WRITING the NEXT LINE

By Sharon May 

Imagine me with one joint recovering from surgery and another one prepping for surgery. My right arm braced in Velcro and Neoprene from fingers to pert nigh the elbow after breaking my arm just above the wrist. Left foot in a funky pair of shoes made of more Velcro and Neoprene, rendered even more attractive by a yellow caution sock given as a thanks by the hospital. “Might come in handy,” my frugal wife said as we packed. I am a poster child for orthopedics. 

While laid up, I, like a Nathaniel Hawthorne character, mulled over my life to determine what I had done wrong to require so many surgeries. Then I considered the lessons from these experiences. I decided the gods are determined I become left handed and master speech recognition software. My introduction to Dragon occurred a couple of years ago when I first had my dominant wrist fused. I learned the basics and managed to put a few pages out, but abandoned it as soon as I healed. It will be useful in emergencies, I thought, not imagining having further damage to my hand. 

When really bored or avoiding writing, I will pick up my copy of “Dragon for Dummies” to explore what I don’t know. Facing the computer, all that reading proves useless as learning anything related to computers requires hands-on experiences for me. So I muddle through. 

Speaking to the computer is not the same as typing. The brain, at least my brain, functions differently with the two tasks. 

I think faster when typing. Part of the problem is that the program and I don’t yet communicate well. My wife has complained for years I mumble, and now I have a computer agreeing with her. At this point, about 80% of my words are transcribed correctly on paper. Dialect drives the Dragon to produce words nowhere near what I said.   

Now I’m so paranoid that I’m not enunciating correctly, I concentrate on the screen more than about what comes next. So, I correct at least a fifth of the page in the process. Who knows how many thoughts I’ve lost during that time? 

Oddly, after hours of putting words on paper by speaking, I don’t feel like I’ve written anything. There’s no energy nor renewal that I usually get while typing my words. Used to be the fingers were tired, cramped up, and needing a break. Now I’m just thirsty. 

Usually, I can play with language and sentence patterns. Now, my mind becomes sluggish. I end up frustrated, which further interferes with writing. Time may solve this, or I may have to become a one-handed typist. I hope the brain is soon free again to explore words and create worlds as if on a space ship speeding through time and space. 

 

WILL YOUR WRITING CREATE the NEXT GREAT TECH INVENTION?

By El Ochiis

I wrote a short story that took place in the 1850’s, in which one of the characters possessed an advanced, technological object enclosed in a rare metal. An editor, who read my piece, commented that I had created a future, technological invention. Inventing was not in my thought process when I wrote the story; I only imagined making the events in the story believable, to do that, I had to create this object. 

The editor’s position was that our most recent technology had been invented because of ideas gleaned from stories. I meant, what if she was right? She’s an editor, she was always right.   

A few days after our conversation, I got stuck in an airport and decided to re-read Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury had predicted, in this book, the techy toy that I inserted in my ears to listen to music - headphones. I’m sure I wouldn’t be the only writer to honor him. Here’s hoping, however, his other predictions, made in Fahrenheit 451 were less accurate.

  

Logging onto the internet to find another flight, I gave a thumbs up to Mr. Mark Twain, who was one of the first persons to dream about the possibilities of a globally connected community, in his 1898 short story, from the London Times of 1904, where Twain introduced readers to something called a “telelectroscope” that used the phone system to create a worldwide network for sharing information. No, Al Gore, you did not invent the internet; the writer who wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn did.

  

The editor wanted to Skype; I preferred video chatting on iMessage. Hold the phones, this concept was described in E.M. Foster’s novel: The Machine Stops: “But it was fully fifteen seconds before the round plate that she held in her hands began to glow. A faint blue light shot across it, darkening to purple, and presently she could see the image of her son, who lived on the other side of the earth, and he could see her.” Skype; iMessage – just call Foster. 

I decided to watch: 2001: A Space Odyssey, a movie from 1968, on my iPad Pro. There was a scene where astronauts watched and read from a pair of flat-screen tablets, called “Newspads”, which Stanley Kubrick developed alongside Arthur C. Clark’s novel – looked strikingly similar to Apple’s iPad. Creepy, huh? 

I edited that piece and uploaded it to a blog. Hold your kilobytes, Vladimir Odoyevsky, whose 1835 Novel: Year 4338, described houses that would be: “connected by means of magnetic telegraphs..." Each house would publish a daily journal or newsletter…," and share it with the world. Yes, that would be blogging.

Bill Gates; Steve Jobs; tech valley – no, it is the lonely writer using his or her imagination – if we writers could just figure out how to get those ideas in front of venture capitalists who specialize in providing capital to tech innovations of the future.

What new technology or historical prediction will you, the next writer of fiction create? 

JUST LAUNCHED: "WRITE ON SC"

By Kasie Whitener

I love talk radio. Like writing, my passion for talk radio is about storytelling and craft. I'm interested in the way a host can move through topics, keep people listening, and slide in-and-out of commercial breaks with poise.

My good friend Tzima Brown has been in talk radio for nearly two decades. When we shared the studio recently she told me, "You'll fall in love with it and you'll do anything to stay on the air."

Like launch a radio show all about books.

