Steph Auteri

How an Author Can Be Her Own Own Best Publicist

20

Mar

Blogging buddy and author Brette Sember has about about 40 titles to her name at this point, a number that often serves to make me feel like a lazy-ass bum. Like, what have I been doing all these years!?Â Her output has been so extensive that her published books fill one and a half shelves on her office bookcase.

She published her first book when she was home on maternity leave from her law practice in 1998. A publisher called and asked if she was interested in writing a book about how to file for divorce in New York. She never looked back. Now, she’s spending time promoting her latest book — The Muffin Tin Cookbook, due out in April — and she’s finding the publicity process wildly different from what it was just 14 years ago. Lucky for us, she’s willing to share what it’s like to be your own best publicist.

1. You’ve written a slew of books, in a variety of subject areas. Considering how labor-intensive book development can be, what has drawn you to these longer-form projects, and how the hell do you maintain such an impressive output?

I love books. I love reading them and I love writing them. I’ve done my share of magazine work and it’s not my favorite process. A book is my vision (with input from my editor). I’m just suited to writing long-form and I enjoy being able to have the time and space to explore things. My mom is also an author, so I guess it is in my blood.

I have some books I wrote which were renamed in later editions, so that makes my numbers look higher. I also have some books where publishers took my old books and repackaged parts of them as new titles to be more targeted or specific. I co-author a lot of books, which means I’m not writing the entire thing on my own. Writing books is my full-time job, so I do have time to devote a lot of energy and thought to what I do. Most of all though, I just love what I do.

2. Over the years, we’ve seen book publishers’ marketing and publicity budgets shrink, forcing authors to shoulder more of the promotional responsibility. What was your experience like in this area with the first few books you published, and how has it shifted over the years?

This has changed a lot in the 14 years I’ve been doing this. In the beginning, my publicists set things up for me and I did the interviews. Period. I started to do some online moving and shaking very early on, though, and was successful at getting my books reviewed or mentioned on early blogs. Now, of course, the burden is almost entirely on the author. I rely on publicists to mail out the review copies I get requests for and that’s about it. It’s hard because as an author you have to wear so many hats and they might not all come naturally. Just because you’re good at writing doesn’t mean you’re good at publicity, so I think this places a heavy burden on many authors. And it’s not like you can just hire your own publicist — you’re looking at a commitment of about $10,000 to do that. So most authors are left trying to get this done themselves, in and around their other writing work.

3. Considering the necessity of self-promotion, what do you see as the main benefits of going through a traditional publisher?

I do self-publish several titles myself as Kindles and Nooks and I love the freedom it gives me to write what I want and get it out there immediately. I still love print books, though, and for long projects that require a lot of my time and a lot of investment in research or recipe development, I like to get an advance to defray those costs. I’m not interested in storing 2,000 books in my garage to sell or distribute myself and I’m just not interested in formatting a book or doing anything of the print functions myself. For now, I’m playing both sides of the field and will as long as I see a benefit.

4. What have been some of the most effective ways you’ve found of self-promoting your books? Have you tried anything off-beat that perhaps a publishing house wouldn’t have come up with on its own?

I’ve had a lot of success with bloggers for many years, and publishers are now hot on this but weren’t for a long time. I make my own flyers for my books with color photos on them. Publishers send out these dry text emails or press releases. I put together a PDF with photos, color text and formatting that makes it fun to look at. I’ve also had a lot of success getting coverage in regional parenting magazines, which I’ve worked with for years and years as a writer and maintain a database of. They’re really receptive because they need content and if you can provide a free article that also promotes your book, they are happy to run it. I also have to tell you that my mom took my last cookbook, The Parchment Paper Cookbook, to the hair salon for the stylist. He has it on a side table and has told tons of people about it. Sometimes word of mouth is more valuable than you would think.

5. Finally, I can imagine that by the time your book comes out, you’re sick to death of it. Can you speak to this a bit, and also explain how you maintain your enthusiasm for the book so you can promote it in the most effective way possible?

