if it doesn’t come bursting out of you

in spite of everything,

don’t do it.

unless it comes unasked out of your

heart and your mind and your mouth

and your gut,

don’t do it.

if you have to sit for hours

staring at your computer screen

or hunched over your

typewriter

searching for words,

don’t do it.

if you’re doing it for money or

fame,

don’t do it.

if you’re doing it because you want

women in your bed,

don’t do it.

if you have to sit there and

rewrite it again and again,

don’t do it.

if it’s hard work just thinking about doing it,

don’t do it.

if you’re trying to write like somebody

else,

forget about it.

if you have to wait for it to roar out of

you,

then wait patiently.

if it never does roar out of you,

do something else.

if you first have to read it to your wife

or your girlfriend or your boyfriend

or your parents or to anybody at all,

you’re not ready.

don’t be like so many writers,

don’t be like so many thousands of

people who call themselves writers,

don’t be dull and boring and

pretentious, don’t be consumed with self-

love.

the libraries of the world have

yawned themselves to

sleep

over your kind.

don’t add to that.

don’t do it.

unless it comes out of

your soul like a rocket,

unless being still would

drive you to madness or

suicide or murder,

don’t do it.

unless the sun inside you is

burning your gut,

don’t do it.

when it is truly time,

and if you have been chosen,

it will do it  by

itself and it will keep on doing it

until you die or it dies in

you.

there is no other way.

and there never was.

I am thrilled to have the talented author of Taking Flight, Sarah Solmonson, as my guest author for today. I’ve been following Sarah’s blog for a while now, and I’ve been a fan of her writing. I recently picked up her memoir, Taking Flight, and I must say—it has made me into an even bigger fan.

I hope you enjoy this interview, and don’t forget to pick up Sarah’s book, Taking Flight.

What was the first thing you ever wrote, and how old were you when you wrote it?

SS: A group of high school kids came to my elementary school to help us write and illustrate books made of construction paper. I wrote quite a few hits, including “My Dog Maggie” and “I Like Ice Cream”. Ironically, I also wrote one called “My Daddies Airplane”. I fondly refer to this as my first draft of Taking Flight.

When did you know you wanted to write Taking Flight?

SS: I have always known I wanted to be a writer. I knew, probably a year after my dad passed away, that I wanted to write a book that was truthful to what grief is really like. It isn’t packaged neatly in a two week funeral and burial, write thank-you notes and move on way as society wants us to believe. I also knew that I wanted to write down the memories I had of my dad and the plane before they were lost to time. Those combined efforts and desires turned into Taking Flight.

If you had to describe your book in one sentence, what would it be?

SS: Taking Flight is about the unbreakable bonds between a father and daughter who believe dreams are worth chasing, no matter what the cost.

What made you decide to self-publish?

SS: As I dipped my toe into the blogosphere I was incredibly impressed with the community of self-publishers. I loved that, for the most part, writers wanted to succeed and help their fellow authors succeed. Like many self-publishers, I liked the freedom that comes with owning all the rights to your work.

Who helped you edit your book? Did you hire an editor and/or a proofreader?

SS: I’m lucky – I have a good friend who is also an editor. But if I hadn’t had this perk available to me, I would have certainly hired an editor. Any reader can tell the difference between an unedited book and one that has been put through the ringer.

Do you think beta readers are helpful?

SS: Absolutely! But, they need to be the right beta readers. I believe there should be three: one who will love anything and everything you write, one that is the most avid reader of your genre that you know, and the third a complete stranger who has no ties or obligations to you. Get more opinions than that and you’ll likely have more opinions than you can reasonably handle.

What have you learned from writing your first book?

SS: This is still what I want to do with my life. Writing takes longer than you think. Do not write with the television on (no matter how uninterested you are in what your husband is watching, it will end up being more interesting than you writing). Take time out to read. Don’t read your Amazon reviews. Don’t spam people – build authentic relationships in your journey.

Describe your writing style.

SS: I write better when I have a 2-4 block of time available. This is why it is important to know yourself and what works for you. A lot of very good craft books say you have to write every day to get a book written, but because I write more and better in longer blocks of time, I don’t feel bad if I don’t touch my manuscript for a couple of days. If I can’t commit the time, I’d rather skip it than write half-heartedly.

Aside from memoirs, are you also interested in writing fiction?

SS: Yes! I have notebooks full of ideas, or potential ideas. I’m just waiting for one to hit me over the head and demand my attention.

Who is your favorite author, and why?

SS: There’s so many, so for now, I will answer with Ann M. Martin. “The Babysitter’s Little Sister’s Karen’s Little Witch” was the first book I bought with my own money, and I still have it sitting on my bookshelf.

What is your favorite book, and why?

SS: Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Café. My cousin and I watched the movie at my grandma’s house the summer I was 9 and I loved the character of Idgie Threadgoode. For my 10^th birthday my grandma gave me a copy of the book, which I have read at least 3 times per year for the last 19 years. It is my comfort food.

Define a good book.

SS: See above! When a book is your comfort food, or keeps you up at night, or is the thing you have to tell every single person you know to go read…those are qualities of a good book!

Are you currently working on your second book?

SS: I am – and I’m so very close to finishing it! “There Is No Why Here” is a travel journal/memoir based on the study abroad trip I took to Germany and Poland studying WWII History and Literature. To say that trip and the things I learned saved my life is an understatement. I hope to publish June/July 2013 – stay tuned!

Where can readers purchase Taking Flight?

SS: Paperback and eBook are available on Amazon.

