Christina Katz

Guess who won a copy of Blacklisted From The PTA?

Robyn Leatherman!

Here’s her comment…

I’ve been wanting to get to know Lela; it’s actually on my to-do list! We both live in Arkansas, so hopefully I’ll bump into her some day! Humor enters my home in the form of our dachshund. She loves cheese and one day I heard her whimpering in the kitchen, so I left my home office to find her on her back, in front of the fridge. “You want cheese?’ – she jumped up, wagging her tail. I swear she was grinning at me!

Robyn, I think this is a great opportunity for you to fulfill that plan to get to know Lela Davidson.

Please contact me at christtina at christina katz dot com and we will get you that copy of Blacklisted From The PTA.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

If you want the straight dope on how to create a viable, sturdy, profitable writing career, The Writer's Workout can serve as your writing career checklist.

Publishing has changed quite a bit even since my first book deal in 2005. Now, only seven years later, the distance between totally unknown writer and book deal is longer and steeper than ever.

What you need to know about the publishing industry right now is that folks who would have been very likely to land book deals with decently paying first book contracts, are not landing these deals at the same rate of success.

I’ve noticed this pattern as publishers hold back on any kind of book other than what might be perceived as a sure seller.

What does this mean?

Bad news first: it will likely take you longer than you think to land a book deal. Actually, it will likely take you much longer, if it happens at all.

But I’m not sure this is all bad news. I’ll share more about the upside of author ownership tomorrow.

The good news is that more time before a first book deal means that writers can spend that time acquiring a broader range of skills, like the types of skills I enjoy teaching, which also (eventually) include self-publishing skills in the form of micro-publishing.

When you have a broader range of skills, you have more possible ways to succeed.

You will also probably have more self-motivation than a person who is traditionally published and falls into the trap of thinking that after traditional publication they will be “set.” (Nothing could be further from the truth.)

More time until your first traditional book deal means you also have more time to learn to produce your own success, which pays off in both the long run and the short run and is always necessary for any kind of success anyway.

In other words, micro-publishing teaches you to be less dependent on the failure or success of any one book and more dependent on what you accomplish today. And this is good news for writers, because if there is one thing we can control, it’s what we accomplished today.

As I always teach, writers, it’s not anything you do, it’s everything you do. And micro-publishing, whether that means writing for others or writing for yourself (or best case scenario–both), is going to play a huge role in your success as writer today and tomorrow.

So if you think about it, over-emphasis on the ever-elusive book deal with the traditional agent and tradition publisher is not really a well-rounded experience when it comes to publishing success in the short run and the long run.

You need to think bigger, wider, deeper. Any well-rounded education includes a discussion of author ownership and what that means in terms of leveraging all of the hard work you have already done into more profits and exposure today and tomorrow.

I am really looking forward to my 90-minutes session at the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference today called Mailbox Full of Money. If you ask me, a longer road to publication is one of the most exciting things going on in publishing right now, right after the rise in author ownership, which I will talk more about tomorrow in our three hour workshop on How You Do Anything is How You do Everything.

In the meantime, you may want to check out the free motivational poster available from Writer’s Digest that I created to celebrate publication of The Writer’s Workout. It’s got some solid tough love in there. And we all need this kind of pep talk on a regular basis, whether it’s welcome news or not.

Go to this page at Writersdigest.com and click on the link that says, “motivational poster” to download your free poster.

As a side note, in creating the content for this poster, I emulated the format of an article written by the late, brilliant author and screenwriter Nora Ephron. She wrote a piece for Time magazine after her book I Feel Bad About My Neck came out, sharing some of the nuggets she had learned from life. I loved the piece and was inspired to use it to write my own straight-shooting inspiration about what I’ve learned from my writing career. I hope you like it.

Thank you, Nora Ephron for the inspiration and the laughs.

This handout courtesy of my latest book, The Writer's Workout from Writer's Digest Books.

I often speak at writing conferences around the country.

This weekend, I am a featured presenter at the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Conference in Seattle.

I thought I would share some of my handouts with you, because they are the kinds of worksheets that can benefit any writer attending any conference.

This first handout can help you get more out of any conference, personally and professionally.

You’ll likely do best using this worksheet if you fill it out, from memory, the day after a conference.

It’s not a bad habit to get into while you are emptying out your conference tote bag.

Please let me know if it helps! Happy conferencing!

Take 25 Actions Post-conference Worksheet By Christina Katz

Folks asked me to announce what books we are reading next further in advance, so I’m getting a jump on Fall.

We are taking August off but we will begin the discussions for the next two books on the second Monday of each month, so don’t delay!

Our next TWO books will be…drumroll, please!

When Women Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams.

Discussion starts Monday, September 10th.





and

Shout Her Lovely Name by Natalie Serber.

Discussion starts Monday, October 8th.





I hope you can read them and join our discussion.

Anyone is welcome to participate.

You are also invited to join our Facebook group.

Happy reading!

What makes an essayist funny?

Have you ever thought about this?

Is it a pair of bright red high-heeled shoes?

What if the shoes are bejeweled?

Do the sparkles on the shoes make the writer funnier?

Well, since all I have in my closet are Easy Spirits, there must be other reasons why I appreciate Lela Davidson and her book, Blacklisted From The PTA.

Here are five things you may not know about Lela Davidson, but definitely should know…

Lela Davidson is smart as the dickens. Never make the mistake of thinking that all there is to Lela Davidson is an affinity for dramatic shoes. I would even go so far as to say that Lela Davidson is one of the smartest people I have ever met. And I have met a lot of really smart people over the years. On a scale of one to brilliant, reasonable shoes clearly don’t have much to do with it.

Lela Davidson is funny as all get out. I mean FUNNY, like in all caps. This gal has got witty in the palm of her hand. Smart-aleky remarks stand in line in Lela’s brain and just pray she calls on one of them next. You’ve got an awkward situation? Lela can make it sound funny. Just try her.

Lela Davidson could charm a rabid coyote and she could do it while wearing THESE shoes.

