*GASP*

Yesterday (my birthday), I wrote to Daniel Pink, author of such books as Drive, A Whole New Mind, and The Adventures of Johnny Bunko. I've read A Whole New Mind and Johnny Bunko.  They are fun, easy reads.  Anyway, HE WROTE BACK TO ME! Here is his reply:

Bethany --

Thanks for the terrific note. I'm grateful you picked up copies of the books -- and I'm delighted you enjoyed them. Wonderful to hear -- and high praise coming from someone with your major.  Much appreciated.

Cheers,

Dan

I gasped...loudly.  My roommate asked me what was wrong, and I had a brief girlie moment of freaking out that a well-known, established author replied to my simple email. Drive is currently on my "To-Read" list. Also, I cannot recommend Whole New Mind and Johnny Bunko enough.  So go, go now and get your own copy of both books. You won't regret it.  

BK

Properly Querying Agents

So the Best Damn Creative Writing Blog conveniently did a post about how to properly query an agent. I say conveniently because we recently talked about this in my publishing class. Doing your homework is important before querying an agent.You want to make sure that you've selected the right person to send your work to, and it's good to know what an agent likes/dislikes in a query letter.  Still, it's more important to please the agent professionally than it is to please them personally. They will care more about your "pizzaz and personality", your marketable product than about how much you know about their personal life.

Just be careful about what you put in your query letter.  Do your homework on the agent, but be professional, and SELL YOURSELF. Good luck!

BK

Thank You, Ariel Gore!

In my publishing class, we recently discussed Ariel Gore's book How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead.  How-To books tend to be boring, but this book is a fun easy read.  She tells you the truth about writing and publishing that she has learned from personal experience and interviews with other established published authors. The book even comes with exercises to put the advice into action.

What I like most is that her advice is genuine, and although some of it may seem obvious, other bits are things I would never think about. For example, Gore advises you to make a fool of yourself. Your first publications will be imperfect, but that's how things go. Live and learn, and use it as a stepping stone to become a better writer and publish more.

I really love Gore's funny snippets of advice. She writes, "be an anthology slut" because the competition to be published in an anthology is usually less than a literary magazine or journal, and even a small publication in an anthology is publishing credit. Stepping stones, people, stepping stones! Also, I liked her advice of choosing a good vice. Heavy drinking and smoking doesn't have to be your vices as a writer. In fact, it would be better for you in the long run to choose something like yoga classes or fizzy water as your vice. That way, you can live longer and enjoy your fame as a published author.

I obviously really enjoyed this book. It has definitely earned a spot on my bookshelf. On a side note, Gore has a blog where she posts information about writing workshops. She also does manuscript consultations with anyone who people who are serious writers.

Anyway, go grab a copy of this book.  I don't think you'll regret it.

BK

The Visiting Poet

C.D. Wright visited is visiting UCA today and tomorrow. Tonight, I went to the "lecture" in which she read some poetry from her most recently published book. It was beautiful, poignant, and the poems in the book were linked by one character and based upon a truly tragic tale of discrimination in West Memphis (at least I think it was West Memphis, I could be wrong about that).

Anyway, it was nice to hear her read it, and then she answered a few questions, but only because few people asked questions. Her "craft talk" (usually a small conference room crowded with Creative Writing majors) is tomorrow during my American Postmodernism class. So I won't be able to go. Going to the lecture tonight really made me appreciate the craft talks of the visiting authors that I've been to. They are more interesting than the lectures, but that's because its a crowed room full of people eager to learn anything and everything from a visiting published author. The crowd at the night lectures tends to be a smattering of people with very different majors, but it's still good to go to.  Fun and interesting. I still had a good time. Use any chances you have to meet and talk with a published author whether they publish what you're interested in or not.  You won't regret it. I certainly haven't.

BK

P.S. - I garnered the courage (after a lot of prodding from friends) to ask her why she is published as "C.D." instead of Carolyn D. Wright. One's published name was something that we discussed in my Publishing class because once you choose one, you need to stick with it (that's what your fame and reputation are attached to). Anyway, she said that she chose "C.D." because there was already a Carolyn Wright publishing at the same time and she didn't want them to be mixed up or mistaken for each other. It had nothing to do with erasing any stigma associated with publishing under a female name (look up S.E. Hinton if you don't know what I'm talking about). So that was cool, for her to answer my question, and I was really nervous.

BK

Happy Terrific Tuesday!

First and foremost, Happy NaNoWriMo! Good luck to everyone participating! I know you can do it! Also, Happy Election Day!

I just wanted to tell you lovely people about my terrific Tuesday. My classes were fun and interesting, and they went smoothly. I also went to an interest meeting about the British Isles study-abroad trip over the summer. I'm uber excited about this trip. Anyone want to buy a kidney cause I really really really want to go.  It would be so amazing.  Aside from that awesomeness, I then had a meeting with my advisor about my classes for the spring semester and I ONLY NEED 18 HOURS TO GRADUATE! This day could not get any better, unless I won a million dollars...

Okay, I guess that's not gonna happen. Anyway, today has just been an overall awesome day. Plus, I'm super glad that November is finally here. I love November - Thanksgiving, my birthday, NaNoWriMo, coats/jackets (all day, not just in the morning). It's just great, but it's also game time. I'm officially buckling down to get stuff done for my classes.

On that note, I'm gonna go to Teaching Creative Writing. We're going to talk about digital storytelling. I looked at several examples online, but those were just voice recordings or people talking directly into a camera (very boring). We're going to be doing a lot more than that. It should be fun...hopefully.

Again, Happy NaNoWriMo! Happy Election Day!  Go write something, and get out there and vote! I hope you're having as great of a Tuesday as I am.

BK

Literary Branding and Dragon Slaying

The Best Damn Creative Writing Blog talked about branding recently, and they've continued the topic with Branding, Part 2. In part 2, they relate branding to writers and why it is important.

Building a "literary brand" is not the same thing as an author establishing their literary voice. It is important for an author to their writing style and voice to hook readers, but personal branding through social media is different. This is because what you write and who you are are two very different things. Personal branding is about who you are as a writer. Social media is about engaging with people directly - getting to know them and letting them know you. Branding helps you control how your audience perceive.

The BDCWB then gave a list of why all writers should brand themselves, at least a little bit if they are going to be on the internet. The list is interesting and important, and I would highly encourage any entrepreneur to look at it and consider branding as a means to build their business. Right now, I want to move on to something else that BDCWB talked about. Dragons, specifically slaying them.

The BDCWB reminds us that no matter what you write, those dragons will always be there. I think that's something that many people forget in their desperate pursuit to become published authors. You can't write something that everyone will love.  There will always be someone there who wants to take a bite out of you.

We, as writers also have our own personal dragons.  These are always there telling us that we will never be successful, that we aren't really writers. We especially need to slay these.

So grab your swords ladies and gents, and slay those dragons...and maybe do some personal branding along the way.

BK