Member's Library I am what the librarians have made me . . . B. K. Sandwell

Am I a Writer or Not?

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I was born into a family of artists. On the paternal side, each generation has produced painters, sculptors, photographers, musicians, dancers, and crafters. No writers until me, and none since.

But I didn’t start as a writer. Rather, by elementary school I was illustrating my life in pen and colored pencil, outperforming peers through high school art classes and developing a reputation as an artist. We all expected me to continue into art school and become a professional illustrator.

It took only one semester of college-level training to make it clear I didn’t have what it takes to be a commercial artist. Nor did I want to be one. Art, I realized, was for myself only. I could not, would not, produce it on demand or according to anyone else’s criteria, which left me standing on square one, wondering what to do with my life.

My only employable skills were typing and spelling. These had built up in the background while I was focusing on art, first from a voracious reading habit and then from decades of writing in diaries and journals, plus composing reports in school. In fact, I had already written a novel. It arose from my teenage fantasies that initially were serial illustrations similar to comic strips. Eventually I dropped the pictures and extended the prose, first in longhand and then on a typewriter. To my surprise, I enjoyed the process. It engaged both the creative and technical parts of my brain.

By the time I nixed art as a career, my only realistic options lay in secretarial work or document production. Accident of timing placed me at the launch of the computer age, where my excellent typing and spelling gave me an employment advantage as a word processor. Thus began a long, bumpy journey in which I sought the right niche in publishing or marketing. Meanwhile, I wrote another novel.

From college onward, I lost having my own bedroom, where I used to draw and paint in privacy. The new normal was cohabiting with partners and/or housemates in close quarters, which made it nigh impossible to create art unobserved. But I could write in notebooks, and later type on screens — even save the material to disk, what a bonus! — without anyone seeing what I was doing.  So I spent more time writing and less time drawing, until I quit art altogether with a sad self-portrait on my thirty-fifth birthday.

Meanwhile, multiple writing-related threads wove together. Business documentation brought me into proofreading and typesetting. Personal projects centered on revising and developing my two novels into publishable works. A rising interest in publishing itself brought me into copyediting. Slowly but surely my career coalesced around producing words.

The day came when I was downsized out of a terrific production job that engaged all my skills and interests, leaving me standing on a new square one. Again by accident of timing, I lived where no comparable jobs were in commuting distance — but the internet had arrived, making remote work possible. As well, the publishing industry was being upheaved by corporate buyouts and dumping a lot of editorial staff, who promptly established themselves as freelancers and created online support communities and referral networks. The combination made it the right time for me to risk self-employment.

I could either reactivate my art side and become a designer and compositor, or stick with the language side and become an editor/proofreader/writer/manuscript preparer. An investment in hardware and software was required either way. Not only was it less expensive to kit up as an editor/writer, but also I had learned that while I might have been born an artist, I did not inherit the designer gene. Failure was guaranteed if I went that route.

So I hung out my shingle and took on all the word-related work I could get: short form, long form, fiction, nonfiction — including academic and technical — in both traditional and indie publishing. I wrote articles for magazines. I finally sold both of my novels, though not until after I’d completed a work-for-hire volume in a nonfiction self-help series. That led to blogging. Then I added book reviewing and contest judging. Occasionally I attended conferences and did some teaching or coaching.

By this route I achieved a role in publishing, but . . . what to call myself? My business name and tagline served — “DocuMania: Production Support for Editors, Writers, and Designers” (or “DocuMania Editorial Services,” as circumstances warranted) — but what about individual identity? It happened often enough in social situations that somebody asked what I did for a living, or business introductions required a simple label.

I settled for Editor, because that covered it all: reading, writing, evaluating, discussing, and producing written material, while dealing creatively with other writers’ works. Unlike my own artistic efforts, editing was — and remains — something I could do on demand, any time, any place, any subject, always engaging my technical side even if the creative side was groaning or shut down. It led me at last to my niche: copyeditor, line editor, and assessor of indie novels. These allowed me to occupy the worlds of imagination and expression while helping others with the mechanical elements they’re wobbly with, in a mutual-benefit balance that paid the bills.

Thanks to this positive mix, I was able to write a third novel, and self-publish it because my experience included mastering the basics of that, too.

My success would not have happened without the support of the online editorial community. While some editors began their careers in the pre-computer era so were already established when tools and opportunities expanded, my late start and uncertain direction would have impaired me at an earlier time, especially since I never lived anywhere near a publisher, university press, magazine, or newspaper — or adequate libraries. By the time I joined the crowd online, endless resources and mentors were available, without having to leave my rural homestead.

In hindsight, I realize I needed to go through the artist phase to discover the writer phase, which proved to suit me better. Yet I still consider myself an artist, because editing is a component of writing, and writers are the literary practitioners among the full arts family that includes painters, sculptors, photographers, musicians, dancers, and crafters. Each of these arts involves technique, tools, and technicians as well as passion and creativity. As an Editor, therefore, I am a Writer and an Artist.

 

 

Carolyn Haley

Proprietor, DocuMania Editorial Services

Shifting from Goals to Intentions: A Helpful Approach for ADHD Writers

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When you have ADHD, writing can result in a lot of stress. You may love ‘being’ a writer, brainstorming ideas, even editing, but getting words on the page, staying focused, or organizing your thoughts may be a struggle. And then there is all the productivity advice you’re told should work if you show up consistently and set measurable goals.  Write for two hours every morning. Be consistent. Track your output.

