Tag Archives: Jan Dunlap

The Best Advice I Could Have Given Myself

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SignatureCountry artist Brad Paisley released a song in 2007 titled “Letter to Me,” in which he gives his teenaged self advice for the future. It makes me think about what I would have advised myself thirty years ago when I began my freelance writing career. So, with a tip of my own cowboy hat to Brad, here’s my letter to my younger self!

Dear Jan,

I am you thirty years from now, and I want to give you some advice about writing.

  1. Get a day job. You are never going to be on Oprah talking about your bestseller. (Oprah is a person with a very influential talk show in the future. She has a book club, and Tom Cruise jumps on her sofa. Enough said.) Accept the fact that your writing habit will never financially support you. Fortunately, your husband will, so be sure to say “Yes” when a guy named Tom proposes to you. You’re going to think he’s just trying to cheer you up because your car’s water pump broke down, but he’s serious. DO NOT LAUGH IN HIS FACE, because he will never let you forget it. (Although it will make a great blog post. A blog is …never mind. You’ll find out later.)
  2. No matter what you think, your first and second book manuscripts are trash. Really, they are. It would be nice to just skip writing them altogether to save time and effort, but if you don’t write them, you won’t write your third book, which will find a publisher. Just thought I’d let you know.
  3. You’re going to meet a woman named Belinda. Don’t ever tell her you’ve written a book, because even though she’s going to be one of your best friends, she’s going to drive you crazy with her constant stream of ideas for books SHE wants to write. If she ever brings up that she’s thinking about writing a book, immediately change the subject. (You can thank me later.)
  4. Write a YA romance series about a vampire and a high school girl. Believe it or not, it will sell and launch a publishing trend. I’m serious.
  5. Speaking of serious – stop taking yourself so seriously. There are many, many writers out there. The bad news is that you have to compete with them for contracts. The good news is that the writers you meet will absolutely enrich your life, if not your pocketbook. (Reread #1 above.)
  6. Don’t give up writing. You will get published. You will also get rejections, but that’s part of the package, so get over it and get it out of the way. It will give you more time to write and more confidence in your writing. Writing is your gift, so enjoy it, develop it, invest time and effort in it, and it will reward you in ways you can’t even begin to imagine.
  7. Finally, if you ever have a chance to buy stock in a company named Apple, you might want to do that.

Love you!

Jan

What advice would you give your younger self?

Get Thee to a Conference, Writer!

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I want to be alone...photo from www.fanpop.com

I want to be alone…photo from http://www.fanpop.com

Like many writers, I work at home, which means I spend much of my day alone. To force myself to get out of the house and interact with living, breathing, real people, I set a goal of attending at least two conferences in the course of the year.

They’re not writing conferences, however.

They’re pre-writing conferences.

In other words, I go to conferences to do research for my books. In particular, I go to events that have to do with birding, nature, and spirituality, since those are my book topics, and I’m always looking for new ideas and the latest developments in the field.

But last month, as I promoted my second free Kindle offer on amazon.com for my Birder Murder mystery series, I realized a marketing benefit to those research conferences: the stuff I bring home – the hand-outs, the programs, the lists of attendees – are invaluable marketing tools.

Influential contacts

You meet a lot of people at any kind of conference, but you might not get the chance to meet them all, especially if they are keynote speakers who typically are surrounded by a crush of people at the conference. If you keep the program, though, you can usually track them down again on the internet, and make contact by sending an email and thanking them for their presentation. Then, when you would like to notify them of your book release or promotion, you’ve got  influential contacts in your target market. Even if you haven’t previously corresponded with them, just naming the conference in a subject line will ensure your email will be read by the recipient. Ask them to share your promotion, and you’ll reach new readers through their cooperation.

Potential readers

Every person who comes to a conference is a potential reader of your work. I recently went to a conference on the therapeutic effects of nature, and chatted with other attendees about my interest in nature and birds. When I mentioned I was an author, I was asked for the names of my books, so I got to do a little promoting to a market I hadn’t previously considered. At a birding event, email addresses of all the attendees are sometimes included (because birders like to email each other about bird sightings), so I have a ready-made email list for special book promotions that I think they might appreciate. Never underestimate the personal touch of addressing individuals!

Creative approaches

Being the packrat I am, I keep all the hand-outs and advertising materials from conferences, too, thinking I might be able to set up a speaking date or promotional opportunity with one of the sponsors. For example, I never thought of wildlife photographers as a market until I met a camera rep at a birding event; now it’s a part of my target audience. As a result, I’ve found that thinking about the ways sponsors connect to conferences is a fertile field for marketing development.

