Going for it.

In 2018 I started my career as a journalist. I excitedly packed up and shipped myself away from Vancouver, a city I’d lived in since I was nineteen. 

When I was young, I kind of assumed that only a few select and lucky people got paid to do things they loved. So I was thrilled to be living the dream of watching and reporting on sports, movies, art, and entertainment all while getting paid. 

The very last thing I expected was to be derailed by a global pandemic. 

When I left my job in April of 2020, I was thinking this pandemic would last a couple months - max. We all know what those couple months have turned into. I daresay I felt a tad cheated. But I knew that life must go on and I found myself searching for a new way to make money, or as some people call it "make a living."

Someone wise once told me something they had been told by another wise person: "If you worry too much, you'll worry your life away." Well, I have no intentions of worrying my life away. 

I spent much of the new free time I had (thanks Covid) thinking about what I could do to make a living and enjoy said living. I clued in that there are certain things I like: writing, listening, and creating. Not only do I like them, I find that I'm good at some parts, very good at other parts, and am interested in learning how to get better. 

Some friends started a podcast. And it was good. Now, I’ve listened to many podcasts, often thinking what I would do to make them better: change the intro music, create a smoother segue between topics, end on a higher note, or just plain end it sooner. 

What I learned from journalism school and my time working in the news field was how to convey information, whether it be fun, educational, or silly, in a tight and concise way. 

I knew that those skills could really help me transition into my new career field.

Producing podcasts is like working on a puzzle. Certain parts fit perfectly while other parts need a little time to develop and other pieces’ usages will become clearer as the puzzle nears completion.

The nice part is that it really can be as easy as adding two pieces of audio together, adding some music, and a couple fades and then poof: magic. Other times, trying to find the right millisecond to cut or having a client ask for each of their “ums” and lip smacks to be edited out, will make you want to cut out your eardrums. 

But that’s the ups and downs of working in this field.

I can’t wait to experience more. 

 Mack Britton is a podcaster and content creator living in Vancouver, BC. He enjoys spending time with friends and family, throwing himself into movies, music, pop culture, and taking short walks on the beach with a light lager. A former journalist in BC's Okanagan, Mack hopes to combine his joy for sports, news, and social issues with the enjoyment of producing podcasts. 

Check out the podcast he currently produces at https://sicker-than-your-average-health-show.simplecast.com/ 

Does a writer ever feel organized? Especially this year. Massive changes in teaching (my day job), isolation with my family, managing mental and physical health and so much fear—I’ve always thought of my brain as a sponge, but it reached saturation point. I knew I was going to have to make changes to preserve my creativity and productivity.

In order to know what I could accomplish in a given time period, I needed to learn my patterns. I committed to actually using my Happy Planner (stickers! yay!) to set goals and track my word count. I identified a reasonable weekly target. Who knew checking off little boxes would be remarkably motivating? I looked forward to recording my daily total, so it was easier not to get distracted. This meant that when I saw a dream opportunity come up (writing for Sarina Bowen’s World of True North), I was able to confidently pitch an idea and know I could follow through. It also helped me better schedule my submission dates on a new Harlequin contract. (Before this, I was always guessing about it, which led to some stressful moments.) 

Motivation has been critical, and let’s be honest, since last March, some days it didn’t happen. For the days my brain was working, I needed to treat my writing time as necessary and worthy. That meant asking my family not to interrupt me when my headphones were on and learning not to feel guilty about that. During moments where I had time to write but focus seemed impossible, I did fifteen to twenty-minute sprints with one of my critique partners—short and achievable, but enough to get 250-400 words in, and to see progress.

During a time where it felt (still feels!) like nothing is solid, using my planner and insisting that my writing time is sacred helped me not only stay organized, but grow.

Raised in a small town on Vancouver Island, Laurel grew up skiing and boating by day and reading romances under the covers by flashlight at night. Ever committed to the proper placement of the Canadian “eh,” she loves to write books with snapping sexual tension and second chances. She lives outside Vancouver with her law-talking husband and two daughters. At least half her diet is made up of tea. In 2021, Laurel will be joining Sarina Bowen's World of True North with Turnabout, a second-chance MM romance. She's also thrilled to be writing a Christmas rom com with Dee J Holmes as part of the Holiday Fake-out anthology and will be taking readers back to Sutter Creek, Montana with a new wedding-lodge trilogy starting in November.

Laurel's newsletter followers have first-hand access to news and freebies! Sign up today and get an exclusive Sutter Creek novella.

http://www.subscribepage.com/d5a2t5
 

Come say hello and follow on your favourite platform!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurelgreerauthor/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurelgreerauthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17017842.Laurel_Greer

 Laurel's books:

Sutter Creek, Montana: https://laurelgreer.com/sutter-creek/

Turnabout: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56485515-turnabout

Holiday Fake-out: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57108968-holiday-fakeout

Laurel has created a Rafflecopter just for readers of 

All That Editing.

