About a book

Do you ever wonder how highly successful people are able to accomplish so many things? One way is that they have assistants to help them but that doesn't account for all of it.

I learned in the 8th grade one way people to it-double dipping.

Many times double dipping has a negative connotation, but I think that needs to change if we are going to become more productive people.

Take the topic of today's blog. I called it "About a book". That is a very deliberate title because I'm going to review a book in this blog. Before I do, however, I wanted to share with you how doing this can help you become a better writer.

When I heard that Thomas Nelson was offering a new blog book review program I went to check out the selections. As you know, I am not a person who does book reviews. I am always looking at what is going on in the industry so I was interested to see what books they had.

Then I saw it.

"The Kingdom of the Occult" by Walter Martin.

What!! Yes. A book on the Occult by a Christian publisher.

And here is the double dip. When I went to their website I was outlining a book. The plot required a great deal of information of the Occult in order to be accurate. [My fiction writing is suspense/thrillers]. When I saw that I could receive this book for FREE and I only needed to give an honest assessment I jumped at the chance.

I was able to:

1. Research my novel [which I had to do anyway].
2. Gain exposure for my blog through Thomas Nelson.
3. Receive a great reference book on the topic of my novel FOR FREE.
4. Have material for a blog. [smile]
5. Potentially get google hits from people looking for this particular book.

So look at the opportunities that are passing your way. I am able to do 5 things at once. Many writers read books and do reviews because they love books. That is great but I can go to the library and get books I enjoy. When I need to research, however, I want to mark that baby up. And I did that with this book.

So now, I hope you will stay to hear my honest assessment of "The Kingdom of the Occult" by Walter Martin.

ISBN-13:978-1-4185-1644-4

I wasn't quite sure what I'd think of the book "The Kingdom of the Occult". Typically topics like this are either creepy or overly simplistic. What I found in this book exceeded my expectations. I found a book full of scholarly research in to various facets of the Occult from UFO cults to Satanism, Paganism to the New Age. This book was footnoted and provided detailed overviews of Occult practices by chapter and even showed debate within various cults.

I was surprised by the sheer volume of information and the heavily footnoted references. Since I was reading this as research for a novel I'm writing, having this information laid out systematically made this a valuable reference tool.

This is also useful for individuals in missionary and evangelism because of the strong Biblical foundation of the work. There are charts, maps and headers that make this easy to read and easy to return to.

I recommend this book in the strongest possible terms for its wealth of information, its Quick Facts summary at the conclusion of each chapter, for the 18 page index and 21 page bibliography. If anyone wanted to know more on this topic this is the first place I'd send them. Not only is it dense with material but it cites the sources to allow for further study.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Learn more about Tiffany's Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Read Tiffany's award winning manuscript "A Face in the Shadow" on her fiction blog.
She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer's Rest.

NaNo Lessons

This year I again participated in NaNo [National Novel Writing Month] and again I did not "win" by finishing a 50K novel in 1 month. What is funny is twice I've written books of more than 60K in under a month. It seems something about the deadline and visibility does something to me.

This brings me to the topic of today's blog. I'd like to share some lessons I learned about my own writing that may help you with yours.

I encourage you to never see something as failure. Everything is a learning experience that will redirect you. Just as no tragedy can destroy you as long as you find a way to come out better on the other side.

So why don't you look at things you HAVEN'T accomplished that you set out to do. See what it taught you. Then use that to become more successful next time.

1. Writing under deadline is harder than writing without one.

I already knew this since I write articles regularly for publication. I find that I can write 8 articles in a single day and then shop them around. However, if I have 1 article on assignment [which was sold on an idea rather than a full MS] it can take me hours to get a few paragraphs written.

2. When you ARE writing under deadline, don't get distracted.

This is the mistake I made this year. I had the entire book outlined. However, as I was writing the NaNo novel I also started researching another book. Normally this is how I keep my creativity flowing. Having the deadline, however, gave me an opportunity to procrastinate and be distracted. So, I didn't finish the book-and I didn't finish my research.

3. Keep moving, even if failure seems imminent.

It is tempting to get overwhelmed and give up when it's clear you won't be able to hit your goal. That doesn't mean you quit all together. You need to keep with your daily word count goal. While publishers don't like the "better late than never" attitude in contracted authors, since you're not really under contract now KEEP AT IT AND FINISH. It's better to be done December 20th because you kept going than it is to give up and end up with another partially finished MS.