Make the Point Radio at 100.7 on the FM dial in Columbia, S.C. is a local radio station that showcases local people. With that in mind, programming includes local experts every day from 9 until 10 a.m. On Tuesdays the local experts are entrepreneurs on a show called “Start Something, Columbia!”

When I started Start “Something, Columbia! ”I meant for it to complement 1 Million Cups, the Wednesday 9 a.m. meet-up at the Richland Library for business owners. 1MC was doing a great job of building its crowd but not a great job of educating the people who showed up.

"Start Something, Columbia!” is like a book club for entrepreneurs. Each month we focus on a new text and bring in subject matter experts to discuss various entrepreneurial topics with the text as the foundation for the discussion. While discussing the format with some friends at the Richland Library, we wondered whether a radio book club could work.

I took the concept of “Write On SC” to the station owner, Keven Cohen, and he loved the idea of having local authors showcased on the radio. I set up a Patreon page to raise money for the venture and encouraged my SCWA chapter's published authors to consider advertising their work on the show.

The show's format is simple. Each week we'll discuss a new writing craft topic – things like dialogue, setting, character development – and have a guest writer on the show to promote his or her work. We'll also feature a weekly read as selected by the Richland Library staff and some Book Marketing Tips for self-published and self-promoting authors as well.

As a novice fiction writer (I don't have any published books but have published some short stories) and professional content creator (my company Clemson Road Creative is producing the show), I bring a specific expertise to show development. I've delivered workshops for conferences like Winter Wheat Festival at Bowling Green State University and the SC Book Festival. This Fall, I'm speaking at the Pat Conroy 2^nd Annual Lowcountry Book Club Convention.

“Write On SC” guest hosts will all contribute their craft and industry expertise while promoting their own work. Our discussion of writing fundamentals and industry tricks should serve as weekly workshops on writing. The live show will also become a podcast after we've accumulated 6 episodes.

I hope “Write On SC” will fill a gap in South Carolina's writing scene. We lack a unifying platform for writers of all levels. To learn more or participate visit patreon.com/WriteOnSC.

WHAT WORKS for ME in the NOT-SO-WILD-WEST

By Mike Long

I write Western Era historical fiction.

My first book was a self-published manuscript. The next two were picked up by small presses, and the fourth Western I wrote was purchased and published by Five Star Publishing.

Since 2010, I have sold over 11,000 copies of my four novels. Publishers sell some, but they can't give you much help unless you're a New York Times best-selling author.

Many of my sales have been consignment sales from Independent Booksellers (indie stores) and historical sites with a Western, military, or historical theme. These books sell at cover price with a typical 60/40 split in my favor. E-sales are steady but small.

I've also lost hundreds of dollars to failed bookstores. At one point I was in 242 stores, but one large chain failed and now I'm down to maybe 50 retail outlets. I'll do a store book signing if invited, but I've had little success in those.

Most of my success now is at events. I attend gun shows, rodeos, church bazaars, Spring/Fall Festivals, and other genre-relevant and thematic-appropriate events. I rent an 8-foot table which costs me about $60 for a Saturday and Sunday rental. Sometimes I take my own table, tent, and chairs. I display my books on half the table space and display some interesting period guns on the other half. I encourage folks to handle the artifacts as a way of stirring conversation about the period, the genre, and eventually, the books.

I have branded paper bags for buyers to store their purchases and offer complimentary book marks as they sometimes become e-book sales. I sell my three trade paperbacks for $8 each or all three for $20. I charge more for the hardcovers. Copy volume beats price for me: the more copies people have, the more they read and eventually purchase more books in the series.

I take payment with a Square card reader for credit card sales but charge an extra 3% for those to cover the Square 2.75% charge. On a slow weekend I'll sell 15 books. On a good weekend, I’ll be 25 books lighter on the ride home.

Moreover, at events, I meet a lot of nice people. Many of those people become readers and fans.

Grab a Notebook

By Ginny Padgett

 I started a nonfiction book project in 2014 based on experiences and interviews with 15 people once a month for a year. I’m still not finished writing it. When I take excerpts of it to workshop for feedback, sometimes they are met with astonishment by some of the respondents (also from workshop). “How can you remember our conversations and the details of our meetings so accurately? You have a great memory!”

I was flattered by their accolades, but there is a simple, mundane explanation. As soon as I returned home from each encounter, I made strategic notes to jog my memory when I was ready to write. If something in our discussions struck me as important enough to me to use as a direct quote, I jotted down key words. Not only could I remember the quote I wanted, but that often provided enough spark to reconstruct the whole exchange, bolstering interest with dialogue while fleshing out the action. I don’t think I have a better than average memory. Notes, and perhaps practice from journalism school, were the trick.

As time elapsed, I came to see diarizing an event has personal benefits as well. While writing my manuscript, it occurred than more once that these notes and recorded dates jump-started memories I needed to calculate and navigate everyday life.

Mindfully now I record outings and appointments in my calendar with details…and don’t delete them as tasks accomplished. “What was the name of that movie we went to last month?” “Where did you find that tray?” “Where was that cute restaurant we stopped at on the way to Baltimore?” “When’s the last time I saw the dermatologist?” I can find the answer to these kinds of questions in a jiffy. It doesn’t make for world peace, but sometimes it does make my life easier, tidier or evokes a smile when I look back and find a happy time spent with friends and family.

