DPP Newsletter, Edition XI

THE AUTHOR’S ADVOCATE
The DPP Authors’ Newsletter
EDITION XI
January 25, 2006


"Writing is easy. You just sit down at the typewriter and open a vein."
Red Smith


YOU ARE YOUR OWN BEST MARKETING REP!

I not only use all of the brains I have, but all I can borrow.

Woodrow Wilson


Pick My Brain

Please! Let me know how I can help you. You Are Your Own Best Marketing Rep! will continue as an ongoing column in the new formatted newsletter you will begin receiving in February. I want to be the best resource for you in this area as I can be, so please send me any questions you have or suggestions for ideas that you would like information about to nicpit@digitalpulppublishing.com


Author! Author!

Check Out…

http://www.nytimes.com/books/specials/writers.html
This is a complete archive of the Writers on Writing column, a series in which writers explore literary themes.

http://www.barbarademarcobarrett.com/writersonwriting/index.html Writers on Writing is a weekly radio program hosted by journalist and author Barbara DeMarco-Barrett. Each Thursday at 5pm Pacific, writers and poets join her from the studios of KUCI fm, on your radio in Orange County at 88.9 and simulcast worldwide at www.kuci.org

For Thoughts, Ideas, and Inspiration


PUBLISHER’S PROMPT

Writing Prompt

Use the word or the idea of the word “Heart” or “Hog” to inspire a poem, song, or short story.

If you decide to play with the prompt, and you’d like to share it, please send it to me (nicpit@digitalpulppublishing.com) and I will post it in the following week’s Authors’ Advocate. You can find my response posted on the blog http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/

Site-ings

Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators
http://www.scbwi.org/

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, formed in 1971 by a group of Los Angeles based writers for children, is the only international organization to offer a variety of services to people who write, illustrate, or share a vital interest in children’s literature. The SCBWI acts as a network for the exchange of knowledge between writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, agents, librarians, educators, booksellers and others involved with literature for young people. There are currently more than 19,000 members worldwide, in over 70 regions, making it the largest children's writing organization in the world.

THE SUN MAGAZINE (in print)
http://www.thesunmagazine.org/

Writing Guidelines
http://www.thesunmagazine.org/writer_guidelines.html

Unfortunately, you're not likely to find The Sun at your regular newsstand. Many distributors won't carry it because it's not "commercial" enough: we don't carry advertising; and we regularly print pieces that are too risky, too personal, too sad, too something. Yet somehow the magazine finds its way into the right hands; readers who appreciate writing that doesn't talk down to them or up to them, but meets their level gaze.

The Internet Writing Journal
http://www.internetwritingjournal.com/

Submissions:
http://www.internetwritingjournal.com/guidelines.htm
The Internet Writing Journal® ("The IWJ") is seeking original articles. Please read the guidelines carefully before submitting. Remember, we only publish nonfiction articles -- please do not submit poetry or fiction! We recommend that writers read articles published The IWJ to get an idea of our editorial style and the types of articles that we publish. Click here to see a list of links to prior articles. We look forward to seeing your submission!

Writers Write
http://writerswrite.com/
Your one-stop resource for information about books, writing and publishing

WHAT’S GOING ON AT DPP…

The Newsletter

We’re Continuing to Change…

As of February 1 we’re:

1) Changing formats
2) Changing our name from The Authors’ Advocate to News Bytes
3) We’ll be publishing bi-weekly (last week I had written “bi-monthly” – that was an error. You will receive the newsletter every two weeks).

Our Websites

We are still in the midst of reconstructing all three of our websites to make them more informative, user-friendly, and more interesting to peruse. As soon as they are complete, we’ll invite you to check them out (of course, you can check them out now if you want to get a good image of “before” and “after”).

