I need help getting started...

Yesterday I was asked the question "I'm writing a non-fiction book. I'm stuck in trying to create a vibe rather than just write it so it can be edited, any jump start tips?

Here are my top five ‘getting started’ tips for writing non-fiction."

1. Start typing and write out your message as if you're explaining the topic to someone you care about.

2. Write down everything you KNOW about the subject. (It may be more than you think!)

3. Split up your ideas into topics. Separate these topics into chapters.

4. Ask your friends (real or on-line) their thoughts on the subject. It's great to open up conversation.

5. Read a non-fiction book you love ... read until you get the rhythm and then start YOUR story on the page.

Fiction should sound real!

This great advice is from Barbara Warren's February newsletter! Very good advice!

WRITING TIP OF THE MONTH:The writing tip this month will actually be a list of tips. Things we may know but need to remember.

Fiction is not reality, but it should sound real. We are asking the reader to suspend belief to accept what we write. If we do a good job, readers will believe, at least until they finish reading the story, that there really is life on some far out planet and they will identify with it. The reader will accept that animals can talk, that elephants can fly, or dinosaurs can be created with DNA from a fossil. But what we write must seem to be realistic. You, as a writer, are asking the reader to believe in something impossible, and that's fine, but those talking animals must have a human quality the reader can recognize and identify with. There must be universal feelings we all know and perhaps have experienced. If your reader identifies with your character he will care about what happens to this fictional person, even if the "person" is a robot, or an animal, and keep on reading about him. That's what we all want.

Don't be afraid to let your characters talk, and know them well enough you have some idea of how they sound. Your book needs to be at least ½ dialogue. Listen to the way people talk. Write down distinctive phrases and words. Don't let your characters speak perfect English. Let them talk the way you and the people around you talk. Resist the urge to have a character make a speech. Most of us don't hold forth sentence after sentence, unless we're angry and lining someone out. (in that case, I can go on for thirty minutes without taking a breath) Break up long passages of dialogue with action or another character speaking. Dialogue reveals what your character is like. So turn them loose and let them talk.

Don't have your character walk into a room and then stop while you, the writer, describes every stick of furniture, every ornament, and even the pattern in the wallpaper. Your reader will probably skip this. Instead have the character sit down in the red leather chair and pick up a letter opener and start opening the stack of mail. Let the canary in the cage by the window overlooking the river start to sing. Let your character glance at the gold-framed mirror and brush back her honey gold hair. Don't do all of this in the same paragraph of course, but pick two or three details and show them through your reader's actions.

Try not to have a grocery list of every thing the character does. She opens the door, walks down the steps, turns right at the sidewalk, walks to the car, opens the door on the driver side and gets in, turn the key, starts the motor and drives away. Just have her walk out, get in her car and leave. Let the reader use her imagination to fill in the rest.

Write for the eye. Before writing is read, it is seen. Long paragraphs of description or introspection, or even dialogue signals to the reader that this is something he can skim. Do you read every word in a half page paragraph? I didn't think so. So give the reader some white space. Break up those long paragraphs. Don't give that reader the slightest reason to skim one word of your wonderful prose.

And above all, keep writing. Try to write something every day. Don't write one book, send it out, and then never write again until you sell that one. The only way to keep our writing muscles in shape is to exercise them. Put the seat of the pants in the seat of the chair and pound that keyboard. That's the way to grow and develop your writing talent.

And read, read, read. Read books on writing, read in your genre, and read nonfiction to enlarge your perception of the world. God gave us the talent. Our job is to develop it.

Advice for Novelists (Part 62)

C.J. Darlington, co-founder of TitleTrakk, is running a great series on her blog: She started a series of blog posts in which industry professionals (editors, agents, publicists, authors, etc.) share their responses to this question:

"If you could say one thing to aspiring novelists, what would you say?"

Today we hear from a beloved author, Francine Rivers. Her advice comes from an interview C.J. did for TitleTrakk.com. If you'd like to read the full piece it can be found here. In the mean time, here's her response:"If you could say one thing to aspiring novelists, what would you say?"Commit your work to the Lord. Stay in Scripture every day so you’re being formed by it. That formation will come through in your writing in a natural way. The redemption story is the greatest story to tell. That’s what I think everyone hungers for, whether they know it or not. I believe God puts something in us to crave a relationship with Him. People tend to look in every possible place for the answer, and they’re not going to find it until they meet Jesus. The way I felt when I became a Christian was, “Finally I found what I’m looking for! I feel at home here. This is what I’ve been seeking my whole life.”

--Francine Rivers, bestselling author of Redeeming Love, the Mark of the Lion series, and many others. Visit her website here.

Where we're going ...

As someone who has done it all marketing-wise (newsletters, events, signings, mailings, blog tours, interviews, national media, social networking, whew) I'm taking a step back and focusing on "big picture" thinking. With many books in various genres I've given as much to each one as possible ... which is great, but very tiring. I felt like the tail was wagging the dog.

Currently, I'm trying to work smarter, not harder by considering who I am and my vision/mission. Even though I write in many genres there are some heart-messages that come through no matter what I write.