Fortunately, notetaking is easier than ever since the smart phone in your pocket is packed with more technology that the 1960s space-race effort. Snap a photo. Use the voice recorder to make notes for yourself. Ask your companion or interviewee if you may record a chat about an interesting subject. Immediacy is primary to getting it down right for nonfiction.

I realized another plus. Keeping notes on events, behaviors and deportment, environment, conversations can be prompts for plots, characters, settings, and dialogue for fictional writing. Take notes and see where they lead.

Put Social Media to Work for You

By Kat Dodd 

Social Media: It isn’t just for volunteering your own privacy anymore. In many ways, social media has become synonymous with the internet itself. Without social media, you might as well be utilizing only a fraction of the internet. I think that you can agree that not using the internet to promote your work is all but impossible for anyone but the most established writers. After all, many writers are even skipping formal publishing and simply self-publishing online. More and more books are digital and many people would rather meet you online in the comfort of their homes rather than venture to events to meet you in person.

As writers, we can have a tendency to be a little introverted at times or “lost in our heads” so to speak. That isn’t to say that we are anti-social beings, but we can tend to over-analyze things in general and be a lot better at focusing on our craft than having the ability to promote our work to others. However, Social Media provides the perfect outlet to network without the pressure of trying to find people to share your work with out of thin air.

In a previous post in May, Rex Hurst described the importance of networking in general when it comes to being published and promoting your work, but I would emphasize the importance of social media in particular. Utilizing social media to promote yourself and your work is the most cost effective way to network.

Before I began writing fiction again, I simply wrote reviews and articles and promoted myself with Facebook, Twitter, and other sites such as Tumblr. I followed other people that wrote similar articles and got attention from them and their readers by commenting on and sharing their work, as well as gaining inspiration from their writing styles. Inevitably, I got noticed and had a following before I had really begun my own website. Once I had my website, I was able to use cost effective advertising on social media that was targeted towards those with similar interests and my notoriety flourished for a while.

Similarly, I would recommend that you begin using social media for your fiction in a similar way. Find similar writers on social media with Facebook groups and pages, pay sincere attention to them as well as their readers and watch yourself grow as a result. Promote yourself with your words and actions to them, more than by directly mentioning your work. Advertise your page separately and only volunteer knowledge of your page after you make those initial connections. Share some of your ideas freely, like samples of food at the Supermarket. People want to be freely interested in you before they make a true investment in your work.

A Quill and Scroll, Please

Julia Rogers Hook

There’s a new language out there in the world of writing these days and I can’t speak it.

Gone are the days of putting pen to paper, or quill to scroll or perhaps charcoal to bark in the candlelight of a very short candle, probably made from some sort of boiled down animal parts.

While the typewriters of yesteryear gather dust in our museums, even the “modern day” practice of sitting down at computers and typing one’s heart out as they create and construct their characters while they spin and swirl their stories and tales is becoming at best, a superfluous effort. After all, if the writer doesn’t understand the new technologies to get his/her work to its intended readers, isn’t it just an exercise?

If a writer writes and no one reads him/her, are they indeed a writer?

In addition to overcoming the normal authors’ maladies such as procrastination, fear of success or plain old “writers’ block,” now, once said author actually does have something to market, they must speak this strange new language that makes no sense to me.

They must blog. Or self-publish. Or E-publish. Or use a “vanity publishing company.” Or KDP. Or I-Books. Their book/short story/poetry/photos or whatever medium they’re marketing must be sent in a “jpg” or some other sort of cryptic method with no vowels.

The other day I was told about a class in screenwriting. I went to the site and looked it up. It said “Students will need to be IT literate,” and “class materials will be delivered via an on-line forum. Students will be asked to use the screenwriting software.” There was also something about “DSLR.”

Does typing on a computer and using email qualify me for “IT literate” or is that something new? I’m just not sure. And DSLR? Not a clue.

In the days of the great William Shakespeare, paper itself was something that was relatively new. It is believed to be created by the Chinese sometime in the second century and it took its time meandering its way through the Arab world to the west but history tells us that paper was in England by the early 1500’s, just in time to be ready for the Bard of Avon.

Medieval paper was actually made from rags and went through a long process of being washed and dried and mixed with other things and washed and dried some more. It was thought to absorb ink better and was cheaper than parchment so it is believed that much of Shakespeare’s work was written on it, although many scribes in his time said it would never last.

I’m sure the same has been said of every invention since then and I’m sure as each new process or idea was introduced, it was met with the same reticence I’m feeling these days for all of this electronic mumbo-jumbo but some days a quill, an inkpot and a nice piece of parchment looks pretty good. 

Destroying the Profession of Author

By Bonnie Stanard 

In a recent email that came across my desk, Amazon makes another pitch to writers. It offers Kindle Scout, “a reader-powered publishing program for new, never-before-published books.” According to Amazon’s offer, readers will vote to decide the author to be published and rewarded with a handsome advance.

What you may not notice in the details of the offer is that you must give up all e-Book and audio rights to the book. You can get them back if your book remains unpublished or if it earns less than $500 in royalties in a year.