Lela Davidson could charm a rabid coyote. Someone once remarked to me that Lela was “so nice.” I almost said, “Are we talking about Lela? Lela Davidson???” Oh, wait. I actually did say this. I think I may have burst someone’s bubble, but “nice” is just not a powerful enough word to do Lela justice. If you want to use a tame word to describe Lela Davidson just put the word “wicked” in front of it. As in “wicked nice.” Or “wicked funny.” Or even just “wicked.” That could work too.

Lela Davidson writes her head off. You probably think Lela Davidson hangs out on social media all day, holding court. And she does that too, but I bet you, right at this minute, while you are reading this post, Lela Davidson is writing something for publication. And when she’s done with that piece today, she’s going to write another piece tomorrow. She is probably either writing a humor essay, or an opinion piece or even a how-to. The point isn’t what she’s writing; the point is how much she is writing. When you are climbing the writing ranks, I hope you go for quantity, because then the quality takes care of itself. And if you are not writing as much as Lela is and for as many outlets as Lela is, then you might want to follow her lead.

Lela Davidson is a 100% media maven. Many people are intimidated by the media. Not Lela Davidson. She is a media darling. She makes things happen and she makes sure the media is involved all the time. And that’s why the primary thing about Lela Davidson that you may not know that you really should know is that if you don’t know Lela Davidson’s name already you most likely will soon.

Lela Davidson in a rare moment where she is not cracking a joke. (She probably is in her head.)

And this brings us to Lela’s hilarious debut essay collection, Blacklisted From The PTA.

July is the one year anniversary of Blacklisted, which I blurbed when it came out. Fancy shoes or none, I liked it then and I still like it:

Birth, babies, tooth-fairies, baking, junk drawers, car trouble, computer viruses, the PTA, date nights, big box stores, family travel, and girlfriend getaways—no suburban stone goes unturned in this promising debut by Lela Davidson. This collection of quickie-read essays serves up a sly look at suburban bliss. The book is in brief episodes like Carrie Bradshaw meets Desperate Housewives, only Davidson is anything but frantic. Instead she’s sassy, smart, and seductive with her wry coverage of the middle-class trenches. Tongue in her cheek and pen in her hand, just when we all needed it most, Davidson brings family funny to the fore. Moms especially will appreciate the laughs.

I liked Blacklisted because it makes me laugh. And so does Lela Davidson.

So, my friends, if you don’t know Lela like I know Lela, you might want to get with the program. Meet Lela. Friend her, follow her, listen to her audio podcasts. And for goodness sakes, get yourself a copy of Blacklisted from the PTA LINK.

You can start by commenting to win right here. Just answer this question any ol’ way you like: what role does humor play in your everyday life?

I’ll pick a winner on Tuesday, July 24th and announce the name right here. In the meantime, write, read, laugh. Happy summer!

My platform workbook is now in its third edition with a new cover design (thank goodness) and title.

The PDF workbook formerly known as Build Your Author Platform, which originally appeared as part of Writer’s Digest’s Build Your Author Platform Kit last September, is now retitled Discover Your Platform Potential.

Much better, right?

The snazzy cover design is thanks to my husband, Jason Katz.

Everyone who had already ordered a copy has now received their updated version.

Here are few of my favorite short excerpts from the workbook:

Remember: Your platform is not your anxiety and fears made manifest. Readers are not interested in your neuroses writ large…Your platform is like a multimedia garden, which is always in a state of growth. (page 2-3)

You’re not just serving readers in general. You need to figure out who your readers are specifically and seek those specific kinds of people out and then serve them more deeply. (page eight)

Don’t just try to sell a book. Don’t just try to make a buck. Aim to serve your readers today, tomorrow, and down the road. (page 11)

You are not a type of mayonnaise. No matter how cool you are, you are not a toy. And even if you want your name to become as widely known as Coke, people will treat you like a person not like a soda. (page 14)

Establishing your name as belonging to a person who is a force within a particular field is key for writers. In fact, your name and what it’s worth is probably the most important aspect of your platform present and future. (page 14)

If you would like to learn more, please visit my Discover Your Platform Potential page.

Happy Summer Monday, folks!

I have a guest post over at Jane Friedman’s blog today called, “How To Impress The People You Interview (And Be Professional).”

Feel free to leave me a comment over there.

And while you are visiting, why not sign up for Jane’s helpful e-newsletter: Electric Speed.

Her latest issue shares the latest free tools for reading.

And literary magazine lovers can now sign up for The Virginia Quarterly Review newsletter, brought to us by Jane in her new role as web editor for the Virginia Quarterly Review, where she oversees digital content strategy and online marketing/promotion.

[I didn't finish this post last night, so I'll post it now, with the final post in this discussion coming later today.]

Today, July 14th , we continue the discussion for the Beyond Busy Global Monthly Book Club’s fourth book.

We just finished reading Imagine: How Creativity Works is written by Johah Lehrer and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2012. Now we will spend two more days discussing the book, including today.

Anyone who has read our current discussion book can participate by commenting. You can also join our public BBGMBC Facebook group, if you would like to join us in reading one excellent quality book per month and then discussing it here.

And without further ado, let’s keep the discussion of Imagine: How Creativity Works by Johah Lehrer going.

I found this quote really interesting from Lee Unkrich, a Director at Pixar, “I’m not capable of surprising myself every day with some great new idea. That kind of magic can only come from the group.”

I disagree with this statement. In the context of Lehrer’s chapter what Unkrich is saying is that the group creates superior results compared to individuals.

I understand what he is saying. I agree that Pixar is socially designed to maximize the creativity of groups with the goal of creating superior movies. Although they didn’t accomplish this with their most recent movie, Brave, in my opinion, they certainly have a very solid track record.

My point is that I think this assumption, that we are not capable of surprising ourselves every day is wrong. Dead wrong.

We are capable of surprising ourselves and others with great regularity. But, of course, that doesn’t mean we will.

