Our Secret Weapon…

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You know how most writers are trying to win the attention of agents? Those of us who are on the MWW planning committee are writers in a very unusual position: We have to turn down agents who want to be on the faculty of our conference.

(REGISTER FOR MWW 2016 WHILE THERE ARE STILL SPOTS)

Maybe they just have always wanted to come to Muncie.

Maybe it’s that agents have discovered some pretty amazing writers at our conference (cough…cough…Veronica…Roth…cough).

We’ve had many agents tell them that we are their favorite conference. The thing is, we work them like dogs. They lead sessions, take pitches, give speeches, and review manuscripts. Still, they want to come back.

“Maybe next year,” we tell them.

Each year we get writers from all over the United States and sometimes from other countries. Folks travel for an entire day to get to our conference in Muncie.

Sometimes we scratch our heads and wonder why folks love the conference so much. Jama-Kelsey-Jane-mww15

(Jama on the bottom right in the pimp hat. That’s a sentence I never thought I would write!)

But really, we know why. We have a secret weapon. We call her Jama.

Jama is the executive director of MWW and the head cheerleader for every writer who attends. Her love, compassion, and enthusiasm for writers and writing is contagious.

Jama recently shared her enthusiasm for MWW on her own blog. She writes:

I’ve been connected to MWW since my sophomore year of college and now I’m a granny, so basically about 67% of my life. {Don’t let your brain explode trying to do the math, let’s just say that I’m no longer middle-aged.} First, I attended as a participant, then after my MWW-impacted manuscript was accepted for publication, I came on board as a committee member. Eventually, I became the director.

MWW set a torch in my chest for helping other writers turn their dreams into reality. That fire has burned in me for {redacted} years. It’s like a ministry for me. “Amen!” “Let’s make this happen!” I proclaim.

From the very beginning of my time on the committee, I’ve been called to cheer. And to serve.

From my way-back years to my now-year, I serve writers. Fiction writers, nonfiction writers, poets, and all those who are struggling to know what they’re writing. I serve writers who write mystery stuff, romantic stuff, inspirational stuff, children’s stuff, blog stuff, or scary stuff I’m too sensitive to read … and I even serve those who write their stuff on a Mac. Doesn’t matter to me. I’ll serve ‘em all. I love ‘em all.

I love so many of these MWW people more than I love a big ol’ hunk of chocolate. I love writers in all their diversity. I love that the common bond for all of us truly is that we want to be writers who make an impact.

Read the rest on Jama’s Happy Day Moment blog.

~ Kelsey

 

Committee Member Jeffrey Pearson on Being a Poet

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Every so often we unlock the closet we keep our poets in. Recently when MWW committee member Jeffrey Pearson got out, he spoke at The David Owsley Museum of Art at Ball State University.

It was  PechaKucha Night. PechaKucha, or “chit-chat” in Japanese, is a unique, fast-paced, and fun presentation format: 20 slides for 20 seconds each. October’s theme was “Being.”

Jeff presented on being a poet in the city. That’s the thing we love about our poets (including MWW committee member Michael Brockley): they don’t wait for people to come to poetry, they take poetry to the people. 

Below, Jeff was kind enough to share his presentation on being a poet. 

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The City has given life and voice to poets like William Carlos Williams, CP Cavafy, Jack Gilbert, Frank O’Hara. In return, I think a poet gives the same back to the city. Their words, written and spoken, can help define it, its people, its reason for being.

The Owsley Museum is a wonderful place for poets. Last month they invited Mike Brockley and me to write poems on demand for you patrons and you kept us busy.

In 2009, they brought in then Indiana Poet Laureate Norbert Krapf and pianist Monika Herzig for a delightful Sunday afternoon of poetry and jazz.

During the Asian Miniatures exhibit, about 40 people joined us in writing a ghazal, an ancient poetic form. Some were boyfriends dragged in by their art student girlfriends, but mostly, they were all good sports. We split into five groups and each group wrote a couplet, ending in the word water. It turned out pretty good.

Here is a 1991 handbill for the second annual Humpback Barn Festival, which was held in Mildred Trivers barn and paired poets with artists. It went on for 17 years, ending its run at Minnetrista Cultural Center.

Mildred told us, “Slow down” when we got up to read, and “Poets are dangerous people.”

Mike Brockley and I serve on  the Midwest Writers Workshop committee. The workshop meets in July and next year will be our 43rd. Mostly, they don’t know what to do with their poets, so they lock us in closets. Only letting us out to do some events around town.

