Lisa Betz is a writer, blogger, and occasional director who lives in an empty nest perched on a wooded Pennsylvania hillside. She loves to bring characters to life, both on stage and on the page.
Did you know you had a personal brand? It’s not just for writers or entertainers or politicians. Every person has a personal brand.
Whether they are aware of it or not.
Whether they manage it or not.
The book You Are a Brand! by Catherine Kaputa tells us how to develop and manage our brands with intention, confidence, and flair. No mater where you are in your personal brand journey, this book has tips that will help you take your next step.
Why your personal brand matters
I’ll let these three quotes from the book answer this question.
“To be successful you need to create positive attitudes in the minds of other people. You can’t make yourself successful. Oly other people can make you successful.
In the same way, you can’t make a sale. Only other people can decide whether to buy from you, whether you are an induvial or a company.
In other words, you need to build a “self-brand,” a reason for people to buy from you, whether you are selling yourself for a job or selling products and services to others.” Catharine Kaputa
“A talented, hard-working person won’t do as well as a well-branded, talented hard-working person. Effective branding will tip perception in your favor and bring greater success.”
“The truth is, if you don’t brand yourself, someone else will, and it probably won’t be the brand you had in mind.”
Five helpful self-branding concepts from You Are A Brand!
You can re-brand yourself
Branding is based on perception. This may seem unfair, but in reality it’s good news, because perception can be changed. That’s really what branding is all about—managing other people’s perception. So, if you want to update or polish your brand, you can. If you want to refocus your brand in a new direction, you can. If you want others to notice all your hard work, you can work to rebrand yourself in a way that enables your skills to shine.
You have assets. Use them to be unique and authentic
“Make use of everything. You have experiences; these are brand assets. You have a point of view; that too is an asset. Make the best use of the assets and resources you have, and realize we all have hidden assets that we need to uncover.” Christine Kaputa
Know your competition and then find ways to differentiate.
Study your close competition to see how they market to your customers. But don’t simply copy what everyone else is doing. Instead, learn from them and let them help you position yourself to be similar but special in some way.
Answer this question to help you differentiate your unique brand: My brand is the only ___ that ___ .
Find your sweet spot.
The sweet spot is where your passion, skills, experience, connect with a market of audience need in a niche where the competition isn’t overwhelming. One way to identify a sweet spot is to consider this question: What is missing in my market area (genre/ministry arena/expertise) that I can provide?
Develop a memorable elevator pitch. And use it.
No matter the career or ministry niche, those who can succinctly and clearly communicate what they do and how it benefits others have an edge over the competition. An elevator pitch is a short, concise, statement that communicates what you do, for whom, and why it matters.
Craft one and practice it until you know it by heart. (Yes, really.) Then you can easily answer the question “What do you do?” at the drop of a hat. Even on an elevator.
Don’t be intimidated by this book
This book is jam-packed with branding information. And it’s written for a broad audience. Some of the material won’t apply to your situation or branding needs.
Don’t beat yourself up for not accomplishing executive-level branding when you’re a beginning writer, blogger, or podcaster. Don’t try to read if from cover to cover, digest everything the author is teaching, or try to apply it all at once. Instead, think of the book as a resource to help you to the next level—whatever that is. Choose a section that applies to your current situation and find a few practical actions you can accomplish right now.
Then, return to the book in six months and find something else to apply. Each time you open the book, you can take one more small but intentional step towards developing and maintaining an awesome, unique, memorable brand.
Lisa E. Betz is an engineer-turned-mystery-writer, entertaining speaker, and speechwriting coach. She inspires others to become their best selves, living with authenticity, and purpose, and she infuses her novels with unconventional characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her Livia Aemilia Mysteries, set in first-century Rome, have won several awards, including the Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021).
She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in her novels. Lisa directs church dramas, hikes the beautiful Pennsylvania woods, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit lisaebetz.com.
If you hope to pitch a book to a publisher, especially a non-fiction book, you will need to write a book proposal. A book proposal contains all the key information an acquisitions editor needs to determine if your book might be worth publishing. It’s sort of like a query letter on steroids. And if you hope to snag the interest of an editor (or an agent), you will need a professionally crafted book proposal.
Writers generally use a query letter to pitch an article. But a book is longer and more comprehensive than an article, thus authors need a full-blown book proposal to pitch a complete book. Book Proposals That Sell by W. Terry Whalin is a one-stop resource for creating a quality proposal. Whalin has decades of experience in the Christian publishing world, including serving as an acquisitions editor. He has shared his advice in many writing venues, including Almost an Author. Find his book proposal posts here.
The book guides you through the process of creating a book proposal that has all the elements an acquisitions editor is looking for without the mistakes that flag you as an amateur. This book is aimed specifically at nonfiction books. While some of the advice pertains to fiction book proposals, it’s better to heed the author’s advice and find a fiction proposal to model rather than using the nonfiction proposal examples included in the appendices.
What’s in the book?
The book begins with an explanation of why publishers want book proposals rather than full manuscripts for nonfiction books. However, the key value comes in the 21 secrets he shares about crafting a book proposal that will sell your book concept to an editor. Here’s a sampling of the advice this book offers:
Be able to share the topic of your book in a few words or sentences.
Understand some specifics about who will read your book—your target audience.
Explain your credentials for writing this book. Why are you the right person to write this particular book?
Prove to the publisher that you are willing to be involved in the marketing process and understand something of that process.
Don’t promise hype you can’t deliver.
In addition to practical explanation of the various sections a proposal needs, Whalin also offers some advice on strategy, including the importance of building good relationships with editors and how to use your book proposal to snag an agent.
And the appendices are full of even more helpful information, including additional resources and two sample proposals for you to use as models.
If you’ve spent many hours of time and effort crafting a great nonfiction book, give it an equally well-crafted proposal to show potential editors that you are a professional who has what it takes to be successful. That’s your best shot for winning that coveted publishing contract.
Lisa E. Betz is an engineer-turned-mystery-writer, entertaining speaker, and speechwriting coach. She inspires others to become their best selves, living with authenticity, and purpose, and she infuses her novels with unconventional characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her Livia Aemilia Mysteries, set in first-century Rome, have won several awards, including the Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021).
She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in her novels. Lisa directs church dramas, hikes the beautiful Pennsylvania woods, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit lisaebetz.com.
Authors need to grow their platform. Authors want to sell books. One thing the marketing experts usually agree on is that an email list is a powerful way for authors to grow their platform. And writers usually grow their email list through offering a newsletter. That’s where the helpful book, Newsletter Ninja by Tammi Labrecque comes in. As the subtitle explains the book will teach you “how to become an author mailing list expert.”
One of the first topics in the book is explaining why email lists are powerful. Here are two reasons:
You don’t own your relationship with social media followers. You must work through the social media platform to interact with them, and the platform can change its algorithms whenever it pleases. If you quit the platform, those contacts are lost. In contrast you own your email list. You have the ability to contact those people directly, whenever you want. And you can take your email list with you if you choose to switch email services.
Email marketing converts better than social media marketing. In marketing, “convert” means getting the customer to complete a goal. In the case of author marketing, this is usually clicking a link or purchasing a book. You will bet more conversions with 1,000 emails than you will with 1,000 social media followers.
Based on that information, it makes sense that an intentional writer would want to become an email list expert. This book will help you. As the back cover explains:
Newsletter Ninja is a comprehensive resource designed to teach you how to build and maintain a strongly engaged email list—one full of actual fans willing to pay for the books you write, rather than free-seekers who will forget your name and never open your emails.
What does Newsletter Ninja teach?
The author does a good job of clearly and simply explaining the steps an author must take to create an email list, grow the list, and maintain a healthy list. (Newsletters are not do-once-and-forget-it sort of task. The goal is to be consistent and build engagement between the author and recipients.)
Topics cover everything from choosing an email service provider and writing your first newsletter, to creating engagement and purging dead weight. (Why would you want to get rid of email subscribers after you’ve spent all that effort to get them? Read chapter 18 to find out.)
In addition to step-by-step explanations, I appreciate how the author explains the why behind email lists. As the author explains, a great newsletter isn’t salesy or annoying. Rather the goal is to create newsletters that the recipients want to open, because they have content that is interesting and useful. That concept alone will help you rise above the crowd.
In addition, I appreciated the author’s engaging and humorous style, and her ability to explain these concepts clearly and in plain English. At 136 pages, the book is short and to the point. I found it an excellent resource for understanding the basics of how to utilize email lists to build your author platform and engage with your audience.
Lisa E. Betz is an engineer-turned-mystery-writer, entertaining speaker, and unconventional soul. She inspires others to become their best selves, living with authenticity, and purpose, and she infuses her novels with unconventional characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her Livia Aemilia Mysteries, set in first-century Rome, have won several awards, including the Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021).
She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in her novels. Lisa directs church dramas, hikes the beautiful Pennsylvania woods, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit lisaebetz.com.
When I sat down to write my first mystery, I knew I needed a guide. I’d written a few historical novel manuscripts, so I knew the basics of writing good scenes and solid plots. But every genre has their specific tropes and techniques. I wanted to know the particular aspects of a novel that mystery readers expected.
For guidance, I turned to Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel by the bestselling mystery writer Hallie Ephron (sister to Nora, Delia, and Amy Ephron). With this book as my guide, I was able to write an award-winning mystery on my very first try. It might be a great resource for you, too.
How I created a mystery series from scratch
This comprehensive book provided me with the roadmap I needed to write a great mystery novel, and also helped me set the foundation for a series. Looking back, I see how I would have struggled to create a satisfying mystery plot if I hadn’t used this book to guide me during the planning stage. Here are some tidbits specific to crafting a mystery that I helped me develop a stronger plot:
“How many suspects do you need? At least two (plus the true villain) will keep the reader guessing. More than five and it feels like a parlor game.”
“Minor characters who are part of the wallpaper for the first twenty-eight chapters can’t be promoted to villain status at the end just to surprise the reader.”
“Hidden secrets are what propel a mystery novel forward. Everyone has them—the victim, innocent suspects, and the villain. The revelation of a secret sends the murder investigation in a new direction.”
“When you pick a profession for your protagonist, keep in mind that the less likely your sleuth is to trip over a dead body, the more you’ll have to work to establish a believable reason for him to investigate the murder.”
Since my novels are set in the New Testament era, I couldn’t take the easy route and make my sleuth a police officer or a lawyer. But the concept made me aware that I had to work extra hard to create believable scenarios that compel my sleuth to investigate murders.
Creating an awesome sleuth
In addition to advice on plotting, the book is filled with great information on developing complex, believable characters. The author provides questions and charts that help a writer consider character building from many angles—many of which could be just as helpful to writers of other genres.
Here are a few that intrigued me:
“Are there things your character has to do that he hates? A reporter who dreads making cold calls? A police officer who hates target practice? Contradictions make for interesting characters.”
“Characters who aren’t what they seem to be at first blush intrigue readers. … Create a disconnect between your character’s physical presence and true capabilities. Then mine the gap. Through plot and action, reveal who your character really is.”
