Writing can feel like a solitary career at times. After all, it’s just you, the keyboard, and your ideas for most of the workday. Writing alone is typically the best way to get the bulk of your work done, too, as you don’t want to be surrounded by distractions when you should be writing.
In reality, however, writing is a community-oriented pursuit. Even relatively solitary authors, like Jack Kerouac and Ernest Hemingway, had The Beats (Ginsberg, Burrows, Kaufman) and the Lost Generation (Stein, Fitzgerald, Eliot) for company.
As a writer, you can follow in the footsteps of these literary giants by creating a writing community of your own. Even simple community-building exercises, like joining local book clubs and writing groups, can significantly improve the quality of your prose and the power of your poetry.
Networking and Your Career
Finding a supportive group of writerly friends is a great way to expand your network and find new opportunities. Building a network shows clients and employers that you’re serious about entering the writing industry and that you have what it takes to produce perfect prose and stylistically satisfying sentences.
Building a network should be a core element of creating a career plan, too. Networking allows you to create useful dialogues with colleagues and peers that will serve you well in years to come. This can be invaluable during the job search and application phase, as folks who know you will be able to vouch for your skills and support your long-term vision.
Finding a Mentor
If you want to speed up your career progression, you should consider finding a trusted mentor in your niche. A good mentor can help you spot upcoming opportunities and may play a crucial role in helping you land new clients.
As a creative, asking for help can be powerful, too. When you ask a more experienced peer for help, you show that you’re in need of aid and are willing to work hard in order to overcome barriers. This will build stronger connections with your peers and enhance your emotional well-being (as it always feels good to have a trusted mentor in your corner!). If you’re considering approaching a prospective mentor, get the ball rolling by:
Being specific about the areas of aid you need
Offer plenty of gratitude for any help you receive
Be open to feedback and be willing to explore shortcomings you didn’t know you had
Stay in touch with trusted mentors, as they’ll be invaluable when you have a tricky decision to make
Finding a good mentor can make a world of difference to your writing efforts. Just be sure to offer plenty of gratitude, too, as most mentors will work with you for little-to-no pay if you’re respectful of their time.
How to Offer Feedback
At some point, you and your newfound writerly friends are going to swap manuscripts or exchange drafts. This is a sign of trust from your peers, as they are willing to show you a part of their work that is raw and unfinished.
Should you be fortunate enough to be trusted with a first draft, resist the urge to be overly brutal in your feedback, as this is a major misstep that many young writers make. For reasons that are unclear, many novice writers mistake blunt honesty for valuable feedback. Being overly critical of your feedback takes the wind out of your writing friend’s sails and is almost certain to detract from their passion for writing. Instead, try to:
Be overwhelmingly positive and point out what is working well. Many writers don’t know what they’re doing well and rely on readers to show them what’s working.
Be clear when making critiques but use polite, kind language to overcome the emotional attachment that writers have to their first drafts.
Offer resources to your writing friends if you spot a recurring mistake. For example, if you notice that your friend uses comma splices when writing, you should consider typing up something like “I noticed a few comma splices throughout this piece. It may be that it’s just a first draft and that you’ll fix the errors later, but here’s a handy resource you can use to learn more about comma splices and how to fix them.”
Utilizing these tips helps you make friends in the local writing scene, too. Folks are unlikely to promote your work if you’re unnecessarily mean—even if you have perfect prose. Instead, invest in your network by providing feedback that is timely, kind, and authentically useful.
Conclusion
Building meaningful connections in the writing community can be a real boon if you’re new to the industry. Get started by showing up to book clubs and writing groups, as you’re sure to start making connections and community-oriented events. Once you’ve started to build relationships, offer feedback that is overwhelmingly positive and authentically useful to your peers.
Amanda Winstead is a writer from the Portland area with a background in communications and a passion for telling stories. Along with writing she enjoys traveling, reading, working out, and going to concerts. If you want to follow her writing journey, or even just say hi you can find her on Twitter.
Writers Chat, hosted by Johnnie Alexander, Brandy Brow, and Melissa Stroh, is the show where we talk about all things writing, by writers and for writers!
“Because talking about writing is more fun than actually doing it.”
Writers Chat Recap for October Part 1
From Author to Agent: The Inside Scoop on the Publishing Industry
Bethany Jett shares her journey from reluctant writers conference attendee to literary agent. She gives advice on querying, marketing, and other aspects of the publishing industry plus insightful nuggets of wisdom.
Watch the October 3rd Replay.
Bethany Jett is an associate literary agent with the C.Y.L.E. agency, as well as a multi-award-winning author, and a marketing strategist who earned top honors in her master’s program, where she earned her MFA in Communications focusing on Marketing and PR. Her motto is “Teach as you go,” which she lives out as the co-owner of Serious Writer, a company that teaches and empowers writers and authors. Bethany is married to her college sweetheart, and together they’re raising 3 teen/tween sons and their Pomeranian Sadie
Crafting Thrillers and the Magic of Mentorship
Author Dr. Katherine Hutchinson-Hayes presents a two-in-one program on writing thrillers and the the value of mentorship. She shares effective ways to craft a thriller story that has a fast pace and a plot that keeps readers guessing. Katherine also explains the benefits of mentorship. For more on this jam-packed episode be sure to catch this week’s replay.
Watch the October 10th replay.
Dr. Katherine Hutchinson-Hayes is an editor, author, speaker, and educational consultant. Katherine hosts the podcast Murder, Mystery & Mayhem Laced with Morality. She’s authored a Christian Bible study and is working on the sequel to her first general market thriller, A Fifth of the Story, debuting on 2/27/2024.
Writers Chat is hosted live each Tuesday for an hour starting at 10 AM CT / 11 AM ET on Zoom. The permanent Zoom room link is: http://zoom.us/j/4074198133
Why do you write? Do you have a theme, message, or goal for your books?
