How Technology is Changing the Publishing Process. Or Not? by Paulette Nunlee

The Blood, Sweat and Tears Were Part of It All

Authors Beverly Jenkins, Brenda Jackson and other traditional published writers have learned the secret. Whatever happens in the publishing industry, they’ll always be at the top of their games. Their names will forever come first when I’m asked to list my all-time favorite authors.

When they started, their creativity was only the first step in producing a best seller. Their talent piqued the interest of a publisher who took the rawness that was submitted and dissected it thought-by-thought, word-by-word and returned it to the writer for another chance to rework their masterpiece. The cycle repeated over a long period of time until a perfect product was produced.

Ask them and I’m sure they’ll say those weren’t fun times, seeing their words red-marked and whole pages and chapters crossed out that may have taken weeks or more to put on paper. I’m certain there were many days of self-doubt before they could even sit down and attempt the rewrites. But in the end, it was worth the blood, sweat and tears.

Technology Has Created a Monster

I stand up and cheer for today’s writers being able to publish their own work. That means they now have the freedom to create their masterpiece how and when they please, in their own words. Technology has made it possible for writers to put out as many books as they want, limited only by the number of hours they’re willing to put in.

Readers are no longer satisfied with wondering what happened with their characters after turning the last page. Being able to communicate 24-7 with authors on Facebook, Twitter and etc., etc., has created that monster of a reader that demands to know what happens next. And they want to know—right now. Likewise, a growing addiction for book series has readers pushing authors to constantly churn their imaginations for more and more storylines.

While the monsters want to know—right now—they’ll also rip writers apart in the reviews if they’re not getting that same quality they feel their purchase entitles them to. Even if it’s free. Why read a bad free book when there’s a ton of good free books written by writers trying to break in? Readers expect publisher standards. They don’t care how it’s done, they still want the best for their time and their bucks.

Slow Down! You’re Moving Too Fast

Where technology has helped, it has also harmed many good storytellers. While it allows writers to generate raw books at breakneck speed, it also exposes their weaknesses. Finishing a book and uploading it on Amazon can’t make a new writer a best-selling author. Neither can an influx of good reviews by family and friends. A writer’s one and two-star-rated reviews because of poor grammar and misspellings are only a Google search away. And that stays. Forever. In 2015 reviews have become an author’s resume. Although volume is overtaking quality, how many books can a tarnished or destroyed reputation sell?

Today’s microwave culture has created such a rush to publish that too many writers have deleted the crucial steps the Beverly Jenkinses and Brenda Jacksons had to endure. New writers are flooding the marketplace with pieces of work that only generous teachers would have graded an incomplete because of typos and inconsistencies. Many of those unedited, and probably imaginative, stories would have probably been emptied from a publisher’s shredder long before the editor reached the manuscript’s midway point. That stuff wouldn’t have made the cut because they tried to rush and cheat the process.

What Are The Steps?

Know your role. You are the creator. Your talent lies in telling the story. But your responsibility is ensuring your final piece is a masterpiece.
Understand the process. If you’re playing the game to win, learn the rules and stick with the process. You can’t skip the fundamentals. Create-Edit-Edit Again-Proofread-Upload-Market-Sell.
Invest in the right tools. Realize that to showcase your work properly, you’ll need professional help. Your sister or BFF may read all the time, but are they qualified to edit your book by publisher standards? Your nephew and SO both taught themselves Photoshop, but can either design your book’s cover to meet professional specifications? Ask trusted, successful writers who they recommend and be willing to pay the price. You can’t play in the monetizing game without spending some money.
Trust your resources. If my host author and friend Deatri, in her Become a Successful Author, shared how to format your book, follow that. She’s had years of paid experience from a traditional publisher to transform raw manuscripts to books fit for printing. And now she’s doing what you want to do—and accepting awards for doing it well.
Make that first impression count. Your mother already taught you that. Need I say more?

What do Beverly and Brenda Know?

Twenty years and they’re still doing the blood, sweat and tears. Enduring the red-marked words, but not agonizing so much over those lost pages and chapters. They still do the creative, raw part because that’s what they’re good at. The other stuff—the developmental and copy editing, and proofreading—they leave to the pros. They know that’s a partnership that should never be left out of the publishing process—traditional or self. They know the secret. While technology continues to make things faster and easier and allows writers to self-publish, they know that over time quality is going to win out. And finally, they just know their adoring and demanding readers expect the same publisher’s standards they’ve always wanted, and will accept nothing less.

Paulette Nunlee is the proofreader for fivestarproofing.com. A former telecommunications executive, she has many years experience in editing corporate communications. She currently proofreads for award-winning authors and is writing her first book. Reach her at paulette@fivestarproofing.com.

Become A Successful Author Reboot by Deatri King-Bey

I can’t believe that it’s been three years since Become A Successful Author was first release. What I believe even less is how much the publishing industry has changed since then.

Three years ago, Borders went out of business along with numerous other bookstores. Kindles and Nooks ate up so much of the book market that many said print books would soon be a thing of the past.

Well, print books are here to stay. Even Amazon is opening its first physical bookstore.

Back to Become A Successful Author. The publishing world is ever changing, so I had to update the book. Yep. The second edition is out. I’ve removed irrelevant sections, beefed up others and added a few articles. If you have an ecopy, be sure to check with your bookseller. Many of them give free updates when a title has changed considerably.

It’s October, so it’s time to close the Become A Successful Author blog until February 2015. While we’re on break, be sure to catch up on previous posts, and if you haven’t gotten your copy of Become a Successful Author, get your copy today. It’s full of GOOD STUFF.

Purchase the print ($9.99) or eBook ($4.99) Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Happy Holidays
Deatri King-Bey

Goodreads for Authors: 8 Easy Ways to Raise Visibility for Your Books by Lynn Emery

Book geek heaven, that’s a good description of Goodreads. Even now that Amazon owns the site, it’s still very much reader centric. The czar of customer service seems to have recognized this and mostly left the way GR works alone. If you want to increase your reach with serious book lovers I recommend considering these tips to leverage GR.

Disclaimer: I’m not trying to convince writers that they MUST be on Goodreads NOW or their writing careers are OVER! I have few extra hours or energy to invest in another time suck, like many writers. Still there are low cost ways to get your info flashed to readers without spending a lot of time.

1. Do giveaways. Ignore the GR advice. Have short giveaways of 5 to 15 days. Why? GR promotes new giveaways and those about to end, urging readers to hurry before the deadline. In between your giveaway is merely listed with thousands of others.