Two readers will have an opportunity to win a copy of Snowbound with the Sheriff. 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/cb1032903/?

The winners will be notified by email. Giveaway runs from March 2 to  March 15, 2021. 

Picture it. Seattle. Mid-2020. (You read that like Sophia from Golden Girls was starting a story about Sicily back in the day, right? Good. Because that’s exactly how I said it.)

When the pandemic first swept the world, I was craving a way to connect. Writing conferences and reader events were being canceled for the foreseeable future. There were no more happy hours or easy get-togethers with friends to work out plot problems or share new books we’d read. I found myself craving the ability to invite people over to my garden (dubbed the Revenge Garden…but that’s a different story).

And then I had an idea. I could invite people over – virtually. I tossed around different ideas. A book club? Author interviews? I wanted something fun. Something different. Something that was an easy way for people to participate when convenient for them. Then I remembered a librarian friend telling me how much she enjoyed a live reading I did during a book event, so I settled on that. 

Live readings from the garden. From the Revenge Garden.

Readings from the Revenge Garden was born.

The first couple of readings were just me, sharing some of my favorite authors’ stories. I didn’t know what I was doing. How was I going to invite readers to join me each week? How was it going to grow? I didn’t know yet, but I was having fun.  I didn’t really have any expectations. I just wanted to connect with people over books. Romance books specifically. All genres of romance.

I shared the readings to my Instagram stories, but they disappeared after 24 hours so I kept exploring and tweaking. I fumbled to learn about IGTV and how to share the preview of the videos to my feed. Friends pitched in to help with lighting and, little by little, word started to spread. More people showed up each week and I realized I could share not only my favorite authors, but my friends’ favorites as well. 

I wanted to meet new authors and readers. There are so many wonderful authors out there, I couldn’t wait to schedule them for readings and share their stories with the people who were regularly coming to the readings. I invited friends and acquaintances, and those friends invited their friends and acquaintances.

Much to my surprise, people were as excited as I was. A handful of people tune in live each Sunday, and more watch the recordings through the week. Generally, the audience is anywhere between 40-100 people in a week and I’m booking the readings into May of 2021 (that will be our 100th episode, which is so wild!). I’ve played with ideas about how to continue to expand, and I might in the future, but right now I’m just having fun discovering all these fabulous stories.

All in all, it was a simple idea. I just wanted to get together with friends to talk about books. That’s how it started. Talking about books with my friends. So, each Sunday at 10 am Pacific, I head to the garden (which has led to some interesting moments during these winter months) and read from some amazing authors’ books. 

It’s not high tech or super polished, but it’s a connection. A way for readers and writers to connect when so many of our options to get together had to be canceled. Amid the craziness of 2020, finding this way to connect has been one of the biggest joys of the year and I’ve been thrilled to share it. Every now and then I put out a call on my Instagram or Facebook page, letting people know I have openings for upcoming readings. Authors sign up for dates that work for them, sending me their covers and a ~1000-ish word excerpt. 

If you’re interested in having me read your work, I’d be happy to. Just let me know. 

Because, if we’ve learned nothing this year, it’s that we’re all in this together and we should grab joy where we can.

Carmen Cook grew up in Montana, riding horses and dreaming of life beyond the mountains. As soon as she could, she started traveling, heading across the country for college before backpacking through Europe. She then moved to the Pacific Northwest, where she promptly threw down some pretty deep roots by getting married and having kids. It wasn’t long before her imagination started running away with her and she began to write. Each Sunday she hosts Readings from the Revenge Garden on IGTV. Follow #ReadingsFromTheRevengeGarden to stay up to date on all the readings and featured authors.

Visit www.carmencooknovels.com to sign up for her newsletter to keep in touch.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carmencookauthor/

 Instagram: 

https://www.instagram.com/carmencook_/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/carmen-cook

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17314882.Carmen_Cook

Books in the Sapphire Creek Series:

Coming In Hot

Coming Around

Coming Home(pre-order now)

Coming to Call (releasing in 2021)

I spent a long time wishing I had red hair because from Pippi Longstocking to Anne of Green Gables to Cat Crawfield, redheads in books always seemed to have the best luck when it came to stumbling into adventure.

I've always been a writer, and most of my first stories involved a plucky redhead. But at some point, I went from wishing I could change to longing to see more girls like me colliding with the supernatural - spirited away from the daily mundane, become warriors or discover latent magical powers, or otherwise save the day. I was convinced these were stories just for me and that no one else would be interested in them. 

I was in my late teens when I discovered authors Octavia Butler and LA Hunter, which led to Seressia Glass, NK Jemisin, and Nalini Singh. 

By my twenties, I was writing the heroines I longed to read consistently into my fantasy worlds and thinking that maybe other people might want to read them too.

When I moved to Prague with my husband, the pieces came together. I fell in love with a city and with an idea of a world in which gods lived as unseen forces among humans, and dancers could call on their power. Among the inspirations for my heroine was Misty Copeland, the ABT's first African American principal dancer. 