I feel called, compelled, and born to write. I can’t not write. It helps me understand what I’m thinking, feeling, experiencing. Whether poems, essays, devotions, or nonfiction, I write with insights and messages to strengthen, encourage, and comfort.
I also write to influence readers to perceive God. To spark a thirst in others to seek God for the first or the umpteenth time. To encourage readers to catch God at work in ordinary life, in playful and revelatory ways.
A core message is to reveal God as he is, not as we imagine him to be. In two poetry chapbooks, I focused on home, family, and the father’s role in a child’s life. A third explored the dynamics of home, place, and transition. With my current book, Collision, my message is God still heals, but not always as we expect. In spotlighting Jehovah-Rapha, the God who heals, I encourage readers to consult the Great Physician as they work with the medical community. With his uncanny skill in diagnosing spiritual roots of affliction, I hope readers find healing.
How long have you been writing?
Since childhood, with a diary, school essays, and poems.
Tell us about one of your greatest joy(s) in your writing career.
The greatest joy(s) of receiving an acceptance letter from Finishing Line Press for my first poetry manuscript submission; receiving the first hard copy was a childhood dream fulfilled. The ongoing joy of writing and publishing is the power of discovering God and oneself in the process. Then releasing the writing—a vulnerable time—and watching readers, peers, publishers, and gatekeepers react.
Tell us about one of your darkest moment(s) in your writing career.
When I decided to publish a nonfiction narrative and discovered the implications—financial, time, platform, and the unlikely prospect of finding an agent at my age. I felt like all was lost—I’d arrived too late to the game. Because it was an important book to God, me, my audience, and my colleagues, I felt I’d failed.
Rejection is a common experience for writers. How do you overcome rejection? How has rejection shapedyou or your career?
I’ve always understood rejection as part of the landscape on the road to publishing. I viewed rejection as a good barometer of my writing, motivating me to improve. Some lessons learned:
Match submissions to a market’s needs. Be a sniper, searching for the right markets for your material before shooting off a submission.
There are many reasons for a rejection. Don’t take it personally.
Rejection can be God’s way of redirecting your path He has for you.
In what ways has God led you to mentor other writers? Were you surprised when a certain skill or connection led to mentoring opportunities?
The birthing of three new areas of ministry, in the context of missions, converged over the past 20+ years. The timeline:
In the late 90’s: in France, I felt God’s increasing pressure to write for publication. I started with the culture shock poems.
Simultaneously, I felt called by God to focus on reaching the artists in my city, including writers. I also began training in spiritual direction. I was as eager to create, write and hang with artists as to persuade Christian artists and writers to consecrate their gifts to God’s kingdom purposes.
2006: repatriated to the US and joined a writer’s group.
2008-14: when I began publishing my first poetry chapbooks, friends, strangers, and colleagues asked me for advice on writing. I enjoyed helping them take baby steps.
2006-2014: The mentoring role developed to the point of training creatives to minister overseas through their art; working with creatives in spiritual direction.
In 2015: I took a sabbatical with the goal of writing a nonfiction book. When I returned, I switched roles to “Artist at Large,” with the intention of revising and publishing the nonfiction manuscript. I also had a heavy mentoring role, having trained artists in spiritual direction, based on principles I was now writing about.
In 2019: completed a coach-mentoring course, receiving my certificate in 2020.
In 2020, with the pandemic, moved mentoring online. Also participated in emerging online writing conferences, where I found a publisher for my second manuscript.
June 2022: Collision, How I Found My Life by Accident, my first nonfiction book, released!
December 2022, I retired from missions to devote myself full-time to pursue next steps in my writing career.
January 2023: I “met” Norma Poore during the Cultivate Christian Creative Symposium, who invited me to interview for this post and here I am!
And all this surprised me and made perfect sense. I’ve observed at conferences and online how popular coach-mentoring was for writers and speakers and saw a potential lane open for me. God wastes nothing and calls us to consider others better than ourselves. One way I can implement that is to consider other writers’ projects and well-being more than my own through writing, mentoring, and spiritual direction.
Tell us about a facet of mentoring that particularly excites you.
When I see that light in the eyes of someone experiencing an insight or breakthrough. I sense God’s presence and witness transformation—pure gold to me. I’m motivated to listen well and ask the right questions to see the eyes light up with understanding!
What venues/methods have you found most effective for meeting and mentoring writers?
Meeting someone over a cup of coffee or tea in a quiet café that affords privacy. It’s neutral, hospitable, and lends itself to conversation, not a clinical encounter. Second best is over the kitchen table.
I usually come with prayer, prepared materials, and a set of questions, depending on whether it’s an intake interview or a follow up meeting.
Prepare spiritually by asking God to lead and release the spiritual gifts necessary for a breakthrough. To give me wisdom, discernment, and patience in listening and speaking.
I’ve worked out of a church office as well, which lends a seriousness and professionalism that helps in some situations.
Mentoring in action, especially for personalities that learn better by doing than talking. Especially in missions, a ride to the airport could be life changing.
Pray with someone so they can experience answers from the Spirit, not look to me as an “expert” or someone with whom they could form an unhealthy attachment.
Online. I converted 😊 I once thought it impossible to practice spiritual direction or mentoring online, until the pandemic forced the issue. I know its limits but it’s effective especially with mentoring on practical levels. Now I thank God for the technology that allows me to mentor artists all over the world, far more than I could do locally.
Using creative expression, which can so quickly unlock the inner movements of our souls. A form of art therapy.
Have you organized or led groups to support writers? (Retreats, ACFW chapters, etc.) How has that experience helped you to mentor writers?