Vera Mae’s has been a great partner for National Poetry Month. We’ve had readings by several Indiana poets including two Poet Laureates.

There’s been poetry and jazz at Doc’s Music Hall.

Gallery 308 invited us to collaborate with Sally Myers and with Carol Blakney and Mary Ann Rhea.

And the the Open Door Clinic has three of my poems on the exterior of their building.

We have written Poems on Demand at the big ArtsWalks in the spring and fall downtown. We started about a decade ago.

In October, 2013, Mike and I wrote 42 poems.

This month was a challenge with the wind, and we eventually had to take down the canopy. Thankfully, I was writing a poem for Architecture students who were good building things with their hands, and they had the tent down in no time. Only one girl named Dot was blown away by the wind.

Here is Mike with his “grokking” hat on. You know, that word is in the dictionary. Actually I think that might be my hat. So that’s where it went. And here are some of our clientele. Looking for a party idea? Wedding? Consider Poets for Hire.

Tools of the trade for Poems While You Wait: Manual typewriters, paper, and a table to sit at.

Writing a poem for someone else, up close and personal, can be daunting and surreal. You have to suspend your own windows of perception to get yourself out of your box.

A woman this year asked me, “How do we do this?” I really don’t know, it’s different each time. I keep asking questions, digging deeper. Really it’s not as bad as a minute with Lucy. A little closer to divination. In that empathic moment, something beautiful happens

It’s as if I’m hanging there in mid air, grasping for anything. Then you say something that’s gold.

“He’s a good man to have around.”

“A secret life of serial parking violations.”

“The Cute One and the Chattanooga Red Hot.”

“He held me grand.” (This one is thanks to James Still.)

These are the hooks into the poems.

It’s all about going through a portal and into someone else’s head. Like in this movie. You’re on that half-floor you never knew existed. You can do it. No kidding. Suddenly you’re seeing through their eyes. Lean back, flex your fingers and begin to type.

Here’s Mike working again. Notice, we can’t see if the table is firmly on the ground or not. After writing—we read the poem aloud. People don’t expect this, to hear the words being read by the author. It’s a captivating surprise—the vision, the words and the voice.

Maybe you know this scene with the street poet who writes a verse for Celine and Jesse. Pity the poor sceptic who assumes the poems are recycled, with only a few words changed. Oh, where is your joy, man. Have a little faith. We are artistes!

Don’t take my word for it. Here are some happy customers who can attest to the veracity and spontaneity of our work. There are folks you simply cannot fool. One testimonial states, “Arf, Arf, Arf, Arf.” Translated. “Poets are great at parties, too.”

Here’s a list of the poets who helped out at the Living Lightly Fair last month. It was a dark and stormy morning, and thunderstorms drove us us inside before the Fair had a chance to begin. But the sun broke through, and each poet had their own strategy of delving out a poem.

And again, its nice to have the poem read out loud.

Interurban, my writing group in Indy, helped out at the Broad Ripple Art Fair in June.

Here is another strategy:

Observe your surroundings.

Listen to what is said next to you.

Lydia is asking Liza Hyatt’s daughter three questions. That went into my poem for Ashley who worked with the flower art booth. Man, I’m a sponge in the worst way.

Legend has it a woman saw Picasso working in the park

“It’s you. You must sketch my portrait!”

He agreed. Studied a moment, and used a single pencil stroke to create her portrait.

“It’s perfect! You captured my essence with one stroke. Thank you! How much do I owe you?”

“Five thousand dollars.”

“But. It only took you a second to draw it!” How could you want so much money for this picture?

“Madame,’ he said. “It took me my entire life.”

So how much is enough? People have told us a dollar isn’t. Twenty isn’t either, but how many will stop by for that price?

But then…sometimes…we are paid in immeasurable ways. Like Katy, who got back a piece of art.

Or the best gift of all…

Alice’s reaction. Those moments filled with revelations and smiles are amazing. Heartbeats sync when you say,

“Oh I was just thinking of my grandmother.”

Or “Cherries are my son’s favorite.”

Or “I love honeysuckle.”

But these words were never mentioned at all before I wrote it. That’s the Muse. It truly is a magic way to be.

Gail Werner on conferences & facing down fears

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Gail Werner first came to MWW in 2013 as a reporter covering our 40th anniversary. A few months later she started working on her first novel. That happens to people who come into contact with our community of passionate writers.

