My pal, Michael Steven Gregory, founder of The Southern California Writer’s Conference, SCWC, filmed this video when my hair was that other color, The letter was written by an MD.

Hear what the group has to say about it.

BTW, have you signed up for the upcoming SCWC, Sept 24-26,  held in Newport Beach?   If not, why not? It’s the best bang for your writing investment buck. Seriously, join us.

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“Best of all, Stewart’s language sparkles, sometimes riffing like Bob Dylan, always moving the narrative forward….easy entertainment in book form.” – Kirkus Reviews

He began tweeting his unpublished novel when his agent could not find a publisher to buy it. 30 rejections later, Stewart pretty much said “what the hell” and began tweeting. His followers began calling his tweets ‘Cliff Notes’–offering just enough to want more.

A fun interview that is the first of several with this young author who possesses both the writing chops and a keen understanding of technology. Study his site to learn marketing strategies. www.matt-stewart.com

Speaking of technology- MtheM Skype Author Interview Series will be improving ours soon. Until then, click (below)  to learn a thing a two about publishing in the 21st century.

Generated Video

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I suggest to this author that she consider a collection: stories from folks, also caretakers, who have walked this path. Such a book could be a  primer, a guide book,  a ‘group’ help book….

As is, I don’t see a book, I see an article.

Click here for video critique.

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THE LETTER:

Dear Sir or Madam:
Please consider Pentacle, my young adult urban fantasy novel, set primarily in modern-day San Francisco. The completed manuscript is just under 88,000 words.
Nicola VanDrace despises everything, first and foremost herself, and second, everyone else. She is 13 and seriously considering suicide when she receives an invitation in the mail to attend a prestigious high school, Whitwelle Academy for the Education of Young Ladies of Stature, in San Rafael, California. After laughing her head off at the school’s name, she decides on a whim to attend. Once there, she meets Jacqueline, a girl virtually her opposite, but somehow the only person she doesn’t feel the immediate need to punch.
The two girls begin an unlikely and very close friendship—perhaps too close. Soon, inexplicable things begin to happen to them. They are chased through the streets of San Francisco by a boy with a knife. Nicola has a book that won’t open, which one day begins transforming into a half-star. The Headmistress’ wiener dog is stalking them.
What they don’t know is that they’re not from this world. They are elves, exchanged at birth for human children in order to protect them from the Great Demon, who was once a man, but is now possessed by thousands of malignant spirits. The Great Demon wants the Pentacle, an inter-worldly travel device of immense power– and Nicola and Jacqueline each have half. Nicola is also the spawn of the Great Demon, endowed with the genetic trait that will match her in power to her father, so that she must either kill what he has become, or be possessed herself, spelling doom for everything with a soul. The Great Demon is aware that one of the girls is its daughter, but does not know which changeling’s life it must end. Jacqueline and Nicola enter the struggle not knowing who they are or from where they come, or even for what they fight, but find that ‘kill or be killed’ is the final verdict. They have been fortunate not yet to have learned that the only thing worse than death is to be possessed.
Pentacle is my first novel and the first installment in this trilogy.  Writing for the second in the series is well underway. I attended the 2008 (X) Writer’s Conference, to which I had sent in an early draft of the novel’s prologue and first chapter, earning a full scholarship. I am prepared to send in the completed manuscript, should you desire to read it. Please note that I am querying multiple agents. Thank you for your time in reviewing this query, and I look forward to your response.
Best regards,

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THE LETTER

Boom and bust; boom and bust. Economists call it the business cycle and say that’s just the way things work. But what if they’re wrong? What if, as seems to be happening now, the booms in our capitalistic system are destined to get shorter and help fewer people each time around, while the busts grow progressively deeper, longer and bring more human misery with every cycle? What if the root problems of capitalism run so deep that no amount of monetary stimulus, jobs creation programs or changes in who runs the country can solve the problem? What do we do when all the ideas we know how to apply to bring balance back to our system no longer succeed?

As with every other approach that’s ever served us – be it feudalism, the horse and buggy or hunting woolly mammoths – when all the fixes have failed, it’s time for a change. None of those systems were inherently evil and they all worked well for a time. When the world changes though, we need to change with it…or die. As conscious, thinking beings we can either do so thoughtfully and voluntarily, or we can wait until life gets so awful we’re left with no choice.  Either way, though, change is coming. The only remaining question to answer is this: will we embrace our current challenges and thoughtfully redesign our future with planning and foresight, or will we allow millions – perhaps even billions – of honest, hardworking people to suffer (or even die) before we pick up the broken pieces of our shattered civilization and start again?

This book opens a dialogue around that very question. After sixteen years as a successful stockbroker with a major Wall Street firm, I quit the financial services business in late 2007 and dedicated myself to writing “Sacred Economics: Designing a World That Works for Everyone” because I realized our entire global economic system was destined to fail, and fail for good. While working as a broker I’d witnessed the stock market crashes of 1987 and 2000, and I’d been warning my clients about the pending collapse of the mortgage and housing market since 2005. Yet still our national economists, those ivory tower thinkers we tend to turn to for explanations, were assuring us things were clipping along just fine. What therefore became painfully clear to me was that it was going to take someone from deep inside the industry, someone who had experienced its strengths and weaknesses from the inside out, to find the courage to stand up and tell some hard truths about what capitalism really is and why it can’t take us any futher, as well as point out the price our planet is paying to try and sustain it.

