NaNoWrMo

Right now thousands of people are in the final days of the National Novel Writing Month Challenge (NaNoWrMo) where participants challenge themselves to complete a 50,000 word manuscript in the 30 days of November. Of course, I'm no stranger to this challenge having tried it for the first time last year. I didn't come close to meeting the goal but I was proud of myself for taking on the challenge. It's a very interesting experience. Unfortunately, this year, I've been hard at work on my upcoming novel, Reconciliation to Hell, which is a spinoff to my first novel, Unfinished Business, so I didn't dare try to take the challenge. What I did do, however, was challenge myself to meet the 50,000 word count for November on my project.

Nope. Didn't come close to the goal, but not for lack of putting forth great effort!

But, I did move farther along than I would have had I not challenged myself at all. So, the moral of the story is, DON'T BE AFRAID TO SET HEFTY GOALS! And CELEBRATE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AT EVERY LEVEL!

While November is quickly slipping away, I still have my ULTIMATE goal of completing my manuscript by 12/31. So, my challenge continues...ROOT ME ON!!!



2011 Essence of Motown Literary Jam & Conf

Awesome! Energizing! Electrifying! Educational! Phonomenal! Fun! Long. Exhausting. Irreplaceable.

Above are only some of the words that come to mind when I reflect on the day spent at the 8th Annual Essence of Motown Literary Jam & Conference hosted by the Michigan Literary Network and Motown Writers Network. Founder of the conference and the network, Sylvia Hubbard, pulled it off again, with a host of volunteers, sponsors, vendors, workshop presenters, and panel discussion participants.

A few of my personal favorite presenters today included author and motivational speaker Monica Marie Jones, who was also having a book release party for her latest book Monday Motivations, Versandra Kennebrew, author, speaker, holistic teacher, and life coach, as well as national bestselling author of 13 books, Vincent Alexandria.

Now that I'm done with my literary shout outs, let's get to the literary lessons learned. Disclosure: A literary sistah could only spread herself so thin during the course of one day. There were lots of workshops to choose from. Below are few of my takeaways from the two workshops I participated in as well as a new activity added to the conference itinerary--60 minuted write-in (i.e. lock-in, but for writers).

Motivating Yourself to Market Your Book--Workshop 1 Facilitated by Monica Marie Jones

Perfect ones 30 minute elevator speech. Make your audience want to know more about you.

Fan the fire of your project. Get a buzz going about your book BEFORE its even finished. Easily achievable by having your book cover designed early and releasing it to the public. Blog regularly about yourself, your book, or subjects related to your book. Keep yourself on folks' minds.

Don't keep your deadline to yourself. Tell your readers when you plan to have your book completed. They will keep you on target by always asking, "How's the book coming? You almost done?"

Social Media for Authors--Workshop 2 Facilitated by Versandra Kennebrew

Utilize group lists on Facebook. Suggested groups for authors may include: fans, book club members, writers, PR professionals, virtual mentors (see description below)

Have Facebook Fan Pages targeted for each area you work in (i.e. fiction, nonfiction, motivation). In the case of our presenters, Versandra Kennebrew,  who is not only an author, but also a massage therapist, life coach, and holistic teacher, she has a Facebook fan page for each of these subjects to better engage her fans of those particular endeavors. The same should be for all authors. Create a fan page for each book you publish, every service you offer. Social media is all about connecting to as many people as possible!


Develop virtual mentors. Thanks to the power of the Internet you don't have to personally know people to learn from them. You can easily Google successful authors you admire and learn by watching. A good number of virtual mentors is 10 but you can have as many as you'd like.

Be a resource to others. It's to your advantage to help others. While you're helping them, in essence you're helping yourself. The more people who know you is greater exposure to the people in THEIR network. See how that works.

Have a target number of  Facebook fans and/or friends, Twitter followers, Blog subscribers. Without goals of where you want to go, you have no sense of growth for your business (your authors, hip, your blog, etc) or no sense of how well you're doing.

