Archive for the ‘Art / Craft / Teaching’ Category

How do I publish an anthology?

Colleagues at California Writers Club (CWC) have done it, again and again–organized “calls for submission”, created guidelines for the selection process, found editors, identified endorsers, lined up experts for book covers, layout, index, publishers, marketing and distribution channels (all with the help of their platforms fanbases).

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The CWC SF/Peninsula branch anthology Fault Zone: Words from the Edge is on sale at Kepler’s Books and Magazines in Menlo Park, both in-store and online. The cost is $7.00.

To purchase online: http://www.keplers.com/local-authors

To purchase in-store: Kepler’s, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA 94025

Speaking of CWC San Francisco Peninsula branch–they meet at Belmont Library  . . . on May 21st, 2011, 10:00am–noon Scott James (a.k.a. Kemble Scott) will be speaking at that fabulous branch (yours truly is a member and past president).

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CWC Redwood branch has 4 anthologies, about to publish their fifth. Their meetings are in Santa Rosa, CA.

Take a look at their wonderful anthologies too.

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Kate Farrell is editor-in-chief for Wisdom Has a Voice: Every Daughter’s Memories of Mother

I’m about to read excerpts from the anthology before writing my advance praise.  Also,  I’m a fan of Kate Farrell’s literary works. Take a look at her young-adult novel Girl In the Mirror

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Cheers from

Writing Career Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan http://writingcoachTeresa.com

To find out what a writer’s platform is and how to build yours and your fanbase, get Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW (paperback) $22.00 through Amazon.com

Dear Writers,

I just submitted my application to become a contributing writer from Examiner.com (thank you, Yolande Barial, for the referral!  Read Yolande’s blog and article on Examiner.com).

Please use my blog to promote yourselves because Writing Career Coach Teresa’s Blog is getting over 17,000 viewers.  Tell my fans about your writing projects — by submitting a comment to this post. To do that, click on the blue title bar of this post, fill in the boxes, then press the [ submit comment ] button.  Need advice on writing and publishing?  Ask me–Coach Teresa.  Keep your questions short and sweet please.

•        Whether you want to be your own publisher or sell rights to another publisher, attract readers/fans now!

•        Whether you write fiction, narrative non-fiction or prescriptive non-fiction, you are THE expert of your experiences and an authority in your field.   Make your name synonymous with the themes/issues/subject matters in your book.

•        When you stick to a program, you develop new habits.  Let Coach Teresa show you how to gain a competitive edge.

•        “A platform is not what I stand on, but what I stand for.”

•        “Build your platform–22 minutes for 22 days.  Your writing career is worth the time.”

•        “Reach out, not stress out.  Help your fans find you!”

Sincerely,

Writing Career Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

http://writingcoachteresa.com

Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW (the fun workbook that helps fiction and nonfiction authors gain a competitive edge before and after publication). See reviews on Amazon.

This post is dedicated to the writers who have completed all the exercises in Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW.  My heart feels light and joy for you. I celebrate you. 

I invite you to sign in the “Build MY Platform Hall of Fame” [click on the title of this post to get the comment box] with your acceptance speech by:

1. Introducing yourself with your newest mission statement.
2. Giving us a glimpse into your hopes and dreams for your illustrious writing career.

After you sign in the Hall of Fame, do your writer-friends a favor; tell them about the 22 minutes for 22-day program.

You’re on your way to other endeavors, and, because you’ve developed a new wonderful habit, every project you touch will benefit from your new energy.

Sincerely,

Writing Career Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan

“Make your name synonymous with the themes/subject matters/issues you write about.  Your platform is not something you stand on, but something you stand for.”

I am available for individual coaching and group coaching. To E-mail me, type  “  Teresa@ ”   then type  ” LoveMadeOfHeart.com ” In the subject line–show your full name and purpose of your e-mail. I cheer for you!

http://writingcoachteresa.com

Coach Teresa’s YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/teresaleyung

Cheers to fiction and nonfiction writers!

Happy platform & fanbase building!

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW

paperback edition of workbook  http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Writers-Platform-Fanbase/dp/0983010005/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1306181835&sr=1-1

Kindle ebook edition  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005J9ZEIA/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

To comment on any of my columns (blog posts) or to contact me, just click on the blue title bar of the post, fill in the boxes and press “submit.”

What to do before hiring an editor for your manuscript?

My advice for narrative non-fiction writers is the same for fiction writers.

“Look at Your Manuscript with an Editor’s Lens”

by Teresa LeYung Ryan–Developmental Editor/Manuscript Consultant/Writing Career Coach

Since writing a story with the intent to engage the reader is so much like meeting a stranger and wanting him/her to be interested in us, I will focus on “how to make the first quarter of your story a compelling read.”

I love working with diligent writers who want to transform their manuscripts into page-turners. However, there are things you can do before you give your work to an editor. Let me show you how you can help yourself.

Does your manuscript pass these tests?