Except for creating a writer’s group in France and occasionally filling in for the facilitator of my writer’s group, no. But for creatives in general, yes. Retreats, devotional times, trainings, workshops, prayer meetings, church meetings with staff and/or members, consulting work. The experiences increased my confidence, joy, and versatility in caring for and mentoring writers and artists.
Have you organized or directed a writers’ conference? Tell us about that experience, and/or share an anecdote that illustrates how you saw writers being mentored and encouraged through the event.
No, but I’ve attended so many, I saw this from the beginning: my first online writers’ conference with Redemption Press (She Writes for Him). I was quite surprised by the very ‘girlie’ approach, with lots of silliness that wasn’t exactly my style, but it was all very upbeat, positive, and encouraging. When the publisher shared her story deeply and vulnerably, I heard the holy “why” of her heart. I decided she was someone I could work with, who would understand my story, and called after the conference to discuss a manuscript. I ended up signing with Redemption Press for the publication of Collision.
If you speak at writers’ groups or conferences, what are some of your favorite topics to speak about?
Healing: The Three-Legged Stool
Called to Adventure: The Hero’s Journey with Christ
The Art of Forgiveness
Longing & Babette’s Feast
Lament: When your cape is at the cleaners; finding a cape for the chaos; the hot mess hero.
The Architecture of Faith: how we need structure to flourish. The Hero’s Journey and Rule of Life.
What advice do you have for writers as we interact with our peers? What can we do to be better supporters and mentors of our fellow writers?
Cultivate the relationships as well as your ideas.
Become better writers, in craft and professionalism.
Join a writer’s group and enter as a learner and a listener. Develop a thick skin.
Attend a writer’s conference or workshop to build relationships and learn.
“Let each consider others better than yourself.” Listening to others before speaking or promoting your projects.
Do you have a favorite resource or two that you recommend to beginning writers?
The Writer’s Journey, 2nd Ed., by Christopher Vogler
Write His Answer: A Bible for Christian Writers, Marlene Bagnull
Do you have a favorite resource or two that you recommend to writers who are struggling with discouragement?
When God Calls a Writer, by Deanne Welsh
What are common mistakes you see aspiring writers make?
Focusing on themselves in their fears, anxieties, and comparisons.
Ignoring the industry or letting it intimidate them instead of letting God lead them.
Divorcing their writing from the larger writing community and industry, forgetting to see people, forgetting God in the process.
What advice can you give aspiring writers that you wished you had gotten, or that you wished you would have heeded?
Invite God to be your writing partner, to reveal what project and goals to set, where to find the finances, and to enable your success as he defines it.
Set up a realistic writing practice and stick to it. Write, read, revise.
Learn the craft of writing by reading, studying other authors, attending/listening to author talks and podcasts, asking questions.
Join a writer’s group, learn the business of publishing as you learn the craft of writing.
Attend a writer’s conference as soon as you can.
Pat Butler, author, poet, and pioneer in missional arts, envisions a world in which every Christ follower finds and flourishes in the abundant life Jesus promised. Pat cultivates a global network of artists through writing, mentoring, and spiritual direction. She has traveled to twenty-five countries, lived in two, and holds dual citizenship. Currently residing in Florida, Pat walks with cranes, dodges hurricanes, and enjoys her own pillow. Follow Pat’s musings at www.mythicmonastery.org. Collision, How I Found My Life by Accident, is available at Redemption Press and Amazon.
Why do you write? Do you have a theme, message, or goal for your books?
I write to help others. I believe we are all here to help each other Home and it is my responsibility to do that through the gifts God gave me in writing and public speaking. It wasn’t long after my husband’s death that I discovered the power of authenticity in the written and spoken word. I am completely transparent in sharing what I have learned as a writer, mother, wife, caregiver, widow, and in my faith journey. I have mined my own pain to help others, so as not waste it. If that sounds somewhat altruistic, keep in mind that helping others helps me, too.
How long have you been writing?
I wrote short stories and poems as a child and was the kind of teen who loved English classes and essay tests. I stopped writing for pleasure during college, though I still loved essay tests. I abandoned my pursuit of a master’s degree after giving birth to my fourth child. That’s when I picked up the pen again, determined to maintain some sort of creative endeavor as a stay-at-home mom of a growing family.
I was paid $50 for my first published piece in 1989, and that was all it took to get me hooked on freelance writing. Determined to have my first book published before the age of 40, I was 37 when Homeschooling from Scratch was released in 1996. I didn’t have another book published for fifteen years.
Working as a newspaper reporter and writing for magazines and anthologies, I stopped counting after I hit 600 published clips. My husband David had always believed I would write more books, but it wasn’t until seven months after his death in 2012 that I signed my next book contract. I’ve signed six more book contracts with Familius Publishing since then.
Tell us about one of your greatest joys in your writing career.
I’ve had many mini moments of joy: the first time I sold an essay to a Chicken Soup for the Soul anthology, being hired to write a weekly column for a local newspaper, an all-expenses paid trip to be featured in a documentary about couponing after my couponing book came out, the first time I discovered what it was to do a presentation on a topic I was passionate about, and the chance to speak with a writing mentor. Those are all lovely memories.
But when I think of true joy, it is the moment I opened the box of advance copies of Called to Be Creative: A Guide to Reigniting Your Creativity in the summer of 2020. I waited until I was in my son’s woods, the land where I’d grown up, to open the box. I still think of it as my mother’s woods, a sacred space she would also retreat to. Because Called to Be Creative celebrates her creative legacy, it seemed the perfect place to catch my first glimpse of the finished product. I’d written the outline of the book just months after my mother had died, a year before I lost my husband. I picked up the manuscript again when I was miserable in a job that should have been perfect for me, as a newspaper reporter.