This isn’t a book that will tell you how to survive the apocolypse, or how to do better than your friends and neighbors in the next economic crash. It’s bigger than that. Nor is its intention to instill fear, or to shame and blame those who’ve promoted capitalism in the past. This book’s intention is to warn everyone of the rising economic tsunami – the rumbles of which we are already sensing as the wave begins to build – that can only be avoided if we stand together and help those standing beside us. I promise you, it will challenge some of your deepest – perhaps even most cherished – beliefs about life and humankind. It has to, because before we can change our world we must first change our minds…one mind at a time.

Video Critique # 9

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So without  apology, here’s the first in MtheM Skype Author Interview Series (we promise, editing will improve!)  The intention: focus interviews on one aspect of writing in an 8-10 minute video that authors on the road will find useful.

Colin Broderick’s memoir, Orangutan begins with his arrival in NYC from Northern Ireland when he was 21 years old. The troubled times in this young man’s life mixes sadness and desperation with lots of funny scenes. After all, Colin is Irish. Random House published Orangutan in early 2010 and in 2011 will publish the follow up, That’s That, the chronicles of his early years in Northern Ireland. MtheM Skype Author Interview Series hopes to have him back on to discuss more about this writing life.

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(Please cut/paste URL to VOTE)

http://myown.oprah.com/audition/index.html?request=video_details&response_id=3157&promo_id=1

Thanks Everyone!

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THE LETTER

Dear Agent,
I invite you to read my 128,000 word archaeology-mystery and fictional novel entitled The Ancient Prophecy.
Kirkus Review calls it “a head spinning adventure,” also adding that “The plot pulls the reader smoothly through the action and the scenes from Ancient Egypt have the feel of an authentic fable,” and raves that it is “an Egypt tale well worth reading.”
Four thousand years ago, the Ancient Egyptian god of the underworld is slaughtered… by his own brother. Attempting to take over the world, he is stopped by the rest of gods who entomb him in the layers of time and with him, his very sinister purpose, but not for long.
The story then shifts to modern days where a family of three Egyptologists, father, mother and daughter, are stranded in an ancient Egyptian tomb. The parents meet their demise by means of a curse, while the girl, Maya Montgomery, encounters a near-death experience when she falls into a dark pit during her escape.
At eight years of age, she is left to die inside the tomb until she is rescued by a family friend.  After being transported to the hospital, she is found carrying a single object in her hand that is believed to be an Ancient Egyptian artifact. Maya realizes that she has no recollection whatsoever of the recent mishaps that included the death of her parents or of the origin of the object she carries. She is diagnosed with amnesia and the secrets she once possessed are shrouded within her brain, forever.
Twelve years after the tragedy, she returns to Egypt along with an expedition in hopes to unearth her lost past, but she returns carrying the single object that the god of chaos and evil pursues. How will she stop him from acquiring her only inheritance when it is his key to world dominance?
I believe The Ancient Prophecy will appeal to fans of Dan Brown and J.K. Rowling. Initially, because the subject of Ancient Egypt is one that stands unambiguous to mystery and adventure and almost everyone in the world is interested in this civilization.
I am currently a college student and an active member of the honor society Phi Theta Kappa. I have joined The Writer’s Garret Workshop over the past years while working, at the same time, on my second novel of a series of six. I’m also a fluent speaker of English and Arabic thus I can easily reach a greater audience. Over the past ten years of my life, the Ancient Egyptians have fascinated me to the extent that I learnt how to read and write ancient hieroglyphs. I believe that my novel is a facilitated way to gain knowledge of this great civilization and a great source of entertainment for both young adults and adults.
A complete manuscript is currently available for submission upon your request.
I’m truly looking forward to hearing from you.
signature
POST-critique last word:

IN MY HUMBLE, this author has a shot  at getting attention. He writes well, presents a compelling tale and clearly has the credentials to deliver it.

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THE QUERY LETTER

Dear Ms. Miller,
Love-Laws of the Jungle is a compilation of authentic letters I spontaneously wrote to my clients in the middle of the night from our session that day, synthesizing my afterthoughts and insights. One of my clients was so inspired by my letter; she carried it in her purse for a year. The letters target a variety of relationship challenges prescribing revolutionary tactics and innovative tools, resulting in a collection of Love-Laws that I later created. The letters were edited for clarity and confidentiality.

Desperate times require desperate measures. Despite bestselling relationship books, the divorce rate is holding at 50%. Women still nag men and men go into their cave. Having been in private practice for over twenty years, I’ve detected the missing piece of the puzzle. The root of relationship problems today is the severance from our animal nature. In our earnest efforts to become gentile, we’ve over trained ourselves. In the name of love or peace, reason or restraint, we’re stuck second-guessing ourselves. So we pretend. We lie to ourselves and we lie to our mate. Instead of dynamic, a relationship turns static. The result? I see “dead spouses walking.”

Human nature is not our enemy. At the base of our design is the animal instinct to band together to survive. How? Both males and females bring their skills to the relationship table, balancing compassion and cooperation with assertiveness and sensibility. Cutting to the chase, I teach women and men how to get out of their heads and back into the genius of their natural instincts. Defying politically correct conventionality, in Love-Laws of the Jungle, I utilize human nature without apology, tackling an array of male-female issues via provocative proclamations and clever teasers. And it won’t always be pretty. And it will cause a fuss. And it does work⎯quite easily and quite readily.

Love-Law of the Jungle #23: If your man’s penis is in charge of him, sit down eye to eye with his penis and state your terms for a mutually rewarding deal.