I think the culprit here may spring from conclusions from Lehrer’s research on the prefrontal cortex that came earlier in the book:

…all of us contain a vast reservoir of untapped creativity. The desire to make something beautiful, to express our luminous sensations, is not a rare drive confined to those with artistic training. That same desire is present in cellular biologists and stockbrokers, janitors and housewives. We don’t notice this need because we constantly suppress it, because the timid circuits of the prefrontal cortex keep us from risking self-expression.

This statement rang true for me. I believe that we are all creative powerhouses, mostly tied up in chains of our own making that prevent us from expressing our best work. Whether they are wrought from brain mechanics or peer pressure is not the point. The point is that we have to break out of the prisons we choose to live inside.

Unlike many of the opinions in this book, I don’t agree that working in groups, living in cities, and working for corporations are the only ways to get maximum creativity out. There are many other methods available to us in the Internet age and many individuals are operating at an extremely high level of creativity.

I believe we are capable of surprising ourselves every day and that when we do, it does feel like magic. I also feel like the people who do this on a regular basis make better problem-solvers and contributors to groups. However, if we don’t recognize the inherent power of the creative mind, then we are all sunk.

I think the early chapters of Lehrer’s book made clear the creative potential of the individual, but it’s disappointing for me as a reader to then think that the only logical outlet for individual creativity is working for corporations who have figured out ways of maximizing individual creativity to serve their production goals.

I much preferred the conclusions from the research on the schools that valued creativity. Like this one:

The vocational approach at NOCCA helps build grit in students. It teaches them how to be single-minded in pursuit of a goal, to sacrifice for the sake of a passion. The teachers demand hard work from their kids because they know, from personal experience, that creative success requires nothing less.

Sustained creativity takes grit. That’s for sure. And I love the idea that creativity can be taught.

Nevertheless, the guiding principles of NOCCA—that creativity can be taught, and that our kids are reservoirs of untapped talent—deserve to be widely implemented.

I loved the idea that the kids were learning more about merely the subjects that they were delving into. I loved the idea that they could apply what they had learned about their own creative potential and their own grit to any situation or professional field. One student commented:

“Oh, no way,” she says. “I’m not just learning how to dance here. It might look like that when you look at our classes because we’re always dancing. But that’s not it. What I’m really learning is how to say something.”

I think this is a key. When an individual is committed to creativity, both their own and participating with others, it leads to an ability to self-express. And that ability to self-express is truly a rare gift in our modern society. And one that is worth striving for both as individual and in the education of children.

What do you think?

[This is so late that I am going to back-date it so that all the BBGMBC posts stay together. Here we go!]

Today, July 15th, we continue the discussion for the Beyond Busy Global Monthly Book Club’s fourth book.

We just finished reading Imagine: How Creativity Works is written by Johah Lehrer and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2012. Today is the last day for discussing the book.

Anyone who has read our current discussion book can participate by commenting. You can also join our public BBGMBC Facebook group, if you would like to join us in reading one excellent quality book per month and then discussing it here.

And without further ado, let’s keep the discussion of Imagine: How Creativity Works by Johah Lehrer going.

It’s been over a week now since I finished reading this book and I have to ask myself what has stayed with me from what I read?

I’m happy that I have my notes from the book because I do find the book rather difficult to remember. But one chapter sticks out in my mind most. I feel like I can recall many of the points without having to go back to my notes. It’s the chapter about Shakespeare becoming a prolific writer in Elizabethan England. This section stood out for me because Lehrer seemed to be answering a long-standing question that many have always wondered about Shakespeare. That question is: how the heck did he become so prolific?

The way Lehrer explained it, I found his explanation to be credible. It was the perfect cultural combination of time and place and economic opportunity. When Lehrer talked about how so many of these opportunities to succeed as writers would not have existed only a few decades before, I felt moved. I felt like, wow, we might have missed out on Shakespeare. I could not even image that.

Think of how much Shakespeare has contributed to theater and literature. It’s impossible for me to imagine either without his works. So of all of the sections of the book, this one made the greatest impression on me.

Another part of the book that made a big impression on me was the section where Lehrer talked about the guy who moonlighted as a bartender and came up with the idea of a bacon-infused old-fashioned.

My parents drank old-fashions when I was a kid, so I know exactly what they taste like. And I have to say, that I found the idea of a bacon-infused old-fashioned absolutely fascinating. But mostly it stayed with me because it was like I could taste the drink while I was reading the book. I’m not sure if every reader had the same experience. In fact, I saw that one book reviewer was really annoyed with this example in the book. But I have to say that it must have meant something to the author because he wrote about it so compellingly and memorably.

And, reluctantly, I have to admit that there was one more section of the book that has stayed with me. It was the part about the invention of The Swiffer. I don’t use a Swiffer Sweeper. I find them annoying because they force me to buy into a whole system of products that I don’t necessarily want to support. However, I was hooked on the Swiffer dusters until I hired a cleaning team that believes in a washable mop head and good old-fashioned rags for dusting. So when I need to do a little spot mopping, I grab some Mrs. Meyer’s spray (because it smells really good) and an old-fashioned sponge mop. And it’s good enough for me.

However, I found the discussion of how the idea for the Swiffer mop was born to be very interesting. And what I got out of it more than anything is that if you want to revolutionize anything, you need to think outside the box. And thinking outside the box might seem easy, but it’s always much harder than you might expect. And it requires a ton of observation and analysis. And that makes sense to me.

So how about you. Without looking back at your notes, what sections or images come back to you from Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer?

And thanks for joining the discussion!

I missed yesterday’s question, so I’m doing what any sensible person would do and combining two questions into one post.

Today, July 13th , we continue the discussion for the Beyond Busy Global Monthly Book Club’s fourth book.

We just finished reading Imagine: How Creativity Works is written by Johah Lehrer and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2012. Now we will spend three more days discussing the book, including today.

Anyone who has read our current discussion book can participate by commenting. You can also join our public BBGMBC Facebook group, if you would like to join us in reading one excellent quality book per month and then discussing it here.

And without further ado, let’s keep the discussion of Imagine: How Creativity Works by Johah Lehrer going.

I had a major disappointment with this book. There were no examples of creative women in the book. None. How many examples of creative men? And no women. He mentioned Julia Child in passing. Why not use her as one of the examples?

