10 QUESTIONS FOR…Stacey Kannenberg, bilingual children’s how-to

10 Questions for Stacey Kannenberg, author of

“Let’s Get Ready for Kindergarten” (Spanish/English)

1. Tell us about your latest book. 

I am currently releasing the Spanish/English Edition of Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! iA Prepararse Para Kindergarten!  My kids think it is hilarious that we have been working on a Spanish book without been fluent in the language.  It has been a challenge but I worked with a team of amazing translators, teachers, native speakers and Spanish students to pull it all together.

2. How did you get started as a writer? 

I started writing for my school newspaper and submitted human interest stories to local newspapers while in high school.  I was a journalism student in college and ended up spending 14 years in Insurance Sales and Marketing and left it all to become a mom and started Cedar Valley Publishing 5 years ago.

3. What does a typical day look like for you? 

I spend long days at my computer, getting up before the kids do, working until they get up around 7:30 and taking them to school at 8:30, by 9, I am back in the office working on emails, blogs posts, media requests, radio shows, articles, sales and marketing, daily industry and sales and marketing reading, conference and sales telephone call until 3:30, when I pick up the girls from school.  We usually do a post office run and then I am back in the office from 4-5 and back in the office after the girls are in bed around 8:30.  I often work until 10 and do pleasure reading from 10-11.  Sometimes I will wake up and write from 2-4 and then go back to sleep again! 

4. Describe your desk/workspace. 

My office looks like a library, stacks of books everywhere.  I usually have an organized mess of papers all over my desk.  On my desk, I have a crystal clear clock that my husband gave me in 2004.  He had it engraved with the Cedar Valley Publishing logo and coined the following phrase that has become my mantra:  The Dream is Clear to Believe is the Reward.   On my walls I have pictures of my kids and an area dedicated to Brett Favre!

5. Favorite books (especially for writers)

Dan Poynter’s The Self Publishing Manual

Jerry Simmons’ What Writers Need to Know About Publishing

Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers by Shel Horowitz

6. Tell us 3 interesting/crazy things about you

I have skydived, scuba dived and bungee jumped!

7. Favorite quote is from my husband:  The Dream is Clear to Believe is the Reward

8. Best and worst part of being a writer

The best part is sharing my passion with authors and aspiring writers.  The worst part is that I have become so busy; I have to struggle to find time to write!

9. Advice for other writers

Write because you love to write not because you have to write! 

10. Tell us a story about your writing experience. 

I was reading Let’s Get Ready For First Grade! to my daughter Heidi’s First Grade class.  It was my last revision before print and this class had seen the book at different stages so I was doing one final reading with them before I went to press the following week.  I was on the coin page when little Joe Barber raised his hand and said, “Mrs. Kannenberg, Mrs. Kannenberg, there is an error in your book.  Eisenhower was on the dime in the 40’s now it is Roosevelt.”  I was speechless, he was absolutely correct!  Joe went on, “my mom was a first grade teacher, you know.”  In my mind I am saying, I know Joe and she and about 300 teachers have all looked at this book and we never caught that.  Out loud, I am saying, “Oh my, Joe, thank you so much you so saved me from printing without seeing that error.  Thank you so much!”  Joe walked a bit taller and every time I see him he always asks me if I need any editing done.  I always take him up on it because you just never know what he will see!

Where can people buy your books?

 The books are available at www.cedarvalleypublishing.com Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, select Learning Express stores and Independent Booksellers.

Blog: www.cedarvalleypublishing.com/blog

10 QUESTIONS FOR…Christian horror novelist Glenn Sasscer

Author interview with Glenn Sasscer, “Suffering Madness”

Glenn Sasscer lives in Elmore, a small town in northwest Ohio, with his wife and three children.  Glenn has been writing for over 24 years, specializing in technical manuals, procedures, and training curriculum. Glenn has been published in magazines, newspapers, and trade journals.  In recent years, he focused on his real writing interest with his first novel, Suffering Madness, published last year.  Glenn continues his writing, working on three novels, two inspirational books, and several short stories. 

