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Self-Promotion: An Interesting Twist

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Have you ever met a person who’s always talking about herself? Someone who monopolizes every conversation? I did. In college. Funny thing. Nobody wanted to hang out with her.

We hear a lot of talk about the importance of marketing and self-promotion. Especially if we want to make it in this business.

But in the same breath, we know too much turns people off.

Which leads to the question I’ve been thinking about now that I’ve signed my first book deal:

How do we market ourselves without coming across as self-centered or narcissistic?

In a post titled Social Networking Rules, YA author, Elana Johnson, shares some simple, yet brilliant guidelines she lives by.

One such guideline?

If she tweets about her life, she scrolls through her twitter feed and @-messages three others who’ve said something about theirs. Elana says, “This creates a new conversation between me and them.” And she doesn’t feel like she’s hogging the twitter feed.

This reminded me of some advice I got before going to my first writing conference two years ago.

Be outward focused.

Marketing 101. Simple, yet profound.

Don’t focus on you. Focus on the people around you.

Talk up such-and-such author’s new book while at the bookstore. Pray with a friend or roommate before they pitch their novel. Take time out from a workshop to brainstorm with a fellow writer. Mentor a newbie.


Sounds counter intuitive, doesn’t it? But it works. Especially if you do it from a sincere heart.


Here’s the thing. Nobody wants to hang out with people who talk about themselves all the time. We’re drawn to those who genuinely listen and turn the focus outward.

I took this advice when I went to my first conference in 2009, and again in 2010, and had two amazing experiences. The weekend stopped being about me, and became about us. It helped me understand that we can all work together to promote each other.

After reading Elana’s blog post, something clicked. I can embrace that same bit of advice as I travel down this new, exciting, and slightly intimidating path with Waterbrook Multnomah.

I can be outward focused.

I can remember that it’s not about me. It’s about the writing friends I get to encourage and promote along the way. The readers I get to entertain and connect with along the way. The professionals I get to learn from along the way.

The minute I forget that, is the minute someone needs to kindly kick me in the head.

Let’s Talk: Are you talking too much about yourself? How do you keep your focus outward? Any self-promotion tips for a gal who’s not quite sure how to handle it?

On a fun note: I’m meeting my critique partner and friend, Erica Vetsch, this weekend for our own personal writing retreat. We’re locking ourselves away so we can write, write, write! Ah. Sweet bliss.

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Disaster Planning for Writers

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

At school we practice certain drills twice a year. Each one has its own set of procedures. That way, if disaster strikes, we won’t panic. We’ll know what to do. Because we have a game plan.

Disaster plans are good. They give us a sense of purpose and control when things turn nasty.
As writers, we should have a disaster plan.
Because when things go wrong, we don’t want to panic.
Which is precisely what I did this past month. My story stopped cooperating. I hit a wall. And spent a week pulling out my hair, intermittently staring at my document and the trash can on my desk top.
The only thing that kept me from clicking and dragging? A deep-down, in-my-gut feeling. That if I could just fix the broken parts, this story could be great.
So I tied a gag around my anxiety. I assured myself that the first five novels weren’t a drawn out case of beginner’s luck. And I drew up my own personalized disaster plan.
First, I assessed the situation. How did I get into this mess? I’m not a pantser at all. I’m an OCD plotter. But for whatever reason, this time around, I thought my rough outline would be enough. I had the basic plot elements down. I could just start writing, right? Wrong. I got halfway through and the tires started spinning.

Second, I stepped away from my computer and broke out the note cards. I wrote random scenes as fast as I could on each one. Whatever popped into my head. The crazier the better. Then I looked for ways to connect them. My creative juices started flowing. Scenes came together. Unexpected twists and turns jumped out at me. Until I had a beginning, middle, and end.
Then, on the back of each card, I wrote: (1) if it was a scene or sequel and (2) the GMC (goal, motivation, conflict) for the scenes or the RDD (reaction, dilemma, decision) for the sequels. If you’re not familiar with these terms, you should be. Consider reading this post for a basic overview: Story Structure: Scene and Sequel.
It took a long time. I lost some hair and some sleep. But the disaster plan worked.
My novel is no longer a mess. I don’t care that I have to cut a big chunk of the 50K words I have written. I don’t even care that whatever remains needs rewriting. I have another novel. It’s all there. On 74 note cards. 39 pink. 35 blue. The hard part is finished. Now I just have to write it.
And if I run into another crisis in the future, I won’t waste a week of my life freaking out. I can whip out my disaster plan and get to work.
So what about you? Do you have a disaster plan? If not, here are some tips to help you create one:
  • Stay true to the way God made you. Don’t try to be a plotter if you’re a panster and don’t try to be a panster if you’re a plotter. Trust me. It doesn’t end well.
  • Know what sparks your creativity and problem-solving skills. Do you need to get away from your computer and find an old-fashioned pencil? Do you need note cards? A writing buddy to brainstorm with? Do you simply need to write through the disaster?
  • Include specific action points. This will give you a sense of control in the midst of the chaos.
Let’s Talk: What do you do when your story stops working? What does your disaster plan look like? Have you ever had to use it?

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Would You Slow Down?

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

I’m in this weird, slightly unfamiliar place right now.

Even though I didn’t have deadlines pre book deal, I did have this drive to write fast. This inner urge to pound out the words, because the more stories I could write, the more I would learn, the better each novel would get, and the higher my chances for publication. I’m not sure if my reasoning was logical, but it was there. A sense of urgency.

Usually, we read about authors getting contracts and struggling with the new and added stress of deadlines. We hear about how much busier life gets once a person gets a book deal.

But I’m learning this isn’t always the case.

At least not for me.

I signed a two-book deal and both books are written. I have a third that is ready to go, but will have to sit tight until we’re allowed to submit it. There is absolutely no hurry for me to pound out the words. The pressure is off. Sweet bliss, right?

I don’t know. I’m kind of weirded out by it.

Tana asked: Do you find yourself writing more slowly now that you know how long the process takes? Have you cut back on your word count? Do you savor the storyline more?

Even though there’s no hurry to finish my current WIP, even though I can’t submit it anytime soon, I’m still determined to maintain my pacing of roughly 2 books a year.

Why?

Because. I’m paranoid. If I slow down, won’t I get out of shape? What if I lose my ability to pound out the wordage? What if my stories become a hot commodity (hey, a girl can dream) and my publisher wants more, but I don’t know how to write fast anymore?

This all leads to my recent dilemma: I’m having issues with my WIP. Big issues. Thankfully, they’re fixable. Not-so-thankfully, they involve scratching a big chunk of the 50K I have written. Herein lies the dilemma. I could force myself to plow through the rough draft. Get the story out. Fix it later. Or. I could pause. Figure it out now. Save myself from a whole lotta sloppy further down the road.

I’ve already made my decision and I won’t lie. It makes me nervous. But it’s also led to an epiphany: Sometimes, a person has to step back if they are going to move forward.

Let’s Talk: What would you do? Do you take your time through the writing process or do you feel a sense of urgency to pound out the words? If you didn’t have any reason to keep writing so fast, would you slow down? Do you think we can get out of shape when it comes to writing fast?

Because of Parent Teacher conferences next week, I won’t be blogging. See you on March 7th!

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