You don’t have to give away 10 + books. Do less. Some writers do just one. I think that’s a bit restrictive. I’d say 5 is a good number. But you should open the giveaway to all countries, or at least multiple countries. I hear you, “But Lynn, GR only allows print books as prizes. That’s a lot of postage!” Drop ship your books directly from your POD company. Mail books to foreign winners from Book Depository (www.bookdepository.com). You can ship one book to worldwide for free! Check their list to make sure your winner lives in a country they ship to, but it’s a long list. Tip: you can only send one book to another country for free during a shopping episode, but I found a work around. I had three foreign winners. I discovered that if I waited a day to send the next one it was still free.

2. Add books to your shelves. GR members love seeing what other members are reading. They want to know you’re not just hanging out to push your books, but you’re a reader, too.

3. Post what you’re reading so your friends (and their friends) will see the books you like.

4. Post reviews. Members read reviews. It’s word of mouth. While they’re doing that guess what? They notice you’re an author and check out your titles.

5. Post book trailers on your author profile. We’re living in a visual world like it or not.

6. You don’t have a GR author profile filled out? Create one.

7. Try GR ads. They’re surprisingly affordable.

8. Open up the new “Ask the Author” feature. One tip I read is to pose a question yourself, answer it and give visitors insight into your process. I just started using in the last month, so far no questions. Still it’s another useful took to reach out.

None of these will guarantee your sales will jump. What you will do is get your name and book covers in front of hungry reader eyes. The goal of advertising is to reach your target audience so as not to waste time and money. GR members are some serious book fans.. I don’t hang out on GR a lot, and I haven’t searched for and added a bunch of friends. But I actually enjoy posting my current reads, when I finish each book, and doing short reviews.

My results: sales increased about 7%. Several hundred GR members added my books to their “To Read” lists. GR sends out updates to members, so others see my book covers listed in their friends “To Read” lists. GR reviews increased significantly (about 35%). Admittedly I don’t have a huge number of reviews per book, but that’s a lot more than I had before. Updates also show reviews to the friends of those members, therefore e visibility for my books increased. This led to more reviews. Print sales went up, but not significantly.

Give it a try. You don’t have to spend any money or a lot of time. Where else can you find millions of book-a-holics looking for their next favorite read? It just may be worth it.

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Lynn Emery: Mix knowledge of Louisiana politics and forensic social work, with the dedication to write fiction while working each day as a clinical social worker, and you get a snapshot of author Lynn Emery.

She sold her first novel in 1995 to Kensington publishing for their groundbreaking Arabesque line. NIGHT MAGIC went on to be recognized for Excellence in Romance Fiction for 1995 by Romantic Times Magazine. Her third novel, AFTER ALL, became a movie produced by BET and aired on December 3, 1999. Holly Robinson Peete stars as Michelle Toussaint, an investigative television reporter. In 2004 Lynn won three coveted Emma Awards. She was chosen Author of the Year and her novel KISS LONLEY GOODBYE won Best Novel and Favorite Hero. GOOD WOMAN BLUES was nominated for the Romantic Times Best Mainstream Multicultural of 2005.

Visit Lynn Online: http://www.lynnemery.com/

Don’t have a copy of the SECOND EDITION of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author is used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99 (print) from: Amazon (US) or Barnes & Noble

Five Reasons Authors Need GoodReads By Terry Whalin

I am no GoodReads expert. Millions of readers are on this site talking about books. Over four years ago in 2011, I learned about this site through some email or article or bit of information that came across my computer screen. I registered at GoodReads then for three years I almost never returned.

Earlier this year, I saw GoodReads likes book reviews. I have reviewed over 450 books on Amazon (who also owns GoodReads). I took about an hour and cut and pasted some of my Amazon reviews on the GoodReads site. Currently I have reviewed about 85 books.

Almost two months ago, my friend Sandra Beckwith interviewed Cynthia Shannon, the Author Marketing Coordinator at GoodReads. The teleseminar was excellent and if you did not hear it, you can follow this link and get this inexpensive educational teleseminar.

As I listened to this event, Cynthia spoke about the need for authors to claim their Author Profile Status. While I had not done much on my profile, I had taken this step to be identified on GoodReads as an author. Next Cynthia talked about the incomplete profile which didn’t have the author’s photo or links to the Author’s website or twitter account. As I followed along online during the event, I discovered, I was one of “those” authors.

Immediately I fixed my GoodReads profile. I added my photo and filled out my profile adding my twitter link and much more. Yet I didn’t complete the teleseminar and was pulled away from my computer. It wasn’t an issue because the event was recorded and Sandra sent us the recording (which is still available). Days and weeks passed before I caught the final portion of this event this week.

There was a place for book trailer videos so I uploaded my two videos. Also I saw a little shadow image at the top of the GoodReads home page with a number next to my small photo. It read 495. To my horror, I discovered this number was people who had requested to be my friend on GoodReads and I had not responded or answered. Thankfully I’ve resolved all of these requests and accepted these friends and grown my friends on GoodReads.

Now you can tell the truth of my opening statement: I am no GoodReads expert—but I am learning and growing in my knowledge of this site. In fact, this week I learned the salesmen at Ingram Publishing Services can see a little icon when they look up our names. It is a GoodReads icon and shows whether the author has an active GoodReads presence or not. IPS is the distributor of the Morgan James books. My Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham biography are both published through Morgan James Publishing. It is important that I work at reporting my promotion activities to these sales people because they sell the book into the bookstores. Every bookstore buys books based on the perception of what the author is doing to promote the book. See why I became more interested in being active on GoodReads?

If you are an author or want to be an author, here are five reasons authors need to be on GoodReads:

1. There are 30 million readers on GoodReads. Yes 30 million. Earlier this year they touted 25 million and now it is 30, so it has increased five million in nine months. Just look at the growth curve for this site and that is a good reason for your involvement.

2. You want to interact with people who love books. GoodReads is all about readers and reviews and finding good books then talking about them. Marketing Expert Penny Sansevieri had a lengthy section about GoodReads in her Ebook HOW TO GET REVIEWS BY THE TRUCKLOAD ON AMAZON. I wrote about Penny’s book several months ago (follow this link).

3. You want to be involved in reading and talking about books. On GoodReads, there is a section called Groups. There are thousands (no exaggeration) of groups on any imaginable topic related to talking about books. Join a couple of groups and just like any forum or group, observe and read the conversation before jumping into it. If you can contribute to the discussion, then that is terrific. You will find more readers through tapping into these groups.

4. You want to get more reviews of your own books. I’ve discussed this important aspect of books in other articles but book reviews sell books. If you want to get more reviews, then as an author I encourage you to participate in Giveaways.

5. If you are a book author, you need to claim your GoodReads author profile. One of the relatively new features on GoodReads is a section called Ask the Author. The author has to turn on this feature. Then on your dashboard (that only you can see), you will see new questions to answer. It gives you a place to interact with your readers.