“By understanding how the villain justifies the crime to himself and what events in his life triggered these crimes, you give yourself the material you need to get past a black-hatted caricature and paint your villain in shades of gray.”
Writing mysteries means characters under pressure
One of the sections I found particularly helpful focused on how characters behaved under duress. Due to the nature of a mystery novel, the main characters often find themselves in stressful situations. They will be lied to. They will be in danger. Or, they may be falsely accused or have their honesty questioned.
On top of that, a sleuth and her sidekick will be exposed to crimes. They will interact with others who have been injured, duped, or otherwise mistreated. Thus, both my sleuth and many of the people she interacts with are not behaving at their best.
Therefore, I appreciated the exercises that considered how my characters would react in hypothetical situations that would stress them. The book offers a series of questions that vary in intensity from getting a bad haircut to discovering their best friend has been embezzling.
As with many of the exercises in the book, the majority of the scenarios aren’t directly relevant to a story set in first century Rome. However, a writer can use the book’s questions as examples of the kinds of situations a character of any era or setting might find themselves in.
In summary
Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel by Hallie Ephron is a valuable resource for a writer who wants to try writing in the mystery or suspense genres. It’s filled with helpful questions, exercises, and advice that will help you as you develop characters, plots, and crimes.
Even if you aren’t planning to write a mystery, give this book a read. It provides loads of good advice on writing an intriguing plot and developing complex, satisfying characters.
Final Note: I have the original edition of this book. I’m sure the newer revised and expanded edition is even better.
Lisa E. Betz is an engineer-turned-mystery-writer, entertaining speaker, and unconventional soul. She inspires others to become their best selves, living with authenticity, and purpose, and she infuses her novels with unconventional characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her Livia Aemilia Mysteries have won several awards, including the Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021).
She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in her novels. Lisa directs church dramas, hikes the beautiful Pennsylvania woods, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit lisaebetz.com.
When I began learning how to write a novel, the word outline brought to mind dreaded high school assignments. You know, those formal outlines with the rigid format and Roman numerals. I hated making those outlines. They seemed like a waste of time, especially since I always wrote a draft of the report first, and then created the outline to match it.
Needless to say, when I began writing in earnest, I didn’t bother with outlining. I didn’t want something that felt like overly structured busywork to inhibit my creativity or waste my writing time. Therefore, on my first attempts at writing a novel, I used more of a “pantser” approach than a “plotter” approach.
I won’t say that decision was a mistake, but it was a learning experience—I learned I’m not a pantser. I work better when I have an idea of where the story is going.
Does your writing process match your personality?
I have a logical, linear thinking style. Over the years, I’ve learned that I write better when I invest enough time in planning out a story before I plunge into writing it. When I know what a specific scene needs to accomplish to keep the plot moving, I waste far less time wondering what my characters should do, and I avoid bunny trails that lead to dead ends five scenes later.
When I realized planning helped me write better rather than hindering me, I began to experiment with different methods for planning a story. That’s when I turned to K. M. Weiland’s book, Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success. This book helped me get over my misconceptions about how outlining can help me become a better writer.
The book covers different methods of outlining and then leads a writer through a process that helps them consider the key information necessary for creating a solid plot. Everything from a premise to setting, and motivation to character arcs.
Once the foundation is set, the book guides you through creating a scene-by-scene roadmap of the story. Each chapter is filled with insightful questions and plenty of examples from the author’s novels.
As an added bonus, the book includes interviews with a variety of writers. These insights on outlining from experiences authors helped me imagine how I could utilize the tools of outlining to work for me.
For example, John Robinson says,
“It helps me see the big picture and keeps me from getting bogged down in tar pits and rabbit trails that lead nowhere.”
And Dan L. Hays described the benefits of outlining this way:
“An outline is analogous to reading a map before a road trip. I find my starting point, then pick out the best route to where I’m headed.”
Some great advice to make outlining work for you
No two authors outline the same way. The specific method isn’t as important as the thought process behind it.
Every author must find the level of detail that works for them. One author benefits from a big picture type of outline that defines the main plot events and final outcome. Another author creates an outline that include details on every scene. You must find the balance between getting enough detail to write well and spending too much time in planning.
Consider the outline as a brainstorming process.
Creating an outline can offer you a chance to explore multiple options without wasting a lot of time. In the outline phase, you can explore where various rabbit trails lead without writing whole scenes you subsequently decide aren’t needed.
If you get stuck in a particular scene, it may be you’re trying too hard to adhere to the outline. Give yourself permission to ignore the outline and try a different idea instead.
Remember your outline can have multiple drafts just like your novel. You are free to edit your outline at any time.
With an outline as a roadmap, a writer can more easily determine which ideas for new scenes or characters fit the plot vs. derail it.
Outlining enables a writer to focus more on subplots during the first draft, because the main plot is already ironed out and the writher knows where the characters will end up.
Summary
If you’re a dedicated pantser, this book probably isn’t for you. If you’re a planner, this book offers good advice to help you hone your planning and make it more effective. And if you’re frustrated because your current writing process isn’t working, or you’re feeling stuck in the middle of a writing project, this book may help you write more effectively.
You can use this book like a workbook. The questions and suggestions in each chapter will guide you through the planning process—from the initial spark of an idea to a finished, well-designed story plan. Alternately, you can skim through the book to find inspiration or to seek solutions to specific story problems.
Happy outlining!
Lisa E. Betz is an engineer-turned-mystery-writer, entertaining speaker, and unconventional soul. She inspires others to become their best selves, living with authenticity, and purpose, and she infuses her novels with unconventional characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her Livia Aemilia Mysteries, set in first-century Rome, have won several awards, including the Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021).
She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in her novels. Lisa directs church dramas, hikes the beautiful Pennsylvania woods, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit lisaebetz.com.
We writers are good with words, but we may not be so good with images. For those of us who feel graphically challenged, creating blog post images, social media memes, and promotional images can feel daunting.
I freely admit that graphic design is not my strong suit. I am not a visual thinker like so many others seem to be. Thus, when it comes to adding graphics to my blog, social media posts, or promotional stuff, I feel out of my element.
Therefore, I was happy to discover this helpful volume, graphic design for non-designers by Tony Seddon and Jane Waterhouse. It provides clear explanations of the basic components of good graphic design, such as grouping, alignment, fonts, colors, and white space.
Why do writers need to know graphic design?
As attention spans decrease, our modern world relies more and more on images to convey information. No matter how great our writing, if we don’t have attention-grabbing images, potential readers may never stop to look at our work.
Perhaps you think you don’t need to learn good design yourself. After all, Canva and other graphics apps offer tons of pre-made designs for you to modify for your use. Who needs to learn design when it can be done for you?
Sure, pre-made templates are great, but I still think it’s important for us to get a basic grasp of good design, so we can adapt those canned designs intelligently and confidentially.
What does the book offer?
The book provides a primer of the basic principles of design, each clearly explained and illustrated. For a non-artsy person like me, the book is very helpful because each chapter illustrates the concepts being taught with plenty of visual examples. (How could you have a book on graphic design that isn’t full of graphics, right?)
I particularly appreciate the examples in the book that show some element of an advertisement or poster evolving from lack of design to good design.
This book was published in 2009, so some of the technology mentioned is a bit dated, but the rules of good design haven’t changed. The first section on equipment is mostly old-school. You can skip over it and focus on the rest of the book that explains design concepts followed by a host of example projects that show those principles in action.
Super helpful sample projects
The final section of the book offers a wide variety of sample projects. Some examples are business designs such as store signs, menus, and business cards. Other example projects are more promotional focused, such as posters, flyers, and brochures.
Each project lists the major design decisions that are needed to produce a good-looking product.
One example I find particularly interesting is the design of a humble form. The intro to this project states:
“Forms are generally rather dull. Nobody likes the task of completing a form … However, if a form is well designed, simple to navigate through, and easy to use, the task is far less onerous.”
Good design principles help you fill out forms better. Who knew?
How else can good design take your work to the next level?
Do you need this book?
I am not suggesting that you should run out and buy this exact book. There are plenty of other graphic design books available, and I’m sure some of them are helpful for beginners like me.
However, I do recommend that all writers study at least one book on the subject. Good graphic design is an important skill that everyone in the twenty-first century should master.
Happy designing!
Lisa E. Betz is an engineer-turned-mystery-writer, entertaining speaker, and unconventional soul. She inspires others to become their best selves, living with authenticity, and purpose, and she infuses her novels with unconventional characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her Livia Aemilia Mysteries, set in first-century Rome, have won several awards, including the Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021).
She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in her novels. Lisa directs church dramas, hikes the beautiful Pennsylvania woods, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit lisaebetz.com.
The title is pretty self-explanatory, but this excerpt from the book’s introduction unpacks why writers need this book and what it will do for us.
“When a story enthralls us, we are inside of it, feeling what the protagonist feels, experiencing it as if it were indeed happening to us, and the last thing we’re focusing on is the mechanics of the thing.
So it’s no surprise that we tend to be utterly oblivious to the fact that beneath every captivating story, there is an intricate mesh of interconnected elements holding it together, allowing it to build with seemingly effortless precision. This often fools us into thinking we know exactly what has us hooked …
It’s only by stopping to analyze what we’re unconsciously responding to when we read a story—what has actually snagged our brains attention—that we can then write a story that will grab the reader’s brain. This is true, whether you’re writing a literary novel, a hard-boiled mystery, or a supernatural teen romance.”
What’s the book about?
Wired for Story is organized into twelve chapters. Each chapter focuses on one common misunderstanding about how story works, with plenty of non-sciencey explanations for why it doesn’t work and what to do instead.
My writing mentor, an award-winning author and experienced editor, told me that several of the topics covered in this book are mistakes she sees all the time when editing manuscripts. For example, it can be tempting for an inexperienced writer to keep certain facts secret for The Big Reveal. They think this will pack a big punch of suspense. However, as Wired for Story explains, withholding information often robs the story of suspense. This is because suspense is built when the reader is told these secrets early on, thus anticipating the trouble waiting in the wings for the protagonist. (See chapter 7 for more on this.)
Who is this book for?
While it’s a fascinating and helpful reference, Wired for Story is not aimed at beginners. This is not a primer on how to write well, and it will probably overwhelm writers who are just starting out. Therefore, I would say this book is best for intermediate to advanced writers.
I like to think of a good story as having many layers of writing. The base layers are the structure and the basics of good writing. After those are in place, we writers can focus on fine-tuning and improving. That is where this book comes in.
This is not the most useful book for helping you write your first draft. This is a book that helps you edit your manuscript after you have the entire story down. What Wired for Story does so well is to help me uncover my mistakes and figure out how to fix them so that I can make the story more plausible, more readable, and more compelling.
If you are seeking a book to take your writing to the next level, trying to put your finger on why you story doesn’t seem to “work,” or you’re just curious about how neuroscience interacts with good writing, you should add this book to your reference shelf.
Happy writing!
