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Attention authors: 10 Tips to stay motivated during January (Part 2)

January 29, 2013 by Grael Norton, Acquisitions Manager

It’s day two of getting back on track with your writing goals. Hopefully one of the first five tips put a little zip and zest in your step. If not or you need just a bit more push here are the rest of the ten tips:

6. (This one is fun.) Project yourself a year or two into the future and hold a mock interview about what your book’s success has done for you. The new people you have met, the doors that opened because you had such a wonderful book. The extra money it has put into your pocket. Yes, it’s another imagination game but the truth is our brain doesn’t know the difference between real and imagined success. It operates on whatever material it receives. Use it to your advantage.

7. Check out contests that you can enter your book in for getting your book published this year. Copy the rules, print them out, and make an appointment with yourself to enter that contest! It’s all part of planning for success and laying the groundwork for getting there. Plus, knowing that you have a contest to enter is another motivational goal to strive for.

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Attention authors: 10 Tips to stay motivated during January

January 28, 2013 by Grael Norton, Acquisitions Manager

It happens every year: the mid-January slump. The goals we set so promisingly for the nice and shiny New Year are already showing signs of “not making it.” Two weeks, maybe three, is pretty much the national average for such goals as losing ten pounds, eating better, and exercising more. The same sad truth can knock us down with other goals as well.

If one of your goals was to write more consistently: How’s it going for you?

If it’s not going so well, here are ten tips to pep you back up and get you back on the path to literary greatness. Or at least get that darn book finished once and for all!

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The author impostor syndrome

January 24, 2013 by Grael Norton, Acquisitions Manager

An author friend of mine recently described to me the following feelings that I think many authors can relate to ...

... Back in prison.

I knew it was going to happen. The pressure was mounting daily. Little things. Big things. It was all starting to count up.

I put it off for as long as possible and then finally, damn. The crime was unavoidable.

Soon there would be piles of unpaid and unopened bills on the table. Each day would bring a fresh supply as well as a few, friendly at first and then not so much, conversations with a couple of snarly, credit agencies.

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7 myths about being an author

January 23, 2013 by Grael Norton, Acquisitions Manager

Ever dream about becoming an author? Today it’s easier than ever. And I will be first in line to encourage you to pursue your dream. But making your dream come true means one also takes into account the cost, the reality, and the practicality of how to make that dream actually happen.

The following seven “dream-busting” myths are not meant to discourage you but rather to toughen you up for the exhilarating but often difficult journey almost every author encounters.

1. Publishing a book will make you an instant celebrity. The truth is, it may make you a celebrity in your circle of family and friends but there’s a lot of book competition. In 2011, three million books were published in the United States and the count has been doubling, tripling, rising steadily every year.

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Surprising facts about writing for children

January 15, 2013 by Grael Norton, Acquisitions Manager

Writing for children is not as wimpy as it sounds. It can also be quite lucrative. Jeff Kinney, the author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid is now the number one best-selling book with over 75 million copies in print. J. K. Rowling’s masterwork starring Harry Potter has sold 450 million books and counting. R. L. Stine by 2008 had written hundreds of horror fiction novels for children and sold over 400 million copies.

I’m not sure just how many children’s authors have sold over a million books but I expect the number is a little bigger than you’d think. John Perritano wrote an article in “How Stuff Works” called, 20 Best-Selling Children’s Books of All Time, which lists 20 children’s books that individually sold at least 6 million copies.

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Publishing a book in 2013

January 07, 2013 by Grael Norton, Acquisitions Manager

With today’s technology, becoming a published author is almost as easy as opening up your word processor and start typing.

Put some words together, slap on a cover, and publish it as an ebook on Smashwords or Kindle and you’re done. Published author!

Whew. That wasn’t too hard.

Oh. Did you forget to notify your bank that the money would soon be rolling in? Ooops. Well, not to worry. They’re used to handling money, so it won’t be a problem.

What about your Facebook page? Is it up to handling all that traffic from the hordes that will soon be clamoring for a glimpse of the new famous author? Ah well, they can handle that too, no worries.

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Get rid of the “someday author” blues and get your book published once and for all

December 28, 2012 by Atilla Vekony, Publishing Information Manager

Goals are good.

A good goal properly executed will result in positive change. A poor goal will flop like a fish pulled out of the water and die on the dock after a brief struggle.

Good goals are good: they change lives and bring about greater happiness. They clarify our focus and concentrate our energy in positive directions.

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Can we really trust that writing every day will make us a better writer?

December 27, 2012 by Grael Norton, Acquisitions Manager

You’ve heard it before.

If you want your writing to improve you must write every day.

But what if you have nothing to write about?

What if every idea you think of gets a big VETO by your internal genius moderator?

What if in trying to write you get bogged down because you want it to be wonderful, and wonderful just isn’t on the menu for the day?

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Do you need a carrot to keep you motivated?

December 26, 2012 by Sam Henrie, President

Remember the pictures of the old mule that kept plodding along because a carrot was dangling from a stick over his head? He wanted the carrot so he kept moving toward it. Worked quite well. Believe it or not, if you can find the right type of “carrot” for continuing forward with your writing, marketing, and promotion, it will work for you as well.

There are two basic factors for doing something. Fear or reward. The old mule couldn’t be budged much by fear but that carrot was another story.

Everything we do will always come under one or both of these factors in some measure, even if very small. I would like to share with you a plan for achieving a specific goal in one week that uses both of these two factors in a powerful way for achieving real results.

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How do authors keep on writing after repeated rejection?

December 19, 2012 by Grael Norton, Acquisitions Manager

We have all heard stories of authors who made it big after tons of rejections. How did they do that?

How is it that some of us seems to shrivel and want to throw in the towel after one or two?

What makes one author keep at it while others simply pack up their tools and find something else to do?

One factor that I believe may make the difference is how we view our writing. If we write because we feel that we have something to say or because we want to write because we like to write, then the rejections cannot have as much power over us. At least not permanent, damaging power. Rejections are never fun!

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