People donâ€™t realize you’ve lived with a book for a year or even two by the time it hits the shelves. You start with the proposal — trying to get a publisher interested. Then you write the book. Then you go through edits and copyediting and proofing. I also do the indexes for my own books, so that is another journey through the book. Then you start publicity before the book is out, trying to line up reviews, guest posts, etc. By the time there is actually a book for sale, it’s old news to the author! But it’s new to everyone else, so you have to kind of shake yourself up and try to look at it through the readers’ eyes and get excited about it all over again. And it is exciting to actually hold it in your hands after the long process. And it’s exciting when people tell you they like it, so that energizes you anew.

(photo via)

Filed Under: author, marketing, publicity, publishing, writing

Why You Should Change Your Definition of Success

13

Mar

By Steph Auteri

I started freelancing full-time almost five years ago. At the time, success meant matching my previous income, and saying yes to every project that came my way. As a result, I found myself working nights and weekends, skipping meals, and pushing exercise to the very bottom of my to-do list, where it never got done.

These days, success means being pickier about projects, preparing home-cooked meals with my husband, and having time for both my personal book project and my daily yoga classes. I have the potential to make more money… but the other stuff comes first.

Which is why I love Laura Vanderkam‘s work. In bothÂ 168 Hours and her most recent book, All the Money in the World, she shows readers that they don’t necessarily need more time or money to achieve a successful and fulfilling life. They just need to know how to spend what they already have.

In this Q+A, Laura shows us how we should redefine success.

1. I went on a sort of Laura Vanderkam reading marathon last week. What I noticed immediately about both your books is that they eschew the typical self-help trope of promising more (more money, more time) to the reader. Rather, you stress in both books that, generally, we have enough. We just need to learn how to spend both our time and our money more wisely, rather than cutting back on things we enjoy as a means of grabbing 15 minutes here, $100 there. How did you come to this somewhat contrary conclusion?

I highly recommend Laura Vanderkam reading marathons. I’ve got some novels stuffed in a drawer that you can read as well…

To answer your question, with time that insight came from looking at successful people. I’m talking about people who have big careers and big personal lives. These people have the exact same amount of time as the rest of us, so what are they doing differently?

In some cases, these people do have more money, but plenty of people with money somehow manage to spend it on things that make their lives more complicated, rather than less. If you start with a blank slate, rather than various assumptions about how we should be spending our time and money, you’ll soon see that 168 hours a week and an average American income can cover quite a bit. I mean, who cares about spending 10 minutes less on errands if you’re in the wrong job? Then you’re wasting 40 hours a week. Fix that first. Then you can be as inefficient on your errands as you want.

2. I loved 168 Hours. Who doesn’t wish for more time? But when I read the press release for All the Money in the World, I was intrigued, because it hinted at the possibility that you don’t necessarily need to be making more money in order to be considered successful. A prospect I find attractive, as someone who values work/life balance over ever-increasing income. Can you share with us your own, personal definition of success?

My goal is to be able to write about any topic I find interesting for publications I admire and in my own books (and on my blog), and know that my words will find a big audience. Money is part of success — it’s how the market often recognizes talent — but you have to consider it within categories. You can be among the world’s best poets and still earn less than a mediocre investment banker.

3. When did you reach that aha moment where you realized that success didn’t have to mean more money? Was there a specific instance where you had to choose between saying yes to a project or yes to yourself?

In 168 Hours, I write of giving up a fairly well-paying gig with Reader’s Digest. I wrote the Only in America section for years. It was a fabulous way to learn to write tight, and to learn about an incredible diversity of subjects, from a young man who walked every street in Manhattan to the person who holds the world record for the most Guinness World Records. I’m so grateful that they gave me the chance to do that.

But what I eventually realized is that I wanted to be focusing on books and longer, bylined articles, and the mental energy required to write six to eight well-reported short pieces every month was distracting me from that goal. It was a tough gig to walk away from financially, but since my husband gets a steady paycheck, we decided I could take some risks.