1. Tell us about your latest book.

Suffering Madness takes the demonic presence of Legion from the Book of Luke in Scripture and unleashes them into current times, opening the door for this Christian Horror book to scare the Hell out of readers.

2. How did you get started as a writer?

Writing has always been something I enjoyed – I was one of those geeks in school who loved the essays and the “what did you do over summer break” writing assignments. I always enjoyed the writing aspect of any job, whether it was an inner-office memo or a technical manual, I get jazzed just putting the words together and making them sing.  When my wife and I were at a social gathering, I was stringing out a tall tale about something, making up a wild story on the fly as part of a game, and one of our friends mentioned I should start writing those stories down. The idea planted a seed and I started writing fiction.

3. What does a typical day look like for you?

Does anyone have a typical day anymore? 

What would be most typical is starting out with prayer – this is the foundation for every one of my days and without it, I would be like a lost balloon at the mercy of the wind blowing me wherever. 

Next, I spend time with my wife to get her day started with our children (we home school); this is the foundation for their day so our kids know Dad and Mom are united at the beginning of the day. 

I work at home, but before starting my workday, I usually walk across the street to the “Red, White, and Brew” for my morning coffee and to get harassed by the locals at the coffee shop. 

To pay the bills (my writing isn’t quite covering the checks written against the bank account), I work for a software company in South Carolina.  I take calls during the day for training, consulting, and support for the software system.

Around lunchtime, I take a break and workout in the garage for about forty minutes, shower, and get back to the desk.

At about 3:15pm, I hit the The Brew again for my afternoon coffee and walk a few blocks to the post office.  I find this to be an important part of the day to relieve stress – so simple, yet so effective. 

After work, three times a week, I write about 700-800 words for my inspirational blog on my website at www.glennsasscer.com/wordpress/index.php. 

I also strive to spend at least one hour after work on whatever writing project is most predominate on my list, whether it be a novel, short story, or updating my website.  I average about five hours during the week on my writing projects, and try to spend another four hours on Saturday.

4. Describe your desk/workspace.

Since I work at home, I have my own room for a home office.  I have a glass table as a desk, three computers networked together, two printers, and several shelves/bookcases.  The shelves are not wood – I opted for a more contemporary styled office with wire shelves and bookcases. 

I also eliminated the typical desk chair and use an exercise ball – which is best for strengthening my back and stomach muscles during the day.

5. Favorite books (especially for writers)

On Writing, by Stephen King.  Elements of Style, by Shrunk and White.

6. Tell us 3 interesting/crazy things about you

I believe in old-fashion values, manners, and respect, saying, “Yes sir, yes ma’am, please, thank you, and you’re welcome” to everyone, regardless of their age or station – unless I’m on a first name basis with them, then I am rude as Hell. 

I believe if you take yourself too seriously, no one else will, thus I am usually the first one to make fun of myself and have fun at my own expense. 

No matter how old my body gets, I still remain a kid at heart and love to play, especially with my wife and three children.

7. Favorite quote

 “I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,” Apostle Paul, Phillipians 3:13

8. Best and worst part of being a writer

The best part of being a writer is stringing the words together in a way that makes music for the reader.  The worst part of being a writer is there are so many words, so many ways they go together, and so little time.

9. Advice for other writers

Write.  Write.  Write.  Etch out of your day the time to write and just keep writing.  Do not listen to critics unless the critic is telling you the truth.  Hold onto what you believe in your writing, and write what you enjoy.  And, most important, don’t get caught up in yourself – there is always someone better, someone smarter, and someone who can show you a thing or two.

10. Tell us a story about your writing experience. Can be funny, embarrassing, inspirational, etc. (“I once pitched an agent at a urinal. It did not go well.”)

I began writing what would eventually become my first novel, Suffering Madness, in 1995.  My design goals at the time were fairly small – I was targeting the short story market in magazines to try to develop a name.  After enough rejections to wallpaper my office, I realized my writing was pretty bad. 