I’ve only scratched the surface of this extensive site. There are many more reasons than these five to regularly visit and learn about GoodReads. It will pay off for you in ways you can’t even begin to imagine.

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in Colorado. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. To help writers, he has created 12-lesson online course called Write A Book Proposal. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com.

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Five Tips for Starting a Successful Writer’s Group by Barbara Joe Williams

Six years ago, another author and I decided it would be great to start a local writer’s group in Tallahassee, Florida. We had been traveling together for over a year attending conferences and visiting different writing groups, and had a general vision of what we wanted to do. We thought it would be nice to start something in our own backyard for aspiring writers, published authors, and avid readers. So in September 2008, we booked a meeting room at the main library, emailed everyone on our local mailing lists, and invited them to meet us at the library. That day, the Tallahassee Authors Network was born.

Although only seven people showed up for that first meeting, we continued to move forward on a bi-monthly schedule. Now, we have over thirty members who attend and participate on a regular basis. The mission of TAN is to bring published and unpublished authors together with avid readers in one venue for networking purposes. We don’t charge a membership fee or have any type of dues. Our only requirements are participation and subscription to our website at: www.tanfl.webs.com

If you’re serious about starting a group in your area, the following five tips should help you decide if you’re ready for this challenge:

1. Quality vs. Quantity. You will have to ask yourself if you want to have quality meetings or if you just want to build membership. Some authors won’t start a group because they don’t feel like they have enough members to make it worth their time. If you feel you need at least ten people to establish a group, you’ll probably never get started. In my opinion, it only takes 2-3 writers to start a group. If you build it with substance and promote it properly, others will hear about it and eventually come. However, you must focus on trendy topics that authors and readers want to talk about and are willing to give up their valuable time to come out and participate.

2. Having objectives. You should have measurable objectives for starting your writers group. Will it be for networking purposes only? Will it be for developing writing skills? Will it be solely for doing critiques or reviewing each other’s work? Will it be only for published authors? Once you have answered these questions, you can develop a mission statement that will help shape the overall structure of the group. The key to being successful is setting reachable goals. We decided to make TAN a place for readers and writers to connect with one another. Although our primary goal is networking, we also have writing exercises, and share our works in progress at almost every meeting.

3. Building structure. The next step is deciding on the structure of your group which is probably the most important thing. You have to answer the following questions: Do you want it to be an open or closed group? Do you want it formal or informal? Do you want members to apply for membership? Do you want to have a registration fee or membership dues? Do you want officers and directors for the group? Do you want to meet every week, once a month, or once every other month? Do you want to have meeting agendas or not? We decided to make TAN an unlimited open group, meaning that members can join, or leave at any time, without an application process. We also decided to meet every other month instead of monthly.

4. Meeting place. Once you have set your objectives and decided on a structure for your group, the next step is to find a general meeting place that’s free. With that in mind, the library is probably the best choice. We started TAN in a small meeting room upstairs at the main library located in downtown Tallahassee. We quickly grew out of that room and moved into the large conference room downstairs. Occasionally, we have meetings at local restaurants to fellowship with one another in different settings, but we have never rented a building. Now, we meet bi-monthly at one of the branch libraries because it’s easier to secure a room when we need it.

5. Commitment. You’d be surprised at how many authors have started writing groups but have given up after a few months for whatever reasons. That’s why it’s going to require commitment (on your part) to build a successful writer’s organization. Membership may not always be where you’d like it to be, members may not participate as much as you want them to, but you have to be committed to attending every meeting and leading the way. In the beginning, my partner and I conducted (or led) each meeting. Now, members rotate the leading of each session and participation has greatly increased. In six years, we have grown from seven to forty-eight members but quality still counts.

Our standard agenda consists of the following: Welcome, short introductions, old business, new business, break, presentation (author), Q & A, writing activity, readings (if time permits). We normally meet for 2-3 hour sessions. In January, we started taping our author presentations and posting them on our Tallahassee Authors Network YouTube channel.

I hope this blog has helped you with deciding if the time is right for you to start your own group or not. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please post them here, email me, or contact me on Facebook.

Remember, you can join our online group at: www.tanfl.webs.com

Barbara Joe Williams is an Amazon bestselling author, indie publisher, and motivational speaker living in Tallahassee, Florida. She is a Navy veteran, a graduate of Tallahassee Community College, and Florida A & M University. Barbara is also the founder of Amani Publishing, LLC (2004), and the co-founder of the Tallahassee Authors Network since September 2008. She has published books for over thirty authors. All her books are available now at Amazon.com, BN.com, Booksamillion.com, and all other retail bookstores upon request.

Website: www.Barbarajoe.webs.com

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What Is Going On In The African American Lit World? By Kisha Green

For some this is a touchy subject so I will try to approach it with the passion I feel for the topic without sounding preachy. I love this industry and consider it a blessing to have a gift and a pleasure and great responsibility to bring great stories to readers as well as offer services I provide to authors and publishers in the industry.

In my opinion, one of the biggest reasons African American literature is not taken seriously is not because there isn’t a market, it is the un-professionalism of the people publishing books. Self publishing a book is a big responsibility. It is also an investment on your mark in this industry. It is very IMPERATIVE that you invest in a professional team of like-minded individuals to make your dream come true. If this is something you truly want to make a career or even a legacy for your family to take the torch, shouldn’t you want the best?

Bookstores are already trying to make us believe the urban market isn’t lucrative. They are closing doors left and right because of the readers no longer visiting stores but are instead one clicking books from mobile devices. These quick sales have turned into somewhat of a gamble because the price is often parallel with the low quality work. Representing product that is lack luster due to poor editing, armature style cover art, and all around poor print eminence handicaps the genre as a whole and gives mainstream one more reason to turn a blind eye to what many may consider the greatest and most vast genre in literature.

With the way the industry has changed, now more than ever there are lots of talented authors hitting the market everyday. Some have more experience than others in the business aspect but make no doubt about it, this is a business. We owe it to ourselves to conduct ourselves as such. That means reading and honoring the contracts we sign, showing up for all engagements (offline and online), and presenting a professional image at all times.

Engaging in a public beef or disparaging other authors or companies online and during radio interviews, not only damages the other party’s image but yours as well. If you do have a legitimate claim or complaint with an author, or service provider, I would contact them directly and then follow up with what can be done with the third party in which the person was paid. Ultimately one must go through the property channels.

With the age of social media we live in now you would think there would be cross promotion, partnerships being formed, alliances being built to further the thing that is your dream. Instead of effective networking and solid marketing, I’ve seen an amazing amount of cyber bullying, online high school cliques, and a major case of crabs in a barrel syndrome. If we can’t take each other seriously and represent ourselves as professionals why would anybody out side of this take us seriously?