Bio
Lisa E. Betz is an engineer-turned-mystery-writer, entertaining speaker, and unconventional soul. She inspires others to become their best selves, living with authenticity, and purpose, and she infuses her novels with unconventional characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her Livia Aemilia Mysteries, set in first-century Rome, have won several awards, including the Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021).
She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in her novels. Lisa directs church dramas, hikes the beautiful Pennsylvania woods, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit lisaebetz.com.
Do you struggle to find the right words to describe your characters’ emotions? I certainly do. Description and portraying emotions are not my strong suit. Since I know this is a weakness, I’ve looked for tools that help me improve this skill.
What is an emotion thesaurus, and why do you need one?
The blurb on the back cover reads:
One of the biggest problem areas for writers is conveying emotion to the reader in a unique, compelling way. When showing our characters’ feelings, we often grab onto the first idea that comes to mind, and out characters end up smiling, shrugging, nodding, and frowning far too much.
Guilty as charged!
My first drafts contain far too many instances where characters are shrugging, smiling, nodding and frowning. That is why the emotion thesaurus is so helpful.
What does The Emotional Thesaurus offer?
This extremely practical book provides an alphabetical listing of 75 emotions from Adoration to Worry. Each emotion provides a two-page spread listing the following information:
A definition of this emotion
Physical signals (bouncing a foot, fanning oneself, a scathing tone…)
Mental responses (irrational reactions, self-loathing, a lack of concentration)
Cues that this emotion is acute or long-term (an inability to move on, failing grades)
Cues this emotion is being suppressed (sitting unnaturally still, smoothing one’s clothing)
A list of emotions this emotion might escalate to (For example, disgust could move to scorn, fear, or anger.)
A writer’s tip related to the emotion.
That’s a lot of very useful information packed into two pages!
How can The Emotion Thesaurus help you?
One of the basic writing mantras is “Show, Don’t Tell.” The Emotion Thesaurus helps us do exactly that, giving us words to show a person’s anger with actions like sharp gestures, cutting people off when they speak, or flaring nostrils.
In addition, the authors point out that majority of communication between people occurs with nonverbal signals. Therefore, dialogue alone can’t portray all a reader needs to know to experience a scene. It’s critical to include emotional details in our writing via descriptive language and action.
Learning to describe character emotions in specific and compelling ways will also help us avoid writing pitfalls such as reliance on cliches (mad as a hornet, steam coming out his ears, quivering knees that knock together).
And with 75 emotions to choose from, the book helps us select emotions of the proper intensity for the scene, thus avoiding melodrama (emotions that feel too intense) or monotony (where all emotions remain the same intensity instead of rising and falling like real life).
I hope I’ve convinced you how useful this book can be. Now, excuse me while I follow my own advice and replace some of the smiling, nodding, shrugging and frowning with more interesting and compelling descriptions.
But wait, there’s more!
The Emotion Thesaurus concept proved so popular that the authors have adapted it to cover other subjects, such as:
Positive and negative traits
Conflicts and wounds
Setting
You can find more about The Emotional Thesaurus and all the companion products at the authors’ website, Writers Helping Writers.
If you want to take your emotional descriptions to the next level, I suggest you get a copy of The Emotional Thesaurus today.
Lisa E. Betz is an engineer-turned-mystery-writer, entertaining speaker, and unconventional soul. She inspires others to become their best selves, living with authenticity, and purpose, and she infuses her novels with unconventional characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her Livia Aemilia Mysteries, set in first-century Rome, have won several awards, including the Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021).
She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in her novels. Lisa directs church dramas, hikes the beautiful Pennsylvania woods, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit lisaebetz.com.
If you’re like me, you often feel overwhelmed by all the things an author should do to succeed. Social media, interviews, guest posts, newsletters, running ads, and on and on. How are we supposed to accomplish all this platform and promotion stuff and still have time to write?
And is it possible to do it without losing the joy of writing?
Yes.
But it takes a mindset shift. And Grace over Grind by Shae Bynes has helped me move from frantic, guilt-ridden striving to a more confident, calm, and steady writer’s life. Does that sound like something you’d like, too? Then read on.
These quotes summarize the focus of this book:
“You don’t have to strive endlessly to make things happen with the dream God placed in your heart for your business. You simply need God’s empowering presence, and everything else is going to flow from there. … [Grace] enables you to successfully do what God has called you to do, and to do what you could never do on your own.”
Shae Bynes
“If you grind long and hard enough, you will get results in your business. You can absolutely achieve business success by the world’s standards in your own strength, requiring exertion and excessive hard work. … Alternatively, you can embrace the invitation laid before you to embrace a new standard, one that seeks God’s best, testifies of His amazing grace, and ultimately has greater Kingdom impact.”
Shae Bynes
The trouble with working from a grind mentality
As the author points out, you can be successful through grinding and hard work. But I’ve heard several accounts lately of good Christian men and women that were caught in a grind mindset of overwork and overachievement—until something in their lives crashed. Their body gave out or some unforeseen trial arose that left them helpless. And in that place of helplessness, they realized they’d been working by grind instead of grace.
Once they shifted their mindset, the Lord led them to new ministries that impact the world more effectively while enabling them to live a more intentional, non-striving life.
You and I can make this mindset shift now, before we hit burnout!
Grace Over Grind lists several indications that you may be grinding instead of abiding in God’s all-sufficient grace and power.
Financial anxiety
Prayerlessness
Lack of sleep
Analysis paralysis
No boundaries
No joy or peace
If these sound familiar and you’re ready for a change, embrace the freedom of working in the unforced rhythms of grace instead of the relentless striving of the world’s grind mentality.
How to choose grace over grind
This slim volume will point you toward seeking God first and appointing him as your business partner. With biblical examples and real-life stories, it illustrates how to run a business through faith and god-honoring principles instead of doing it all in our own strength and scrabbling after opportunities and connections.
This is not a book of answers. It is a book of biblical principles with questions to help you ponder these truths and figure out how to apply them to your writing life. I urge you to take your time and work through all the questions as you read.
If you are willing to surrender every part of your dream, your business, and your life to God, this book will lead you to a lower-stress, more confident way of pursuing your writing dreams.
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Matthew 11:28-30 MSG
Lisa E. Betz is an engineer-turned-mystery-writer, entertaining speaker, and unconventional soul. She inspires others to become their best selves, living with authenticity, and purpose, and she infuses her novels with unconventional characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her Livia Aemilia Mysteries, set in first-century Rome, have won several awards, including the Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021).
She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in her novels. Lisa directs church dramas, hikes the beautiful Pennsylvania woods, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit www.lisaebetz.com.
All writers suffer with creative blocks from time to time. You may not find yourself staring at a blank page for days on end, but you’ve probably found yourself procrastinating on a writing project or wrestling with specific scenes you can’t seem to write. When we face writer’s block, in small ways or large, we need help moving past it. There are tons of books and websites that promise a sure-fire cure, but they may not work for you.
Why?
Because not all blockages arise for the same reason. If a writer’s block solution doesn’t address the root problem you are struggling with, it won’t help you.
Writer’s block is REAL. It’s not just a wimpy excuse or your imagination.
It’s not permanent.
It is not a sign you’re a bad writer. All creatives struggle with it at times.
Finally, it’s not our enemy. Blockages are merely an indication that we have some inner issue we need to address, such as a fear, an unhelpful belief, or a bad habit.
With that as a foundation, the rest of this book explains how to identify the particular inner issues we’ve run up against, and then offers techniques to work through them and get back to writing with confidence.
The five common types of blockages
The book covers the five most common types of blockages writers struggle with:
Mental (beliefs and thoughts that sabotage or hinder us)
Emotional (fears, emotional responses and past trauma that hinder us)
Scarcity (feeling that we lack key resources we need to succeed)
Attentional (our focus is drawn away for one reason or another)
Procedural (unhelpful habits and workflow can hinder our progress)
For each of these types, the book lays out information so we can identify our problems and find practical ways to move past them.
Learn, Identify, and Take Action
Within the chapter on a particular type, the book includes the following subsections:
A basic explanation of the neurology at work with this type of issue. (The author does an excellent job of providing enough information to explain things without overwhelming us with too many details and unfamiliar terms.)
A list of physical, emotional, or behavioral signs that indicate we may be struggling with this issue. This was eye-opening! These signals are our subconscious trying to get out attention and deal with something important.
Descriptions of the typical kinds of unhelpful beliefs, fears, habits, etc. that we writers face when we’re stuck in this type of blockage, along with better truths to move past them.
Practical, doable techniques to help us overcome these specific issues.
I’m inspired. Are you?
I have been challenged and inspired by this book. In particular, her explanations of what is happening at the neurological level really helped me understand WHY the various techniques can help. I now have much more respect for some of the creative exercises I used to discount as a waste of time. I hope you are encouraged as well.
In closing, I leave you with a quote from the book that sums up why it’s worth the effort to move past writer’s blocks and continue to write. May it inspire you.
“Neurologically, your brain heals when you engage with, wrestle with, and share your story. If for no other reason than your own freedom and health, your story matters.”
Lisa E. Betz is an engineer-turned-mystery-writer, entertaining speaker, and unconventional soul. She inspires others to become their best selves, living with authenticity, and purpose, and she infuses her novels with unconventional characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her Livia Aemilia Mysteries, set in first-century Rome, have won several awards, including the Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021).
She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in her novels. Lisa directs church dramas, hikes the beautiful Pennsylvania woods, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit www.lisaebetz.com.
As the year draws to a close, it’s a good idea to prepare for the year ahead. This post will help you turn fuzzy ideas and wishful dreams into a more actionable writing strategy for the year ahead.
To create next year’s writing strategy, begin by answering this simple question—Why do you write?
Step One: Know your why
Open your journal or get a blank piece of paper and free write about why you write. Just write anything that comes into your head. Don’t stop to think or correct. No editing. No wordsmithing. Keep your pen or pencil moving until you fill the whole page (or more than one page if you’re on a roll).
When you’re finished, read through what you wrote and highlight the key concepts that capture your most honest answer. On a fresh page, summarize the most important reasons you write. This motivation will inform the rest of your writing strategy.
Step Two: Clarify your vision
Considering your writing motivations from step one, answer the question, “What is my vision for this time next year?” If you could look back at the end of next year and see that you’ve been successful at furthering your writing dreams, what are the key areas of growth or achievement that you would have accomplished?
Or, to look at it another way, imagine what you would love to accomplish by the end of next year. Describe the main things you’d like to finish, master, or figure out.
Defining your vision will give you something to shoot for. If you lack a concrete vision, it’s much more difficult to make progress or prioritize your goals.
Step Three: Where are you now?
Before creating writing goals for the coming year, you need to know where you’re starting from. So, where are you now in your writing journey?
Reflect on what you’ve accomplished this past year.
What important skills or lessons have you learned?
Have you taken a scary step forward?
What writing goals have you achieved?
What projects are still a work in progress (but progressing)?
How have you held firm to your key writing motivations?
Take a minute to congratulate yourself on the progress you have made. It’s important to pay attention to the milestones along the way if we want to stay motivated to accomplish our big writing dreams.
