Tip O'Day #370 - Succeed by Helping Others

Guest blogger Terri Marie on almost living the dream.

Giving up a profession to write full-time as an Indie author was a scary step. Even so, I refused to let the dream inside me slip away. I had to climb so many mountains, make plenty of mistakes, shed lots of tears, and threaten my computer many times. Luckily, I never threw it! My mountains have decreased in size, but I still continue to climb them, just not by myself.

Doing everything on my own was my biggest mistake. I'm not talking about self-publishing. Writing was the easy part. I realized I had no idea what was involved in marketing, which is extremely important. I searched the Internet daily and found great information, but that wasn't the complete answer either. My sales barely crawled. Doing everything on my own wasn't getting me anywhere. It wasn't until I reached out to, and celebrated with, other authors, that things began to change.

Promoting the work of other writers is one of the most rewarding things I do. I have a core group of very successful author friends that give me insight, their experience, and tons of courage. Watching my friends rise in the ranks is so much fun! If you don't help other writers, you're really hurting yourself. Eventually, I found my work being cross promoted. My success began to grow, and my enjoyment in this venture skyrocketed.

Never give up on your dream. Connect with an author if you loved their work. Be a writer, but don't forget to be a fan. I love to communicate with and get to know my readers, and they love it when I bring great books to their attention. I started out with one reader and one author friend. Now I have many. What a wonderful and talented group of people. If you want success, carry other authors with you on your journey and never hesitate to go on theirs with them!

You can find Marie’s books at her Amazon author’s page.

Tip O'Day #302 - How Readers Pick a Book

Periodically, I like to share comments from readers about how they select their next book to beg, borrow or buy.

Amos Lassen - I try to review every book I am sent, of which there are many. If I’m thinking of buying a book, I read the blurbs and scan the sample pages a bit. Usually I will buy a book that I have read good things about if the concept appeals to me.

Laurie Jenkins - For me, besides time, the most important factor in my decision to read/review a book comes down to genre, then the blurb, then reading a bit of the sample. It's tough. Like most these days, I never have enough time to read all the books I'd really like to read, so I try not wasting time on ones I don't think I'll enjoy. It is getting more and more difficult to meet all my review commitments so my resolution for this year is to say "no" more often and try not to feel so guilty doing so.

Clara Brown - What makes me choose to read one book over the other is a creative plot. Right now I’m reading a horror story written from the POV of a giant flesh-eating Venus flytrap. Not only was the story well written, but how many Venus fly traps do you know?

Dixon Rice – One thing I love about the writing community is how helpful everybody is, even to clueless newbies. When I see there is a new book from someone who’s been active in online author groups, someone who posts thoughtful reviews, someone who is supportive of other writers – that’s a book I’ll take a chance on.

Tip O'Day #253 - From Real Life to Fiction

Guest blogger Kathy Rowe on fiction “torn from the headlines.”

I agree with the recent guest post on Wredheaded Writer about taking true life events and turning them into fiction. Actually I take it a bit farther. In my Dragonslayers Saga, I take real world events and turn them into a coulda-shoulda-woulda type of story taking place on a governmental scale. What would happen if a new, deadly explosive was discovered that bomb dogs and other testing devices couldn't detect? How would terrorists exploit this technology? How much damage could they do on our home soil? How could the government stop them? That’s the premise for Mind Games.

On a closer note, many of my characters suffer from PTSD. That's normal for a group of fighting men (and one woman), but I approach it from an intimate perspective - my husband is retired Special Forces and suffers badly from PTSD so I work that into my characters in a very personal way. My goal is to help civilians understand what veterans go through, and that they will never be the same. That is a recurring theme in Battle Rhythm.

To learn more about Kathy, check out her blog here.

Dixon says: Before I started daily blog entries on January 11, 2011 (1-11-11!!), I had a handful of followers & not much of a plan. I thought it would be interesting to share the knowledge of some of the fine writers – both seasoned pros & newbies – that I’ve met online, so over 75% of posts have been guest comments from other authors, editors, reviewers and readers. Now that my first e-book, The Assassins Club, has been published, I plan more posts about what I learned during its creation. Also, I’ve found that “excerpt exchanges” with other authors are a kick. However, guest post will still be in the majority. I think we have a lot to learn from one another.

Happy New Years!