Fortunately, my desire to write and tell stories overshadowed any detail like the mechanics of writing, and I was dumb enough to press past the rejections telling me I was clueless.  I joined three critique groups at the same time, each requiring writing assignments and critiques, and each holding their own strength in writing.  One focused on character development, another on the mechanics of writing (“The Elements of Style” by Shrunk and White was their foundation), and the last centered on how to tell a really good story.  All three were brutal to some extent, however one was absolutely bloodthirsty in devouring any mistake in grammar, spelling, or weak plots.  Some writers jumped ship in their first or second week; but as I already stated, I was too dumb to know any better.  I suffered through the critiques bleeding all over my precious creations, cutting up my babies, and splattering blood ink on my stories.  I learned to develop thick skin and separate constructive criticism from personal opinion. 

In hindsight, I spent roughly twenty to thirty hours a week working all three critique groups over the course of about four years, and I have the bruises and scars to prove it.  Yet each provided their own school of instruction and helped get my writing published in magazines, anthology books, and excerpts in newspapers. 

And then Suffering Madness was conceived in the death throws of a short-story writing assignment for one of the critique groups.  Several supporting comments from an otherwise critical crowd brought the story out of the obscurity of an assignment into the light of a realistic novel. 

The first draft of Suffering Madness rounded off at about 130,000 words three years later, the second draft paring it down to 65,000 words.  The story survived seven more drafts to polish out at 95,000 words. 

These specific words caught the eye of Suzanne Kirk, then Senior Editor at Scribner.  She liked it, though without an agent, could not take me past a handwritten letter, two dots and a smiling mouth.  Unfortunately, even with an encouraging letter from a prominent editor, agents would scurry away from my writing like frightened spiders.  Why?  Several reasons were given. Not enough warm fuzzies about the project (really… this was verbatim, part of the response!), Scribner was not on their list (what fiction agent would not bend a little for Scribner?), and what I believe to be the real challenge: Suffering Madness was too cross-genre to market. 

This novel lands solidly in the horror genre, yet presents spiritual aspects lending to a Christian flavor.  Could there be a Christian Horror genre?  Ha!  Let’s laugh now while the ink is still fresh on our monitors.  So, I believe in God and like the horror genre… am I the only one? 

Hmmm… This poses a whole new set of rules for marketing, attracting attention, and getting this project off the ground.  Ten months were spent marketing to agents (some of the best prima donnas do not accept simultaneous submissions… based on experience, stop wasting your time and skip them!).  By the time I landed an agent willing to work on a cross-genre project, Suzanne Kirk had retired. 

Cringe. 

I lost the next few years to cattle-prodding an agent through two marriages, two divorces, and two agency closure/start-ups. 

Cringe again.

Within three months of “releasing” my agent, Suffering Madness found its way to the desk of four of the top ten most prominent publishing editors in the United States (I backdoored three to get around the no-agent clause).  Their reasons for rejection varied, yet personal responses provided insight to the central theme of dismissal: cross-genre.

To the point: Suffering Madness was too scary for the Christian audience and too preachy for the secular market.  You can’t suck the blood out of bodies, grind their hands in garbage disposals, and scatter their remains all over a circle slide in a schoolyard playground and appeal to a Christian audience.  You also have to be careful with the “J” word for non-Christian markets; if a character says, “Jesus”, they should be cussing and not preaching.    

I learned publishing is less artistic and more business in the United States.  The gatekeepers in the publishing world require a toll for passage – you must be a good gamble.  A cross-genre novel for an established author like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, or Richard Matheson is an easy risk or gamble, but the odds are against a new author.

So, I formed Geez Press Publishing, setting up my own publishing company, and published my book through POD distributors.  I’m seeing five star reviews on Amazon (Amazon reviews!  Real reviews from real people!).  

So, are there challenges in writing horror novels?  Absolutely.  Anything worth your blood and sacrifice, scraping the scales off the underbelly of society, staring evil in the eye, and still holding your head up on Sunday in church is worth the challenge. 

My advise to authors: hold onto what you believe in and write what you enjoy.