Fun Facts

January:

A Room of One’s Own Day, January 25: For anyone who knows or longs for the sheer bliss and rightness of having a private place, no matter how humble, to call one’s own. [© 2003 by WH] For info: Thomas and Ruth Roy, Wellcat Holidays, 2418 Long Ln. Lebanon, PA 17046. Ph: (717) 279-0184. Email: info@wellcat.com Web: www.wellcat.com

Author Birthdays (January 25-31):

Jan. 25: Robert Burns, 1759; Somerset W. Maugham, 1874; Virginia Woolf, 1882; Edwin Newman, 1919
Jan. 26: Phillip José Farmer, 1918
Jan. 29: Anton Chekhov, 1860; Germaine Greer, 1939
Jan. 31: Zane Grey, 1872; Norman Mailer, 1923

All of the above was taken from Chase’s Calendar of Events, 2006©


Write on,
Nicky

You Are Your Own Best Marketing Rep!

Teamwork allows common people to attain uncommon results.

Anonymous

From Here to There: Local Action

Self-promotion is great. Self-promotion with help is even better. Let me help you promote your book in your locale.

Networking has been an on-going theme in almost all of the past week’s marketing tips…and it continues to be in this week’s tip. We’re just broadening your network.

Put on your hunting and gathering cap and don your self-promotion scout uniform!

Starting locally, gather up as many names and places as you can. Start this week and make this an on-going task on your “to do” list, timeline, or calendar. Names, places, and sources -- people who own coffee houses, or businesses that might have some kind of connection to your book. Names of local community news people- journalists and local papers, radio personalities and the stations they broadcast from, local cable television hosts and the stations they telecast from. Gather contact information (especially email, and especially email if you live outside the U.S.) for each of these people and places.

Send the information to me and I will get busy contacting the names/places you researched in order to assist you in garnering more publicity for you and your book.

Together, let’s get you and your book exposure. Let’s get you sales. Between us, let’s “attain uncommon results”.
Please send any/all information to me at nicpit@digitalpulppublishing.com

Publisher's Prompt

Use the following, January 18 prompt from “Prompts & Practices” by Judy Reeves to begin, end, or use in the middle of a piece.

“It was noon and nothing is concluded.” (after Donald Rawley)

She sat at her desk, staring blankly at an even blanker computer screen. She had been sitting that way for almost fifteen minutes. Somewhere between what she thought was a good idea and plunking out words on the keyboard for four hours, she decided it was all a waste and deleted everything from the word document she had begun at half past seven.

She had been taught never to delete her work. That even if what she had written seemed all for naught, there might be a seed of a beginning, or a sprout to a middle or a perfect flower of an ending. She cursed that instructor in this moment for putting all those gardening metaphors in her mind. She decided to take a head hoe to them and get rid of all that she had planted. With one click she was able to make her digital harvest disappear.

So she sat, as she knew Hemingway once had, at her desk, for the set amount of time she had prescribed for herself. The clock at the bottom of the monitor turned over to 11:51 AM. Nine more minutes to go. She could sit and stare at the screen, envision what she would like to write, or maybe simply restart writing whatever came into her head.

She sat and stared at the screen.

After what seemed like hours, the monitor clock struck 12:00 PM. It was noon and “nothing is concluded,” she thought.

With a sigh, she rose and pushed her chair in under her desk, stretched, and decided to go out in the back yard and look at the nasturtiums.

DPP Newsletter, Edition X

THE AUTHOR’S ADVOCATE
The DPP Authors’ Newsletter
EDITION X
January 18, 2006

"I never think when I write; nobody can do two things at the same time and do them well."

Don Marquis

YOU ARE YOUR OWN BEST MARKETING REP!

Teamwork allows common people to attain uncommon results.

Anonymous

From Here to There: Local Action

Self-promotion is great. Self-promotion with help is even better. Let me help you promote your book in your locale.

Check the Blog for more on From Here to There: Local Action…

http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/


FEATURED AUTHOR-Of-THE-MONTH…

Innerview

IAN MCKINLEY

What came first (in terms of your interest): the science or the science fiction?

Actually, I’ve been fascinated by both for as long as I can remember.

What is your ideal writing environment?

Somewhere sunny & warm and far away from my normal workplace. Extremophile was mainly written in Bermuda. I have just finished drafting a sequel – in the Bahamas. Almost all of the text was hammered into my laptop as I lay in a hammock overlooking the sea.

Describe your writing routine…if you have one.

