Two days of conference are behind me and my head is spinning with all the information that's been crammed into it.
Several workshops stand out for me and both of them involved one of the most prolific romance writers of our times—Jayne Ann Krentz. She also is one of the few authors I know writing under three different names in three different romance genres, so some of you may know her as Jayne Ann Krentz and some may know her as Amanda Quick and others still may know her at Jayne Castle. I had the honor of moderating the workshop she co-hosted with the two internet experts she has hired to take care of her on-line persona, Sheri Brooks and Cissy Hartley. The information these three imparted to the group will be invaluable as I continue to pursue my writing career in the internet age.
Sheri's company, Purple Papaya LLC, works with authors to supplement the promotional support they receive from their publishers. Her company helps connect authors with their readers through social media, such as facebook and helps them develop brand identity.
Cissy is the founder of Writerspace which helps authors and publishers of romance, women's fiction and mystery promote their work through their websites.
Jayne Ann asked Sheri and Cissy to tell how their companies help Jayne Ann promote her brand and build readership. The advice all three of them offered was amazing and I hope to take some of it and put it to use myself. I didn't take copious notes as I was moderating and keeping the workshop on schedule, but one of the things they talked about that really resonated with me was establishing your name from the beginning of your career. They encouraged new authors to decide on their name and then secure that domain name for their use. The cost of securing a domain name can be as low as $10 a month. In the long run the money spent up front can save you money later on. And some headaches as well.
Later on I had the pleasure of sitting in on Jayne Ann's joint workshop with Susan Elizabeth Phillips. It was a joy to listen to these two established romance writers speak. They talked about everything. But one of the things that struck me most was something Susan said and Jayne reiterated. The processes they use for writing are their processes. The process that might work for you and me as writers will be what works for us. Both ladies reinforced over and over again that there is no right or wrong way to write a book. Some authors outline their complete story before they write a word. Some have only part of the story and some just start writing and see what happens with the story as they go. But I LOVED that they didn't stand in front of the room and say this is how you should do it. One of the things that bugs me the most about writing is all of the authors who say this is how my writing process works and you should do it too.
Now I'm not saying you shouldn't take a course from someone to learn their process, I think you should. But I think you should go into the course with the idea of seeing what YOU can take away from it. Not what the person giving the course tells you to take away from it. Both Susan and Jayne Ann said listen to your gut, it will tell you if a process will work for you or not.
I believe that as a writer we need to continuously learn about our craft. What I don't believe is that you should have a process that is uncomfortable for you forced on you. But keep an open mind. Listen. Observe. Learn. Assess. Don't just blindly accept that because one successful writer does something you have to emulate them.
I go back to one of my first posts were I talked about all the advice I was given when my first child was born. I was certain that everyone knew better than I did how to raise my child. My mother told me to listen to the advice and then do what felt right for me.
I believe this was the best living advice I've ever been given.
In the end what matters when writing a book is knowing your craft really well. And that is something we should all aspire to.
Any thoughts? I'd love to hear from you
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