“Tara, undress Rick. Sit down in front of him. Look his penis straight in the eye and bow in honor of King Kock. If you start laughing, compose yourself. A vital marriage requires pleasurable sex for two. Remember, the penis is its own entity. State your claim. Keep your eyes on his penis and start talking.” ~Letter 7~

Love-Law of the Jungle #27: When women curtail shopping the way men have had to curtail sex, we’ll be free of a double standard.

Love-Law of the Jungle #9: Love is like a meal. Feed a man too often, he’ll sit back, put up his feet, then burp. Too much coddling will turn any man into a lethargic crabby fat cat.

Love-Law of the Jungle #1: Grace is being disappointed without punishing or resenting one another.

I have a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology and I’m a Certified Relationship Coach. I was the Associate Clinical Director for Dr. David Viscott for five years. My work has been covered by ABC, CBS, BBC, E! News, Chicago Tribune, London Daily Mail, Der Speigal, Vogue, and more.

Given the self-help books you represent, I’d appreciate if I could send my proposal or manuscript for your perusal. Thank you for your time.

(Signature & contact info)

ONE more thing!

The phrase ‘dead spouses walking’  should be used in the marketing campaign/book proposal as well as here. It’s imagery so fits the content. I’d suggest she consider it as a title but Love-Law of the Jungle suits this self- help book.

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This letter needs work but has potential. If you’d like to view it, please sign up for my Museletter by registering here.  If not, listen to my reading and please add your comments if so inspired. In my humble, it’s biggest speed bump is disorganization followed by confusion re: author’s intention. Not sure if this is ‘tongue in cheek’ or actually a book about achieving sexual harmony by pleasing your man. Would love reader comments on this one!

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My video critique of the following query letter:

The Letter:

Dear Sir or Madam,
The Rubin girls, a mother and her two daughters, each suffer the loss of a son. Each male child dies within a two-year period from different causes. This is their story of survival, healing and hope after such trauma, tragedy and loss.
One daughter tells the story of how a family turns victimization into victory of the spirit, each one in their own unique way. The mother dances her way to forgetting and slowly loses her memory, living to age 94. The eldest sister, an artist, has a mental breakdown, eliciting 14 electroconvulsive treatments (ECT) to change the chemistry of her brain and ward off suicide. She is finally prescribed with the proper medication to be able to live a full and adventurous artistic life. The younger sister, the author and a practicing psychotherapist, survives 15 years tending to her mother and then is diagnosed with cancer. She emerges with a new awareness of love and the heart’s desire to share her awareness, strength and hope with others.
The story depicts the relationships between the three women, their family’s dynamic and the interconnection between the mothers and their sons. It is a story of physical, emotional and spiritual breakdown, which is transformed through the process of insight, mindfulness and recovery. It’s a story of going to the depths of depression and illness then rising above it to the healing heights of acceptance by allowing “life on life’s terms” with grace.
I propose a book length true life story titled, “Swallowing Life’s Lessons: How to Digest the Indigestible.” I am available for travel and interviews.
I am submitting this manuscript for your consideration because of the many women writers you have represented and the nature of your interest and expertise in books on turning victimhood into triumph.
I am a holistic health practitioner working in (city) as a licensed Marriage Family Therapist/Nutritionist. I have advance training in grief and loss through the “Grief Recovery Institute” and Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s “Externalization” process. I have studied trauma work with Peter Levine’s, “Somatic Experiencing,” a three year course in trauma resolution, methods and theory. I am a supervisor and trainer of pre-licensed interns on their  road to licensure. I have been licensed in (state)since 1989 and active in the recovery field since 1986. I have practiced mindfulness (Insight) meditation since 1975.
Sincerely,

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Guerrilla Marketing: a way to showcase your business or product in unconventional methods that often times cost little-to-no money. 

The first time I heard this term was back in the early 1990’s when guerrilla marketing was linked to self publishing and Dan Poynter, the ‘maverick’ author who put ’self’ on book publishing’s map. As much as traditional publishing wanted him to go away, (mostly by pretending not to notice him) he persisted. His take on the business leaned toward book publishers absconding with most of the profits earned by their indentured servants: authors. Traditional publishing’s take on self publishing tipped toward ‘from our reject piles, self published authors are born’.

But what about the less known/unknown among us? We’re using cyber tools, too; some better than others. Among the best at ‘thinking outside the conventional publishing box’ is Vicki Abelson, an author on the road introduced to me by Kimmie Dee, another author on the road. We could all learn a lot from Ms. Abelson’s creation of Women Who Write, the cyber & real time platform she built to launch her debut factional novel, Don’t Jump! 

One WWW meeting hooked me. Abelson seems to intrinsically understand that to get what she wants, publication, she needs to give something back. Women Who Write does just that. So inspired by Abelson’s platform building adventure, I chronicled her journey at More.com. A Salon For Women Writers (And Some Men)  is a ‘must read’ for authors interested in ‘outside the box’ strategies.  

 Guerrilla marketing is not just for mavericks anymore. 

PS. Any comments added to A Salon for Women Writers, (and Some Men) @ More.com strengthens my platform and is most appreciated. 

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MtheM Quick Query Critique, click here  Video_53[1]

QUERY LETTER:

Dear Agent,
Attracting bad boys sounds romantic but when they’re demons, it’s just a good way to get killed. Sure, seventeen-year-old Aurora Lahey can psychically track a hellion’s location on earth but who would want to? It’s officially the crappiest superpower on the planet and she and the demons have been happy to ignore it…until now. Someone’s put a bounty on her head and now she’s running from a hellacious hit squad with fangs dripping to carve her carcass into confetti.

