Writer Mama Riffs on Raising A Writing Career Alongside Your Kids

Hiya writer mamas,

Are you dreaming of road-trips and BBQs and your feet sinking into the sand? I know I am!

Here’s where I am on my to dos:

1. Submit feature article

2. Wrap up Writing and Publishing the Short Stuff class

(Sign up for the next one here…it’s filling up!)

3. Wrap up Platform Building Basics for Writers

(This will be offered again in the fall…next up is Pitching Practice: Write Six Queries in Six Weeks, perfect for folks who have taken WPSS and want to go on to mastering the query letter form. More info here.)

4. Catch up on paperwork, paperwork, paperwork (This is not my favorite…) and confirm summer/fall travel (Time to put on my little admin. asst. hat.)

5. Send signed books to Writer’s Digest for contest winners (With pleasure! Winners will be announced in the October issue!)

6. Catch up on e-mails (Haven’t been able to keep up for some time now…sorry!)

7. Send WOTR June segment

(Subscribe to Writers on the Rise here.)

8. Send TWM June segment

(Subscribe to The Writer Mama here.)

9. Write and submit book proposal #2 (Top secret! Not the one with Sharon, another one, stay tuned…)

10. Turn off computer with glee and hit the road! (I love my Macs, but Mommy’s ready to read some novels! Any recommendations…?)

Just a typical day in writer-mama land. Soon to be known as Vacation Land!

Okay, back to biz for a moment. Many have asked if I can/will offer individual coaching. Yes, I can and I will, beginning in July and running until the next session of classes start. I am not able to teach and coach at the same time because that would not be fair to my students.

Here are the weekday periods when I will offer coaching this year (except for major holidays or when I’m on the road):

• July 1-August 18th
• October 3-December 30th

Coaching sessions must be scheduled and paid-in-full at least one week in advance (please don’t e-mail or call me with urgent can-you-drop-everything-and-help-me-right-now messages). Remember my to-do list at the top of this post…that’s a short one.

Who will get the most out of coaching with me? Here’s a quick list:

• You are gearing up to pitch a nonfiction book
• You have a nonfiction book proposal ready to go
• You are trying to decide which book topic is best for you to pitch now
• You want to build or amplify the reach of your platform
• You have been writing for a while, have gotten published, and you are ready to take your career to the next level

Important: I strongly prefer to coach folks who have taken my classes first (that’s hundreds of writers at this point). This way, the formalities are out of the way and we can get right to it. After all, an hour is not a lot of time and I like to be very focused.

As an incentive to take my classes first, I offer coaching rates in a sliding scale:

• Three or more past classes with me: $50/hour
• Two or more past classes with me: $75/hour
• One past class with me: $100/hour
• No classes with me: $150/hour and fill out a career questionnaire prior to session

You can send me an Paypal e-check to christinakatz@earthlink.net to reserve your time. We’ll schedule on July 2nd.

If you have not yet taken a class with me, I encourage you to take Writing and Publishing the Short Stuff (WPSS). I teach four sessions of this class a year, so there shouldn’t be a problem finding a session that works with your schedule.

For folks who send or have sent me general writing career questions, I will do my best to answer them all when I return from vacation, right here in my blog.

In the meantime, if you have writing career questions for me, go ahead and send them to writermama@earthlink.net and I will cheerfully add them to my list and answer them all by the end of August. One of the lucky question-askers will win a free, signed copy of Writer Mama! (That goes for past question-askers I haven’t answered yet…)

Okay, back to work! You too!

Well, that was a terrific conference. I started off the day chatting with Jodi Picoult in the green room and she is a delightful person. Very spunky and down-to-earth. We are about the same age, attended rival Ivies at about the same time, and both are dealing with the trials and tribulations of raising puppies. In fact, she and her family live in Hanover, New Hampshire, where I went to college and where my parents lived for years.

Her keynote was interesting, informative, and illustrated her passion for writing and storytelling. And I loved how she just let her tales rip once she was up at the podium.

You might be thinking, yes, but you are not as famous as her. But she never made me feel that way. She was complimentary of my book and very friendly without putting on any of the “I’m a famous author” airs.

And let’s face it, she could, because she is. And I’ve met other authors who either do or are just plain not friendly. But she was and that goes a long way in my book.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to meet as many of the Writer’s Digest authors as I would have liked to meet. I sat between Keith Flynn, author of The Rhythm Method“> and Jodi at the signing table. He struck me as a very soulful person, which makes sense since he’s a poet and musician. And I also got to meet Peter Selgin and tell him how much I liked his website design.

It was so great to finally meet Michelle Ehrhard, one of the editors of Writer Mama, in person. I can’t wait to have coffee with her in the morning because I miss corresponding with her as much as we used to when we were working on WM.

I also got to meet Greg Hatfield, the publicity and trade show manager for F&W, the parent company of Writer’s Digest Books and lots of other folks from F&W, I might not have ever gotten to meet. It was especially nice to meet and chat with the guys in sales, who made me feel pretty darn good about how Writer Mama is doing so far. I was so glad to have a chance to meet the sales people for F&W in person and brainstorm with them a bit. In fact, one of them, Philip Sexton is the author of A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words.