Write-In--Hosted by Venus Mason-Theus As much as I loved the workshops I participated in, this event was THE ONE I anticipated the most. It was simply a one hour free write session. Participants could start on a fresh piece or work on a project in progress. Considering I hadn't written anything on my upcoming novel the previous week, I NEEDED this hour. The goal was to write non-stop (no backspacing, no deleting, no minor editing). And what a benefit it was! In that hour, I added nearly 700 words to my novel. Plus, the exercise got my creative juices flowing for the rest of the day.

Needless to say, I had a great time! And I had company. My wonderful daughter was kind enough to man my vendor table while I was bouncing around in and out of workshops and networking, soaking up all of this knowledge! Isn't she adorable???

Yours in Literary Love,

L.A. Jefferson :)

Birthday Celebration

"Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me! Happy birthdaaayyy to meeee!" Happy Birthday to me!"
Wow! I really enjoyed that--singing to myself even though I'm a couple of days early. My birthday is actually this Saturday, October 15th. Ironically it's also Sweetest Day, a holiday celebrated in states across the Midwest! Even if it wasn't my birthday, I'd still be looking to this Saturday. It's the 3rd Annual Book Club Mix & Mingle sponsored by the Michigan Literary Network, but it'll be my 1st time attending. As an author and a book lover, I'm pretty darn excited!

Is this the way I really want to spend my birthday? Absolutely! I can't think of a better way, in fact. The only thing missing is my family, but I'm going to get with them later.

Side Note: My daughter bought me the cutesy shirt that reads, "Future Best-Selling Author" You know I can't wait to rock my shirt at the event!

LaCharmine   (L.A.)Jefferson,

Author of Unfinished Business, the story of one woman's addiction to the wrong man for the wrong reason & what she risks to get him out of her system for good.

Website: http://www.lajefferson.com/

My Blogs:
A Day in the Life of L.A. Jefferson @ http://lajefferson.blogspot.com/
All Things Love @ http://all-things-love.blogspot.com/
Follow me on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/lajefferson

No More Excuses, Only Results

This past Saturday, October 8, I attended the monthly meeting of my beloved writers group, Motown Writers Network. I was so proud of my determination in attending the meeting--on time, at that! Go L.A.! Go L.A.! If my memory is correct, I haven't made it to one of our meetings since the early part of the year. Anyway, on to the point of this post. As is our custom at the beginning of the meetings, all in attendance introduce themselves and share their challenges & successes. For me, as I'm in the process of writing
my second novel, I found myself expressing the same challenge that I had when I was writing my first book, Unfinished Business , over 10yrs ago--writing the book!

Now that just shouldn't be the case! I know my writing mentor and Motown Writers Network founder, Sylvia Hubbard, gets tired of hearing me say the same thing. Heck! I'm getting tired of hearing me say the same thing. It's funny, though. I hear myself saying, "I've got to do so and so with the kids." "I find myself staring at the screen and not typing enough words." "Ive got a lot of outside activities that take up my free time." Blah, blah, blah. I know full well that every other writer in my circle and beyond have the same life obligations. If they can complete their manuscripts in reasonable timeframes, so should I, right? Not to compare myself to others, but I know that I can do better.

Actually, that's the whole point of attending the meetings. You can't attend and NOT be encouraged & inspired to DO better, regardless of your personal challenge. That's why my new motto for my writing life and beyond is, "No More Excuses, Only Results!

What about you? What challenges do you need to overcome?

LaCharmine Jefferson,
Author of Unfinished Business, the story of one woman's addiction to the wrong man for the wrong reason & what she risks to get him out of her system for good.

Paperback at http://lajefferson.blogspot.com/

Ebook at http://smashwords.com/books/views/40425
Website: http://www.lajefferson.com/

My Blogs:

A Day in the Life of L.A. Jefferson @ http://lajefferson.blogspot.com/
All Things Love @ http://all-things-love.blogspot.com/
Twitter @lajefferson
Facebook @lajefferson

Writers Benefit from Taking Their Own Advice

Ever found yourself listening to the words that were coming out of your own mouth? Have you ever done so and thought to yourself, "Wow! You're one smart cookie!"

