Give Writers a Gift They’ll Love by Kitty Bucholtz
November 16, 2021 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz, Writing tagged as gifts, gifts for writers, It's Worth It, Kitty Bucholtz, online writing class, writing coachIf there’s one thing I love to hear, it’s someone telling me that they’re a writer. I immediately go into instant-friend mode and ask them about what they’re writing. It may not be something I’m interested in, but nonetheless we have a connection.
And if there’s one thing I love even more, it’s someone telling me that they just published their book. Traditional or indie publishing, I’m thrilled for them. I know the feeling of accomplishment and nerves coming together to form a potent cocktail!
That’s why I became a writing coach. To help people get through the valleys of self-doubt and procrastination, over the mountains of rewriting and learning new things, into the bright land of accomplishment – now they have finished their book.
While I like the idea of a Black Friday sale, and have done my share of shopping that day over the years, I don’t like the feeling of the pressure to BUY NOW. So I’m offering a special from now through the end of 2021 – a full seven weeks to decide and act. If you or a friend has a book they’re stuck on, or someone you know has always wanted to write a book but only has false starts so far, how about the gift of a book coach this year?
My rates will go up in January, but for the rest of this year I’m actually going to discount my rate. My most popular six-month Finish Your Book 1:1 Coaching package includes a live-on-Zoom recorded 60-minute call twice a month, helping the writer through the plotting or the writers block or the brainstorming – whatever the writer needs that week, plus feedback on 20 manuscript pages of work each month, and membership in our twice weekly writing sprint group. Normally $2750, and increasing to $3000 in January, this package is $2500 when paid in full by December 31 (or six monthly payments of $500).
I know that the cost is only half of the question we ask ourselves when deciding whether to do something – the other half of the “should I” question is time. To help you feel more comfortable that your friend will actually use this gift, I’m giving the recipient a full year to begin their six-month coaching program. We can book our first session together anytime between now and December 31, 2022.
There are only two things that I have to limit – I have a limited number of spots open since this is one-on-one time together, not group coaching, and it’s best that I meet with people first to make sure we have a connection and they’re writing something I can help them with.
If you’d like to talk to me about a friend you’d like to gift this to, or if you’d like to send your friend to me directly, you can book a 30-minute call with me here on my scheduler. (If the times look a little weird to you, I live in Sweden now, so I’m 6 hours ahead of Eastern time, 9 hours ahead of Pacific time.)
Remember, if you or your friends don’t need a writing coach, there are plenty of other things you might want to ask for or give to the writers in your life this year! There’s the MasterClass group of courses, wonderful for inspiration and tips from the writers there, but also fantastic for research for your next protagonist. They also have a 2-for-1 membership special as of the day this posts.
Bryan Cohen has a Kickstarter for his new book Self-Publishing with Amazon Ads through December 3, which includes lots of rewards at higher levels.
Mark Dawson has lots of video-based courses on his Self Publishing Formula website on writing craft, production, and marketing.
And then there’s the gift of time. Give your writer friend an hour of time every month to encourage or help them. Get a group of friends together for weekly writing sprints, or join my Finish Your Book Membership Group and join us twice a week (email me for details — kitty at kittybucholtz dot com).
Ask for a two-hour monthly or weekly block from your family and keep it like a doctor’s appointment, no rescheduling, no interruptions. Maybe even give that two-hour block back to them to do something they’ve been wanting to do more of (golfing, hiking, playing a video game together). You can even send the link to this post to people who are wondering what they can give you this year. 😉
Do you have other favorite gift ideas for writers? Share them in the comments!
Whatever you decide to do, for yourself or for a friend, I hope it leads to the joy of creation and, eventually, the even greater joy of having a(nother) published book. Happy Writing!
0 0 Read moreThe Lost Girl in Paris and a Frenchwoman of a certain age you won’t forget by Jina Bacarr
November 11, 2021 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing
When I was studying the art of kimono and Japanese dance, I remember asking my sensei, teacher, how long a geisha could work at her profession of song and dance.
‘For as long as she wishes,’ she said. ‘I know a geisha in her nineties.’
‘There’s no work discrimination because of her age?’
‘None.’
‘Why?’
‘Because a geisha is ageless.’
Yes… ageless. I thought of that often when I was writing THE LOST GIRL IN PARIS. My heroine is a famed parfumier who is eighty when we open in New York City in 2003. It’s a world when cellphones weren’t the norm, texting was in its infancy, the Concorde made flights from New York to Paris… and memories of the Holocaust were still vivid in the minds of many survivors.
Like Madame de Cadieux.
A woman who survived both Auschwitz and Dachau, but never spoke about it until she meets a young reporter named Emma Keane who touches a nerve in her that now is the time to speak about those times. Her memories are as vivid to this eighty-year-old as if she were the seventeen-year-old girl who ran away to Paris to become a parfumier after losing her mother to the Nazi war machine.
I wrote THE LOST GIRL IN PARIS to pay tribute to the strong women who survived the Holocaust and willingly shared their stories with us. The horror of Nazi brutality, the loss of family, their dignity… but also about their strength just to ‘survive another day’. And the strong bonds with their sisters-in-arms they formed with fellow prisoners. How they learned to trust each other and stood up against the enemy to save each other.
