I'm an entrepreneur?

I'm an entrepreneur. I've always been one, so you'd think that self-promotion would be easy for me but it isn't. Being an introvert, I don't like the spotlight. Writing about myself and my work is next to impossible for me so when Janet gave us the challenge of creating a Widipedia page my first thought was 'I'm not that interesting a person'.

I decided to try and figure out why anyone would be interested in looking me up and this is what I discovered.

I write Romantic Suspense stories. I'm a member of Romance Writers of America, Toronto Romance Writers, Sisters in Crime, Toronto Sisters in Crime. I'm a member of the Bloody Words executive or as we call ourselves, the Bloody Gang.

I've started several writing groups so authors can help other authors improve their craft. I've written reviews for authors because I loved their stores. I started this blog so authors can promote themselves and their friends.

All in all I'm just a writer who loves great stories. So what is the one book you've read that you read over and over  again?

The tricky first line....

Between Heather's post on first chapters and Janet's challenge regarding gripping first lines, I've been noticing first lines recently.

I was surprised to see that many of my favorite books begin with a first line that focuses on character, relationships, or theme, rather than on action.

Many start by setting up the voice of the narrator. Most of the Nero Wolfe books do this, beginning with Archie's voice, often relating something about the dynamics of the household or about his relationship with Wolfe. (For instance in Fer-de-lance Archie gripes about how is is often the one being sent on errands, in Prisoner's Base he relates his latest ploy to aggravate Wolfe into action, in The Rubber Band we see him hassling Wolfe...) One of the most enjoyable elements in Stout's books is the relationship between Wolfe and Archie, and in one way or another many of the books start with a focus on that relationship.

Another example of starting with the narrator's voice: Amelia Peabody in The Mummy Case:
"I never meant to marry. In my opinion, a woman born in the last half of the nineteenth century of the Christian era suffered from enough disadvantages without willfully embracing another."

Can't you just hear her?

That tricky first chapter

It’s like getting the lede right on a news story: It has to be succinct, draw in the reader, compel us to read the rest of the piece, give us a taste of what is to come without giving it all away. It’s the point from which all else unfolds. It holds the glimmer of intrigue that gets us thinking, keeps our eyes moving over the copy.

It can be the trickiest part of the story; it used to be that reporters were dunned by a pesky copy desk to ‘make it sing,’ ‘make it tighter,’ ‘make it shorter,’ and so on. It could drive a reporter/copy editor nuts.

Writing that first chapter – the one you might be sending to an agent – is just as bad. There’s a proliferation of writing/publishing courses out there and the few I’ve sampled hammer it home: The first chapter has to sell your story; it has to have a punch; it has to be well-written. One instructor mimed an agent shuffling through manuscripts, reading the first sentence or two and throwing the first chapter on the slush pile. Frightening. Is that how they do it? Five seconds with a first chapter and it’s decided?

Then you’d better get it right. And therein lies the problem. What’s right if your work has never been accepted? What will make that five seconds a winner? How can you possibly know? You can’t. You can only hope that the writing – and rewriting – gets your first chapter to a tight, manageable, alluring and exciting read. You have to hope that the point of the story is so tightly wound from the starting point that the rest of the tale unwinds quickly and beautifully – like a fast ball hit by Jays’ slugger Jose Bautista.

There is no magic solution to the first chapter: It’s a shot in the dark. I suppose ‘believe in yourself’ is as good a mantra as any. Show it to friends you trust. Take lots of advice. Don’t be wounded by criticism. Try to be subjective. Stand back and look at your work. And rewrite. Then rewrite it again.

A Wikipedia Entry for Mar Preston

It seems very presumptuous to enter myself in Wikipedia but I'm answering the challenge that was posed. Please comment on my entry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:marpreston#External_Links

I'm curious to see how others answer.


Good wishes all,

Mar

The Writer as Entrepreneur by Mar Preston

If you're a very new author like me, you find promoting yourself second in dread only to a spinal tap, a baby shower, and a tax audit-all on the same day.

NO DICE, my first mystery, could sink like a stone unless I act way out of my comfort zone. That means self-promotion. I'm aleady over my allowance of shy attacks for the month.

But something has happened that changed the way I think about myself. I'm defining myself now as an entrepreneur.

I found Women's Economic Ventures-an organization here in Southern California 'dedicated to creating an equitable and just society through the economic empowerment of women.' I know they must have opportunities like this in Canada.

Twenty-seven budding entrepreneurs, and none of them authors, have met four times. the initial ripple of uneasiness and plain fear has been trasformed into a can do optimism at the end of every class. We leave on a high.

We will try to pin down our brand in the fluctuationg publishing marketplace, create a marketing plan, produce financials, and a business plan. Subjects I never could have imagined myself being interested in.

But I want to learn how to earn a modest income as an author who is in business for herself. I have other books I want to publish.

A consultant has gently guided my down the path of assembling the rudiments of self-promotion. That includes a blog (not this one) embedded in a website, and supported by business cards and bookmarks, an e-newletter, as well as a Facebook fan page. It's all there at marpreston.com.

What has helped me most in the class so far is learning techniques of time management. Last week I found myself combing the fringe on the rug to delay writing the next chapter. Have I mentioned Spider Solitaire? It has to stop.

This entrepreneurship class takes into account the emotions that go along with assuming the huge risk of indenturing yourself to the vision of being your own boss.

After all, as authors, we are in business. Publication is only the first step.

Reality Blog Challenge #2

Writers know, for research, that Wikipedia is a critical tool. Readers know this too. Whether it’s to determine the real names behind Ellery Queen, or the pseudonym for Ruth Rendell, or the order of those Sookie Stackhouse novels, Wikipedia is the easiest way to find the answer.

Marketing savvy authors have Wikipedia pages. Twist Phelan’s is a fine example. Her content is intriguing, yet not all that personal. Read her page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twist_Phelan Did you notice she does not provide where she lives or her age?

A Wiki entry can also be full of connections to other sites. The page for Robert Crais is rich with these. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Crais

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to create your own Wikipedia entry. When you’ve got it up do a short post with the link so we can all check it out!

Be sure to use a great photo. Include links to your website, reviews, your publisher…check out your favourite authors and take your favourite features from their page, for your own!

Challenge #1 The Art of Simplicity

“He was lost.”

That’s it. That’s how Kate Atkinson’s One Good Turn begins.

If that doesn’t draw you in, I don’t know what will. Sometimes the best books begin with the most straightforward statements.

Or, how about Val McDermid’s first line in Fever of the Bone: “It all comes down to blood in the end.”

‘Simple is best’ has long been the maxim for most things in life. Why argue with some of the genre’s finest??