My Favorite Tools
I’m over at Incurable Disease of Writing discussing a few of my favorite things–for writing, at least.
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Archives from month » February, 2010
Health Insurance and Writers
In my informal poll on Twitter and Facebook, it became clear that health insurance is one of the main things that keeps we U.S.-based writers from being full-time writers. Seriously, I don’t know how families with children make it on one income until the writer’s income picks up.
For example, Nancy Brauer keeps a full-time job mainly because of the benefits. “I don’t yet have enough money saved to be able to support myself with a part-time job and purchase private health insurance,” she said. Brauer is working toward that goal. You can find out more about Brauer and her freelance life at Strange Little Band.
Writers in other countries where health care is subsidized and provided universally believe that the benefit of having available health care definitely removes an obstacle to freelancing. However, Dave Sherohman, who has freelanced in both the U.S. and abroad, pointed out on Facebook that the tax and regulatory structures can make it more challenging to manage your business once you make the break from the day job.
But, we’re here today to talk about health insurance, not taxes. COBRA coverage is a nice gesture, but it is extremely expensive. Private insurance may be an option, if your health is impeccable, but as designer Melissa Ek mentioned on Facebook, it can also be costly.
How can you find affordable health care options?
- Check your memberships. College alumni associations, membership groups, and other personal and professional affiliations can offer discounts on group health coverage. The Freelancers Union, Author’s Guild, and even MediaBistro offer health insurance for you to purchase, although restrictions apply and it is not available in all states.
- Ask your local or state government. Some government agencies may be able to point you toward insurance consortia that may offer affordable coverage.
- Look at your spouse’s plan. Is it cost-effective to simply add you (and your children, if applicable) to your spouse’s insurance policy? The cost of the coverage may be taken from pretax dollars, which can lessen the sting of the monthly expenditure.
- Price out the private plans. Start with the insurance coverage your employer currently offers–you’re familiar with the policies and restrictions, and you’ll be able to easily compare your options. Find a level of coverage that you are comfortable with, then look at other companies that offer similar options. Comparison shopping is essential on such a costly long-term expense.
Those of you who are already writing full time, how do you make sure you and your family have the insurance coverage you need?
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Writing Roundup, February 12
Whew. This has been a week of technology troubles for me, but my laptop is on the mend. So, I’m back with some of the great writing posts from around the blogosphere. (It pains me to use such a cliched word, but I don’t know of any word to describe the internet or the blog space that isn’t cliched.)
Feminist Critique of Romance: UR Doin It Wrong
Racy Romance Reviews takes a look at feminist thought on romance novels. In essence, the idea that romance novels are inherently anti-feminist is based on outdated books and a lack of primary research. This is an interesting post that not only provides insight into the current state of the romance genre but also gives a good example of how to do research.
Your Turn: What Prosperity Means to Four Writers
Christina Katz opens her forum up to writers to discuss their personal definitions of prosperity. Carol Alexander, Lydia Sharp, Julie Achterhoff, and Dionne Obesso give their ideas of a prosperous writing life. This was a timely post for me, as I have been examining my own ideas of prosperity and how to bring it into my life. What does prosperity mean to you?
How to Find an Agent for Your Nonfiction Book
I spend a lot of time here focusing on fiction, even though my published work has been mainly nonfiction. Here is some advice for those of us looking to land an agent to represent our nonfiction work.
Musicblogocide 2010 and eBooks
Google unceremoniously removed many music blogs for copyright violations. Galleycat gives some of the background and begins to ask the question of how Google’s decision to remove these blogs will affect the future of blogs that focus on ebooks and vooks.
Long Time No See by Deborah Schneider
Deborah Schneider gives an interesting look into the work (and time) it took for her to publish her first book. How long will you stick it out before you give up the writing game?
When Do You Give Up?
Another look at this tough question from agent Kate Shafer Testerman.
How the iPad Might Bring Us Back to Our Print Roots
Giovanni Calabro looks at how the book and magazine publishing components of the iPad might breathe new life into the publishing industry.
Easy Editing Tips
L.J. Sellers gives some good ideas to get you started on self-editing your work.
Clear-Cut Rules for Hyphens
Are you a hyphen pro? If not, here is a post that will teach you what you need to know.
How Setting Influences Your Characters
C. Patrick Shulz gives tips to use your setting to develop your characters into the multi-dimensional, complex individuals they need to be.