To survive she’s forced to turn to the mysterious Hex boys, six teenage hotties with supernatural fighting skills that prove they’re no mere mortals. Just one problem. They might be trying to assassinate her too. It could have something to do with the ancient demon hunting society they belong to that has its own ideas about Aurora’s future—or lack of one. And just when she thought the weird and wacky meter couldn’t crank any higher, Aurora discovers new abilities she can’t explain or control. 

Barreling down the rabbit hole of escalating danger and intrigue, Aurora unravels the twisted secret of her destiny—to save everyone she loves (not to mention the world) she’ll have to give up everything worth living for. But no biggie, because she needs the Hex Boys to pull this off, and chances are teaming up with these guys will kill her anyway.

I’m a student in the UCLA Writing Program and an active member of SCBWI. Because of my love and extensive reading of YA literature I also have a YA book review blog with over 700 followers at (includes URL).

Ribboned with romance and bursting with action, Demonic Attractions is a fast-paced 75,000 word YA urban fantasy. I’d be happy to send a partial or full manuscript upon request.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely

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Click here to watch my video critique of the enclosed query letter

THE LETTER:

Click here to watch video query letter critique of Amy’s Own, a novel watch?v=HbnDf-v23FI. 

24 April 2010 

Dear________: 

What constitutes love?  Is it possible to re-calibrate after a lifetime of accumulating baggage?   

My novel Amy’s Own (approx. 80,000 words) follows the provocative dynamics between 42-years-old Amy Harrington and her mother.   

Charlene, chronic partners with her gin on the rocks, bi-monthly dye job and mani-pedi, and deliciously uncensored commentary, has always been “Mother” not “Mom.”   

Amy’s childhood of bobbing and weaving like an alert boxer evolves into their pattern of verbal head-butting, chiseled and finely-tuned with age. Now, Amy must find a new path with her mother after her father unexpectedly dies, his affair is exposed and Amy’s discarded first love returns.   

But how can Amy deal with her own upended reality when Charlene’s setting her dead husband’s E-Z Boy and favorite beer cooler on fire in the driveway?  How is she going to make any headway when Charlene padlocks her house–from the inside?  

This is a story about how we can still feel bonds even with those who have neglected us.  It’s about finding one’s way, to meet in the middle or even take the extra step–and finally connect with those essential to one’s life. 

A complete manuscript of Amy’s Own is available upon request. 

Thank you for your time and consideration.  I look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely,

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Dear Agent,
      I enjoyed your interview with (insert name) for the (whatever magazine or blog), and believe, from your comments, you will be interested in my 70,000+ word novel about prejudice, friendship, and courage―and how two unsettling chapters in American history, the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War, affect the fate of one family, two friends, and their community. 
     Fate Carries Its Own Clock takes place in Hadlee, Mississippi, a town no bigger than a flea turd on the map.  It’s the 1980s, and racism lingers, but Jason Lee Rainey’s friendship with a black boy named Samson never wavers, despite the bullying they endure from others. 
     Jason Lee never knew his daddy, but he does know he marched for civil rights, and he’s been told the man died a hero while fighting in Vietnam.  The boy worries he won’t ever measure up to that kind of person. 
     He lives with Mama, a woman of unwavering strength, and his Uncle Mooks, a man of simple wisdom due to a head injury.  Mama holds the family together until her suppressed grief develops into a melancholy she can’t shake, and has to seek help at a clinic. Her absence coincides with Jason Lee’s discovery of his daddy’s hand written journal from the ‘65 Selma-to-Montgomery march.  It enlightens him and Samson about the true power of the civil rights movement, and incites them to want more than a life in Hadlee―to become men who make a difference.  It’s also when he finds out the real truth about his fathers death.
     In Fate Carries Its Own Clock, Jason Lee learns the lessons of inequality; flourishes with the bond of friendship; finds the courage to stand up to his uncle for what he believes is right; endures the senseless death of his best friend; and is always true to himself.  It’s 1984, the year he turns fifteen, and truly becomes his father’s son. 
     I wrote this novel as a work of literary fiction, in the vein of Sue Monk Kidd’s, The Secret Life of Bees.  It has been suggested it could also crossover into the YA category due to the age of my protagonist.  I’ll leave that decision to the experts. 
     I’ve been honing my writing skills for ten years now, mostly on short stories, until Fate insisted on becoming a novel.  I just received word it is a finalist in the San Diego Book Awards, unpublished novel category.  The winner will be announced in early June.  I have been a two time finalist for Glimmer Train short story contests, took home Best Unpublished Short Story and a finalist honor at the San Diego Book Awards in past years, and won four Excellence In Writing awards from the Santa Barbara Writers Conference.  My first published story appeared in “Art Times.”
     I have included the first few pages below.  If you would like to see more of Fate Carries Its Own Clock, please let me know.  I look forward to hearing from you.
    Sincerely.

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In his introduction, Workshop leader Jerry Dunn described Barnaby Conrad as “a true Renaissance Man” –prolific  author, painter, teacher, saloon keeper and bullfighter.

In 1972, Barny &  Mary Conrad founded the renowned Santa Barbara Writers Conference that in its 30+ year history launched many careers and taught many how to become better writers.

Barny has 3 new books in the publishing pipeline.
Here he’s reading  from his Samples of the 101 Best Beginnings Ever Written: A Romp Through Literary Openings for Writers and Readers. http://www.amazon.com/101-Best-Beginnings-Ever-Written/dp/1884956866.

This video passage includes a mini John Steinbeck critique and Barny’s take on opening a story with emotion.