While these strategies can help some people, many of us with ADHD experience them as a cycle of pressure, resistance, and eventually failure.

I know that cycle well. For years, I set measurable targets for myself. Write 1,000 words a day, write for one hour daily. I bought into the idea that they would keep me motivated. And while I did manage to maintain the momentum briefly, I eventually got bored with the routine. I would churn out words for the sake of meeting my goals. My focus shifted from communicating something meaningful to simply hitting the numbers. The work felt mechanical, and, well, hard.

Interest is a major driver of motivation for ADHD brains. When the topic or task loses its sparkle, staying committed can feel almost impossible, even when the deadline is real.

After training as an ADHD coach and integrating that training with my decade of experience as an editor and writing coach, working with writers of all skill levels, I’ve realized that many of my clients were struggling with processes and tools that weren’t designed for how their brains work. Many traditional productivity tools are designed for neurotypical brains. They assume that attention is within the control of the writer, that energy can easily be harnessed, and that there is a consistent relationship between time spent and output produced. ADHD disrupts those assumptions.

My own experience led me to move away from rigid goal-driven writing toward something far more sustainable and enjoyable: intention-based writing.

Goals and intentions may sound similar, but they operate very differently. Goals emphasize outcomes: finish the article by Tuesday, draft 2,000 words in the next 3 hours, and submit by Friday. They provide clarity but can feel very inflexible to an ADHD brain that thrives on novelty, engagement, and intuition. If you struggle with time blindness, difficulty initiating tasks, or fluctuating energy — all common with ADHD — missing a goal can feel like personal failure rather than a mismatch between method and brain.

Intentions focus on process and engagement. They describe how you want to approach the work, not just what you want to produce.

For professional writers, an intention might look like this:

  • Clarify the core message for the audience
  • Explore a topic with curiosity
  • Write a messy first draft
  • Translate complex information into plain language
  • Simply begin and see what insights emerge

The outcome is allowed to evolve.

This distinction matters because ADHD is fundamentally an executive function condition. Executive functions help us start tasks, plan, organize, regulate attention, and manage time. When those systems are struggling, rigid targets can lead to frustration and self-judgement.

Consider what happens when you sit down to write with a specific quota in mind. If getting started feels difficult, the target already feels out of reach. If your attention is hijacked, the clock becomes stressful instead of motivating. If time passes unnoticed, or painfully slowly, the schedule stops reflecting reality. None of this indicates laziness or lack of professionalism. It reflects how the ADHD brain processes effort and reward.

Measurable, like timers and word counts, assume a consistent link between time, effort, and results. ADHD breaks that link. Some days, you may struggle to produce a paragraph despite trying hard. On other days, you may slip into hyperfocus and complete an entire report in one sitting. Intention makes room for this variability rather than penalising it.

There is also an emotional difference. Goals invite evaluation: Did I succeed or fail? Intentions invite reflection: Did I engage with the work in a useful way? That shift alone can reduce self-criticism and make it easier to return to the task tomorrow.

When writers adopt intention-setting, several changes often follow:

  • The work feels less overwhelming
  • Sessions adapt more easily to fluctuating focus and energy
  • Engagement improves because curiosity replaces pressure
  • Self-compassion increases, supporting long-term consistency

Setting intentions doesn’t mean abandoning structure or deadlines. As a professional writer, you still need to deliver. It simply means choosing a day-to-day approach that feels more in line with how you thrive.

A helpful starting question is not “What do I need to produce?” but “How do I want to show up for this work today?” or How can I contribute to this project today?”

The answer might be focused, exploratory, analytical, patient, decisive, or open-minded. From there, translate that quality into a small, concrete action. Instead of aiming for a word count, you might:

  • Outline key points
  • Refine the headline or positioning
  • Research audience pain points
  • Draft messy ideas without editing
  • Dictate notes while walking
  • Rework a single section for clarity

Expand your definition of progress. Acknowledge to yourself that progress doesn’t need to be measured; it can be seen and felt.

My own shift came when I accepted that word counts, and timed writing sessions felt void of meaning to me. I needed writing to feel playful. It took me a while to feel confident enough to reject the idea of setting goals. I questioned whether I would feel overwhelmed without measurable goals. But I reminded myself that without intrinsic motivation to work, I wouldn’t be able to produce anything. So, I took the risk.

The change was gradual. But without performance pressure, curiosity returned. I reorganized ideas, wrote fragments, deleted sections, and followed new angles. Now, when I sit down to write, I feel energized instead of depleted.

If you want to experiment with this approach, try beginning each session by completing the sentence:

Today I intend to…

If you feel like you need a bigger picture of your project, start with an umbrella intention. Pull back, or zoom in as much as you need.

My intention for this project is to be curious, to explore, to produce interesting research, and to write with an authentic voice.

My intention is to allow myself to produce a messy first draft, no judgement when I write.

My intention is to engage with this project in a sensory way this week.

Keep the focus on experience and engagement rather than output. When you have completed your project, or even at the end of a writing session, or the end of each week, briefly reflect on whether the intentions helped. There’s no scorecard — just information you can use to adjust.

For writers with ADHD, productivity is not simply about effort. It’s about alignment between your brain, your motivation, and your environment. Intentions help create that alignment.