I write fiction in intense month-long blocks (“holidays”). I like to start early, with a mug of strong coffee to kick the brain cells into life. I usually write solidly for 5 hours or so, with pauses only for more coffee and to change CDs. The rest of the day I do normal holiday things – swimming, snorkeling, scuba – but gradually get more and more saturated with plot development as time passes. Luckily, I have a long-suffering wife who puts up with this!

Is there a difference between how you approach writing your science books and articles vs. how you approached your fiction work?

I write technical stuff constantly, often with several different projects running in parallel. Generally, I outline the entire structure at the start and then gradually expand it, section by section. As this work often involves collaboration with co-authors, there may be several steps of iterative reworking before the final product is ready for publication.

The fiction is completely different; I start with a basic concept and then just let it develop. When I start, therefore, I have no idea what will happen in the middle, much less the end. When I get a complete draft, I send it to friends for review comments but, basically, I just work linearly from the beginning to the end, with only minor polishing thereafter.

What do you do when you aren’t feeling inspired or motivated to write?

So far, I have never suffered from writers’ block when working on fiction. The opposite, in fact; I often find it hard to stop when I find a key to some twist of the plot.

On the technical side, I regularly “hit the wall” and run out of ideas on a particular topic. Here I can usually just put the offending job to one side and get on with something else until inspiration returns. I work on the boundary between such a very wide diversity of technical disciplines (geology, microbiology, archaeology, radiochemistry, …) that I can always find something to do.

What authors inspire you most?

My writing is influenced predominantly by cyberpunk authors – Gibson, Sterling, Stephenson, etc. Otherwise, I was always impressed by the authors who rattled cages by breaking taboos and questioning social mores – especially if this was done within a powerful story; examples such as Vonnegut, Heinlein, Moorcock, Delany and Farmer. It is difficult to prove, but I have always suspected that the books and films portraying the horrific aftermath of a nuclear conflict did much to mobilize public pressure for a peaceful end to the Cold War.

“Extremophile” is your first novel. What motivated you to write it?

I have always enjoyed writing for non-technical readers, but was frustrated by the limited audience reached by non-fiction. Fiction is a much more powerful medium and, despite the fact that the quality of background science in much of it is fairly appalling, this tends to form public opinion on key issues. This set me a challenge – could I produce popular fiction with a solid, but unintrusive, core of technical information relating to some of the major issues of the coming decades? This was the drive to get me started, after that I found that the process was so much fun that it was easy to keep going.

Extremophiles are used to create an elixir of youth. If there were such a “potion”, would you, yourself, take it?

It would certainly be difficult to refuse, wouldn’t it? I think almost anyone would feel this way – which is the basic problem. I believe that over-population is the root cause of most of the global problems that we now face. Just think how much worse things would get if longevity was available to all – or even if known to be available only to a select few. It’s worth taking a little time to think about, as medical science is developing explosively at present and the concept is not as far-fetched as it may sound.

Ian Mc Kinley holds a Ph. D. in chemistry from Glasgow University. He has a professional background in nuclear waste management. A Scot who has lived in Switzerland for 20 years, he has been involved in a diversity of work related to nuclear waste management, including archeology, geology, microbiology, engineering and public communication. He has co-authored three technical books, as well as hundreds of articles in a variety of publications. Extremophile is his first novel. You can also read McKinley’s piece on The Science Behind the Fiction published in the Author’s Advocate, Edition VIII, posted on the blog: http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/


PUBLISHER’S PROMPT

Writing Prompt

Use the following, January 18 prompt from “Prompts & Practices” by Judy Reeves to begin, end, or use in the middle of a piece.

“It was noon and nothing is concluded.” (after Donald Rawley)

If you decide to play with the prompt, and you’d like to share it, please send it to me (DigitalPulp Pub@aol.com or nicpit@digitalpulppublishing.com) and I will post it in the following week’s Authors’ Advocate. You can find my response posted on the blog:http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/

Site-ings

The Writersbuzz.com
http://thewritersbuzz.com/

The Writer’s Buzz is a community blog whose main focus is to help new and established writers announce their books to the public. Writing your book is the easy part; getting it into your readers’ hands is more difficult. Our goal is to help you gain the readership your book deserves.