Where can people buy your book?

You can find me at www.glennsasscer.com and my blog at www.glennsasscer.com/wordpress/index.php.  Be sure to sign up for regular emails from the blog and keep in touch!

My bookstore is on my website.  Check out my recent eStory, “Desert Grave” (only $3.00)!  

3 new writing contests

1. Worst opening line (free, 50 words or less, April 15 deadline) — www.bulwer-lytton.com

New! January 2009

 

I’ve gotten (dis)honorable mentions in this contest in the past. It’s a blast and the responses are hysterically funny!

 

2. DIAGRAM’s Innovative Fiction Contest ($5, stories up to 10,000 words, March 9 deadline) 

http://thediagram.com/contest.html#20095ifcguidelines

 

3. Ramble Underground Summer ‘09 Fiction Short Story Contest ($6, May 15 deadline)

http://www.rambleunderground.org/underground_winter06_006.htm

10 QUESTIONS FOR…Robert Prondzinski, who writes about 45 years living as a quadriplegic

Author interview with Robert Prondzinski, author of

Another Fine Mess You’ve Gotten Us Into: The Life and Adventures of a Quad 

 

1. Tell us about your latest book.

 

Besides the many bizarre and strange stories about the situations I managed to get my friends into, Another Fine Mess You’ve Gotten Us Into: The Life and Adventures of a Quad is about my 45 years living as a quadriplegic after a severe spinal cord injury at the age of 17. The book is serious, humorous, informational and, many say, inspirational. I take the reader behind the scenes as I describe what it physically and emotionally feels like to be quadriplegic, and navigating my way through rehab, school (I have two masters degrees), living independently, dating, marriage, my professional career, and retirement.

2. How did you get started as a writer?

I was pressured to do so by many of my friends who told me I should write down many of the crazy situations I got them into over the years.  As a very active quadriplegic who never learned his limitations, I frequently manage to get my friends into weird situations that an able-bodied person could not even comprehend.  Hence the title of my book:  Another fine mess you’ve gotten us into.

3. What does a typical day look like for you?

When not traveling around the country in my 32’ RV (which is more than half the year), I am enjoying my model electric train hobby at home and the many great restaurants in the Chicago and Milwaukee area, where many of the stories in the book took place.

4. Describe your desk/workspace.

My workspace is a bit unusual.  I do all my computer work and writing from my bed while I’m lying on my back. There is a computer screen mounted and positioned above me.  I use a voice-recognition software package called Dragon NaturallySpeaking to talk to my computer and have it perform anything that can be done by a keyboard or mouse.  As a retired computer professional I am able to create my own NaturallySpeaking commands to accommodate any software I install on my computer.

5. Favorite books (especially for writers)

J.R.R. Tolkien (Author): Lord of the Rings

Frank Herbert (Author): Dune

Orson Scott Card (Author): Ender’s Game, Ender’s Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon

David Eddings (Author): The Belgariad Series

Robert Jordan (Author): Wheel of Time Series

6. Tell us 3 interesting/crazy things about you

1.     My buddy and I once went to a boat show just to see what was there. By the time we left, we owned a 28-foot pontoon boat and leased a slip on a local chain of lakes. The only hitch was that when we both got home we would have to tell our respective wives what we had done. Needless to say, we will never be doing that again without their consultation. We did manage to keep the boat, but never heard the end of it.

2.     After a year or so of watching others pilot the 28-foot pontoon boat, I decided it was time for me to try, even though I do not have the use of my hands or legs. As I steered the boat with one wrist and controlled the throttle with the other wrist, my body lurched forward, shoving the throttle to maximum speed. As the boat shot forward uncontrollably and swung into the marsh I found myself and my wheelchair lying on the floor of the boat, which was now landlocked 15 feet into the marsh. When we finally got the boat back into the water seven hours later, and with a lot of help from others, I decided that from that day forward I should probably let others pilot the boat.

