of-living piece, to get to something that will resonate with our readers, we need to go deeper.

So we considered some questions. I asked them to close their eyes and go back to that memory. What was going on in their lives at that time, in their family life, in the world? Where were they living? Who else was part of their lives at the time? What else do they see, hear, feel, smell, taste? As they looked at that memory in a bigger picture and considered why that particular memory surfaced at all, they can write a story with heart. They can begin to see how that minor thing matters, and in turn, help their readers put themselves into their own similar story.

As if to make me take my own advice, today, a sweet college student dressed as a bunny rabbit stopped into my office and let me draw some Halloween candy from her outstretched pumpkin basket. I drew out a Dum Dum.

The Dum Dum that arrived today.

In that moment, I saw my Grandpa Chaffee’s face. He had been a rural mail carrier in the little town of Wattsburg, PA, and its environs. He drove his massive Oldsmobile Toronado to deliver mail — and there was always a big bag of Dum Dums on his front seat. The children on his route knew he’d give them a sucker. Even though our family visited him only once a year or so, whenever I got into that enormous car to ride with him, I drew a Dum Dum from the bag and stuck it in my mouth, sucking happily as we zipped down twisty dirt roads.

Gramps, me, and Trixie, circa 1964.

That Dum Dum sent me back. The joy of our traveling military family always returning to deep extended-family roots in western PA. The legacy of love and faith I’ve been privileged to receive. The deep loss of grandparents and now both of my parents. Changes as decades pass; foundations that remain solid. Heaven’s certainty. A loving family that shaped who I am. Sweet memories and sweet candy.

It’s just a Dum Dum, but now there’s something there worth writing. Something to help readers also think about how life changes yet some foundations are worth holding onto and passing on. It was just a Dum Dum, but it’s so much more.

What simple things in your life have a depth of meaning? What memories rise to the surface? How might you write about them?

Trail Angels and Trail Magic – Writer Style

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As I’ve discussed in this post (and if you’ve been one of the wonderful folks who purchased my latest book Pathway to Publication), you know that I make comparisons of writing a book and getting it published to the very wearisome task of doing a thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail. My sister began her thru-hike on the trail on March 23, the day before my book released (definitely a God-thing), and as she blogs about her trip, I think the comparisons continue to be apt. You can find her blog at The Trek, Carol Fielding. Her trail name (all hikers have a trail name) is Fortune Cookie. More on that below.

You need the right gear, you need to be ready to face difficulties and overcome them, you need persistence, and you need a healthy dose of confidence as you try to get a book published. It’s a long trek.

A couple things I didn’t include in the book and have only discovered through my sister’s blogs are the terms “trail angels” and “trail magic.” On April 5, she writes this in a post titled “Angels and Magic in Georgia“:

“In case you don’t know what trail magic is, it’s when people set up at a road crossing or parking lot with food and drink. Sometimes they actually hike the food in and pass it out on the trail. Food you can’t carry with you on the trail. Fresh food. Those people are called trail angels and to hikers they are truly angelic.”

Folks who live near the Appalachian Trail will provide for hikers passing through. Sometimes it’s containers of fresh water beside a tree. Sometimes it’s chips and candy bars. Sometimes it’s a full-fledged setup with hot breakfast or a barbecue. Carol describes several instances of trail magic so far — Matthew with his chips, granola bars, and apples; a ministry with a tent making breakfast for all of the hikers; a church near the trail providing shuttle service to their kitchen and a free meal; the Southern cookie lady who set up fresh water and homemade cookies.

The need for fresh water is a constant, especially in these dry summer months. Photo courtesy Carol Fielding.
Carol writes, “Nothing warms the heart of a hiker more than seeing a sign that reads, ‘Trail Magic Ahead.'” This group provides hot food and help with resupplying hikers with necessities. Photo courtesy Carol Fielding.

This got me to thinking about my trail comparisons with the book publishing process. Writing is by necessity a lonely endeavor. We walk the trail with only our thoughts (and our characters and our outlines) to keep us company. We get discouraged. The first draft is no better than a rain-soaked sleeping bag. The editing process looks as daunting as that hike up Clingman’s Dome. (In case you didn’t know, that’s the highest peak on the trail at 6,643 feet. Also the highest in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.)

We writers do indeed have our own brand of trail magic! We have writers conferences that encourage and inspire like a nice hot breakfast after some days of instant oatmeal. We have critique group friends who take the time to sit with pieces of our manuscript and help us make it better. We have beta readers who willingly take on the entire book in order to give feedback. We have writers groups that meet physically or online to encourage one another. We have numerous non-writer friends who understand us and help in whatever ways they can.

Basically, trail magic is folks caring for one another. And we writers have that in spades.

Oh, and about her trail name. My sister happened to get this little gem with some Chinese takeout in mid-2022, a year into planning her hike.

Photo courtesy Carol Fielding

And you know what? I think it applies to our writing trek as well.

Who has provided “trail magic” for you? Tell me about it in the comments.