Conduct yourself online like a professional and ultimately you will be treated like one. People know who they can say certain things to. Social media is indeed a gift and a curse but at the end of the day you are the one solely responsible for what goes on with your accounts. If you want to be successful you must surround yourself around other successful people. In conclusion all African American authors play a contributing factor to getting our books out there and while it is a great accomplishment to become a published author and see that dream become a reality, but the old saying still holds true. United we stand divided we all fall.

Kisha Green is no stranger to the literary world. She is the well-informed, knowledgeable publisher of DivaBooksInc.(www.divabooksinconline.com). Green is a senior writer and founder of the Writer’s Vibe (www.writers-vibe.com) a literary site to help promote artists.

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Pre-Orders Amazon Style by Deatri King-Bey

I have a love/hate relationship with Amazon, as many authors do. But I have got to give them their props. They promote the products they distribute better than any other distributor out there. Now they’ve added the ability for self-published authors to set up their eTitles for pre-order. Bravo!

I must admit, I do not like pre-ordering books because I know I won’t keep up with if I actually received them but a lot of readers love to do pre-orders. Soooo, with this new functionality, I decided to give it a try so I could tell you about it. They began this option two weeks before my new title was released, so my title was only on pre-order a week, but I learned a lot from that week.

Setting up for pre-order is very easy. Go into your Amazon KDP account and upload your manuscript as usual and select the option for pre-order. A week before your release date, you must upload the FINAL version of your manuscript. If you do not upload the final version, you will not be able to place another title on pre-order for a year. Once you have uploaded your final version, you will not be able to change the file the last week before the go-live date.

Great news. Your title DOES NOT have to be enrolled in KDP Select in order to set it on pre-order. KDP Select is the program where you give Amazon exclusive distribution rights to your title for ninety days and in exchange they allow you to give the book away a few days and they add it to their free library. You are paid for the free downloads from their library.

So a little over a week before my title went live, it was available for pre-order. The night before the book was available for everyone, the people who’d pre-ordered it received their notice that they could download the book. I had a few readers contact me saying they’d read the book and two even posted a review the morning it went live. Having reviews from users with the “Verified Purchase” is a good thing.

I wondered how they’d do the sales rank. I had hopedthe titles that were sold during pre-order wouldn’t count until the title went live, but that was not the case. They count during pre-order then they also give your ranking a little boost when it becomes available. I don’t know the algorithm they use to calculate how much and I’m sure they’ll be changing it often.

From the KDP Reports Dashboard, you’ll see the Pre-Orders option that will give you the number of pre-orders your title has.

Back to ranking. You need to understand how pre-orders will affect your ranking. My last seven titles hit the top twenty in their first day of release. In my category, that’s around fifty-sixty copies. By the second day, the new title is usually in or close to the top ten. Then my sales usually shoot off and stay pretty good a few weeks. I promote initially, but don’t do the continual promotion that I know I should, but that’s a different post.

I discovered that getting into the top twenty and even better yet the top ten your first few days is crucial. The higher your rank, the more Amazon pushes it. That was why I wanted to know how the pre-sale copies would affect the first day sales. For me, if my new title can get into the top twenty the first day, that title will do good.

The night before my title was available, the sales rank was 103,000. According to the report, there were twenty-seven pre-orders. The morning it was live, without any additional sales yet, it was 42,000. So there was a bump up in ranks as a result of the pre-orders.

During the course of the day, thirty-eight additional units of the book sold. I checked at 9 p.m. before I went to bed. So my first day sales were 27 (pre-order) + 38 (first day sales), which, when combined, is in the range of what I usually sell on the first day. So what do you think my Amazon ranking was? Did it make the top twenty as usual?

As you see, it did not. I have a base of around sixty readers who usually buy my new title on the first day. This puts my title in the top twenty quickly for my category, which did not happen because the pre-orders didn’t count as full units. This ranking isn’t bad, but I’ve noticed a huge different between being in the top twenty on the first day.

Here are the rankings from 6 p.m. the day after it went live.

Second Day For Keeps

The title continued to climb the charts, but not enough for my liking. That loss of twenty-seven sells makes a big difference. So for me, I will not be doing pre-orders again anytime soon, because I don’t have a large enough base that pre-orders will not hurt my ranking. I need that big bang on the first day. You will need to do what works for you.

Deatri King-Bey

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author is used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $8.99 (print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Five Ways to Get Your Writing Unstuck by W. Terry Whalin

Throughout my day writers will email me for help with their writing. The words I have in my Twitter profile is one of the key reasons: I love to help writers. Let me know how I can help YOU! I include my email in my twitter profile to encourage such correspondence.

As an acquisitions editor at a New York publisher, I get a lot of email every day. Yet I make a point to answer each one of the emails from writers who are asking for help. From my 20+ years in publishing, I know it is hard to navigate the publishing world. I’ve sent my share of emails and letters into the system which have gone into a void—or so they seem because nothing came back from my careful shaping and sending them. It can be discouraging.

Recently a ministry leader wrote me about being stuck. He had started writing a book but gotten stuck at the second chapter. What actions should this leader take to move forward on his dream of writing a book?

Many times writers are stuck and unsure how to move forward. It happens with book projects because they are not simple 30 minute or an hour in length. To write a book takes a great deal of consistent effort and energy. When it comes to writing a book, one of the best tools is to first, write a book proposal. The key portion of the proposal that will keep you writing and moving ahead is the chapter-by-chapter outline. This simple outline is the structure for your book. You can even print it out then cross off the chapters as you write them.
If you are stuck in your writing, here’s five ways to get unstuck:

1. Evaluate Your Goal. Are you committed to this writing project? I’ve always found if I’ve made a commitment, then the writing will get handled. OK. I’ve committed to write a book or a magazine article or an online article or a press release. Think about the type of consistent effort will it take to accomplish your goal. For example, books are not produced overnight but will take a consistent effort.

2. Set a Goal You Can Accomplish. Be reasonable with yourself and set a writing goal that you can achieve. From my experience it is often a certain number of words such as 500 words a day or 5,000 words a day (which is a lot of intense writing to reach 5,000 words a day but it can be done).

3. Move Consistently toward Your Goal. To accomplish any goal you have to move forward. I like what one of my writers friends told me about creating a 400+ page novel, “No little elves come out at night and write my pages.” No one else can do the work for you. You have to find the time and simply do it. If it means getting up an hour or two earlier or staying up late at night or skipping some television, then you have to work at it to meet your goal.

4. Periodically Evaluate Your Goal. If you are having success, then take moments to celebrate. Each of us will celebrate differently. It is important to evaluate and celebrate if you are moving toward your goal. If you measure how you are doing with your goal and you are not making progress, then possibly it is time to readjust your goal and make it more reasonable or something that you can actually accomplish. Don’t beat yourself up that you have to readjust. Simply acknowledge it and keep moving forward.

