Writers in the Storm

Julie Cantrell

Imagine six female novelists. One quiet mountain retreat. Three days of intense power-packed creative sessions (plus a hefty stash of chocolate). That’s how our writing tribe was formed. Today, we’re a supportive sisterhood now calling ourselves the Summit Girls.

Who Are the Summit Girls

The Summit Girls are comprised of six female novelists from the U. S. who gathered together this spring to brainstorm plots, critique writing samples, and offer encouragement. With more than 80 books published between us, as well as a few scripts, screenplays, and a long string of articles, our diverse backgrounds provide unique perspectives as we help to shape one another’s stories.

Although we had been friends for years (some longer than others), we had never carved time for a retreat until this year. Setting aside one long weekend proved to be a pivotal decision for all of us. Not only have our friendships deepened, but we now rely on one another to foster more successful careers as novelists.

Five Ways Writing Partners Can Improve Each Other’s Work

1. Sprint: The Summit Girls frequently send a group text message something like: “Anyone want to sprint at 10?” Those who accept will devote one-hour to uninterrupted writing time. At 11, for example, we check back in and share screenshots of word counts, trying to meet at least 1,000 words per hour. Creating these accountability check-ins has proven to be an effective strategy, helping us to reduce distractions and focus on writing.
2. Cheer: We celebrate our victories as a group. The Summit Girls are always eager to share shout-outs on social media and spread the good news about our writer pals. This reminds us all that we are not alone in this journey and helps build our readership across platforms.
3. Model: With different levels of experience, we each bring something different to the table. We appreciate those various skills and enjoy teaching one another. We don’t believe in re-creating the wheel, and the more we can reduce stress for a fellow Summit Girl, the better.
4. Critique: There is no more important tool for a writer than a trusted critique partner. The Summit Girls read one another’s work, offer constructive criticism, and help polish stories until they shine.
5. Encourage: Whether through brainstorming, offering plot support, assisting with character development, or sharing media connections for press coverage, the Summit Girls want nothing more than to see all six of us sustain long, healthy, happy careers as full-time novelists. When one of us in the slumps, we rally the troops and lift spirits until we’re all at our best again. While writers may be able to hire coaches, editors, and PR firms to handle the other four points, there is nothing more important in life than sincere moral support and friendship.

How to Find a Writing Partner

Writing can be an isolative career, but by finding at least one trusted partner, novelists can help fuel one another’s creative spirits, offer moral and professional support, and push one another to be the most effective and efficient writers we can be.

To find a partner, try attending a writing conference where like-minded souls are in search of feedback and peer support. Also join social media chats about publishing, especially those within your specific genre (romance, sci-fi, women’s fiction, etc.)

In addition to joining online forums, it’s a good idea to connect with writing groups in your local community. If no writing groups are currently active in your community, consider launching one. You might be surprised how grateful and helpful other writers are once you dare to gather together.

Do you have any other tips for us? Do you have writing partners? How have they helped?

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Julie Cantrell is an award-winning New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling novelist and TEDx presenter whose fourth novel, Perennials, hit shelves Nov. 14, 2017. She is honored to be a Summit Girl with novelist friends Christa Allan, Judy Christie, Jenny B. Jones, Carla Stewart, and Lisa Wingate. Learn more about Julie’s work: www.juliecantrell.com

Featured image: The Summit Girls: F (L-R) Christa Allan, Jenny B. Jones, Lisa Wingate B (L-R) Carla Stewart, Judy Christie, Julie Cantrell

June Westerfield

Your brand encompasses everything your reader sees or perceives about you and your books.  If I’ve said that once, I’ve said it 5,896,458 times.  And I do mean everything.  That, obviously, includes your books.  But it also includes non-visible intangibles, like your level of productivity and even your organization.

Twice in the past few months I’ve had new authors sign up for “new author” coaching sessions, because they are doing everything they can think of, but not getting any sales.  Both were spending hours upon hours on social media promoting their book, they both spent hours building up their email lists, and both were spending hundreds in advertising and Bookbub ads.

Both authors were writing series and each only had one book published.  One was still writing their second book, and the other had book two written but not up for pre-order yet.  Neither had any clues about book three. 

This is a common problem, especially for indie authors who write in the YA or romance genres.  Readers of both genres want their books quickly, and many readers won’t touch a series until all or most of the books have been released.  But, this isn’t exactly a new phenomena.  It can very often take a series time to get off the ground.  Many times it takes readers seeing a third or fourth book before they’ll go back to the first one.  Personally, I’d never even heard of the Twilight series until mid-2007 just before the third book in the series was released.

My advice to these authors was the same…slow down on all of that promotion and focus on writing.  I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but you can have the most beautiful website in the world, a fantastic logo, be the worlds greatest tweeter , and have thirty thousand people in your email newsletter list, but if you only have one book out, your sales and earning potential will hit a brick wall.  Even if your fans think your book is the best thing they’ve read in their lives, without new content, they will lose interest.

Productivity is key.  Ideally, in order to keep their existing readers and continue to grow their audience, and indie author should be releasing around every three months.  That is a ridiculous, exhausting pace.  I know.  But it’s truth. 

It’s nearly impossible to do, especially for authors who have day jobs.  That is where organization comes in.  I recommend having a plan, putting that plan to paper, and then working the plan.