What kind of conferences do you attend and what are the marketing benefits you find?

“Would You Like to Meet the Author?”

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"Soapdish" photo from www.lazydork.com

“Soapdish” photo from http://www.lazydork.com

There’s a funny scene in the movie “Soapdish” that depicts a depressed soap opera actress, played by Sally Field, getting her recognition fix. She goes in dark sunglasses to a shopping mall with her best friend, who suddenly shouts “Is that who I think it is?”

Everyone around them stops, the actress removes her glasses, and she is immediately thronged by fans, all wanting an autograph. She smiles, graciously greets her admirers, coos at babies, and regains her self-confidence.

This has never happened to me. Not the depression part–every writer gets the blues in the face of the enormity of the writing endeavor. But I’ve never had crowds of people clamor for my autograph–not in a bookstore, and certainly not in the middle of a shopping mall.

I did have a moment recently, however, that brought this scene to mind in a good way.

My husband and I were playing hooky, taking a weekday afternoon to stroll through the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, which happens to be about five minutes away from our home. The Arb has carried my books for several years now in its gift shop, and I’ve made a few book signing appearances there, but I’m by no means an author who is recognized by the general public. After touring the gardens, my husband and I headed into the gift shop for our usual browsing, and while I inspected some lovely sweaters and ceramic dishes, he went into the book section to see my books on display.

A moment later, I heard his voice from across the aisle.

“Would you like to meet the author?” he asked a woman who was standing in front of the display, one of my books in her hand. “She’s my wife.”

Say no, I willed her. Sporting my heavy parka, my hair doing its dry electricity bush thing, the last thing I’d expected was to be called upon to meet a reader.

“I’d love to,” she replied, turning in the direction he was pointing out to her, which was straight at me.

I slapped on my ‘meet-my-reader’ face and smiled as my husband ushered her over. We shook hands and I introduced myself, then asked her if she’d read any of my books.

“No, but I’ve heard about them,” she told me. “So I thought I’d give one a try.”

We chatted a bit more, I offered to sign the book in her hand, and after a few more minutes, she left to pay for her book at the register.

“Do you feel like the actress in the shopping mall?” my husband asked, referring to the movie we’d both enjoyed many times over.

“Yes and no,” I replied. “Yes, in that I was recognized, thanks to you,” I added, punching him lightly in the arm, “and no, in that I wasn’t feeling the need for attention to refuel my artistic career. But it was fun to give a new reader a nice surprise she didn’t expect.”

Actually, I hope I do that every time readers pick up one of my books: I want them to get a nice surprise.

Without the dry electricity hair bush thing, though, thank you very much.

Monkey Read, Monkey Should Do!

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apeDoes the acronym HARO mean anything to you?

It should, because it just might be your ticket to free publicity, extensive exposure as a writer, and the means to grow a national reputation as an expert in your field.

HARO stands for Help A Reporter Out, and it’s a website where you register as an expert and news source. There is no fee to register, and while there is no guarantee that you will get tapped for information, it’s a chance you don’t want to miss. For nonfiction writers, it can become one more piece of a marketing plan to become known for their unique expertise, while fiction writers might consider their own research in specific topics as fodder for story ideas. According to HARO’s website, 30,000 members of the media have turned to HARO for assistance in developing stories; is there any reason you shouldn’t be one of those folks helping out a reporter?

Learning about HARO was just one of the things I learned from recently reading APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch. While I have no desire to publish my own books, I still found the book informative and helpful, especially as I’ve grown from an author-wannabe to someone with five years of publication experience. The first section of the book was a good reminder that writers come in all shapes and sizes, with a range of motives, and that’s okay. It made me consider again the tenacious nature of writers who want to publish and gave me a new understanding of why people choose self-publishing. (It also made me realize that if I did decide to do a short ebook as a promotional opportunity for my other books, I could probably pull it off using APE as my guide.)

What I especially appreciated, though, was the book’s insistence that there is no escaping from the truth of today’s book business landscape: authors need to take responsibility for their books’ success, no matter how they are published.  APE gives valuable insight into the entire publishing process, which I’m convinced every author needs. Publishing is a business, and the sooner authors accept that, the more successful they will be! As an early publishing mentor of mine insisted, if you’re going to succeed, you better know how the business works. Kawasaki and Welch have done a fine job in giving readers the essentials of publishing.

Seeing as I’ve spent the last year trying to educate myself about platform and marketing, I found the last part of the book packed with practical suggestions and resources, like HARO, that I can play with as I continue to polish my marketing skills. The authors even include their own list of what they did to publish/market APE itself, providing readers with a basic outline for promoting any book, and offering links to learn more.