Lehrer could have interviewed Karen Karbo, an author who is working on her fourth book tackling the subject of creative women. Thus far she has covered Katherine Hepburn, Coco Chanel, Georgia O’Keeffe, and now Julia Child. Don’t any of these creative women sound like they could have expanded the conversation around a book like this?

I am disappointed in the author. But moreso I am disappointed in the editors and the publishing house. Surely there was a woman working at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt who noticed this oversight.

No?

Seriously?

So therefore the conclusion that we are to draw from this book is that creativity, or at least the only creativity worth talking about on a global level is accomplished by men and corporations. I guess we are out of luck, gals. And frankly I think that stinks. And I hope the author will amend this mistake the next time he writes a book for people not just men and corporations.

What about you? Did you notice that the book did not use women as examples of outstanding creative thinkers? I believe the few who were mentioned were mentioned in passing and were employees of corporations. But check my work. I’d love to be corrected.

Okay. Having said all of that. I still like the book. I think it’s well written. I think it’s thoughtful and creative. I was pulled in to stories about corporate creativity despite myself. And I agree with most of the conclusions.

So question number one is did you notice that there were barely any women cited in this book as examples and question number two is what do you think about this and how does it make you feel?

I think we are all clear about how I feel about it. Maybe I need a reality check, though. You tell me.

I am not interested in attacking Jonah Lehrer. I believe he has been attacked enough in recent days. And I would also suggest that this is not merely an issue in this book but an issue that seems to permeate the entire industry.

I’m interested in your thoughts and comments!

Today, July 9th , we begin the first discussion question for the Beyond Busy Global Monthly Book Club’s fourth book. We just finished reading Imagine: How Creativity Works is written by Johah Lehrer and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2012. Now we will spend seven days discussing the book.

This is yet another book by an author with a huge following. It’s the third  book of this type we have read so far. The first was Some Assembly Required by Anne Lamott. The second was Alison Bechdel’s Are You My Mother? (Our first selection, Cheryl Stayed’s Wild did not originally have a huge following…but it sure does now.)

Anyone who has read our current discussion book can participate by commenting. You can also join our public BBGMBC Facebook group, if you would like to join us in reading one excellent quality book per month and then discussing it here.

And without further ado, let’s kick off the discussion of Imagine: How Creativity Works written by Johah Lehrer.

I had not read any of Lehrer’s work prior to reading this book. Had you read any of Lehrer’s work prior to reading this book?

Did reading his work make you any more or less receptive to this book? Do you think it would have helped you as a reader of Imagine to have already read Lehrer’s book, How We Decide?

This author seems to have a specific style of writing where he investigates a person or company with a high level of creativity and then tries to crack that code or uncover the surprising aspect of the story.

What I notice about this approach, is that the stories themselves are so complex that I have trouble recalling them after I read them. But when I look back at my notes, I find that I have agreed with almost every single one of Lehrer’s conclusions about creativity…only I have made these discoveries through reflection on my own personal experience.

What did you think about the book’s beginning? Were you pulled right in or not?

What do you think about the pattern or rhythm of the way the book is written and the ideas unfold?

Do you have as much trouble as I do remembering what you just read? But do you also find yourself nodding along as you go?

You can respond to any or all of these questions, as you like.

It's time to read the second section, Summer, if you haven't already.

My latest book, The Writer’s Workout is always going to have timeless appeal because it is one of the only books I know of that talks about how writers can integrate all of their professional muscles: writing, selling, nichecraft, self-promotion, creative career development, and platform dynamics into one happy, satisfied career.

We are moving into a new economy where writers are becoming cottage creatives who hand-craft our own career success. Read The Writer’s Workout and become more empowered as a writer no matter what genres you write, no matter which readers you serve, no matter how far you have gone on the path of authentic self-expression.

Here’s what some of the latest Amazon reviewers have to say about the book:

I’ve enjoyed learning from Christina in person (she sponsors and speaks at the Northwest Authors Series at the Wilsonville Library in Oregon), but this book is like having her sitting across from me with a cuppa and her latest thought provoking advice. ~ BertaJ

Christina Katz has written the perfect book for both beginners and experienced writers. I haven’t found a problem yet that wasn’t resolved by turning to the Writer’s Workout. ~ ML Gomes

Katz pours her years of experience writing and teaching into the pages of The Writer’s Workout. Each essay reminds the writer to nurture his/her career with growth and prosperity in mind. ~ T L Cooper

Writers are notorious for tons of ideas with very little follow through. Christina cuts through the excuses and procrastination, delivering encouraging, kick-in-the-pants motivation to set your writing goals and WRITE. ~ Dana Britt

I have all of Christina Katz’s books and can never quite believe how much information she packs into them…No wonder the book’s spine is the color of gold. This book is a writer’s gold. ~ Samantha Ducloux Waltz

Find out for yourself why this book has a five-star ranking on Amazon. Order your copy today!

We are going to discuss the “Summer” section on Monday.

This  post is dedicated to the folks who attended the Chuckanut Writer’s Conference this past weekend.

It used to be that I would teach platform as a method of impressing gatekeepers like agents and editors.

And I still take agents and editors into account, but these days, I also teach platform building as business ownership, niche-development, and context creation.

And the reason is because it’s going to take years, not weeks or months, to build a sustainable, profitable platform, so you don’t want to build one just because you have a book coming out or just because you want to have a book coming out some day, because that’s not sustainable.

You want to develop and build a platform to scale your soul, as I describe in The Writer’s Workout in chapter 185:

When an individual expresses what he has to offer, he is expressing his soul. If you don’t exercise your soul, nobody else will know what you are passionate about but you. And if you don’t express your soul, you can’t share it. Therefore, don’t be angry if no one sees it or acknowledges it. You are the one hiding it. What’s stopping you from sharing?

Granted, expressing soul takes time and practice. To start out, most people feel comfortable sharing themselves in a safe space. After that the expression of your soul has to scale, meaning you don’t feel diminished by sharing yours with more people.

