What are Your Writing Resolutions for 2012?

Once again it's the start of a new year, a time for a fresh start. For me a new beginning started in October when I moved to Texas. The last 3 months have been a time for getting settled and finding my way around the surrounding cities. Now in January I will be starting a new career. Although I've had lots of experience doing this work in another state I am willing to be a sponge now and take in everything I can learn to be the best in my job and earn a progressive income.

I will also have a new start for my writing. I will be attending my first meetings this month of two writers critique groups in the area. I've missed not having the friendship and encouragement of my past writer's group where I lived. If you are a writer and aren't participating in a local group you are missing a great opportunity to learn and grow. Writers' critique groups are easy to find. You just do an internet search like "writers' group near city, state" filling in your locality. That's how I found 5 different writers' groups in my area and narrowed it down to two that should fit my writing style. They are both within a 30 minute drive of where I live so it will be easy to get there.

My writing goals for this year are to first revive my novel which I started over a decade ago. I had about 200 pages then, but can only seem to find maybe 100 now.  I dropped it  because I got frustrated that a humorous book I completed wasn't picked up by a publishing house after sending it out to 30+ targeted companies. Looking at the humor book now, I can see it needs some work - especially my "artwork." I will probably work on it some more but that is not my writing priority.

I also plan to work more on my children's writing and finding homes for my picture book stories. I will also work on my devotional/inspirational pieces which for now I am happy to send out and get published in anthologies, but would someday like to put my own book together. With all the interviews I've been doing with indie-published authors, I am also considering going that route myself once I can figure out if it would be cost effective to me.

What are your writing goals for this new year. Can you make a weekly or even daily commitment to write? What encouragement do you have for other writers to keep on writing?

Interview with author, Donna Goodrich -- From cookbooks to Critique Groups

Donna wrote her first poem as a Mother’s Day gift to her mother and has been writing ever since. At the age of 20, Donna started work at a publishing house in Kansas City. Her on-the-job training there taught her the nuts and bolts about publishing. She learned why books are rejected or accepted and what happens once a manuscript is accepted. On the editing side she learned how to verify quotations for accuracy and how to obtain permissions and copyrights for their use. This was great training for her own career in writing.

You’ve written books on a variety of subjects to include a puzzle book, devotionals, textbooks and how to guides for businesses and writers. Do you have a favorite style?
I enjoy devotional books the most. My first book was a puzzle book, then the next four were devotional books for Sunday School teachers, children, teens, and women. I've since finished (but not sold) devotional books for writers, office workers, hymn lovers, and on Isaiah 40:31.

When was the first time you got paid for your writing?
I sold my first poem at the age of 14 to our denominational teen magazine for $1.40. The second one was a short story to a Sunday school paper at the age of 18 for $12. (Sold it as a reprint years later for $60!).

You’ve done numerous works for Standard Publishing. How did you first get your foot in the door?
In the early 1970s I sent 30 puzzles I had written for children's church to one of their Sunday school take-home paper editors, and she wrote back that they wanted to put it in a book. It was a small book, sold for 29 cents, and before it went out of print, it sold over 140,000 copies. (I sold it to them outright for $125.)

Then I sent them some newspaper devotional columns I had written and suggested a devotional book for women. They were just starting a new series called The Fountain Series which they said that book would fit into, and asked if I would also do one for children and teens.

What is the best writing guidance an editor has given you?
You don't have to write what you know about; write what you'd LIKE to know about, what you're interested in.

You have two books entitled Step in the Write Direction with one being called the Complete How-to Guide and the other as a Student Edition. Why did you feel the need to write two different editions instead of just one?
When the first one came out, people started asking me if it would be appropriate for younger people, especially teens. So I developed this student one, specifically with home schoolers and Christian schools in mind as there are writing assignments all the way through. One California classroom "test drove" it for me. I sent them each chapter as I finished it and they gave me hints. (For example, they didn't know what a water bed or a CB radio was.)

With so many how to books on writing out there what makes yours different?
As the title says, I think it is COMPLETE. It includes hints on every genre of writing, other ways for a writer to make money (proofreading, editing, teaching, etc.), collaborating with another writer, preparing a manuscript for publication, editing hints, where to get ideas, plus how to handle writer's block, rejection, and time management.

The income tax section alone is worth the price of the book (I did taxes for 18 years). The section giving 15 hints on using Scripture in your writing is also useful, as well as 20 pages of guidelines from several devotional booklets. Oh yes, there's also a section on starting and running a writers' group.

What does it really take to make a career in writing that pays well?
I think to support yourself by writing, you'd have to have royalties coming in from several books. I haven't made as much by actual writing as I have by proofreading, editing, and teaching at conferences--other people's, as well as my one- and two-day ones I hold across the U.S.

You’re currently putting together an anthology of Christmas stories. How did that come about? Was this something you pitched to an editor?
I had submitted an Advent book to a Canadian publisher last summer. He turned it down but kept my name. When he came up with the idea of a Christmas anthology, he thought of me. I sent out a call for submission via my e-mail list and on Facebook. I ended up with 3 times more than we could use, so I had to select what we could use, write acceptance and rejection letters (no fun on the latter), then do all the editing.

I sent in the finished manuscript last week. Now we're talking about doing one for women--stories and recipes from or about mothers and grandmothers.