4. Even though you suggest that we have enough money/time if we spend it correctly, you do recommend simply making more money rather than cutting back on expenses as a way to improve quality of life. Can you share a specific instance in which you realized you needed an income boost (whether for everyday life or a specific purchase) and hustled like hell to get that extra cash? What tactics did you use to drum up that extra money?

My first year out of college, I had an internship at USA Today. My take-home pay was about $1,200 a month. That was enough to live on, but it wasn’t enough to save for bigger goals, like travel or moving to New York City (something I’d always wanted to do). So I freelanced for a variety of different publications. When you set your expenses based on $1,200 a month, even bringing in an extra $500 is a huge win. And by the end of the year I was bringing in a lot more than that — sometimes tripling my salary. If you’re making $1,200 a month, you can’t save $2,000 a month. If you’re making $4,000 a month, you can. I was able to spend three weeks traveling in Asia after the internship ended, and then have a few months’ cushion for moving to New York without a job lined up.

5. I’m a huge advocate of career diversification, something that freelancers tend to master early on. What does a typical mix of projects look like for you over the course of any given week?

Ideally I’m working on something very long term, like a book. I’ve got a few intermediate assignments: a feature for City Journal or another magazine, a USA Today column. Then there’s the immediate stuff: blogging three times a week for CBS MoneyWatch and keeping my own personal blog (www.lauravanderkam.com). Speeches have become a bigger component of my income over the past few years as well.

6. Finally, what was the most fun/fascinating/challenging project you ever did for the money?

I once ghostwrote a book in less than six weeks. I enjoyed the challenge. If I someday need to scale up my cash flow for big goals, I’d take on two to three crash jobs like that per year.

Filed Under: all the money in the world, balance, book review, career path, finances/income, laura vanderkam, money, productivity, success, time

Spill It: Are You an Emotional Mess After a Major Success?

6

Mar

By Steph Auteri

When my literary agent first offered me representation the other week, I tried to play it cool. I told her I was thrilled she was so into my book idea. I told her I’d have to touch base with another agent who also had my full proposal. Then I hung up the phone, my hands shaking, and started to cry.

My husband’s response: “You have weird reactions to things.”

Thanks, Michael. Thanks a lot.

I swear, you guys. They were happy tears. I’d wanted to be an author since the age of 5, and this wasÂ huge leap forward for me.

Only a week or two later, though, I was depressed.

I’ve been focusing a lot of my energy lately on personal projects. Over the summer, I ghostwrote and edited an ebook in only two months. In November, I did a shit-ton of content creation for an advertising client. I also did a slew of freelance articles and blog posts.Â But after that, feeling I finally had time to breathe, I spent a lot of time developing my starter kitÂ and thenÂ promoting it.Â I also developed a book proposal and started querying agents. I did all this at the general exclusion of actual paying work (despite totally knowing better) and, by late February, my bank account was dangerously low. I felt like a failure, and I suggested to Michael that I just be his trophy wife going forward.

When I mentioned this to my fabulous writing partner, whom I am completely and neurotically dependent upon, she sighed. “You do this every time, Steph,” she said. “Every time you accomplish something big, you get into a slump only a week or two later.”

She reminded me that I’d managed to pay off my credit card debt in January, a feat that had taken me about three or four years to accomplish. She mentioned that I’d just written and launched my starter kit, which had led to over 100 percent growth in my mailing list. Then she mentioned that I’d just landed a literary agent. “This is something you’ve dreamed of your entire life,” she said, “and now you feel like a failure!?”

She had a point.

It made me think of an essay I’d just read in the March/April 2012 issue of Poets & Writers*, on the post-publication blues. In it, author Kim Wright writes about an affliction common among debut novelists: the tendency to fall into a paralyzing depression after their book’s publication date.Â ”…getting what you’ve always said you wanted, finally reaching that single enormous goal. It can all be a little… depressing,” she writes.Â She’s talking about becoming an author (and you should check out the essay in full yourself; it’s fantastic), but I feel it can apply to any large, personal success.

Lyz (the aforementioned writing partner) said she thinks it’s because, upon accomplishing something, we immediately ask ourselves: What’s next?