Enjoy!

Barnaby Conrad (90 seconds)

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In last month’s newsletter, I asked subscribers to send a query letter, offering a complimentary critique to the first letter delivered into my e-mailbox. My MARCH 2010  Marketing the Muse newsletter posted this query letter – sans the critique -  now offered here.

QUICK QUERY CRITIQUE

In brief, several roadblocks on my first read through made me wonder if I wanted to know more about this story. Remember, the intention of the query letter is to hook the reader.

Dear Ms.

I’m writing because I’d like you to represent my novel, (title).

First sentence not needed-

Gossip flies in a small town, when over the course of a weekend snow storm, casual interactions between diverse characters snowball their lives in a new direction.  Things are not what they seem and the closer the characters come to each other, the murkier they appear.

Two long sentences (above) that don’t set up the next graph (below) about a 19 year old married to the town’s mayor.

The mayor’s wife, Jade, a nineteen-year-old girl who is more  than willing to try anything for love, leaves her husband for a suicidal mill worker, Sam J.  Sam’s landlord, Neil G, is an ex-con obsessed with tracking his tenants’ comings and goings, and he regularly steals from them.  He becomes unhinged by the girl’s arrival while her husband, Wade, drives off into the snow storm, only to find more peril.  As their stories accidentally intersect they must confront their own trappings and consider the risks of success.

Is this historical Romance? If  present day, I wonder about a mayor married to 19 year old. I also wonder about a 19 year old who leaves her husband for a suicidal worker? Do I want to know more about them? Is Wade the mayor’s name? Jade & Wade? Were they aiming for success? No hint of it here. Author says plot threads intersect but I don’t know what this story is about and therefore can’t see threads connecting.

My short fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in (names 3 journals)  and other great journals.  My story, (Title), was nominated for the 2009 Pushcart Prize.  I have an M.F.A. in Writing from (a well known liberal arts college).  I’m married and have two (children).  I am currently working on my second novel.

Impressive credentials except for me there’s a disconnect between the author’s credentials and this query letter.

Thank you for your time.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Author’s name

Last word: In my humble, this author has more work to do crafting a query letter that reflects the story she has written. For many, writing short is much more of a challenge than writing long. In real time workshops, this author is invited to ask questions.

Given the constraints imposed by this medium, I hope this quick query critique is helpful to all.  My Marketing the Muse team is working on closing the gaps between my real-time and cyber workshops.

Stay tuned and keep writing.

Marla

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It was a pleasure to meet you at the Writers’ Conference in San
Diego. Thank you for your feedback on my query letter and the tip to
pitch my literary novel, A Tangible Moment, to Betsy Amster. I’ve
visited your website, Marketing the Muse, and am dizzy at the
possibilities. Thank you for blazing the way.

Warm Regards,

Melissa Fischer

Date/Time: February 28, 2010 11:56 am
Coming from (referer): http://marketingthemuse.com/contact-marla/

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I’m in my post-Women Who Write phase; the rapture part that follows so much satisfaction from spending another afternoon with Ms. Vicki and the girls, (mostly).

Vicki Abelson’s Women Who Write meets monthly. Sometimes held in NYC but mostly Vicki hosts WWW in her LA home, 4 freeway exchanges away from mine though I don’t even think about the drive.  My monthly at Vicki’s is so worth it.

Women Who Write was born from passion that seeps through Vicki Abelson’s every pore; passion for family, friends and creative expression all blend into one powerhouse of a woman. Each month, we gather to hear women share their art. Almost always, Vicki’s guest speakers include at least ‘one name to drop.’  Last month, SNL founding cast member,  Laraine Newman read from her work in-progress: thoughtful prose mixed with so much funny and signature Laraine Newman. This month, her song writer sister Tracy Newman sang a love song  about her baby sister titled ‘Laraine’ that made me  mist up.

Jackie Collins joined us this month and though the woman who has sold over 400 million books – by right - took top billing, everyone on Vicki’ Abelson’s family room center stage shines. Kelly Carlin read from Dirty Laundry.  a collection of essays written by writers connected to famous people.  George Carlin was her dad. She  first realized he was famous when she was 9 years old which she writes about in her contribution. Candy Somoza read from Olivia Slept; more misting in the room. Vicki read chapter 16  from her novel, Don’t Jump, which is getting some attention. Not surprising; her protagonist’s voice demands attention–funny, hip, smart and riddled with self doubt. Jackie Collins read from her latest, Poor Little Bitch Girl,  by introducing the  four characters telling this  naughty vs. nice tale that’s vintage Jackie Collins.  Afterwards, she stood in Vicki’s kitchen signing lots of books and hanging out; one of the girls for the afternoon. 

Vicki wrapped up this month’s  Women Who Write by announcing that Jackie Collins volunteered to write a blurb for Don’t Jump. Won’t Ms. Vicki’s publisher be pleased?

In my earlier post,   The Future Is Here, I shared  highlights of David Mathison’s keynote address at SCWC, www.writersconference.com .  The author of bestselling BE THE MEDIA – launched by TWITTER connections – advised authors on the road to ”Do something remarkable.”

Vicki Abelson,  founder of WOMEN WHO WRITE and author of Don’t Jump is doing just that. 

Kelly Carlin, Vicki Abelson, Jackie Collins

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This Show & Tell is a favorite among writers because they leave with concrete examples of query letters that HOOK and query letters that don’t.