3.     While I was laid up for awhile due to medical reasons, a friend of mine convinced my wife and I that it would probably be a nice hobby to have a small model train layout while I was recuperating. We decided to build a small 3×6-foot layout and each of us purchase one steam engine and one diesel engine along with a few freight cars and a few passenger cars. Unfortunately, this little hobby became an obsession, which resulted in turning my office into a massive train layout with an inventory of more than 250 train engines and thousands of freight and passenger cars. Currently the layouts have taken over three rooms of our house and the entire patio. My wife is cursing the day my friend talked us into this new endeavor.

7. Favorite quote

“God does not roll dice.” Albert Einstein

I believe Einstein’s actual quote was, “God does not play dice with the universe.”

8. Best and worst part of being a writer

The best part of being a writer is that I leave a legacy of some part of myself in the world after I am gone.  Having no children to carry on my family name this is of greater importance than one might think.  Because this book is an autobiography of sorts it also lets my audience know that a person named Robert Prondzinski lived and enjoyed life to the fullest.

The worst part of being a writer is that, as you all know, it can be a slow process for a book to reach a broad audience. This is extremely discouraging for me because I feel this book can help people who are afflicted with a serious injury, as well as their families and loved ones. However, the feedback I get from others who have read this book does express how it helped them cope and provided hope for their futures.

9. Advice for other writers

I have found that writing down many of my experiences was very cathartic in its own right.  No matter who you are or what you are writing about just keep writing.  Every word, sentence, or idea you write down is a creation from your mind and is something that is uniquely part of you.  You create the stories and ideas that others will remember throughout their lives.  To create something tangible from pure/conscious thought is remarkable.  No other species living on this planet can do so.

10. Tell us a story about your writing experience. 

As mentioned above, I felt pressured into writing this book.  I thought that writing down a couple of the crazy stories I told at gatherings with my friends would put their harebrained thoughts about my writing a book to rest once and for all.  Little did I know that, after the first two stories, they would ask for more.  Two stories turned into 27.  Then the 27 stories needed some “before and after” context so, by the time I was done, I had pretty much written a 272-page autobiography.  I guess I hoisted myself onto my own petard, but now I would not trade that experience for the world.  Life is stranger than fiction.

Where can people buy your book?  Another Fine Mess You’ve Gotten Us Into: The Life and Adventures of a Quad is available in select bookstores, on Amazon and from my www.FineMessAdventure.com  website, where you can download free sample chapters.

 

 

5 Q’s with Wendy on freelance life

I was just interviewed by Susan Johnston of the Urban Muse Writer. She asked me about common mistakes writers make, staying organized and motivated as a freelance writer, advice for other writers and more. Read the interview and then sign up for The Urban Museletter to get your monthly fix of writing tips and tidbits. It’s good advice; Susan has written for The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, SELF, WomenEntrepreneur.com and Yahoo! HotJobs, among other places. She also teaches and does copywriting. Here’s her other Web site: www.Susan-Johnston.com

10 QUESTIONS FOR…Jessica Tilles, award-winning author of African American “Romantica”

Author interview with

Jessica Tilles, award-winning author of African American “Romantica” (romance + erotica)

A native of Washington, DC, JESSICA TILLES is the best-selling, award-winning author of Anything Goes, In My Sisters’ Corner, Apple Tree, Sweet Revenge, Fatal Desire, Unfinished Business and the anthology Erogenous Zone: A Sexual Voyage. As publisher of Xpress Yourself Publishing (www.xpressyourselfpublishing.org), she is the 2008 African American Literary Awards Show recipient of Independent Publisher of the Year award. She is also the founder of The Writer’s Assistant (www.thewritersassistant.com) and Erotic Expressions (www.eroticexpressions.net). Currently working on her next literary endeavor, she resides in Upper Marlboro, Maryland with her family.

