SPECIAL STORY CALL-OUT! - MAY 5 DEADLINE

From Publishing Syndicate

Not Your Mother's Book...On Holidays has moved up on the production schedule. The slated release date will be in September, which means we must finalize this book  quickly. There are a dozen or so story slots open, but we need specific stories. Would love to see any funny,  different, daring and smart stories on these topics:

• Cinco de Mayo
• Day of the Dead 
• Easter
• Father's Day
• Jewish holidays
• Kwanzaa
• Labor Day
• Memorial Day
• Mother's Day
• New Year's Eve
• St. Patrick's Day
• Veteran's Day 

We have plenty of stories for those holidays not listed.   

The deadline is Monday, May 5th. 

Reminder...

Manuscript submissions to the SWA Writers Workshop contests & evaluations are due May 15th.  Find more info here.

EditorialLee Speaking

As I write this, it's April Fool's Day. It appears winter finally gave up its hold on us yesterday, but one day of lamb-like weather at the end of March further convinces me global warming is a hoax perpetrated by a few people who wanted to get rich at the expense of the rest of us. The Braves lost yesterday on Opening Day, and the latest fad among Braves' players appears to be elbow surgery. My favorite time of year (March Madness) has ended disgustingly with nobody in the Final Four that makes me want to root, root, root. The deadline for entry to our workshop in June draws closer. 

And I'm not writing about any of those things. Okay, the last one about the workshop holds some relevance to the success stories I'm about to mention, but that the deadline nears isn't my focus here. Success is that focus.

Sheila Hudson was at St. Simons when I first attended the Southeastern Writers Workshop in 2001 and has been there every year since then. She's served in various capacities (including President) on the Board of Directors for our writers-helping-writers group. Now, after years of faithful effort, she has landed a book deal. More than just a one-book deal -- a potential series with another thirteen decisions coming up for her next title! And more than just a series, a series bringing help with life's lessons. The title of the first is Thirteen Decisions That Will Change Your Life. Check it out here: http://sh5633.wix.com/13decisions. Among Sheila's other writing projects: a blog called "Bright Ideas." Check it out here: http://sheilasewellhudson.wordpress.com/

Emily Sue Harvey was also at that first workshop I attended. Like Sheila, she's faithfully attended workshop classes and served her time on the Board of Directors (including a two-year term as President). After years of fighting the battle to get published and facing rejection after rejection, in 2011 she hit the jackpot and now has five novels in print. Her Amazon.com page lists them all along with some biographical information: http://www.amazon.com/Emily-Sue-Harvey/e/B008UV2CX4. Her personal website is: http://emilysueharvey.com/

Buzz Bernard first came to SWA several years ago (he wasn't here on my first visit in 2001). However, like Sheila and Emily Sue, he has been a Godsend to SWA. He now holds the title of Vice President on the Board of Directors. Oh, yeah, SWA has been a Godsend to him. Buzz has had success as a novelist, beginning with Eyewall in 2011, which became ame an e-book bestseller on Amazon Kindle. He's since followed up with two other novels, which have garnered recognition for excellence (Plague is my favorite...I'm currently reading Supercell). And yet when he first came to SWA, he was unpublished as a novelist. I remember the happiness he let show when SWA novel instructor Brian Jay Corrigan told him, "You're ready to play with the big boys." Here's a link to Buzz's Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/H-W-Buzz-Bernard-author/314813731901133

Oh, Buzz doesn't just write about weather; as a former employee of The Weather Channel, he's a self-admitted "weather junkie." And his upcoming fourth novel, Blizzard, will be his third weather-related book.

These are not the only success stories from SWA, but they are three that hit close to my heart. I have worked closely with all three on the SWA Board and also gotten to know them well as friends. I see several things in common beyond the fact that they've all had success:

• They've been attending SWA for years, honing their crafts and understanding the marketplace as a result.
• They've all won awards (at SWA and elsewhere) for poetry, humor or short stories, fiction or non-fiction.
• They've all served on the SWA Board of Directors. That in itself doesn't guarantee anything. But it does show that those willing to step up and help others frequently are the ones who succeed.
• None of them are (sorry, guys) young in years. Young at heart, perhaps, but all have found their success through perseverance that has carried them to success late in life.

