I promise, I’ll get back on the horse soon & write better blogs. Maybe.
So, I just got caught up with Grey’s Anatomy. Damn. Kevin McKidd is so very intense and beautiful. As I’ve mentioned before, he’s the actor I’d like to see play Rowan. Scottish. Sexy. Intense. Red Hair… PERFECT.
Tonight we’ll be speaking with Steve Ouch, author of SteamPotVille and internet marketing guru. He sold 200 copies of his book in a single day via Twitter! @steveouch That’s inspiring. That’s clever. That’s original.
Steve Ouch, pronounced like the sound you make when you hurt yourself, was born in 1975 in the flat lands of eastern Montana. Growing up there he and his friends had to create worlds in order to have any fun. He found himself dreaming everyday about the bigger world. The moment he was old enough, he started traveling. He found stories scattered around the world in odd jobs and people. His first job was cooking cheeseburgers for McDonalds. Since then he has been a UN Arabic translator, truck driver, pumpkin picker, marketing director, English teacher, cabbie, Victoria Secret bra salesman, farmer, designer and artist. He has settled as an author.
He has a degree, but he learned what he knows about children’s books from my long term interest in them. He started creating photomontages when he was 16 years old using a program call ULead Photo. It has become his main medium in his expression of visual arts.
SteamPotVille is his first children’s book. Each illustration took him about 100-150 hours to create. He completed the book in three months. During that time he worked 15 hours a day and gave himself a total of three days off.
His second book is in the works, however he is interested in some collaborations to experiment with different styles.
Tonight on BlogTalkRadio, I’ll be talking with Julie Butcher-Fedynich, Jeremiah Tolbert, and Merle Exit join us today to discuss the realities of making a living as a writer.
Julie is an aspiring author, and she has experienced first hand what it takes to become a best selling author. Her brother is NYT bestselling author of the sci-fi series The Dresden Files, Jim Butcher. She’s seen the long, rocky, hard path to the coveted NYT bestseller list. Visit her incredible blog about finding a literary agent.
Jeremiah Tolbert is a writer and editor living in Northern Colorado. He has published over a dozen short stories in magazines such as Interzone and collections such as Seeds of Change. He recently took the position of managing editor for Escape Pod, the Science Fiction Podcast Magazine. Jeremiah’s site & blog.
Take a humorous look at the life of Gemini/comedian/singer/writer/radio personality/NY Sharks women’s tackle football team obsessed/cat loving/Merle Exit in her new book. She will have you whirling with her. www.merleswhirls.com
I recorded a video on YouTube today using their handy-dandy Quick Capture tool, and it cut my video off halfway! Mid-Sentence!
Really?!?!?!?
I’ve been TWEETING so much lately! I now have over 900 followers (yeah me!), and I’m trying to get as close to 5,000 by 4/10 as humanly possible… for my #tweet4loan project! WOO HOO! So if you’re not following me. Please FOLLOW ME!
Today I am pondering my inbox. This is the place where people send me vital information like where to get a berry cleanse on the cheap, or that there is a solicitor in a third world country who would like to clean out my bank account if I would just send him the necessary personal information. It is also the place where I can learn about Viagra knock offs which is useless information since our faith-based medical colossus provides it for free while discouraging prophylactics and sexual education. The view on population control seems to be a hope that deaths from STD’s will keep the population down as long as education can be kept to a minimum.
But I digress. The flood of offers I receive tend to be useless since I won’t open them. Not so much because it is a waste of my time, although that does come into it, but because there is a very real possibility that they contain a virus which will fatally infect my antiquated system.
What completely baffles me is that I get the same offers every day, often in triplicate. I know it only costs a penny per e-mail for these kinds of lists, but I get a hundred a day. That is $365.00 a year. Why do they keep trying? Are there really that many stupid people out there for them to be making a profit?