If you take a concept that is closely aligned with who and what you are and scale your soul’s expression on a mass level, aligning it with what is meaningful to others, you will accomplish a glorious thing. You can share what moves you most with the whole world.

The fact of the matter is that writers are cottage creatives today. I’m not sure that anyone else teaches platform development in quite this way. It takes a lot of patience and a desire to get to know writers and work with them over time. It takes an understanding that writers today are individuals, who are evolving, not just “talent,” who can be controlled and manipulated.

In growing and steering your platform growth, you need to know intuitively when to say no and when to say yes. Here’s a bit of what I had to say about this in chapter 142 of The Writer’s Workout: Seek Variety

Writers rarely do the exact same things every day. Writers today are cottage creatives. You are the talent, the idea person, the troubleshooter, the coach, the taskmaster, the producer, the trainer, the accountant, or whatever else you need to do on any given day.

The mutable quality of a writing career allows it and you to grow and thrive in directions that may have otherwise gone unexplored. If you only do one thing, you might feel crabby if the economy starts to tank in a way that tips income away from you. Change is inevitable; very few people write and only write in the present world. We are living in the gig economy now, we may as well face it.

But the good news is, you don’t have to be merely a freelancer. You can be a creative. You can script your own career. You can write the soundtrack, the promos, and the copy. You can write talks, curriculum, bios, blog posts, and workshops. Despite how it may appear from the outside, you can be fairly consistent in the variety of things you do over time, in any combination that works for you.

I talk extensively about how to become a cottage creative in The Writer’s Workout. No other book takes this writercentric point of view. No other book tells you what you need to consider as a writer and a business person and a business partner.

What I know about platform development is that it’s not merely about selling a product, like a book, so you should not build it around the selling a product like a book.

I want you to think of The David before Michaelangelo released it from a huge slab of marble.

We are each like that blank slab of marble, only we are not waiting for someone else to lure us out.

We have to lure ourselves out. Coax ourselves out. Go public.

Of course, you are going to need help. You are going to need wise teachers, positive examples, and serious writer friends.

If your teachers are not wise and your examples are not positive and your writer friends are not serious, then these folks may not be helping you succeed…whatever success means to you.

If you want to be successful, you have to be allowed to become successful.

You have to let yourself express yourself.

You have to work hard to alchemize what you express so it can transform from gobbledy-gook into something of substance that is worth sharing.

And you can learn how in The Writer’s Workout, where I weave all the success strategies any writer needs into one book.

Get Known Before the Book Deal is the companion book to accompany Build Your Author Platform (available everywhere books are sold)

Effective immediately: My 8-chapter Self-study Workbook Build Your Author Platform is permanently discounted from $39.99 to $29.99.

You can read more about the workbook here.

I am committed to keeping platform identification and development simple and constructive for writers, so writers can keep their focus where it belongs: on developing a body of quality work over time.

I think you will find all of my advice, whether in my blog, in my books, or coming out of my mouth, to be some of the most sensible advice you will encounter for writers of all stripes.

Thank you for supporting my work!

I had a lovely time at the Chuckanut Writer’s Conference this weekend.

But I also encountered, en masse, a very unfortunate habit that writers have and that is demonizing what you think you’re not.

Here’s how demonizing works.

• We think commercial success of our writing is selling out…so we demonize it.
• We think independent bookstores are the best…so we demonize other ways of selling books.
• We think our political views are superior…so we demonize other political views.

We think our quirky, introverted attitudes are more safe than risking sharing ourselves in a straightforward way with others (otherwise known as putting yourself and your work out there), so we demonize it. We imply that sharing your work makes you less of an “artist.”

You don’t have to be an “artist.” In fact, I would argue that trying to be an artist is going get in the way of creating your best work.

The obsessive compulsion to be “An Artist” can lead to massive self-consciousness, a bad habit of posturing, and a penchant for grandstanding.

Go for purity instead. Find your truth and speak that. Avoid bandwagons of any kind.

At one point when I was speaking on a panel, I said that I don’t understand the necessity of creating “us vs them” thinking in the context that is supposed to be about supporting the creative process.

Going along with the crowd won’t make you a more creative thinker. But it will likely make you a less creative thinker. And less open. And more fearful and paranoid.

And eventually you will take less risks and that will reinforce the perspective of the suffering artist that some writers seem to love so well.

I’ll have more to say about how to not fall into this trap next time. I promised to recap some advice and share some links, and so I will.

In the meantime, I will leave you with this question:

When a person says or implies that another person or organization or company is evil, is that true, or is there actually something evil about implying that something other than yourself is evil in order to elevate yourself?

Is there a name for needing to bring someone else down in order to make yourself feel better?

Can you feel good about yourself and your work without this falling into unfortunate habit?

I hope so.

Because I am a teacher and I am married to a teacher and we have a school-aged daughter, I tend to think and plan in school years rather than calendar years.

And because the school year is over, I feel like rounding up what I accomplished this past year.

I dedicate all of my work to writers, especially to writers who juggle professional writing with family responsibilities, and even more especially to moms who hold play such a central role in families.

As I round up my work from the past year, I am acknowledging and celebrating all that I have done. This is something too few writers do, in my opinion. We get so busy chasing the next gig that we forget to look back and appreciate and learn from what we have already done.

Why not follow my lead and conduct an inventory of what you’ve accomplished this past year. Also make note of who you serve, and how well you are serving based on what you accomplished. You’ll get a snapshot of how committed and effective you were over the span of a year.

Here’s a review of what I worked on in the 2011-2012 academic year:

Classes Taught

I have been teaching year-round classes for eleven straight years. This year, I taught five rounds of classes from August 2011 – June 2012, including:

Writing & Publishing the Short Stuff
Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform
Pitching Practice: Write Six Queries In Six Weeks
Micro-Publishing For Mom Writers
60 Ways To Flex Your Content & Prosper In Your Niche

In the fall, I will add one new class, available only to my most advanced students. All of my current classes will also be updated and improved.