Soon after we subjected Gail to our grueling obstacle course–like those ones in the Kung Fu movies–she survived and is now on the committee.

Today on her blog Gail writes about her experiences at MWW as an attendee, writer, and committee member–Writers’ Conferences & Facing Down Fears.

Here’s an excerpt:

I gained SO much wisdom: how to gracefully handle rejection, how to improve my pitching techniques, how to market myself as a writer and, most importantly, how to run at a full sprint off the dock known as my comfort zone. That’s the beauty of writers’ conferences: Big or small, they help writers stare down fears that crop up so easily, especially in such a solitary profession.

Read Gail’s post. If you’re inspired by it and want to attend MWW sign up now. There are barely any spots left.

Marketing yourself

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Marketing yourself 

— by Kelly O’Dell Stanley

Marketing is about communicating the value of a product of service. As a writer, you have the job of promoting yourself—and it is never too early to start. With MWW15 only six weeks away, this is the perfect time to start moving.

The first step is thinking about how to position yourself. What do you want people to know about you? What genre(s) do you write? Do you want to promote a specific book or topic or blog or do you want to simply be known as a writer?

I’m going to pause here for a second. If you have trouble calling yourself a writer—something nearly every one of us has struggled with at some point—practice now. A writer is, simply, one who writes. You are not an imposter, even if you’ve never had a word published. Even if you are just starting out. If it makes you feel better, save the term “author” for when your work has been published. But you are on your way to a writing workshop, so you’re investing your time and money, which tells me writing is important to you. Calling yourself a writer is the fastest way to make yourself — and then others — truly believe it.

But don’t stop there. Think of yourself as a brand, like Target or Nike or Starbucks. When I mentioned those names, I bet you pictured their logos. If you see big red dots on a white background, you’re ready to shop. See a swoosh on a shoe or t-shirt and you just do it. See a round green symbol and instantly crave caffeine.

One reason these brands are so recognizable is because they’ve presented themselves in a consistent way. They’ve used colors, icons, fonts, and a certain style of images to show who they are. And we remember. Granted, you and I don’t have the same kind of budgets, and our product may not be as desirable to the general public. But especially when you’re starting to build your own brand, when you’re seeking name recognition, consistency is the key.

A great place to start building your brand is with a business card.

You don’t have to spend big money. You can print cards at home, but usually those aren’t the same quality as the ones printed professionally. I’m a graphic designer, so I design my own cards, but I print them through online printing companies* because they’re fast, high quality, and inexpensive. (Seriously—you can get 250 full color, professionally printed cards for as little as $15.)

But even if you aren’t (or don’t know) a designer, you can work with the templates online to put together a professional-looking image. Some offer folded cards, rounded corners, two-sided printing, unusual sizes, multiple images on the backs, or even printing on plastic. Take advantage of whatever size or effect makes sense for what you write. And make sure to include all relevant contact info (phone, email, website, blog, social media handles).

Please plan to bring plenty of cards with you in July. There will be around 235 attendees this year—plus authors, agents, editors, committee members, and interns. That’s a lot of people who care about writing. Make it your goal to hand out 100 cards. (Or 250!) We’ll also have a resource table on which you can leave your info for others. It’s not about finding people who can do something for your career. It’s about building relationships, making friends—and letting the magic inherent in these connections work for you.

I’ve attended MWW eight times and met some truly amazing people. I’ve connected with successful writers who have been willing to share their tips with me. Editors who asked me to submit articles. People who have invited me to write guest blogs. But the most valuable thing of all, the reason I recommend this conference far and wide, is this: MWW is where I found a group of close friends who are my biggest cheerleaders, valuable sources of information about this industry, knowledgeable critique partners—and my inspiration. This is where I found community. And it came because I wasn’t afraid to hand out a card, or two, or a hundred—because I genuinely liked the people I met and I wanted to be able to find them again once we left.

MWW will be here before you know it, so give yourself permission to get started. I have a giant stack of business cards sitting here—and I can’t wait to trade for one of yours.