I’d take that a step further and say that, in addition to wondering what’s next, I also often feel as if the stakes are raised. I worry about making the wrong next move, not living up to others’ expectations, not moving forward, falling flat on my face.

I warned you I was neurotic.

But I can’t be the only one. That P&W article wouldn’t exist if I was. So tell me:

Have you experienced the post-success slump? If so, what did you do to get back in the saddle?

*I totally just typo’d P&W to readÂ Pets & Writers… a magazine I would definitely subscribe to if it existed. Get on it, people.

Filed Under: accomplish, depression, spill it, success

How To Find The Literary Agent of Your Dreams

24

Feb

By Steph Auteri

(image via the talented Justin Lowery)

Back in November, I shared with you the checklist I used to put together my own book proposal. It contained all the building blocks I’d become familiar with when working as an editorial assistant for an academic book publisher, plus a few other tips I’d picked up over the years from former writing professors and how-to books.

I can only assume that, by this point, you have an amazing, solid book proposal ready to go, and are already daydreaming about the book advance and lit parties in your future. Not so fast. While academic publishers — and some small presses — accept unsolicited book proposals and manuscripts, most traditional book publishers won’t look at your work unless it comes to them via a literary agent.

I can hear you grumbling already. What the what!? Another barrier to publication? But believe me. You’ll only benefit from the help an agent can provide. Not only are they the gatekeepers to big-name publishers, but they have their fingers on the pulse of the literary marketplace, can help you strengthen your proposal, have relationships with editors (and intimate knowledge of their preferences) that allow them to target the best possible publishers for your book, and can also negotiate a helluva book contract (a process during which many of us would be completely out of our element).

Yes please to all of that.

So how do you go about finding one?

Read the acknowledgments pages of your favorite books.Â I’ve been working on a prescriptive memoir about being a sex writer with sexual dysfunction. In order to pinpoint agents who might be interested in such a book, I thought back to all the sex-related books, prescriptive nonfiction books, and irreverent memoirs I’d read and loved. I figured anyone who’d represent those authors might possibly be into me, too. Luckily, most authors thank their agents in the acknowledgments section of their book. So when drawing up a list of possible agents to query, I flipped to the backs of My Year with Eleanor, Yoga Bitch, Project: Happily Ever After, Mating in Captivity, Introvert Power, and other such books. I also took note of which agents had landed their authors deals with Seal Press, a small publishing house I especially admired.

Flip through agent directories. In a bit of fortuitous timing, I received a review copy of Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, & Literary Agents 2012Â back in November.Â I loved it because, in gathering information from agencies, Herman had asked for info like: hobbies and personal interests; subjects and categories they liked to agent; the most effective way for writers to grab their attention; favorite books, movies, and TV shows; the most common mistakes writers make when pitching; etc. Not only did this help me better craft my queries, but this info allowed me to see these agents not just as agents… but as people.

Several months later, I received Chuck Sambuchino’s 2012 Guide to Literary Agents as a Christmas present. This particular directory made it clear which agencies were more open to new writers and which weren’t.

I also paid attention to info on geographic location, and only targeted the agents who were based in NY or NJ. I wanted the option of meeting up with my future agent in person.

And both books also contained additional content on crafting query letters, putting together a nonfiction book proposal, how to make the most of a writer’s conference, copyright basics, and more.

Visit agency websites. After I’d flipped through acknowledgments pages and agency directories, I visited the websites of the agents on my list. This gave me even more information on whether they were accepting proposals at the time, how they preferred to receive queries, and how long it typically took them to respond (so I knew when to follow up).

Send a query letter first.Â Then I started sending out my first wave of query letters. You may be eager to mail out your full proposal right off the bat (especially after you spent so much time putting it together) but, for the most part, agents prefer to receive a brief query letter first. This is because they’re just inundated with queries and proposals, and don’t have the time to read through them all.Â If they’re intrigued by your query letter and interested in reading more, they’ll request your full proposal.