An even more subtle control is presented as a distribution enhancement: “Your book will be enrolled into Kindle Unlimited, the Kindle Owners' Lending Library...”

I have a love-hate relationship with Amazon. Every day, I’m grateful that it has given us createspace and the opportunity to self-publish books. This has blown open the closed doors of elite publishers in NYC. Amazon has also given readers a voice in critiquing books, expanding the world of reviews.

However, as Scott Timberg in Salon magazine points out, there are reasons to be wary of Amazon, among them:

1.      It has closed not just chain bookstores, but has devastated the indies.

2.      It is destroying the profession of author by undercutting advances and royalties.

3.      It has a near monopoly in bookselling.

Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL) are two reasons Amazon is destroying our profession. These two programs alone take a whopping cut in authors’ royalties. They are subscription services offering readers access to unlimited choices of books. In Kindle Unlimited, subscribers can download an unlimited number of books by paying a monthly fee. In KOLL subscribers may “rent” one book a month with no due date (is this not buying the book?).

To be fair, Amazon isn’t the only one doing this. Two others that come to mind are Oyster and Scribd. Furthermore, Amazon is merely taking to books what Spotify and other streaming services have taken to music.

But look at the turmoil in music because of streaming services that have cut into artists’ income. In an article in Fast Company, Jonathan Ringen writes, “Many artists have stopped depending on revenue from recorded music altogether, focusing on touring and merchandise, which they can control.” This is an effect of streaming services such as Rdio, Deezer, Amazon Prime Music, AppleMusic, and Google Play.

Can you imagine authors turning to tours and merchandise to make a living? If subscriber services continue and become the standard for distribution, they may prove that what goes around comes around, i.e. books will only be produced by affluent writers who can afford to work without compensation.

Instructional Opportunities Sponsored by SCWW

By Ginny Padgett

SCWW will present a four-part webinar series beginning September 12. Go to www.myscww.org/ to register. The fee for each webinar is payable when you sign up. After reserving your spot, only 25 are open for each webinar, log on the day and time of your selected webinar. There is no charge for September. Subsequent sessions are $20.00 for SCWW members and $25.00 for non-members. Rebroadcasts will be available if you’re unable to attend on the specified times.

Here are the topics and presenters.

September 12, 10:00-11:00 am - “First Pages: Solid Beginnings that Hook Readers” by Jane Gari, SCWW; video teaser: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3sLlxqufSsUWklJbmdtRi1ncTg/view  

October – “Embrace Your Backstory: How to Leverage Your Uniqueness and GET NOTICED in a Noisy World” by Lynda Bouchard, agent at Booking Authors Ink 

November 13, 10:00-11:00 am – “The First Time Novelist: Letting Editors In" by Joseph Gartrell, free-lance editor 

December 9, 4:00-5:00 pm  – "What a Query Means to Me- First Glance Impressions of a Query" by Jeanie Loiaocono, President of Loiacono Literary Agency

 In addition, the Camden Chapter of SCWW will present “First One Word and Then Another: A Creative Writing Workshop” on Saturday, September 26, 9:00 am-1:00 pm; $20.00 for SCWW members, $25.00 for non-members, lunch included. Go to www.myscww.org/ to register. The Camden Chapter has worked hard on this event, and I’m sure it will be worth your time. I hope you’ll be able to attend and support our Camden sister.   

FYI, Bob Strother, Kim Blum-Hyclak and Carla Damron will be at Books On Broad, our local independent bookstore after the 9/26 workshop at 2:15 PM  to sign books. 

THOUGHTS ON REVIEWS

By Mike Long

Anyone reading this is either published or hopes to be, and therefore is or will be interested in getting reviews on the completed work… or will be wishing the reviews had never been written.

Here's how it frequently goes: you finish your novel, do some sort of launch, get it on Kindle, then wait for the reviews. And wait. The first eight or so will be from family and friends plus a few authors who know how important these things are. And they are important. Not only do prospective buyers actually read them, some professional reviewers/bloggers won't even consider your work until you have ten reviews with an average four-star rating. All you need to suppress your average is your Uncle Joe (who thinks a one-star is good, and a five-star is bad), or an idiot who didn't like your subject/genre (and who knows nothing about the writing craft), or, Heaven forbid, several intelligent people who recognize your writing as awful (and don't know you well enough to fib or simply pass on the review).

Let's assume your writing is excellent. If you've gotten it past your SCWW peers, it probably is, so what's the problem? Well, Uncle Joe, of course; with him you can explain the rating system, slowly and distinctly, and hope he gets around to that retraction/correction. I still have one of those one-star ratings; he said he couldn't wait for the sequel. I haven't given him a copy. I also have a two-star zinger from a 'professional' reviewer who wrote that she couldn't finish the novel because of the violence. In my online rebuttal I pointed out that she was part of a paid service, wherein she'd read the synopsis explaining it was a WAR BOOK, and that she had then asked to review it. Her response was that she was just getting started, and that I was mean-spirited and made her cry, and deserved whatever I got.