A few of my favorite printing sources:

http://www.overnightprints.com
http://us.moo.com
http://www.vistaprint.com
http://www.48hourprint.com
http://www.gotprint.net

 

Janis Thornton on her first novel: Dust Bunnies and Dead Bodies

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We’ve been putting on our conference for 40+ years (only 30 spots left for July’s conference). We believe that part of our recipe for success is that we’re a conference for writers put on by writers.  The planning committee is a team of  volunteers and we choose to give back because the conference has given so much to us. We’re all on our own writing journeys, alone and together. Committee member Maye Ralston interviewed fellow committee member Janis Thornton about her latest book and her journey. janis book cover

Janis Thornton is a freelance writer, personal historian, and award-winning journalist. She is the author of two local history books, Images of America: Tipton County and Images of America: Frankfort. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, the Indiana Writers Center, Association of Personal Historians, and the Midwest Writers Workshop Planning Committee. She lives in a small town in Indiana, not unlike Elmwood—the setting in her debut novel Dust Bunnies and Dead Bodies.

MWW: Being a journalist and having written two nonfiction histories, why did you turn to writing fiction? Is this something you always wanted to do?

JT: Actually, Maye, I was writing fiction long before I landed my newspaper job or wrote two local history books. So, I’ve taken the liberty of flipping your question to … “After writing fiction, why did you turn to journalism?” And the simple answer is the joy of writing for me is the telling of stories, whether the stories are about news events, people’s lives, community histories, or fictional situations generated by my own imagination. Telling a great story, regardless of its origin, in a way that captivates and moves readers emotionally brings me more satisfaction than almost anything I do.

MWW: Where did you get the idea for Dust Bunnies and Dead Bodies? Do you have any plans to write a series using these characters or this setting?

JT: When I first began the project that finally became Dust Bunnies and Dead Bodies, I had only an inkling of a story about a 20-year-old unsolved murder, the three main characters, and the small-town Indiana setting. After I started plotting and cobbling an outline together, I needed a motive for murder that was both gripping and plausible. Around that time, the national news was being dominated by reports of abuse of power by a college football coach … and voila! There it was, the element I had been seeking for the crux of the mystery. Once I had all of that in place, the rest of the story sort of came together organically.

As for a series… yes, I am planning to produce more stories starring the DBDB characters and am noodling around right now with the plot for their next big adventure.

MWW: Are any of your characters inspired by personalities or places you’ve encountered?

JT: Absolutely. I guarantee that if you read the book, the next time you pass through my little hometown of Tipton, you’ll experience some déjà vou. And many of the characters exhibit traits of real people I know. Of course, when I’m asked to reveal the source of inspiration for those traits that happen to be less than admirable, I take the fifth.

MWW: I noticed your main character, Crystal Cropper, is also a journalist. Is she based on you? How is she alike or different from you?

JT: Crystal Cropper is me, and the fabulous person I would like to be. At times, Crystal exemplifies facets of my actual life experience; other times she portrays attitudes, actions, courage, wisdom, and skills that I lack or am too shy to exhibit. Naturally, having been a newspaper reporter, I was able to infuse Crystal with those skills (although hers are FAR better than my own) and perspectives. Besides her career, Crystal parallels my life in many other ways—such as her cooking competency and bowling techniques!

MWW: Did you “pants” this novel, or did you plot it out before you began writing? Which method do you generally prefer?

JT: Some writers feel that making an outline stilts their creativity; while I, on the other hand, find writing an outline a creative process in itself. For me, plotting is a must, particularly for a mystery, where it’s pretty much essential for the writer to know the ending from the very start. Initially, I’ll write an outline using broad strokes, crafting the story’s backbone and markers for where I need to be as the story progresses. Once I get deep into the actual writing (often a process of “write, delete, cry, repeat”), I stay on the lookout for the wonderful surprises that invariably pop up. When that happens, I make the necessary adjustments to the outline and plod on.

And then there’s that funny little mind shift, when the characters become “real” to the writer and attempt a mutiny. At that point, the writer’s challenge is to either keep her characters on the plotted path or follow them at her own peril. So, what I’m trying to say is, an outline works best when the writer considers it a dynamic path rather than a static rut.

MWW: What made you decide to become a writer?

JT: I was 12 when a national anthology featuring poetry by junior high students published the poem I wrote about my dog. After that, I was always writing little stories and poems, but primarily they were for my eyes only. That changed, in the late 1980s, when I signed up for my first fiction-writing class, and wow … a whole new world opened up to me. I began producing longer pieces with purpose as I learned techniques, what worked and what didn’t, all while I was getting feedback. I began to trust that if I could imagine a scene or a story, I could write it. It was an exciting discovery process that has never stopped.