5. Get an Accountability Partner. Yes maybe you could accomplish your goal on your own. From my experience, it is better if you have someone else asking you periodically about your goal and how you are moving toward it. This person can be someone that you speak with periodically on the phone or email or best physically see often.

I know I was only going to write five ways to get your writing unstuck. I’m throwing in a bonus sixth method. Maybe you are stuck in your writing because you have been trying to accomplish a long piece of writing such as a book or a novel or a workbook. If you have been chipping away at completing a longer work, here’s something to consider in this process:

6. Diversify Your Writing. While many people want to write a book, there are many ways to get published—outside of books. Often books take a long time to get into the market—especially if you go through a traditional publisher. Magazine articles are short and fun to write plus you can get them published a lot quicker than a book and it will reach many more people than the average book.

People like me who are in publishing want to see that you have been published. Your magazine publishing credits will help you attract the attention of a literary agent or book editor. My updated version of Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams has a great deal of information about publishing to help you get unstuck.

Use these five methods to get unstuck and move forward with your writing. Take action today.

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Book Buzz by Deatri King-Bey

How do you get people talking about and wanting your book before it’s released? If you’re a multi-published author with a track record of releasing high quality reads, it’s easier because you’ve already built your brand. What about new authors? What about those authors who may not be as new to the game but need a little boost? I think we could all use a refresher on building book buzz every now and again.

One of the great things about creating buzz is it isn’t expensive. What it is and must do is call attention to your book. Your writing. YOU (the author)! Once the buzz grabs the attention, it should create excitement and wanting for your book. So how do we do that?

RESEARCH
Yes, the dreaded “R” word. You must do your research and find your target audience. Why waste all of your wonderfulness on people who don’t want what you have to sell in the hopes of finding those few who do want it. Instead, set yourself up for success. Find large groups of your target audience and get to buzzing there. How, you ask? The web has been a great place to find pockets of target audience since well before Facebook and Twitter. Long ago before the social media craze there were Yahoo Groups, MSN Groups and other types of groups online. Find groups specific to your genre.

Many authors are focused on taking over the World Wide Web, that they forget to start at home. Find your local target audience. I love the site http://www.MeetUp.com. You can also do an Internet search for literary events and groups in your area.

Get to know the readers who love your genre and let them get to know you, because these are the most important ones who will be spreading the buzz about your book. Yes. You need to be personable. Many authors are like me. Introverts. But when I talk books, I open up. Warning, don’t just talk about your book. Show the readers you are about more than just you all the time. Show your interest in other’s works in the genre.

Compile a list of authors and bloggers who write and/or focus on your genre. Eventually you’ll be asking these folks to buzz about your book via their blogs and such.

Compile a list of reviewers for your genre.

So now that you know where to find the readers, authors, and bloggers who will buzz for you, what’s next? Give them something to buzz about.

FREE
Many years ago, when I began my publishing journey, there was no Facebook or Twitter and many people didn’t have computers or know much about going on the Internet. There were also no smart phones… It was a very different time. Though times have changed, people haven’t. They still love getting free stuff. Back in the day, I wrote several short stories and had them edited. Stories that fit my genre. As you get to know readers, give them a free story. The best are prequels to your upcoming title. Get them invested in your characters and wanting to hear their whole story. Warning: Be sure to have these edited. This is your brand. Don’t just throw anything out there. You want it to represent what they can expect to see from you. If the readers enjoy your free story, trust me, they’ll be telling other readers about it (buzzing).

I like to upload free stories at http://www.Smashwords.com then have them distribute it elsewhere. It can take MONTHS to finally appear on Amazon and BN, but I’d rather do that than give Amazon exclusivity. I also like to post the free books on my website to draw traffic there so readers can see my other titles also.

SAMPLE CHAPTER
Post a sample chapter on your website. Yes, you need to have a website where you aren’t in competition with all the noise on social media. Where you control the tone and content of the pages. Of course share your sample chapter online and everywhere else people want to hear about it.

CREATE A CONTEST
Have fun with the readers. Create contests.

A few years back, I wrote a series about four brothers. I allowed the readers to decide what order the books were written in.

I’ve had contest where I allowed readers to submit Titles for the book.

Scavenger hunts are fun. This is where you ask questions that are easy to find on your website. The reader who answers the questions correctly wins.

Stay away from contest such as rewarding for giving a review. That looks like you are paying for reviews.

GUEST BLOGS
Break out that list of authors and bloggers you compiled and get to making guest appearances. Write posts related to your title.

STREET TEAM
Street teams are great in some aspects but bad in others. Street teams are readers who you get to promote your book to other readers. These are great for spreading the word about your book quickly. On the other hand, many readers are starting to ignore the posts from street team members. It’s like they are starting to be considered promoters instead of readers. It’s great to have readers who are enthusiastic about your books. It’s SMART to ask them to spread the word, but if you organize a street team, make sure you don’t have them hitting the same places. Make sure they are hitting places that they usually frequent about things other than YOUR book, so when they talk about your book, it doesn’t look like they are a promoter instead of a reader.

EVENTS
The first thing you did was research, now go where your readers are. Everyone wants to do everything online. There’s nothing wrong with online, but when you can, get out and MEET the readers. You don’t have to conquer the world in a day or spend a lot of money. Start the buzz locally and allow it to grow organically. The readers you get to know locally usually have broader connections. You can also create events.

REVIEWS
Obtaining reviews from review groups is a pain, but a great way to spread the word. I’m not a fan of paid reviews, but some people swear by them. Do what works for you. Obtaining reviews can take months, but go for it anyway.

ENGAGE
When posting online, be sure to have great visuals to draw the attention of readers and be engaging. Posting a “Buy My Book” type promo falls on deaf ears. Post something of substance about a topic in your book and have a discussion. ENGAGE the readers. Keep them coming back for more and BUZZ will follow.

CONCLUSION
The most important thing about building buzz is to be genuine. I love reading and writing my genre. I am a reader first. So I always try to look at things from a reader’s point of view. Why do I tell people about so and so’s book? What draws me to so and so’s book? What will makes me want so and so’s book now? Get to know the readers and let them get to know you.

Now get out there and create some BUZZ.

Deatri King-Bey

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Build Publishing Habits by W. Terry Whalin

If you are writing a novel or a nonfiction book, what are you doing each day to succeed with this writing project?

Yes, it is important to craft an excellent work with terrific storytelling and craft. We learn these skills through our own reading and continual practice. Writing should be a habit which you continually cultivate and practice on a regular basis.