Next reflect on the main disappointments of the past year.
What hasn’t progressed like you’d hoped?
What didn’t work so well?
How can you pivot from that disappointment?
How have you strayed from your key writing motivations?
Step Four: Make intentional and realistic writing goals
Finally, it’s time to craft your writing goals. Use the information in the first three steps to create goals that will help you get from where you are now to where you’d love to be by the end of next year.
When crafting your writing goals, consider these factors.
They should stretch you or challenge you.
But they must also be realistic, not so far from where you are now that you’ll never meet them.
Goals are based on outcomes you can control (and there’s an awful lot you can’t control). They should be focused on your efforts, not the hoped-for results of those efforts.
They should specific enough and clear enough that you can tell when you’ve achieved them.
Finally, they should include a deadline.
Examples of writing goals
Example 1: I want to make the New Your Times Bestseller list. This is not a good goal. Why? This statement doesn’t include a date and it’s probably not realistic. The primary problem, however, is that you cannot control the outcome. Even if your book sells really well, it may not be selected for the list.
Example 2:I want my new book to hit the top ten bestseller status in an Amazon category by June 30. This goal is better. It includes a date, it’s easy to see whether you succeed or not, and it’s potentially within the realm of possibility. You still can’t fully control this outcome, but you can hire experts or follow their proven strategies to make it a potentially achievable goal.
Example 3: I will finish a revised version of my next book manuscript by May 1. This goal is specific and is based on an outcome you can control. It has a deadline, and success is reasonably clear. (Finish is a little vague, but if you aren’t prone to fussing over a manuscript forever, it might suffice.)
May you have success meeting your writing goals for 2023!
I hope you will take some time in the next few weeks to think through these steps and come up with some specific writing goals that will help you achieve your writing dreams.
Lisa E. Betz is an engineer-turned-mystery-writer, entertaining speaker, and unconventional soul. She inspires others to become their best selves, living with authenticity, and purpose, and she infuses her novels with unconventional characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her Livia Aemilia Mysteries, set in first-century Rome, have won several awards, including the Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021).
She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in her novels. Lisa directs church dramas, hikes the beautiful Pennsylvania woods, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit www.lisaebetz.com.
Experts continue to tell writers that their email list is one of the best ways to turn followers into book buyers. Therefore, growing your email list is great strategy for promoting your writing. Here’s a simple way to expand your reach and potentially gain new email subscribers—Author collaborations.
Collaborating with other writers enables you to leverage off each other’s followers, so you can quickly reach a whole new audience. Here are some tips to make collaborations work for you.
Look for someone who writes for a similar target audience. Your audiences don’t need to be identical, but they need to overlap. For example, a writer who targets young moms overlaps with a writer who targets healthy family relationships.
Look for someone who writes about similar topics or themes. Your book topics, lead magnets, or blog themes need to be something the other writer’s audience will find interesting and useful.
Avoid a collaboration where both writers are promoting almost identical products, such as two authors who both wrote books about gluten-free diets. The idea is to overlap so the audience wants both products rather than competing for the same purchase slot.
Don’t forget the goal
If your goal is to build your email list, you need to have a lead magnet to promote. Without an incentive to join your list and a clear call to action, the other writer’s audience isn’t likely to visit your blog or sign up for your newsletter.
If your goal is only to promote your book, being featured by your collaboration partner may be sufficient. Again, don’t forget an enticing call to action that includes links to purchase your book
Types of collaborations
Guest post swap. If both writers have blogs, you can agree to exchange guest posts. Don’t forget to mention your lead magnet in your guest post!
Newsletter lead magnet swap. Both writers can agree to share each other’s lead magnets in their newsletters.
Newsletter (or blog) book review swap. The collaboration partners can agree to review each other’s books for their newsletter. Don’t forget to disclose that you have agreed to swap books. NOTE: Amazon does not approve of authors trading reviews, so if you swap book reviews, don’t post them on Amazon. (It’s probably best to skip other review sites as well.)
Interview swap. Bloggers, podcasters, or YouTubers can choose a pertinent topic and take turns interviewing the other on their blog/show.
Gift Guides. Two or more authors can create a book gift guide on a particular theme. The guide includes one or more of each author’s books plus other excellent books that fit the theme. For example: Great Action Books for Middle Schoolers or Powerful Books to Help You Overcome Negative Thinking.
Always keep the audience in mind
Whatever collaboration you try, always remember your first goal is to serve your partner’s audience. (Not to promote yourself or sell something.)
The better you meet the needs of the audience, the more those people will be interested in your work, and the more likely the other writer will want to work with you in the future. Collaborations can be the beginning of a fruitful and long-lasting partnership.
You can be a collaborator
Even if you are not yet published, you can still begin to collaborate with other writers through swapping guest posts or lead magnets. It’s a small, doable step even beginning writers can try.
Who will you reach out to this week to discuss a possible collaboration?
Lisa E. Betz is an engineer-turned-mystery-writer, entertaining speaker, and unconventional soul. She inspires others to become their best selves, living with authenticity, and purpose, and she infuses her novels with unconventional characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her Livia Aemilia Mysteries, set in first-century Rome, have won several awards, including the Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021).
She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in her novels. Lisa directs church dramas, hikes the beautiful Pennsylvania woods, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit lisaebetz.com.
When I’m considering a travel destination, a purchase, or even a new recipe to try, I usually read reviews before making my decision. I bet you do, too. Which proves that reviews and testimonials are powerful tools in today’s market.
That’s why they’re important for us as writers, teachers, or speakers. Endorsements, reviews and testimonials are three ways to prove the validity and worth or our work.
What’s the difference?
While endorsements, reviews and testimonials are all similar, here is my attempt to define the differences.
Endorsement: a statement given by an expert or professional that gives validity to a product or service. A person of note endorses the product by citing why it is beneficial or legitimate.
Review: An opinion from a customer about a product or service. A reviewer can focus on anything from the features they like/dislike to a discussion of the plot, to how well something lasted (or didn’t).
Testimonial: A statement from a customer about how a product or service benefitted them. Instead of being focused on the product or service, it is focused on the personal benefits of using the product or service.
Why do I need endorsements?
Endorsements are commonly included with a published book, either on the cover or in the front matter. These endorsements may also be used on book sales pages and other marketing materials. They validate the worth of your book. While savvy consumers may not trust them as unbiased reviews, they do serve an important role by showing that knowledgeable people endorse the content.
If you are a Christian author of fiction or nonfiction, you should get a few endorsements from ministry professionals to prove to readers that the theological content of your book is sound. In addition, nonfiction authors should include endorsement from persons with experience in their topic, while fiction authors should get a few endorsements from other published authors (preferably in a related genre).
Endorsements are often collected before a book is published, although authors can also gather more after publication.
Why do I need reviews or testimonials?
These are what potential buyers want to read before making a decision to purchase your product (or not). Consider two books on Amazon: One is rated 2.5 stars and another is rated 4.6 stars. Which one are you more likely to buy?
Or consider this scenario: Both are rated 4 stars, but one has three reviews and the other has thirty-six. Which one are you more likely to buy?
Reviews are critical for your book’s success in today’s e-commerce world. That is why book launch strategies include getting reviews ahead of the launch date so when your book goes live, there are already at least a few positive reviews for potential buyers to read.
Since testimonials focus on how the consumer benefitted, they are not critical for fiction authors. Here are some areas where testimonials are useful for authors.
You write nonfiction and want to prove your book helps people facing a certain problem
You are a speaker or workshop teacher
You’re involved in additional ministry efforts (coaching, counseling, etc.)
How do I get endorsements, etc?
By asking.
Who can I ask?
Friends, family and peers. Anybody can read and review your book, although Amazon frowns on close family members posting reviews.
Your pastor or other church staff
Friends or acquaintances who have relevant expertise
If you don’t know anyone with expertise, try friends of friends
Someone you interacted with while researching your topic
Authors and writing professionals whom you’ve met at writing conferences or other writers’ groups.
Audience members. Pro Tip: Every time you give a speech or teach a workshop, ask for testimonials from both the audience and the event planner.
Customers who use my ministry or services
How do I ask?
For reviews, simply ask anyone who has read your book to post their honest review. Assure them that reviews don’t need to be long. One or two sentences that explains why the reader enjoyed the book is sufficient. You can offer a few sample sentences to assist friends in what to write a review if you like.
If you want to use a review in your marketing materials or website, ask the reviewer for permission. Alternately, ask some friends to write reviews for the sole purpose of you using them in your website/marketing.
Here are some things to include when asking for endorsements and testimonials.
If you are asking someone you don’t know well, mention how you met them.
A deadline for submitting the statement, if applicable.
A brief explanation of where the statement could appear (in the book, on your website, marketing materials, handouts, etc)
Ask them how they would like their name and title to appear. For testimonials, you can suggest they add a description such as “satisfied customer” or “a weary young mom.”
Ask them for permission to shorten their statement as needed for space constraints.
Thank them for taking the time to consider your request.
You may want to include some examples of how to word a testimonial.
A final note. If you receive testimonials or endorsements that are too long or awkwardly worded, you may consider editing the statement and then submitting the edited version to the endorser for approval.
I hope these tips help you gather the endorsements, reviews and testimonials you need to help your writing succeed.
Lisa E. Betz is an award-winning mystery author, entertaining speaker, and an unconventional soul. She combines her love of research with her quirky imagination to bring the world of the world of the early church to life. She infuses her novels with unconventional characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her second novel, Fountains and Secrets, was recently named a finalist in both the Golden Scroll and Christian Market Book Awards.
She also blogs about the joys and challenges of living an authentic, purpose-filled life. Lisa and her husband reside in southeast Pennsylvania with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in the Livia Aemilia Mysteries. Lisa directs church dramas, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit her Quietly Unconventional website at lisaebetz.com or check her Facebook page at LisaEBetzWriter.
Inspired by Jesus’s radical views, unconventional Livia Aemilia cares little about stuffy Roman dignity. She’d rather help others and solve crimes. But when her new husband forbids her from sleuthing, she continues in secret and soon learns that dishonesty doesn’t work well in a marriage.
His face and reputation scarred from an old betrayal, Memmius Avitus cares about justice. Although from a respected senatorial family, he takes pride in helping underprivileged clients win legal battles over more privileged opponents, to the annoyance of his peers.
When Avitus’s mentor is murdered, Avitus investigates undercover because he doesn’t want his inquisitive wife to get involved. His attempts to conceal the truth only cause more problems for his reputation—and his marriage. Eventually the couple forms a tenuous alliance, but when Avitus learns the mastermind behind the crimes is a ruthless longtime enemy, he fears for Livia’s safety and orders her to stop. His reluctance to explain why only infuriates her into reckless action.
Fountains and Secrets, book 2 in the Livia Aemilia Mysteries, is quirky, fast paced, and clever, showing readers that trust and honesty are more important than winning the battle of the wills.
Why do you write? Do you have a theme, message, or goal for your books?
I’ve never been good at fitting molds. I have learned to choose authenticity instead of striving to fit in. It’s not always easy, but it’s worth it.