My presentation went well. A few more people showed up than I expected and they were very complimentary afterwards and throughout the rest of the conference. I wrangled with the microphone a bit and my laptop kept “going to sleep.” But, of course, in the pressure of the moment, I couldn’t remember how to turn the darn sleep feature off. Oh well, nothing’s perfect and I think folks left feeling inspired to get out there and work on their platforms and that was really the point.

I connected with several writer mamas, a couple in particular (shout-outs to Angela and Lisa!). And I wish them well with their future books. I attended some educational sessions, including one by Rita Rosenkranz, who is such a thoughtful and knowledgeable gem of an agent. And a true friend to writers.

And, one last thing. Some folks from Writer’s Digest did a little skit where they acted out what it’s like when an editor brings an idea to sales meeting and the editor has to then sell a table full of sales and marketing people on a book’s worth in the marketplace. This was such a great idea, I thought, since we writers will never get to experience this kind of meeting (editors go in our behalf) and since sales and marketing are so key to a book’s success, though writers can feel so far removed in degrees of separation.

Watching the skit brought this otherwise esoteric aspect of the book-publication process to life. So I thought it was a stroke of genius to put it on. I’d love to see more writing conferences do something similar for a variety of houses.

Wish I had done it before Writer Mama came out. Might have even been worth a trip to Cincinnatti. Food for thought for your soon-to-be authors.

I’ll share more about my trip tomorrow…

I bet you’ve already got one foot out the door for the long weekend. Yahoo!

However, before you turn your thoughts turn completely to sunshine, barbeques and the beach, you might want to get a jump on registration for Writers on the Rise fall classes.

Why? Well, for one thing, our e-mail classes are the best value for the best price on the Web. Seriously, if you can find another class that offers as much for as little I will eat my eMac.

This fall is your last chance to take advantage of these classes at these prices. Effective January 2008, the price for all WOTR classes will go up to $199.00 (except for first-time classes).

Check out this awesome line up and then don’t drive off into the sunset without saving your place. I feel quite certain that every class will fill (as has been the case regularly).

2007 WOTR Classes:

Poetry For The People

An E-mail Class with WOTR Managing Editor Sage Cohen

October 3 - November 14, 2007

Jump to Course Description

Writing & Publishing the Short Stuff

August 15 - September 26, 2007

October 3 - November 14, 2007

Jump to Course Description

Platform Building Basics for Writers

October 3 - November 14, 2007

Jump to Course Description

Pitching Practice: Send Six Queries in Six Weeks

(Prior query experience suggested)

August 15 - September 26, 2007

Jump to Course Description

How Pitching Practice Works (Word Doc Download)

For more information and to sign up, visit:

http://www.writersontherise.com/classes.html 

This session, I have had ten amazing women in my Platform Building Basics for Writers class. It’s truly exciting to hold a space where writers have time to reflect on what is meaningful to them in a broader context. Thanks to the Internet, once you know what topics you are truly passionate about, it doesn’t take very long until you are putting them out there and generating a platform that can sustain, not only a book, but a whole slew of offerings for your niche audience like classes, speaking opportunities, and consulting.

What a pleasant discovery for me to find this work so exciting! My enthusiasm only confirms that I am on the right track in my own niche, which has actually broken into two audiences over the years—freelance writers in general and writer mamas.

In 2001, I became clear that I wanted to not only write, but to work with other writers. At the time, I was barely using the Internet, but I started teaching writing classes at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham, Washington. After my family moved to Wilsonville, Oregon I was able to use the e-newsletter that I’d started there to stay in touch with my students, no matter how many miles between us.

I just got an e-mail from one of those folks saying that she’s been highly recommended to one of the top editors at one of the biggest publishing houses around. This kind of message just makes my day. Because every writer who works hard on their craft and sales skills deserves recognition and success. I firmly believe that. And I also firmly believe that success will come to every writer who perseveres and continue to nurture her career. That’s what happens when you stay with it and don’t give up.

There are no longer any hard and fast “rules” about how publishing success happens. But you’d better believe that your online presence matters. My former student was recommended to a publishing executive (who is on the marketing side of the biz!) by an independent bookseller who reads her blog (one she just started this year)! Talk about finding a side door nobody knows about! But these kinds of stories are cropping up every day.

And the beat goes on, because platform development is an integral part of being an author today. And the way I teach platform, it’s about connecting with something essential in yourself that can carry on as long as you like. The way I teach platform development offers a writer ownership of her unique talents while maintaining an awareness of the needs of others.

I want every writer to develop a platform or platforms and own his or her power as a professional communicator. And really get that when you partner with an agent or publisher, you are meeting them on equal ground. I don’t think the folks on the publishing side expect anything less from writers anyway.

Every aspiring author today is expected to be a self-starter.

Are you a self-starter? Are you taking your writing career into your own hands?

Let the answer motivate you to higher expectations of yourself, so that others will want to partner with you.