4. Don't edit now.

Let your book flow out. It may feel like total junk but keep going. My first drafts are full of notes to myself. [for example I'll put "Make sure reader feels pressure to find the coins."] Those notes will help you edit and build up your story when you go back and do revisions. Those words tell you the tone and feel you had during the creative process. These elements are the "work" portion of writing. You need to focus on the creative portion on the first draft.

So, while I didn't reach my NaNo goal I did reach another one-to always provide you with relevant information that will help you grow as a writer and build your writing business.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Learn more about Tiffany's Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Read Tiffany's award winning manuscript "A Face in the Shadow" on her fiction blog.
Read devotions for the Christian Writer every Tuesday at Writer's Rest.

More on blogger's block

A great comment yesterday on my blog.

I talked about how to get rid of writer's block, but how do you get rid of blogger's block?

I faced this very issue last weekend as I started thinking about what I'd like to teach this week. I've spent so much time working on a current fiction proposal that I didn't have any idea what to share with you this week.

I started thinking about what happens when I have writer's block and yesterday's blog was born.

So the title yesterday wasn't so much the topic as it was my dilemma. What more to share with you.

So when you start to run out of new material for your blog here are some ideas.

1. Go back to the fundamentals.

What is the purpose of your blog. On the Writing Career Coach blog I focus on teaching all of you how to build your writing business. That is my central purpose. I need to keep myself updated on the best ways to help you build your writing business-by building my own first.

So, by going back to the foundation of my purpose I find new material and remember things to help you-like yesterday how to push through writer's block.

2. Read other blogs.

I never suggest stealing information from other bloggers [although you can always quote my blog if you give attribution and offer a link]. What I do suggest is read two or three similar blogs and see if something they say sparks creativity.

3. Comment on other blogs.

This ties in to number two. Sometimes you read something on a blog and you want to comment on what was said. Maybe the person had a great idea. Then talk about it on your blog [always link back to the original blog and give attribution]. Sometimes you'll see me comment on something another blogger said, or an article I read. This is a great way to share information-even if you don't have writer's block. I always encourage you to leave a comment on the person's blog saying "I thought your idea was interesting and I talked about it on my blog today." Blogging can be lonely work. There are days you wonder if anyone cares about what you're saying. These little pieces of recognition can encourage another blogger-and spark interest in your blog.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Learn more about Tiffany's Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Read Tiffany's award winning manuscript "A Face in the Shadow" on her fiction blog.

Blogger's Block

This time of year the chaos of holiday shopping, family gatherings and general stress can contribute to writer's block.

Just as in any job, we can't put off our writing simply because we don't feel like putting in a day at the office, so what are some things you can do when writer's block strikes?

1. Read

Take some time to not only read a good book but read things that will help you with your specific project. I am using the holidays to complete research on the book I'm plotting right now.

2. Research markets

In addition to reading and research take some time to find out what the various markets are looking for. I write a fair number of articles in addition to my books so I take this time of year to find markets that I'd like to write for.

3. Edit

What are the things you've been working on? Pull a couple down and mark them up. Even if you don't feel creative enough to make the corrections you can find them.

4. Learn to push through

Sometimes you have no other choice than to push through the writer's block and find the words buried deep.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Learn more about Tiffany's Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Read Tiffany's award winning manuscript "A Face in the Shadow" on her fiction blog.

STOP PANICKING!!!

I never cease to be amazed how otherwise intelligent people freak out over speculations!!

For more than a year we have been bombarded by our peers in the media with word about the dire situation in the economy. In fact, most of the people I speak to that are flipping out have actually had NO change in their situations. They simply fear they will because of what someone said....

I've seen it other places too. When budgets get tight one of the first things to go is customer service and marketing. The sales department might try to go in to overdrive offering countless incentives but there are no more free samples that offer an example of the product. The pyromarketing that is so effective suddenly is viewed as too expensive.

These are the worst possible things for us, as writers, to do. When you see sales slumping, cash advances declining and cuts in publishing companies the first response seems to be panic. I've had clients ask me to offer LESS thorough service in an effort to cut cost. I had a family member who worked for a company a few years ago that suffered a downturn in sales. The first thing to go was advertising.