WritersServices: The Website for Writers
http://www.writersservices.com/index.htm

This site contains "how to's", articles and information, editorial services, showcasing, and more.

AAA Creative Writers Service
http://p.webring.com/hub?ring=creativeservices

Unique Internet connection to creative professionals and resources that constitute media, such as newspapers, magazines, radio, or television, in an effort to help a variety of fiction, and nonfiction writers, polish and publish their projects.

Writing Contests
http://www.writers-editors.com/Writers/Contests/contests.htm

Listing of various writing contests with inexpensive entry fees.

WHAT’S GOING ON AT DPP…

The Newsletter

We’re Continuing to Change…

As of February 1 we’re:

1) Changing formats
2) Changing our name from The Authors’ Advocate to News Bytes
3) We’ll be publishing bi-monthly instead of weekly

Our Websites

We are in the midst of reconstructing all three of our websites to make them more informative, user-friendly, and more interesting to peruse. As soon as they are complete, we’ll invite you to check them out (of course, you can check them out now if you want to get a good image of “before” and “after”).

Fun Facts

Pooh Day: A.A. Milne’s Birth Anniversary, January 18 The English author, especially remembered for his children’s stories: Winnie the Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner.

This Week’s Author Birthdays:

A.A. Milne, January 18, 1882
Edgar Allan Poe, January 19, 1809
Edith Wharton, January 24, 1862

All of the above was taken from Chase’s Calendar of Events, 2006©

Write on,
Nicky

You Are Your Own Best Marketing Rep!

Once you’ve done the mental work, there comes a point you have to throw yourself into action and put your heart on the line.

Phil Jackson

Getting into Action!

“Your plan will never be perfect or complete. Get over it and go forward,” instructs Lee Silber, author of Self-Promotion for the Creative Person.

If you read last week’s marketing tip (posted here on the blog, January 2), you may have taken the suggestion of connecting a networking source (or sources) with an idea (or ideas) to create a new marketing idea (or ideas).

Now it’s time to put that idea (or ideas) into action.

Action steps can include creating a “to do” list, a time-line and/or calendar. By writing down what you want to do, need to do, and are going to do, you begin the process of committing to a program of action for yourself.

Time lines and/or calendars help prioritize and organize when you are going to follow through with each of your ideas. These tools help you create goals and deadlines that will keep you on top of self-promoting your book.

You might want to include in your time line/calendar the date you want to begin implementing your marketing ideas, and any subsequent dates when you want to follow up with the idea and (if there is one) a date of completion.

For example:

To Do List Items:

1. Create email flyer re: book publication and where book can be purchased
2. Mass email flyer to friends, family & other contacts

Time Line:

January 9-15: Create e-flyer; Check email contact list and add necessary addresses
January 16: Send email en mass to all contacts
January 17-24: Revise flyer…add/delete information, change look of flyer, etc.; Research new contacts.
January 25-31: Send new flyer out again to all contacts.
February 1-7: Assess progress. Is this strategy working well? How can I revise it to get more out of it? (i.e., can you attach a “personal” email along with this, asking for support to pass the information along, adding reviews of the book); How often do I want to/need to send out continual eflyers.
February 8: Write down new plan of action for e-flyers; Create new goals/dates/deadlines.

I know this is pretty simplistic information. But simple = doable, and doable means you can get something done. Hence: action. And forward action, as Lee Silber suggests. So I’ll leave you with the great words of Nike – “Just do it!”

Publisher's Prompt

January is a month…

Use the above to begin (put in the middle of, or end) a thought, poem, short story, or song.


January is a month of anticipated beginnings….which sounds exciting.
And daunting.
And too expecting.
Three hundred and sixty-five days laid out before me,
A whole calendar to fill,
And fill it will.
My goal: to stay in the moment.
For all 525, 600 of them.

Newsletter, Edition IX

THE AUTHOR’S ADVOCATE
The DPP Authors’ Newsletter
EDITION IX
January 9, 2006


"...Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite:
Fool! said my Muse to me, look in thy heart and write."

Sir Phillip Sidney, Astrophel and Stella


YOU ARE YOUR OWN BEST MARKETING REP!

Once you’ve done the mental work, there comes a point you have to throw yourself into action and put your heart on the line.