What are you APE-ing these days?

(Special thanks to Lucille Zimmerman, my agency-mate, who gave me the book to read!)

What Does Your Reader Look Like?

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What does your ideal reader look like?Woman Reading a Diary

When I first read this question in a marketing article, I wasn’t sure how to answer or even why it was important. Recently, though, I had a promotional opportunity that made it very clear to me why this question is a key to marketing success.

After three years of trying to get on the guest list, I was interviewed on the Larry Meiller Show on Wisconsin Public Radio in late January. I knew that Larry was interested in nature, among other things, and so I thought it would be a good spot to reach potential readers of my birding-based mystery series.

Judging from the hits on my website that day, which recorded an all-time high of visitors, I was right.

What I hadn’t appreciated, though, was the fact that my target audience listens to a lot of radio. Duh – birders drive in cars to find birds, which means they listen to radio.

And that’s when I understood why I needed to think of what my ideal reader looks like…and what he does in his spare time…and what she values…and what he listens to…and what she reads…and, well, you get the idea. I needed a very detailed description of my ideal reader so I would know just where and when and how to reach as many of them as possible.

reading boysSure, we all have a general idea of who our readers are – literate, male or female, teens or adults, seniors or little kids – and we probably have some ideas about what they like to do. After all, if I write self-improvement books, I would assume my readers are interested in that topic; if I write medical thrillers, I would think that my readers are interested in medical science to some degree. But would I automatically know that those seeking self-improvement are more likely to watch ( or record) an afternoon talk show on television than listen to a morning news show on radio? Or vice-versa? And how many readers interested in thrillers use Facebook to find book recommendations, rather than read the Sunday newspaper book section?

All these habits and traits and proclivities are key to understanding your audience so that you can make the most of your time, effort, and promotional dollars; the challenge is finding reliable sources for building your ideal reader’s profile, which may take a lot of trial and error on the part of an author who takes on the responsibility of designing and implementing effective marketing.

My best suggestion? Get to know your readers. Ask them what they like to do (when they’re not reading), what media they favor, where they shop, the names of their favorite (other) authors.  The time you invest in putting together a profile of your ideal reader is not wasted, but will result in increased sales and more effective writing as you zero in on who’s reading your work.

Do you know what your ideal reader looks like?bulldog wearing eyeglasses sleeping over a good novel

Hello? Who’s Calling?

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Businessman talking on cell phoneOne of my favorite stories in the Bible involves hearing a call, but not knowing where it came from.

Young Samuel is learning the ropes of serving God when he hears a call in the night and assumes it is Eli, his mentor. Obediently, he runs to the old man and says, “Here I am; you called me.” (1 Samuel 3: 5) Eli denies calling Samuel, and only after it happens a third time, does Eli realize that God is the one doing the calling, at which point he tells Samuel how to answer. Following Eli’s instruction, Samuel responds to God and enters into conversation with the Lord.

There are three reasons I love this scripture so much: 1) like Samuel, I don’t always recognize who is calling me;  2) it reassures me that I get more than one chance to get it right; and 3) when I finally do get it right, God doesn’t hold my slowness against me, but launches into conversation.

I’ve also learned that this is a great way to understand my writing career – it takes discernment, effort and openness to write what God gives me, and thankfully, He’s very, very patient with my slowness!

Discernment can be a journey in itself.

I’ve always been a writer. But it wasn’t till I was pursuing my master’s degree in theology that I felt the urge to write books, and specifically, fiction. I remember telling one of my instructors about this new desire, and how odd it was for me, a trained journalist and researcher, to suddenly feel like I should write a novel. Her response was that I should not dismiss the urge, that God speaks through fiction as well as nonfiction. I tucked the idea away, thinking it was momentary insanity…until three years later, when another instructor told me I should write a book.

“But I don’t know what to write – I have so many ideas I’d like to explore,” I confessed to him.

“Then pick one and get to work,” he told me.

I chose the concept of vocation, and wrote my first book, a short theological reflection on Christian vocation. I enjoyed the work and the book was published. It felt right, and it felt safe. Nonfiction, I could do.

But I still felt the draw to write fiction. One day, I decided to give it a try when a friend told me I told great stories about my kids. Since I loved mysteries, I chose that genre, and surprised myself with how immersed I became in the writing. I felt like it was what I was called to do.

In my experience, God does speak to us through others, even when we’re not listening very well. Samuel was lucky – he had Eli to help him discern God’s voice.  In our lives, I believe we have help, too, but we have to be open to those messengers of discernment, because they can come in many forms and voices, and they can be very persistent (thank goodness!). After all, it took Eli three times to recognize God’s call for Samuel.