Yet what about other areas of publishing where you need to develop habits?

Recently I heard from an unpublished author who was getting rejected or no response from literary agents. She was sending out a children’s book and couldn’t understand why she could not succeed. I wrote this author that she needed to do more to understand the marketplace. Only a few literary agents that I know represent children’s books for several reasons. First, the advances are very low for children’s books.

Also it’s hard to get a children’s book published and much of the writing work is Work Made for Hire or something an agent wouldn’t be involved in. Finally agents are looking for writers who demonstrate that they have been published. You have to show this skill through writing for print magazines or other recognized forms. This unpublished author was floundering because she had not done the basics to understand the market. As a daily habit, she needed to be reading published authors and how-to books as well as connecting with someone to help her.

Reading in the field is another publishing habit that every author or would-be author should be developing. There are free newsletters and many ways to learn from others. Are you tapping into these resources?

Another publishing habit is to constantly build your connections to others. It doesn’t require tons of time but it does require consistent effort. For example, posting on Twitter and Facebook in your area of expertise is a publishing habit. You can use tools like Hootsuite so it does not have to consume much time but the consistency will pay off.

I spend the majority of my days working with authors as an acquisitions editor at Morgan James. My personal goal is to help as many authors as I can to achieve their dreams of getting published. As a result of these goals, I’m on the phone with authors or literary agents. Or I’m answering emails or interacting with my Morgan James colleagues about book projects. I have a series of habits that I execute each day related to my work at Morgan James.

What goals do you have for your publishing life? Have you written them down and are you looking at them on a regular basis? What habits do you need to develop in order to achieve these goals?

As you are consistent, it will pay off for you in the marketplace. I have a great deal of free information in my ebook, Platform-Building Ideas for Every Author. If you haven’t read this Ebook, I suggest you get it and study it, then apply the lessons to your writing life.

What new publishing habits are you developing?

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W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in Irvine, California. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. To help writers, he has created 12-lesson online course called Write A Book Proposal. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com.

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Pitching Your Screenplays by Krystol Diggs

I know that many screenwriters hate this part of the process, but it is more necessary than you think. Writers, if you are interested in pitching your screenplay, there are many ways that you can do it. Now, I know that it maybe difficult to get the screenplay written, but you want to go from published to produced or sold right?

At least that is the idea. For the non-screenwriters, you may find someone who doesn’t want to produce your screenplay, but may want to buy it. Yes, I am talking, they give you money for your hard earned work! It rarely happens in Hollywood, but it does happen. How do we get to this point?

Well, once you have your completed screenplay, make sure that you not only register it with the Writer’s Guild, but also with Copyright.gov, this is protect anyone from stealing your work. If you are in the LA area, many writers go to what is a Pitch Fest. Pitch fest is where millions of executives, directors, producers, and investors go to hear about your movies. You have only 1-3 minutes to sell yourself to these great individuals. It’s more so set up like a panel. You have the big boys seats at a long table and TONS of people in line waiting to pitch. When it’s your turn you go to the microphone and pitch your work. If anyone liked the premise of your film, then they will give you their card and request your screenplay! Seems fairly easy, right? No! We writers are introverts; we don’t talk in public with tons of people! Warning alert! When pitching you are not able to be shy, you must strike while the iron is hot.

There are also pitch fests online as well. Yes, they are called Virtual Pitch Fests. This is where you pay about $40-50 dollars and you pitch to one of these great people online via Skype or through email. I know you must think it’s crazy to pay money to email a pitch, but hey, it works! These can be taken place with companies like Happy Writers, Stage32 (which is a GREAT networking site for film people), and Virtual Pitch. Myself personally, I have never went to any virtual pitch fests because I like to go on Stage32 and find the directors, executives, and producers, and I send them a query letter about my work. Yes, when you are trying to deliver unsolicited material, if you don’t know if they accept it or not, it’s ALWAYS best that you have them a query letter. If they are interested, they will follow up with a screenplay request.

Here is a copy of a query letter that I sent recently:

To: Company’s Name
From: Krystol Diggs

Dear Company,

I am an award-winning screenwriter who has completed a screenplay that I believe your agency would be interested in representing. This screenplay has won 2nd place in the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival in July of 2014. Please find a short pitch below for your review.

Title: If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It

Genre: Drama

Logline: A devious, manipulative woman hunts for evidence of her boyfriends ultimate betrayal while hiding her own mischievous deeds before saying “I do”

If this has piqued your interest, I’d be happy to send you a hardcopy of my screenplay for your consideration. I can be contacted via email or you can reach out to me at your earliest convenience.

Warm regards,
Krystol Diggs

See how simple it is! For a query letter, you are basically just teasing them a little. It’s all about the loglines! A logline is more like a synopsis in the book world, except it is only one sentence. Let’s quickly look at the most important components of a log line. Ultimately, you need to get across the following information: The protagonist (don’t use their names, just description — for example ‘An alcoholic surgeon…’) The goal of the protagonist (this is usually in line with your 2nd act turning point — ‘An alcoholic surgeon must fight for his job…’) The antagonist (and the obstacle of the antagonist — ‘An alcoholic surgeon must fight for his job after a disgruntled patient accuses him of malpractice…’) We also need to recognize how these components fit into the structure. As I said before, there are numerous formats you can use, and you should always adjust this to suit your particular story. But this structural formula is a great starting point:

When [INCITING INCIDENT OCCURS], a [SPECIFIC PROTAGONIST] must [OBJECTIVE], or else [STAKES].
My boss for an internship that I am doing says, “ The logline is what makes it.” When at a pitch fest, your pitch is your logline. You say that, if people like it, they will give you their card and say, send me your screenplay. But, there are also others on the Internet who may post in groups, websites, etc and tell you what kind of script they are looking for. You will usually find these on websites like “ Ink Tip and International Screenwriters Association.” They are good sites also, but Ink Tip costs money. Here is an example of a pitch that I emailed to someone. ( Some pitches, they require you to add more than just a logline)
Krystol Diggs

Feature Film: I’ll Never Tell

Genre: Thriller

Contact: (Add phone number and Email address)

Logline: Honesty Cummings keeps a terrible secret from her family while her
mother also hides a skeleton in her closet.

Synopsis: Just like any other high school girl, Honesty has a crush on her
teacher. While batting her eyes at Mr. Henrey, there is someone who has an
obsession with her. Afraid to tell anyone, she keeps her secret to herself only to
find out that her mother has a skeleton in her closet, too. But her mother’s
secret is one that will shock everyone, even Honesty
This is pitch that I emailed to a company who was looking for thriller scripts. They requested the screenplay, but then they passed on it. That is okay. You will get a lot of rejection on this business. Just remember to NOT take it personal. After all, this is a business and everyone will not like what you write. You now have your screenplay, logline written (there are always hard), and you ready to pitch! Best of luck to you and I hope to see your work on screen!

