Aw, Shucks…Thanks You Guys!

A lot of compliments about Writer Mama are pouring in…keep ‘em coming!

And if anyone feels inclined to post them on, oh, I don’t know, any large online bookstores, please do not let me stand in your way!

Here’s a taste:

I feel like Writer Mama is what I’ve been looking for to help me balance writing and motherhood. Of course, the major selling point for me is that you’ve been performing the juggling act for a while. Tips that come from other moms always mean more than tips coming from people without children — and that doesn’t just apply to advice about writing! ~ J.J. from Arkansas

Just a quick note to tell you I love your book! I am not even finished with it yet (I’m on chapter 13) but I can already see that it is going to help me. I have written freelance for a while now, mostly small regional publications. Now I am ready to branch out a little and try for national pubs, yet when it comes to finding a direction, I find myself all over the map. So, I plan to use the exercises in your book to help find my way back to my own voice and the writing that I truly love to do. ~ T.L., Indiana

I had a doctors appointment today, so knowing that I was going to be waiting an hour or two, maybe three, I brought your book to pass the dreadful waiting time. Well, I managed to get through about 6 chapters and will continue the rest on my honeymoon. So far so good and I love the cover of your book. I also love the size and being so compact to toss in my purse. Love it! Anyways, I know this is a book I’ll be reading more then once…thanks so much for thinking of the “writer mamas” out there. ~C.A. Ontario, Canada

Thank you Broadway Books in Portland!

Broadway Books is a rare gem among bookstores. I will definitely go back and spend hours browsing, because it’s the kind of old-fashioned neighborhood bookstore you just want to lose yourself in. Yet they had some of the most recently issued titles, like Anne Lamott’s new book, “Grace (Eventually), Thoughts on Faith.”

So if you happen to be in the Rose Quarter, be sure to stop by Broadway Books.

You’d better plan to stay awhile and soak up the good, old-fashioned neighborhood bookstore feeling.

(From left to right: Sage Cohen, Christina Katz, Patty Mcullough, and Cindy Hudson.)

Broadway Books
1714 Northeast Broadway Street, Portland, OR 97232-1428 (503)284-1726

Unwelcome Allergy Attack/Vacation Alert

My daughter Samantha and I have been hit hard recently by particularly vicious allergy-related respiratory illness.

Isn’t it always the case that as soon as you decide to take it bit easier on yourself—that’s when you come down with something awful?

I’m sure I’m not the only mom who can relate. I thought I was doing myself a favor by resting up before I have several author appearances lined up and…WHAMMO!

But I will not cancel. My husband is a theater director, so I am quite familiar with the phrase, “The show must go on.”

I’m digging deep into getting my health groove on (and, of course, loading myself up with anything and everything that will soothe the—rather nasty—symptoms).

As of Saturday, I’m taking a family vacation over Spring Break week, combined with travel for author appearances. I’ll be sure to send some reports from the road.

A bit later than originally planned, I will begin weekly writing-for-publication assignments in this blog starting April 1st (and that’s no joke!). This will also give me a chance to finish up the phone consults with the raffle winners so I can offer more!

Amy Mercer, who I spoke with last week after she won a free consult with me, has just exploded with focused determination since we chatted. I’m so impressed with writers who try out things that are suggested to see how they work for them, and then keep what works and leave the rest.

For more inspiration on how to get proactive, visit the new Writers on the Rise blog. Where I’ve posted my letter from the editor on the topic of getting proactive despite distractions/obstacles.

Go Amy Mercer! I’m sending folks to your blog, as I type!

Proactive as she is, I predict that she will have a book deal by the end of the year.

And p.s., for all you other wanna-be authors out there, Sage Cohen has a great article in the same blog on how to get ready to write your proposal.

Call for Submissions: Seal Press Travel Mama Anthology

How to Fit a Car Seat on a Camel, Edited by Sarah Franklin

To be published by Seal Press, Spring 2008

From the submission guidelines: “How to Fit a Car Seat on a Camel is a collection of humorous essays by women. Whether it’s being stuck on the tarmac for 15 hours with Dora the Explorer for company, or discovering that the road trip these days is more National Lampoon than Jack Kerouac, this anthology depicts the good, the bad, and the just plain hilarious side of traveling with children.”

Writer Mama Hits the Road

My Writer Mama book tour starts tomorrow. Though it will go all year, the bulk of my author appearances will happen in the next three months.

For the most updated list of appearances, you may bookmark this page:

http://thewritermama.wordpress.com/upcoming-appearances-workshops/

Tomorrow night, I’ll be appearing at Broadway Books in Portland, Oregon.