MWW: Do you generally get the idea for your storylines first, or do you create a character first and then get a storyline from that?

JT: I see that as a sort of a “chicken or egg” riddle. Character and story are both essential, of course, and work in a sort of symbiotic way—with the characters driving plot and plot conjuring up characters. Typically, a story comes to me when I imagine a character in a particular situation. Then I start filling in who, what, where, when, why, how come, and so what?

MWW: What kind of books do you enjoy reading? Do you have any favorite authors?

JT: I am a big fan of mysteries and particularly mysteries by William Kent Krueger, Sue Grafton, and Michael Connelly. I also love anything written by Elizabeth Berg, who I discovered about 20 years ago and was thrilled to see at last summer’s MWW.

MWW: Is there anything else you’d like to share?

JT: Yep … I’ve been attending Midwest Writers Workshop events since the late ’90s, and they have been an invaluable resource for information, ideas, instruction, inspiration, and a sense of belonging to a community of writers. I’ll take this opportunity to thank Jama Bigger and her team again for the outstanding job they do organizing the workshops and for outdoing themselves each passing year. And thank you, Maye, for this opportunity to say so.

Kelly Stanley talks storytelling, community, and Praying Upside Down

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MWW Kelly Stanley release

MWW Committee member Kelly Stanley’s book Praying Upside Down is out!

Kelly sat down with fellow committee member Kelsey Timmerman as part of the Facing Stories series Kelsey hosts for The Facing Project. They discussed writing careers, the power of stories, and, of course, praying upside down.

Interview with Kelsey Timmerman: Turning Real Stories into a Real Career

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Kelsey Timmerman is a traveler with a writing problem. He met the agent who sold his first book, Where Am I Wearing? A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People That Make Our Clothes at the Midwest Writers’ Workshop in the summer of 2007. Kelsey’s latest book is Where Am I Eating? An Adventure Through the Global Food Economy. His writing has appeared in publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Condé Nast Portfolio and has aired on NPR. Kelsey is also the co-founder of the Facing Project, a nationwide storytelling project that activates writers to tell stories that strengthen community. He has spent the night in Castle Dracula in Romania, played PlayStation in Kosovo, farmed on four continents, taught an island village to play baseball in Honduras, and in another life, worked as a SCUBA instructor in Key West, Florida.

Kelsey will be leading the  Part I nonfiction intensive at MWW. We caught up with Kelsey for this week’s E-pistle.

MWW: At MWW you are teaching a nonfiction intensive session titled “Turning Real Stories into a Real Career.” Could fiction writers benefit from this intensive as well?

KT: Totally. I’m jealous of fiction writers because they can travel between their ears where they aren’t threatened by deadly venomous snakes, paramilitary forces, and Ghanaian death buses, all of which I have encountered. Also, it’s a heck of a lot cheaper. But from a career perspective, I often feel sorry for fiction writers. There are way fewer places to publish fiction. Nonfiction is always about real-world issues. However, fiction writers can leverage their real-world experiences and research surrounding these issues to get published in magazines, newspapers, and other outlets. Each published clip, besides being a great ego boost, is another shiny thing to pepper in your query letter to a future agent or editor. Nonfiction writing builds an author’s authority and platform. It also is more likely to pay! All writers can benefit from writing and publishing non-fiction.

MWW: Walk us through your path to publishing.

KT: I graduated with a degree in anthropology, which I quickly put to use as a SCUBA diving instructor and world traveler. I started to write about my experiences and shortly after had a weekly travel column in the Key West The Newspaper. I got paid $0 per column. It was the world’s most expensive hobby, and I love it! That column was my grad school. I had to write 1,000 publishable words every single week. It was my reason to write. (In my session we’ll be exploring our individual reasons to write that keep us writing.) After two years of writing the column, I reworked some of them and they got picked up by publications that people had heard of and that paid. And then, of course, I went to Bangladesh because my underwear was made there and I wanted to meet the people who made them. This was followed by trips to Cambodia, China, and Ethiopia. I had an agent interested in my Where Am I Wearing? idea as a book, and then I met another agent at my first MWW, with whom I eventually signed. A few months later, I had a book deal. Three months later I finished the book. A year later that book was out, and suddenly, after eight years of working at the writing thing, I had a career as a writer and as a speaker. And because everyone always wants to know. . . . Yes, this is what I do for a living.  I support my wife, who is the real hero in all of this, and our two kids.

