First Word

  What do you think is the number one challenge a writer faces? Is it writer’s block? No… although many writers deal with some form of writer’s block throughout their careers. It’s distractions! Yes, writers face too many distractions that break their focuses. Between social media, online activities, the real world, and nonstop demands on your time, it’s not that easy to focus. Then we have what I personally call “brain mush,” which in my definition goes like this: too much screen time and tired eyes. Brain mush leads to allowing distractions just to get away from the computer, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.   I bet many of you are nodding right now and thinking, “Yes! Distractions are always pulling me away from my projects.” Whether you work in an office or at your home office, distractions can often stop your progress. When I worked in an office with coworkers, the water-cooler talk caused distractions. Although I avoided it. I have been and am always ...

  I hear authors routinely say, “I am writing a book.” However, I don’t see a lot of results from those declarations. A small percentage of authors actually produce a book. It seems that declaring you’re writing a book and really finishing a book don’t always go hand in hand. It’s not that people can’t write or aren’t talented, it’s really about motivation. How do you stay motivated to start and finish your book? Some of it has to do with authors who get bogged down in their own ideas of perfection. I’ve seen authors spin in circles around their first chapter. In fact, I’ve seen authors never get past their first chapters and stay stuck. These writers get caught up in every word and every little element of their writing. First, just keep writing and writing, and remember, you always have an editor who will help make the necessary adjustments. It’s easy to lose motivation if you can’t even move onto Chapter 2. So, keep momentum and just keep writing and writing. Lea...

Today, new titles like Chief Storyteller are being used in place of writer or marketing specialist. Corporate America embraced it, because leaders recognize the power of a great story vs. just generic information. If you can tell a fascinating story about something, it will intrigue, entertain, and attract people’s interest. For example, no one wants to hear just buy this or buy that; they would rather hear a great yarn. When I used to do speaking engagements about my books, I sold the most books when I sat and told stories related to my book. People identify with the stories and relate to them. Storytelling is a great technique to sell both nonfiction and fiction. In the case of nonfiction, you can take ideas and concepts from your book and tell a story about it. Fiction you can pull a story right out of the book (read a chapter). Even if you’re not able to do in-person speaking (Covid) you can still tell stories through Zoom or any other audio or video meeting. ...

  I have a question: What is the one thing that all writers need to be successful? Is it talent? Is it a great literary background? Is it a great story? I'm sure you can think of many other potential answers. So, what do you think it is? That one magical secret for success? The answer: CONFIDENCE Confidence will take you further than all of the things listed above. Why? Because confidence means you believe in yourself AND your skills and expertise to deliver all of those things listed. Confidence gives you the motivation to call literary agents until you find the one who is right for you. Confidence means being fearless and approaching publishers. Confidence means you don't just believe in your work, you believe in YOU. How do you achieve confidence? It's not magical. It's about working and gaining the knowledge and insight that YOU know your stuff. You know you have all of the skills listed above. And you KNOW you can do anything. When you've achiev...

  Good question, right? If you want to go the traditional or independent publishing route, you need to understand what is marketable to publishers. Just because you’re a great writer won’t get you published. Publishers want more than great writing. They need a concept that will sell. Always keep this key thought in your mind: publishers want to make money. They are a business, and like any business they need to stay in business. What are they in business to do?   If you think like a business person vs. a writer then it will help you understand how to sell your book to a publisher. Too often writers are only thinking that they want or love to write. They are thinking about craft. In fact, when I’ve done an informal survey with writers from my writers’ group, the majority aren’t thinking with their business hats on. When you fail to think like a businessperson then you’re less likely to sell your book.   When I researched what publishers want these days, the number ...

I just finished the final edit on my new novel The Abused . Thanks to DB Stearns for lending a hand on this project. Even given his adept input and fixes, I still found numerous mistakes, which just goes to show even the editor needs an editor. I always find it a reflection of either enormous egos or just inexperience when people contact me to publish their books and strongly say, "It doesn't need to be edited. My (fill in the blank with "English" professor, librarian, or best friend who is obsessed with grammar) edited it. It's fine.   These folks either don't understand that I'm 200 percent positive it won't be fine or they just don't want to make the necessary investment to really make it fine. Once I worked with an author who absolutely insisted every mistake had been caught. I challenged her and said, "I promise you there are mistakes. It has absolutely nothing to do with editorial prowess." She still challenged ...

The “terms” in the career fields seem like they’re always changing. I recently noticed that the title “content strategist” has become popular. Since my curiosity piqued I wondered, “What is a content strategist?” I soon learned it was a fancy term for the old fashioned title of executive editor or editor-in-chief or director of communications, depending on the organization. The other common term I’m starting to see pop up is “Chief Storyteller,” which is a fancy term for writer or author. So what makes a content strategist any different than an executive editor? Well, except for the “content” mostly being electronic content to be used on electronic media, it’s really not that different. We’ve taken the word “articles” or “information” and turned it into aforementioned content. Content can be articles and information or it can be information to populate data fields. A strategist would figure out the best and most effective way to communicate information across multiple pl...