If goal-setting has left you feeling like you aren’t being the best writer you can be, the solution may not be trying harder — but trying differently. Start small. Choose one writing session to approach with an intention instead of a target and take notice of small shifts.

Professional writing is demanding enough without turning it into a daily judgment of your output. When you move from a productivity mindset to cultivating engagement, you give yourself a better chance of sustaining both the work and your love of writing.

Feel free to reach out to me for a free Discovery call if you want to continue this conversation!

 

Kirsten Donaghey is the author of A Novel Approach: Strategies for ADHD Writers. She is a certified ADHD coach and longtime editor and writing coach. A Canadian living in Vienna, she was the founder of a nonprofit writing hub where she organized writing workshops and networking events for local writers. She now works with clients worldwide as a coach and editor, thriving on collaboration and creative solutions. Her own inspiration comes from reading, traveling, hiking, meaningful exchanges, and creating. She specializes in helping writers, creatives, academics, and ADHDers with their projects and daily life.

The Writing Book That Changed Me: If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland

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I can’t remember when I first encountered the writing book that changed me. I distinctly remember purchasing my own copy from the Quality Paperback Book Club in the early 1990s and then buying a second copy of it when my first copy walked to parts unknown. I must have lent out the second copy, because the dog-eared version on my shelves now is copy number three.

It happens to this book. You lend it out, and it disappears. Be prepared. Other writers have told me the same thing. “Oh, Brenda Ueland’s book? I lend that one out all the time. But sometimes, it doesn’t come back.”

It grabs hold of you, this book. At first, it seems disconnected, almost rambling. Quotations float in and out from William Blake, Wordsworth. However, once Brenda’s ideas about creativity and the source of creativity grab you, they don’t let go.

The book is If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland, and it is the writing book that changed me.

 

Who Was Brenda Ueland?

She had two simple rules for living: to tell the truth, always, and not to do anything she didn’t want to do.

Born in Minneapolis to immigrant parents in 1891, she attended Barnard and became a freelance writer and journalist. Her prolific output of articles, stories, plays, and, eventually, her most famous work, If You Want to Write, accompanied a Bohemian lifestyle and unconventional ideas for her time. She led a writing class, and her book is based on the lessons she taught her students. She died in 1985, leaving many of us whom she had never met feeling like her students, too.

I’m one of her students.

 

The Best Book Ever Written About Creative Writing

Carl Sandburg once called If You Want to Write the best book ever written about creative writing, and if it’s not too bold of me to say so, I agree with him.

The book’s premise can be summed up as:

  • Everyone is creative
  • Everyone has something important to say
  • Writing should come from one’s honest, unforced self

When I first read this book, I felt a spark of excitement and recognition. Why, I’m like one of her students. Trying to write in fancy ways rather than simply, plainly telling the truth of my experience.

 

Finally, I Can Be Myself

I had teachers tell me to write like Hemingway, Dickens, Melville, Poe; I studied Milton, Shakespeare, and Dante. I loved all these writers, but trying to force me to write like them was ridiculous.

I needed someone to let me be me, to write like me, and that someone was Brenda.

Throughout the book, she provides examples of why we should write freely and without reservation, honestly and truthfully sharing what we see and feel. We should focus like children, creating a play — didn’t you write and perform plays as children? I did. She describes the “happy absorption” of children deep in the creative flow, and I remembered times in my childhood feeling that flow, that happy absorption, whether it was coloring the paper backdrop for our neighborhood performance of Rumpelstiltskin in third grade that we gave in the basement playroom of my house, or building cardboard houses for my Barbie dolls.

I wanted to tap into that creative flow, to have that happy feeling when writing. Writing had felt that way to me throughout high school. I often stayed up late, typing away on my mother’s Royal portable, writing horror and science fiction novels and short stories. As I grew older, majored in English, and told my college professors of my ambition to be a writer, they did their best to give me advice: write like Hemingway! Write like Joyce Carol Oates! Write like XYZ!

The more I was told to write like someone else, the more stilted and uncomfortable my prose became. I wrote stories I hated because my teacher for a short story workshop asked me to stop writing all those silly paranormal stories and focus on “true literary fiction.” As far as I could tell from the examples she shared with me, true literary fiction was a nebulous story with unlikeable characters and no real resolution, people wandering around drinking tea or having conversations I didn’t understand.

Everyone told me to write like someone else . . . but no one suggested I learn to better express myself to write like me.

 

Teaching Writing Lessons and Life Lessons

Brenda Ueland gave me permission to write like me. Throughout her book, she not only exhorts the reader to write their true feelings, but she shares examples of how writers improved their pieces once they shed the self-conscious, “I’m trying to be Shakespeare” feeling.

More than teaching me how to free myself from everyone else’s expectations about my writing, this book changed my view of the people around me. As I entered the marketing profession and eventually became a manager, Brenda’s views about writers became my views about people, period.

Brenda’s maxims that “Everyone is creative. Everyone has something important to say” became part of my management approach. With every marketing team I have managed through my career, I treat everyone with deep respect, seeing each one as creative and with something important to say or contribute. This has built stronger teams, better communication, and greater outputs. It’s as if people can sense it. I don’t say it aloud. It’s become part of how I treat others: with dignity and respect. If we are all channels of creativity, and each of us has something important to say, we are each worthy of the highest regard.