My advice is simply never respond to a poor rating. Never. After my first free Kindle promotion, some troll blistered my first novel. Knowing he'd paid nothing for it, I responded (for all to see) "So sorry you didn't like it; give me an address and I'll refund the entire $2.99." Cute, right? WRONG. His response (for all to see): "Oh no. You can't buy a retraction. I stand by my rating."

Using Images to Sell Your Work

By Jodie Cain Smith 

Unless you want your book to die a lonely, dusty death, rotting on the shelf until the pages decompose, selling your book is up to you. But do any of us really want to turn off the creative side of our brain once the writing is done and focus on marketing techniques? I say, “Don’t!” Bring your natural born creativity to your marketing plan.

Post “Buy my book! Now!” on Facebook and I’m sure your momma will comply. Heck, she might even tell the other members of the local orchid society to buy her baby’s book, but beyond that, you will likely fall short of your sales goal. Create a beautiful author website with your latest headshot, book description, and link to the Amazon Kindle store. Then watch only your inner circle click “buy now”. Keep pinning and tweeting your brains out about summer fashions and perfecting your brownie recipe, or use social media and your super-human, creative brain to sell your book!

Did you know that 80% of the content on Pinterest is images that have been re-pinned over and over again? That’s right. There are people all over the world trolling for pretty pictures. Why not create your own picture to be pinned?

Idea #1

My novel, The Woods at Barlow Bend, mentions my grandmother’s love of cooking. Among the many delicious treats she fed me over my childhood, her fried okra was my favorite. Her secret was fresh okra and a little bacon grease. (I dare you to resist okra cooked in bacon fat.) How can I use this to sell my novel? I make Granny’s fried okra, snap a couple of pictures (okra frying in my cast iron skillet, okra on my bright, red serving tray) and upload the picture to Pinterest. When the image is clicked, the link will lead to the recipe posted on my author website written within a childhood memory of Granny. Just below the recipe the reader can click on a link to purchase the novel.

Idea #2

Have you, like me, saved every shred of research you did for your novel? The research that you did enriched your work and was a fascinating treasure hunt. Make your research work for you again. From my research for The Woods at Barlow Bend, I have pictures, court documents, newspaper articles, and census reports. Using Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, I will publicize these items along with teasers from the book and, of course, a link to purchase the book. Here’s a little “for example” nugget to be posted on social media along with an image: Can you believe what Hubbard was arrested for? Find out what happened after the arrest in The Woods at Barlow Bend (hyperlinked, of course, to Amazon).

What other images could you create in order to publicize your book? What interesting and innovative content could be used social media? Telling people to buy your book is not enough. You must show them why they want to buy your book! Share your brilliant ideas below in the comment section below.

South Carolina Writers’ Workshop Website Improvements

By Ginny Padgett

The SCWW website has some great advantages for members beyond general information and conference registration. Recently in accordance with member requests, new pages and a number of improvements were made.

Members’ Published Works Page (http://myscww.org/members-published-works/):  This page isn’t new but it's been upgraded. A slider feature continually rotates books so all work is visible, regardless of when it was posted. (At the present time, only five books are sliding, however that technical glitch should be rectified within the week.) Also on that page there is now a button to find work by genre. If you have work to add to this page, go to the web address above and follow the guidelines. Note: While work continues on this page, the guidelines are not visible. However, they may be found on the Quill Bulletin Board. Issues are available on the website for reference (http://myscww.org/category/quill/).  Please follow the guidelines carefully. 

Members’ Websites and Blogs (http://myscww.org/members-websites-and-blogs/):

This page is not new or improved. If you’d like to add your information, follow the guidelines on this page.

SCWW Blog (http://myscww.org/category/blog/). I bring this page to your attention because this is where our Cola II Blog Vote Winner goes each month. The innovation on this page is content. In the past, blogging responsibility was handled mainly by SCWW Board members. This year there is an emphasis on posts from the general membership and outside guests.

Speakers’ Bureau Page (http://myscww.org/speakers-bureau/): This is a new page where members may offer their services to speak to groups based on the author’s area of expertise. If you’d like your information to be included on this page, the guidelines are available on this page. Note: It is most important to follow the guideline closely.

SCWW Board of Directors Meeting Minutes (http://myscww.org/board-of-directors-meeting-minutes/): This is another new page to keep the membership abreast of the workings of the organization.

Not a SCWW member and your interest is piqued? Join us. There’s a website page for that too: http://myscww.org/join-us/. 

Did You See Her Dress at the Oscars? Describing the Action Can Make You Money

By Kimberly Johnson

Best Supporting Actress Lupita Nyong’o wore a gown at the Oscars that fashionistas are still talking about.  

Here’s some blog chatter: 

When Lupita stepped onto the carpet in that sparkling, sky blue silk georgette gown that was custom made for her by Prada, she looked absolutely breathtaking… In Lupita’s red carpet interviews Lupita said she chose this shade of blue because it reminded her of her native Nairobi and quickly #NairobiBlue became a trending topic. .(Nicole Gibbons, SoHautestyle.com).