When I open my presentations, I ask two questions: “How many of you throw away books in the trashcan?” I follow up that question with the next one, “How many of you throw away brochures in the nearest garbage can?” The second question provides the audience’s a-ha moment. Most people feel value when they buy or are given a book. A book has weight. It has pages. It has merit. It conveys the perception of knowledge and expertise and time and money to publish. A feeling of guilt or at least a sense of environmental responsibility overcomes the desire to toss all that time, money, expertise, and most importantly “paper” into the garbage can. On the other hand, how many flyers, tri-fold brochures or one-sheets create such a moral or ethical dilemma that you actually feel guilty to throw it away? I’ll be honest. I’ve thrown away countless brochures. I even curse when someone shoves a flyer under my car windshield wiper because now I have to find a garbage can so I’m n...

Some interesting questions I commonly get asked that I want to share and answer. I work with dozens of writers, and I get asked all sorts of questions about the profession. So here are some common questions and answers:   Do you have a writing routine ? For 3L Publishing projects, I have very specific routines and processes. For my own writing, I don't have the time to include a routine per se. What I usually do is work at night and just go for it. Other writers do things like write eight pages per day or write in the mornings or evenings for at least an hour. I do recommend you give yourself some kind of goal. I like the eight-page rule because you know when you're going to wrap it up, and if you want to go longer that works, too.   Do you take input from readers ? Yes, I like to do focus groups. I don't recommend you do a focus group with friends and family. You want unbiased opinions. Friends and family can't help but be nice. Nice doesn'...

1. This is a great exercise (one of my favorites): sit down and just write a sentence or better yet take a sentence you already wrote somewhere else. Remove a word that probably isn't necessary. Now do this five more times. Compare the results. Read the first sentence out loud and then read the second sentence out loud. Which sentence is better written? 2. If you want to do a thorough edit, read your manuscript backwards. It can be tedious, but what you're really doing is looking at it word by word. 3. Another excellent technique to edit is to take a piece of paper and cover up the other words. Our eyes has a tendency to wander without us realizing it. Covering up the other words keep your focused. 4. Really great writers typically don't make this mistake, but it's my pet peeve: ending a sentence with a passive verb like is, are, was, would, etc. 5. The infamous passive voice. When you avoid writing in the passive voice your writing will improve. Active voice gi...

At 3L Publishing (www.3LPublishing.com), we offer different levels of book coaching services. What is a book coach? A book coach offers one-on-one guidance, input, ideas to make your manuscript work better, accountability to help you finish, and general editorial feedback. What are the benefits of a book coach? One-on-one attention Professional guidance and input into everything about your manuscript, including: General editing Comments every step of the way through the manuscript Examples of how to fix structural writing Specific writing samples of what that writing should look like A private lesson and monthly sit down with your coach to review your current work and discuss it. Overall feedback on your work  Here is a recent blog being written by one of our 3L clients who is using Michelle Gamble to take her new book Grains of Truth from idea to final novel. Elizabeth discusses her experience working with Michelle's help to slowly write her first novel. Please...

When I do manuscript coaching and editing for new and emerging writers, I get a front-row seat on common new-writer mistakes. Here are some of those common errors that can bog down what otherwise would be a perfectly good story. Redundancy -- the repeating of words or phrases within the same paragraph or even page. Keeping your writing fresh and interesting means you need to abandon your own commonly used words. It can be challenging. Even when we speak we have certain expressions we use a lot. I was working on a book the other day in which the writer used the word "okay" no less than 10 times on a single page of copy. If you can't think of a new way to say something use a Thesaurus, which is my opinion is an irreplaceable tool when your mind is getting tired. Useless details that bog down the pace of the story . What I try to teach writers is to use the setting as part of the storytelling process. For example, if you've got a character's hometown don't s...

If there is anything I hear all of the time as a publisher is "I have this story ..." Do you know what sets people apart? You have the dreamers and the doers. The doers walk up to me with a finished manuscript and pitch it. The dreamers always say, "I have a book in me." The dreamers will never do much more than say the words. The doers will get it published. I like to dream -- but I like to dream and then do. No dream is too big or too small to pursue. I think what gets me going is feeling inspired and excited. What I like about having a partner is that he inspires me. He gets excited. And while we dream together we do it. Our latest project is a children's book that sprung from a five-minute conversation into reality. You have to know you can do anything you set your mind to doing. Sometimes you might need help and guidance to make your story more than a dream. Believe me when I say anything can be accomplished -- especially when you have help. We provid...