Other options. Of course, there are other ways to familiarize yourself with the agents out there. I read this mediabistro list of the Best Literary Agents on Twitter, and followed the ones who seemed the most interesting. (I even referenced a specific tweet in one of my query letters.) Other authors register forÂ Publishers LunchÂ – through which they can read book industry news, receive alerts about new book transactions, and search a database to see which agents are representing which books — or subscribe to Publishers Weekly.Â Some authors make agent connections at conferences (and some conferences host sessions in which you can sign up to query agents in person).

In the end, it took me about three (excruciating) months to find my literary agent, using the steps above. Those three months included five rejections from agencies not interested in seeing my full proposal; three requests for a full proposal, followed by three very pleasant and constructive rejections; and two howling vortexes of silence.

Actually, I didn’t even directly query the woman who eventually offered me representation. I queried her colleague after becoming enamored of a memoir she’d represented. She loved my proposal but worried she was too much of a prude to give it the best possible chance in this tough publishing market. So she passed it along to her colleague and the stars aligned.

When my agent first emailed me, I paused to do a happy dance to LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It.” Then, in my response email to the aforementioned agent, I admitted to doing a happy dance to LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It.” When she responded by asking if we were separated at birth, I knew it was all going to work out.

I know there’s still no guarantee I’ll get an offer from a book publisher. But at this moment, I’m far closer to the authorial dreams I’ve been nursing since the age of 5 than I’ve ever been before.

Having an agent? It can certainly help you beat the odds.

Filed Under: agent, author, book proposal, literary agent, query, writing

How To Grow Your Mailing List By Over 100% in Two Weeks

17

Feb

By Steph Auteri

If we all squint really hard, this will start to look like me. Right?

I happened into entrepreneurship without anything resembling a business background. What I had instead was a B.A. in Writing, Literature, and Publishing, a good chunk of publishing industry experience, boxes full of how-to books, and a love of the written word. But my abilities as a writer didn’t translate into business success, and so I created my own continuing education.

I read books on freelancing, entrepreneurship, and how to make money as a writer. I read blogs about the business of writing. I even took several online workshops put together by Launch Coach Dave Navarro.

What I learned from most of these resources is that, when building a business, your mailing list is key. That built-in, loyal readership will help you market your products and services more easily than if you were cold-pitching your business every damn day.

I’ve been writing Word Nerd News for over a year now but, two weeks ago, I made my very first attempt to deliberately grow my mailing list and build up the word nerd community. In that space of time, my mailing list grew by over 100 percent. It’s still growing. How’d I do it?

I send out Word Nerd News once a month and, in each issue, I try to deliver something of value to my readers. I write up unique how-to content that has not previously appeared on this blog. I share the stories of seasoned freelance writers and fellow word nerds. I provide additional resources from around the web, and I share content from other writers that I think you’ll find interesting.

Still, many of us are already experiencing inbox overwhelm, and are loath to sign up for yet another newsletter. What’s in it for us? What will we get out of it aside from another email in our inbox?

This is where the “cookie” comes in.

I learned about the cookie through a fantastic video series — How to Failproof Your Business — put together by Dave Navarro and Naomi Dunford. Basically, the cookie is something of value you offer people (aside from just your brilliant newsletter). Something with practical application for them, that also showcases your abilities as an expert in your field. It can be an ebook. An industry report. A case study. The most amazing info product ever.

Despite how amazing your info product will inevitably be, after developing it, you don’t charge for it.Â No. You give it away.Â Well actually, no. That’s not true. Instead of giving you sweet, sweet money, all the reader has to do in order to receive this fantastic freebie is sign up for your mailing list.

It’s like the gateway drug to future awesomeness, and it’s a win-win for the both of you. You build up a mailing list filled with loyal and devoted readers who inspire you on a day-to-day basis. They receive — and continue to receive, if they stick around — content that improves their lives.

Which is where Freelance Awesome: A Starter Kit came from. I developed an info product based upon processes I myself found helpful in my own business, and then I offered it to my subscribers, urging them to tell their friends about it if they found it helpful, too.