The “It girl” of this year’s awards season, Twelve Years a Slave star Lupita Nyong’o made her Academy Awards debut in a custom Prada robin's egg blue gown. … Nyong’o—who brought her mom, Dorothy, along for the night—topped off the winter wonderland fairy princess look with a gold and diamond Fred Leighton headband. (Josh Duboff, Vanity Fair) 

My sideline interest is to write about the haute couture frocks, chapeaus and zappos worn by the Hollywood elite and the up-and-coming. I thought about it – turning a descriptive phrase can be rewarding (financially and creatively). I checked out Paula Rollo’s blog, "How Much Do Bloggers Really Make?, Part 2."  In her post, she lists poll results in which she queried bloggers about pay, time spent on the blog and monthly page views.  I found out that just-getting-started writers put in over 20 hours each week on content and the pay ranges from $10 to $500 per month.

Recently, I’ve been bouncing this sideline thing around to a friend or two. One worrywart said, “Will people take you seriously, writing about what so-and-so wore?” My take on this seed of doubt is that a blogger is no different from a New York Times reporter: conduct the research, become a subject matter expert, find refreshing angles to present the facts and deliver the message. It is like the advice of a high school English teacher: Tell a story about a moment/event that means a lot to you. Get right to the action. Describe the action and use all five senses.

Nick Levitan’s blog, "Is It Time To Take Fashion Bloggers Seriously?," crushes that seed of doubt and sums it up pretty well:

…Because of the ever-growing power of bloggers, and the decline of traditional fashion magazines, it is likely that bloggers will become more powerful than ever. It is true that with the fast pace of modern fashion, a once a month magazine is simply not able to keep up with the evolving trends and changes that occur in fashion seemingly overnight. The day of the fashion blogger is now, and if everyone does not take notice, they will be left behind.

Sources:

www.vanityfair.com, www.roanestate.edu, www.beautythroughimperfection.com, www.business2business.com.

I Don’t Want a Niche

By Marion Aldridge

Current wisdom for writers and for many other professions is to find a niche market and focus. You can’t just write about travel. You have to write about gay travel or traveling as a handicapped person or travel in the Florida Keys or travel by dugout canoe. If you choose to specialize in travel by dugout canoes, you need to decide whether your canoe will be dug out of maple or cedar. Niche marketing.

My trouble is that I am curious about everything. Don’t limit me. I see a bumper sticker that says, “Eat Bertha’s Mussels,” and I wonder what that’s about. Who is Bertha? Where is Bertha? Can I get to Bertha’s by suppertime?

The world has always had a love/hate relationship with generalists. One of the first words I remember being taught in a classroom is the word “dilettante.” It describes, I was told, someone who is “a jack of all trades and master of none.” Apparently, to be labeled a dilettante is to be insulted. I prefer to think my interests are eclectic. I may read the biography of a baseball player one day, a financial analysis of “Tulip Mania” the next, a science fiction novel the next, a book about Buddhism the next and a Civil War history the next.

“Where the Pavement Ends” has been my attempt at writing a travel blog in the year since my retirement. 

http://marionaldridge.wordpress.com I have written about New York City, Shreveport and Machu Picchu, but I have also written about football, colors, grief, friendship, patriotism, race relations and alternative medicines. Travel, it turns out, is too narrow a topic for my interests.

I admire people who have specific, marketable skills, who are expert in a particular area, those who can craft fine furniture, who can wire a house for electricity, who can play the flute, who can teach children in a classroom, who can perform surgery. Some people are brain surgeons, play the flute and make fine furniture. I am not one of them, but I am happy the world has people who cross disciplines. Too narrow a focus makes us less than we might be.

An old joke tells of St. Peter giving new residents a tour of heaven. As they pass certain sections, he shushes the recent arrivals, motioning for them to be quiet. Later someone asked, “Why did we need to be quiet back there?’

St. Peter responded, “Oh, that’s where the Baptists stay and they still think they’re the only ones here.”  

Retirement has been good for me because it freed me from many of the restrictions of my life that were employment based. Being restrained by others and limiting myself drives me nuts, but it is somewhat inevitable in the workaday world. Nowadays, every morning, I drink coffee from a cup that is inscribed, “Never affirm self-limitations.” When I begin my morning and the sun is rising, I want my ears sensitive to all that is happening around me and I want my eyes wide open. I want to see, taste, touch, hear and smell it all. Bring it on. No limits.

What Would Jane Do?

By Leigh Stevenson

I had a huge realization. My return to the stage and the press surrounding it taught me something. Never has so much been written about so little. Really. The one-act play I did was funny, true. But articles in every publication in town, Facebook advertising, Twitter and then FRONT PAGE of the newspaper? Are you kidding me? Suddenly we were sold-out. The playwright, Robbie Robertson also our publicist/media guru, master of networking and blitzkrieg, was responsible.

I had heard for a while from professionals that getting your work out into the media, using all formats, is important. You create your own stir. I resisted this and basically ignored it. I thought, “Who would really read all the hype?” I guess I’m a throwback to Jane Austen. I just wanted to write. Not self-promote. Finally, a full year after a good friend said it was imperative, I created a blog. Slow study doesn’t quite cover it.

What Robbie taught me is, IT WORKS. However painful and makes me want-to-hide-under-the-bed-embarrassing, IT WORKS. If you create enough stir people will notice. I wish it was a different world. But it’s not.