Bio: Krystol Diggs has been writing since the age of 15. Her debut novel Through Her Eyes was the jump-start of more to come from this author, and now screenwriter, and publisher. Krystol has received her Masters degree at Full Sail University with an MFA in Creative Writing. She has written four screenplays, two short films and a host of other books in the various genres of fiction, thrillers, erotica, young adult and drama which can be found on amazon.com. She has also written for magazines such as Raw Talent Magazine and Bougie Magazine, interned at IFashion Network as a writer and now is a reporter/journalist for CNN’s Ireport section. Krystol is currently attending Walden University where she is studying for her PhD in Psychology

Reach out:
Blog: www.writingsbykrystol.com

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Book Signing 101 by Kisha Green

You just got booked for a book signing and you do not know what to do? Don’t fret, below are some basic yet effective tips that will ensure a good time and most importantly books sold.

Book stands for your book to stand up on the table. (Target or Walmart)
Take a lot of pictures and or video to share online after the event that will hopefully generate a buzz in who you are what people missed.
Book marks to give to the consumer that isn’t ready to spend but is slightly interested. (www.nextdayflyers.com)
Get a fishbowl that visitors can place their business cards in and for those without card have blank index cards available with pen for them to write their contact info on.
Make sure you have plenty of singles and change to break large bills and for those with no cash have you Square credit card attachment for your cell phone. (www.squareup.com)
Candy dish filled with mints and small candies.
Comfortable shoes.
Smiles and a positive attitude.
Street team and this can be one person or more walking around handing out bookmarks and flyers that should drive traffic to your table.
24×36 poster with your book cover. (Staples or Office Depot)
Advertise! Advertise! Advertise! Network! Network! Network! Promote your book signing using social media and create events on Facebook and advertise your e-flyers via Instagram and Twitter. Create a Meet Up event.

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Publishing Leeches by Deatri King-Bey

A lot has changed in the many years that I’ve been in the publishing business. One thing that hasn’t changed is people who want something for nothing. This occurs in all walks of life, but I want to focus on publishing today. I want you to take a cold, hard, honest look at yourself and see if you are being a leech, then stop it if you are.

Inconsiderate, Lazy Leech
This is a common type of publishing leech. I was helping an aspiring author who had a million questions. After about two hours on the phone, she still had a billion questions. I informed her that my book, Become A Successful Author, answers most of her questions, then I gifted her my book and told her to read it first, then ask follow-up questions. The following month this author sent me a ridiculously long email with questions that were answered in the book and asked if we could speak on the phone again. I asked her if she had read the book (maybe she had comprehension issues), and she said she hadn’t had time and wanted me to just tell her what she needed to do.

She didn’t have a few hours to read a book that would answer her questions and give her a good base of knowledge to conduct her own research from, but wanted me to spend hours of my time spoon-feeding her information. Yep, that’s lazy and inconsiderate.

If you expect others to do more for you than you are willing to do for yourself, you are a leech.

Something For Nothing Leech
This is also a very common publishing leech. Editors, graphic artist, proof readers… anyone in the service industry suffers from leeches who want something for nothing. Don’t get me wrong, we all want a good deal, but there are a lot of authors who are trying to make money (increase book sales) on the backs of the editors, graphic artists, proofreaders… If someone has the skillset you need to get the best product out there, you need to pay them for their talent. If you are not willing to invest in your business, why do you expect others to invest in your business by purchasing your books?

Me, Me, Me Leech
We’ve all experienced these. I run two reading groups on social media. I’m shocked—not really—how many authors IM me because I only allow promos two days a week. Somehow I’m responsible for them not making the NYT best sellers list. I’m tempted to share some of the messages I receive from authors whining because they can’t treat the reading groups like their billboard. They don’t care that they are promoting to the wrong genre. They don’t care that we are there to talk about the books we’re reading, not be bombarded with their promos. If it’s not about them, they don’t care. Those type of authors suck the life right out of a group.

Concept Leech
This is one of the more rare publishing leeches. Or maybe they are better at hiding. I was at a writer’s conference a few months ago and overheard an author talking about a concept she had for a novel. I thought, great idea, then went on about my business. Later that day, I heard a second author talking about the same concept with a few differences. They were too similar to be a coincidence. This is exactly why I do not tell people about my book concepts. You never know if there is a concept leech around.

Spirit Leech
This one is very harmful. Be carful. These are the authors who are so negative and nasty that their vibe throws you off. It’s like they suck your spirit dry. You’re trying to be and do positive, but all they see is the negative.

Clinging Leech
These are the authors who hang around a more popular author in hopes of syphoning new readers from the more popular author. This one is hard to explain. We are authors and we hang out in the same places. These leeches are users. Once they get what they want, they move to the next target.

What’s the cure for leeches? I know none of you see yourselves in anything I’ve said, but if you are the victim of a leech, remember, you teach people how to treat you. I’m not saying to stop being a giving person. I’m a giving person and will continue to do so. That doesn’t mean you have to stand there and be sucked dry by leeches.

I wrote this article so you can keep an eye out, but there is good news. There aren’t as many leeches out there as one may think. Social media has made them more visible, so they seem to be in greater number than they are.

Keep your focus without falling into the “It’s all about me” mode, and you’ll be fine.

Much Joy Peace and Love,
Deatri King-Bey

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When You Hit A Bad Day by W. Terry Whalin

Let’s face it head on. Everyone has a bad day. You know what I’m talking about.
When you walk out to your car and see the tire is flat—and naturally you are trying to rush off to some important meeting.

Or your computer crashes in the middle of an important rewrite on an article or book and you lose hours of work because you didn’t back it up.

Or you get sick and land in bed. Or someone in your family gets sick. Or a dear friend suddenly dies.

Or a friend or a co-worker promises they will do something—and they don’t. So it creates huge amounts of unexpected work for you or a project you were counting on completing didn’t happen.

These various possibilities that I just listed are a fraction of what happens to everyone. The unexpected happens to each of us with our writing and publishing lives.

Here’s the critical question for you: when you meet one of these difficulties, does it totally derail you so you don’t complete what needs to be written. Or do you rise to the challenge and continue forward with your writing?

Something derails writing for a day. Do you shake it off and return to it the next day? Or do you set it aside and say, the time must not be right? There is a time and place to persevere.

This month many publications and programs have been celebrating the storied career of journalist Barbara Walters. At 84, she is retiring from 17 years on The View. This week I read an article about Barbara Walters in AARP magazine, which claims to have the world’s largest circulation at 24.4 million (more than three times the circulation of Reader’s Digest).