After writing so much on the difficult topic of grief, it felt wonderful to lose myself in a project that became a tribute to the legacy of a creative mother, a book that would encourage and inspire others to create a life that honored God’s design for them. Though I had several books published in the years after David’s death, Called to Be Creative felt like the book that signified I was no longer actively mourning. I did a Facebook live recording as I opened the box in Mom’s woods. Viewing the recording later, I saw a look in my eyes I hadn’t seen since losing David: one of pure unadulterated joy. Certainly, I’d felt joy in the years since my husband’s death, but I’d failed to capture those moments on camera. On the contrary, it had been much too obvious to me that the cloak of sadness I wore always meant my smile had never reached my eyes.
Tell us about one of your darkest moments in your writing career.
What should have been one of my happiest moments; seeing my book filling the window a local Barnes & Noble store display, instead became a hauntingly sad moment. My husband had encouraged me to write the ethnographic history of extreme couponing. After all, I had lived and breathed the couponing lifestyle for the majority of our marriage. Our date days consisted of strategic shopping expeditions.
It was David who’d spotted the New York Times report on the popularity of couponing as the newest extreme sport, David who had pointed out the timeliness of the topic with the “Extreme Couponing” reality show. I’m not sure I ever would have begun the research and writing of Coupon Crazy: The Science, the Savings, and the Stories Behind America’s Extreme Obsession without David’s support and encouragement. Yet David didn’t live to see the book that had been his idea come to fruition.
I will never forget that moment, standing in front of the bookstore, looking at an entire window display of my book, and feeling…nothing. I was numb with overwhelming grief. Not only had my husband died the year before, but I was facing the loss of a grandson who would die of cancer the following month. While that numbness gradually grew less with each subsequent book release, it wasn’t until Called to Be Creative that I could feel what I imagine most authors experience with their first book release: complete and utter joy.
Rejection is a common experience for writers. How do you overcome rejection? How has rejection shaped you or your career?
This is what I tell students in my beginning writing classes: Rejection is integral to writing. The only way to avoid rejection is to never submit anything. Try not to take it personally. Rejection only means you haven’t yet discovered the right fit for your piece or book.
I state those truths, but it remains difficult to repeatedly face rejection. When you’ve put your heart and soul into something that is rejected, it’s hard not to take it personally. I’ve learned to allow myself to wallow in the emotions for a while, and then move on. Tweak the rejected piece if necessary, and then submit elsewhere. It helps to be stubborn. I have proof on paper that I submitted my Chemo-Therapist: How Cancer Cured a Marriage to over 100 agents and publishers before I set it aside for a while. I was more experienced as a writer when I finally found the right fit for it, so it is a better book for having languished in a file cabinet for five years.
In what ways has God led you to mentor other writers? Were you surprised when a certain skill or connection led to mentoring opportunities?
My first mentoring experience was in 2009 with a group of young, homeschooled teenagers. I’d been writing for twenty-five years. An audience of girls the same age as my daughters seemed a safe place to start sharing the lessons I’d learned. I taught them the basics of getting published. I designed a similar course for adults the following winter, after my mother died.
My husband had encouraged me to treat my mother’s empty house as my own private writing retreat. It was there I planned a Beginning Writing course for adults, designed my first power point presentations and wrote the outline for my creativity book. My husband got to see me in action as he sat in the back of the room for my first power point presentation. He remarked later that I came alive during the presentation, and he loved seeing me that way. My first writing class for adults was held at a community college the weekend my husband came home from the hospital following a heart stent surgery. He died sometime during the night two days later.
It would have been easy to give up on the classes and workshops after his death, so little had any meaning to me right then. But my husband was right. I did feel more alive in front of an audience. I found a passion and purpose in helping others. I’m certain the workshops facilitated my healing.
Tell us about a facet of mentoring that particularly excites you.
I love being a part of helping someone discover the fire and talent within themselves. I have worked with men and women who have felt the call to write but believed for way too long that their writing was not good enough to be published. I am just as excited as they are the first time they get something published after I encourage them to submit. One acceptance is all it takes for them to submit again. I see the light go on in their eyes. To be a part of that? It’s an honor and a privilege.
What venues/methods have you found most effective for meeting and mentoring writers?
I’ve taught writing classes at libraries, community colleges and conferences. I’ve also conducted classes at my workplace as a program coordinator at a spirituality center. I founded a writer’s conference there, as well. Most of my mentoring relationships have come about by accident, not intention. By that, I mean I did not plan to become someone’s mentor, though I’ve certainly felt a kind of “soul connection” with another writer, which is how I discovered my own mentors.
I’ve become an “accidental” mentor when a fledgling writer follows me on social media after taking one of my classes. When they approach me with questions, I answer them, unlike many authors I approached years ago as a new writer myself. I do understand time constraints. I can only imagine how many e-mails some famous authors get asking for help. While I’m not inundated with e-mails like a more famous author might be, I get enough requests that if I were to take the time to help everyone as much as I’d like to, I would never have time for my own writing.
I do answer every e-mail, however briefly, attempting to guide the questioner in the right direction. Even with those writers I take under my wing, I need to limit how much help I can give since I also work fulltime. I learned from my own mentor, Cecil Murphey, who has written over 125 books and mentored many writers, to know my own limits and offer a specific amount of help, such as looking at five double-spaced pages, instead of promising to read an entire manuscript.
Have you organized or led groups to support writers? (Retreats, ACFW chapters, etc.) How has that experience helped you to mentor writers?
I’ve been speaking at the Cedar Falls Christian writer’s workshop since 2012. As a librarian, I began a monthly writer’s critique group at the library. As a program coordinator at the Shalom Spirituality Center, I began a similar monthly group, which pivoted to online during the pandemic. I also founded the annual Faith Writers Conference in February 2020. Our 2021 conference was virtual.