Also, I wonder if the new technology intimidates anyone else. Is it just me? First, computers. That was a challenge, but I mastered the basics. Every time I talk with someone who knows more than I do (which isn’t hard), I pick their brain and take notes. In pencil. Remember pencil? By the way, do you notice that young people, I mean the ones that grew up with computers, are annoyed to show you how to do things on the computer? As if your ignorance wasn’t enough of a handicap, you feel dumb about being ignorant. I want to remind them; even they had to learn to read. We don’t spring from our mother’s loins with technology implanted. Or reading skills.

Next was email. I stuck a tentative toe in the water and then dove. I loved it. A fast, efficient way to correspond. Apparently it wasn’t fast or efficient enough. Then came (I’m not sure in what order, so don’t sue me) Websites for Everything and Everyone! Texting, Twitter, Blogging, Skype, Smartphones (what does that even mean?), Cloud technology, Nooks, Kindles, iPads, and on and on. I’m sure I’m behind on even naming them.

The point is, I feel I have to be a magician to keep up. I’m trying, heaven knows. I’m not sure, however, with all of this corresponding and sharing of information… if people are still talking. How’s the art of conversation faring with the How r u’s and LOL’s? How about handwritten letters? I used to love letters. Even a greeting card makes me happy. Oh sure, I love to get them via email, but there is something about holding them in your hand. Books, too. I don’t want to be a dinosaur about it but it’s true, there are things to miss. Some traditions worth hanging on to. I still love Jane Austen. What on earth would she have done?

I Can’t Find My Louboutins: Looking for a Fashion Writer Who Knows Where They Are

By Kimberly Johnson

I think I lost my shoes during NYC Fashion Week. Maybe if I put an all-points bulletin to the famous fashion bloggers and columnists I just might get them back in time for Christmas. For two days, I played Columbo and stumbled around the Internet. 

I Googled fashion writers. I learned that most editors want a niche writer with a proven track record. Start a blog to generate an audience is what the editors suggest. www.fashionista.com has over 937 K Twitter followers and 155K Facebook fans. Columnist Rachel Strugatz is legendary for her work for at Women’s Wear Daily and the Huffington Post. Here’s a sample highlighting jewelry worn by First Lady Michelle Obama.

“The one-of-a-kind Naeem Khan gown Michelle Obama donned for the state dinner stole the spotlight initially, but it was her show-stopping earrings that stole our hearts. The first lady borrowed the rose cut, amber, and tourmaline pear shaped earrings from Bochic, brainchild of New York-based David Aaron Joseph and Miriam Salat.”

John Jannuzzi, Jessica Quillin and Shala Monroque are prominent fashion writers-turned-editors that use Twitter and Facebook to maintain a strong social media presence. I located Olivia Fleming of London’s Daily Mail.  Maybe she can tell me where my shoes are. Fleming highlighted Louboutin in a November 11 article:

“Christian Louboutin is introducing a capsule collection of heels that promises to elongate your legs by matching the color of your skin. Five classic Louboutin styles have been re-imagined in five shades ranging from a fair blush to rich chestnut, which aim to 'closely match the color of a customer's skin tone'.”

 I Googled fashion writing. The result was a hodge podge of advice ranging from invest in a good dictionary to develop a tough hide to the quote “Writers are not born, they are created through hard work.”  Interestingly enough, a fashion writer internship popped up. 

“Want my job? Write a headline and 250 words on the person you would most like to interview in the fashion industry – it could be a designer, a show producer, a make-up artist, a hair stylist or a model. I want to know who inspires you and why.”  (from Rebecca Lowthrope, the fashion features director for Elle UK)

I think my shoes are truly lost. But I did find out that the fashion industry has creative writers in various genres. Fashion writers adhere to the same principles as a non-fiction writer, a memoirist, even a cookbook writer. The only thing different is the red carpet, the fabulous clothes, and the celebrities. Ok. I don’t really own a pair of Louboutins, but I do have a pair of Calvin Kleins.

    

Sources:  www.vogue.com,  www. ultimate-luxury-community.com, www.EzineArticles.com/3400120, www.dailywritingtips.com

I Love Words

Marion D. Aldridge

 “The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter--it's the difference between the lightning bug and lightning.”—Mark Twain

The first time I remember being impressed by the “right word” was when, as a young man, I read Eldridge Cleaver’s Soul on Ice. In a letter to Beverly Axelrod, he wrote, “Your letters to me are living pieces—chunks—of you.” I still have the paperback where I underlined that sentence and made note of the descriptive word: “chunks. “

No lightning bug there. Lightning!

Piano lessons cost money, so I never took a piano lesson.

Libraries, on the other hand, are free. So I read. Tom Sawyer. Swiss Family Robinson. The Mark of Zorro. I won the summer reading contest at the West End Free Library on Eve Street in Augusta, Georgia. I learned to love words.

Words do not have to be multi-syllable to be savored. Being incarcerated is no better than being jailed. The prisoner probably cannot tell the difference.

I’m pretty sure no one except doctoral students ever says “methodological parameters.” You can research the entire corpus of John Steinbeck, Margaret Atwood and Alex Haley and never read that phrase. Simple and clear is almost always better.

Some words are loaded with meaning and continue to be fresh even though they have been around a while: grace, paradox, courage, wisdom, hope, curious, integrity.