1. Tell us about your latest book.

My newest novel is Loving Simone will be released March 13, 2009. The novel is a mixture of romance and erotica. I believe it’s a new genre that’s now called Romantica. From the outside, Simone (the main character) has the perfect life and family. However, the inside tells of a different story. After ten years of being the faithful, dutiful wife and mother, Simone desperately struggles with releasing the hidden desires of pleasure she cannot seem to get from her husband, causing her to turn to self-fulfillment and outside influences. Jackson, her hubby, is too busy focusing on the women who work for him, self-indulgence, and sticking his pole in every hole, rather than his wife. Darius is every woman’s dream and has had a crush on Simone since he was a teen. When their paths cross, all of Simone’s inhibitions are released and finally someone, other than Jackson, is Loving Simone.

This novel is definitely my best work and I’m looking forward to receiving the responses of my readership!

2. How did you get started as a writer?

I’d always been an avid reader, which is something I truly miss now. There never seems to be any time to relax and read someone’s work other than my own. After reading Homecourt Advantage by Rita Ewing and Crystal McCray Anthony, I decided to try my hand at writing a novel. At that time, I had no idea how easy it would be. I harbored a talent I knew nothing about until I sat behind my computer and typed the first chapter to Anything Goes. What a fantastic feeling it was to create a time, place and cast of characters based solely on my imagination.

3. What does a typical day look like for you?

A typical day for me is working on my publishing business and creating book cover and web site designs, as well as typesetting for my clients. I pretty much stay in my pajamas all day, unless I need to run errands to the post office or the bank, maybe the grocery store. I lead a boring life, and I love every minute of it! Usually around 11 p.m. is when I will focus on writing.

4. Describe your desk/workspace.

Unorganized. However, surprisingly, I know where everything is!

5. Favorite books (especially for writers)

There are several references I refer to on a regular basis, but the top five books I use are:

1.  The Flip Dictionary by Barbara Ann Kipfer, Ph.D.

2.  The Chicago Manual of Style (15^th Edition)

3.  Random House Writer’s Reference

4.  The Writer’s Guide to Character Traits

6. Tell us 3 interesting/crazy things about you

1.  I love Doritos and Pepsi on a Saturday night, with a good movie.

2. I’m afraid of speaking in front of a large group.

3.  After 42 years, I still suck my thumb when I can’t get to sleep.

7. Favorite quote

“Never allow anyone to become your priority while you become their option.”

8. Best and worst part of being a writer

I’ve yet to experience anything too bad about being a writer. As with anything else, I take the negativity with a grain of salt and keep it moving. The best part of being a writer is being able to touch people with my novels. It’s a good feeling when a reader sends me an emailing telling me how much they were moved by my words.

9. Advice for other writers

Research the business of publishing. Continue to hone your writing skills. Learn from the mistakes of others.

Where can people buy your books?

All of my titles are available at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Borders.com, and other online retailers, as well as in bookstores everywhere. To learn more about my novels, and me, you may visit www.JessicaTilles.com. To learn more about Xpress Yourself Publishing and its authors, please visit www.XpressYourselfPublishing.org. Also visit www.TheWritersAssistant.com to view samples of work I’ve done for other authors.

10 QUESTIONS FOR…author platform guru Christina Katz

10 Questions for Christina Katz, author platform guru

Christina Katz is the author of Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform (Writer’s Digest Books). She started her platform “for fun” seven years ago and ended up on “Good Morning America.” Christina teaches e-courses on platform development and writing nonfiction for publication. Her students are published in national magazines and land agents and book deals. Christina has been encouraging reluctant platform builders via her e-zines for five years, has written hundreds of articles for national, regional, and online publications, and is a monthly columnist for the Willamette Writer. A popular speaker at writing conferences, writing programs, libraries, and bookstores, she hosts the Northwest Author Series in Wilsonville, Oregon. She is also the author of Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids (Writer’s Digest Books).

1. Tell us about your latest book.

Becoming visible is more crucial to landing a book deal than ever, according to agents and editors in every facet of the publishing industry. Simply churning out a book isn’t enough anymore. Aspiring authors need to develop a platform in order to get noticed. Get Known Before the Book Deal empowers writers to take charge of their writing careers and partner with agents, editors and publishers instead of thinking that someone else is going to handle self-promotion for them. Most self-promotion books for writers pick up with the book deal. No other book dials self-promotion all the way back to how to get started. My intention for Get Known was that it would be the book every writer would want to read before pitching a book. The strategies in Get Known spark platform development ideas that will increase any writer’s chances of writing a saleable proposal and landing a book deal whether they pitch the book in-person or by query.

