Teresa Jade LeYung's BLOG

Posts Tagged ‘Vicki Weiland’

Be Kind To Editors and Writers Month – September

Dear  Writers and Editors,

Please introduce yourselves by clicking on the title bar of this post and submitting a comment so that my blog visitors will get to see who you are. Thank you!

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Here are a few editors I recommend, including myself 

We celebrate “Be Kind To Editors and Writers Month” !

Lynn Scott

Vicki Weiland

Ricky Weisbroth

Mary E. Knippel

Teresa LeYung-Ryan

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Sincerely,

Coach Teresa

Teresa LeYung-Ryan says: “Reach out, not stress out, when pursuing your dreams!”

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

$9.81 for ebook; $22 for print edition

Love Made of Heart inspiring adult children of mentally ill parents to speak openly about the stigmas and find resources for their families.

As a manuscript consultant, Teresa LeYung-Ryan loves helping writers identify their themes and archetypes.

YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/teresaleyung

Teresa on facebook!  She’s also involved in Women’s National Book Association and California Writers Club.

August 25, 2011  Coach Teresa here, adding the link to Lori Hope’s humorous/serious article at  Huffington Post:  Lori Hope: Direct Mail and How to Help Someone with Cancer

It was a lucky day for me when Vicki Weiland (dear colleague at Women’s National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter) called me to say: “Teresa, Lori Hope is looking for you!” Lori was the Managing Editor for Bay Area Business Woman News at the time; she invited me to talk about the themes in my novel Love Made of Heart.  When the interview (entitled “Bleeding Heart Bleeds Love” ) was published under the “Off the Shelf” column, I read Lori’s words and cried and cried. My mom would have been so proud.

What I had learned about the publishing industry was this:  busy people giving their time and energy to help newbies are walking-angels. Lori Hope was reviewing the galley proofs of her own book Help Me Live: 20 Things People with Cancer Want You to Know.  We know how thrilling and time-consuming that task is.  So, that’s how I remember my first meetings with Lori–she was generous, kind, and inspiring.

Recently, when I saw that Lori Hope commented on my post about Anna L. Marks, I was tickled to hear from her. But,  then I read Lori’s words: “Just recovering from cancer treatment . . . ”

I got very sad (this news meant a recurrence of lung cancer for Lori?). I read on. Lori said: ” . . . expanded and revised edition of Help Me: 20 Things People with Cancer Want You to Know comes out Sept. 13!   With love and always hope,  Lori”

“Always hope.”  Lori’s last name is also her gift to the world. She is a dear powerful spirit.

Lori’s “author’s journey” is her Hero’s journey.

Lori Hope says: "What do you say to someone with cancer — how do you show how much you care?"

I recommend Lori’s blog:  What Helps. What Hurts. What Heals.

Lori’s post “Dance With Me” where she says: “No sign of metastasis…” is truly music.

Is Lori Hope the WonderWoman behind “how to help, heal, and keep hope alive” ?   YES!

The second edition of Help Me Live: 20 Things People with Cancer Want You to Know, which includes a new foreword by Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, new sections on gender, childhood and young adult cancers, and a survey of 600+ survivors, will be available September 13, 2011. News about appearances/fundraisers will be available soon. Please visit Lori’s website

Sincerely,

Teresa

Teresa LeYung-Ryan says: “Reach out, not stress out, when pursuing your dreams!”

Coach Teresa is the author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days and Love Made of Heart.

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

Coach Teresa, who is Anna L. Marks and how does she take on the world?

Anna L. Marks was the superwoman behind the print newspaper Bay Area BusinessWoman News (it was available at news-stands in financial and commercial districts all over the greater San Francisco Bay Area, CA).  Anna’s publication helped women create national platforms for themselves before the word “platform” was used  in the business world.  Brava, Anna!

I was one of the lucky authors who was interviewed by Lori Hope (Managing Editor for BABW at the time) who had found me through Vicki Weiland and Women’s National Book Association.

Anna sold the paper to Debra Costner and I’ll blog about Debra soon.

What is Anna up to these days?

Anna L. MARKS – Producer at Hungry Mind Recordings

Anna L. Marks is a serial social entrepreneur. She is the creator and founder of Conscious Life Magazine and Bay Area BusinessWoman News where she served as publisher and editor-in-chief for over 15 years. Marks has been on numerous boards, and currently serves on the Alameda County Women’s Commission. She was awarded “Businesswoman of the Year” by San Fransisco Business and Professional Women; and “Social Entrepreneur of the Year” by the San Francisco chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners. Marks is passionate about using new media as a change agent for global progress in the new millennium.

On the HMR website, there’s a category entitled “Women Take On the World.”  Anna L. Marks is definitely one of these women!

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By the way, here’s the praise from Lori Hope for Love Made of Heart:

“The book’s title (Love Made of Heart) refers to the fact that the Chinese word for ‘heart’ is embedded within the word ‘love.’ The book is about love, liberation and forgiveness. For those seeking inspiration during difficult times, this courageous book is half hot tub, half massage. But only after some painful, albeit unpredictable plot twists.”

Thank you, Lori! I’ll be blogging about you too.

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Cheers to Anna and everyone she works with!

Sincerely,

Writing Career Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan who says: “Reach out, not stress out, when pursuing your dreams!”

Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days

“Coach Teresa, what should I do before hiring an editor?”

Look at Your Manuscript with an Editor’s Lens

By Teresa LeYung Ryan

Writing Career Coach; Manuscript Consultant; Author

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 you, you’d want to hook the reader’s attention in the first quarter of your story (starting with the first page, oftentimes with the first line).

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.