Because I'm focusing on my heart-messages, I'm using that as a core for everything I do. In the future my marketing efforts will work together, each book building up my core message. I won't market to a genre, instead I'll use each genre to promote the vision I desire to share with an audience. (Key work here being "plan.")

All that to say this is still in-process, but one I'm very excited about!

What you can be sure of is that you'll be seeing some changes. Maybe in the look of things. Maybe in the number of blogs I do. Maybe in the newsletters I send out. But hopefully the streamlining will help me to share my heart-message better and clearer ... and you'll get the nuggets without all the chaff!

I'm excited!

Proven Internet Marketing Techniques

From the CAN Marketing blog!

Another Monday morning tip from Gail Gaymer Martin at www.gailmartin.com

Internet marketing is probably one of the greatest resources authors have besides the powerful word of mouth. Another article that caught my eye had some ideas that I expanded to fit author’s needs. Below are five marketing techniques that have been proven to work. Make sure your promotion and message are attractive, communicate with action, and point to customers' needs

1. Offer an irresistible free gift. Make sure the customer signs up for your newsletter to receive this gift. Though it can be digital or audio, occasionally a physical gift which gives you addresses -- and can help you organize a book tour in the areas where you have the most readers. Whatever you give them, make it worthwhile. Perhaps you could offer them a discount coupon if they order a book through you.

2. Craft e-mail messages that spark emotions and action. If you're not excited about your project or message neither will the visitor to your web page be. Make sure the subject line of your email is catchy and bring the message in the email to life with your own enthusiasm. Give them reasons to relate to your books or message.

3. Create an online sales page that moves people to action. Using links to your books at on-line book stores is an active way to help those interested in purchasing or reading more about your book, but don't forget that being an affiliate will also bring in some revenue for you. It's not that difficult to sign up for those programs and to use the links that will identify you as the source of the sale.

4. Use auto-responders to build relationships and extend offers. Many subscription and notification features provide an automatic response to the subscriber so they know they have been successful. If you can personalize with a thank your for subscribing, all the better. Making the reader or responder feel as if you care is a key to them being faithful to you as a customer. Keep the tone friendly and always provide a way for them to opt out.

5. Build your potential customer list with joint ventures, affiliates, and social media. Once again networking is important and places like FaceBook, LinkedIn, and Shoutlife offers the opportunity to form groups of fans and groups for genre-oriented readers and also they allow you to send bulletins, events and blogs that they will receive on their homepages that will allow you to advertise your books and your appearances.

If you'd like to read the original article by Christine Comaford, Click here: Five Proven Internet Marketing Techniques I have taken this information and geared it more for authors and I hope you find it helpful.

Guest Blogger...Jennifer Devlin

Hey, friends! Jennifer Devlin here again with encouragement as you continue your publicity trek. Today let’s decide we won’t live in fear of rejection. Fear. Now there’s a topic we think of often but don’t mention much. Let’s just go there for a minute, shall we?

As a self professed “chicken momma” I guess I’m sort of the armchair expert on the issue of fear. Learning to move past my own sense of shortcomings and resolving to step out in faith has been my daily mountain to climb for years. With each step, I find God to be incredibly merciful and completely faithful. My obedience partnered with His equipping results in a life greater than I ever imagined.

What about you? Are you conquering fear, or is it conquering you?

Not sure? Take a look at how you approach publicity and marketing. Press kits, book signings, blog tours, postcards, websites, social networking, and all the other avenues we discuss on this blog are great. But, if God is calling you to step out in a different direction from the crowd, and you don’t try it because you aren’t sure how it will end up, isn’t that hesitation the same thing as fear? Fear of the unknown result?

Sometimes the publicity we have become accustomed to is the comfort zone keeping us from where God would have us go. Our press kits can become a self-loving packet of kudos and creativity that does nothing more than stroke our own ego – if it lacks the message that will meet the need of the reader.

If we live by human accolades, running around in our comfort zone, afraid of stepping out into unfamiliar waters, are we living above fear, or simply denying its presence?

If we live a life where we simply thrive on “believing our own press” (or press kit quotes), we dwell in the land of the human. The temporal. The limited. Let’s you and me decide to live above the fray – in the flow of God’s Spirit – in the place where God is allowed to move on our behalf, because we’ve set fear aside and pressed on in spite of our insecurities.

Read the rest here!

Advice for Novelists (Part 61)

C.J. Darlington, co-founder of TitleTrakk, is running a great series on her blog: She started a series of blog posts in which industry professionals (editors, agents, publicists, authors, etc.) share their responses to this question:

"If you could say one thing to aspiring novelists, what would you say?"

I'm pleased to feature a publicist's perspective:Vicky Welch!

Remember that writing is just the beginning. When your book is accepted by a publisher and the manuscript is complete, your second job begins. It's time to market yourself! Many authors would love to leave it up to your publicist, and that may be possible, but many of the most successful authors I've worked with are masterminds at self promotion.

Read the rest here!