IWSG AND SHUTTA CRUM GUEST POST AND WILLIAM AND THE WITCH'S RIDDLE GIVEAWAY

Happy New Year Everyone! Hope you had a great holiday season and are looking forward to a great year. I really am career-wise, on a personal level, and with the blog. I've got lots of awesome debut authors scheduled and a number of author/agent posts with query critique opportunities. I'm also hoping to work on my agent spotlights, including updating some of the old ones.

Before I get to my awesome guest post by the amazing Shutta Crum, I want to start out with my first new change.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of the month is officially Insecure Writer's Support Group Day.

Yes, I finally joined this awesome group! I will keep my posts short because they will be paired by an author interview or guest post. I'll be posting the first Wednesday of the month instead of the first Monday from now on.

I never talk about my own writing on the blog so thought I'd share a bit this month. I started out many years ago as an aspiring MG and YA fantasy author. I have one completed MG manuscript and a start on a YA idea. Over the years since I have been blogging, it has taken up all of my writing time because I've also been a full-time attorney, caretaker to my husband, who has since died, and a dedicated mom. 

About two years ago, I got laid off from my job due to funding cuts, and I now have a full-time career as a contract writer. I work at home for a web marketing firm and write articles for attorney websites. Like just about all writing jobs, it doesn't pay well and comes with no benefits. But I love it, and I get a pay check every month that sort of supports my daughter and me. I can't believe I'm supporting myself this way. Unfortunately, because I don't make much money, I have to try to pick up more paying writing jobs through my company instead of using free time to write fiction like I have loved in the past. So that type of writing is on hold. 

I'm okay with this though. Living alone and already writing, I need to get out of my writing cave, not spend more time in it. It's that writer's balance issue. And I really feel this blog provides a service to so many writers that I don't mind using my creative writing energy on this instead of personal writing. So I am a writer, but just a different one than I first imagined. And I never dreamed that I could support myself doing it.

That's it for today! Now onto a fantastic guest post from Shutta Crum, who I met as a children's librarian in Ann Arbor. She has since retired, but has a fantastic career as a writer. She may not hit it big with any one book, but she keeps on selling them--something vital if you want to grow your career. Today she's sharing her advice on how she was able to do this. 

Here's Shutta!

Making it in the Middle: The Mulish March of a “Mid-Lister”

When I was a child I always wanted to play teacher, or librarian. I read a lot and valued books, but they were scarce in our household. I begged, borrowed, stole and even garbage-picked them whenever I could. So when I became a librarian and was able to be surrounded by books everyday—it seemed like I had climbed the loftiest pinnacle. I loved that job!

Consequently, years later, I went through an emotionally difficult time when I decided to step down from library management and take a half-time children’s reference position—so I could spend more time writing.  I was taught you just don’t do this! I should have been working toward becoming the library director, instead. (And writing on the side, if I had to.) And here I was back-pedaling! To top it off, all I had to qualify me as an author was two books slated for publication the following year. It was a scary decision, but one I did not regret.

Since I was in a business frame of mind—and being a librarian—I went about in a very organized fashion preparing myself for my new career. I read writing books, hooked up with SCBWI, joined a critique group and, of course, continued to read voraciously.

Also, I asked myself a very career-minded question:  How will I know when I’ve succeeded as an author? After all, this was not going to be a hobby. From the outset I saw it as a career change. So it seemed to me there should be a definitive answer to that question.

If I’d become the library director I would have marked that with a big star. Check! So . . . how might I measure my success in this new field?

At that time, I answered the question from my perspective as a librarian. I liked it when I could go to the shelves and retrieve a couple of books by a favorite writer. And I liked it when authors seemed to have a new book out every year or so. So I thought, if I can get ten books published I’ll feel like I’ve reached some measure of success. Ten books seemed like a hefty enough oeuvre to retain a following of readers, and continued consideration by library selectors. Ten was my goal.

Now, some fifteen books and many wonderful relationships with other writers later, I see that my answer was incredibly naïve. There are many ways to measure success in an art form—whether it’s emotionally connecting with just one person, inspiring others, getting fan mail from kids, creating from “thin air” something that has never existed before and that will continue to exist after the physical body of the creator is gone. There are about a gazillion ways an author can rest assured that he or she has succeeded. I know that now.

It isn’t a matter of being at the top of a hierarchy as one might be in business—for example being a library director. It’s more a matter of recognizing successes as they come along and celebrating those, while knowing that tomorrow will bring more and other kinds of successes. There is no glass ceiling, as it were, in the writing world—other than having ability and a certain mulish stubbornness that keeps you at it.

That said, we all know authors who are one book wonders. The debut book shines and is gobbled up everywhere, and then nothing. Or nothing for years and years.

So what does it mean to make it in the middle—to be consistently published, but perhaps not to the same acclaim as others? Sometimes it’s hard to see that as a success. (We are always hardest on ourselves.) At other times it’s been a source of pride—and wonder. Check!

I no longer worry about measurements (nor objectives and goals). I write to please only myself. And if I happen to please readers along the way, that’s the colorful cranberry relish on the Thanksgiving table—something sweet and delightful that augments all the other dishes.

No one starts out wanting to be middling. But making it in the middle is a happy place to be. So here are a few tips about being a successful mid-lister.