I've had a few such occassions. Most recently I was giving a pep talk to my teenage daughter about her (our) desire to lose weight. WAIT! Before you say, "Losing weight has nothing to do with writing" and you move on to the next blog post, hold on a sec. The advise that I gave her applies just as much to ones writing goals.

1. Starting out, don't focus on your longterm goals. Instead, set small, measurable goals. For weight loss that small goal could be something like eat a fruit or vegetable with each meal. For writing, it could be a goal of writing for 15-20 minutes each day.

2. Keep your focus on what you want out of this effort. Obviously, for weight loss the BIG picture is to lose weight, but this piece of advice is about the longer term goal. For a teenager, it may be to lose at least 3 dress sizes by prom, which is anywhere from 1-4 yrs. For a writer, it may be to make it on a national bestseller list. In order to do that, you have constantly work on your craft and network. This could mean taking writing classes in the areas where you may be weak. Seeking out honest critiques of your work--not from family and friends. Attend conferences & workshops. Start out with the free ones. There are plenty to choose from in just about every city!  Don't just write stuff for the sake of publishing. Write for the sake of perfecting your craft. The more involved you get, the more work you'll see is involved in making your literary dreams come true. But, if you stay focused on what you want out of this--whatever that is for you--there'll be no doubt it's worth every effort.

3. Don't compare yourself to others. When trying to lose weight, it always seems like everyone else around you can eat whatever they want, not workout, and still have awesome bodies. Now, when we see people like this, we don't know a thing about their genetic make-up, whether they're using weight loss supplements, whether they're throwing everything up when they get home, or whether they have a plastic surgeon's number on speeddial. Point is, you'll drive yourself totally mad trying to compare apples to oranges. It's no different with writing. Don't compare how many followers you have on Twitter compared to another author or how many readers purchase the books of another author at a book event compared to yourself. On the outside looking in, you don't know the struggle of that fellow author that has gotten them to the point where they are today. For all you know, you may be comparing yourself to an author who's been in the writing & publishing game for 10+ years compared to your 3. I'm telling you, just watch a few of those episodes of Behind the Music or Unsung. Take note that most superstars didn't start out that way. Many were signed to their record labels for years before they actually gained any notoriety. It's no different for writers. The most important thing you can do is keep working towards the longterm goals.

Taking my own advice, here are a few short-term goals that I'm working on:

Work on your book, blog, newsletter, website a minimum of 3 times per week.
Forget about self-imposed deadlines for your book, just keep working on it weekly 'til it's done!
Tweet at least once a day about your current book or upcoming book.
Retweet something interesting by another author.
Comment on another's authors' website, blog, or FB page.

Your Author Friend, L.A. Jefferson
Website: http://lajefferson.com/
Follow me on Twitter @lajefferson

Story Outline--What Have I Got Myself Into???

OMG! Who knew this was going to take this long??? I've been working on the outline for my upcoming book since, I'm almost embarrassed to say, March. Granted, I encountered some personal setbacks that kept me from my work (theft), but still, I'd hoped that by now I'd at least be in the middle of the chapter by chapter outline. NOT! Heck! I was planning on locking myself up in a hotel room next weekend--you know, away from it all--to get started writing my manuscript (AGAIN) with my handy-dandy story outline by my side. Hopefully, I don't have to change my plans.

Everyday that I pull my outline out of my totebag to update, I keep repeating the words of my online instructor, "It's better to rewrite and rewrite while you're outlining. Better to get the story clear and concise in the outline form than to find yourself stuck midway through a manuscript." Deep down I have faith that this is true. The more clear that my story is becoming to me, I clearly see why I ran into the brick wall in the latter part of 2010. Sure, my idea was HOT! I had no doubt about that. Problem was I hadn't spent any time developing that HOT idea into a well-structured story. When I started writing, I still had the characters from my first novel, Unfinished Business, stuck in my head--I'd been writing it so long, they were encased in me. Let me explain. My upcoming novel, Reconciliation to Hell, is a spinoff of Unfinished Business. The main character in the second book was a secondary character in the first book. However, I was into the third chapter of Reconciliation to Hell when I realized that I was still writing in the voice of the main character from the first book! And believe me when I tell you that these characters are complete opposites!