These cycles come and go and the best possible thing to do during these times is to reevaluate your current business plan, make adjustments, learn and then come out stronger.

That is what successful businesses do. They don't panic when they see trouble around them. They adapt. That is why major corporations like the big three auto makers and national banking institutions are having problems. They are too big and locked in to too many habits and contracts to be able to nimbly adjust.

You are not restricted to this. That makes this a prime time to adjust, modify and experience EXPLOSIVE GROWTH!! My pastor gave the definition of a crisis as and opportunity for a decision. Your level of success will be a direct result of your reaction to what is happening and your adjustments based on that reaction.

So go to my suggested readings page and get a few of these books from your local library or click through the links to buy it now. Then read them and see how you can make this current crisis your opportunity.

And visit the Writing Career Coach website for products and coaching that will help you with this.

But whatever you do, stop panicking. That is reactionary. By Planning, rather than panicking, you will be in control of the impact of this situation on your family. And you might find this situation as the 'fertilizer that becomes the field where your dreams grow.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Learn more about Tiffany's Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Read Tiffany's award winning manuscript "A Face in the Shadow" on her fiction blog.

Naming free online conferences

I need your input!

In an effort to always increase the value for my readers I am going to be introducing a great new feature in the first quarter of 2009.

They will be 15 minute archived audio lessons. They will be posted once a week and will come with a free handout mailed directly to you the day BEFORE the lesson. All of this will be 100% free for participants. The only charge will be for the lessons if you want them AFTER the mailing goes out. They will be $2 and available through a digital download.

In these online lessons I'll cover some of the topics that I teach at writer's conferences and provide relevant information to help you develop your writing business and grow as a writer. Because of their business focus these will also be helpful to non-writers.

So what would you like to call this new feature? I'm open for ideas. Put your thoughts in the comments section. As an exercise put after the title what made you think of this title? Does it have keywords that would be picked up by search engines? Is it a play on words that would intrigue someone? Is it a title you could build off of? Does it relate to the theme of my blog? These are the things that we need to think of as we brand ourselves so practice on my brand.

I look forward to your ideas as well as sharing more details on the format, topic and launch of this new feature. This won't be an informercial, in fact, I'm currently doing research in a number of online resources and books. I will provide bibliographies in my handouts so you can dig deeper if you'd like. Not a bad deal for FREE!!

Have a great week and I'll see you in a couple of days.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Learn more about Tiffany's Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Read Tiffany's award winning manuscript "A Face in the Shadow" on her fiction blog.

learning from others in related industries

One thing about running a successful business is that there are so many different things that businesses have in common-especially when it comes to marketing-that it is useful to look at them to build your business. While there are some things that are specific to each industry [like for writers perfecting POV is something an author would need to know but an accountant might not]. Branding, however, is something that professionals in both industries will benefit from.

Therefore, as authors, we can learn a great deal from the music industry and how they have adapted to the recent innovations.

Consider for a moment the iPod and its impact on music [and more specifically cd sales]. While the Time Life Music collection still targets the generation who is accustomed to listening to CDs, the iPod is revolutionizing the way todays teenagers buy and consume music.

Authors are seeing similar online products in ebooks, digital downloads, Sony Readers, Amazon's Kindle and other related materials.

While originally the music industry sought to fight these changes [a la Napster] they eventually embraced the change and capitalized on it. Now I see websites big and small selling music by the song [99 cents per song and up].

Likewise MTV brought out the music video but now artists are using YouTube to deliver videos on demand for any person with internet access. With PDAs and Cell Phones now offering Wi-Fi technology-this is nearly constant.

I remember in jr high [around 1990] that the first ads were on TV for Satellite television. One of the characters for "Murphy Brown" [his name now escapes me] was trying to explain in 30 seconds that now you could watch your favorite movies WHENEVER YOU WANT!! This was followed by increased access to Pay-per-view.

So this brings us full circle...With these new technologies that allow instant access to a book in a Sony Reader, a website that offers instant access to your favorite author and a world wide web that offers instant information.

How can writers follow the lead of music and movies to build their marketing for the online generation?

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Learn more about Tiffany's Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Read Tiffany's award winning manuscript "A Face in the Shadow" on her fiction blog.