My main characters all clash with their society’s expectations in some way. (Some of these clashes are due to the vastly different worldviews between Christ followers and the typical Roman outlook.) I hope my characters’ struggles will inspire readers to live in a way that upholds their core values.
My heart passion is to help others, especially those who struggle with people-pleasing, find the confidence to live more authentically and intentionally. I blog on these topics at my website, Quietly Unconventional.
How long have you been writing?
I took a correspondence course 25 years ago, just for fun. I’ve been hooked on creative writing ever since, but for many of those years I only dabbled. It wasn’t until my youngest son went off to college that I sat myself down and decided to take writing seriously.
And how long did it take you to get your first major book contract? Or are you published non-traditionally? How did that come about?
Getting my first book published with a traditional publisher was a series of God-orchestrated events combined with many years of effort.
I wrote three practice novels before I wrote the manuscript that became my first book. During that time, I wrote on group blogs, joined writing organizations like ACFW, and attended conferences. All of those things helped me find an agent and taught me how to craft a publishable manuscript.
I began writing seriously in 2012. Seven years later, my mystery manuscript was a finalist in the ACFW Genesis contest. That led to a contract in 2020 and my first book was released in early 2021.
Which of your books is your favorite?
My debut will always have a special place in my heart, but I’m improving as a writer, so I think book two is even better.
Do you have a favorite character or scene in one of your books?
I love all my main characters. I particularly enjoy how they are different from me.
Since I’m a cat person, I’m very fond of Nemesis, the intelligent, independent, and sometimes naughty cat. I have fun writing her into scenes for a little comic relief.
In the next book, I’ve added a dog to the household, and there’s a really fun scene where the cat and dog race through the house causing havoc.
Tell us about an award you won that was particularly meaningful.
My books have won multiple awards, but the most impactful was when my debut novel, Death and a Crocodile, was named Golden Scroll Novel of the Year.
I was totally astounded! And it was a great confidence booster, which I needed at the time.
How long does it take you to write a book?
Too long. I have resigned myself to the fact that I am a slow writer.
What’s your writing work schedule like?
I do my best creative thinking in the mornings, so I focus on composing new material before lunch. In the afternoons I work on editing, or on other tasks like marketing work.
Do you have an interesting writing quirk? If so, what is it?
I prefer to compose on-screen, but I edit much better on paper (using a mechanical pencil!)
Also, I’m terrible at multitasking. I do my best work when I can concentrate on one project for several days in a row. Sadly, that’s not always possible.
What has been your greatest joy(s) in your writing career?
Meeting people who have read my books and enjoyed them. I’m particularly thrilled when a reader says something like, “I don’t usually read historical novels, but I liked your book.”
I was tickled when my husband’s manager told him how much she enjoyed Livia, my strong female sleuth, Livia. My books are set in ancient Rome, so Livia must be courageous and determined to investigate crimes in a world that thinks women can’t (or shouldn’t) do things like that.
I was happy to hear that a successful modern women related to my main character despite her very different time and culture.
Could you tell us about a dark moment in your writing career?
The first time I hired an editor to critique a novel manuscript, the editor told me my main character was whiny and unlikeable! I was devastated. I stewed over it for a week, alternately furious at the insult to my character, and seriously doubting my writing abilities.
This very professional editor took pains to highlight the problems in my manuscript while encouraging ma as a writer. She backed up all criticism by citing specific passages in the manuscript, so once I was able to loo at things objectively, I understood why my main character was coming across as unlikeable. I learned so much from that critique, and my writing has improved considerably since then.
How many times in your career have you experienced rejection? How did they shape you?
All writers face rejection. I learned enough about this reality during my dabbling phase that by the time I had novels to shop around, I knew to expect rejection. It still isn’t easy to accept, but it hasn’t derailed me.
Where do you get your ideas?
I’m a firm believer in the importance of keeping my creativity reservoir filled with wide variety of material, and then trusting God and my subconscious to provide inspiration when I need it.
One bit of advice regarding creativity I’ve found helpful is: Don’t settle for your first idea.
The first solution that pops into my head tends to be unoriginal. Therefore, whenever I run into something in my writing that needs a creative solution, I grab a notebook and write my questions down. For example, How will Livia escape?
Then I make a list of as many different options as I can think of. Usually somewhere around idea number six I stumble onto one that makes perfect sense, or one that opens up a whole new line of thinking. I have piles of notebooks filled with these lists and related scribblings.
Who is your favorite author to read?
I first fell in love with ancient Rome when I read The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare in elementary school. Shortly after that I discovered Rosemary Sutcliff, who wrote dozens of YA books set in ancient times. More recently, I’ve enjoyed Tracy Higley’s series set in various ancient places.
Three historical mystery authors whose memorable characters and humorous voice inspire my novels are Lindsey Davis, Elizabeth Peters, and Ruth Downie.
What advice can you give aspiring writers that you wished you had gotten, or that you wished you would have heeded?
An author is a small business owner. If you can learn to write well, you can also learn how to market and think like a business person. I had convinced myself that I’d never be any good at marketing, so when my first book was finally published, I didn’t have a good attitude about marketing and I didn’t know very much about how to do it. Big mistake!
For a healthier attitude and good advice on marketing, read Almost an Author columnist Patricia Durgin’s Marketing Sense posts. Or you might consider joining her Marketers on a Mission Facebook group.
What are common mistakes you see aspiring writers make?
Not appreciating how vital it is to get good critiques. All authors have blind spots and we need others to find them for us.
Rushing to implement everything an expert tells them they should be doing, whether that advice is strategic to where they are in the process right now or not.
Getting so focused on attracting the masses that you forget to serve the followers you already have. Look at writing as a ministry. When you keep your focus on serving your readers by continuing to offer valuable content, you will be a successful writer, regardless of the numbers.
Where/How do you recommend writers try to break into the market?
Don’t try to do it alone! The Christian writing world is filled with generous people who delight in mentoring other writers. Get connected to them. Join writers’ groups, in person or via the internet. Attend conferences. Make an effort to meet other writers, editors, and agents, and then stay in touch. You never know when those relationships will be exactly what you need to take the next step in your career.
About Lisa E. Betz
Lisa E. Betz is an engineer-turned-mystery-writer, entertaining speaker, and unconventional soul. She inspires others to become their best selves, living with authenticity, and purpose, and she infuses her novels with unconventional characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her Livia Aemilia Mysteries, set in first-century Rome, have won several awards, including the Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021).
She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in her novels. Lisa directs church dramas, hikes the beautiful Pennsylvania woods, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit www.lisaebetz.com.
You can find Lisa’s Livia Aemilia Mysteries on Amazon or wherever you prefer to purchase books.
We want to be responsible, professional writers, but there are so many little details to remember. Here are some best practice tips to help you look and act professionally on your blog, website, social media, guest posts, or anywhere else you appear on the internet.
Be consistent with your image
Choose one headshot and use it on all author profiles. This includes all author-related social media, email, professional associations, the bios on guest posts, and your primary “about me” website photo.
Use a professional headshot. This is the image that you are putting out there in the world. Spend a few dollars to make it look professional. You don’t need to spend a mint to get a good photo, but it’s important to use a high-quality photo that makes you look good.
Keep consistency in mind when writing bios for profiles. Select the primary facts you wish to include in your bio and then use them consistently across all internet arenas. Otherwise, you are sending mixed signals. This does not mean using the identical bio everywhere. You can tweak your bio slightly to best fit the occasion, but don’t introduce yourself as a chocolate-loving motivational speaker and dog-lover one place and a chess grand master who writes mysteries about vintners somewhere else.
Be consistent with your brand
Assume everything you put on the internet is public—every post, tweet, reel, comment and like. Decide not to put anything out in the virtual universe that you don’t want associated with you. If you’d be embarrassed to let your friends hear you say something, it’s not something you should be saying or sharing.
Also, consider the whole picture your internet presence creates. If a stranger studied a random selection of your posts, comments, and shares, who would they think you are? The closer that impression is to the truth of your brand, the better. You are the author of your brand, so only you can act responsibly and choose what messages are suitable and what messages don’t belong in your brand.
Be responsible with intellectual property
Everything you write is your intellectual property. This is good news for writers. The intellectual property laws protect us without our having to submit every single thing we write to the copyright office. But this same law protects everyone else’s intellectual property, too, such as images, songs, music, quotes, and videos. So, be responsible.
Don’t use images without permission. It is not OK to copy any image you find on Google and use it in your blog, meme, or handout. You are free to use your own photos, but when it comes to using someone else’s, you have two choices: A) get permission from the source and attribute the photo correctly B) use a legitimate source of free-to-use images. Three I use are Canva.com, Pixabay.com and Pexels.com.
Don’t use testimonials or reviews without permission. Just as we may not swipe any photo we find to use in our own material, so too we should not steal someone’s review of our book. Including reviews and testimonials on our site or social media, or marketing is great strategy, but ask permission before using someone else’s words.
Use quotes responsibly. In general, fair use practices mean we may use a small excerpt of a published work, as long as it is properly attributed. Although not required, it’s good form to include the title of the book the quote comes from, along with a link to the book or author’s site.
An exception. Since poetry and song lyrics are relatively short, using even a line is more than the “fair use” limit. Thus, it’s not best practice to quote poetry or song lyrics without express permission.
Finally, use due diligence. Always double-check the accuracy before using a quote. There are tons of quotes floating around the internet that are incorrectly attributed. Spend a few moments searching to verify you have the wording correct and that it’s a legitimate quote and not an urban legend.
One final tip—use “clean” links
When you arrive at something like a product page through a search, the address of the page often has a bunch of extra gobbledygook after it. It’s better to cut that excess stuff off before using that address as a link on something you post.
An example:
Here’s the whole URL for my book after I typed a search into Google:
Notice the bold part is the same. That’s the actual URL of the page or the “clean” link. The rest is recording how I searched to get there. In both cases, I want to erase all the extraneous stuff to shorten the link. In Amazon, this means everything from the ref= onwards.
(To be safe, I always delete the stuff I think I don’t need and then hit enter to make sure the link still works. Then I copy the link and paste it where I need it.)
I hope these simple tips have helped you put your best, professional foot forward. Happy writing.
Lisa E. Betz is an award-winning mystery author, entertaining speaker, and an unconventional soul. She combines her love of research with her quirky imagination to bring the world of the world of the early church to life. She infuses her novels with unconventional characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her second novel, Fountains and Secrets, was recently named a finalist in both the Golden Scroll and Christian Market Book Awards.
She also blogs about the joys and challenges of living an authentic, purpose-filled life. Lisa and her husband reside in southeast Pennsylvania with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in the Livia Aemilia Mysteries. Lisa directs church dramas, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit her Quietly Unconventional website at lisaebetz.com or check her Facebook page at LisaEBetzWriter.
You hear it at every writers’ conference—Platform Is Important! Long before you have a book published, you need to be thinking about and building your author platform.
True.