2. How did you get started as a writer?

The usual suspects…like many writers, I love books, words, and listening to stories. I had a romance with books before I was old enough to read romance, which of course I did when I was a teen. I think I just wanted to be able to be that magician…that writer conjuring worlds. When I was about eleven or twelve, I was completely hooked by that feeling of being transported by writing words on the page. Now I know that this is called “the fictional dream.” I always think of that as the beginning.

3. What does a typical day look like for you?

On any given day, I am sitting at my kitchen table with my laptop working away. That’s because I’m in what I call “book-promotion mode.” For some reason, I feel more “social” sitting at the kitchen table. When I’m working on a book, I move back into my office, shut the door, and work on my desktop computer only. I start each day after my daughter is off to school, finish each day by dinner, and try not to work on the weekends. I don’t know if I have a typical daily rhythm as much as I have a typical weekly rhythm. On Monday’s I focus on marketing, on Tuesdays and Thursdays I focus on writing, on Wednesdays I teach, and on Fridays I consult and answer e-mail requests. Sometimes I even get to go out for lunch. Of course, traveling messes up my entire schedule and it usually takes me about a week to recover. I am a mom, after all, so home life pretty much revolves around me, and if I’m not here, chaos ensues.

4. Describe your desk/workspace.

Well, the kitchen table is next to sliding glass door with nice light pouring in. But I confess, the table itself is currently littered with stuff and won’t get picked up until dinnertime. (I’m sorry, did you want the truth or the rosy fantasy?) Taking the dogs out will take priority over any chores that need to be done, which can wait until after my daughter gets home from school. My office is actually clean right now but that’s primarily because I’m not in it much right now. On a more playful note, I rearrange and redecorate my office ever year or so. Otherwise, I find my old systems don’t work any more and I feel bored and restless. Someone should tell corporations that it’s amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do to improve morale.

5. Favorite books (especially for writers)

I like my books (wink) but here’s what I typically recommend to beginning nonfiction writers, who are looking to kick off a writing career: The Elements of Style by Strunk & White Ready, Aim, Specialize by Kelly James Enger The Beginning Writer’s Answer Book edited by Jane Friedman

6. Tell us 3 interesting things about you

I was painfully shy as a child. I do just fine now but it takes work. I still get over-stimulated easily especially at a conference or a big event.

I like astrology. I am a Sagitarius with Leo rising, and a Virgo moon.

I met my husband in a break-into-freelance writing workshop taught by you! You were Wendy Burt back then.

7. Favorite quote

I have accepted fear as a part of life – specifically the fear of change… I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back. ~Erica Jong

8. Best and worst part of being a writer

The best part of being a writer is being my own boss. There is no worst part because every down side I could think of had an up side. However, the down side of my best part is the 100% responsibility that comes with it. I don’t mind the responsibility but I’m not sure everyone would feel the same way.

9. Advice for other writers

Here’s my top six tips on how to have a successful writing career:

Learn nonfiction-writing basics, especially how to write short and tight. These skills come in handy no matter what genre you write. 

Learn how to sell your writing by practicing written and verbal pitching skills (or read your book, The Writer’s Digest Guide to Query Letters from Writer’s Digest Books).

Figure out your topic, your niche within your topic, and your best audiences so you can focus your energy and save time.

Learn basic self-promotion skills for writers, including how to promote yourself online.

Get out in the world regularly and learn ways to bring your expertise to others, like teaching, speaking, and consulting.

Create community around your work. Partner with impeccable others. And don’t get sucked into other people’s agendas for your time unless it’s win-win-win.