I am thinking about what’s fresh. Think of the word FRESH.

According to Webster it means “recently harvested or showing no signs of decay.”

What does it mean to you?

What does it mean to you as a writer?

I’d say it means a lot.

What do you do to keep things fresh in your career? (Don’t ask me right now, I do something new practically every day, but that was my goal this year.)

What are you doing that’s keeping things fresh?

Are you researching the latest studies on your topics?

Are you putting a fresh spin on a tired-and-true evergreen?

Are you making your lede sentence snap open like a sweet pea?

Is your bio fresh?

Is your idea file fresh?

How long has it been since you refreshed your portfolio?

A fresh writer’s conference? (I found the Willamette Writers Conference brochure to be very, very fresh.)

A fresh take on how you are doing (a consult, some coaching, or a class?).

Have you freshened up your workspace lately?

I gotta tell you. Editors and publishing houses are not the only ones who are constantly on the lookout for fresh. We all are. And when we find fresh we just slurp it right up.

Speaking of fresh…excuse me while I practice what I preach…and um, take a shower. I just love the fresh smell of this body butter my friend Kelly gave me when we went to Seattle. It’s Pacifica, Mediterranean Fig scented. I could just eat it, it smells so good!

Oops, I almost forgot! Here’s the link to something incredibly fresh! The May issue of Writers on the Rise.

Visit our homepage to subscribe to something fresh!

I was right! There was a mix-up at the station and they grabbed the wrong pre-recorded interview.

As I said, Oopsie! Mistakes happen. And the beat goes on.

If you woud like to tune in for my KBOO interivew with Paul O’Brien click here to make sure you have the streaming capability.

I’ll be a guest on the Pathways show from 8:30-9:00 a.m. on June 3rd.

Or in Oregon, you can tune into:

In Oregon, you may listen the old-fashioned way (on the radio) at:

Portland: 90.7 fm
Corvallis: 100.7 fm
Columbia Gorge: 91.9 fm

Sorry for any confusion the error may have caused!

Well, writer mamas, this is about as exciting as it gets…

BookExpo America. The largest publishing event in the country. Talk about exciting.

I fly out in two weeks!

I’ll get to see my agent, Rita Rosenkranz, my editors, Jane Friedman and Michelle Ehrhart, meet my publicist, Greg Hatfield, and of course all of the other Writer’s Digest Book authors and Writer’s Digest Magazine contributors, who will be attending. Yahoo!

I also get to meet my brother’s girlfriend Kate (finally), who works for a publisher back East. Yay!

Any Broadway show recommendations for me? Anyone seen anything not to be missed lately?

Parent Bloggers Wanted (Comp: Competitive weekly rate) (telecommute) job-321563357@craigslist.org : http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/wri/321563357.html

Date: 2007-04-30, 11:14AM EDT Leading parenting site is hiring bloggers to write about all aspects of parenthood. We’re looking for writers with wit, honesty, and original voices. Bloggers will be paid a weekly rate and will work remotely.

Here’s what we need:

• Engaging writers who will blog candidly about all aspects of the wonderful and challenging job of parenthood. We’re interested in writers who will share their stories about school issues, feeding battles, family relations, pregnancy, health, entertainment, social issues, travel, products, and all aspects of family life.

• Parents who are already blogging are preferred.

• Will write at least 5 blog posts per week, about 200-400 words per post. Please email your resume and links to your blog and/or writing clips.

Friend and fellow writer mama Wendy Burt passed this quote on to me today, and I felt compelled to share it here.

I have written eleven books, but each time I think, “Uh oh, they’re going to find out now. I’ve run a game on everybody, and they’re going to find me out.”

~ Maya Angelou

I’ve heard this called “Imposter Syndrome” by Valerie Young. When she became aware of the feelings of not being good enough no matter how much she accomplished, she decided to become an expert on the topic and help others.

And so she has. She is also editor and publisher of the newsletter Changing Course, which I’ve been reading for years. Valerie is a great example of a person who has identified, clarified and grown her expertise into a solid platform. She has been a great role model for me.

Does anyone else relate to the Angelou quote or the idea of Imposter Syndrome?

Today, as promised in the first issue of The Writer Mama, we are going to choose words that describe us. Perhaps, like Valerie Young, those words will lead us in the direction of an authentic, organic, and sustainable platform.

Here are my words:

Intense

Positive

Creative

Motivating

Spiritual

Independent

Sensitive

Synthesizing

Encouraging

Shy

Discriminating

Expansive

Wholeness-oriented

Critical

Verbal/Blunt

Down-to-Earth

Inspirational

Notice that some of my words seems to contradict each other. Well, that’s just human nature. People are complex and contradictory. Let’s each celebrate that about ourselves and each other.

I found this exercise to be eye-opening. Feel free to post your words in the comments and see what you notice about yourself over the course of the week, as a result.

Thanks for sharing! I’ll have more at the end of the week.

If you would like to sign up to receive it in your inbox, simply click here and you will be directed to a page where you can subscribe.

This will also serve as the location in the blog for your comments on the first issue.

I look forward to reading your comments!