MWW: You’ve been a column writer, freelancer, author, and speaker. Is it important for writers to diversify?

KT: You bet! I looked at my career as a multi-front attack. I advanced the column thing as far as I could, and then I shifted to freelance work. Freelance clips led to books, which led to more freelancing work and speaking engagements. They all feed one another. Yet, if I would’ve said, “I’m only a columnist,” and given up when my travel column literally  had been rejected hundreds of times, I would be living someone else’s dream. You are a writer. You aren’t just a fiction writer, a YA author, or a literary journalist. You are a storyteller.

MWW: What will students walk away with from your intensive?

KT: I’m not sure this has been done before at MWW, but I will personally give you a, “you’ll get published guarantee.” Every attendee will leave with clear goals and a plan of attack to execute those goals. If after one year, a student believes he or she followed the plan and has not been published, I will personally reimburse them the $150 fee for Part I.  (Note this isn’t an MWW guarantee; in fact, Jama will probably try to talk me out of this. This is me paying you back if you aren’t happy.) You. Will. Get. Published. I guarantee it! The bar for nonfiction writing is rather low.  We’ll talk about how to exceed expectations and share a few tools from fiction writing. We want your work to stand out. You have to write well before anyone will publish anything. Next, we’ll explore why you write, and how to discover your unique areas of expertise. And then, we’ll lay out a plan of who you’ll pitch (agents, newspapers, magazines, websites, etc), how you want to be published, and set tangible writing and career development goals. We’ll work through a writer’s business plan and we might even bust out a spreadsheet or two. Writing careers rarely happen by accident.

MWW: What are you looking forward to the most about this summer’s conference?

KT: I grew as a writer by attending MWW, and I really enjoy watching as others grow their love for writing and their writing careers. For me, the conference is less of a workshop than it is a family reunion. I’m looking forward to catching up with old friends and making new ones. Connect with Kelsey:  Blog / Twitter / Facebook

Being brave is part of chasing your dream of being a writer. Be brave. Register today for #mww14!

Part I Intensive Sessions are filling up! Don’t miss this outstanding faculty, this information-packed schedule, this opportunity to pitch to agents, this time of networking and participating in all that is the MWW Community. Register today!

 

How to market yourself at writers’ conferences

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Marketing yourself 

Stanley_Kelly photoKelly O’Dell Stanley had big plans for her life — study to be an architect, live in a big city, never have children. Now — as a resident of Crawfordsville, Indiana — she just celebrated 21 years in business for herself as a graphic designer. She works from home with her three kids and husband, leaving her desk just long enough to cheer for them from the bleachers with laptop beside her. And you know what? It’s better than anything she once imagined. At some point along the way, she discovered that writing fulfilled her need to create, and now she is waiting for her first book, The Art of Praying Upside Down, to be released by Tyndale Momentum in 2015. Visit prayingupsidedown.com or find her on Facebook or Twitter (@kellyostanley).

Marketing is about communicating the value of a product of service. As a writer, you have the job of promoting yourself — and it is never too early to start. With MWW14 only three months away, this is an ideal time to begin.

The first step is thinking about how to position yourself. What do you want people to know about you? What genre(s) do you write? Do you want to promote a specific book or topic or blog or do you want to simply be known as a writer?

I’m going to pause here for a second. If you have trouble calling yourself a writer — something nearly every one of us has struggled with at some point — practice now. A writer is, simply, one who writes. You are not an imposter, even if you’ve never had a word published. Even if you are just starting out. If it makes you feel better, save the term “author” for when your work has been published. But you are on your way to a writing workshop, so you’re investing your time and money, which tells me writing is important to you. Calling yourself a writer is the fastest way to make yourself — and then others — truly believe it.

But don’t stop there. Think of yourself as a brand, like Target or Nike or Starbucks. When I mentioned those names, I bet you pictured their logos. If you see big red dots on a white background, you think Target. See a swoosh on a shoe or t-shirt and you think Nike. See a round green symbol and instantly crave caffeine.

One reason these brands are so recognizable is because they’ve presented themselves in a consistent way. They’ve used colors, icons, fonts, and a certain style of images to show who they are. And we remember. Granted, you and I don’t have the same kind of budgets, and our product may not be as desirable to the general public. But especially when you’re starting to build your own brand, when you’re seeking name recognition, consistency is the key.

A great place to start building your brand is with a business card.