10. Tell us a story about your writing experience.

I once had a student who took every class I offered over the span of a couple of years only to discover that writing nonfiction articles was really not her thing. But in the process, she discovered what her thing was (it was and is primarily poetry). She also discovered that she had already made strides in her platform development and was closer to a traditional book deal than she might have thought. True, she still had a book proposal to write and an editor to negotiate the details of the book with, but by refreshing her nonfiction writing skills, she was able to see, name, and claim the nonfiction platform she had been building all along and alchemize her thoughts on the topic into a how-to book and an e-mail class, Poetry for the People. You can now order Sage Cohen’s book, Writing the Life Poetic from Writer’s Digest Books.

Where can people buy your books?

My books, Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow Your Author Platform and Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids are both from Writer’s Digest and are available everywhere. You are welcome to order them through http://www.christinakatz.com, if you like. You can also view my video trailer for Get Known on my site. I especially appreciate it when folks ask their local libraries to carry my books so that they can be available to everyone everywhere. I do a lot to serve my writing community on an ongoing basis. I publish three distinct e-zines you can subscribe to: Get Known Groove, Writers on the Rise and The Writer Mama. For folks who live near Wilsonville, Oregon, you are welcome to sign up for calendar alerts for The Northwest Author Series. Or you can sign up for all of my offerings in one fell swoop at www.christinakatz.com.

Ask Wendy: How do you break into magazines with no published clips?

Question: I’d like to break into magazines but many of them say to send published clips. I don’t have much to send. What should I do?

Answer: First let me point out that while the term “published clips” is just how it sounds, “writing samples,” (a term you’ll also see a lot) can be UNPUBLISHED

NEW! January 2009

 

 pieces. If you’re writing for say, Parenting Magazine, but don’t have any published clips, you can send a general writing sample of a parenting-related subject.

But let’s assume we’re talking “published clips.” Here are a few ideas:

1. Create a blog or Web site and start posting writing samples so you can just email editors the link. If the pieces get  published, you can update the blog/Web site with a note. “This article appeared in the July issue of…”

2. Write something for another blog or Web site and ask for the archived link so you can email it to editors.

3. Don’t rule out your clips from small publications – like a college newspaper or a company/church newsletter. Just mention the name. You don’t have to go into specifics, apologizing about how small the newsletter was. Most likely, your style of writing will speak for itself. Here’s an example of what I’m suggesting for someone who only wrote for her college newspaper, her church newsletter and her corporate e-newsletter:

“Jane Smith’s work has appeared in The Collegiate, The Glory Church Times and MCI’s corporate publication, Tech Today.”

4. Try to rack up some clips in local and regional publications before pitching to national magazines. Local newspapers and magazines are typically more open to unpublished writers.

5. Look for reputable online portals where you can post sample articles. Just to give you examples of two I’m familiar with: www.EasyLivingFrontRange.com (covers stories, news and people in the Front Range of Colorado) and www.YourHub.com (right now covers CA, CO, FL, NY, PA, TX, TN and OK) 

6. If you choose to post your unpublished articles on places like Helium.com, wait until the article gets picked up and runs on another Web site – then send the new site’s link. Some editors are immediately turned off by links to article clearinghouses like Helium.

7. Yes, contests count. Most contests publish their winners’ entries someplace. If you win, place or get honorable mention, say it.

List of “contest cautions” and new writing contest

Have concerns about entering a writing contest? Dana K. Cassell offers a handy list of “Contest Cautions” at

http://www.writers-editors.com/Writers/Contests/Contest_Tip_Sheet/contest_tip_sheet.htm

 

Also, the Writers-Editors Network’s own annual writing competition’s deadline is March 15; guidelines are posted at

http://www.writers-editors.com/Writers/Contests/Contest_Guidelines/contest_guidelines.htm 

3 Reasons you’ll feel the pinch in your pocketbook if you don’t find the fun in queries

Today I have a guest blog on Editor Unleashed. (Maria Schneider is the former editor of Writer’s Digest mag and now offers independent services to authors/writers) a

http://editorunleashed.com/

It’s titled, “Hate writing query letters? You’re not alone”