However, I wish I hadn’t rushed into into creating a website, blog, or author social media accounts without considering why I was doing it.
“I’m doing this to build platform” isn’t a sufficient reason
Maybe the root problem was I didn’t understand what building an author platform really meant. I thought it was about numbers. Create a bunch of social media accounts and collect as many followers as you can.
Done.
Except, after I created them, I had no idea what to do with them. No strategy. No purpose. No obvious topics or themes. Nada.
I was working on a historical mystery set in ancient Rome, but I’m not a history expert, or a writing expert. Thus, neither history nor writing tips seemed like the right content for me.
Which left … ?? (Scripture quotes? Flash fiction? Life lessons from my kids? Photos of the coffee I’m drinking while I write?)
Does my quandary sound familiar?
Understanding the real purpose of those platform components
Pop Quiz: The purpose of an author’s blog, website, and social media accounts is to:
Amass impressive follower numbers
Promote all my awesome writing stuff
Tell the world about my writing process and show funny photos of my cat
Serve the reader by offering helpful or inspiring content
The answer may seem obvious, but when I was a budding fiction writer, precisely what helpful or inspiring content I was supposed to be offering was anything but obvious.
I was clueless. I tried a bit of this and a pit of that, but nothing really clicked.
So I blundered around, trying a bit of this and a bit of that and by process of elimination I eventually narrowed my blogging focus to intentional living (which, you may note, has nothing whatsoever to do with either ancient Rome or mystery writing).
An author platform needs a firm foundation
Have you ever tried to write an article, and you can’t seem to get your thoughts to work together? When I have that problem, it’s usually because I don’t have the single main point clear in my head.
The same is true for an author platform. The more clarity you have in your specific target audience and the specific topics/themes/issues you are called to write about, the easier it becomes to provide content that is both relevant and builds confidence in your author brand.
Your author brand is the perception of what you are about, based on your content.
If your content isn’t consistent, nobody can figure out what you stand for, so they had little reason to keep reading my stuff.
Here’s the key concept I was missing
The goal of building an author platform isn’t to collect as many random followers as we can. The goal is to collect readers who want to come back regularly to see our content.
Why do those readers choose to give their precious attention to our content instead of the zillion other options? Because they have learned they can count on us to consistently offer interesting, relevant, encouraging content on topics they care about.
We earn readers trust by consistently offering the content they find useful. That consistency only comes when we’ve discovered our content sweet spot and are intentional about focusing our content within that niche.
Your platform isn’t built in a day
If you’re just starting your writing journey, you probably don’t yet have this all figured out. That’s normal. You might need to experiment with different types of content for a while before you find your stride.
However, experiment intentionally. Your goal is to zero in on the content that you are passionate about creating and identifying the specific audience that most benefits from what you write.
The sooner you find your sweet spot, the less time you waste writing meh content and the quicker you can begin collecting readers who are actual fans of your content and brand.
Your Turn
Can you articulate what your author platform is about in 1-2 sentences? If not, take a stab at it and consider that your starting point.
Pray about it. Ask God to clarify the specifics of what he’s calling you to write and who he’s calling you to write it for.
Get in the habit of regularly asking yourself questions like these to continually hone your clarity.
Which subjects can I not help getting excited about?
What have I learned from coming through trauma that I can share with others?
When people think of me and my content, I want them to use words like ___ .
What is the common thread in the various things I love to write about?
What issues do people bring up repeatedly when they come to me for advice or help? (face-to-face or virtually)
Lisa E. Betz is an award-winning mystery author, entertaining speaker, and an unconventional soul. She combines her love of research with her quirky imagination to bring the world of the world of the early church to life. She infuses her novels with unconventional characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her second novel, Fountains and Secrets, was recently named a finalist in both the Golden Scroll and Christian Market Book Awards.
She also blogs about the joys and challenges of living an authentic, purpose-filled life. Lisa and her husband reside in southeast Pennsylvania with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in the Livia Aemilia Mysteries. Lisa directs church dramas, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit her Quietly Unconventional website at lisaebetz.com or check her Facebook page at LisaEBetzWriter.
Writers of all levels know the importance of continuing to learn new skills, refine writing skills, and challenge themselves. How intentional are you about growing your writing craft?
Would it help to set yourself some goals in the area of developing your writing craft? Here are seven areas where you can become more intentional about growing as a writer.
Three ways to learn your writing craft
Training – workshops, webinars, and classes. One of the best ways to learn writing craft is by listening to experts teach on specific aspects. This is one of the many benefits of attending writing conferences or belonging to a writers group that features monthly speakers. These events offer a variety of subjects for writers of all levels. However, you can also find a good writing instruction on the internet, including free webinars. Many online instructors offer free webinars to attract students to their paid offerings, but we can benefit from their free content without guilt.
How intentional are you about learning? Do you have any upcoming workshops or conferences in your schedule?
How-to instruction – Blogs, books, and podcasts. There is no shortage of worthwhile how-to advice to help you improve your writing skills. In fact, you are reading this post right now. Good for you! How intentional are you about learning new skills? Do you browse writing sites on a whim, or is it part of your regular weekly schedule? When was the last time you picked up a book on writing with the intent to learn something new?
DIY – Active participation. The best way to take full advantage of either of the above options is to do the homework. This could mean working through exercises, if any are given. Or it could means going back to your work-in-progress and immediately applying something you learned in the workshop, blog post, or book chapter. Using what you’ve learned, rather than just reading or listening, will help cement those new skills or concepts into your brain.
Four ways to hone your writing craft
Feedback. Getting critiques of our writing is critical for writers of any level. We don’t know what we’re doing well and what we need to work on without feedback. We should be seeking input from a variety of sources, from fellow writers at our local writers’ group, to Beta readers, to professionals. Many conferences offer an option for fifteen-minute appointments with writing professionals. Come prepared with a printout of your first chapter and these short sessions are a prime way to get professional feedback without paying extra.
Look for good examples. One you’ve learned a concept; you can look for it out in the wild. Train yourself to pay attention to techniques, structure, and other good writing skills as you read, and when you watch TV or movies. Can you identify the key plot components, such as inciting action or midpoint twist? (A TV show can be a great way to observe the structure behind a story, because the show must move through the whole three-act structure in a short time.) It’s also helpful to keep a file or journal for collecting writing snippets that really hit you, such as great descriptions or pithy dialogue. These can inspire your own great writing.
Experimentation. You may prefer writing romances, but it’s good to stretch yourself and try a different style of writing from time to time. Perhaps try a brief sci-fi or mystery story, or write a poem or two. It doesn’t matter how good these pieces are, because the goal is to stretch your thinking and creativity muscles, not to create anything worth sharing with the public.
In a similar vein, experiment with how you write. Try various techniques, such as writing with music, or talking our your scenes out loud before writing them. You won’t know for sure until you’ve tried a new technique a few times whether it might enhance your writing.
Teach others. Teaching others what you know is a tried-and-true way to help others while also helping yourself. Teaching skills or concepts to others helps you master them and/or understand them on a deeper level yourself. You don’t need to be a best-selling author to teach writing skills. Whatever you’ve learned and found helpful will be helpful to others, too. So, never be afraid to share what you’ve learned with others who want to hear it.
I hope these ideas will spur you on to grow in your ability and knowledge as a writer. Which one of them will you take action in today?
An engineer-turned-mystery-writer, Lisa E. Betz infuses her novels with authentic characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her debut novel, Death and a Crocodile, won several awards, including Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021). Her second mystery, Fountains and Secrets, released in January, 2022.
Lisa combines her love of research with her quirky imagination to bring the world of the early church to life. She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in the Livia Aemilia Mysteries. Lisa directs church dramas, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit her at lisaebetz.com or her Facebook page, LisaEBetzWriter.
Do you feel guilty because you can’t crank out two thousand words every morning like your writer friends? Have you ever been frustrated when you tried a writing expert’s sure-fire method to write faster, only to find you’re writing time was worse than ever?
Me, too.
The fact is, each of us needs to figure out what writing process works best for the way our brain works, and our unique writing personality. That being said, most writers fall into one of two general categories, those who work best in small spurts and those who work best in longer, more focused writing sessions. We all have a sweet spot that represents the optimum number of words our particular writer brain likes to handle in one sitting.
Optimizing writing sessions for small spurt writers
Are you a multitasking pro? Do you enjoy writing in coffee shops or the local park, and you often squeeze little spurts of writing into your life when you can, you are probably a short spurt writer. If so, your optimum writing session is probably in the 400 – 600 words range. If you’re a small spurt writer, you can productively use small pockets of time to work on your project. However, when you force yourself to keep working until you’ve reached 1,500 words in one sitting, you’ll struggle. You’ll find it tough to keep focused, so your productivity will drop, and you’ll feel frustrated.
Good news! You can reach that 1,500 word goal, but you’ll be more successful when you do it in two or three smaller sessions rather than one continuous stretch. Also, you’ll probably write better at each session if you switch tasks and work on something else in between your writing sessions.
Optimizing writing sessions for deep focus writers
If you need silence and solitude to do your best work, you are probably a long session writer. Your optimum writing sessions are more like 1,000 – 2,000 words. You write best when you can go deep into your story world. It may take some time to get into the flow, and once you find it you don’t want to be dragged away until you’ve finished the whole scene.
Like all humans, you eventually need to come up for air and give your brain a brief rest, but you may find that you can utilize your time most productively when you allow yourself to focus on several writing sessions in a row, rather than switching from writing to other tasks and then back to writing.
Which is best?
The one that works for you!
Neither style is any better or worse. The key to becoming a more productive writer is to figure out your optimum writing session scenario and then plan your writing accordingly.
Do you need to stop beating yourself up because you can’t concentrate on writing while waiting for your kids to at soccer practice? Do you need to give yourself permission to quit forcing yourself to complete marathon writing sessions?
If you’re not sure which style works best for you, experiment. Try setting a variety of goals from short 300-word sessions to longer ones of 1,000-words or more. See how long you can work before your brain starts to lose focus.
This isn’t rocket science, so don’t get hung up on finding your exact ideal word count. The goal is to determine the approximate number of words or length of writing sessions that works best for your brain, and then do what you can to create writing times around that length.
A note on editing: Editing is not the same kind of thinking as composing. Therefore, most writers have a different ideal writing session length when it comes to editing their ms. Once again, you can experiment to find your optimum editing session length.
Learn more
If you want to learn more about optimizing your writing sessions, I recommend you read The Chunky Method Handbook by Allie Pleiter.
I hope this post has encouraged you in your writing journey this week.
An engineer-turned-mystery-writer, Lisa E. Betz infuses her novels with authentic characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her debut novel, Death and a Crocodile, won several awards, including Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021). Her second mystery, Fountains and Secrets, released in January, 2022.
Lisa combines her love of research with her quirky imagination to bring the world of the early church to life. She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in the Livia Aemilia Mysteries. Lisa directs church dramas, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit her at lisaebetz.com or her Facebook page, LisaEBetzWriter.
“How do I write dialogue to show an accent or dialect?”