You don’t have to spend big money. You can print cards at home, but usually those aren’t the same quality as the ones printed professionally. I’m a graphic designer, so I design my own cards, but I print them through online printing companies* because they’re fast, high quality, and inexpensive. (Seriously — you can get 250 full color, professionally printed cards for as little as $15.) But even if you aren’t (or don’t know) a designer, you can work with the templates online to put together a professional-looking image. Some offer folded cards, rounded corners, two-sided printing, unusual sizes, multiple images on the backs, or even printing on plastic. Take advantage of whatever size or effect makes sense for what you write. And make sure to include all relevant contact info (phone, email, website, blog, social media handles).

Please plan to bring plenty of cards with you in July. There will be around 235 attendees this year — plus authors, agents, editors, committee members, and interns. That’s a lot of people who care about writing. Make it your goal to hand out 100 cards. (Or 250!) It’s not about finding people who can do something for your career. It’s about building relationships, making friends—and letting the magic inherent in these connections work for you.

I’ve attended MWW six times and met some truly amazing people. I’ve connected with successful writers who have been willing to share their tips with me. Editors who asked me to submit articles. People who have invited me to write guest blogs. But the most valuable thing of all, the reason I recommend this conference far and wide, is this. MWW is where I found a group of close friends who are my biggest cheerleaders, valuable sources of information about this industry, knowledgeable critique partners — and my inspiration. This is where I found community. And it came because I wasn’t afraid to hand out a card, or two, or a hundred — because I genuinely liked the people I met and I wanted to be able to find them again once we left.

MWW will be here before you know it, so give yourself permission to get started. I have a giant stack of business cards sitting here — and I can’t wait to trade for one of yours.

***

A few of my favorite printing sources:

http://www.overnightprints.com
http://us.moo.com
http://www.vistaprint.com
http://www.48hourprint.com
http://www.gotprint.net

 

Helping You—It’s What We Do!

/in , /by

Linda Taylor is a thirty-year veteran of the publishing industry. She’s a writer, but has a special place in her heart for editing and proofreading.  She just completed her master’s degree in English at Ball State, serves on the MWW board, and teaches adjunct classes at Taylor University in the professional writing department. You can connect with her on LinkedIn (Linda Chaffee Taylor), Twitter @LindaEdits, and by way of her blog where she often writes about the wonderful worlds of writing, editing, and grammar! 

So I know what you’re thinking, “Hmmm, can I really afford the time [or money] to attend this year’s Midwest Writers Workshop?”

You want to come, but you’re just not sure. Well, let’s have a little chat.Linda Taylor

Look, we all need a little bit of a pick-me-up in our writing lives. We need the encouragement that comes from gathering with fellow writers and swapping war stories and epiphanies.

We need one another.

Sure, you can do that connecting virtually. But there’s something about, you know, just getting together in one (really nice) location. There’s something to be said for that personal touch, getting to talk and laugh with other writers face to face.

If you’re fortunate enough to have a local writers group that meets regularly, give those folks a big hug next time you’re together. Many writers are laboring away alone because they haven’t been able to locate a group with whom they can connect. Hey, if it was good enough for C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien to meet with others in a group called the Inklings and read one another’s work, it’s certainly good enough for us!

As a member on the board for the Midwest Writers Workshop, I’ve so enjoyed watching my committee members in action. They work hard to bring in agents who are eager to hear pitches and faculty who can teach about a variety of genres. Last year we expanded our social media training module to help writers increase their presence by building a website and using other social media. Several really awesome Ball State University students gave 50-minute tutorials to eager writers. Some of our older attendees just need a little guiding hand to help them get over the hump and engage in the online world. Others had specific questions that the students researched before the conference and gave the advice and answers in the private session.

It was totally awesome.

And so we’re doing it again this year. Why? Because helping writers is what we do.

Many of our attendees go away having found new tribespeople, maybe even discovering folks in their own backyard with whom they can meet regularly for reading, critiquing, and encouragement.

At MWW, faculty teach about the craft of writing. If you need improvement, sign up for a session where a faculty member will discuss how to pace your plot (if that’s your problem), or how to create strong characters, or how to build a scene, or how to write dialog. These folks come to help the likes of you–of all of us. Take advantage of their expertise. These authors have been where you are now—and they know how you’re feeling. They want to help you. They want to share with you what they’ve learned along the way.

And literary agents love to come to our conference. And we love to have them. Take the opportunity to learn from them about the publishing world and even make an appointment to talk about that manuscript you’re working on. They will offer you invaluable advice.