In the AARP article called What I Know Now: Barbara Walters, she shares the secrets of her success saying, “I think the secret of my success is that I persevered. I didn’t give up. I didn’t say, ‘This is a lousy job, and I’m unhappy, and I’m going to quit.’ I went through the tough times, and they were tough. And I was fortunate that I came out the other end.” I admire Barbara Walter’s perseverance.

Recently my agent friend Steve Laube wrote an article What to do when technology fails? I did feel bad for the author who lost the entire manuscript on a computer the day it was due at the publisher. As a result the book was canceled. Buried in the story was the fact the author had missed the third extension. What happened in the case of the first two extensions? This story wasn’t told.

About ten years ago when I started working as an editor on the inside of publishing houses, I learned that writers are notoriously late. I’ve often been the editor who the author calls and tells about their bad day then asks for an extension. Publishers know about bad days so they often build some flexibility into the deadline.

Yet writers should not count on that flexibility or extension. Here’s how to distinguish yourself as a writer and make editors love you: turn in your writing when you promise to turn it in—with excellence.

It’s one of the elements that I’ve done over and over with my writing deadlines—met them. I recall writing one section of a book where I stayed at my computer all night in order to meet the deadline. At that time, I had a full-time editorial job and I had taken on a book project to write.

When I didn’t come to bed, in the middle of the night my wife came down to my office to see if everything was OK. Everything was fine except I had to meet a deadline and did not make it to bed that particular night. I fired off my deadline material to the editor, cleaned up and went off to my full-time job. Yes, I drank some extra caffeine that day and was tired but I delivered what I promised to the editor and put in a full day at work. I’ve only done it once so I don’t make a regular habit of such actions.

How do you handle bad days? Does it derail you so you don’t complete what needs to be written or do you shake it off and continue?

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Adapting Your Novel Into A Screenplay by Krystol Diggs

You have this great novel that has probably sold well and now you think it will be a good film. I know that writing a novel is no easy feat, but now it’s time to adapt your baby into a screenplay. It may be difficult to some, but here are some easy tips that will help you.

First things first: Even though you may have written the book or may be hired to adapt a book, read the book twice before you start your process. Read it the first time for leisure and to get a good grasp on the main characters. The second time, start to take notes on the characters, how they look, their personality, and things that they say. Once you have done these steps, make a detailed list of each character that’s most important to the story. If you have to, this is also the time to do some research about things you are unfamiliar with. Remember, although this is fiction, fiction has to be believable. If it’s a biopic film, then it is imperative that it is believable. With movies, it has to look real and be believable, or your audience will realize it is not. When it comes to screenplays, it is a different ball game. The audience wants to see if the screenwriter can put on a great movie.

Second: Now that you have your outline and a structure for your screenplay, it’s time to format it into your paradigm worksheet (See below about the paradigm sheet). When the worksheet is completed, it’s time to start writing your screenplay. Keep in mind, that everything WILL NOT be added into your screenplay from the book. Some parts should be omitted, but the basic storyline is there with the characters.

Examples of Film Terminology: INT (Inside), EXT (Outside), ACTION (Action Scene), FADE IN (The beginning of your screenplay), FADE OUT (The ending of your screenplay), CUT TO (Camera goes to next scene)

The Paradigm: The Paradigm is a blue print of what your screenplay will look like.
Act I- Beginning
Act II- Middle
Act III-End

Act I- Unit of dramatic or comedic action
Act II- Unit of action that begins at the end of Plot Point I and extends through the end of Plot point II. (This portion of the script is approx. 50-60 pages).
Act II is about conflict and obstacles overcame. It’s also a unit of dramatic action. Act II goes from the end of Plot point II. (Approx. Pg. 80-90 to the end of the screenplay.)
* Remember that resolution means solution.

Act I- Everything in Act I sets up your story.
A plot point is the story’s progressive point.
Plot point I is the true beginning of your story. A plot point can be anything you want it to be as long as it moves the action forward.

Act II is the most difficult to write because it’s the longest unit of action.
The function of Plot Point II is to serve the story progression.
For example, Plot point I, Plot point II can either be a decision, a line of dialogue, a scene or an action sequence-anything you want it to be.

Act III deals with the context of resolution other wise known as (the solution).

Remember that the average length of a film is 2 hours long, which makes the average screenplay between 90- 120 pages long.

I write my screenplays in Final Draft. I know some people who use Word, or a program called Celtx. . Final Draft is software that’s used to write your screenplay.

Questions: Here are some questions to think about when filling out your paradigm sheet:
1. What is the solution to your story?
2. Does your character live or die, sink or fail, go on a trip or not?
These are some of the questions to be answered during the writing process of your screenplay.

IF YOU ARE SERIOUSLY INTERESTED IN WRITING YOUR SCREENPLAY YOU SHOULD:
1. Read as many scripts as you can that are your genre.
2. Watch every movie that you can afford in your genre.
3. Download screenplays for free: Simply Scripts.com or Dailyscripts.com.

Try this exercise: Before you express your story, know these things:
1. The Ending
2. The Beginning
3. Plot Point I
4. Plot Point II
These elements are the structural foundation of your screenplay. Once you know these four elements draw the paradigm. The exercise is designed to prepare you to structure your own idea so you can move into the next stage of your screenwriting process.

Okay, now that you have learned about the beginning stages, how research is important and the paradigm let’s get busy!

AN EXAMPLE OF THE FIRST PAGE OF A SCREENPLAY

FADE IN:

SCENE HEADING: INT. HOUSE – DAY

ACTION: JORDAN, 18, brown eyes, wears a satin blue gown, sits at her vanity table putting on make-up for the prom. As she applies blush, she looks at the pictures of her and MIKE, blonde hair and blue eyes, as they kiss each other. CARLA, Jordan’s mother, brown skin with brown eyes knocks on the door.

CHARACTER: CARLA

DIALOGUE: Jordan, Mike’s here and he looks so cute in his tuxedo!

CHARACTER: JORDAN

DIALOGUE: Mom, I will be down in a few minutes, I have to finish my make-up.

Smiling from ear to ear, Carla has tears in her eyes.

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Bio: Krystol Diggs has been writing since the age of 15. Her debut novel Through Her Eyes was the jump-start of more to come from this author, and now screenwriter, and publisher. Krystol has received her Masters degree at Full Sail University with an MFA in Creative Writing. She has written four screenplays, two short films and a host of other books in the various genres of fiction, thrillers, erotica, young adult and drama which can be found on amazon.com. She has also written for magazines such as Raw Talent Magazine and Bougie Magazine, interned at IFashion Network as a writer and now is a reporter/journalist for CNN’s Ireport section. Krystol is currently attending Walden University where she is studying for her PhD in Human Services.