I’ve often heard this question discussed at writing workshops. It’s a good question. As we writers imagine our characters, some of them will have an accent, or will speak in a particular dialect. Naturally, we want our readers to hear those accents. But how does one accomplish that?
While there is not a single right answer to the question, here are my suggestions, based on listening to many discussions of this topic by various industry pros.
First of all, remember that fictional dialogue is not court stenography. A novel’s dialogue should not be an exact copy of real speech. Writers edit out all the ums, you knows, and random chattiness that crop up in actual conversations to craft dialogue that keeps the plot moving.
In similar fashion, writers should not attempt to copy the exact accent of each speaker. The goal is verisimilitude, not exactitude—creating the flavor and essence of the speaker rather than providing a syllable-for-syllable duplicate.
Factors to consider when conveying accents
Clarity first! A writer’s primary purpose is to get the story across. The dialogue should help rather than hider that goal. It’s normally better to choose simple, readable English over foreign words, unfamiliar slang, or phonetically rendered accents. Crammink ow-er dee-alokh weeth strenj spellinks… (I think you get the idea).
Don’t jolt the reader out of the story. Every time a reader stumbles over a word or has to reread a sentence that didn’t make sense, they have been jolted from the flow of the story. We writers don’t want this to happen! For example, consider this bit of dialogue: “Did he axe you for help?” Huh? What does that mean? The writer may have been trying to show a New Jersey accent, but for any reader not familiar with the accent quirk that turns ask to axe, the sentence is either nonsense, or looks like it contains a typo.
Use a light hand. When you do include dialect, slang, or accents, do so sparingly. Think of it like a sprinkle of black pepper. You want just enough to enhance the flavor without overpowering everything.
Don’t stereotype. If your character speaks with a dialect that you are only marginally familiar with, do your research. We don’t want to be lazy writers who stoop to using cheesy imitations of a dialect. Actual speakers of a language or dialect will easily spot a fake and call us out.
Don’t show off. Perhaps you’ve done tons of research into the history of your setting and compiled a whole list of archaic words. Great, but before using all those funny words, remember you are writing fiction, not a scholarly tome. You don’t need to impress anyone with your knowledge. Therefore, consider which terms are essential to your plot and skip the rest. Readers want to enjoy a good story, not stop every other page to look up yet another word they don’t know.
Better techniques for conveying accents
Experienced writers come up with many creative ways to help readers hear the accents of their characters without forcing the characters to speak in phonetic accents or unfamiliar grammar. Here are four ideas:
Sometimes playing with word order is enough to suggest an accent. You could be using this technique to show a character is Irish, don’t you know? Or, something as simple as switching adjectives can make a sentence sound slightly foreign. For example, “I met him at the red, small house with the shaggy, big dog in the front lawn.
You could allow characters whose first language isn’t English to misquote or misunderstand common idioms. This can be used to great comic effect, when appropriate. (Think Agatha Christie’s Poirot.)
Adding a few recognizable words or phrases—gut, nyet, si, lass and laddie—can show a reader that this character speaks with particular accent. If you clue them in the very first time the character speaks, then you can allow the reader to fill the rest of the accent in themselves.
Another option is to show the accent through the POV of a different character. If the POV character has trouble understanding something another character says or thinks to himself about how the person’s speech sounds unusual, you have shown the reader the accent. The reader will hear that character’s speech the same way the POV character does.
While writers differ on their specific preferences when it comes to conveying accents, these tips should help you find a balance that pleases editors and readers alike.
An engineer-turned-mystery-writer, Lisa E. Betz infuses her novels with authentic characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her debut novel, Death and a Crocodile, won several awards, including the Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021). Lisa combines her love of research with her quirky imagination to bring the world of the early church to life. She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in the Livia Aemilia Mysteries. Lisa directs church dramas, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes.
So many things can hinder our writing. Our lives are filled with distractions and competing commitments, while our inner critics whisper that our writing isn’t good enough. On top of that, we’re bombarded with advice on how to write, how to market, and how to succeed. It can be easy to get so overwhelmed or bogged down that we feel like giving up.
Please don’t!
When you’re feeling frustrated, confused, or depressed about your writing, these three short mantras can help you get back on track. Science shows that replacing unhelpful, negative thoughts with more positive truths actually works. So, give these simple truths a try.
Good enough is usually good enough.
Does your inner critic insist that every sentence you write be worthy of a prize? If so, this saying will help you move past the bondage of perfectionism. I’ve wasted hours striving to perfect every sentence in a scene only to delete the whole thing later. I wish I would have known this concept back then.
Learn from my mistakes and aim for good instead of perfect.
Most readers are more interested in a good story than stunning prose, so keep this in mind as you write. Give yourself permission to write “good enough” sentences. Focus your prose-polishing energy on the places where your words pack the most punch, like the first chapter, the first and last paragraphs of every chapter, and the final scene.
Doing something is better than doing nothing.
What does this mean? Let me expand it. Doing something—even when it’s not the ideal thing, or the perfect thing, or the thing some expert told us we must do—is better than doing nothing.
I learned this simple truth from a marketing expert who was doing a webinar for self-employed people making six- and seven-figure incomes. Even people who already enjoy that much success need to be reminded of this concept.
Why? Because most of us are afraid of failure. We stress over every decision because we’re not sure if we’re making the best choice. Unfortunately, that kind of thinking leads to becoming stalled on a project because we’re second-guessing and overanalyzing instead of doing.
Successful people don’t waste time worrying about perfection. While the rest of us are dithering about how to make the ideal choice, successful people are moving ahead because they know doing something will get them farther than not doing something.
So, stop stressing over whether your idea is the “right” thing and try it. If it doesn’t work, learn from your effort and try something else.
Everything is figureoutable.
We can become demoralized by all we don’t know how to do. Just thinking about a large project like self-publishing a book, building a website, or starting a podcast can be so intimidating that we throw up our hands in despair. I have no idea how to do this, we think. So, we give up.
In those moments, remember this mantra. Everything, including whatever big, scary problem you are facing, is figureoutable. This catchy saying comes from the book of the same name by Marie Forleo. It means exactly what is sounds like.
This reminds us that everything, no matter how complex, is figureoutable. We just need to roll up our sleeves and start figuring it out. It will take time, research, and probably some trial and error. We may need help. We may make a few mistakes along the way, but we CAN learn new skills, solve problems, and figure it out.
For more inspiration on tackling problems with confidence, read Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo.
I hope these simple mantras will inspire you to stay on course with your writing and book marketing projects. You can do it!
An engineer-turned-mystery-writer, Lisa E. Betz infuses her novels with authentic characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her debut novel, Death and a Crocodile, won several awards, including the Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021). Lisa combines her love of research with her quirky imagination to bring the world of the early church to life. She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in the Livia Aemilia Mysteries. Lisa directs church dramas, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes.
A homepage is like the lobby of your personal office building. When a visitor arrives at an office lobby, we want to do several things, including:
Make them welcome
Let them know if they’ve come to the right place
Let them know how to find what they need once they step inside.
The same goes for our homepage.
Many websites have a chatty homepage with some form of welcome from the writer. Something like: Hello, I’m Lisa. Welcome to my website, where I talk about…
While this approach is certainly welcoming, it’s not ideal. Because although your website URL may be your name, your website is primarily not about YOU, it’s about WHAT YOU OFFER—your products, ministry, and the solutions you provide for web visitors in need of hope, healing, encouragement, and positive entertainment.
Why does this matter?
Most visitors to your homepage have come looking for something. If they don’t find what they want they’ll try the next address on their search list.
You have only a few seconds to hook a visitor. If you don’t capture their attention immediately, they’ll move on.
If you don’t make it clear what your site is about, people who really need what you have to say may not realize it and leave before they get to your wonderful content.
In order to create a homepage that captures the interest of your target audience and guides them to your wonderful content that can help them, consider the following questions:
1. Can a visitor get an inkling of what your site is about in a quick glance at your homepage?
Or do they see nothing but some pretty photos and a bit of vague text? Your tagline, logo, header image, font choices, and other design details all tell visitors something about what kind of site they’ve landed on. Are you giving them a clear message, or do these details obscure the real personality and purpose of your brand and your message?
Examples: A quick look at these four very different writer sites gives you a pretty good idea of the kind of thing they write.
Don’t despair if you don’t have the finances to make your site look as awesome as these ones. A simple site design can be just as effective. Do all you can to make design choices that give a clear message about the personality and purpose of your site.
2. Who is this site for?
Who is most likely to need what you have to offer? The more precisely you describe who you are aiming to help, the more likely they are to stay long enough to read what your site is about. Is your target audience young moms? People struggling to lose weight? Sports fans who love mysteries? People who wonder if God still exists? Whoever you write for, make that clear on your homepage.
3. What does my site offer?
People visit the web because they looking for something. They have a problem and they’re looking for a solution. You might have what they’re looking for, but do they know that by looking at your homepage? Do you make it clear what kinds of products and solutions you offer?
The Serious Writer homepage is a good example. The design is quite simple, but one glance at the header tells you exactly what they are about, and the text beside the photo describes who their intended audience is.
4. Is my site easy to read and navigate?
How readable is your text? Flowing script fonts may look beautiful, but they tend to be hard to read. Use them sparingly. Also watch out for small font sizes and insufficient contrast between text and background. The majority of visitors are looking at your site on their phones. If they can’t read your text, your message is worthless.
Likewise, your menu should clearly show where a visitor can click to find that they want. Make sure the commonly sought parts of your page (About, Contact, Books/Products, Blog) are clearly labeled and easy to find.
5. What do I want them to do next?
Someone has come to your homepage. They fit your target audience. They like what you say you can do for them. Great!
Now what?
You could let them click around on the menu to see what’s available, but a great homepage points visitors to your best content with an obvious call to action.
What are the one (or two) primary actions you want them to take?
Do you want them to buy your new book? Sign up for your newsletter? Take your quiz? Try your free webinar?
Guide visitors to that next step with simple text and compelling images.
Your turn
What can you do to improve your homepage? Choose one of the questions above and figure out how you can make your homepage even better.
An engineer-turned-mystery-writer, Lisa E. Betz infuses her novels with authentic characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her debut novel, Death and a Crocodile, won several awards, including Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021). Her second novel, Fountains and Secrets released January 2022, from Redemption Press.
Lisa combines her love of research with her quirky imagination to bring the world of the early church to life. She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in the Livia Aemilia Mysteries. Lisa sorts book donations at the library, directs church dramas, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes.
A press kit may sound like something that only celebrities and big-time authors need, but that’s not true. Everyone who has a book, blog, or ministry to share with others can benefit from creating a press kit. It’s really not that difficult.
Here’s why you want to have one, and what you need to include:
Why do I need a press kit?
A press kit is a collection of information that helps others quickly and conveniently find key things about you and your work. It’s created to help media professionals and others, by providing them with the kind of information they need in one easy-to-find place.
A press kit helps you in several ways:
Makes it easy for journalists to find you and see what you’re about
Provides consistent and correct information for others
Helps you describe yourself and your work/ministry in a concise way
Helps interviews go more smoothly
Shows that you act like a professional
Who is a press kit for?