Dream Teams Coached

I have been coaching writers in coaching groups since I coached two rounds of three Dream Teams at three levels:

• Writing and Publishing First Articles
• Writing Articles, Querying & Platform Building
• Advanced Writing & Publishing Dream Team

All three levels of Dream Teams start back up on August 1st. They are filling up quickly.

Why do writers take my Dream Teams? Maybe you should ask this writer.

Class Scholarships Given

I awarded ten scholarships with a value of $275 each for a total value of: $2,750.00 to students who took and completed Writing & Publishing the Short Stuff and Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform this past year.

Writing/Articles

• Build Your Author Platform Self-study Course for Writer’s Digest Books September & December Premium Collection
• “50 Simple Ways To Build Your Platform in Five Minutes A Day” for Writer’s Digest
• “The Tech-Savvy Writer: Embrace Technology, Establish Your Online Presence & Earn More, feature-length article for AWP’s Job List (coming in July)
• How To Write A How-To Article in Six Easy Steps for Writer’s Digest Magazine
• Twelve new columns for the Willamette Writer’s Newsletter (half-way done)
• 35+ parenting articles published all over the US and in Canada

Micro-publishing Coaching & Developmental E-book Editing

• What To Expect From Your Adoptive Teen by Judy M. Miller
• Ready, Set, Sleep by Malia Jacobson
• Late Onset Hearing Loss by Krysty Krywko
• Mother-Daughter Book Club Meeting Planner Guides by Cindy Hudson
• The New Nut-Free Mom by Jenny Kales
• Mama Insider by Abigail Green
• Captain of her Crew by Jennifer Schile (coming soon here)
• 31 Days To A More Creative You by Dylan Klempner (coming soon here)

Keynotes

I gave two keynotes this past year:

• Missouri Writers Guild
• Mad Anthony in Ohio

Presented For

I presented workshops and panel discussions for the following organizations:

• Willamette Writers Monthly Meeting in Portland, Oregon
• Willamette Writers Monthly Meeting in Salem, Oregon
• The Writer’s Digest Conference in New York City
• Writing In Tough Times Mini-Conference in Portland, Oregon
• The Associated Writing Program Conference in Chicago, Illinois
• Oregon Writer’s Colony Conference in Portland, Oregon
• Missouri Writers Guild in Chesterfield, Missouri
• Mad Anthony in Hamilton, Ohio
• The Chuckanut Writers Conference in Bellingham, Washington
• Coming up: The Pacific Northwest Writers Association in Seattle, WA
• Coming up: Willamette Writers, Portland, Oregon
• Coming up: Mid-Valley Willamette Writers, Eugene, Oregon
• Coming up: Wordstock Festival, Portland, Oregon
• Coming up: Tigard Library, Tigard, Oregon

The Northwest Author Series

I planned and hosted the fifth successful season of The Northwest Author Series with eight terrific writers including:

• Jeff Baker
• Emily Chenoweth
• Myself
• Karen Karbo
• Bill Johnson
• Pamela Hill Smith
• Kevin Sampsell
• Heather Vogel Frederick

It takes weeks each summer to plan the next Northwest Author Series. Each of the eight events takes about three-four hours on Sunday afternoons, requires several additional hours each month for administrative work.

I am Featured or Reviewed In

• Tweet Magazine Interview
• Quoted on the back of the 2012 Writer’s Market (last chance to get this edition before the new editions come out)
• Stop, Drop, and Micro-Publish guest post for the Amwriting blog
• A personal essay in Robert Lee Brewer’s blog, “When All Hell Broke Loose and I Got My Life Back“
• Writing & Motherhood in Christina Katz’ Writer Mama

The Writer’s Workout Is Featured Or Reviewed In

In December 2012, I launched The Writer’s Workout, 366 Tips, Tasks & Techniques from Your Writing Career Coach. Here is where the book has been featured:

• About.com
• Hope Clark’s Blog
• Jungle Red Writers
• Treated & Released, Agent Robin Mizell’s Blog (part 1, part 2 & part 3)
• Jane Friedman’s blog: Platform & Social Media Must Not Be Your Center
• Alison Winn Scotch: Bouncing Back From Disappointment
• Red Sofa Literary: Dawn Frederick
• Mother-Daughter Bookclub: Read The Writer’s Workout Every Day
• Writer Unboxed: The Platform Workout
• The Writer’s Lens (with video)
• The ASJA newsletter
• The Oregon Writer’s Colony newsletter
• The PNWA website
• The Willamette Writers newsletter
• Dartmouth Alumni Magazine
• Nathalie’s Notes: The Writer’s Workout as Magic 8-Ball
• Writer’s In Business
• Dallas Woodburn’s Writing Life

Writer’s Digest Exclusives

The Writer’s Workout Poster Download

Three Chapters from The Writer’s Workout

Balancing Motherhood with Writing: The Benefits of Freelancing

Four Key Revision Tips

How To Build An Author Platform & Begin Your Writing Career

Five Tips for Fearless Writing

Notes From My Talks

• Hannah Burke on my Northwest Author Series Preso on The Writer’s Workout
• William Hertling’s Notes from my Willamette Writers Preso on Flabby Habits Writers Can Lose
• How To Better Market Your Book on Writer’sDigest.com

Audio Readings

• The Introduction from The Writer’s Workout
• Chapter 119 from The Writer’s Workout

Online Events The Writer Mama Every Day In May Book Giveaway

In May 2012, for the fifth time since 2007, I gave away 31+ books, this time for the second year in a row, all by mom authors.

You can view the complete list of authors and book winners here.

The Global Publication Party for The Writer’s Workout

On January 10th, I hosted an online party for The Writer’s Workout with three online teaching modules.

During the flash class, I coached writers in every genre on three topics related to writing success in 2012:

• How to Assess The Power of Your Writing Portfolio (audio coaching)
• How to Build Your Best Bio for 2012 (audio coaching)
• How to Discover Your Unique Platform Dynamic (audio coaching)

Leap Day Party

I kicked off a big one-day Leap Day celebration for The Writer’s Workout, offering ten great reasons to buy it now.