 

A Constant Companion on the Writing Journey

For over forty years, this book has been my constant companion. Every few months, I pick it up for a shot of inspiration. I read a few passages. I think about Brenda encouraging the little servant girls, shopkeepers, and everyone else in her classes in the 1930s to write from their hearts, to let their spirits soar free. If there is only one book you add to your writing library, make it this one. It’s not for everyone, but if it is for you, it will resonate quickly and deeply. It is truly a book that changed my writing life and my inner life, and a book I’m grateful to have discovered early in my career.

I sit at a sleek computer now, instead of that battered old olive-green Royal typewriter. I will always try to write with “microscopic truthfulness” thanks to this book. And when I do, my work is better for it.

 

Jeanne Grunert is the president and founder of Seven Oaks Consulting, a business-to-business content marketing agency. She is an award-winning writer and direct marketing expert with over 30 years of writing, marketing, and business experience. Prior to founding Seven Oaks Consulting, Jeanne led marketing for divisions of McGraw-Hill Education, Teachers College Columbia University, The College Board, and retail, publishing, and financial service companies in the New York City area. Known worldwide for her exceptional leadership and communication skills, Jeanne works seamlessly across cultural and corporate barriers to achieve outstanding results. She holds an M.A. in writing and an M.S. in direct and digital marketing (awarded with distinction) from New York University, as well as certifications in social media marketing, content marketing, and adult education. Originally from the New York City area, Jeanne currently resides with her husband, John, and many pets on a 17-acre farm in rural Virginia. When not leading marketing teams through her work at Seven Oaks Consulting, she enjoys gardening, reading, cooking, and writing mystery novels.

Tracking Your Website and Blog Stats: What You Can Learn

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“Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. 
There will always be challenges, obstacles, and less-than-perfect conditions. 
So what. Get started now.
With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident, and more and more successful.”
—Mark Victor Hansen

I checked the NAIWE website stats for the first week in July, and member Noelle Barrick’s blog post, “Adventures in Freelance Teaching, or How to Use Cuss Words to Your Advantage” is the top post among the linked NAIWE blogs.

The second highest post in traffic is a NAIWE blog announcement, “Poem-a-Day Challenge,” and the third highest is my post on “What do you value most about the freedom to work independently?” Together, these posts have brought hundreds of eyes to the NAIWE site in the past seven days.

The numbers are interesting all by themselves, but why should you care? You should care because traffic means eyeballs. Noelle’s post has attracted 186 sets of eyeballs to her site in the past week. From the blog post, visitors get an idea of her writing style, and they can click right over to look at her professional profile. Noelle’s chances of being contacted to quote on a job increase every time someone visits her site. Every single time.

By taking the time to write an interesting and creative post, Noelle has accomplished far more than she’d ever achieve by a boring and static “brochure about me” post. Her post will be there for as long as she’s a NAIWE member, and it will continue to draw visitors. Those who enjoy it enough to bookmark it and return will build her traffic, and when they need a copywriter, who do you think they’ll think of?

The best part about traffic-attracting posts like the three mentioned above is that, ultimately, they bring visitors to all of us. A reader may first stop at Noelle’s post and profile, but from there, they may click on the NAIWE logo to visit the home page and the rest of the site, and perhaps browse through the searchable database to visit your profile and read your blog. The site is designed with search engine optimization in mind so that each post is quickly indexed in the search engines and can begin bringing in traffic within hours (occasionally even minutes).

Is your NAIWE site ready? Are you making the most of your biggest NAIWE benefit? Or will visitors to your site find the original welcome text that is designed to help you make your first posts? If you joined NAIWE just to have an association membership to enhance your professional credibility, having an empty site may be fine. However, if you’re hoping to build your professional reputation or attract new clients, you need to have something on the site to introduce yourself and your books or services. Posting to your NAIWE blog doesn’t take long — just log in to your blog today and get started!

 

Janice Campbell is the former executive director of the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors. She has been a freelance writer, editor, coach, and speaker since the late 1980s.

Make the Best Use of Your Editing Budget: A Pre-Editing Checklist

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By the time you hire a copyeditor, academic evaluator, or proofreader, you may be eager to be done with your project and feel like dumping it directly on the editor’s desk without any sort of self-checking. After all, the editor’s job is to catch errors, right? It’s true that your editor will catch errors, but when you are paying by the hour for an editor, there are some simple self-checking steps you can do before engaging the editor so that the editor can focus on the specialty service that you are paying for. Some self-checking steps include the following:

  1. Use spell check to find and correct all simple errors.
  1. Use the dictionary to verify word meanings.
  1. Use grammar check to flag grammar and usage issues. Be aware that grammar check is not always right, so consult a guide such as the Chicago Manual of Style if you aren’t sure if something has been correctly flagged.
  1. Check that you have used punctuation If you are unsure of any item, look it up in a style and usage guide.
  1. Be aware of overused words and phrases, and substitute appropriate synonyms or metaphors.
  1. Eliminate the passive voice. Rather than, “The report was submitted by Jennifer,” write “Jennifer submitted the report.”
  1. Remove extraneous detail. If you are presenting a case or making a point, use critical detail only.
  1. Be sure you have met requirements or conventions for presentation, including length, margins, and fonts.
  1. If your work is nonfiction, verify basic facts and provide correct citations.
  1. If your work is fiction, read it entirely through when it is finished to be certain that your plot is clear, that the settings and characters are well-defined and distinctive, and that you haven’t accidentally left out any other critical information.
  1. Once you have completed items 1–10, do them all over again if you have time. You’ll be amazed at what escaped you the first time through!