Like the geisha, these women are ageless.
We must never forget.
——————-
Here is a short excerpt from THE LOST GIRL IN PARIS:
—————-
Love Forties Fiction?
A girl from a controversial upbringing becomes a famous perfumer during the war when she comes to Paris in 1940 to escape the Gestapo. Then how she uses perfume to do her part to win the war…
THE LOST GIRL IN PARIS is up for pre-order on Amazon!
Release date: November 30, 2021US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B1QDRVW/
UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09B1QDRVW/CA https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09B1QDRVW/
Australia https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09B1QDRVW/——————
Over 500 ratings on Amazon UK!The Resistance Girl
Juliana discovers her grandmamma was a famous French film star in Occupied Paris & her shocking secret…
US https://amzn.to/2FoKKeS0 0 Read more
OH HORRORS! Storytelling that goes bump in the night
October 15, 2021 by Rebecca Forster in category The Write Life by Rebecca Forster, Writing tagged as #Thriller, #writingtips, #writingvoice #writingtips #thrillers, horror
My job as a thriller writer is to keep the reader on the edge of her seat, but when it comes to jump-out-of-your-skin storytelling horror is the cardio workout for the imagination. The writer in me is in awe of the imaginative details; the reader (movie-goer) is in love with the unpredictability of the genre.Here are three of my favorites.
FINAL DESTINATION – MOVIE FRANCHISE
The premise is basic, the acting just decent, but the writing was so darn inventive. Just when I thought the writers couldn’t surprise me again, scenes became more elaborate, unpredictable, and downright delightfully terrifying. This is a great lesson in taking the time to kick your writing up a notch.
MISERY – STEPHEN KING
We’re all suckers for a good plot, especially when it pumps with plausibility. An obsessed fan, a writer who is her captive, and the life and death struggle between them makes this a great look at how a writer can create a nail biter when the characters are locked into a single location.
NEEDFUL THINGS – STEPHEN KING (again)
The slow burn makes the horrific climax in this book incredibly satisfying. King uses multiple characters and their motivations to keep the reader off base. This technique creates a literary funnel that feeds into the one person the reader should have been paying attention to from the beginning. Psychological horror becomes physical and the swiftness of the climax is chilling, and the reader doesn’t even know they are being led down a path until it’s too late.
So, I’ve got the pumpkin carved, the candy bowl is on the table, I’m waiting for the doorbell to ring and before those trick-or-treaters descend I’ve got just enough time to open my book and scare myself silly. What about you? What’s your favorite Halloween-horror page turner?
Perfume: what you never expected to find in a World War II novel set in Occupied Paris by Jina Bacarr
October 11, 2021 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as historical fiction, Paris, perfume, Resistance, World War 2
I’ve had a zillion jobs in my career.
US Army rec specialist in Europe, AM/FM radio commercial artist, traveling cosmetic saleslady for a French company, club dancer, soap opera player, writer for kids’ TV…
And perfume model.
So, what does a perfume model do?
The gig started when I got a call from the modeling agency I worked for asking me if I was available to introduce a new perfume. Since I was freelancing for a travel magazine company in Beverly Hills back then, I jumped every time the agency called me with a perfume job.
The pay was good. The hours ranged from four to six hours a day. The location was always a posh department store (remember Bullocks, I Magnin’s?), and occasionally, I’d get to wear wardrobe from the couture department to complement the color scheme and theme of the perfume.
I felt like a film star.
After a session with the perfume rep explaining their marketing campaign, off I went. Sashaying around the store like I was walking on the red carpet. I’d engage customers in small talk and introduce them to the perfume.
I’d spray it on their wrist – or mine if they preferred – and then gave them a sample. It wasn’t easy. I was snubbed by snooty women, hit on by male customers, and constantly asked, ‘Where is the ladies room?’
By the end of my shift – toes squashed in three-inch heels – my feet were killing me.
But I loved it. The customers were enchanted by the quick whiff of a new fragrance and loved being whisked away for a moment of glamour. I’d regale them with my stories about Paris and the Belle Époque department stores I visited along with the history of perfume.
And the different notes of the perfume. Top, heart, base.
I soon discovered you didn’t sell the steak… perfume, that is… but the sizzle. The mystique, the mood. I had to evoke an emotional response in the customer and I did it by storytelling and learning as much as I could about perfume. How it’s manufactured, the ingredients, what that perfume can do for that customer to make her happy, feel sexy. Powerful. Loved. I became an amateur ‘nose’, learning about the different scents and essences and how they configure in varying ratios to make up a lovely new fragrance.
I used that perfume experience to create parfumier Angéline de Cadieux when I wrote ‘The Lost Girl in Paris’.
How a girl from a controversial upbringing becomes a famous perfumer during the war when she comes to Paris in 1940 to escape the Gestapo. Then how she uses perfume to do her part to win the war…
THE LOST GIRL IN PARIS is up for pre-order – and my just-revealed cover is on Amazon!