• Planting hook(s) or story-question(s);
• Grounding the reader with the three Ws and the big C (Who?  When?  Where? Circumstances);
• Showing (not telling) what the protagonist wants;
• Paying attention to language and rules

Let’s learn from the pros.

Planting Hook or Story-Question:

In The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, Maxine Hong Kingston hooks us with the first line: “You must not tell anyone,” my mother said, “what I am about to tell you…”   Then, Ms. Kingston transitions into her story with:  “Whenever she had to warn us about life, my mother told stories that ran like this one . . .”

Grounding the Reader with the Three Ws and the big C:

In Woven of Water, while the story timeline spans from 1957 to 2005, Californian author Luisa Adams brilliantly shows us who she was as a girl (not with a year-by-year narrative, but with a single exquisite chapter).  Because she grounded us with “who, when, where” and the “circumstances” as to why she had left her love affair with water, we eagerly follow as she takes us into her enchanted world of a “cottage in the forest.”  Another device to ground the reader is the employment of sensory details (not long descriptions).  Sensory details put the reader in the scene/story world.  Re-read one of your favorite author’s books. Study from the masters.

Showing What the Protagonist Wants:

In The Other Mother, young Carol Schaefer wants to ask questions:  “Was there any way to keep my baby?  Was there anyone who would help me find a way to do that?”

In Eat, Pray, Love, Elisabeth Gilbert says: I wish Giovanni would kiss me.

In Love Made of Heart, my protagonist Ruby Lin prays: Please don’t end up like Grandmother (while witnessing police officers escorting her own mother out of her apartment).

Paying Attention to Language and Rules:

Read the first five pages of Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt and you will see how this wordsmith plays with language and rules. (You can “bend” the rules to create flow, but you must not ignore them.)

In Bastard Out of Carolina, Dorothy Allison’s protagonist Bone is a girl.  Bone’s voice is convincing in dialogue and in internal monologue. Brilliant use of dialect.

Sentences Deserve Your Attention:

Remember Groucho Marx’s line “One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas…”? That sentence got a lot of laughs.  But, what if you didn’t want to be funny (ambiguous in this case)?

How would you rewrite these sentences?  See the misplaced modifiers?

• He likes to fish near the Farallon Islands, they jump when they’re hungry at dawn or dusk. (the islands jump?)
• She insists on knowing when I come home and leave, not to be nosy, but for safety reasons. (who is not nosy?)
• Being cautious as not to step on the dog’s tail, the children tip-toed away from him while sleeping. (who’s sleeping?)

To improve your sentence structure and other skills, I recommend these books:

• The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White
• Woe is I: Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English by Patricia T. O’Conner

More Advice:

• In all the stories I referenced above, the authors present memorable experiences by employing authentic details, unusual story-worlds though real, and poetic language. You want to do the same for your story.
• Also, these stories have another vital component–all the plotlines have what Martha Alderson, author of Blockbuster Plots Pure and Simple, calls “Cause and Effect” linked scenes.  Another must-read blog:  http://plotwhisperer.blogspot.com/search?q=first+quarter
• When you’re writing non-fiction and you do not have the luxury of rearranging the sequence of events to create a page-turning plotline, you can engage the reader by using concise expositions to leap over blocks of time in order to focus on the core themes and fast-forward to the next scene.  A helpful website for memoir writers: http://www.memoriesandmemoirs.com
• You the author must show the reader what the protagonist wants, even if the protagonist doesn’t know at first.
• We don’t have to “like” a protagonist, but, we do need to connect with him/her on an emotional level. Perhaps what he/she wants is also what we want.
• Story-telling is a skill learned, practiced, and mastered. May you practice with joy.

In the fiercely competitive arena of the publishing world, how does one stand out in a crowd?  Building relationships is one key to success in this business. Another key is to know how to translate the themes from your life to your writing and articulate those themes as community concerns.  I want to see all hardworking writers realize their dreams. My best wishes to you!

To read other posts in my blog (about writing contests, publishing opportunities, more tips on platform-building), click on [ Home ] and scroll down  OR key in words in the search box to find specific posts. Example: if you key in the words: poetry anthology 2011 into my blog’s search box and click [search], you will see my post containing info about the  Las Positas College Anthology and other contests for other genres (Thank you, Poet Laureate Deborah Grossman!) To read the entire version of a post, click on the title bar of that post.

To see my website for all my books, go to:  http://writingcoachteresa.com

Reach out, not stress out!

Sincerely,

Build-Your-Writer’s-Platform Coach Teresa

Teresa LeYung Ryan–Developmental Editor/Manuscript Consultant, Writing Career Coach, Author, Publisher

Teresa specializes in editing fiction and narrative non-fiction with themes on the human condition.

She likes spunky protagonists in thrillers, women’s novels, memoirs, and children’s literature.

Love Made of Heart is:
• recommended by the California School Library Association and the California Reading Association

• read by students at Stanford University, U.C. Berkeley, CCSF, and many other colleges and high schools.

