You know the saying: When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.
Well, what do you do when life hands you lemons?
Tell us, we want to know. Set your time for 12-15 minutes and write. Just write. Post your writing here, on The Write Spot Blog. Click on “Guidelines” for information about how to post.
So, you’ve got your book written, or almost written, or you have an idea for a book, but you’re stuck dead in your tracks because you detest the marketing aspect of the book business
Amanda McTigue says, “No doubt about it: we writers love to write, hate to sell. How could it be otherwise? We’re the odd balls who’d rather spend vast quantities of time alone in our imaginations. And yet these days, we’re told not only must we craft (and sometimes publish) our works, but also find readers to read them: a daunting challenge compounded by our own dread. What’s a writer to do?”
Amanda shares resources on one of our least favorite challenges: marketing yourself and your book.
“The Psychology of Writer Promotion. How to Promote Yourself,” Chuck Wendig
“Book Marketing 101,” Jane Friedman
“Five Mistakes You’ll Make on the Way to Publishing Success,” Carmen Amato via Jane Friedman
71 Ways to Promote and Market Your Book,” Kimberley Grabas
15 DIY Tools to Promote Your Book,” Writer’s Store
Author, playwright, stage director and storyteller, Amanda McTigue has also worked for decades as a creative marketing consultant for such clients as Walt Disney Entertainment, Paramount Entertainment and design firms such as Thinkwell and The Hettema Group in Los Angeles. Her novel, “Going to Solace,” was cited by public radio KRCB’s “Word by Word” as a Best Read of 2012. She also makes regular appearances at Petaluma’s “West Side Stories” and “Get Lit.” She’s busy completing short stories and a second novel. Click here for Amanda’s Resource page.
Amanda will be the March 19, 2015 Writers Forum presenter.
Today’s prompt: Winter.
Write whatever comes up for you. Share your writing here, on The Write Spot Blog.
Log in and post your writing.
Photo by Breana Marie.
Listen honey, stop complaining about what you don’t have and start being grateful for what you DO. Then take action to make the most of it! — Ellen Britt
Dr. Ellen Britt is an award-winning online marketing strategist, Amazon best-selling author and founder of PinkCoatTails.com, featuring Fabulous Finds and Delicious Deals for women online entrepreneurs. She has produced and hosted more than a dozen telesummits and has interviewed some of today’s most well-known and respected names in marketing and self-development. Connect with Ellen and her Pink Coattails community on Facebook by clicking here.
Natalie Goldberg expands her thinking about writing practice in her latest book, The True Secret of Writing. You may have heard these ideas before and may be familiar with her other books, Wild Mind and Writing Down The Bones. And it’s good to be reminded of “the basics” of freewrites.
Helpful ideas for writing from Nat:
Yes, even you who have never left home, never stepped out of your gray suit, even you have wild mind . . .
You might write for ten minutes and never land. That’s okay. If you accept your mind at whatever level it is as you begin to write, if you don’t fight it, it will eventually settle . . .
Note from Marlene: Pick something to write about and Just write! For ideas on what to write about, click here and here. You can read what others have written and post your writing on The Write Spot Blog.
What do you want to let go? What do you need to let go? What should you let go?
Take a look at these lyrics to the song, “Let It Go,” from the movie, Frozen.
It’s funny how some distance
Makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me
Can’t get to me at all
It’s time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me,
I’m free!
Let it go, let it go
I am one with the wind and sky
Let it go, let it go
You’ll never see me cry
Here I stand
And here I’ll stay
Let the storm rage on
Your turn. What do you need to do to let go? What will happen if you just . . . let . . . go?
Click here for the full lyrics to “Let it Go.” Music and lyrics composed by the husband-and-wife songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.
Mona first posted “In memory of Karen Batchelor” on her blog, Envelope of Random Things.
In memory of Karen Batchelor
A year ago a talented, amazing woman left us too soon. I always felt she was a mentor to me, not just in my writing world, but about life in general. In memory of her I want to post what I call my mission statement. Ok, other writers out there, let’s send the world some stories! I can only hope that somehow I might continue her legacy in that way.
Mona’s Mission Statement
My mission is to be a mentor to upcoming writers struggling to find their way with the craft of writing. I hope to do this as a testament to the mentors who were there for me. I will do this by being an example of how crucial it is to continue in my quest for knowledge of the process of the written word and the power that is behind a great story. If this gets me to work more fiercely and with more dedication, then I know all is how it should be and the cosmos has willed it to be so.
Mona Mechling considers herself a dark Erma Bombeck. As a preteen, she began writing poems and short stories that went into a drawer. Her first published story was one in Vintage Voices when she was fifty. Life, family and friends are her inspiration.
Humorous or serious – what would you write for your epitaph?
Compose several brief epitaphs for yourself — the headlines you’d like to see on your headstone. Think of them as messages to future generations that convey how you want to be remembered. And then. . . write a story that explains why the epitaph is appropriate.
You could also write this for your fictional character.
Here are some ideas:
He Was Happiest When He Was Young. Strongest When He Was Old.
Family First, Last, and Always
I’d Rather Be Smelling the Roses (Than Lying Underneath Them)
Wish I Had It All to Do Over Again (So I Could Do It All the Same but Better)
Prompt: Write your obituary, or your Life’s Tributes. Share your writing here, on The Write Spot Blog.
From Family Tales, Family Wisdom — How to gather the stories of a lifetime and share them with your family, by Dr. Robert U. Akeret with Daniel Klein
Natalie Goldberg says . . . “First thoughts have tremendous energy. It is the way the mind first flashes on something.” Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones.
Nat’s quote perfectly describes what a free write can do . . . opens us up to ideas and thoughts that lie within us. Try it. Go to the prompts category here or here and choose a prompt. Then write . . . freely. Just Write!
The Waterways Project of Ten Penny Players and the related Bard Press has published both established and emerging poets. The literary magazine, Waterways: Poetry in the Mainstream, has been in continuous publication since 1979. For thirty years, Waterways and Ten Penny Players worked with special needs and incarcerated children in New York City schools. (Wikipedia)
Waterways asks that poems relate to photos on their website, scroll to this page for the photos. Scroll to the bottom of the page for submission details.
Deadlines for January through May: The 15th of each month.
Waterways was introduced to The Write Spot Blog by Arlene Mandell.
Now, go write . . . dig through your poems. . . as Arlene says: Edit and Submit!