Anyway, as frustrating as this process has been over the last few weeks, I wouldn't trade it for the world. In fact, I'm looking forward to applying this outlining process to the many unfinished articles that I have started and stopped over the years. They're some really great ideas that just need a little developing.

I only wish that I'd started working on this darn outline like five years ago while I was preparing to publish my first book. I'm sure I'd be ready to write right about now, if not near finished with the first draft. Oh well, you live and you learn, right?

Tell me your experience. How does or doesn't outlining work for you? Do you complete your entire outline before you start writing? Is the outline a work in progress as you write the manuscript?

Update: I'll be in that hotel this weekend with or without a completed outline! Either way it goes, this weekend will be a writing-filled weekend and I can't wait!!!

Avoid Resource OVERLOAD!!!

Deciding to embark on your writing career can be both exhilirating and scary as hell!  As most of us--book lovers turned aspiring writers/authors--are avid readers it's only natural for us to want to buy every writing resource we can get our hands on. After all, the experts do advise {taken from one of my resources, of course :)}, it's important to learn everything you can about the industry you plan to delve into it, right? Only thing is, when you combine ones thirst for knowledge with ones love for buying & reading books, it'll be no time before an excited, aspiring writer finds themselves at the overwhelming stage of RESOURCE OVERLOAD! Between the Writer's Digest book club offers and your own browsing of the book store's resource aisle, you can have everything from the basic poket/tabletop dictionary and thesaurus, grammar & style guides to every year's annual Writer's Market. Believe me when I tell you, the available titles are endless!

I wish someone had told me then what I'm about to tell you: "STOP! SAVE YOUR MONEY!"  For one thing, many of the resources regurgitate the same information. Secondly, none of these books will catapult your writing career. Only effective marketing & promoting will do that.

Now, on that point--marketing & promoting--besides a good dictionary & thesaurus, maybe a manuscript formatting guide, resources on the marketing & promoting is what you need to spend your money on, if not a good publicity coach. One such resource that I recently added to my library is  Red Hot Internet Publicity by Penni Sansevieri. For all other resource books, utilize your public library and the internet.

Hope you found this tidbit of information helpful.

Happy Writing & Publishing!
L.A. Jefferson

Internet Marketing Lesson

Yesterday I was listening to the Michigan Literary Network Blogtalk radio. Admittedly, I don't do this often enough considering the show airs every Wednesday. Anyway, yesterday was a great day to tune in because the topic of discussion is my WEAKEST LINK--marketing & promotion. Penny Sansivieri was one of the guest. She's the author of Red Hot Internet Marketing which I'd never heard of but after hearing how this is a must have for EVERY writer/author I quickly ordered it off the Internet. I should have it in a couple of days and I can't wait!

As far as marketing goes I'm going in the right direction just at a snails pace. I blog, as you can see. I have a website that I hope you've visited :) I'm on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. I'm a member of a gazillion Yahoo groups. All of this stuff is what I've learned that writers need to grow their readership and keep them engaged. Well I have them but I've been kind of laxed with putting them to work so here's what I've done in the last couple of weeks:

1. Created a fanpage on Facebook for my book Unfinished Business.
2. Created an author page for Facebook.
3. Creating a reader & writer newsletter. I actually created one a few years ago but I dropped the ball with keeping it going and pushing it towards my audience.

Coming up next will be the book trailer of Unfinished Business. Stay tuned!

The Notebook

 

Desktop computer? Check. Laptop? Check. Netbook? Check? Flash Drive? Check.

As you can see  I have just about every writing tool available for writers. In fact, before laptops finally droppedto my price range, I remember purchasing some piece of equipment that one would create typed files that could then be plugged into the USB port of a computer, trasnferred into a Word document. When I bought that I just knew I'd found the answer to all of my writing problems. This equipment was comparable to today's Netbook today so I figured I'd become a writing machine completing projects in no time at all! Fast forward 15 years, I had the same thought when I purchased my first Flash Drive. In reality ,none of these contraptions have helped me more with making any progress with my writing than the old handydandy notebook.