Some words are fun. Persnickety. Brouhaha. Rambunctious. Imp. Skittish. Chartreuse. Slimy.

Plurals can be fascinating: A congregation of alligators. A flight of butterflies. A murder of crows. A pod of whales. How did people know this stuff before Google? A tower of giraffes. Is Google pulling our long legs? A scourge of mosquitoes. In South Carolina, that one is easy to believe. The best, of course, is an exaltation of larks.

I enjoy the dynamic nature of our language. Cookies and the cloud mean something different than just a few years ago. What’s not to value about a vocabulary that includes such words as: earworm, ringtone, Zen, diss, netiquette? I could probably live without twerking, kankles, sissification and incentivize, but with language, you take the ugly with the exquisite.

Word combinations can double the pleasure: mash up, extreme scrupulosity, password fatigue, and unintended consequences. I have a personal affection for pleasantly plump.

Maybe the best word of all for a writer: period.

Good Rejection, Bad Rejection

By Bonnie Stanard

Recently I had a good rejection for a short story, at least I thought it was a good one. And yes, there are good rejections—something other than a slip of paper the size of a classified ad returned in your self-addressed stamped envelope. I have a file of select rejections, those with handwritten comments like “”some really nice lines in here,” or “this was a tough call,” or “Submit again!”

The rejections that really annoy me begin with, “We are writers too and we know how it feels…” as if we’re neophytes with no rejection experience. Just give me a reason or say “no.” By the way, I don’t mind the short, photocopied notes, but one time I got a slice of 8.5 x 11 paper no wider than ½ inch. Now that’s getting close to disrespectful.

One year, after my manuscript for a novel wasn’t chosen for the University of Tennessee’s Peter Taylor Prize, Director Brian Griffin wrote me a nice letter. I’ve read that rejection letter a number of times.

Anyway, back to what I thought was a good rejection. The editor wrote that my story just wasn’t what she was looking for and advised me to style my writing after that of a particular writer’s work in Narrator, a literary journal. This sounded sincere. 

I looked up the website and found the article in the archive and read what was a nostalgic essay on the way things once were. It’s hard to figure out techniques for writing fiction from an essay. Maybe the editor was suggesting I get out of fiction and into nonfiction.

Being the cynic that I am, I’m beginning to wonder if even this “good” rejection was as generic as the four-line formulas. Maybe every rejected submission to that journal got this same response. Maybe the objective wasn’t to help me with my writing style but to increase the online traffic for a certain writer.

Looking ahead, the days of the rejection letter are numbered as editors and writers transition to the internet for submissions and communication. We’ve already seen the profusion of www magazines. Even elite print journals are adding online satellites. Whether online or print, most journals request or allow email submissions in which you either paste your manuscript in the body or attach it as a document. 

A number of journals employ online submission managers. I have accounts on several of these. This eliminates email. You simply upload the document containing your work. Decisions from the editors are posted in a grid space reserved for rejections and acceptances, which you access by signing in. There’s virtually no communication between writers and editors.

Though this is easier and faster, it has a downside. With letters (or slips of paper), you can trash all those rejections and forget about them. However, with the submission manager, every time you sign in, you see all the material you’ve submitted that has been declined. If you’re like me, one rejection at a time is manageable, but it’s disheartening to see a long list of them. And on the other hand, you don’t get those nice, hand-written comments either.

Website Tips

By Fred Fields

I have a website, www.efcopublishingco.com and its purpose is to get my name and book before the public.

Last year, at the SCWW Convention in Myrtle Beach, I learned something about blogging. There were several seminars dedicated to the subject, and here are some of the basic tips I remember and am using, about developing an active website:

·  Post blogs to your site regularly. Try to have a new blog posted on the same day every week. Although your site should have a theme, you don't have to remain true to it every issue. My site is mainly about golf, but come Monday, if I have something else that may interest my readers, I'll write that. Sometimes I'll put in a joke, golf related or not; or write a tip on some other subject. I wrote a blog about how I lost 20 pounds and have kept it off for 6 months. This week I wrote about the value of experience and studying history. Anything to keep my audience coming back for more, and always on Monday, so they know they can count on its regularity.

·  Associate your website with others, so that anyone arriving at your location will learn about them, and vice-versa.

·  Keep your blogs short and sharp. Three hundred words should be your maximum. Don't bore your readers. If you can tell stories or add humor, that's a good way to keep them coming back for more, and mentioning your site to their friends.

·  Use artwork whenever possible. Visuals attract attention. Drawings or photographs, both are good. Color is better than black and white, but either is better than words alone.

I have made one serious mistake with my website. Efco Publishing Co. is the name I have chosen for my publishing company, and it will market all the books I try to sell. My next book, however, is planned to be a cookbook, and will require a separate website, not tied to the golf format. So I am planning to expand to a master website for the company, and separate sites for each book, or at least every category of books. The company site will, of course, direct readers to the internet location of their interest.

This plan is possible because we are not limited to only one website.

Blogging is effective and inexpensive. Once your website is up on the internet, it is free advertising. Your only expense is the time invested to inform your readers who you are and where you are, and find ways to entice them back to you.