Buzz still serves on the board, and Sheila is working as an auxiliary board member. Both will be at the workshop in June. If your career as a writer seems to be going nowhere, talk to them. I'm sure they have had times they felt their writing careers were going nowhere also.

And while Emily Sue, with her busy promotion schedule, probably won't be there, I venture to say she'd answer any questions a fledgling unpublished wannabee might throw at her via Facebook, Linked-in or the contact form on her web page (link at her personal website).

We have a lot more success stories that have grown from SWA, far too many to list in one column. If you're interested in adding your name to the list of successful SWA-workshop grads, the first step is to sign up for this year's June workshop. Just follow this link and you'll be on your way: http://www.southeasternwriters.org/Writers_Workshop.html

~~ Lee Clevenger

Lee is the current President of SWA, an author and co-founder of ThomasMax Publishing in Atlanta, GA.

Workshop Sneak Peak: Chuck Sambuchino, Editor at Writer's Digest Books

Chuck Sambuchino will teach three classes and participate in the Ask The Experts panel during the nonfiction portion (June 14 & 15) of the SWA Writers Workshop, June 13-17, at Epworth-by-the-Sea on St. Simon’s Island, GA.  Chuck's an editor, who edits the Guide To Literary Agents. The accompanying Guide to Literary Agents Blog (guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog) is one of the largest blogs in publishing. He is also the editor of another annual resource from WD, the Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market. He was recently included in a Forbes Top 10 list of "Social Media Influencers: Book Publishing."

Chuck is also a writer.  His humor book, How To Survive A Garden Gnome Attack was released in 2010 and has been featured by Reader's Digest, USA Today, the New York Times and AOL News. The film rights were recently optioned by Sony and director Robert Zemeckis. His second humor book, Red Dog / Blue Dog, a photo collection of liberal and conservative dogs, came out in 2012 and has been featured by USA Today and The Huffington Post.  

Chuck also has two other writing-related titles: the third edition of Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript (2009), and Create Your Writer Platform (2012) and 700 published articles.  Naturally, he will offer a class on “Selling Articles To Magazines & Websites” and two others: 

How to Get Published: Professional Writing Practices & What Editors Want

This is a general presentation examining good writing practices that all editors appreciate—whether writing for books, magazines, newspapers or online. This workshop goes well near the beginning of the conference. This session targets all levels of writers in both fiction and nonfiction. This one-size-fits-all session has served as a keynote speech several times.

Create Your Writer Platform

A writer’s platform is as important as ever now. Visibility and ability to self-market are mandatory these days for writers of nonfiction and self-published works. Furthermore, fiction writers want a platform to sell books, meet readers and increase their value. Adapted from his 2012 book, Chuck teaches writers the basics of what a platform is and why it is necessary. Then he delves into the building blocks of what can constitute a platform, from media appearances and speaking engagements to social networking, Twitter and more.  

Have you registered yet?

What are you waiting?

Find full info HERE!

Social Media: The Great Time Suck, or is it?

Social Media. The more sites you’re on the more you get noticed. Period. This is the experts’ argument for building your author’s platform with various networking sites.

I’ve built my platform. I have a Facebook account (that I rarely use). I have more than one twitter account (that I rarely read). I have more than one email account (each containing far too many unread messages for this overwhelmed ADD, OCD, Type A personality to handle). And just last year I even tried my hand at creating my own website (on which I’ve not posted anything beyond a simple hello). Joining the thousands of grown ups out there who first cut their 21st century social media teeth on Facebook, I now also have a LinkedIn account (that I don’t even know how to navigate properly if I’m honest). Still I’ve not published even one manuscript. Why not? Still I’m not a household name. Why is that?

While I may have all the right tools in place for building my platform, I’m not using them properly. 

To make it in writing today one needs to be out there, in the thick of social media. Build your platform the experts say. Get people wanting to buy your book even before it’s published. Create a Facebook page, separate from your personal one (no prospective publisher really wants to see a post from your Great-Aunt Matilda complaining about the sagging boards on her outhouse). Create a Twitter and even a LinkedIn account. Start a blog. If you are feeling particularly froggy, go build your own website as well. All great and very worthwhile advice, but keep this one thing in mind. Time. 