Granted, I don't pen entire stories in a notebook, preferring the ease of using the editing functions available with computers, however, notebooks have a never-ending value for a writer. I use notebooks for some of everything. Taking notes at a writer's meeting, jotting down story ideas, writing out character details & descriptions, creating scenes for a story I'm working. What's funny is that I haven't always been this way. I was all about typing everything. THEN I realized that I simply would not always be able to use a computer when inspiration struck, so hence my regular use of notebooks began. Now I just can't get enough of them. I'm comforted by just knowing that I have them around :))

Keeping Your Eye on the Prize

Everyone you know is aware that you've written a book. In fact, many of them have even encouraged you along the way. So, why is it that now you have finally published the darn thing ALL of these people have NOT purchased a copy??? You wonder, what the hell are they waiting for? A special invitation? Maybe, maybe not. Guess what--that should be the least of your concerns. If you find yourself wondering why friends and family haven't purchased a copy of your book, you need to reevaluate your purpose for having written the book. Is it your life story? Is it a family genealogy book? If not, then I suspect, the purpose of your penning that novel was to eventually introduce yourself to the world as the latest and greatest literary talent on the block!

This message is for myself just as much as it is for other aspiring writers or novice authors. Ever since word has gotten out at my job, that's where the bulk of my book sales have occurred. As much as I appreciate it, because a sell is a sell, I've got to reach more of my target audience and that's going to take a whole lot more work on my part.

I'm babystepping, but I'm on the right track. One of the young ladies that I work with told her sister about my book and now I'm going to be the featured local author for her book club. Now, from what I hear, they're big time with their book club, attending national conferences and such, so hopefully the news of my book will spread on that circuit. I'm so excited about that and will keep readers posted on that. Then, while perusing the Internet, I came across a site, Raw Sistaz, which provides free book reviews and they have low cost advertising available, too, so I'll be taking advantage of that soon.

Also, this week, I expanded the distribution option with my book printer so that major booksellers will be able to stock my book on their shelves. I haven't even touched on the conferences and vendoring opportunities that I have yet to take advantage. Whew! When they say it's hard work being a self-published author, that was sho'nuff the truth.

Stay tuned on my road to superstardom!

Martini's and Manuscripts: The After Glow

Martini's and Manuscripts was a success! The Renaissance Club was the perfect spot for the event, allowing for a night filled with intimate networking opportunity. While I didn't make any sales, I learned a lot. Here's a few things that I took from the experience:

1.) Networking is not chatting with the people you already are acquainted with. It's okay to mingle with familiar faces, but the whole purpose is to meet and expose yourself to people you don't know and, most importantly, people you want to know you.

2.) Be prepared for the unexpected. The featured author at the event had two meetings prior to the event. At no time was it said that there would be opportunity to introduce ourselves and read a selected passage from our books. Perhaps I should have expected this or at least been prepared, but like I said, this was my first event as a featured author. So when the time came, I hate to say I choked. Since publishing, I haven't read any parts of my book aloud and I was nervous about fumbling and getting choked up with a coughing episode. I won't harp over spilled milk, but needless to say until my next event I'll be practicing and I'll never let that kind of opportunity pass me by again.

3) Follow up with all contacts. Luckily this is one of my strong points. One aspiring writer and I engaged in an intriguing conversation about an upcoming project of mine on marriage and divorce. He's putting together an online critique group so I signed up. Well, this morning I confirmed him as a friend on Facebook. I also invited another writer friend of mine to complete our group. I made another contact with a woman, not interested in writing, but is an avid reader. She loves reading and offered her services of critiquing my work. Not sure if she charges a fee, but that gives me a reason to get in touch with her and tell her how great it was meeting her. I'll be touching base with her this evening. It's important not to wait too long, so people don't forget about you :)

4) Always take pictures. In this social networking & visual society we're operating in, pictures speak volumes to anything you're involved in. If you want people to get to know you, posting pictures is a great way. Not to mention the memories they create. I didn't have my own camera, but I was in quite a few pictures, which I'm sure will be on Facebook soon and I'll be sure to tag myself. But at the next event, I'll be sure to have my own camera.