Have you organized or directed a writers’ conference? Tell us about that experience, and/or share an anecdote that illustrates how you saw writers being mentored and encouraged through the event.
My experience in helping with the annual Cedar Falls workshop and in organizing an annual Hope & Healing grief retreat since 2016, led me to believe I could successfully organize a writer’s conference at my workplace, and I was right. The first conference was a resounding success, as was our pivot to a virtual retreat the following year. We had attendees from several other states and even a writer from Nigeria attend. I’m already planning our third conference for February 2022.
If you speak at writers’ groups or conferences, what are some of your favorite topics to speak about?
I’ve spoken on prescriptive topics such as writing book proposals and query letters, navigating social media, marketing and promotion, planning programming as an author, and writing non-fiction and short memoir. Though my workshops are both educational and entertaining, my real strength is in the inspirational and encouraging messages I’ve conveyed in keynote presentations. I’ve opened and closed several conferences with powerful messages that resonate with the audience.
What advice do you have for writers as we interact with our peers? What can we do to be better supporters and mentors of our fellow writers?
The best gift we can give a fellow writer is to review their book on Goodreads, Amazon, and other book sites. As for any envy we might feel about another author’s success, we need to remind ourselves that someone else’s success doesn’t take anything away from us. Their success doesn’t equate to our failure. There’s no room for envy in the world of publishing. We need to revel in each other’s successes.
Do you have a favorite resource or two that you recommend to beginning writers?
Cecil Murphey Hisbooks Unleash the Writer Within and Writer to Writer and his writer blog are helpful resources
Funds for Writers Sign up for a free weekly e-mail list of markets. C. Hope Clark, founder, has great insight in her columns and is a mystery writer and non-fiction author
Free Electric Speed newsletter via e-mail. Can sign up for her daily blog or weekly blog digest. Also, her book, The Business of Being a Writer, is excellent.
Do you have a favorite resource or two that you recommend to writers who are struggling with discouragement?
Find your tribe, people that lift, encourage and inspire you. For several years my tribe was a Bible study that gathered in my home until I moved away from them for a job three years ago. I have yet to replicate that emotional and spiritual support but I do have tribes of my own making in the writer’s group and annual writer’s conferences.
What are common mistakes you see aspiring writers make?
Throwing arrows, hoping to hit a deer. By that I mean not targeting markets before submitting. I did it myself early on in my writing career. Desperate for a publisher or agent, I’d submit anywhere, hoping I’d catch the right attention. There’s no excuse for that now when we can find information about publishers and agents online.
I also see too many new writers who become so desperate to be published they fall for a publishing scam. One woman asked me recently which of the two publishers who’d offered her a contract I thought she should choose. One promised a bestseller and the other promised a speedy book release. I told her to Google the publisher name, followed by the word “scam” and see what popped up in the search results. There were pages and pages of complaints about both publishers. She must not have liked my answer, as I never heard from her again. Now, I do workshops on how authors can protect themselves from scams.
What advice can you give aspiring writers that you wished you had gotten, or that you wished you would have heeded?
I wish I’d known how much work it takes to promote and market our books. I also wish I’d known how important it is to keep our books in front of an audience after those first six months following the release. I’d heard about HARO (Help a Reporter Out) long before I took it seriously and started to respond to queries so that I would be quoted as an expert on the topics I was writing about.
I’d stopped getting royalty checks for my couponing book a few years after it was published, but when I started getting quoted as an expert on saving money, royalties started coming in again. I’m regularly featured on ReadersDigest.com, Redbook.com, ThriveGlobal, and others. This is a topic I cover in workshops, as well as a great resource for your readers.
Mary Potter Kenyon graduated from the University of Northern Iowa and is a certified grief counselor and Therapeutic Art coach. Mary is Program Coordinator for the Shalom Spirituality Center in Dubuque, Iowa, where she lives with the youngest of her eight children.
She is widely published in newspapers, magazines, and anthologies, with essays featured in ten Chicken Soup for the Soul titles. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning “Refined By Fire: A Journey of Grief and Grace” and her newest release “Called to Be Creative: A Guide to Reigniting Your Creativity.”
Mary has been teaching writing classes and conducting workshops for community colleges, women’s groups, churches, and libraries since 2011. She is a popular public speaker on the topics of writing, grief, and creativity. She founded the annual Hope & Healing grief retreat and a Faith Writers conference in Dubuque.
Why do you write? Do you have a theme, message, or goal for your books?
I write because I can’t not write. I’ve long been an avid reader and recorder of ideas, but writing for a Christian commercial audience had not occurred to me until 2012. I discovered a topic in an area which God had blessed me, while many others struggled. As a long time business and life coach as well as a leadership development professional, I believed I could meet a need by sharing what God had shown me.
How long have you been writing?
Since 2012
Tell us about one of your greatest joys in your writing career.
When my box of books was delivered by the publisher for my first book. I could hold the evidence of the work as well as God’s blessing in my hand.
Tell us about one of your darkest moments in your writing career.
Struggling to envision what was next after the first three books were published. I’d had vision and clarity for each of them. Once that was complete, I knew God wanted me to continue, and yet I had no clear direction. It meant motivation was in in short supply.
Rejection is a common experience for writers. How do you overcome rejection? How has rejection shaped you or your career?
I had 14 rejections on my first book before the “yes” came. My agent helped me understand two important things:
Rejection is a chance to gain insight into what must be shaped or changed to make the work better. “No thanks” can be a gift if you are willing to see it as an opportunity to learn. Perhaps the pitch needed to be strengthened. Or the proposal more thorough.
Ask for feedback, seek out critiques, and be open to learning.
In what ways has God led you to mentor other writers? Were you surprised when a certain skill or connection led to mentoring opportunities?