Release date: November 30, 2021
US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B1QDRVW/
UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09B1QDRVW/
CA https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09B1QDRVW/
Australia https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09B1QDRVW/
——————
Photo credits:
Jina Bacarr: Laura Burke Photography
Background: ID 137251284
© Viktoriya Panasenko | Dreamstime.com
——————–
Nearly 500 ratings on Amazon UK!
The Resistance Girl
Juliana discovers her grandmamma was a famous French film star in Occupied Paris & her shocking secret…
Are You Leaving Money On The Table?
October 5, 2021 by Tracy Reed in category Writing tagged as Goal Setting, How to Make a Living with Your Writing, Joann Penn, Productivity for Authors, writing career
Happy October and Fall.
I recently listened to Joanna Penn’s How To Make A Living With Your Writing and Productivity For Authors. I highly recommend both books, no matter what stage or level you are in your writing career.
I have been a published author since December 2014. However, it wasn’t until the past few years that I realized I wasn’t a very good steward or caretaker of my writing career. I often tell people I’ve written several books. Instead, I should have been saying, “I’m an author as well as a small business owner.”
Listening to Joanna’s books just emphasized my poor caretaker skills. As writers, we’re storytellers first, then business people. However, if we don’t understand the business side, we’re simply hobbyist. I don’t know about you, but I want to be a storyteller who gets paid.
Let me take a few moments to chastise myself. I’ve not been as focused as I could be. I set goals and fall short. I used to create a production schedule, which I probably should go back to. I tried a Kanban board system in 2019. I liked it, but then COVID hit and I didn’t give Kanban a second thought. I tried sprinting and writing blocks, but failed to stay consistent. I’m also guilty of not having a daily writing time. Instead, I’d wait for the muse to visit me. I’m also guilty of letting distractions run rampant in my life.
It was sort of funny how I came to listen to Joanna’s books. I was sitting in the drive through at Raisin’ Cane waiting to order dinner. Don’t judge. I’m a healthy eater, but a girl likes some chicken tenders and fries every now and then. If you know anything about Raisin’ Cane, the line is always long. I didn’t want to listen to music, and I had just finished the Kevin Kwan Crazy Rich Asians series . . . the books are so much better than the movie. I was going to listen to a podcast and saw Joanna Penn’s name and thought, why not read or listen to one of her books. I downloaded How To Make A Living With Your Writing. There’s so much good information about goal setting and time management.
Joanna asked a question that really stood out: Are you were leaving money on the table? I had no idea what she was talking about, because there was no way I could be guilty of such a thing. I replayed the chapter so I could catch all of her statement. I was shocked to discover she was talking about the different ways to monetize your book. She listed the many formats she uses for her books: ebook, paperback, hardcover, large print paperback and audio.
Hold up. I know about audio, I’m not there yet. So I gave myself a pass. However, I was guilty of not doing half of the other formats. When I publish a book, I generally only do ebook and paperback. I thought about doing a few limited edition hardcovers for some of my books, but hadn’t made the move. For large print paperbacks, I have to be honest, it never occurred to me to offer them, although some readers asked me about large print.
Joanna shared that her large print paperbacks account for a huge chunk of her print sales. My mind raced as she spoke and then she said the magic words . . . “Formatting is easy with Vellum.” I was hooked. Then she said there was a large market for large print paperback. I went to Amazon and found several large print romance books available.
Back to my question, are you leaving money on the table? Did you know large print books fetch a higher price for very little work? I created a large print version of The Good Girl Part One. I love how it turned out, but there were two minor issues . . . I forgot to include my website on the back cover and I had the wrong cover dimensions. I made the corrections and put my first large print paperback up for sale. I’m also strongly considering large print hardcover. Did you know there are still quite a few people who like hardcover books? I may not be doing audio books yet, but I can expand my revenue streams by offering two versions of the large print format: paperback and hardcover.
So here are the revenue streams for my books: ebook, regular print paperback, large print paperback, regular hardcover and large print hardcover.
Let’s take a deeper look at the proposed revenue streams (before royalty split) for The Good Girl Part One.
ebook – Free
Regular Print Paperback – $7.99
Large Print Paperback – $8.99
Regular Hardcover – $20.99
Large Print Hardcover – $25.99
The hardcover prices are estimates. Looking at the possibilities, means I’ve been leaving $55.97 (before the royalty split) on the table, because I’ve only been doing ebook and regular paperback.
Imagine if I sold ten of each of these formats for this book daily. (Use your royalty split to calculate a more accurate number.) Whatever number you came up with is correct and shocking. Now multiply those numbers by your entire catalog. I did my catalog number based on my royalty split. I wanted to kick myself.
Of course, hardback copies may not be for you. But why not offer a few as collectibles–that’s still a nice piece of money. Here’s another thought, maybe you do a series hardcover. I’ve seen them on Amazon and they fetch a nice sum. The possibilities are endless.
I hear you saying, “What about audio?” I’m not ignoring audio, it’s just not time for me yet. My plan is to do audio in 2023, but until then, I’m adding large print paperback, hardcover and large print hardcover to my inventory.
So I’ll ask again, How much money have you been leaving on the table?
See you next month.
~Tracy
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