 

Janice Campbell is the former executive director of the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors. She has been a freelance writer, editor, coach, and speaker since the late 1980s.

One Question: The 5 W’s or an H of Short-Story Writing

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As a writer and editor of short fiction, I often see new short-story writers trying to do too much in too little space. While longer fiction forms, such as novels, provide numerous opportunities for exploring subjects from multiple angles, the short story is best served by a narrower focus. That’s not to say that a short story writer can’t incorporate multiple storytelling elements, like plot, character, setting, dialogue, etc. Of course, they can! Rather, one should utilize them to spotlight one of the “WH-questions,” (i.e., who, what, when, where, why, and how), setting that interrogative at their story’s heart.

Many of you may be familiar with WH-questions from learning journalism basics in school. These queries provide the skeleton for articles, features, profile pieces, etc. They are as follows:

  • Who: Who’s the story about?
  • What: What’s happening in the story?
  • When: When is the story taking place?
  • Where: Where does the story take place?
  • Why: Why is it important that readers know this story?
  • How: How did the events come to pass?

While the news typically requires answers for all six questions, the short story provides more leeway. Indeed, some of the most effective short stories find authors selecting one (or possibly two) queries to focus on when crafting narratives. By narrowing to these one to two primary questions and layering on elements, motifs, and styles as means of providing answers, authors maximize the effectiveness of their short-story writing.

Consider the stories featuring Arthur Conan Doyle’s world-famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. Narrated by the investigator’s confidante, John Watson, the Holmes stories focus on the question of “How?” Through Watson, Doyle reveals not only how the crime of the story was committed, but also how Holmes is able to deduce the perpetrator(s) of said crime. Every element builds toward these revelations. Doyle, via Watson, provides readers with some clues—enough that one might come close to guessing a solution. However, it’s through Holmes’s hyper-observational, logical mind that we learn the full solution in triumphant fashion at story’s end.

“How?” as the central question of mystery is perhaps the clearest example of using WH-questions in short stories. But other genres also lend themselves to one or two questions. Horror stories often focus on “What?” as in: What is the threat/monster/evil plaguing the protagonist? Literary fiction, which tends to focus on character over plot, is rife with tales focused on “Who?”

Note: while short-story writers can (and should) ask these primary questions in their stories, they are not obligated to answer them. Flannery O’Connor’s chilling tale “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” explores the “Why?” behind the title. Through the dialogue of the grandmother and the murderous Misfit, O’Connor explores this question of why society is changing, why the world no longer conforms to the expectations of older generations, etc. But the bleak ending doesn’t provide definitive answers.

Think about the story you want to write. What question is at its heart? Are you using the elements of fiction to spotlight it? Are you attempting to answer or at least present the question in such a way that leaves readers with that query on their mind? Doing so is a great way to refine your story, making it the best that it can be.

 

Patrick Barb
The Short Story Expert

Patrick Barb is an author of weird, dark, and spooky stories, hailing from the southern United States and currently living (and trying not to freeze to death) with his wife, two kids, and a naughty (but lovable) puppy in Saint Paul, Minnesota. As a writer, his short fiction appears in Best Horror of the Year Vol. 16, Nightscript, Diabolical Plots, and Cosmic Horror Monthly, among other publications. His longer works include the novellas Gargantuana’s Ghost, Turn, and The Nut House, the novelettes Helicopter Parenting in the Age of Drone Warfare and “So Quiet, So White” in Split Scream Vol. 3, and his dark fiction collections The Children’s Horror and Pre-Approved for Haunting. Barb is an active member and trustee of the Horror Writers Association and a full member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.

Why You Need Beta Readers and How to Find Them

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Beta readers, those early readers who stand in for our future audience, can be a valuable tool to employ before finalizing a manuscript for submission or publication. Note that the version of the manuscript you proudly (and maybe anxiously) hand over to them should be the final version or close to it. After all, you don’t want their comments to focus on spelling errors, a glaring plot hole that you promised yourself you’d eventually fix, or anything else that could be taken care of during a normal round of editing or revisions. The point here is to receive early reader feedback, which may include comments on characters they did and didn’t like, areas that felt rushed, and sections that confused them. These comments can then be used to further strengthen your manuscript, and for some, it may even be a suitable replacement for pricier pre-publishing services.