I’ve been a business and life coach for years. Mentoring / coaching writers has been a natural transition. I had so many experienced and talented writers who poured into me when I was starting out. I’m grateful beyond words and love paying it forward. You can’t outgive God.
Tell us about a facet of mentoring that particularly excites you.
I love to watch the lightbulbs go on. I solicited 22 not yet published writers to be part of a compilation book organized around a specific theme. I loved educating them. I edited their work and coached every writer. It was exhausting, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat. They now have the knowledge, enhanced skills, and confidence- along with a soon to release publishing credit – they did not have prior. Release is scheduled for late July 2021.
What venues/methods have you found most effective for meeting and mentoring writers?
I’ve taught at conferences – both large and small. I’ve participated in online conferences as well. I’ve build a writing group in North Texas and I’ve mentored authors in every genre from non-fiction to dystopian in one on one coaching sessions.
Have you organized or led groups to support writers? How has that experience helped you to mentor writers?
Living Write Texas is the name of the writing group I founded three years ago. We keep our group small to support trust for critiques and genuine investment in the success of the group members. I was the only published author in the group when we began. Today seven are published. Five have received a variety of awards from the BRMCWC Selahs to AWSA’s Golden Scrolls.
Have you organized or directed a writers’ conference? Tell us about that experience, and/or share an anecdote that illustrates how you saw writers being mentored and encouraged through the event.
As mentioned above, I’ve organized a couple of writers’ conferences. One for a group located in another state that lacked local learning opportunities. In the other I created the content for the annual AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association) conference for their protégé program for new writers. Regardless of the gap between the abilities in these two disparate groups, the outcomes were similar.
These programs created quick connection and the openness of attendees. We created a positive environment to learn in a safe place. A thorough but supportive style of critique was presented to them as to how we’d support one another’s growth. When the guard is down, the willingness to hear helpful and appropriately delivered insight about their work was simple and quickly embraced.
If you speak at writers’ groups or conferences, what are some of your favorite topics to speak about?
Writing well / craft essentials. Nothing is more important. Great ideas, poorly written will remain on the aspiring author’s hard drive alone. And it’s a huge category.
Mind Mapping. If you don’t know where you’re going, any path will do. But it won’t lead to publication. Whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, publishers want books that may have surprise twists and turns for the reader. But the writer must always be the guide that leads them through the story.
One Sheet Design and the essentials of the proposal process. The nuts and bolts of the stuff nobody loves.
Confidence Boosters. Many write well but struggle to represent their work effectively when speaking with agents, editors, and publishers.
What advice do you have for writers as we interact with our peers? What can we do to be better supporters and mentors of our fellow writers?
Comparison is a thief; resist the urge to engage in it with other writers. Resist the urge to let the good work of others diminish, discourage, or derail you from continuing to write. Turn that “I’ll never be as good as he/she is. Who am I kidding? I can’t write” response into: “Wow I’ve found a great resource who might help me with a suggestion, a resource, or simple encouragement. Gold mine!”
Taking that critique partner down a peg. Offering a less than positive (or less than truthful) comment or critique is small, petty. Be honest and offer suggestions, resources, brainstorming time. And it won’t make you feel better about your own.
Do you have a favorite resource or two that you recommend to beginning writers?
The Christian Writers’ Market Guide – if they are writing in that world.
Local writing groups or national organizations like AWSA, Word Weavers, or others. Great opportunity to find a one-on-one coach or mentor.
Do you have a favorite resource or two that you recommend to writers who are struggling with discouragement?
For those who write from a faith basis, the Bible.
One-on-One personalized work with a coach. Full focus on the writer’s individual needs.
Groups like those identified above.
What are common mistakes you see aspiring writer’s make?
Inattention to the details – failing to proofread, dismissing the need for learn to self-edit. “The editor will fix those details. That’s their job.”
Closed to feedback.
Focus on the writing alone with little interest in learning to market, build platform, etc.
What advice can you give aspiring writers that you wished you had gotten, or that you wished you would have heeded?
I have to admit that once I made the decision to write, I read voraciously on the craft and business side both. I searched for online resources and engaged a coach. I took online courses and found a writer’s group. I didn’t ignore a single avenue of learning. However, some of those avenues were superior to others, and some a waste of time and $$ altogether. I do wish I hadn’t tried to take in so much at once. Learn how to write well. Without that, nothing else matters.
Deborah DeArmond is a recognized leader in the fields of performance development, facilitation, and executive coaching. She is also an award-winning author.
She is the author of Related by Chance, Family by Choice, I Choose You Today, and Don’t Go to Bed Angry. Stay Up and Fight! All three books focus on relationship dynamics, communication, and conflict resolution. She has published more than 200 articles in print and online, including a monthly column in Lifeway Magazine with an international circulation of 300,000.
Deb helps clients achieve success in becoming the coach others desire to work through through her engaging inquiry, humor, and straightforward approach. Her clients have described Deb as “candid but kind” and skilled at asking the questions that help “guide others to discover their answers and solutions to success.”
Deb’s education is in the field of communications, California State Polytechnic University
Deb holds numerous professional certifications as a master facilitator/trainer including: Conflict Resolution from the Center for Collaborative Solutions, Development Dimensions International, Situational Leadership, and several style/personality profile assessments including Strengths Finders and DiSC. Deb also holds a coaching certification for authors/speaker from AWSA – Advanced Writers and Speakers Association.
The law of prosperity is generosity. If you want more, give more.”
Bob Proctor
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
2 Corinthians 9:6
One of the best ways writers can grow their platform and their influence it to be consistently and intentionally generous. Generosity is strategic: it fosters cooperation, strengthens connection, and develops trust. Generosity is also good for us, because helping others boosts our happiness and enables us to make a difference. Here are some ways you can be generous in your writing life.