Then — because I didn’t want to rely upon subscriber word-of-mouth alone — I went on a magical mystery blog tour, drawing up guest posts for a slew of bloggers I had long admired… some of whom had been instrumental in my own self-education as a beginning freelancer. I knew our readerships would overlap, and I hoped that creating content for these other readers wouldÂ eventually lead them to hop on over to my site, sign up for my mailing list, and someday exchange friendship bracelets.

As each new guest post went up, I saw my subscriber base grow.

Do you have a mailing list already? You should get on that if you don’t. (I use MailChimp for mine, and I love it.) If you do have a mailing list, ask yourself: What can I offer to subscribers that will really get them fired up?

But before you go and do all that, take a trip up on my magical mystery blog tour. Here are all the places I was at when I wasn’t here:

I did up a post for Michelle Rafter’s WordCount blog on the 5 Steps to Freelance Awesomeness.

I told Brazen Careerist readers how they, too, could become freelance hardasses and get paid what they’re worth.

I came up with some creative ways to pay the bills over at Thursday Bram’s blog.

I shared tips on building an author platform with the readers of Lisa Romeo Writes.

I told Susan Johnston’s readers how they could create eight story ideas in one sitting, over at the Urban Muse.

And because I apparently like the number 8, I gave Linda Formichelli’s readers eight different ways to find accountability as a freelance writer, over at the Renegade Writer blog.

I did a podcast on putting together a freelance startup plan, over at Carol Tice’s Freelance Writers Den. You can access a recording of the podcast by registering for Carol’s online community.

And finally — in a bit of fortuitous timing, and having nothing to do with my blog tour — I gave advice on how to choose a writing coach (again at Susan’s blog), I showed Kristin Offiler’s readers my super-exciting home office, I gave networking advice to the introverts who read DMAGÂ (check out page 16) and, in a happy surprise, I realized that Stephanie Dickison had highlighted me and my blog on page 23 of The Writer‘s March 2012 issue, as one of the blogs that are “worth a writer’s time.” (!)

Whew! That was exhausting. Enjoy your tour. Me? I need more coffee.

Filed Under: blog tour, information product, mailing list, marketing, shameless self-promotion

How To Be Generous with Your Writing Community

14

Feb

By Steph Auteri

Over at Project Happily Ever After, my blogger-buddy Alisa Bowman wrote a post I’m absolutely smitten with: How to Put the Love Back in Valentine’s Day. In it, she writes of one man’s quest to re-brand February 14 as Generosity Day, and then lists the ways in which we could all be more generous to each other. In this way, February 14 becomes more about giving than about getting (a fancy meal… sparkly jewelry… chocolates…).

I found the timing of this post fortuitous. Just last night, I was reading Patty Digh’sÂ Life is a Verb, which has an entire chapter on living life more generously. It had gotten me thinking about how I could be better, more generous, more open to others.

I’ve already written extensively on the powers of good karma within the writing community, and on how much of my freelance success can be attributed to the generosity of my fellow writers.

But just for today — Valentine’s Day — why don’t we all commit to doing at least one generous act for someone in our community.

Some suggestions:

RT, stumble, or pin another blogger’s post.
Pass along an article that you think would be helpful.
Forward along a job lead to someone you know is looking.
Email someone to tell them how much you love their work.
Share an editorial contact.
Let someone do up a guest post for your blog.
Rave about a fellow entrepreneur’s product or service, assuming you found it to be awesome.
Send a handwritten thank you card.
Review a fellow writer’s book on your blog.
Send your writing partner a word nerdy gift.

I could go on. But I haven’t had enough coffee yet.

Report back in the comments on your one, generous act today.

Filed Under: community, generosity, generous, Valentine's Day

Community: The Crucial Ingredient To Freelance Writing Success

10

Feb

By Steph Auteri

I like working alone. I prefer fuzzy slippers to pantyhose. And my commute these days is fantastic. But theseÂ aren’t the only reasons I chose freelancedom.

I’m an introvert, and having to be “on” for long periods of time leaves me exhausted. I also have social anxiety, and have had panic attacks while out in public. Working from home — quiet, calm, and with my three cats for company — makes me feel safe. I love that being a writer makes this possible.