• used in Advanced Composition English-as-a-Second-Language classes
• archived at the San Francisco History Center

Teresa says: “The more you read, the more your own writing will flow.”  
Please click here for my blog’s home page  http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/

My fun workbook is now available through Amazon!

BUILD YOUR WRITER’S PLATFORM & FANBASE IN 22 DAYS: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW

http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Writers-Platform-Fanbase/dp/0983010005/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1297630400&sr=1-1

http://lovemadeofheart.com/BUILD-YOUR-WRITER%27S-PLATFORM-&-FANBASE-IN-22-DAYS.html

Please click on the title bar of this post to see the comment box so that you can tell me, all my fans and your fans about the websites that showcase your favorite celebrity and his/her messages and how those messages relate to you.

Day 17 of 22 – Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days

Cheers from Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan

Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW

http://writingcoachteresa.com

Coach Teresa’s YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/teresaleyung

Please click on the title bar of this post to see the comment box so that you can tell me, all my fans and your fans  3 or more book titles with authors’ names in your bibliography (whether you write fiction or non-fiction).

Day 11 of 22 – Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days

Cheers from Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan

Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW

http://writingcoachteresa.com

Coach Teresa’s YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/teresaleyung

Please click on the title bar of this post to see the comment box so that you can tell me, all my fans and your fans what “tags” you came up with for yourself and your literary works.

Day 5 of 22 – Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days

What tags (keywords and phrases) would help your fans find you and your writings?

Cheers from Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan

Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW

http://writingcoachteresa.com

Coach Teresa’s YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/teresaleyung

Writing Conference and Workshops for Writers in California in February 2011

San Francisco Writers Conference February 18-20, 2011

http://sfwriters.org/

I, Teresa LeYung Ryan, will be presenting with Elisa Southard at this exciting conference. On Friday, February 18, 2011, 9:00am we’ll kick off the conference with our signature session (interactive too) “Get a Grip: Be Your Own Best Promoter”

Talking Tagline Coach Elisa Southard & Writing Career Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan

Also, I will be offering one-on-one consultation as a manuscript consultant / book doctor and writing career coach.

See you there!

Teresa LeYung Ryan uses her workbook BUILD YOUR WRITER’S PLATFORM & FANBASE IN 22 DAYS: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW to help writers gain a competitive edge.  She uses her novelLOVE MADE OF HEART to inspire adult-children of mentally-ill parents to speak openly about the stigmas that their parents suffer. Also, Teresa is a manuscript consultant; she likes quirky and feisty protagonists. Resources at her website & blog http://writingcoachteresa.com

February 17 and 21, 2011 Check out the pre-conference and post-conference workshops too!  http://sfwriters.org/

When weaving a story, keep “it” simple.  “It” = story-structure.

One of my favorite stories is E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web.  This timeless tale has wonderful hooks, memorable characters, universal themes and a compelling yet simple plotline.   Writers, I recommend your dissecting this book and your favorite books if you want to understand story structure for fiction or narrative non-fiction.

Cheers!

May your writing projects take on new form and new vitality in the new year!

Sincerely,

Writing Coach/Manuscript Consultant Teresa LeYung Ryan

author of Love Made of Heart (recommended by the California School Library Association and the California Reading Association)

http://writingcoachteresa.com

The reason why I love editing thrillers and mysteries is that I enjoy helping authors keep track of the hooks, foreshadowing, the “crime thread” and the thematic plotline.  Also, I like general fiction, memoirs, children’s and young adult fiction–especially when the protagonist is quirky and feisty.

Study Martha Alderson’s resources for plot:  http://plotwhisperer.blogspot.com and http://www.blockbusterplots.com and http://www.youtube.com/user/marthaalderson

After you have completed the first draft of your book and have gained a handle on plot, please contact me if you’re shopping for a manuscript consultant/editor who can help you take your project to the next phrase.  Here’s a testimonial from a client who is writing a most exciting thriller:

“I was an attendee at the CWC-BB and have been working since then with Teresa LeYung Ryan on my novel, The Sacred Heart. Teresa is so committed to her clients and does a remarkable job of coaching and encouraging while wielding an insightful red pen.

Tom Wolfe spoke last week in Charlotte for the public library there and I briefly interviewed him afterwards for The Writer magazine ….He said the basis for his writing continually came back to great reporting and that the key for any writer is getting out of the building and observing people – particularly being on the scene when something happens.

Thanks Teresa, for pushing my reporting skills.”

Don Hudson

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Are there editors/book doctors who specialize in thrillers & mysteries?  Yes.  You’ve found one of them.

Happy Holidays & Happy New Year, Writers!

May your writing projects take on new form and new vitality!

Sincerely,

Writing Coach/Manuscript Consultant Teresa LeYung Ryan

author of Love Made of Heart (recommended by the California School Library Association and the California Reading Association)

http://writingcoachteresa.com