1.  Be flexible. This means be willing to work with an editor on revisions, suggestions, etc. Try things he/she may suggest. If it doesn’t work, be honest about it. But most of all he/she wants to know: can I work with this person? So make it an enjoyable experience for the whole team. Your editor wants to enjoy his/her work as much as you do yours.

2.  Be experimental. You won’t become a continually published author if you’ve only got one basic story. Sure, some of us do series. But experiment, your editor wants to see fun, new ideas. And if you’ve accomplished #1 above, your editor will want to see you expand your range, as well. I write board books, picture books, middle-grade and young YA. That range is also what has made it possible for me to average a published book a year.

3.  Be trustworthy and upfront. This goes with #1—keeping your team happy. My editors know when

a book with a different company is coming out, so there’s no conflict. Keep everyone informed.

4.  Be trusting. This, too, goes with #1—keeping your team happy. Don’t nag your agent or editor. Sure . . . sometimes it seems like the Taj Mahal is being rebuilt during the lengthy gaps between communications. But the wheels are moving.

5. Be helpful. Once a book is out do all you can to promote it. Do public speaking, teaching, writing posts and articles for magazines. And have a social media stance. Make bookmarks and postcards. (Your publishing house may, or may not, be able to help with these costs.) And promote other authors, as well. Let your editor see that you’re a hard-working member of the team, and the children’s lit world in general.

6.  Be a devourer of the work of others. Read—a lot! Study the award winners. Read reviews. Look to see what’s being pushed in the market place. Meet with like-minded folks who tear apart technique and who discuss all those down and dirty details: voice, POV, pacing, mood, plot, etc. Along with this, be a listener. Really try to understand how others are trying to help you when they critique your work. In short, don’t stint this education that you need in order to do your job well. If you were doing brain surgery, you bet your sweet patootie you’d be up on all the latest techniques!

7. Be industrious. You have to trust that another book will be sold, so that means that you have to have another book ready. Do NOT take years in between! Editors move around to other publishers. Agents come and go. A relationship you may have one year, may be gone the next. So don’t take five years to get another manuscript ready to go into the pipeline. Keep honing your craft and flattening your butt (by keeping it in your chair). Sure, life happens and sometimes gaps are unavoidable. But once you get back in the saddle. Stay there!

8.  Be brave. If this is the life you want, then stand up for it. Demand time from your family and loved ones to be able to make your art. Set boundaries, and surround yourself with people who will support you and honor your work. (I know. This is often the most difficult thing to accomplish, but accomplish it you must.)

9. Be mulish. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do this. With the right tools, the willingness to educate yourself, and the time to work—you can do it. A mule is a hard-working breed that is a cross between a female horse and a male donkey. It has a certain flair from the wild beauty of horses, and a deep intelligence from donkeys. Fling that mane! Be mulish.

*******************************More about Shutta*******************************

Shutta’s latest novel is WILLIAM AND THE WITCH’S RIDDLE (Knopf). Many of her books have made best book lists, or were listed for state awards. Her picture book THUNDER-BOOMER! (Clarion) garnered four starred reviews and was an SLJ Best Book, a Smithsonian Magazine Notable Book and an ALA Notable Book. And of MINE! (Knopf) the N. Y. Times said, “. . . a delightful example of the drama and emotion that a nearly wordless book can convey.” More about Shutta and her books at: www.shutta.com. And on Facebook at ShuttaCrum. 

Here's a blurb of WILLIAM AND THE WITCH'S RIDDLE from Goodreads:

A charming re-imagination of “Sleeping Beauty” in which a boy must solve a witch’s riddle in order to save his family and end a centuries-long curse.
 
William and his little brother, Pinch, have been left alone at their home atop the mountain ever since their mother disappeared and their father went to look for her. When William is visited by a mysterious witch named Morga, it seems their lives might be in danger—unless they help the witch solve a riddle and find a dark family heirloom.

William sets out on a quest that leads him into the heart of the Old Forest. There his mother rests in the deep sleep of an ancient curse, her only companions a boy who wakes up a different size every day and a tiny yellow dragon who can dream storms into life.

Can William solve Morga’s riddle, or will he unleash Morga’s curses upon the world? 

Shutta is generously offering a copy of WILLIAM AND THE WITCH'S RIDDLE for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment through January 21st. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This giveaway is for U.S. and Canada. 

Agent Query Critique Contest You Might Be Interested In

Agent Carrie Pestritto at Prospect Agency has an awesome query critique contest. FYI this contest announcement has a link to the post with the rules. This is follower Kristin Bartley Lenz's agent.

WriteOnCon Is Back

I recently heard that WriteOnCon, the online conference for writers' in children's publishing, is back with new organizers. The conference is scheduled for February 2-4.

Here's what's coming up:

Monday, January 9th, I have an agent spotlight interview with Mark Gottlieb and a query critique giveaway

Monday, January 16th, debut author Jennifer Torres will here with a guest post and a giveaway of her multicultural MG STEF SOTO, TACO QUEEN

Monday January 23rd, I'll be interviewing debut author Brianna Shields with a giveaway of her YA fantasy POISON'S KISS

Monday January 30th, debut author Celeste Lin will be here doing a guest post with her agent Rosemary Stimola and a giveaway of Celeste's MG THE BRIDE FROM HUNAN

Hope to see you on Monday!