But I credit my success — my ability to sustain this lifestyle — with the community I’ve built up around me. Through Twitter. Through Brazen Careerist and the Young Entrepreneur Council. Through past projects and jobs. Through this blog. So I was thrilled to get the chance to hang out in Carol Tice’s Freelance Writers Den, a virtual community for freelance writers, as a guest on her weekly podcast.

On my first visit to the Den, I kicked off my shoes and made myself comfortable. I wandered the forums, where there were active discussions going on about publications, marketing tactics, contract negotiations, and more. There were also forums dedicated to goal setting and accountability partners, and one board filled with writerly resources — a virtual library.

Over in the Learning Corner, I found links to e-courses on content mills, business and marketing basics, boosting rates, and building an online platform.

The events page was filled with info on Carol’s monthly webinars and weekly podcasts, like the one I’d been a guest on just yesterday. (p.s. If you weren’t able to make it, and would like to hear us chat about freelance startup plans, you can still register for the DenÂ and head on over to the Multimedia Shelf to access a recording.)

There was also a Junk-Free Job Board, specially curated to eliminate the flim-flam you typically find around the Internet.

Finally, I took a look at the other writers involved in running the den, and was duly impressed. Linda Formichelli, for example — one of my other fave writing gurus — is a fellow Den mother!

We all build community in different ways. Why?

Your community can give advice when you’re facing a particularly difficult writing conundrum.
Your community can share contacts, and even pass along job leads.
Your community can open your eyes to new and fantastic resources.
Your community can provide you with tough love, accountability, and critiques.
Your community can provide opportunities for pretty damn exciting collaborations.
Your community can keep you sane when your most in-depth conversations happen to occur between you and your cats.
If you build authentic connections among your community — and maintain them — you’ll eventually find that freelance writing success doesn’t have to be chased down. Instead, it comes to you.

If you’re curious about the Freelance Writers Den (and for more than just hearing my melodious voice on that podcast recording), I highly recommend registering to become a member. Freelancing can be a lonely endeavor. But we should strive to connect, and to support each other.

*This post contains affiliate links… but know that if I’m plugging something , I truly believe it’s holy-shit-fantastic.

Filed Under: carol tice, community, the freelance writers den

Been Writing for Years? You Still Have A Lot to Learn

3

Feb

By Steph Auteri

Many of you already know my writing history.

Awful poetry at the age of 5.

A part-time gig at a weekly newspaper at the age of 19.

Writing sex toy reviews by the age of 22.

And now, at the age of 31, I’ve created content for online magazines, alternative newspapers, both regional and national print magazines, and a slew of blogs.

Not too shabby.

What I’ve always wanted, however, is to write a book. A book that garners interest from traditional publishers, and that eventually ends up on the shelf at Barnes & Noble or McNally Jackson or the Trident Bookstore/Cafe.

Up until recently, however, I didn’t do a damn thing about it.

A year or so ago, however, I co-authored an ebook with sex counselor Ian Kerner. And after that sold surprisingly well, he asked me to ghostwrite an ebook for another client. Once I’d completed those two projects, it occurred to me: I just wrote two books. Maybe this whole long-form thing isn’t entirely out of the question.

So in the late summer / early fall, I began working on a book proposal and, at the end of November, I began querying agents. And then, almost immediately, I received a handful of responses from agents who were actually interested in seeing the full proposal.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, the rejections I subsequently received were both kind and constructive, and I filed their comments away in the back of my mind for future use. But it was my most recent rejection that rang especially true. What this brilliant agent told me was that my proposal was pretty solid… but my sample chapters were where it all fell apart. I was long on narrative and short on scene, making my chapters seem pretty flimsy. It touched upon something I had already suspected.

In Naked, Drunk, and Writing, Adair Lara wrote that “overly fluent writers, those to whom words come fast, have trouble going deep in their writing.”

It was true. I’d been spending so much time writing service pieces and listicles that I just didn’t know what it took to build a scene in a long-form book.