Yes, you can afford to come.

For your writing life, you can’t afford not to.

 

Back Up There, Buddy: How Not to Lose Your Work

/in , /by

Ralston, Maye

Maye Ralston has published creative nonfiction, journalism, essays, and poems in newspapers and in corporate and commercial magazines since 1985. Her commercial writing practice was balanced between journalism and corporate writing and included writing content for, deploying, and consulting about social and emerging media, websites, ezines, and blogs. She currently writes opinion editorials and short essays for The Sage News Network, blogs at mayeralston.net, and is writing a novel. 

If you connect with me on Facebook, or if you read my last “Shorties” post (at mayeralston.net), you followed my recent drama over “losing” my novel. Basically, I spent hours in revisions, stupidly didn’t back up my work, then synced my novel with another app to make it accessible on all of my devices and easy to make changes on onedevice and have it show up on the other.

Of course I lost everything.

Fortunately I write in Scrivener so I got it back. You can read all about it here.

Being a bit of a techie person, I know it’s important to back up my work against the probability of hardware and software failures. And yet … So I’m going to quickly go over a few back-up options and provide links to a few back-up services for your convenience. (Just in case there’s anyone out there doing what I did.)

A couple of hardware options: 

1. An external hard drive–PROS: handy home office use and provides a second place to store your work; CONS: inconvenient to carry around if you travel with your laptop much and vulnerable to damage and hardware failures.

2. A CD or Flash Drive–PROS: smaller to carry around than an external hard drive, no user name and password is necessary; CONS: vulnerable to damage, vulnerable to loss (especially Flash Drives), and CD’s are inconvenient if you use a laptop with no internal Read/Write CD drive.

Online (Cloud) server storage options (basically you are borrowing or renting space on a computer somewhere in the ethernet):

1. (All brands) PROS: No internal Read/Write CD drive is necessary, you can backup from anywhere, no shlepping additional gear, your data is accessible on all your devices, and you aren’t going to accidentally drop it or leave it on the bus; CONS: you might forget your user name and/or password, you are limited to a minimal amount of storage in the “free” versions, to get more storage you have to pay a small fee (worth it in my opinion), it’s possible their server could have problems (generally they backup data to prevent loss).

My choice is…

…online server storage. Here are a few: Microsoft SkyDrive, Google Drive, Evernote, iCloud (for Macs and Apple Devices only), Dropbox (my favorite). Here’s a link to the top ten online fee-based backup options. You will note Dropbox is listed in the fee-based options. This is because you have to pay a fee to get more than 2G of storage with Dropbox.

 I put a link to Dropbox on my Facebook Timeline and on my Twitter stream. If you join the free Dropbox using one of those links you will get an additional 500 MB of space free. (And so will I.) Here are my Facebook and Twitter address links.

For smartphones, iPads, and Android tablet devices: SkyDrive (OneDrive), Evernote, Google Drive, and Dropbox have apps.

How to use:

Sign up for a service (make sure you are using the personal, as opposed to business version, if you want to use it for free or for a smaller fee), follow the directions to download the service link to your computer (if necessary for use), and begin using. You can google “how to use (insert service name)” for specific directions and additional helpful information. Here is the google search I did for Dropbox.

Special Note: Don’t forget to label each version of your work separately to avoid over-writing previous versions with your latest one. I use “FILENAME-VER #.”

Here is another online backup service that was suggested to me recently. It’s called BackBlaze and costs $5.00 per month for unlimited data backups. It backs up your entire computer.  I haven’t tried it yet so I can’t recommend it, but it might be worth considering if you have a lot of data to back up regularly.

What’s your preferred method of backing up your work?

Please share in the comments section if you have other suggestions or information that might help everyone, or if you have anything to add to this discussion. Also, I’m curious to know how many of you have lost something important because you forgot to back it up. (Come on now, don’t be shy…)

IF YOU ENJOYED READING THIS YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:

Getting Lost With Scrivener
Tools for Writers: The Benefits of Writing With Scrivener
An eSolution for Character Creation: Character Writer
My Pick for Screenwriting Software: Celtx
Where to Timeline and Storyboard: eSolutions
eSolutions for Social Media Addictions
For a Better Quality Break Time: Creativity Enhancing Goodies

Connect with Maye at: @MayeRalston, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, About.Me, and via her website.