With all this said, I'm eagerly awaiting the next networking opportunity. Details below:

What: Motown Writers Network Annual Literary Meet & Greet
When:Saturday, August 8 11:00AM- 2:00PM
Where: Barnes & Nobles Bookstore on E. Warren, Detroit, MI

Hope to see you there.

Til Later,

L.A. Jefferson

If You Build it, They will Come

Last night I had a nightmare. The first of its kind. In the dream, a friend of mine at work was breaking the news to me that someone she had recommended my book to had read it and hated it! Said it was terrible, filled with errors. Of course, I was stunned speechless I was so devastated and embarrassed.

It's a no-brainer that I would I have this nightmare on the eve of my first public event as an author. The fear of my book not being well-received by others tormented me throughout the writing and publishing of my debut novel,Unfinished Business. In fact, that's the reason it took so dang long for me to finish the darn thing! And even longer for me to actually publish it.

What I've grown to understand with any art--whether it's a painting, a photograph, an article, a song, a poem, or a movie--everyone isn't going to like it. Think about it. Songs that hit the top of the music charts are loved by many, but hated by just as many. Some movies that are released, where one may wonder why in the world the actors accepted those scripts, some nominating committee is nominating them for an Oscar. Go figure. As the saying goes, "One man's trash is another man's treasure."

Fear has no place in an artist's life. The reward of art is its creation, not necessarily its warm reception by the target audience. Art has to be created, first, for the artist's satisfaction. Audience appreciation will follow. As another saying goes, "If you build it, they will come."

So I encourage all artists--writers, singers, actors, painters,etc--keep on building.

Til Later,

L.A. Jefferson

Martini's and Manuscripts

Tomorrow is the BIG day! Martinis and Manuscripts at the Renaissance Center, Tower 200 in downtown Detroit. I'm pretty excited and filled with nervous anticipation, this being the first event I'm particiating in as a featured author! But being an active member of Motown Writers Network and host of the 2nd Wednesday Michigan Literary Network blogtalk radio show, I'm sure nervous anticipation will soon be a feeling of the past.

As for tomorrow, I have no clue what to expect! Will I be introduced? Will I have to introduce myself? Or will I just be standing behind my assigned table to speak with people who come up to chat? I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'm fighting off the jitterbugs and working on promotional items. Yes, I should've started working on those when I got offered the author spot. But what can I say? I'm a procrastinator :( Funny thing is, if I hadn't had a scare on Monday that my books weren't going to be shipped on time, I probably wouldn't have thought about any promotional items. As they say, "everything happens for a reason." It's a good thing the purpose of this event isn't selling books (though sales will be a definite plus), but networking and offering advise & words of wisdom. However, promotional items are a plus so I won't disappoint attendees. I'll have business cards, promotional bookmarks and writing tips to share.

I'm looking forward to a fulfilling & fun time tomorrow evening. If you can come out, please do. I'd love and appreciate your support

Til later :)

L.A. Jefferson

Martini's and Manuscripts

It's official. Author L.A. Jefferson will be a feature author at the July 22nd event, Martini's and Manuscripts. As mentioned in a prior post, the purpose of this event is to bring together seasoned writers/authors with aspiring authors. Some of the authors who'll be in attendance include:

Anthony Cuffie

Ed Foxworth

Crystal Hickerson

Sylvia Hubbard

Monique Mensah

Dennis Reed

L.A. Jefferson

There will also be a local publishing house in attendance to offer assistance with getting your work published.

What to expect:

Gaining a wealth of knowledge from established authors and getting involved in a new brand of networking.

Get your tickets in advance to be entered into a drawing to win a weekend getaway. Below is the link for tickets: http://martinisandmanuscripts.eventbrite.com/