How to Write about a Real Location when You Haven’t Been There
Want to include an authentic picture of a real-life setting in your work? Joanna Penn can help.
When Bells Ring Almost Too Much, It’s Time to Triage
How do you handle it when you have too much work and/or too much personal life? Anne Wayman suggests you take a triage approach to your multiple priorities so that each gets the attention it needs at the time it needs.
Cut This Story
Web writers have one thing right for our current time and attention span: they know how to write short, scannable text that can be easily digested by readers. Print journalists can learn lessons from their web-writing counterparts and create stories that are more useful to readers. Michael Kinsley gives specific examples to help you.
You Tell Me: Can Authors Balance Publicity and Privacy in the Internet Era?
Agent Nathan Bransford asks an interesting question in this post. Will we ever have another J.D. Salinger, or has the Internet and the new requirements that authors do a large portion of their own marketing removed the possibility of being “just an author”?
Surprise! Branding Is Not Always about Your Book
Carolyn Howard-Johnson gives some tips on branding for authors.
How to Leverage Twitter When You Have Little Time
Saving time on Twitter gives us more time for writing, right?
Tips for Getting Visitors to Your Web Site
Want more potential readers to visit your web site? Here are four tips that might help.
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Writing Roundup, February 5
Perseverance
Without the ability to stick to our goals and complete our writing projects, all of the talent and study in the world won’t mean a thing. How do you keep your motivation up even when you are facing a seemingly endless string of rejections?
Two Roads Diverged: Understanding Traditional and Self-Publishing Differences
Todd Rutherford discusses the differences between these two publishing paths at great length. This post is a great resource as you decide which path is right for you and your work.
Special Focus on the Amazon-MacMillan Battle
Last weekend, the fight between Amazon and MacMillan over ebook prices was seemingly the only topic worth following on Twitter. Here are a few posts that discuss what happened and the results fo the dust-up:
- Dispatches from the Ebook Wars: MacNMillan vs. Amazon
- Amazon’s Response, and My Insta-reaction
- Zinc Blinked
- The Kindle Missile Crisis
Is Your Scene Cluttered with Inconsequential Blather?
Author Roz Morris discusses the problems inherent with too much text cluttering up a scene, using an example from her husband’s graphic novel to illustrate.
Tune In, Turn On, and Drop Out with T.C. Boyle
In an interesting interview with Powells.com, Author T.C. Boyle discusses the fictional world he created in Drop City.
Are You Using Setting to Deepen Your Characters?
Author K.M. Weiland discusses how to assess your setting and ensure that it adds to your overall story.
10 Actions for Writers in Providing Great Customer Service
As writers, it is so easy for all of us to focus on our writing and hope that the business side of things just takes care of itself. But, when we work as a freelancer, we are not just the talent. We have to function as the accountant, the business manager, and he customer service staff. How do you ensure that you provide customer service that keeps your clients coming back for more of your talent?
How to Work Less
When we want to earn more money and find more clients, we usually think we need to work more. Linda Formichelli has a much better idea: Work fewer hours, but make sure that those hours count. Don’t tweet or read blogs or sit on the computer waiting for an email response when you are supposed to be working. Work or leave the computer.
20 Writing Mistakes that Make Any Freelancer Look Bad
Whatever you do, don’t make these mistakes. Unless, of course, you never want to work for that client again.
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Guest Post by Christina Katz: Platform Resolutions for Writers
Thanks to Christina Katz for sharing her platform-building wisdom. I hope you get some good action steps from this guest post.
Platform Resolutions for Writers 2010
Before writers establish an author platform, they typically establish a writer platform. Over the past decade, thousands of writers have parlayed established influence into traditional book deals. Landing a traditional book deal is still an effective way to exponentially increase your credibility and visibility.
Your “platform” refers to what you do in the world with your professional expertise that makes you visible and influential in the world. Having friends on Facebook or followers on Twitter is not your platform, unless the majority of those people know who you are, what you do, and are enthusiastic about your work.
I thought I would offer some advice about how to slowly and steadily establish a lasting platform. You may note the lack of fanaticism in this advice and the emphasis on enduring success instead. I’m a mother and a wife, a freelancer, a speaker, a teacher, and a blogger, so aiming for balance is the only way I can afford to work if I plan on sticking around for the long haul.