It’s time to take this workshop into cyberspace. Please help me out by sending query letters you’d like critiqued. I can’t promise to critique all but all will benefit from the query letters critiqued here at Marketing the Muse so please send your query letters and stay tuned. I’ll let you know when my quickie query critique workshop is ready for viewing.

Writers, for an on-the-spot critique of your query letter, cut/paste it into the body of your email and send to marketingthemuse@gmail.com

A complimentary critique the prize if yours is chosen.

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Evidently, multi published author Pamela Redmond Satran needed no convincing that the future in publishing is right here on the internet. Check out her latest novel, Ho Springs a serialized novel and multi-media event set in a fictionalized version of Hot Springs, Arkansas..  This is the FIRST online/interactive novel to HOOK me—totally.  If I were a betting writer, I’d bet this award-winning author/writer has offered us the template for writing fiction in the not so distant future. Study this one and learn a lot. http://creating.hosprings.com/2010/02/20/hello-world/

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Mention Marketing the Muse for $50.00 conference discount. I love this conference–it’s run EXTREMELY well and offers   a LONG list of published authors who credit SCWC for making it happen –mega NYT bestselling author of Wesley the Owl is just one of many.

See you there!!!

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Go read the rest of my latest MORE.com column—once again, autobiographically inspired…

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Writers often confuse memoir writing with other narrative non fiction which includes autobiographical writing.

So what is a memoir?

Think of it as a turning point—that time in life when crisis catapulted you in some significant way. Read good memoirs. Favorites of mine include Drinking: A Love Story and Eat, Pray Love. Commonalities to both: pivotal moments that anchor the telling of these tales. For Caroline Knapp, it was the day she almost killed her friend’s daughter during a drunken spree. For Elizabeth Gilbert, the night she ended up in the fetal position on her bathroom floor sobbing; a wretch of a woman she’d become in order to stay in her marriage. That night on her bathroon floor became her turning point.

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Bookstores struggle. A little optimism for struggling writers.

NY literary agent Jason Ashlock ignores Recession and opens literary shop.

While Borders & Barnes & Noble continue to struggle, Amazon Has Big Year-Publishers Weekly

In a recent Publishers Weekly article, BookExpo Canada’s (BEC) representative said the show will go on.

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A recent business experience led me on a search for stories about fighting the good fight against those who know most writers have little recourse except to take what they dish out.

If you have a story to tell, or know a writer who does, tell us about it in the comments. Or if you’d like to remain anonymous, please get in touch. We may be able to use your story in an upcoming muse-letter.

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At the 2008 Santa Barbara Writers Workshop, a writer asked about platform building and branding. Here’s a good example of both. This publish-on-demand author found her market and built her platform squarely on it. Study her website for clues.

Lois Stern is a publish-on-demand author who branded herself as a lay person expert on plastic surgery. One of her speaking engagements resulted in an interview that was included in a NYT story. Hard work over time is what it takes. A good book doesn’t hurt either though plenty bad ones have sold millions as we all know. With the plastic surgery market growing as we grow older, Stern’s timing is spot on.

Lois W. Stern, Author of SEX, LIES AND COSMETIC SURGERY

http://www.sexliesandcosmeticsurgery.com

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1. In Russia the overwhelming majority of writers first start to write, then fail, then think: maybe I have to study the craft and the publishing business before I start writing. Is the story the same in America?

   Sometimes, this is the case and why university extension writing programs are quite popular in the U.S. People working days jobs enroll in craft courses they hope will help them realize their dream of becoming a published writer. However, there aren’t many courses designed to focus on the business side of our industry. That’s really why I developed Marketing the Muse workshops-to focus on craft as it relates to the business of writing.  In today’s market, if you want to be published, you must understand the craft and business of writing.

2. What is the writer’s gift and how does it correspond with studying the craft? What is more important for success?

   Voice is a writer’s greatest gift in my humble. I don’t believe one can study this facet of craft. A writer can learn how to identify, nurture and develop voice in their work but no book that I know of provides a tutorial. The voice of a piece drives it; point of view is the vehicle. But it all begins with voice.

3. If you could change the past what would you do differently in your literary efforts?

   Believe in myself more than I did. I came from a very traditional American working class home raised during a time, the late 1950’s & 60’s, when a girl’s options were restricted to motherhood, teaching and nursing. First I became a nurse, then mother, and now I’m a writer and teacher. I was first published at age thirteen in our daily newspaper.  I was not published again until my late 30’s. My path is common to many writers regardless of geography. I think most writers possess an equal measure of arrogance and humility; arrogance in believing what you write must be read and humility in feeling that you have a lot of nerve thinking anything you write should be read!

4. You teach writing classes. Can you tell right away who of your students have potential and who have not? What are the signs?

   Usually, I do have a good sense of who’s got the ‘writing chops.’ Writers in my classes most always possess three traits I’ve shared here: voice, arrogance and humility. It could be that the work they read is god awful-craft-wise- but there’s something in it that captures our attention. These writers keep coming back to classes and most always find writing groups somewhere. They just believe that what they have to say is worth reading.

   However, let me add that I’ve been wrong. I have thoroughly disliked concepts that have gone on to sell I can think of one writer-a mega successful businessman – who wrote about success and the cosmos in a new age-y  style that read like a grandiose love letter to self.  I encouraged him to narrow the concept. He didn’t. A few years later, he sold it and made sure I was notified. Much of our business is luck that comes by way of hitting a trend as it emerges. There’s no way to plan for this which is why my advice to writers is simply write what you know.

   I also tell them to be very careful about the advice you take.