Phil Jackson

Getting into Action!

“Your plan will never be perfect or complete. Get over it and go forward,” instructs Lee Silber, author of Self-Promotion for the Creative Person.

Check the Blog for more on Getting into Action…

http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/


FEATURED (Non-DPP) AUTHOR FOR THE WEEK…

An A-Musing Author

Jill Badonsky

Innerview

What is your ideal writing environment?

A cottage with a fireplace, a comfortable chair and a view… which is the place I take my writing retreats. If I can’t go there then writing in bed with my laptop is my next choice and then in cafes with loud espresso machines, reminding me when I write steam comes out of my mind.

Describe your writing routine…if you have one.

My most predictable routine is 1). Coffee 2) Meditate 15 minutes (I have a meditation that taps into my creativity) 3) walk for a half hour in nature with my writing in mind 4) write anywhere from 5 minutes to 6 hours depending on my schedule that day.

What do you do when you’re not feeling inspired or motivated to write?

If I’m not feeling inspired I walk or workout, then sit down and play with words. Or I read an author who inspires me, listen to music that does the same, or return to a work I’ve written that I really like and see if it feeds my juices. Sometimes I just pour into writing using the writing prompts I use in classes…unfinished sentences, repetition or stream of consciousness starting with.. I’m not inspired right now but…

What authors inspire you most?

I’m inspired by Bill Bryson, Anne Lamott, Douglas Adams, Karen Jones, Isabelle Allende.

What were the biggest challenges you faced in writing, publishing, and marketing your book, The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard)?

Writing Challenge: The inner demon telling me my stuff wasn’t any good.
Publishing: Waiting a year and a half for the book to come out.
Marketing: President George W. Bush. He started the war in the Middle East two weeks before my book tour. Scheduled interviews, book signings and publicity were cancelled and overshadowed by the war during an author’s most crucial kick-off campaign- the first two months. After that the publishing house abandons you to the next group of authors.

What has been your greatest reward since writing and publishing the book?

Biggest reward: All of the people who email me or show up at workshops and tell me they love the book and that it has helped them. And the friends I've made as a result of the book - they're my tribe.

What has been your biggest challenge in terms of self-promotion?

Not getting enough visibility with one shot and the feeling of overwhelm with how much needs to be done.

What approach to self-promotion has been your best vehicle?

Workshops, talks, training people to use my book for classes and coaching. Magazine articles have helped too as have hooking up with other authors and people who run creative websites with a lot of visibility.

I know it’s hard to pick just one, but which Muse (from your book) is your favorite…or which one do you find yourself utilizing the most?

I don’t like to play favorites because when Muses get mad they withhold ideas. However I think I use Albert, the Muse of Imagination and Innovation the most. He gives lots of tools that make writing easier and fun.. he provides perspectives, attitudes, personas and trigger words that give a writer a starting place or a fresh angle from which to venture.

Got an inspiring quote you’d like to share?

"The mind I love must still have wild places, a tangled orchard where dark damsons drop in the heavy grass, an overgrown little wood, the chance of a snake or two, a pool that nobody's fathomed the depth of--and paths threaded with those little flowers planted by the mind." -- Katherine Mansfield

Jill Badonsky, M.Ed., is a creativity coach, workshop leader, artist, and marketing consultant who is the founder and director of The Muse Is In, an organization devoted to coaching, teaching, facilitating, and marketing workshops and retreats for reawakening creativity. She wrote and starred in a one-woman show, I Can’t Handle Reality, But It’s Really the Only Place to Get a Good Cup of Coffee, and writes a monthly column on creativity for Blessings, a San Diego newspaper.

The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard) is an entertaining, inspirational, and practical handbook for the twenty-first-century seeker. Combining the whimsical and spiritual appeal of Sark with the concrete step-by-step approach of The Artist’s Way, The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard) presents a fresh approach toward accessing your creativity, and is designed specifically for our frazzled and time-sensitive era. Creativity coach Jill Badonsky takes the nine classical Greek Muses and updates them for our time. Along with a little help from their no-nonsense bodyguard, Arnold, they personify ten principles designed to overcome creative blocks and embrace the wonders of self-expression.
You can read more about Jill Badonsky’s book at http://www.themuseisin.com/book.html


PUBLISHER’S PROMPT

Writing Prompt

January is a month…

Use the above to begin (put in the middle of, or end) a thought, poem, short story, or song.

