OUR FIRST IN PERSON MEETING IS COMING UP!

Hello Friends!

While Chapter One, the blog, is a worldwide place of information, education, and support for all writers at all stages of their careers, we are also a physical group that has a home and we are going to be starting meetings in Waukesha, WI in September!

This is a very exciting step for Chapter One, and for me, Sarah the Author.  I've never lead a group before!  But I feel that all of the experience and knowledge I've gained in the last decade of writing and publishing is something I now need to share.  I didn't just KNOW what I know. I gathered everything I know about writing and publishing from other authors and other groups. It's time to pay it forward.

If you are in the SE Wisconsin area, I hope you will think about checking us out. All of the information you'll need is below.  We are so grateful to Norm and the gang at Martha Merrell's Books and Toys for giving Chapter One a physical home!

I would explain basic anatomy to you, gentlemen...but we're in church.

Good afternoon everyone!

I know...it's Monday. What am I doing blogging?

Well, I'm sort of avoiding actual writing.  I'm stuck on my 4th and final Nora Hill novel. Not stuck so much as I don't want to do what I have to do to move the story along.  When you read it, you'll understand.

Anyway, yesterday I went to church at my home church, which I haven't done much this summer because we've been out of town (don't tell anyone! LOL).  So of course after services there was a certain amount of catching up we (and by we I mean Hubby who is far more social than I am) needed to do.

After several minutes of chit chat with friends I caught up to Hubby who was talking about cars with two gents who happen to be brothers. Let's call them Joe and Marvin.  They know who they are.

So Hubby, Joe, and Marvin are standing in sort of a circle and talking and it's quite clear to me, and to Hubby, that Joe and Marvin, being brothers, have certain similarities in their manners.  Case in point, the two of them cross their arms the same way when they are talking.

Like this but with more chins.

Now, I don't cross my arms often for three reasons:  1) as a fluffy girl, it's not all the comfortable crossing my arms over my upper body because, well, my arms didn't get longer as I got wider, so it's not a comfortable reach. 2) if I cross my arms under my upper body (read here, in the wedge between my girls and my gut) I look like I'm resting my arms on a pregnant belly.  Not a good look.  3) When
I cross my arms ever, my upper arms widen out and I look like an East German swimmer from the 70's.  REALLY not a good look.

So I generally stand with my arms at my side or I move them around if I happen to be talking.

So we're standing in a small circle, the brothers, Hubby, and I.  Hubby points out that the brothers cross their arms the same way.  He tries to imitate them, which he does well. I focus on how they position their hands when they cross their arms. 

I should take a moment note that "catching up" for men and women is really different. Whereas I was checking in on how the kids were, how's the job, how's every one's health, Hubby was discussing car repair and how people cross their arms.

One could point out that I, in turn, then took said conversation about the crossed arms and turned it into a blog, but one would have to be patient until I get to the point of the blog to understand why I'm writing about this at all.

So let's get to the point.

So anyway, I'm looking at how Joe and Marvin position their hands. And I attempt it, but, because of the reasons I mentioned before, I'm not able to copy them.

This is where it gets blog-able.

Jesus knows blog-able when He sees it.

Hubby looks at me, then looks at the brothers, then looks at me again. He says something to the effect of, "Well if you do this," whereupon he tries to push my arms into position the way Joe and Marvin have their arms. That would be pretty much across their chests.  

That so does not work for me.  Because, see...the aforementioned female stuff.  Which I point out by saying, "That does not work FOR ME."  I'd go into more detail, but we are in the HOUSE OF THE LORD.  (We were in the church entry way which still counts as God's House.  I checked.)

They got the point.  Of course they did.  But that didn't detract from the moment when three men over the height of six feet stared downward at my...upper Victoria's Secret area. IN CHURCH. (Kind of.)

That's when I turned and walked away. Hubby said, "Well, on that note," which is sort of our funny way of leaving an awkward conversation, he followed me.  I gave him three steps before I said, "That's blog-able."

We saw Joe later, and Hubby warned him about the blog.  Joe protested asking what he could have POSSIBLY DONE to deserve being put in the blog.

Don't worry, Marvin and Joe's wives will explain it to them. If not, someone at church will.  I won't have to say one more word about it.

And that, my friends, is how blogs work.

It's about the reader. Or at least, it should be.

Good afternoon!

Once again, I'm going to rant for a bit about self-publishing versus traditional publishing, and this time I'm going to focus on the whole point of the writing world:

The readers.

I've spent the last four summers selling my books at local farmers' markets. That might seem odd...okay, it is odd...but when you're self published, you do all your own marketing and for me, renting a booth at a farmers' market makes sense. That's where the people are.  (And I've found that people who like locally grown produce also enjoy locally written fiction. Just saying...)

In those four summers (and in the subsequent book clubs, church groups, youth groups, and craft fairs I've booked off of the Farmers' Markets) I've come to realize a very important point:  Readers read books.

Duh.

Readers enjoy characters. Readers wait impatiently for the next novel involving a character (Yes, I stood in line for the newest Harry Potter novel...for my kids...right...the kids...).  My husband loves, loves, loves all the Harry Bosch novels.  We're probably getting Amazon Prime just so he can watch the novels be turned into TV.

Readers enjoy authors. My book shelf is loaded with Joyce Carol Oates. I'm waiting for something, anything, from Billie Letts. If I see that Adriana Trigianni has a new book, or Phillipa Gregory is out with a new book you can bet it's in my Amazon cart that same day.(Yes, I shop for books on Amazon.  I'll address that issue in a later blog. Let's field one rant at a time.) My dad likes Janet Oke, as did my grandmother. 

Readers enjoy time periods.  I'm drawn to novels set around the American Civil War or World War II.  Lately, I've been looking for World War I material.  I know a whole group of readers who zero in on the Tudor period.  Others prefer to read about a time in the distant future.

Readers enjoy genres. My father reads all things political. I'm not sure why...those books just make him angry, but there you have it.  I have a friend who will read any and all biographies.  I know someone who will read anything and everything regarding horror based. My daughter likes books written by comedians.

What's missing from that list?  What don't readers care about?

Readers don't care about publishers.

Here's reality:  Traditional publishers make publishing about them:  What, in their mind, sells.  That's why we had a wave of vampire books coming out after Twilight was published. Publishers said, "Hey, Vampires sell.  Let's publish."  Well, vampires got tired pretty quickly. That didn't stop publishing companies from dumping more vampires on us, though.  And, in a market already glutted with books and with publishers busy publishing vampires...what didn't break above the waters?

Indie thinkers.  Original voices. Compelling books that are entertaining even if they aren't on trend at the moment.

This is why we self publish.  We authors, we are storytellers.  We tell stories.  We need to get our stories to the audience, to the reader. But, if left to traditional publishing, anything that doesn't instantly scream "BEST SELLER" to some low level manuscript reader will never swim through the slush.  It gets dumped. And it gets dumped, hard, with a two line email...or no response at all to the author.

Readers want good stories.  Those "scandal of the moment" books will always be around, as will autobiographies of celebrities (the more readable ones are actually written by a ghost writer). But when a reader picks up a book, the first thing on his or her mind is to read something that is going to grab their interest.  And guess what?  The publisher imprint on the spine of the book is the LAST THING a reader cares about.

Sincere forever, writers write. It's what we do.  Storytellers find an audience and tell stories.  And now, thanks to the tools available to us, we as authors can go forth and get our stories out there

without the aid (or obstruction) of traditional publishing houses.

Because, in the end, it's about entertaining the reader. It's about informing the reader. It's about connecting with the reader.

At least, it should be.