Death's Dancer came in a fury of NaNoWriMo words that left me exhausted and satisfied. It was the story that I'd always wanted to tell and the one I longed to read.

Four years later, the world that began in Death's Dancer has grown into four books with a cast of characters that resemble the world around me. 

Jasmine Silvera writes about things that go bump in the night, including headboards. 

Binding Shadows, the first book in the prequel Tooth & Trilogy series,  is a semi-finalist in the 2020 Swoon Awards, where readers can vote for their favorite happily ever after. 

Conjuring Moonlight, the second in the Tooth & Spell trilogy comes out in 2021. 

Why might an author need an author’s assistant? Many authors want to write rather than manage backend tasks. Being a published author involves much more than writing, and it can be downright daunting.

Authors may find landing page creation and email automation complicated. What about streamlined content creation? Which app should be used for what? An author may have pain points such as social media, an outdated website, or how to manage a book launch during a pandemic. They may also have  newsletters and a blog that may cause stress. 

WorldOMeter has surpassed 2.5 million new book titles published in 2020. That statistic does not include backlisted books. The staggering number of new titles is an indication of the author’s journey to compete for the reader’s attention. An experienced author’s assistant can help navigate this.

One of my strong points is bringing awareness to my authors and their books. An active online/social media presence is mandatory. If readers can’t find you or don’t see regular content from you, how will they remember you or your book the next time they are looking to purchase?

I’m a proponent of every author having profiles on Goodreads and Amazon at a minimum. I encourage authors to have a media page on their website and a one-sheet available. I suggest all authors have their elevator pitch practiced.

I started my journey as an author’s assistant nearly six years ago. I worked part time for an editor. I learned much about the process of taking a manuscript from a document to published and beyond. The editor referred me to my first author. Between these professionals, I found my happy place.

  My authors range from the first time, self-published to the bestseller, traditionally published. No matter how you publish, book promotion almost always falls to the author. 

I pride myself on assisting my authors through elevating a social media presence. Connecting your book with potential readers is my goal. Let's set your book up for success.

virtualauthorsassistant.com

Am I the only writer with lots of ideas in different genres? I suspect not. If you’re thinking about switching genres, it’s important to consider that it takes time to build a reader base, so messing with that dynamic can be tricky. Will your readers be willing to follow you to your new endeavor? Can you keep the expectation promise you made with the first genre in the second one?

Then there’s the process to consider. After fifteen inspirational romances, I’ve developed a rhythm. In a romance, the story ends with happily ever after. The internal and external conflict and the hero and heroine’s character arcs are all tied up. I use Michael Hauge’s Six Stage Plot Structure to plot. I know at what stage I’ll hit bumps, and there’s comfort in a familiar process. 

When switching, I discovered that Hague’s plotting methodology didn’t work well with a cozy mystery. However, Chris Vogler’s version of the hero’s journey did. The process took much longer than usual because I was essentially starting over. Not only did I need to immerse myself in the cozy series and its characters, but I had to deconstruct the previous books in the series. That was the only way, in my opinion, that the current book could be authentic. Details matter, and readers will notice every single one of them. In a cozy series, the protagonist’s character arc spans the entire series. In each book, the immediate external conflict is tied up, but the cozy leaves room for continued character growth in the next book. 

In the end, switching to a new genre gave a boost to my writing, as I stretched myself and learned new skills. Do give yourself grace if you switch genres. It will take time to find your rhythm. I found the learning curve to be unexpected but valuable. 

For the established writer, assess whether your readership will follow you and how important that is to your brand and potential sales. Only you can determine this according to where you are in your career.  

If switching genres has been teasing your creative thoughts, I encourage you to go for it. Above all, have fun!

A freelance writer for over twenty years, Tina Radcliffe, is a Romance Writers of America Honor Roll member. Besides her novel-length fiction for Harlequin HarperCollins, and her independent publishing releases, Tina has sold over three dozen short stories to Woman’s World Magazine.

 A former registered nurse and library cataloger, Tina resides in Northern Arizona, where she writes fun, heartwarming, inspirational romance. 

Visit Tina on the web at 

https://www.tinaradcliffe.com/ 

Visit Tina on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tinaradcliffe/

Sign Up for Tina’s Newsletter-

 https://bit.ly/2KfXOSG

Tina has created a Rafflecopter just for readers of 

All That Editing. 

Two readers will have the opportunity to win Tina’s two different genre releases. 

Link to Rafflecopter.

 https://bit.ly/2IRRByA

The winners will be notified by email. Giveaway ends on November 30, 2020

The Deeds of the Deceitful (Hope Street Church Mysteries Book 6) Kindle version https://amzn.to/2Hg46DYand

His Holiday Prayer (Hearts of Oklahoma Book 3) Print version https://amzn.to/2HbhsRM