The big four elements to look for in your manuscript:

• Planting hook(s) or story-question(s);
• Grounding the reader with the three Ws (Who? When? Where?);
• 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:

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,” we eagerly follow as she (the middle-aged woman) takes us into her enchanted world of a “cottage in the forest.”

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?”

Elizabeth Gilbert hooks us with “I wish Giovanni would kiss me…” in her memoir Eat, Pray, Love. Simple as that.  She’ll have other desires as her story moves forward, but, right there on page 1, she’s clear about what she wants.

In Love Made of Heart, protagonist Ruby Lin is thinking: What have I done?  I watch the uniformed police officers escort my mother from my 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 the rules.)

Are you saying: “Coach Teresa, that’s my style–I don’t like to use commas all that much. You might see typos but that’s your job right to correct them? I write like I talk. Okay.”

I say: “Read your manuscript out loud.  Do you really talk like that?  If you hear yourself pausing in a sentence, that’s probably where you’d put a comma. You are a writer; use correct spelling.  Do use vernacular that is indicative of your story-world; however, will your reader hear the differences in speech patterns in your characters OR will they hear just one voice in all the characters?”

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)? Watch out for those misplaced modifiers.

How would you rewrite these poorly constructed sentences?

• He likes to fish near the Farallon Islands and they jump when they’re hungry at dawn or dusk.
• She insists on knowing when I come home and leave, not to be nosy, but for safety reasons.
• Being cautious as not to step on the dog’s tail, the children tip-toed away from him while sleeping.
• My husband still in bed snoring, I have always enjoyed rising before dawn and I eat my toast and drink my green tea on the terrace.

To improve your sentence structuring 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 referenced above, the authors present memorable experiences by employing authentic details, unusual story-worlds, and poetic language. You want to do the same for your story.
• Also, the 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: Plot Whisperer
• When you’re writing non-fiction and 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 the story. A helpful website: Linda Joy Myer’s 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.
• Read my colleague Vicki Weiland’s “Vicki’s Four Questions” © on her blog: http://vickiweiland.wordpress.com/vickis-four-questions-%C2%A9/

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!

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung Ryan

Coach Teresa edits manuscripts for authors who want to attract agents  & publishers  OR  want to be their own publishers. She specializes in contemporary novels, thrillers, children’s & YA novels, memoirs, short stories, and anthologies.

22-Day Platform-Building Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan helps authors identify their themes to hook agents' and publishers' attention.

author of Love Made of  Heart

author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days

I invite everyone referred to in this post (especially the authors who have been coached by yours truly,  22-Day Platform-Building Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan) to introduce yourselves 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.  I cheer for you.

22-Day Platform-Building Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan helps authors with their pitches at "Speed Dating with Agents & Acquisition Editors" at WNBA's signature event

Andria Wagner
Barbara Brunetti
Belinda “Bee” Hylinski
Brittany Pettibone
Nicole Pettibone
Danny Garon
Diana Franco
Jennifer Hewitt
Joan Steidinger
Kimber Simpkins
Rasa Gustaitis
Ronnie Lovler

How to Pitch a Novel, Memoir, Narrative Nonfiction, or How-To Book to Agents and Acquisition Editors

Saturday March 26, 2011

This morning colleague Jane Glendinning and I had a chance to catch up since October last year when I met the delightful writers (and saw Sarah Clark!) at California Writers Club Berkeley Branch.

Jane and I had shared  an adventure when Oakland public libraries were in danger of severe budget cuts.  This morning 7:40am our walk from BART Embarcadero station to Sinbad’s Restaurant was another adventure in San Francisco.  Rain. Puddles.  We were on our way to help authors pitch their projects at the WNBA signature event “Meet the Agents & Acquisition Editors”

The reward was working with fellow members at Women’s National Book Association. Jane Glendinning and Birgit Soyka helped Meet-the-Agents Event Chair Judith Marshall and  Chapter President Lynn Henriksen set up while Treasurer Christopher Payne and beloved Vicki Weiland greeted attendees at registration.  VP Kate Britton had worked miracles pulling online registration data.  Mary Jo McConahay took photos (We are so happy for Mary Jo. Two years ago at this same event, Mary Jo met agent Andy Ross.  Her book, Maya Roads, will be published on August 1, 2011.)

Tanya Egan Gibson, Mary E. Knippel and yours truly Teresa LeYung Ryan helped authors fine-tune their pitches.

Karen Folger Jacobs & Diane LeBow I always get a kick seeing you two power-women.

Talking Tagline Coach Elisa Southard couldn’t be there because she was at the Bay Area Travel Writing planning retreat. Diane LeBow also headed to that meeting after the pitch fest.

Mathilde Schmidt and Carla Danziger – great seeing you both.   I met new member Janine Kovac.  Welcome aboard!

Valerie Mihalache, it was wonderful seeing you.

The 11 agents/acquisition editors/publishers included WNBA members Elizabeth Pomada and Michael Larsen (who are co-founders of San Francisco Writers Conference and Writing for Change Conference), Laurie McLean, Jennifer Joseph, Amy Burkhardt, Andy Ross, Brooke Warner, Georgia Hughes, Gordon Warnock, Jeanette Perez, and Peter Beren!

Zoe Fitzgerald Carter, author of Imperfect Endings, gifted us with a candid talk about her publishing journal, the folks who helped her share her remarkable story with readers, and what she’s working on now.

Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan and Agent Laurie McLean

Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW is available through Amazon.  Read success stories (on Amazon) from writers who have finished the 22-day workbook I created to help fiction and nonfiction authors gain a competitive edge.  Whether you want to be your own publisher or sell rights to another publisher, attract readers and more readers now!  http://writingcoachteresa.com

http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/is-there-a-book-to-help-a-writer-build-platform-and-fanbase/