Here is a little example. I recently started writing under a new penname with a writing partner.  Our first book released in May of this year, and on November 7, our book three will release, and we will be putting book four on preorder to release in December.  We had a plan and have been working the plan, even when it feels more like it’s working us. By focusing on writing and gradually increasing the time, effort, and money we put into promotion with each release we now have nearly 10 times the number of pre-orders on our third book as the first and we’ve grown our newsletter by 2000% with minimal effort.  Our brand is growing organically with less effort through our productivity.  

You may be thinking that it’s easier to be that productive in a team.  And you’re both right and wrong.  My co-author has written and published several books on her own this year, and I have three other businesses. 

As you head into the new year, I highly recommend stopping and looking at how you’ve been splitting your time.  Are there ways you can spend more time and effort producing books for your readers?  It doesn’t mean you have to write and release four books a year, but finding little ways to increase productivity can, ultimately, grow your brand and increase your earning potential.

Do you have any questions for June about branding or marketing? Here's your chance!

If you are in need of help getting organized or want help planning out your new year of writing, head over to Author Branding Essentials.  Our Author Essential Planner is a great tool.  Also, don’t forget to stop by in January for our first official PLANUARY.  All month long we’ll have planning tips, publishing tips, and free printables to help you make and work your plan all year long.

 

 

Kourtney Heintz

In 2014, I was in the middle of line edits when my publisher shut down the imprint publishing my book. A few months later, my agency and I parted ways. Everything that I had worked for over the past nine years disappeared. I hope nothing like this ever happens to you. But we’re all prone to disasters, big and small. Here’s how I got through mine:

• Remain Professional

Emotions are flooding through you. That’s 100% normal, but makes it really easy to flip out on your agent or editor. Don’t do it!

Screaming at your agent or your editor won’t change the situation. And that temporary release will have serious long-term consequences that hurt you because you still have to work with these people to get the next steps done.

All you have left is your agent and you need her to help you navigate these unchartered waters. Scream into a pillow. Call a friend and rally against the injustice of your life. But when you talk to your agent or editor, remain professional. To keep your emotional distance, have a pen and paper handy and take notes, or interact via email. You can edit the emotion out of an email—make sure you write a few drafts and never fire off your first one.

• Focus on the Next Step

Doing something is movement away from what just happened. Unfortunately, the next steps can take months to get through, so you want to get things set in motion as soon as you can.

If your book hasn’t been published yet, you need the publisher to give you back the rights to the book and deliver the most recent version of your manuscript to you. Emails have to be drafted. Documents require signoff. Your agent can take care of most of it for you, which is why #1 is so important. This process can take 3-6 months.

If your book is already published, the publisher has more work on their end including removing the book from sale on all the platforms, reverting the rights to you, and conducting a final accounting of all the royalties. That process can take 6 months to a year.

• Mourn the Loss Privately

Getting an agent and a publisher is like winning the lottery, so being this close to publication and having it all disappear is a huge blow.

Give yourself private time offline to process everything you’re feeling. Mourn the loss,  be angry at the industry, feel betrayed by all you believed in. Vent about everything you’re feeling to friends and family—the people you trust. Don’t post anything online during this time because what you feel in this moment isn’t for public consumption.

The outbursts of emotion that feel so good with a friend, can haunt you online forever. Resist the urge to post your pain. If you want to write about it, open a Word document and pour everything into it, but don’t share it, not yet.

• Be Honest About What You Can Do Next

Can you start the query process all over again? It’s okay to admit you can’t. Maybe you need to take a break from querying. Maybe you need to work on a new project. Maybe you need a sabbatical from writing. Do what you can do.

If you love the book and believe in the book and don’t want to give up on the book, this is not the end. As long as you keep trying, there is always a possibility for this book. But you may not bounce back so much as slowly crawl out of it.

• Share Your Story When You Are Ready

When your emotions are under control and you can write a balanced post about what happened, it helps to share your story. Just wait until you are ready to field questions. People will try to be supportive, but sometimes they will say things that make you want to scream.

There is so much shame tied up in losing a publishing deal. But after you share what happened, author friends may surprise you by emailing their personal horror stories about agent and publisher losses and you realize you aren’t alone. It can give you the strength to push onward to the next bend in your publishing journey.

• Take the Knowledge and Use It

At first it feels like that time spent negotiating the contract and working on revisions with the first publisher was wasted. But it wasn’t.

You learned so much about the publication process and editing. You will take that knowledge forward with you. You will be better prepared when the next opportunity comes along. You know what red flags to look out for and what questions you should ask up front. You know that despite the best of intentions things can fall apart and now you know what to do if that happens.

In 2015, my line-edited manuscript ended up with a small press, which let me have cover input and gave me more attention than a big publisher. Last year when I was unable to work for two months because of severe vertigo, this same small press worked around my health issues and pushed back deadlines on Book 2 for me. I’m not sure a big publisher would have been willing or able to do that for me. I’m a firm believer than in the end, everything is okay. And if it’s not okay, you are not at the end.

What disaster have you survived? Have any tips for us?

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K.C. Tansley lives with her warrior lapdog, Emerson, and two quirky golden retrievers on a hill somewhere in Connecticut. She tends to believe in the unbelievables—spells, ghosts, time travel—and writes about them.

 Never one to say no to a road trip, she’s climbed the Great Wall twice, hopped on the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg, and danced the night away in the dunes of Cape Hatteras. She loves the ocean and hates the sun, which makes for interesting beach days. The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts is her award-winning and bestselling first novel in The Unbelievables series.

 As Kourtney Heintz, she also writes award winning cross-genre fiction for adults.

 You can find out more about her at: http://kctansley.com