Be generous with your content
Offer free materials on your website.
Include some freebies that come with no strings attached.
Give away free copies of your books whenever it makes sense
Share blog content on social media. Don’t just advertise your blog posts, but share a point of two of your content with each pin, tweet, or post.
Be generous with your time and expertise
Give free advice to those who ask. Even if you sometimes are paid to teach or edit, be willing to answer short questions or follow up questions without charge.
Volunteer to be a judge for a writing contest. You don’t need to be an expert to help with some contests. Large organizations like ACFW are always looking for judges to read manuscripts in the First Impressions, and Genesis contests. They also need readers to rate published books in the Carol Awards
Volunteer to give a talk at a local group, book club, or library that doesn’t have the funds to pay for it.
Offer a free webinar or ebook about the craft or business of writing.
Be generous in supporting other artists
Leave positive reviews
Purchase their products
Share their work within your network
Recommend other artists on your social media and pass on their special offers
Attend the venues where artists share their work: conferences, workshops, concerts, art shows.
Be generous with encouragement
To those who are learning: This is your chance to pay it forward by passing on the nurture and encouragement other writers have poured into you.
To your peers: Think of them as teammates not competitors. We’re all more likely to succeed if we work together.
To your mentors and role models: Even those who seem to have succeeded need encouragement.
To your audience: What message do you give your readers? Are your words filled with hope, even if your topic is heavy?
Be generous with those outside the writing world
Give your time and resources to organizations that matter to you.
Use your writing talents to benefit groups and individuals.
Don’t resent the time you devote to the important people God brings into your life. Who knows when an experience will inspire a fantastic story idea or lead you to the the answer you need to get out of the corner you wrote yourself into.
Final thoughts
Make sure what you give is appropriate and useful to the recipients.
Make sure what you give fits with your brand and values.
Accept thanks with humble grace.
How can you be intentionally generous this week?
What is one act of generosity that significantly impacted your life?
Award-winning writer Lisa E. Betz believes that everyone has a unique story to tell the world. She loves inspiring fellow writers to be more intentional about developing their craft and courageous in sharing their words. Lisa shares her words through speaking, leading Bible studies, writing historical mysteries, and blogging about living intentionally.
In the previous post, I discussed how
you can prepare for a literary agent by approaching the relationship with the
right expectations. If you have not had a chance to read that post, be
sure to do so by clicking here.
As mentioned previously, agent preferences will vary from author to
author. There is nothing wrong with having preferences when it comes to
searching for an agent; however, a
problem can arise if these preferences transform into high standards that are
impossible for any agent to meet.
So how can you know if you are
expecting standards that are too high for a potential agent to fulfill? Well,
let’s take a look at the tasks that a literary agent is not required to fulfill.
Agents are not required to…
Guarantee
a publishing deal. While agents should work hard in an effort to land a
contract for their clients, the end result is ultimately out of their hands.
Edit
your manuscript. Although this is not a requirement, there are some agents who
are more hands-on and editorial than others.
Serve
as a mentor for their clients’ writing career. This, too, will vary from agent
to agent. (I personally like to view myself as a mentor for my clients by
offering encouragement, advice, and support for their careers.)
Communicate
with clients unless there is a specific reason for doing so (for example, if
the agent has sent your book off on submission or received a response from an
editor). However, this should never be an excuse for an agent to ignore his/her
clients.
Accommodate
to clients’ commands, specifically in regards to where their books should be
sent—and when. (Writers should never treat their agent like a slave, nor should
they act as though they know more about publishing than their agent. If a
client does not trust that their agent is skilled in this area, that is a sign
that the agent is simply not a right fit for the writer.) There is, however,
nothing wrong with requesting that
your agent send your project to specific publishing houses.
Serve
as a brainstorming partner. Again, there are some agents who are more hands-on
and are happy to offer their ideas and suggestions concerning your works in
progress—but this is not a requirement.
Serve
as a brainstorming partner in other areas, such as branding and marketing.
If you
can approach the submission process by first having a clear understanding as to
the requirements of an agent, you will then hopefully have a
solid foundation of which you can begin to build your agent preferences. Thus, you will have the
direction and vision you need when it comes to choosing the agent that will be
best for you. And with a healthy author/agent relationship, you will be well on
your way to achieving your publishing dreams.
I would love to hear your
thoughts! What are your top preferences when it comes to choosing a literary
agent? Let me know in the comments!
Tessa Emily Hall
writes inspirational yet authentic YA fiction to show teens they’re not alone. Her
passion for shedding light on clean entertainment and media for teens led her
to a career as an Associate Agent at Hartline Literary
Agency, YA Acquisitions Editor for Illuminate YA (LPC
Imprint), and Founder/Editor of PursueMagazine.net. Tessa’s first teen devotional, COFFEE
SHOP DEVOS, will release with Bethany House in 2018. She’s guilty of
making way too many lattes and never finishing her to-read list. When her
fingers aren’t flying 116 WPM across the keyboard, she can be found speaking to
teens, decorating her insulin pump, and acting in Christian films. Her favorite
way to procrastinate is by connecting with readers on her blog, mailing list,
social media (@tessaemilyhall),
and website: tessaemilyhall.com.
March of every year is Brain Injury Awareness Month.
It’s a time when brain injury survivors, caregivers, and medical professionals
rally together to raise awareness about the impact and dangers of brain
injuries.
It is a very strong and informative community that
is willing to help others cope with an invisible disability that affects one
and a half million Americans each year.[i]
This is the first year I’ve decided to participate in the community awareness
effort.
I shared my personal story about my disappointments,
struggles, and successes since suffering my T.B.I. in 1997. The response has
been tremendous and I’ve learned much more from others who have similar
injuries. A community such as this has many benefits:
Encouragement and inspiration.