Over the years, I collaborated or partnered with several people. Some partnerships are better than others. 3L President Scott D. Roberts is the best partnership I've had with anyone. The reason the partnership works so well might help others decide if they want to partner with someone. Now some people thrive on different kinds of collaborative relationships. So the gifts that Scott D. brings to the company and to my creative world are things that I found I personally thrive upon. Sense of Humor . Does that sound unimportant? Well, it's very important -- especially under stress. If you can't laugh at yourself or others than life gets far too ridiculous. Anything can be diffused with a great joke, and laughter is a tremendous stress-reliever. If anyone read the texts that go back and forth between Scott and myself it would often be like reading a great stand-up routine. Like-Mindedness with a Dash of Difference . If you have the same vision it's easier to make it happ...

Did you know 70 percent of Amazon top sellers are now produced from small- to medium-sized and independent publishers? Why is that trend growing? 1. Independent publishers offer one-on-one service and attention to their clients . Writers don't get absorbed into the book publishing corporate food chain where they may end up with half-a-dozen different editors and representatives on their projects over the course of their experiences. 2. New and first-time authors often cannot break into the corporate publishers because they either don't have a platform (AKA as following) or because they are unknown and unproven . Independent publishers give new authors an opportunity to get their books published where doors might otherwise be closed. 3. Greater attention to the content and book-coaching services to create award-winning books . Many of our company's books have won awards. These first-time authors might not have won without our seasoned guidance and professionalism to cr...

When I work with writers I am reminded of things I've learned over the years that help improve my work. We had our monthly Writers Who Mean Business meeting last night, and I thought some great "reminders" came out of it to spark this blog. The Book's Opening Line : did you know some places hold contests asking for the best opening line of a book? In the 3L Publishing catalog Scott D. Roberts' book Vengeance is Now has the best opening line of the catalog: You've never really lived until you seen the life leave another human being .Your opening line should be that alluring, unique, fascinating and intriguing. The idea is that it be provocative enough to get the reader engaged and wanting to find out more. Paring down your writing : too many writers fall in love with their own words. The love affair often results in wordiness and too much exposition. A great exercise is to write 1,000 words and then cut 100 words and then 200 words. See how much easier you...

Many people think they have a "book in them", but the difference between being an author and thinking a book is ready to be written is ACTION. It's not true that anyone can write a book just because they thought about it. I hear that all of the time, too, which demeans the art of writing. BUT with the right education, training and guidance, anyone can indeed write a book. Fiction and nonfiction books have a framework of reader expectations. The key is to understand how that structure is set up, which is why education and training are helpful. Some people have a natural knack from reading and taking in other writers' works, but that in and of itself is another form of training. Readers do expect certain forms and techniques. They expect basics like a beginning, middle and end even if that structure is creatively redone. But notice that an exercise in experimentation that goes awry gets labeled "bad" and readers won't read it. So, it's important whe...

As a traveling publisher, I meet all kinds of readers and people in general. So for your entertainment, we're going to use our Friday Morning Musing to quote the funniest things or comments I hear from readers. "I don't like books." -- book festival patron(s) "Do you read a lot?" -- someone wondering about my love of reading (I'm a publisher and editor) "Is this a real publishing company?" -- I am inevitably asked this in my booth space with about 50 books in my display. Now here are the funniest things authors say. I want to give you a preemptive strike. If you get the actual publisher on the phone, don't say any of these things. It will be a huge strike against you, and a publisher's time is precious. It's a deadline-driven business. "My first chapter sucks." "I don't know what my book is about." "I don't think it will sell." "It's not very good." I realize you prob...

This morning is my own self-pep talk. I am almost finished with my new book Body in the Trunk , but I have procrastinated on getting it finalized. I don't know why I have been so reticent about releasing my own book. I give other writers the positive talk and the push -- and yet I can't seem to push myself? What is up with that? I'm the CEO of a publishing company. And what is the lesson for other writers? Even the power behind the publishing gets insecure! ;) Do you know I have never met a single writer who doesn't get insecure? Not a single one. Why is it writers have "insecure-syndrome"? Crazy I know. So if it makes any of you feel any better even the publisher on her 6th book gets insecure.

Why do I always know the answer to that question? Want to know the number one blunder smaller self- and traditional publishers make? (I can actually name the offenders, too, but I'll be polite.) Littering the books with editorial mistakes. I can't tell you how many authors (and this applies to the big overseas publishing houses, too) show me their books only to have earmarked dozens of mistakes. In my opinion though the worst mistakes are the egregious and "ew-producing" back-cover mistakes. I'll be fair, a small handful of interior mistakes I can halfway accept, but the minute I see a back-cover with mistakes galore, I am always flabbergasted. The editors couldn't even take two seconds to ensure the most-read part of the book and THE most important part of the book didn't have mistakes? The only word that comes to mind is "sloppy" ... well, I can think of some other words too like "lame," but you know let's not digress. Why does th...