Here are the details:

Broadway Books
Tuesday, March 20, 7:00 p.m. @ Broadway Books, 1714 Northeast Broadway Street, Portland, OR 97232-1428, (503)284-1726, Free

Please spread the word. Hope to see you there!

Writer Mama On Sale In Wilsonville Now!

Yahoo! Writer Mama is officially onsale as of today, Friday, March 16th at the Wilsonville Public Library. The cost is $11.50. (Thanks for the mark-down!)

Our beautiful town library is located at:

8200 SW Wilsonville Road
Wilsonville, Oregon 97070

Proceeds from each sale benefit the Wilsonville Public Library.

Far from Wilsonville? Support your local library today! You don’t have to purchase Writer Mama to do it. Just pop some change in the donation box.

When we’re talking about supporting public libraries, every little bit helps.

Where’s Writer Mama??? (I mean the books, not me)

I am so curious to know when Writer Mama will finally arrive in stores. I think this is the week!

I will feel so much better then too knowing they are out there for the moms and mom-lovers, who are looking for them.

Please, post a comment here when you see one or some on the shelves.

Let us know your first name, the name of the bookstore, and the town and state where you find even one copy of Writer Mama on the shelves.

Inquiring moms want to know! Thanks so much!

And now, for your viewing pleasure, I’d like to direct to a rather lovely photo of Writer Mama in friend and WOTR contributor Pamela Kim’s blog.

Isn’t it dreamy? Not sure it will look this good at your local bookstore, but you can steal this styling from Pam when you get it home, if you want it to look really classy.

Mistakes/Miscommunications Will Be Made—Just Carry On

Found out yesterday why none of my inside-the-book blurbs are not yet posted on Amazon…

Somebody made a mistake. Oh-well. Mistakes happen. It’s not the end of the world.

The important part, as far as sustaining our partnership goes, is that I recognize my side of the street: I could have asked sooner!

I made a common mistake. I assumed. I assumed when the new editorial summary went to Amazon, the endorsement blurbs would go with them.

But apparently they didn’t. So for months I’ve been thinking that Amazon was the cause of the hold-up, when they weren’t.

Sorry, Amazon.

Live and learn. Write and learn. Publish a book and learn. (A lot!)

Know what I mean?

If you get enough writers together, you usually don’t have to wait long for the grousing to begin.

But I don’t have time to grouse. And if you want to get ahead in an already competitive business, you will learn to keep your grousing in check.

I’m not a big fan of rants either. I mean, what do they add, really?

A better strategy, I think, is to identify the problem, discover the cause of the problem and then address it.

And then simply move on.

Everyone makes mistakes and that includes publishers, editors, booksellers, and especially writers. We make mistakes all the time.

It’s the same thing I say all the time in my classes all the time. Just do the best you can.

And move on.

Love This Typeface!

Find-the-typos-in-Writer-Mama Challenge

Fancy yourself a pretty good copyeditor? Well, here’s your chance to prove it.

It’s human nature to notice mistakes when you pick up a book for the first time. But have you ever heard an of an author motivating you to find typos in her book?

Yes, I’d like you to take typo-finding in Writer Mama seriously.

One of the first things I noticed about my copy of Writer Mama is that it says “Pinted in Canada” on the copyright page.

I don’t know why it struck me so funny, but I laughed out loud when I saw it the first time and I still chuckle every time I see it.

Readers may not find these little idiosyncracies quite as endearing.

A couple days ago, Writer’s Digest sent me a letter asking me to comb through Writer Mama and provide them with a list of all the typos I find. They’ll need the list prior to the next printing (I’m already anticipating the next printing!).

But the idea of hunting for typos in my own book sounds hard. I’ve been over the text so many times, I know I can’t see the mistakes very easily anymore.

But you can. And I know you will anyway. So why not put all you typo bounty hunters to work?

So here’s the challenge: Mark the pages where you see typos (or any errors) and compile them all into a list. Send me your list in an e-mail by the end of this month (March) and the person who finds the most (bonafide) errors wins.

After I choose a winner, I’ll send her either a signed copy of Writer Mama OR offer her a half-hour of platform phone consult. Winner’s choice.

Fun, right?

So please help and happy typo-hunting!

March Writers On The Rise Now Posted!

Have you taken the time to check out the zine that I publish and edit, Writers On The Rise? If not, I think you’ll be impressed. After all we are the most well-written zine on the Web (I feel confident saying that after reading the current issue). We are also:

The only monthly zine with 15 professional-writer contributors

One of the few places where you can learn about how to develop your platform, which is KEY for writers who aspire to write books

The best zine for parent-writers who don’t merely wish to write for parenting pubs (but with helpful tips for those who do)

A great place to hear about upcoming conferences and get ready for the one that you choose to attend (a conference will jump-start your career)

The only zine that provides the scoop on green markets you can pitch

And in-depth interviews with editors and agents that reveal how they’d like to be pitched

And if you are curious about Shanghai, China, how to become a writer-preneur and how to better manage your time, guess what? Writers On The Rise is the right place for you!