But who qualifies as a beta reader — the friendly neighbor down the street you trade recipes with, your aunt who belongs to all the area book clubs, a hired professional? The answer is that it depends, though some may be better suited to the task than others. For instance, there are industry pros who offer beta reading services for a fee, and this feedback is likely to be in-depth, actionable, and genre specific. However, if you’re interested in having more than two or three beta readers, this cost could add up quickly or may not be financially feasible. Let’s look at some of the other beta reader options:

  • As mentioned above, service professionals: many editors and other publishing professionals offer beta services, though you can find others at sites like Fiverr and Reedsy.
  • Another author/writer: others may be willing to either read as a favor/out of friendship or in trade (you beta read their manuscript and they’ll beta read yours); it’s common to find groups that perform these services for one another on a regular basis and who make ongoing commitments to one another to perform this task whenever they’re able to.
  • Members in online writing/reading communities: join and participate in groups, both online and offline. Some places to look include Goodreads, appropriate subreddits on Reddit, Facebook groups (which overlaps with the option listed below), and any in-person reading/writing groups you may belong to.
  • Social media platforms: begin by identifying and interacting with accounts that belong to readers who fit within your target audience (this will be helpful for later when you choose to message some of these users as they’re more likely to respond to a message from a recognizable name). Some of these users may indicate they enjoy beta reading (or they may even volunteer if they know you’re in search of an early reader), but it also doesn’t hurt to send a message and politely ask if they’d be interested in performing this service for you. If you have an account that routinely receives a decent amount of engagement, you can make a post announcing that you’re in search of beta readers.

No matter who you choose, ensure that these readers belong to your book’s audience! Someone unfamiliar with reader expectations for a genre, or who may not even enjoy it, isn’t likely to give feedback representative of what you’d receive later from the book’s readers. For nonfiction, think also about the reader’s assumed level of understanding/background knowledge and whether your beta reader has a similar level of expertise. If not, the chosen beta reader may be confused while reading Advanced Care and Upkeep for Your Prize-Winning Finches when a reader in the book’s audience would come away informed and motivated.

But how many beta readers should you have? The standard answer is between three and five; less than that and the sample size is too small to be considered a true reflection of your book’s audience, but too many and the amount of feedback can quickly become unmanageable. Using an odd number allows for easy tiebreakers. For instance, if two readers love Character A and a third person did not, you’re likely safe to assume that Character A is fine.

While it may seem daunting to offer your manuscript up for critique, remember that it’s all being done in the name of creating the strongest version of your story. Seeing the story through new eyes can often illuminate weaknesses we never knew were present, and it can shine a spotlight on elements that are truly exceptional and stick with your reader. A few carefully selected beta readers can be just the ticket to making these discoveries . . . and maybe even leave you with some newly found inspiration.

 

Jennia Herold D’Lima is a full-blown logophile. She joined her high school’s newspaper in ninth grade, winning statewide awards for her writing, and expanded her journalism skills by continuing to write and edit throughout her high school years and as a college freshman. While earning her BA in psychology (and minoring in cultural anthropology with a focus on precolonial Mesoamerica) and her MA in applied developmental psychology, her writing and editing naturally skewed toward all things academic. Writing for and publishing in peer-reviewed journals, editing papers for classmates, and writing parenting resource guides honed her research skills. Jennia joined multiple professor-led research groups and completed four internships throughout her academic career. After graduating with a master’s, she worked at a national nonprofit in Washington, DC, and as an assistant researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle. Jennia gradually transitioned to full-time editing. As the host of the Writing & Editing podcast, she loves connecting with others in the community. Jennia enjoys traveling, volunteering, and taking creative photos of books and book-related items in those rare moments when she is not reading or editing.

Five Reasons to Seek a Literary Agent for Your Book

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There are many paths to publishing a book — self-publishing, hybrid publishing, and traditional publishing are the main types. But how do you know if you need a literary agent? Here is some information about the publishing landscape, plus five great reasons why you might want to seek a literary agent to help you on your publishing journey.

First, let’s take a look at the three main types of publishing.

Self-Publishing is the process of publishing a book without the involvement of a third-party publishing house. Authors pay for every part of the publication process, from editing, design, printing, binding, distribution, and fulfillment. Authors control all the decisions and keep all of the profits.

Hybrid Publishing is, simply expressed, a cross between self-publishing and traditional publishing. The author and publisher co-invest in the costs of a book project (editing, design, printing, binding, distribution, and fulfilment). The publisher lends their professional expertise to the project, but the author usually has more control than they would in a traditional publishing situation. The profits are shared.

Traditional Publishing is the process of submitting a book for publication to an established publishing house. Authors are typically given an advance payment against future sales and a royalty rate that reflects a percentage of the sales of the book. When the book goes on sale, the author’s royalties are calculated and subtracted from their advance. When the advance is earned out, the author is able to earn additional royalty revenue. In a traditional publishing model, the publisher funds the editing, design, printing, binding, distribution, and fulfilment. The author may be consulted regarding aspects of the process, but the publisher has the final say. The publisher keeps a larger percentage of the profits because they invest the most money in the book. Traditional publishing is typically considered the most prestigious form of publishing.

Of these three main publishing models, traditional publishing is where a literary agent can be the most useful. Here are five reasons why:

1. Agents are Often Mandatory in Traditional Publishing

If your goal is to be published by a traditional publisher, especially one of the larger publishers or “The Big Five,” you’ll most likely need a literary agent to get you through the doors. Many smaller publishers prefer agented authors as well. While some mid- to small-size publishers will take unagented submissions, the advantages of having an agent on your team are many. In addition, book submissions will typically get read much more quickly if an agent submits them than those from an unagented author, with the assumption being that another industry professional has already vetted the author and their story for marketability. Some authors will also consult agents for hybrid deals to get through tedious contract language.

The “Big Five” Book Publishers (Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette, MacMillan) are some of the biggest media companies in the world. These large publishing companies have several imprints, or sub-labels, under them, each with different genres and editorial wish lists. They also can have deep pockets and are able to give larger advances to authors. A literary agent knows how to work with these large companies and has contact information for all of the different editors and their tastes.