New media, from your local paper or radio to national TV
Event planners (Especially if speaking is part of your ministry)
Podcast hosts
Book Bloggers, BookTubers, etc.
Book clubs
Teachers (Anyone interested in school visits?)
Others who might want to interview for any reason
What items should I include?
Press kits come in all shapes and sizes, but these basic elements are all you need to get started.
Images
A high-res author photo. A professional-quality photograph. You want to include a high-resolution version (300 dpi) for print use in print media (newspapers or event fliers). If you have more than one, you may include several options.
A low-res author photo. The same photo in a lower resolution version for internet or social media use, when people want an image with a smaller file size.
High-quality images of your book covers or other key products. If you have lots of titles, choose the newest or most important ones.
Text
A brief author bio. Two to three sentences that provide a brief introduction to you and your writing or ministry. Don’t forget to mention your website.
Suggested interview questions. These help journalists, podcasters, and bloggers ask you key questions that will allow you to get your message out. They also give interested parties a better idea of what you’re about and if you’re the right person for their article, podcast, or event.
Contact information. Always make it easy for potential interviewers to contact you! If they can’t easily contact you, they may skip to the next person.
Optional things to add
An extended bio.
A list of awards you have received
Links to recent articles or interviews that feature you
Audio or video of you speaking or teaching. This proves to event planners that you are a proficient speaker.
Links to download relevant pdfs. For example, a pdf version of your press release, or a pdf version of a book for interviewers to access.
A list of your books with key info.
Where do I put my press kit?
If you have a website, create a press kit page. Include links to your press kit page in your About page, and on the footer, plus anywhere else that makes sense.
It’s also a good idea to create a pdf version of your kit, which potential interviewers can download. You can store your press kit in a dropbox or similar accessible place so users can easily download it any time.
Your Turn!
That’s all there is to it. Make it easy for people to find the correct information about who you are and what you do by creating a simple press kit. Do you have a press kit? If not, why don’t you begin creating one today.
An engineer-turned-mystery-writer, Lisa E. Betz infuses her novels with authentic characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her debut novel, Death and a Crocodile, won several awards, including Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021). Her second novel, Fountains and Secrets released January 2022, from Redemption Press.
Lisa combines her love of research with her quirky imagination to bring the world of the early church to life. She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in the Livia Aemilia Mysteries. Lisa sorts book donations at the library, directs church dramas, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes.
I’m excited to share my new release, Fountains and Secrets, with my Almost an Author family, along with a few things I’ve learned along the way.
The Book
Introducing a new mystery set in the world of the early church. Fountains and Secrets is the second book in the Livia Aemilia Mystery series. Like the first book in the series, Fountains and Secrets features a spunky female sleuth and her sassy sidekick, who aren’t afraid to be a little unconventional in pursuit of the truth. They are aided in their investigative endeavors by a motley collection of friends, servants, and a couple of strays (human and feline).
For readers who enjoy mysteries and historical fiction with a touch of humor, Fountains and Secrets is quirky, clever, and engaging tale of identity, purpose, and hope.
And what have I learned about writing and promoting as I’ve worked through bringing two books to print? There are too many lessons to share in one post, but here are three I hope will encourage you as you continue on your author journey.
Writing a series isn’t as easy as I thought
In the mystery genre, series are normal, so I had planned from the beginning on writing a series of Livia Aemilia books. I was expecting the second book to be easier, since I already knew the main characters and had a feel for the tone and setting.
It didn’t turn out that way.
Working on the first book, my heroine’s voice seemed to come naturally, so I assumed it would come as naturally in the next one. Nope. It took me several false starts before I dialed in the right tone for Fountains and Secrets.
I thought that after having written one mystery, plotting the second one would be easier. Maybe. I think I had a better idea of what would make a good mystery story, but actually plotting the book proved just as challenging as my first attempt. Apparently, I still have a lot to learn about creating a plot from scratch, which means I must do a lot of rewriting along the way to until I get a plot into shape.
Despite these challenges, I persevered. With the help of good feedback, my characters came to life again and the plot eventually fell into place.
I hope my experience will encourage any of you who are struggling with your next writing project. Book two wasn’t as easy to write as I’d hoped, but early feedback says it’s a better story than the first book.
And that tells me the work was worth it.
Generosity and networking are important.
As in most of life, you reap what you sow. At some point you will need to have kindhearted authors who are willing to support you in a promoting your book in some way. How do you find these magical people?
First of all, you need to meet them and interact with them. This could be a face-to-face conversation at a writers conference, or it could be a relationship built over time while corresponding online through a writer’s group or through writing for blogs like Almost an Author.
Next, you have to be generous in promoting and supporting other writers. When you do willingly promote others with no strings attached, you are advancing God’s kingdom by helping get truth out into the world.
Opinions differ on the value of entering your work in writing contests. Some experts say that it’s a waste of time to enter your book in any but the most prestigious contests.
I disagree.
I admit that becoming a finalist in a writing contest hasn’t made a significant impact in book sales, BUT (and this is a big but) it has made a significant impact on my author journey. Among other things, placing in writing contests boosts your resume, may snag the attention of an agent or publisher, and is noteworthy news that can be used in press releases and social media.
In addition to the practical reasons, being named a finalist in a contest, no matter how small, can make a difference in the tender heart of a writer. Winning an award in a small writers’ conference is worth something to our creative souls, regardless of whether it ever shows up on a resume or in ad copy.
Now for my experience with contests. I entered several manuscripts over the years in the ACFW First Impressions and Genesis contests. Each gave me valuable feedback on the manuscripts. On my third attempt, I was thrilled to become a finalist in the Genesis contest (mystery category). Shortly after that, I was offered a publishing contract for the manuscript, which became my first novel, Death and a Crocodile.
At my publisher’s suggestion, I entered the book in several contests, and was named a finalist in several of them. I cannot tell you how much it means to a beginning, completely unknown author, to be able to say that my book won an award. It was a validation of both the book and of me, and if gave me a much-needed boost of confidence to promote my book to bookstore owners and others.
Finally, it feels really good to be able to write “award-winning author” and “award-winning book”!
An engineer-turned-mystery-writer, Lisa E. Betz infuses her novels with authentic characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her debut novel, Death and a Crocodile, won several awards, including Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021). Her second novel, Fountains and Secrets released January 2022, from Redemption Press.
Lisa combines her love of research with her quirky imagination to bring the world of the early church to life. She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in the Livia Aemilia Mysteries. Lisa sorts book donations at the library, directs church dramas, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes.
I’ve been blogging for over seven years and in that time I’ve learned a lot about how to be a more effective communicator. One key piece of advice I’ve found helpful is to clearly identify what I hope the readers will do as a result of reading it. To use another term, what is the reader’s takeaway or the desired outcome?
Usually when I find myself struggling to write an article, it’s because I’m not clear about what I’m trying to say. Too many ideas are swirling around my brain, and I don’t know which of them I want to talk about. When I stop and force myself to write down a specific desired outcome, it helps me narrow down which information belongs in the article.
How to define your desired outcome
Be specific
For this article, I could say my aim is to help people write better, but that is much too vague. A more specific aim might be: to introduce the concept of identifying the desired outcome of a piece of writing.
Make it actionable
But introducing a concept doesn’t give the reader any action to accomplish. I want to explain the concept, and then I want the reader to do something with that information. So an improved desired outcome might be: I want the reader to identify the desired outcome in an article they are working on.
Provide a deadline
To make the desired outcome even more potent, suggest an actionable step they can accomplish in the near future, and specify the time frame. For this article, it might be: I want the reader to identify a concise desired outcome for the next article they write.
Here are a few other examples:
I want readers to consider these 6 conversation strategies and choose one of them to try this week.
I want readers to practice this stress-handling technique the next time they stand in line.
You will notice that a well-defined desired outcome not only streamlines your focus, it informs the Call to Action.
Apply this concept in broader situations
You can use a similar process to define the desired outcome for your ministry or business venture. Once you have fine-tuned your target audience, identify the primary issue or problem you want to address. Then, specify the desired outcome you hope your writing, ministry, or business will provide. It should be specific and actionable, but it won’t have the deadline piece since this is your ongoing work.
Defining the action you hope readers will take can clarify your thoughts and help you write a more succinct and useful piece. I hope you will take the time to write out the desired outcome for the next article you write.
Lisa E. Betz worked as an engineer, substitute teacher, and play director before becoming an award-winning mystery writer. She brings her analytical mind, quirky humor, and positive outlook to all she writes. She draws inspiration from thirty-five years of leading Bible studies to create entertaining mysteries set in the world of the early church, and then she fills that world with eccentric characters, independent females, and an occasional sausage-snatching cat. Her first novel, Death and a Crocodile, was recently awarded the Golden Scroll Novel of the Year.
Board books have extra thick coated pages that small hands can turn and chewing babies can sink their teeth in. Browse any discount store and there will shelves full!
3 Reasons Board Books are Popular
Cost
They cost under $10, even less if reduced for warehouse and big box stores. They make excellent last-minute gifts, stocking stuffers, spontaneous check out purchases. Sometimes they cost less than the card that accompanies them!
2 Durability
Babies easily grab and chew on the pages. Just wipe off. They are easy to throw in a bag for use in a doctor office or restaurant. No torn pages or ripped covers.
3 Fun
With attention grabbing colors and not too much story, having two or three at bedtime is easy. Babies can be distracted easily and begin to learn the stories and simple concepts.
3 Types of Board Books
1 Concept
The focus is on one specific concept (ABC, shape, color) without much of a storyline. However, because there are so many concept books out there, one that can manage a story line while counting to 10 or learning opposites will have an extra appeal to publishers.
2 Novelty
The physical experience (lift the flap, sound buttons, touch and feel) is the focus of the book. Many are concept books where children feel animal fur. The book can have an actual story line with sound buttons for noises.
3 Mini versions
Many publishers print reduced versions of a best-selling picture book as a board book. It is the entire book reduced in format, leaving pictures and type smaller than normal. Other times sections of the story are omitted to keep the number of pages low.
3 Tips on Writing a Board Book
Words
Board book manuscripts are 10-14 pages and often under 150 words. Chose the very best possible words and make any rhyme perfect.
Pictures
They will be larger than the words. Make sure each page of text can be represented in a clear and simple picture.
Series
Always look for ways to develop at least 4 ideas for a series with a connected theme and art. Holidays and seasons, Bible stories, nursery tales, toys, pets, families!
One day you may see a baby chewing on your book!
Award winning author Robin Currie led children’s departments of Midwestern public libraries before being called midlife to ordained ministry. She has a special love for children’s literacy and Bible storytelling. Robin annually volunteers teaching English in developing countries. She and her husband actively grandparent 5 wonderful kids.
Robin has published seven library resource collections of creative ideas for library story times, and more than 20 Bible story books for children.
Coming in March 2022: A BOARD BOOK! How to Dress a Dinosaur, illustrated by Alicia Pace and published by familius.