Extra-curricular Beyond Busy Monthly Book Club

In March 2012, I started a book club. Cheryl Strayed’s book Wild had just come out and I knew I would never make time to read it even though I truly wanted to. I had a hunch, if I started a book club, I’d have to read it. So I did.

We are on our fourth book now. So far, everything we’ve read is nonfiction, but we have plans for fiction one of these months.

March: Wild by Cheryl Strayed

April: Some Assembly Required by Anne Lamott with Sam Lamott

May: Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel

June: Imagine, How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer

Writers On The Move Facebook Group

A year ago, I start a Facebook group called Writers On The Move. Today the group has 191 members.

The group is place for sedentary writers to inspire each other to move and eat more healthily.

I used the group to help motivate me to run from May 2011-October 2011. I never would have imagined running again. I never even liked running. But now, after revisiting several sedentary months, I’m using the group to run again. I’m up to 2.8 miles so far and my intention is to run three times a week.

236 Movies About Writers and the Writing Life

I updated my list of 236 Movies About Writers and the Writing Life (and it’s time again in July, so please make additional suggestions here)

Books By Women Writers for High School Students

I also updated my list of Books By Women Writers for High School Students (and it’s time again in August, please make additional suggestions here)

May 1st: Claire Cook gave away a copy of Wallflower in Bloom

Congrats, Diane!

May 2nd: Kelly James-Enger gave away Writer For Hire (nonfiction, how-to) and an extra bonus The Honesty Index (fiction, ebook)

Congrats, L’Tanya!

May 3rd: Katie Davis gave away Little Chicken’s Big Day (children’s) and an extra bonus: How To Promote Your Children’s Book (nonfiction, how-to, ebook)

Congrats, Deb of WriterUp!

May 4th: Kate Hopper gave away a copy of Use Your Words: A Writing Guide for Mothers (nonfiction, how-to)

Congrats, Sara!

May 5th: Erica Bauermeister gave away Joy For Beginners (fiction)

Congrats, Mercedes!

May 6th: Judy M. Miller gave away What To Expect From Your Adopted Tween (nonfiction, ebook)

Congrats, Mar Junge!

May 7th: KC Klein gave away Dark Future (fiction, dark, futuristic)

Congrats, ML Gomes!

May 8th: Pamela Smith Hill gave away a copy of Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Writer’s Life (biography)

Congrats, Carol Busch!

May 9th: Ericka Lutz is giving away The Edge of Maybe (novel)

Congrats, Barbara McDowell Whitt!

May 10th: Malia Jacobson gave away Ready, Set, Sleep: 50 Ways To Help Your Child Sleep So You Can Sleep Too (e-book)

Congrats, Heather L. Lee!

May 11th: Jessica Paige Morrell gave away a copy of Thanks, But This Isn’t for Us: A (Sort of) Compassionate Guide to Why Your Writing is Being Rejected (nonfiction, how-to)

Congrats, Cara Holman!

and

Congrats, Beth Fornauf!

May 12th: Cindy Hudson gave away Mother-Daughter Book Club Meeting Planner Guides: Collection One and Book By Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs

Congrats, Mar Junge!

May 13th: Christina Katz gave away a copy of Writer Mama with a bonus e-book Author Mama

Congrats, Cara Holman and Dee!

May 14th: Heather Vogel Frederick gave away Once Upon A Toad (children’s middle grade novel)

Congrats, Suzanne Holyde!

May 15th: Krysty Krywko gave away a copy of Late-onset Hearing Loss: A Parent’s Perspective (nonfiction, e-book)

Congrats, Lorraine Wilde!

May 16th: Heather Snow gave away Sweet Enemy, A Veiled Seduction Novel (fiction, romance)

Congrats, Pattie!

May 17th: Janet Boyer gave away Tarot In Reverse (nonfiction)

Congrats, Mary Lou Gomes!

May 18th: Hope Clark gave away a copy of Lowcountry Bribe (fiction, mystery)

Congrats, Ljohnsontravels12!

May 19th: Laura Laing gave away Math for Grownups (nonfiction)

Congrats, Mary Lou!

May 20th: Christina Katz gave away a copy of Get Known Before the Book Deal (nonfiction, how-to)

Congrats, Cynthavi Love!

May 21st: Nina Amir gave away How To Blog A Book with a foreword from Christina Katz (nonfiction, how-to)

Congrats, Cara Holman!

May 22nd: Natalie Serber gave away a copy of Shout Her Lovely Name (fiction, short stories)

Congrats, Mary Lou Gomes!

May 23rd: Christina Katz gave away a copy of Build Your Author Platform e-workbook (nonfiction, how-to)

Congrats, Mar Junge!

May 24th: Kristina Riggle gave away Keepsake (fiction, novel)

Congrats, Lisa S!

May 25th: Abigail Green gave away Mama Insider: Laughing (And Sometimes Crying) All The Way Through Pregnancy, Birth and the First Three Months (e-book, humorous nonfiction)

Congrats, Heidi Smith Luedtke!

May 26th:Anthology Day! Cara Holman, Lorraine Wilde, and Lela Davidson are participating writers.

Congrats, MLTCG! You won Women Writing on Family

Congrats, Poppyherrin! Easy to Love but Hard to Raise

Congrats, Lisa S! Chicken Soup for New Moms

May 27th: Mariam Kobras gave away a copy of her award-winning The Distant Shore: Book One of the Stone Trilogy (fiction, romance)

Congrats, Mar!

May 28th: Allison Winn Scotch gave away a copy of The Song Remains The Same (fiction, novel) More info

Congrats, Judy M. Miller!

May 29th: Lisa Schroeder gave away It’s Raining Cupcakes More info and Sprinkles and Secrets More info (middle grade fiction novels)

Congrats, C.L!

May 30th: Christina Katz gave away one set of her three books by Writer’s Digest: Writer Mama More info , Get Known Before the Book Deal More info, and The Writer’s Workout More info (all nonfiction, how-to)

Congrats, Chris Blake!

May 31st: Karen Karbo gave away a set of her three kick-as women books: How To Hepburn More info, The Gospel According to Coco Chanel More info, and How Georgia Became O’Keeffe More info (nonfiction)

Congrats, Dana Britt!