 

2. Agents Cultivate Relationships on the Author’s Behalf

Part of a literary agent’s job is to develop relationships and understand what editors’ want to see on their lists. Agents often meet with editors, both in person and virtually, to find out what they are looking for, then use that knowledge to put together customized submission lists for each author they represent. Also, when editors have special opportunities — such as seeking writers for specific books to fill in holes in their list, or in-house series that they would like to pursue with outside talent, or even work-for-hire projects that could augment a working author’s income — editors will reach out to literary agents in their network to let them know about these ancillary projects. As such, agented authors may have access to greater opportunities than unagented authors.

3. Agents Know Publishing Lingo

Using their specialized knowledge of the industry, a literary agent looks at all the available rights in a book contract and aims to leverage every opportunity for an author, such as a multibook deal, subsidiary rights (foreign language translations, ebooks, audiobooks, etc.) escalations on royalties, award bonuses, and more. Without an agent, authors “don’t know what they don’t know” and might miss out on negotiation points that could lead to important revenue streams in the future. From a publisher’s point of view, they often prefer to work with agents who can vet their contracts swiftly and without a lot of newbie questions — it’s well worth their while to work with an industry professional who knows publishing contract vernacular.

4. Agents Work their A$$es Off

Since agents don’t get paid until they sell a deal, you can expect them to work HARD on your behalf! Indeed, you may have heard stories about how difficult it is to find an agent. It’s likely because selling a book to an acquisitions editor is really tough work. Before taking you on, the agent needs to have a solid notion that they will be able to sell your book to a very fickle and ever-changing group of editors. As for payment, the industry standard for literary agent commissions is 15% of whatever deal they are able to get on behalf of their clients. No money changes hands until after a contract has been signed with a publisher, which can take months and even years. (Pro tip: If an agent asks you for money up front, this is a red flag and you should walk away.) In short, agents are very selective about who they sign because it can take a lot of effort and time to find the right person and place where the book will find a home.

5. Agents Are In It for the Long Haul

A literary agent’s job doesn’t end when the book sells. They stay involved for the life of the book and they are on hand as the author’s “business affairs representative” whenever needed so that the author can stay focused on creating. If ever something comes up with the publisher that needs attention — good or bad — the agent jumps in to help. In addition, most agents are keen to help authors develop their writing careers and look forward to helping develop the author’s next book. Agents typically also work on manuscript development, book proposals, and more (note: for no extra fee!), making them key components of an author’s career team.

If you’re considering taking your book writing career to the next level by seeking a literary agent, here are three places to seek out possible agents to represent your work:

  • Manuscript Wishlist is a free tool where you can search for agents (and acquiring editors) to find out what they are looking for specifically for submissions.
  • Query Manager is another free tool for searching for agents. An advantage over Manuscript Wishlist is that you can query agents directly from the interface.
  • Publishers Marketplace requires a subscription, but it is very comprehensive. You can do specific searches and find actual deals that agents have sold throughout their career. However, it does not indicate whether or not agents are actually open to new clients, like with Manuscript Wishlist and Query Manager.

I wish you all the best in your writing endeavors, whichever route you pursue.

 

At different phases of her publishing career, Jen Newens has been an author, editor, and publisher, giving her experience in all sides of the publishing business. In her role as senior literary manager at Martin Literary Management, Jen applies her 360-view of publishing seeking out fresh, original voices and developing new and established talent. She represents both children’s literature, representing all authors from board books through YA, and adult nonfiction, with a special focus on food and drink, health, and wellness titles.

Three Phases of Developmental Editing Novels

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Writing a novel is hard; editing it can be even harder. After weeks, months, or even years of writing, you need to give the writer a vacation and invite your editor to the computer — but where do you start and how do you do it?

It’s not actually possible to condense novel editing into three steps, but you can break it into three phases to give you a starting point and make each step more manageable. With my clients and my own books, I break novel editing into these three phrases:

  1. Characters
  2. Plot
  3. Fiction-Writing Techniques

 

Characters

It doesn’t matter how interesting and unique your plot is if the characters aren’t engaging. You can blow up buildings, create new worlds, and introduce as many twists as you want, but none of these will work without good characters.

So how do you edit your characters? Look for and answer these questions:

  • Where do I see my main characters’ goals and motivations expressed? One (if not both) of them should be revealed soon after introducing your characters.
  • How many goals and motivations do my characters have? Each character needs to start with at least two (personal/professional; internal/external; short-term/long-term), and those need to change throughout the story. There’s not a set number, but you should see these goals and motivations change as the character changes.
  • Can you see your characters’ arcs? Your main character(s) should change throughout the story. If she starts as a stuck-up genius, how will she end up? If he’s a shy jock, how will he change? Your characters must change throughout the story.
  • Are your characters behaving consistently? They need to behave consistently in three ways: according to their background, according to their goals/motivations, and according to their arcs. Main characters should not react the same way to the same situation at the beginning and end of your novel.

 

Plot

Once your characters are falling into line, it’s time to look at the plot. (If you’re writing literary fiction, this isn’t quite as important as you’ll focus more on theme.) Your plot needs structure, whether you’re writing three or four acts or using the “save the cat” method. As the three-act structure is so widely known, I’ll reference it here, but the same technique can be applied.