Who helps you discern the call of God in your writing life?

The Joy of NOT Going Solo

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RHere’s the truth: I love the solitude of writing. I crave feeling on my own shoulders all the responsibility for crafting a story, and I’ll resist anyone’s attempts to try and share the task.

Which makes it rather ironic when I tell you that the best writing move I made in the past twelve months was to join a writers’ group.

In particular, this group – the WordServe WaterCooler authors.

This is not to say that I meet up with my colleagues for coffee to toss book ideas around or offer each other critiques on working manuscripts. Since we are scattered around the country – even the globe! – the Starbucks club isn’t even a possibility. Yet, in the past year, I have found invaluable support from these new associates of mine, and their very concrete contributions to my writing development and opportunities have boggled my mind, especially since I’d imagined my involvement with these authors would be limited to seeing my name listed among theirs in the sidebar on the site. Instead, I’ve made friends with whom I share an abiding passion, a mission, and a whole lot of experiences. They’ve shared ingenious tips and simple ideas that kick-start my own creative and marketing efforts. I feel like I’ve been swept five years ahead in my career development, instead of my typical solitary slog of a year at a time.

So, okay, you get the picture. Enough kissy-kissy, “I love you” comments.  The point I want to make is that every writer – EVERY WRITER – can benefit in amazing ways by being a part of a group of writers.

The key, however, is being a part of the RIGHT writers’ group, and this is the really tough part, I believe: finding the group that fits you. Here are things to consider as you search for your own writing pals:

  1. Look for peers. Teaching new writers how to create characters, plots, book proposals, and research markets is a generous and good thing to do, but if you want to move forward in your own writing career, you need to find writers who are at the same stage of the journey as you are. If the local writers’ club is all about getting that first article published while you’re working on building a platform for your next book, you won’t stick with the group.  Find writers with the same needs as yours.
  2. A writers’ group isn’t necessarily about crafting your manuscript. Think of it as your emotional and spiritual cheerleading squad and be sure to take turns leading the cheers, and shedding the tears, for everyone in the group. In a way, a ‘writers’ group’ is almost an oxymoron – a bunch of solitary authors who open up to each other.
  3. You don’t compete with your group members. It isn’t a class where you’re vying for top scores. Your group should be a resource for information, ideas, experience and motivation, not a standard of comparison.

Are you a part of a writers’ group?  

Awaiting the Unexpected

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Christmas star“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…” Isaiah 9:6

What a joyful event we will celebrate in just a few more days! As I have every year for as long as I can remember, I’ve spent these December weeks busily preparing for Christmas. I bake the holiday breads and Christmas cookies my family loves. I deck the halls with our traditional decorations, hang the stockings, trim the tree, wrap the presents. I spend extra time in prayer, stash bills in the bellringers’ buckets, and listen for the cherished carols that herald the day of our Redeemer’s birth.

I know how to prepare because I know what to expect, and what a blessing that is!

But the Israelites to whom Jesus came were expecting a different kind of messiah. Instead of a baby in a manger, they were waiting for a political leader, a king who would rally the troops, drive out the Roman overlords, and establish an earthly nation. Only the shepherds in a field were privy to a miraculous birth; summoning the courage to open their hearts to the words of angels, they followed a star to go to Bethlehem, where they found the Lord himself. Instead of a political ruler, they adored a Child who assures us, “Behold, I make all things new.” (Rev. 21:5)

I think that’s what births are about – making things new. Whether it has been the literal birth of one of my own five children, or the beginning of a new phase in my life, these events change what I have previously known, and often have shattered the expectations I had beforehand of what the birth would bring. I’ve learned that the richest – and holiest – experiences result when I’m open to whatever God brings me, and that, thankfully, God will never be limited by my own  expectations of what I think should be.

As a writer, this same courage to open my heart to God’s leading has shaped my writing career. I studied and trained to write scholarly works of spirituality, but instead, I’ve found a niche in humorous cozy mysteries, of all things! The journey and the rewards I’ve experienced have far exceeded anything I could have imagined, bringing me a rich new life I hadn’t anticipated. I’ve learned to toss out my own expectations, and instead, enjoy what God creates anew for me.

In these final days before Christmas, as I wait again for Jesus to be born in that stable, I pray that each of us will take a moment from our well-loved rituals of preparation to courageously open our hearts, and, without any expectation, receive what God has in store for us.

“…And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

May your Christmas make all things new!