I’m doing a fun poll on my HIGH a novel Facebook LIKE Page.

The question is: Which coffee drink best describes you? Click here to answer!

Have a great weekend!

12 Helpful Tips When Writing a Book

1. When an idea comes along—jot it down.
2. Make time to write. Create a writing schedule that works for you.
3. Set and meet your deadlines.
4. Save your first draft. It can help you stay on path when you accidentally stray from your original idea.
5. Edit. A LOT.
6. Read what you’ve written out loud. Hearing your own words will help you in the editing process.
7. Write—even when you don’t feel like writing. You’ll be amazed at what you come up with.
8. Get beta readers you trust.
9. Pick your editor carefully. (My first editor missed a few things on my manuscript. Thankfully, I caught and corrected the mistakes before my final draft was published.)
10. Pay attention to constructive criticism, but do what you feel is best for your story.
11. Keep your book title short and memorable.
12. Endings need to close the story—not ruin it. Write it carefully.

What’s your favorite  tip when writing a book?

So as you know, I recently tried KDP Select. I recommend it to any new authors out there. Just remember that because you’re giving away your book for free to thousands of people, it may not always end up in the hands of people who necessarily like your genre. But that’s the risk you have to take. Overall, I think it’s a great way to get your book out there, especially if you’re just starting out as an author.

Goodreads giveaway:
A couple of fellow-bloggers and authors have highly recommended Goodreads giveaways to promote my novel, HIGH. So a month ago, I decided to try listing my first Goodreads giveaway. I was hoping to at least get a hundred people to enter to win a copy of my novel. I was surprised last night to learn that 846 people entered! The contest ended today, so three winners have already been picked, and I’ve already sent out their copies of HIGH.

Ever since I listed the giveaway, I’ve noticed a small spike in ratings and reviews. Sales hasn’t been spectacular, but it’s better than it was before.

So would I recommend Goodreads giveaways? Absolutely. It’s free and effective.

Rafflecopter:
Have you heard of Rafflecopter? I just learned about it about a month ago during my HIGH Blog Tour. It’s an easy way to run a giveaway. I tried it during one of my Blog stops, and the experience was definitely painless and fun.

Yes, I’d recommend it.

Twitterviews:
Let me start by saying I am still getting used to Twitter. I honestly don’t know how to use Twitter to advertise my book properly. So if you have any tips, please share. I’ve posted a few things here and there, but that’s about it. Sometimes, I even forget I have a Twitter account. Anyway, I’m working on it.

So because of my poor Twittering skills, I decided to try for a paid advertising service for a twitterview.

What is a twitterview? It’s a live interview done via Twitter. Followers can ask the author questions, etcetera. The idea is that it’s supposed to attract more readers and followers. $75 later, I gained 3 new followers, and no added sales.

Would I recommend it? It depends. It may work for others. Unfortunately, it didn’t for me. I say, save your money.

And so, the marketing journey continues. I still have a lot to try and learn along the way. I’ll keep you posted on how things go.

In the meantime, have you tried any of the above marketing services? How was your experience?

Any other marketing suggestions?

I’m sure that most of you are familiar with KDP Select. If you’re not, it’s basically a program for writers that Amazon launched not too long ago. It gives writers the opportunity to list their eBook for FREE for five days within a 90-day period—but they have to agree to sell their enrolled book(s) exclusively only through Amazon.  Some people don’t like this exclusivity, others don’t mind it. After researching online and reading success stories from other authors who have used KDP Select, I decided to do my own experiment and enrolled HIGH in the program in January of this year.

The Advantages of KDP Select 

I’m a new author. Aside from my blog followers, my family and close friends, no one else knew about my novel, HIGH. Other authors have said that giving away their books for free for one day, two days or even five days, have helped increase their sales later.

I wanted more sales. Most of all, I wanted more readers. So as much as it made my family cringe knowing I was about to give away my book for FREE—I went ahead and did it, and hoped for good—if not great results.

My First Try

A lot of the articles I read suggested that a two-day promo was better than one. But for some reason, I couldn’t do it. I was too nervous about the FREE promotion that I decided to try it for one day.

I picked February 20^th, a Wednesday. I set my alarm for 7:30 a.m., and by 8 a.m., I checked to see how many units were “sold”. I was hoping for maybe ten or twenty. My eyes grew big when I saw: 192. When I checked amazon.com, I was completely surprised to see this:

I checked my status obsessively throughout the day, and I must say the experience was exhilarating.

By 10:30 p.m. I “sold” 740 units! This was my ranking at the end of the day:

For a first try, I thought this wasn’t bad at all.

The next day, I waited to see if my sales would improve. It didn’t.

My Second Try

I decided to do the FREE promo again for HIGH, this time on February 23, which was a Saturday.

By 2:30 p.m., this was my ranking:

At the end of the day, I was pleased to see a total of 1644 units “sold”. When I checked Amazon, I was thrilled to see this:

The Results:
After my second experiment with KDP Select, I began receiving more reviews on amazon.com. I also noticed that my sales improved—not by a whole lot, but it was definitely better than before.

So would I do it again? Sure. The most important thing for me right now is to gain new readers. KDP Select has helped me do that. HIGH is now in the hands of  2,384 new readers. I think that’s pretty fantastic.

There are other perks to enrolling in KDP Select. Click here to learn more.

Have you tried KDP Select? How was your experience? Would you recommend it to other new authors? 

Short Stories: 10 Tips for Creative Writers

Spread the word and have a great weekend!