This advice has worked consistently for my students over the past several years. I think you will find that a grounded, step-by-step approach works just as well for you if you choose to follow it:
- Develop a platform topic that you love and can work on tirelessly for the next few years. Your passion of the moment should come in second to the topic you could delve into deeply for a good, long time. Prior professional education and a depth of personal experience are going to be a boon to your platform if you have an eye on a future book deal.
- Hang back from establishing a blog on your topic until you have cultivated a wealth of content and experience working with others on specialty-related activities that lend credibility and trust to your name. Others will tell you to start blogging immediately, but don’t, if you want to be efficient with your time and money.
- Instead, gain authority by seeking publication in established, highly visible publications both in print and online that serve your target audience. Avoid the kind of publishing that anyone can accomplish, like posting on article sites, and work on your professional communication skills instead. By all means, avoid the content mills offering writers slave wages with the promise of future earnings.
- Don’t begin any kind of marketing campaign for any product or service offerings until you have established yourself as a go-to person on your topic, again saving you time and money. Before you look at ways to serve others directly, channel your expertise into the best service methods possible based on your strengths and weaknesses. This is a meaty topic that is covered in-depth in my book, Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform (Writer’s Digest Books 2008).
- Then, develop a product or service that can become one of several multiple income streams over time that will support your goal of becoming a published author. For example, teaching classes over the years has allowed me to re-invest more of the money I earn from writing books back into book marketing. Make sure any offerings you produce are released conscientiously and are integrated into the professional writing you already do. Otherwise, you will seem like you are all over the place and just trying to score a buck.
- Don’t expect your platform to support you financially for at least one or two years, as you micro-invest in it, re-invest in it as it grows, and expand your visibility.
- Once you have a professional publication track record in your niche topic, then it’s time to hang your online shingle. I’ve seen this accomplished in as little as six months by exceptionally focused students. Take a portion of the money you’ve earned writing and invest it in a professional quality online presence.
- A low-cost way to do this is to purchase your name as a URL and use a hosting site like GoDaddy.com to host a WordPress.org blog. I use the Thesis Theme, which you can see in action at my blog. In this way, a blog can also serve as your website where you post your published clips, offerings and bio. If you don’t have a ton of money to invest in the look of your site, you can always pay a designer later.
- Delay partnering with others on joint ventures until you have a clear idea of your own strengths and weaknesses in and around your topic. And when you do partner with others be extremely discriminating. Make sure the partnership is going to be win-win-win for everyone involved.
- Start an e-mail newsletter or e-zine with those who are most interested in your topic. Build your list by invitation and then grow it into a permission-based following over time. Create an expected, ongoing dialogue that is mutually beneficial to everyone involved and your list will grow.
- Now you are ready to start blogging. And yes, I mean while you continue to do all the things we’ve already discussed. Be sure to zoom-focus your blog on what you have to add to the conversation that is already going on about your topic. Don’t just share information; make an impact. Make your blog a go-to, up-to-date resource for your audience.
- Partner selectively with others who serve the same general audience that you do with integrity and humility. Spend time getting to know folks before you decide to partner with them. You can’t afford to taint the reputation you have worked so hard to establish by partnering with just anyone.
- Now that you have an established niche and audience, definitely participate in social networking. I like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn because they all offer something unique. The best way to learn is to jump in, spend an hour online each week until you are up and running. Follow the instructions for getting started provided by social media expert Meryl K. Evans.
This start-up plan for a writer platform will eventually blossom into an author platform. From start to finish, implementing a solid platform following this advice should take you about a year. By the end of that year, you will have established yourself as a serious contender in both professional and online circles, without killing yourself for some huckster’s promise of overnight success.
Have a plan. Leave a legacy in words, connections and professional influence. If you are consistent, by the time the year is done, you will have made effective use of your time and money in 2010. I wish you the best of luck in your platform-building efforts!
Christina Katz is the author of Get Known Before the Book Deal: Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform and Writer Mama: How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids for Writer’s Digest Books. She has written hundreds of articles for national, regional, and online publications, presents at literary and publishing events around the country, and is a monthly columnist for the Willamette Writer. Katz publishes a weekly e-zine, The Prosperous Writer, and hosts The Northwest Author Series. She holds an MFA in writing from Columbia College Chicago and a BA from Dartmouth College. A “gentle taskmaster” to her hundred or so students each year, Katz channels over a decade of professional writing experience into success strategies that help writers get on track and get published. Learn more at ChristinaKatz.com.
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