5. Do you believe that it is possible to learn how to write beautifully? Please, explain.

   I believe our art form is evolutionary; the longer we pursue it, the more evolved our writing becomes. That’s the beauty of the writing life and I believe it’s intrinsic to the practice. One of my mentors, Shelly Lowenkopf, www.lowenkopf.com refers to it as “The process.” Beauty is found in all story forms, literary, commercial, fiction and non fiction.

6. What are the most important things aspiring authors have to know before they try to sell their books to the publisher?

   Most publishers will not purchase directly from a writer so that’s lesson #1. Unless a writer self publishes-essentially becoming their own publisher—a writer will need a literary agent to sell.

   How to get a literary agent? Begin with a story that is compelling.

   Here’s an example: A few years ago, Stacey O’Brien, author of New York Times best seller, Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl came to my Marketing the Muse Workshop that I was teaching at the Southern California Writers Conference, www.writersconference.com. At that point, her book was in an early draft form. Stacey was not a writer. She was, and is, a zoologist who was writing this incredible tale about her 20 year friendship with her pet owl. The story was there but the craft wasn’t. I introduced her to Sally Van Hiatsma, a San Diego based literary agent. Sally is known for nurturing writers along. She also has an eagle eye for good story. She knew Stacey had one. The rest is history. Stacey applied herself, learned how to write this story and voila! Wesley the Owl is climbing up NYT’s bestseller list.

   It always begins with a good story.

7. Can you give any advice for young authors?

   I developed the Young Writers Program during my tenure as Assistant Director of the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, www.sbwritersconference.com because our youngest writers, teenagers, don’t have many communities where they can go to for support. I’m an enormous fan of writers finding literary homes. Young writers need support.

   In this country, those that get what they need during critical formative years are generally those lucky enough to attend private schools.  My daughters all attended a wonderful private grammar school but when time came for high school, family funds couldn’t stretch that far so they enrolled in our local high school. I live in an affluent part of the U.S., Newport Beach, California. I say that because schools in my community rank at the top and I was (and am) appalled by the lack of literary support offered in class.

   My advice to very young writers, look for a writing group that feels like family. At SBWC, writers ages 14-18, spend a week with writers of all ages and levels. At the end of that week, these kids leave fortified and more confident. They also leave feeling more humble after a week of being critiqued. Like I said, writers are an equal mix of arrogance and humility.

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At about 500 words, Michelle’s query letter was an ideal length. Divided into four paragraphs, each one delivers necessary information needed to hook an agent.

Following the letter, Jeff identifies portions that caused him to request the manuscript.

To view Michelle’s query letter & our analysis, www.thewritermag.com

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Gray is the anti-sex color.

One of my friends, a multiple divorcee, was completely gray by forty; a silvery mane that sparkled like she did on good days. By fifty, she was still single but didn’t want to be. Her hairdresser suggested going platinum. Only shades away from her natural silver, the platinum blond did attract more men though I don’t know if she snagged one. We lost touch.

Men don’t automatically become a cliché once their gray comes in; especially men with money. Those guys become distinguished and worthy of women half their age. A man without money sporting gray hair does make me wonder about Viagra, especially if he’s also carrying a spare tire around his middle. All this sounds shallow I’m sure but facts are facts: In our culture, we judge by wrappings. Though some of my best gifts have come wrapped in the ugliest packages, I still enjoy opening a lovely wrapped package. Who doesn’t? Which is why going gray, even gray wrapped in a silver sheen, is not a cultural mores many of us embrace.

One of my girlfriends just won’t acknowledge it. Every once in a while I’ll catch her shooting me a side glance. In her eyes I read ‘What the hell?’ though it could be my own projection. In the early days, my eldest daughter did not like my color shift and, in keeping with the genetic pool she flows from, did not keep her Op-ed to herself. But on Mother’s Day, she began turning the corner. By then, I was a few more shades into silver and she had a few more months to adjust. Her gift to me, along with a gorgeous buttery leather black bag, was this affirmation: “Okay, I’m seeing it now.” Her initial reaction mirrored my own when I first began to appreciate that my mother, a woman who always set the pace, was slowing down. Gray hair can symbolize that. But this ole’ girl still has game left. And now that my eldest has made peace with her fears, at least for now, she’s rooting for my silver to beat out any impulse I have to wash it all away with the box of Clairol Golden Chestnut Brown I keep around just in case.

Male reactions have been interesting. Not long ago I caught my Sweetie, who is silvery white and 100% behind my color shift, giving a statuesque blond the once over. So I posed a question women know men have no right answers to. That’s why we pose them. “Tell me, how often do you give a silver haired woman the once over?” We chuckled as he tiptoed through that mine field sputtering out verbiage about being sure he did.

I live in Newport Beach, California, the capital of ‘money can buy you just about anything including young women with large breasts.’ It’s no secret, men in my age group living here like big breasted young women a lot. I never fit that profile, even in my youth, which is why local men never paid me much mind. I’ve never minded much because men who believe they can have a relationship over any length of time with women young enough to be their daughters are men I have no interest in anyway. So there. Younger men are okay with my silvery hue. My guess is, lots of them are looking for mommy. When my girlfriends tell me younger men are lots of fun, I say they didn’t breast feed long enough though I believe Madonna did. However, her wealth puts her in that league of moneyed men. If serving up her version of mommy-hood to a 22 year-old young stud makes her happy, I say go for it until he doesn’t anymore. She can afford it. I’ve got three daughters whose ages cover the 20’s. That’s enough kids for me.