How much time do you really have to devote to all of these social media networks? Come on now, be honest.

Maintaining a positive social media presence requires a good deal of time. You have to read and respond to all the posts, especially the ones directed to you. You have to create new posts for others to read and become spell bound enough to hang on your every word. But, if you have your finger in too many pots it will eventually become burnt. And that was my hard learned lesson.

You need to pace yourself.

Find the proper balance so you can make your social media platform pervasive and meaningful, but above all memorable. Remember it is more the quality of product that your audience has come to expect that garners you the most recognition, not churning out a tweet every minute of every day. You want people calling you to write an article or guest post for them because you are good not just because they’ve seen your name every single day.

What is the right balance? 

An expert once said to spend no more than 20% of your writing time on social media. But how is that possible unless you are some kind of Speedy Gonzalez reader and poster. The key is to utilize your resources effectively. Some social media outlets have cross posting features available so that if someone follows you on twitter but not your blog you can set up the system to post on twitter and Facebook (even LinkedIn I’m told) when you publish on your blog. Take advantage of these types of features to maximize the time available to spend on your product. 

There are some programs or apps out there that can even help you schedule your tweets, and other such posts. So when you find those two seconds to rub together you can put your all into a post and then schedule it to go out to the masses at a later time. Perhaps even multiple times. 

Social media networking can open plenty of doors of opportunity for you, but like a wild beast it must be tamed. You must not let it get away from you. Make it work in the time span you have to devote to it. Otherwise, rather than building a strong author’s platform you may find the base rotting from underneath you and the structure you had built now tumbling to the ground.

~~Dawn Burr

Dawn Burr is a teacher by profession but a writer by passion. Her sarcastic wit, innocent charm, and insightful reflections will have you bowled over with laughter as she ponders with you the little things in life that make you go hhhmmmm. www.makergoddess.wordpress.com

Words to Write By?

Writing is the one occupation where you face rejection more often than not.  A beginning writer probably receives a rejection letter more than 95% of the time.  How do you keep your butt in the chair and your fingers on the keyboard? Here are few gems from folks who have been there:

Novelist Philip Lee Williams: Never let what you have to do keep you from doing what you want to do.

Novelist David L. Robbins*: Never define yourself by your success.  Only define yourself by how you respond to your failures.

YA Novelist Jessica Burkhart: A writer needs positive people in his or her life. Sure, honesty is also necessary, but people who cut you down purposely aren’t conducive to writing success. Choose good people to have in your corner! 

Novelist Vicki Hinze*: If you can quit writing, quit.  There are far easier ways to earn a living.  If you can’t quit, then gird your loins, jump into the fray, and go for your dream--no matter what.

Novelist Terry Kay: I can schedule lots of things, I never force characters, I'm patient with characters and I wait for them to come to me.  

Lin Oliver, Executive Director of The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators: If you have a problem, write through it.  You can go back and fix it the next day.

Columnist/humorist Cappy Hall Rearick*: It's important to find your voice and the only way to find it is to write, write, write.

Playwright Evan Guilford-Blake: Care about what you write. If you don't, an audience won't either.

Poet Kezia Snipe: Poetry is a free form of expression.  Use it to your advantage.  Play with the words…Move them around...Make it your own.  You'd be surprised what you will come up with.

Novelist Julie L. Cannon*: Keep journals - this is about becoming conscious. Write stuff about sensory imagery in a notebook. Say your windshield wipers sound like "ka-swish, ka-swish, ka-swish." Write it down. It’ll get to be part of your subconscious.

Freelance writer Sheila Hudson*: Do an excellent job, and turn the assignment in early.  That creates an “in” with the editor and he/she will keep you in mind for bigger and better things.

Novelist Misty Massey: Take the advice the editor offers…If the manuscript you’ve written is something you want to sell, it’s smart to listen to the professionals when they make suggestions.

* Has taught at the SWA Writers Workshop.