Contacts.
Opportunities.
Shared lessons.
Although each brain injury is different, we can still learn from each other. Being part of the community is a cooperative effort where individuals both give and take along with others. I hope that I helped others as much as they’ve opened my eyes.
Ever since my accident,
loud noises or too many sounds at once seem to frustrate me and hurt my ears.
All of this time I thought it was simply because my ears were compensating for
my poor eyesight.
However, over the
course of the month, I encountered countless stories from others about how loud
sounds affect them negatively, too. It only took me more than twenty years to
learn this and I may have never understood it if it weren’t for the brain
injury community!
Likewise, I’ve been fortunate to know and learn from
many gracious and giving writer friends within the writing community. The same
mindset applies within this community—we give as much as we take. The community
is all about sharing and helping others.
COMMUNITY?
Here are a few of the
dictionary’s definitions of community:
The people with common interests living in a particular area.
A body of persons of common and especially professional interests scattered through a larger society.
An interacting population of various kinds of individuals (such as species) in a common location.
Joint ownership or participation.
A social state or condition.
Social activity:fellowship.
The benefit of
community is never having to go it alone in our common area of interest. I
can’t count how many times I have hit a brick wall in my writing and reached
out to fellow writers for help. My biggest cheerleader on my journey, DiAnn
Mills, always reminds writers to expect an adventure. There are ups and downs
in this profession. One of the great aspects of writing for AlmostAnAuthor.com
is being connected to writers of different mediums who are willing to help and
offer advice.
Recently while I was doing a revision of a screenplay, I reached out to some other screenwriting friends for some tips and advice. One of them is a thirty year Hollywood veteran who has graciously mentored and helped me hone my craft of screenwriting. He doesn’t hold back and gives me the stone cold truth. A couple of years ago he shared with me about his own troubles in learning the craft. I feel honored and privileged to have him share some of his wisdom with me, no matter how blunt it may be.
TOUGH
LOVE?
Every since I first
became a part of the writing community almost a decade ago, I have been shown
tough love by some of the most respected writers and editors in the business. For
example: After failing to proofread my bio for a writing course, I was quickly
rejected by the program—only to be given a second chance. What’s more, I received sage advice from Jerry
Jenkins himself, who said, “From here on out write like a professional. I don’t
care if it’s a love letter to your sweetheart, proofread it like a
professional. All of your writing is an example of your work.”
Less than six months later my first writing mentor Roger Palms told me, “There are no shortcuts, learn the craft.” The truth may sting at first, but in the end, it is for our good. Honest critique from fellow writers:
Builds our writing skills.
Prepares us for the journey ahead.
Shows us where we need to improve.
You don’t have to be disabled to need help in
life. We can learn from the mistakes of others and
hopefully avoid them ourselves. Author Jerry Jenkins is known for his
no-nonsense “thick-skin” critiques where he pulls no punches in his
honest evaluations of a would-be author’s work. He has helped launch the
careers of many writers within the writing community.
How have you benefited from the kindness of the writing community?
Martin Johnson
survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which
left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an
award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first
Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as
an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to
local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm
and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in
a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual
Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.
In a solitary profession like writing, sometimes the thought of being an encourager to other writers might not occur to us. After all, we are taught to be creative, get good edits done, submit to publishers, etc., etc. The list is long and, in most cases, self-directed towards “me, myself, and I.”
Encourage someone else, you might say? It’s all I can do to meet my deadlines, get book proposals done, sign up for conferences, get a few moments of sleep … We are truly self-driven humans with much on our agenda.
Stopping for a moment to look around and see the other writers in our circle of acquaintances and spend time encouraging them might seem like more than you can handle with your schedule of things to be done. But there is a simple phrase that might find a home in your thinking: What goes around, comes around.
I’m not saying that we should only encourage others because we think we will get something out of it, although you likely will. But think of all the unofficial mentors who have helped you along the way. Perhaps a fellow writer you met at a conference who gave a pertinent piece of advice. Or another writer who offered to critique your first chapter or a book proposal and give you feedback.
If you stop and think, I imagine you would come up with a list of several more experienced wordsmiths who have smiled at you and taken you under their wing in one way or another. I am so grateful for the numerous writer-friends who have taken even a moment’s time to encourage me along the way. I know they had better things to do. But they chose to help me in one way or another and I’ll never forget their kindness.
You may struggle with such feelings as, “what if I don’t know enough to be helpful?” Chances are you know some aspect of writing that will encourage another struggling author. If you don’t, try to find someone who you know can help them and connect the two.
You may honestly be at a point in your writing where your schedule is swamped with edits, deadlines, and toddlers that need to be potty-trained. If you are stretched to the max at the moment, be honest, especially if someone is requesting an endorsement for a book. That requires reading the whole manuscript and may push your “To-Do” list over the edge!!
Be truthful. You might say you can’t help now but perhaps with their next book. Don’t leave them hanging without hope for help. Always try to encourage.
Conference season is here, so look around at that venue for wordsmiths that you’ve longed to attend. Be aware of those sitting next to you and be kind. They may have arrived at conference feeling discouraged and hopeless. You may be the one that can re-set their hope. But you need to look past yourself and become their encourager.
Carry on.
Elaine Marie Cooper is the award-winning author of Fields of the Fatherless and Bethany’s Calendar. Her latest release (Saratoga Letters) was finalist in Historical Romance in both the Selah Awards and Next Generation Indie Book Awards. She penned the three-book Deer Run Saga and has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies. She freely admits to being a history geek. Look for her upcoming series set in Revolutionary War Connecticut. The 4-book series is entitled Dawn of America. You can visit her site at www.elainemariecooper.com