I’m interested in peer group camaraderie. Those old women singing ‘When I grow up I want to be an old woman’ on TV are women I aspire to be. I see me, an old woman, my long, silvery white braid swaying down my back as I move through a Vinyasa flow class filled with other old women and men.

That’s what I want to be when I grow up, a silver haired old woman. So far, I’m on my way though you never know, I could still go platinum.

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There’s comes a time in a woman’s life when surrendering no longer conjures up a helpless image. Women who discover their sensuality midway through life know what I’m talking about. Surrender can be a good thing.

I decided to apply this principal to letting my hair be what it is, silver. Were it a dull gray, I might not be blogging about my latest bout with surrender but it isn’t. The women on my mother’s side gray well. When my follicles stopped producing chestnut brown, the color that grew in was silver not gray. My only problem with this color shift was that my follicles decided to do it in my early twenties. By my mid twenties, I’d figured out how to work the salt and peppered effect to my advantage. I was a grad student/psychotherapist wearing a teenager’s face. The silvery sprinkle added a dash to my credibility or so I thought which was why I resisted all temptation to dye it. Fast forward ten years and three kids later; no longer shackled with a teenager’s face, each time I saw my hairdresser, she begged me to color my hair. Eventually, I did.

In my mid forties, I tried reverting to my natural color but the ‘over the hill’ mood I was in needed the kind of boost silvery tresses couldn’t give so I gave up that surrender which pleased the new hairdresser in my life, a man named Eddie, who remains in my life today. Like most hairdressers, Eddie’s not keen on the color gray under any name.

A few months ago, I made up my mind. In a few years, I’ll hit my next big-O birthday. When I arrive, I want to be a silver haired woman who’s earned the respect silver haired women should get. Besides, I am sick and tired of dying my hair. Sick and tired of a stained scalp. Sick and tired of the weekly root touch ups I have to do between visits to Eddie who has now given me his blessing to be who I am. When I sat in his chair and announced my intention to finally come out once and for all, his only reply was “I think you can pull it off.” After ten years of listening to me whine about my eventual surrender to nature’s way, he may have decided it was time to surrender, too.

Unless you are willing to shave your head, the coming out process is slow. Eddie has me on a strict weave and cut schedule. When transformation is complete, I’ll post a new blog and include a photo. However, should the blog and photo not appear, remember, it is always a woman’s prerogative to change her mind. Readers are invited to share thoughts about the maturing of one’s hair and all that it means in your life… or doesn’t.

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TC Boyle shows writers how to give an interview.

Watch and learn during this mini-interview with Sam Tanenhaus, editor of the NYT Book Review where they discuss his new novel The Women.

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SBCC Continuing Education Division Presents a FREE Writers Workshop.

OPENING REMARKS: Cork Millner – Writers Workshop Coordinator

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Gayle Lynds – Bestselling Author

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE:

(10:30 – 11:25)

• Dramatic Fiction – S.L. Stebel
• Humor Writing – Ernie Witham
• Marketing the Muse – Marla Miller
• Travel Writing – Jerry Camarillo Dunn
• What Every Editor Wants – Trish Reynales

(11:30 – 12:25)

• Creative Nonfiction – Cork Millner
• Children’s Literature – Mary Hershey
• Fiction / Mystery – Melodie Johnson Howe
• Poetry – Perie Longo
• Screenwriting – Vickie Patik
• Savvy Self-Editing – Tony Wayman

(12:30 – 1:30) – LUNCH BREAK

(1:30 – 2:25)

• E-Books / On-Line Publishing – Cork Millner
• Travel Writing – Jerry Camarillo Dunn
• Screenwriting – Vickie Patik
• Poetry – Perie Longo
• Dramatic Fiction – Sid Stebel
• Marketing the Muse – Marla Miller

(2:30 – 3:25)

• Fiction Mystery – Melodie Johnson Howe
• Humor Writing – Ernie Witham
• Children’s Literature – Mary Hershey
• What an Editor Wants – Trish Reynales
• Savvy Self-Editing – Tony Wayman
• Agents – Charlotte Gusay

(3:30 – 4:00)

CLOSING REMARKS: The Essence of Writing – Auditorium

[Note: SBCC’s twelve workshop leaders offer their personal writing advice for all writers attending the Writers Workshop.]

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In time, writers that visit MarketingtheMuse.com will refine the focus just as writers in my real time workshops do.  Please consider it your site with me as benevolent dictator. Visit often. Tell me what you want to know more about. Look for postings of contests, giveaways and interviews with industry Pros sharing what they’ve learned along publishing’s highway.

Marketing The Muse In Brief:

• Publishing news worth knowing gleaned from websites the Pros check daily.
• Self publishing’s inroads
• Annual book convention highlights
• Tips: How to hire a professional editor: Who? When? Why? How much?
• Opportunities: Query letter sessions & contests
• Agent speak
• Editor speak
• MarketingtheMuse.com visitors’ blog speak

Beyond this, I don’t have a view but I don’t need to see the entire road to begin this journey, a lesson I learned from Anne Lamott when she spoke at SBWC in 1995. It was the year after her bestselling book on craft, Bird by Bird, debuted.  She was working on a novel and didn’t know the ending. She quoted a noted novelist who compared novel writing to driving at night down a dark, winding road. You just need enough light to see what’s ahead.

Let me know what you think of MarketingtheMuse.com. I’ll let you know about opportunities to participate. Also coming soon, a DVD that incorporates two Marketing the Muse workshops and features literary agent Katharine Sands, Borders Book executive Kate Schwab and bestselling author Carol Kline.

Until we meet again, be well and keep writing.

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