I understand some of these people are running legitimate businesses, but my definition of an unsolicited e-mail offer is SCAM. I may not be correct 100% of the time, but the odds are in my favor. Why should I waste my valuable time reading these e-mails when I could be doing something much more entertaining liker wasting your valuable time by bitching about them?
On a completely different note. Christine will be interviewed on BlogTalkRadio tonight on Litearary Pizzazz! Come listen!
Last night I spoke with authors Jane Kennedy Sutton and Heidi M. Thomas about not only finding a literary agent, but finding the right literary agent. I’ll also spoke with David Odle who has an agent and is about to start the submission process to publishers for his book Blue Redemption.
Take one deeply depressed housewife. Add one unexpected windfall. Carefully ford in one very handsome, very clever charmer. Separate and discard one totally self-centered, slightly abusive husband. Place all remaining ingredients into red-hot, shiny red convertible cruising on Route 66 and wait to see what happens!
Heidi M. Thomas grew up on a Montana ranch, journalism degree, fiction certificate, writer, editor, teaches Memoirs and fiction. Cowgirl Dreams is her first novel, a YA novel based on Heidi’s grandmother: Nettie Brady bucks 1920s convention with her dream of becoming a rodeo star.
It’s a question every writer asks him/herself… do I need an agent?
Or, on the other hand, people will tell you “You need an agent,” as if it was as easy as going down to the store and picking one up.
Yes. I know we need an agent. Any author who expects to sell enough books and make smart enough deals to make a living (and keep writing) needs an agent. Perhaps that is why they’re so hard to come by.
We’ve gotten our share of rejection letters. That’s for sure. We’re still getting them, but one agent out there will see the value in our YA urban fantasy series and represent us. We’re just still looking for each other.
Does this sound familiar:
“We’re afraid your project does not seem right for our list”
“Unfortunately, we probably aren’t the right agents for this and won’t be able to offer representation at this time.”
“Agenting is subjective and even though I am passing on your project right now, another agent might feel differently.”
“Unfortunately, your project is not right for us at this time.”
What makes a good query letter?
What if you’re doing those things, and you still don’t get any bites?
Does it really come down to personal preference or does a proven marketing plan/sales help convince an agent to represent an author?
Join me tonight on BlogTalkRadio when I speak with L. Diane Wolfe about the pros/cons of having an agent. And then… it’s not just any agent — but the right agent, because having the wrong agent could be worst than not having an agent at all.
My guests tonight:
Known as “Spunk On A Stick”, L. Diane Wolfe conducts seminars on promoting, leadership and goal setting. Wolfe’s upcoming title, “Overcoming Obstacles With SPUNK! The Keys to Leadership & Goal-Setting”, is an inspirational self-help book. Overcoming Obstacles With SPUNK! on Amazon
Steve Ouch, pronounced like the sound you make when you hurt yourself, was born in 1975 in the flat lands of eastern Montana. Growing up there he and his friends had to create worlds in order to have any fun. He found himself dreaming everyday about the bigger world. The moment he was old enough, he started traveling. He found stories scattered around the world in odd jobs and people. His first job was cooking cheeseburgers for McDonalds. Since then he has been a UN Arabic translator, truck driver, pumpkin picker, marketing director, English teacher, cabbie, Victoria Secret bra salesman, farmer, designer and artist. He has settled as an author.
Jeremiah Tolbert is a writer and editor living in Northern Colorado. He has published over a dozen short stories in magazines such as Interzone and collections such as Seeds of Change. He recently took the position of managing editor for Escape Pod, the Science Fiction Podcast Magazine. 
Jane Kennedy Sutton wrote a book called 
.
Heidi M. Thomas grew up on a Montana ranch, journalism degree, fiction certificate, writer, editor, teaches Memoirs and fiction. 
Known as “Spunk On A Stick”, L. Diane Wolfe conducts seminars on promoting, leadership and goal setting. Wolfe’s upcoming title, “Overcoming Obstacles With SPUNK! The Keys to Leadership & Goal-Setting”, is an inspirational self-help book.