So though I’d read it only a year before, I read Lara’s book again, in its entirety. (It’s all about writing personal essays and memoirs, and has an entire chapter on scene-writing.) I also simultaneously read a memoir (Claire Dederer’s Poser), so I could pay extra attention to how other writers built scene and arc and character. Now, I’m ready for a massive rewrite (followed by a bit more slash and burn from my writing partner).

I’m not a terrible writer. Even though I began questioning my ability to write this book, and bemoaning the fact that I’d squandered my chances with several agents, I know there are areas in which I absolutely shine.

But even when you’ve been writing for years, there’s something new to learn, or something old and valuable to revisit.

Which aspects of writing do you feel you still have a lot to learn about?

Filed Under: criticism, critique, edit, education, learn, reject, revise, writing

How to Get Rid of Query Fear Once and For All

31

Jan

By Steph Auteri

In the five years since I first launched this blog — and in the 1.5 years since I began coaching — I’ve learned a thing or two about the things that can hold a freelancer back.

And aside from the lure of a smooshy couch, a good book, or a curated list of sparkly jewelry on Etsy, a lot of the roadblocks we put up around ourselves stem from the pitch process.

You’ve asked me so many questions about query letters over the years:

How do I find publications to pitch?

Which editor should I target?

What do I do if I have no clips/experience/personal connection?

How long should I wait before I follow up?

Is my letter really good enough to send out?Â

I had the same questions when I started out and, over the years, I developed my own system for making the pitch to publish process go smoother.

So what’s my trick to busting query fear?

For the past few months, Â I’ve been working on 5 Weeks to Freelance Awesome: An Action Plan, a workbook that takes you from idea generation to the building of your freelance brand. This workbook, which will be available for sale in the late spring, will be pretty damn fantastic. But as I worked on it, I couldn’t help but ask myself: Is there a way I can use this information to show gratitude to my loyal word nerd readers? Is there a way I can share this information with readers without ruining the big reveal?

Yesterday, I emailed Word Nerd News subscribers with a download link to Freelance Awesome: A Starter Kit, a FREE mini-workbook containing the five worksheets necessary to jumpstart your freelance writing career. These worksheets comprise the system I’ve put in place for making my own pitch process a helluva lot easier. I use them on an almost-daily basis.Â They help me:

generate story ideas
conduct market research
write kick-ass query letters, and
track pitches and assignments

These worksheets take the self-doubt out of story pitching, and help me keep the freelance momentum going.

Because I don’t want you to miss out, I encourage you to sign up for my mailing list as well. As a subscriber to Word Nerd News, you’ll receive instant access to my starter kit. Not only that, but you’ll receive a once-a-month email containing freelance success stories, solid advice, and valuable resources from around the web. I’d say it’s a win-win.

Once you’ve downloaded my .pdf-powered word glitter, I only ask one thing in return: If you find my starter kit helpful… if you think I have something valuable to offer… if you think my hair is pretty… if you think I could be a service to someone else you know, tell them to sign up for my mailing list, too.

(If you don’t want to sign up right now, you can always come back later. There’s a simple sign-up form in theÂ right-handÂ sidebar of this blog, and a sign-up button on my professional site as well.)

I should also tell you that, next week (Thursday, February 9 at 12 p.m. PST / 3 p.m. EST), I’ll be appearing on Carol Tice‘s weekly podcast, over at the FreelanceÂ Writer’s Den, to talk freelance startup plans. (You may recall that Carol is one of my favorite freelance writing bloggers.) This is a members-only event, so be sure to registerÂ beforehand!

Finally, I want to give a big thanks to Lyz Lenz, my writing partner, for ripping my workbook to shreds and then helping me put it back together again; Melanie Ostmo, a fantastic designer, for making my starter kit all sorts of pretty; and Milena Canizares, a former coaching client who was kind enough to read through my kit and give me her feedback before I shared it with the world.

Go forth and rock it, y’all.

Related: How To Pitch: The Basics

Filed Under: freelance awesome, productivity, Resources, shameless self-promotion, spreadsheet, starter kit, subscribe, template, word nerd news, workbook, worksheet