If you decide to play with the prompt, and you’d like to share it, please send it to me (DigitalPulp Pub@aol.com or nicpit@digitalpulppublishing.com) and I will post it in the following week’s Authors’ Advocate. You can find my response posted on the blog:http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/


Site-ings

Writers Weekly
http://www.writersweekly.com/
This site touts itself as “the highest-circulation freelance writing ezine in the world.” The site offers information about jobs, classes, news, and articles that are of interest to writers.

The Write Market
http://www.writemarket.com/
This site features articles, contests, resources, links that might be of great interest to you.

Writerfind Jobs
http://www.writerfind.com/freelance_jobs/
This site offers global freelance and telecommuting jobs for writers.

Writers Events
http://writersevents.com/
This site offers a calendar for all writers and publishers. It posts daily, weekly, monthly or annual listings of promotional events, meetings, group activities, and speakers. Writers Events has been designed to be quick and easy to use by those looking for 'What's on in Writers' events online and by those wanting to promote their Writers events online.


WHAT’S GOING ON AT DPP…

The Newsletter

We’re Moving…

To Wednesdays! Subsequent newsletters will be sent out on Wednesdays, beginning next week, January 18.

We’re Changing…

Formats! Beginning with our first February issue (Wednesday, February 1), you will be receiving this newsletter in a new and improved format.


Fun Facts

Book Blitz Month: (Jan. 1-31) Focuses attention on improving authors’ relationships with the media in order to create a best-selling book. Free book PR evaluation available. For info: Barbara Gaughen, Media 21, 7456 Evergreen Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93117. Ph: (805) 968-8567. FAX: (805) 968-5747. Email: bgaughenmu@aol.com Web: www.goodmorningworld.org

National Clean Up Your Computer Month: (Jan. 1-31) Dedicated to the education of computer users with simple tips and methods to increase the efficiency of their systems. For info: Denise Hall, 24797 State St., PO Box 658, Elberta, AL. Ph: (251) 986-6650, FAX: (251) 986-6652 Email: denise@specterweb.com Web: www.specterweb.com

This Week’s Author Birthdays:

Jack London, January 12, 1876
Andy Rooney, January 14, 1919
Ernest Gaines, January 15, 1933

All of the above was taken from Chase’s Calendar of Events, 2006©

Write on,

Nicky



Nicole (Nicky) Pitman
Authors' Advocate
DigitalPulp Publishing
(760) 327-3181
nicpit@digitalpulppublishing.com

You Are Your Own Best Marketing Rep!

All our ideas come from the natural world: trees equal umbrellas.
Wallace Stevens

Two-Steppin’

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Candy always gets my attention, so I thought it might get yours as well. If I have gotten your attention, take a moment to think about Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

Remember that old commercial- One person bumps into another, and one of them says, “Hey, you got your chocolate in my peanut butter!” And the other says, “You got your peanut butter in my chocolate!” And then the little jingle started: “Two great tastes in one candy bar- Reese’s Peanut Butter cups”?

So you remember the commercial, and now you’re probably thinking, what in the world does that have to do with marketing?! Actually, it has a lot to do with marketing- and thinking about marketing differently. Or thinking about ideas differently...As in putting two ideas together to create one new, fabulous marketing idea!

Let’s go back to Networking, the marketing tip from November 28 (in the, oh, not-so-long-ago year of 2005). The little catch-phrase I used in that tip was the Beatles’ “I get by with a little help from my friends”. I also threw in the idea of thinking about “friends you haven’t yet met”.

Networking is probably the most essential ingredient when it comes to self-promotion. But if you couple networking with another idea, you’ve got yourself a dynamite meal (or a whole new candy bar- however you want to look at it)!