Check us out with a cup of tea or coffee on your next break. You’ll be so glad you did!

Black Pregnancy Blog Loves Writer Mama

And Writer Mama loves Black Pregnancy Blog. Here’s what editor, Jennifer James, has to say:

I received this amazing book for review last week called Writer Mama by Christina Katz. It shows you all the ins and outs about publishing articles for the big glossies and other paying gigs (both online and in print)…It’s a great read, especially if you’d like to stay home after your baby is born and establish a paid writing career.

And don’t miss the “beautiful bellies” in Mommy Too!. All the bellyshots got me reminiscing…and of course, I could only remember the good stuff.

Thanks, Jennifer, for helping to spread the word about Writer Mama!

Amazon has their books!

And they are sending them out! The latest ship date I’ve heard thus far is February 12th, but hey, that’s progress! It looks like they are in the process of contacting customers with updated shipping status reports.

Hip-hip-hooray!

If you hear something different, please forward the e-mail from Amazon to me at:

writermama@earthlink.net

Thank you!

I’ve had a busy weekend with the close of my husband’s sold-out show and company visiting from out-of-town. We also attended our first puppy training class. We’re feeling good about doing our “homework” this week and having some seriously obedient pups in the near future (currently, I would say that we have mildly obedient pups). But look at what good listeners they are.

My daughter’s fifth birthday is coming up and we kicked that event off last night with her first party (we always seem to have several: one for family, one at school, one at daycare, and one with her friends…). She’s been a bit overwrought with all the excitement of daddy’s show, a grandma visit, and her birthday coming and I’m looking forward to a calm week of spring cleaning (you should see my office, it looks like a paper tornado went through there) and preparations for my upcoming Writer Mama tour!

Also, I will be kicking off a weekly writing-for-publication challenge starting on March 21st and going until June 21st (I didn’t want to start until everyone received their books). If you have had trouble getting your writing in the hands of editors in the past, these simple-to-execute challenges will be just the inspiration you need to get your writing off of your hard drive.

For the love of the library (purchase WM in Wilsonville!)

I love libraries. And I’m always sorry when any library, especially ours here in Wilsonville, has to face budget cuts. The Wilsonville Library is a dream-brary for those who live here. They offer several storytimes a week for young children, a used bookstore, cheap magazines for resale (awesome for writer mamas!), art displays, a geneology research center, and so much more. Three cheers for the Wilsonville Library!

On Friday, March 2nd, from 5-7 p.m. the Wilsonville Library will celebrate 25 years of service to the community. I’ll try to be there before my husband’s Grease show that night, and if you live nearby, I hope you can make it too.

Coming soon, you’ll be able to show your support for the library by purchasing copies of Writer Mama there. True, you’ll have to pay the cover price with no discount. BUT, you’ll be supporting a great cause and you won’t have to wait for your “order” to be shipped. You can just swing by and pick one up.

They will be arriving soon. I’ll let you know when they get there.

In the meantime, lets all empty our penny jars into library donation collectors. Libraries may be free to local citizens but it takes dough to pay staff salaries, keep the lights on and, most importantly, add books to collections.

Let’s just go with it! (which means waiting, unfortunately!)

I just got off the phone with my publicist. I called when I heard that Amazon was saying that the Writer Mama release date is the 15th instead of today (which it actually IS!).

Oops, I almost forgot: HOORAY! IT’S WRITER MAMA’S RELEASE DATE!

The conclusion we came to is that there is really only so much we can do. And if Amazon wants to say that the release date is the fifteenth, then maybe we should just go along with it.

After all, we can’t change Amazon and it would probably take them a couple of weeks to make the change internally anyway, by which time it would be mid-month. So not much point, right?

Having said that, I did pick up some interesting scoop. So here it is:

The independent bookstores will probably get their copies of Writer Mama first because their orders are drop-shipped (as opposed to shipped by truck). So if you haven’t ordered from Amazon, you may wish to contact your local independent bookstore and reserve your copy of Writer Mama. That is, if you are fortunate enough to still have a local independent bookstore.

To find independent bookstores in your area, visit http://booksense.com/.

I also found out that I’m not as behind as I thought I was! I’ve been dancing as fast as a mama can since the New Year, so to be honest, a couple weeks to catch up sounds really good.

Not that I’m not sorry about the delay. I am. I really am. Take it from someone who has all the patience of a two-year old. Waiting stinks.

In the meantime, I’m going to be posting some really cool stuff between now and the fifteenth (I hope that helps make up for the wait!). So stay tuned…