How do you promote your books? What has worked best for you?
That's my weakness--mostly because of the time elements. I not only do editing and proofing (usually with tight deadlines), but I take care of a disabled husband who's had 4 heart surgeries, diabetes, a broken hip, 4 fractured vertebrae, etc. I've had a couple of book signings and some sales through Facebook and blogs like yours, but mostly they're at the writing workshops I hold. (I actually have only 3 books in print right now--Healing in God's Time, the story of my songwriter nephew's healing, and my two writing books.) Oh, yes and two cookbooks.

What book has been your best selling?
The cookbooks, and also before I wrote the writing book, I had a series of self-published booklets on specific subjects--poetry, selling what you write, writing devotionals, writing and selling your first book, starting and running a Christian writers group, and editing hints. Except for the writers' group one, they sold for $5 apiece and I sold a lot of these through the years.

The only one of those I still sell is the one on starting and running a Christian writers group. That also has a section on critiquing hints and one on planning a conference. However, the Step in the Write Direction is selling steadily at the present time.

What do you know now about getting published that you wished you had known earlier in your writing career?
Not to take a rejection personally. There are many reasons manuscripts are rejected. The other thing is--I began writing when I was 9. I didn't know until the first conference I attended in 1980 that you could sell reprints. I had sold 200 manuscripts up until that point, so it opened up a whole new world to me.

Let’s end with another book that is in the works, the one about letting go. Tell me about that.
"The Freedom of Letting Go" book. I'm very excited about this. It took me 11 years to let go of my mother after she died, then one day I realized it wasn't just letting go of her, but the whole principle of letting go. This book includes chapters on letting go of: grief, failure, success, possessions, your children, your youth, people who hurt you, health issues, guilt, worry, doubt, fear, then the last chapter is "The Land Beyond Letting Go."

It will be released May 1, 2012. I'm thrilled now to have something to offer people when I speak on this topic.

If you would like to know more about Donna and her writing or to buy her books, you can email her at dgood648@aol.com or visit her web site at www.thewritersfriend.net

Yes, You Can - Writing Challenge Day 24

Today I'd like to talk about my writing group and what I learned about critiquing this week. We did a group critique on a Christmas picture book story I wrote. This is the first time I've participated in a large group, usually I'm just part of a 2-3 person cross critique. This time I had about 10 people reviewing my story.

Before doing the critique we were given guidelines on how to do it. Everyone had their own copies. We were told we needed to write something positive on either side of a negative on a manuscript. The positive could be something simple as you liked a phrase or the name of a character. Everyone took turns reading a paragraph and at the end of each page they would write their comments on that page. That copy of the manuscript would be passed to the person on the right. They could read your comments and then write theirs on the next page. This continued for each page until the story was completed. Each person was to write a final comment and any additional suggestions. At completion all the copies were handed back to me.

After reviewing the copies, I noticed there really wasn't that much of a difference from a large group doing this as opposed to my smaller cross critiques in the group. They were pretty basic comments like adding a comma or maybe clarifying a point a little more. This didn't surprise me as it is done in such a quick format. There is no way you can write detailed notes when you are trying to read along with a group and stay on line with them.

It's much different when I email a story to another writer to critique. I get much more detailed breakdowns as to suggestions. The only person in the large group who did a thorough critique was our moderator, who had reviewed it ahead of time. Her results looked like a corrected term paper with notes all over the place. This is what I want. It will be 99% of the notes from that analysis that will be the basis of my next re-write.

The best advice I read this week was that tennis greats don't get to be #1 in their field by thinking about tennis, it was by hitting the ball a thousand or more times. It is the same case in being a writer you have to write and not just think about it. Even though I've had a bad cold for the last two weeks, I've still done writing and reading. This week I've sent out a query to one magazine with three potential proposals, sent out an interview article, sent out a funny story to Reader's digest and sent out a devotional to a Christian magazine.

I also entered a recipe in a contest. It's the time of year or maybe because I've been sick. I just want to make food. Our refrigerator freezer is getting filled with lots of food for when I don't feel like cooking.

Yes, You Can - Writing Challenge Day 19

Today was my monthly meeting with my writing critique group which usually runs about 4 hours. This group is such an encouragement to me! Our first speaker, who is an established writer did an inspirational talk on getting over rejection. That came as a shock to me as this woman has several books under her name. I wouldn't think she would have problems with rejection letters. I thought she would be tossing one of those aside and then just reading another acceptance letter. Even established writers get rejections - and not just requests to re-write!

Hearing that was a plus and a minus, but I should have realized it was a fact. I have been in sales for years and it really doesn't get any easier. I thought people would appreciate my experience and knowledge, but they don't. I still have to work for each and every sale. Of course, it is a little easier with past clients who already know and like me. It's like having an editor who has purchased my work, knows my follow through and wants to use me again because I live up to my promises. Each query or proposal is my way of trying to make the sale of my manuscript. Just like sales, it's a numbers game. Even top sales reps or established writers don't win every time.

Another speaker discussed her experiences with The Institute of Children's Literature. As a result of the classes she has taken, she has sold 2 stories and is working on proposal for a non-fiction children's book. I also discovered that 6 or 7 other writers in my group had also taken these classes. All had positive feedback for what they had learned. I was pleased and a bit surprised to hear that as I had read negative feedback on some blogs about taking these courses. So many of the blogs I read are offering courses and I start wondering if that is how they make their money rather than by writing.

I did a short talk about someone who will do critiques for free. There was lots of interest in that. This person is not a published writer, but does have a good eye for editing. She did a short story for me that had been rejected by a publisher and gave me great insight. That chat might bring her a deluge of new work to review. I hope she will have the time.