Do your expectations prevent you from seeing something totally new and unexpected?

It’s A Christmas Parade!

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As our treat to our wonderful WaterCooler Readers, we thought we’d do another blog parade. Each of our authors below is blogging about their Writer’s Wish List. Hmm . . . I know I’m intrigued to see what’s on these lists. Funny? Quirky? Serious?

I don’t know . . . you’ll have to click on the links to find out!

1. Lucille Zimmerman
Blog Link: http://www.lucillezimmerman.com/2012/12/10/ape-author-publisher-entrepreneur-how-to-publish-a-book-by-guy-kawasaki-shawn-welch-a-book-review/

2. Janalyn Voigt
Blog Link: http://janalynvoigt.com/one-authors-christmas-wish

3. Kimberly Vargas
Blog Link: http://www.kimberlyvargasauthor.com/?p=241

4. Cheryl Ricker
Blog Link: http://www.cherylricker.com/2012/12/smells-and-whistles/

5. Jordyn Redwood
Blog Link: http://jordynredwood.blogspot.com/2012/12/wishing.html

6. Melissa K. Norris
Blog Link: http://melissaknorris.com/?p=1351

7. Gillian Marchenko
Blog Link: http://wp.me/p2Ds6m-zA

8. Dr. Rita Hancock
Blog Link: http://edensfreedomsisters.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-eden-diet-joins-a-blog-parade-find-out-how-to-win-dr-rita-s-b

9. Karen Jordan
Blog Link: http://karenbarnesjordan.com/a-writers-wish-list-grace-gifts

10. Kelli Gotthardt
log Link: http://www.kelligotthardt.com/1/post/2012/12/writers-wish-list.html

11: Jan Dunlap
Blog Link: http://jandunlap.com/2012/12/the-wishlist-of-a-writer/

12: Cindy Dagnan
Blog Link: http://cindydagnan.com/cindy-sigler-dagnan/2012/12/14/one-writer%E2%80%99s-wish-list/

13: Anita Brooks
Blog Link: http://brooksanita.com/a-writers-fantasy-wish-list

Merry Christmas!!

Deep into NaNoWriMo

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Every author knows that it’s National Novel Writing Month – thirty days dedicated to flexing our writing muscles and whipping out 50,000 words of an original manuscript. The idea is to give ourselves permission to pursue our writing passion with all our hearts, minds, and laptops in a frenzy of creative expression and production.

What a great idea!

What unfettered freedom to write!

What joy!

What planet are these people from?

Like most authors I know, writing a novel gets sandwiched in between a part or full-time job, parenting, spousing, volunteering obligations, pet maintenance, cooking and cleaning, and – oh yes! – occasional opportunities to sleep. So, at least for me, while NaNoWriMo sounds like a fabulous idea, that is, unfortunately, all it will ever be for me – an idea, not a reality. During the month of November, while other lucky authors suspend every claim on their time and energy to immerse themselves in writing bliss, I’m still teaching college sophomores how to construct a grammatically correct sentence, walking the dog at least twice a day, cooking dinner for my husband and me, doing laundry, answering emails, and maintaining personal hygiene. Until I can figure out how to do all that AND write at the same time, NaNoWriMo will continue to be an elusive dream, and I will go on wondering what it would be like to write a novel in thirty consecutive days.

Note that I wrote ‘consecutive’ days.

That’s because I do write a novel every year in thirty days. The days are just not back-to-back, or consistently eight hours of effort, but all in all, it ends up being around the same amount of ‘work.’ In other words, I write when I can. Some days, that ‘writing’ may actually be hours of mental plotting while I’m otherwise physically engaged (can you spell ‘spring cleanup’?) or it could be an uninterrupted ten-hour words-pouring-out-of-me marathon when I forget to eat (easiest to do when hubby and kids are out of town). I have, at least twice, written the first chapter in a methodical manner, sitting down to my laptop for four hours a day. But then it’s been weeks, or even months, before I get back for Chapter Two. As I often excuse myself to those who ask, I was trained as a journalist, and I work best under pressure, but as an example of writerly discipline, I stink.

It works for me, though. I find that downtime between chapters, or even mid-chapter, gives me time to play with my story, working out different arcs or conflicts. My writing breaks allow my characters to form more completely in my mind, often without my interference. And sometimes, my story takes turns I never would have predicted, thanks to the people or events I encounter while I’m in the middle of slowly, erratically, crafting a story.

Write a novel in a month?

If you can do it, go for it.

Me? I’m simmering stew, along with story plots. The really good stuff takes time, you know.

How’s your NaNoWriMo going?