Here’s what I’ve been up to these past few months…

My Interview with Cheryl Strayed is in the July/August Writer’s Digest

My Article, “The Tech-Savvy Writer: Embrace Technology, Establish Your Online Presence, and Earn More” will appear in the July AWP Job List (Members Only)

I am quoted in an article on platform development by Nikki Gardner in the summer issue of the WORDS newsletter for the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

I will be quoted in an article on boosting writing productivity by Leslie Wyatt in the upcoming 2013 edition of Writer’s Market.

My Article, “Best Summer Ever, Amp Up The Creative Family Fun” appeared in Montgomery & Eastern Shore Parents

My Article, “Inexpensive Backyard Fun: 36 Ways To Spend the Sunny Days of Summer” appeared in Treasure Valley Parent and online for Fredericksburg Parent.

My Article, “Beyond Golf Balls & Coffee Mugs: 90 Father’s Day Gift Ideas,” appeared in Flagler/Volusia Parent.

And Sunday, I was quoted in an article in the Bellingham Herald by Dean Kahn, “Changes in publishing world mean writers must become more adept at self-promotion”

I’m headed to Bellingham, Washington this weekend, where I’ll be presenting a session on Self-promotion smarts for every writer and appearing on a panel discussing Blogging, Platform & Social Media.

Look forward to seeing everyone who will be attending the Chuckanut Writer’s Conference hosted by Village Books and Whatcom Community College!

As I travel along in my writing life, I often stumble on things–products, services, books–that I think would be of interest to others.

So don’t be surprised if you catch me dropping some suggestions here and there. I promise to only mention things I think will enrich your creative life.

Here are a few of my new favorite things for writers:

Crabtree & Evelyn Citron, Honey, Coriander Products

One of the hotels I stayed at for a conference–I think it was in New York for the Writer’s Digest Conference–gave samples of these products in the rooms. I wanted to drink them all, they smelled so good. Kudos to Crabtree & Evelyn for putting together such a pitch-perfect scent.

I’ve used what made it home a couple times since. And I have shared them with my daughter a couple of times, and I can’t help notice are powerfully mood-shifting.

I’m linking to an assortment here, so you can see what they have, but naturally, you can find these products in many combinations at various price-points.

You should probably also know that I have a thing for coriander. So lemon and honey on their own probably would not have swayed me. But add in the coriander and, oh my gosh, an amazing scent! Any of these products would make a great summer gift (especially for yourself).

A New Favorite Pen

I hosted Heather Vogel Frederick at the Northwest Author Series and discovered we share a love of Apple products. While we were discussing the latest in laptop advances, Heather shared a couple of other products with me. One of them was something simple. A pen. But as a writer, I love a good pen. And this is not just a good pen; it’s a great pen.

Check out the Pentel EnerGel. Heather gave me one in purple with a 0.7 metal tip and I LOVE it. I love just anything in purple for that matter. And if you do too, check out these pens.

GRID-IT! The Ultimate Organizer

Heather also introduced me to this helpful organizer for people like us who have too many gadgets that have too many gizmos. I just thought this was brilliant when I saw it. So I got one to help me organize my gizmos for my gadgets. And I’m thrilled with it. Any visual person would love it. Check it out. It even comes in colors! (I wish I had known that.)

Mother-Daughter Book Clubs, Anyone?

Something else I highly recommend you buy this summer is Heather’s Mother-Daughter Book Club book. I just ordered the rest of the series to read with my daughter this summer.

By the way, summer is a great time to consider starting up a Mother-Daughter Book Club, if you have a daughter anywhere from 8-18. I have to say I was skeptical that I could make the time to really do justice to participating in a mom-daughter book club with Samantha, who is now ten years old.

But you know what? It’s not hard at all because all the moms and daughters spread the responsibilities out for hosting equally. And I love reading book with my daughter that spark conversations on tricky topics. We’ve been reading the books out loud as a family and this has been working out great for us.

If you are on the fence, I highly recommend Cindy Hudson’s book, Book By Book, The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs to help you make a more informed decision.

And PS, to get ready for our night of hosting, I purchased Cindy’s Book Discussion Guide, and it made all the difference. So, whether you are thinking of a book club or you are in one, know that Cindy Hudson has a wealth of resources for busy mom book club hostesses.

That’s it for now. Stay tuned for more favorite things for writers coming soon.

Yes, I will be signing all three of my books at the following three conferences. Or feel free to bring your copies to be signed!

I look forward to meeting you!

Friday – Saturday, June 22nd & 23rd: The Chuckanut Writer’s Conference

See you in my old stomping grounds—Bellingham, Washington!
Locations: Whatcom Community College, Heiner Auditorium & Village Books in Fairhaven
Presentation, Panel and Attending Entire Conference

Session: Self-promotion smarts for every writer

Panel: Blogging, Platform & Social Media Panel

Full conference schedule
More info and registration

Friday – Sunday, July 19 – 22nd: Pacific Northwest Writer’s Conference

See you in Seattle, Washington!

Seattle, Washington at the Hilton Seattle Airport & Conference Center

Author Signing Party: Friday, July 20th

1.5-hour Workshop: Saturday, July 21st, 2:00-3:00 pm
Mailbox Full of Money: Micro-publish Your Way From Beginner to Book Deal

Closing Seminar Featuring Christina Katz
3-hour Workshop: Sunday, July 22nd, 2012 10:00 – 1:00 pm
Topic: How You Do Anything is How You Do Everything
Seminar followed by book signing
Location: Emerald Ballroom More info and register (conference was sold-out last year, so register early)

Friday- Sunday, August 3 – 5, Willamette Writers Conference

See you in Portland, Oregon!

Portland, Oregon at The Sheraton Airport Hotel

Sunday, 10:30 – 12:00 Discover Your Specialty, Deepen Your Niche and Earn

Sunday, 1:30-3:00 Crafting Better Nonfiction Article Queries

I will also review nonfiction book proposals
More info and register