  • What’s your inciting incident/initial plot point? This can’t be an everyday occurrence. Going to work happens daily, so it’s not story worthy. Going to work and having a car break down in the rain on the day your main character has a presentation can be that incident.
  • Did you establish normal? It’s important to take time to show readers what your characters’ lives are like when the story starts so they understand what changes and how it affects the characters when you get into the second act.
  • Is there a decision/event that moves the character into the second act? How do you know if you have that decision/event? After this event, your character’s normal life is interrupted. Frodo goes to Mordor. Elizabeth meets Mr. Darcy. Things will never be the same.
  • Do things get worse? Throughout the second act, you want to put more and more obstacles in front of your characters.
  • Is there a life-changing decision/event? Frodo puts the ring on instead of throwing it into the fires of Mount Doom; he ends up crippled for the rest of his life. Elizabeth won’t tell Lady Catherine that she’ll reject Mr. Darcy; that gives Mr. Darcy the courage to propose again. Without this second decision/event, there wouldn’t be a new normal.
  • Is there a satisfying conclusion (including tying up loose ends)? You don’t need a happily ever after (unless you’re writing romance), but the ending does need to meet your genre and reader expectations.

 

Fiction-Writing Techniques

Only after you’ve strengthened your characters and plot is it time to focus on your fiction-writing techniques (again, because it won’t matter how well you write if the story bores the reader). At this point, it’s a good idea to create a checklist to go over to make sure you’ve checked each element. Your must-edit items include:

  • Point of view
  • Verb tense
  • Big telling (info dumps)
  • Little telling (aka weasel or telling words)
  • Setting
  • Dialogue
  • Purple Prose
  • Pacing

By separating your novel’s developmental edits into these three phases, you can take an overwhelming task and break it into smaller, easier-to-attack steps that will help you work your way through that first round of editing.

 

 

Karin Beery is an award-winning author and editor with experience in traditional and self-publishing, freelance editing, and editing for publishers. She is an active member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Christian Authors Network, and the Christian Proofreaders and Editors Network. Karin’s specialty is substantive fiction editing with an emphasis in romance and women’s fiction.

Emotions, the Characters We Love to Hate, and Paying It Forward

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February is all about emotions, specifically love because of Valentine’s Day. Emotions are one of the keys to a great novel. Without them, there is no connection between reader and story or reader and author. Emotions are also a core component of the conflict that drives a novel forward.

Think about your own experience. When is the last time you kept reading a book you didn’t feel strongly about? Probably not recently. But sometimes we “hate-read” books we don’t like just like we “hate-watch” TV shows we don’t like — either waiting for them to get better or continuing on because we just can’t believe how truly bad they are. In the same vein but on the opposite end, we read books we love because we can’t wait to see what happens next.

Then there are the characters. Obviously there are those we love and care about but some of the best are the ones we love to hate. Any character that strikes us with strong emotion (positive or negative) is a testament to the skill of the author (or actor, if it is on TV). I still remember the first time I encountered a character like that. I was probably 18 or so and watching the show Roswell (the original, not the remake. Yes, I am that old). The character of Tess made me so mad, I was in awe of how much I hated her. (Oddly enough, the actress who played her, a very young Emily DeRaven, has become one of my all-time favorite actors.)

As an author, I still keep Tess in mind when writing my villains. They are ton of fun to write and if I can make my readers feel an ounce of the loathing I felt for Tess, I have truly accomplished something. It’s hard to explain how to do that. You have to create a character who is abhorrent, but give them qualities that still make them attractive at the same time. So they can’t be cardboard evil; you have to feel sympathy for them as well. For example, in my only contemporary novel, Been Searching for You, there are two villains, Nick and Mia. Nick is a total jerk, but he has a history of being kind to the main character, Annabeth, so while you don’t want to see the two of them together, you can’t totally hate him, either. Mia is Annabeth’s best frenemy.  She’s complete witch but you also see her taking care of Annabeth as well, so while you want to shake or slap her, you can also see why Annabeth keeps her around.

But emotion isn’t just for the page and the reader. It’s for the author, too. There is a saying “no tears in the writer, no tears in the reader,” meaning if we don’t feel emotions (yes, I have actually cried while writing certain scenes) they won’t translate to our readers and make them feel what we want them to. That is why as an author, it is so important to get inside the heads of your characters and really feel what they are feeling. It shows when you do.

And honestly emotion is why I am here as well. Part of the reason why I write historical fiction is to educate. While my stories contain elements of fiction, because I write biographical historical fiction, they are also highly factual, where I can be. I want people to read my books and come away wanting to do their own research to find out more about the people and events in my books.

That same impulse, to teach and share, is why I agreed to be NAIWE’s Novel Writing Expert. I love to pass on what I have learned (often the hard way) to other writers.

 

Nicole Evelina is a USA Today bestselling author and biographer who writes historical fiction, nonfiction, and women’s fiction. Her six books have won more than 40 awards, including four Book of the Year designations. Nicole was named Missouri’s Top Independent Author by Library Journal and Biblioboard as the winner of the Missouri Indie Author Project in 2018 and has been awarded the North Street Book Prize and the Sarton Women’s Book Award. One of her novels, Madame Presidentess, was previously optioned for film.

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