Networking + Marketing Idea= Successful Self-Promotion

This is two-steppin’ at its finest. Think of all the people you know. Perhaps you have many of them in your email contact list. That’s a great start- friends, family, colleagues. What about other people you know- entrepreneurs, merchants, coffee house owners, editors of newspapers & magazines (online or traditional), someone at the local library or college, people who work at theatre companies, or people you know who know these people? Make a list (or merge the list[s] that you already have with a new list).

Then, make up a list of ideas for marketing your book. Here are five:

1) Public readings of your work

2) Articles and essays about the kind of writing you do or about your book itself

3) Flyers (paper)

4) Flyers (email)

5) Hosting a party, tea, coffee klatch, dinner with your book as the theme or showcase

Next, match up one or more people from your list with one (or more) of the ideas.

For example: perhaps you, or someone you know, knows the owner of a coffee house, or someone at the local library or college. You could match that person (or people) to the idea of a public reading of your work, and at the reading pass out flyers about you, your book and where to buy it.

Or perhaps you could host a party, or have a friend host a party to celebrate the publication of your book. The party could have a theme, you could talk about your book, do a reading from your book, and pass out flyers with information about you, your book, and where it can be purchased.

Or maybe you know someone, or are willing to go meet someone, who is part of a theatre company that is doing a play that has some kind of connection to your book- its subject matter or the genre. If they’re willing, you could create paper flyers that fit into the production’s program that promote you, your book and how to buy it.

Of course, an email flyer is a fast, easy way to go without ever leaving your house. Create one, send it to your entire email contact list and ask everyone to pass it on to as many people as possible. Voilá!

Keep mixing and matching up people with ideas and see what you come up with- there are endless possibilities.

I am sure that some of you may have thought of these ideas already and, perhaps, have already implemented them. But if you haven’t, give it a go. Who knew that by mixing chocolate with peanut butter you’d get one of the most popular-selling candy bars of all time!

Publisher's Prompt

Getting Physical

*(This prompt is from Roberta Allen’s book The Playful Way to Serious Writing)

Set a timer for 10 minutes. Write about someone real or imagined who has one or more of the physical characteristics listed below. How has one or more of these characteristics affected this person’s life?

A Birthmark A Club Foot A Double Chin A Crooked Nose Ingrown Toenails Wispy Hair Pimples Wrinkles Tattoos Large Pores A Shaved Head Sideburns A Potbelly Freckles A Snub Nose Stained Teeth A Flat Butt Flabby Arms Dimples Thinning Hair A Mustache A Face-Lift An Overbite A Large Butt A Hooked Nose Pockmarks A Scar Fat Thighs False Teeth Big Breasts Bitten Nails A Beard Frizzy Hair Crooked Teeth A Beer Belly A Muscular Chest Thick Lips

Rose

She couldn’t go out. Not with a face like that. She stared at herself in the mirror. Hating her face. Loathing her self. Pissed off at her parents for the stupid DNA they passed on to her.

Why couldn’t she look like Samantha Markley? Why couldn’t she have clear, beautiful skin that was deplete of a blemish? Ooooh- she hated Samantha Markley in this moment! She hated everything!

She stared harder at the mirror, as if doing so would make all those thousands of pink and reddish marks go away. Of course they remained. Taunting her. Letting her know she’d never look like Samantha Markley.

How was she supposed to go to school? How was she supposed to go to Tate Rossmore’s party later tonight?

“Rose,” her mother called from downstairs. “You better hurry up or you’re going to be late for school again.”

Rose. What a flippin’ name, she thought. Too bad they didn’t add an “s” on my damned birth certificate- that would have matched my face perfectly!

Newsletter, Edition VIII

THE AUTHOR’S ADVOCATE
The DPP Authors’ Newsletter
EDITION VIII
January 2, 2006


"How can anyone do better than that- after all, I wrote it myself."
Molière


YOU ARE YOUR OWN BEST MARKETING REP!

All our ideas come from the natural world: trees equal umbrellas.
Wallace Stevens

Two-Steppin’

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Candy always gets my attention, so I thought it might get yours as well. If I have gotten your attention, take a moment to think about Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
Remember that old commercial- One person bumps into another and one of them says, “Hey, you got your chocolate in my peanut butter!” And the other says, “You got your peanut butter in my chocolate!” And then the little jingle started: “Two great tastes in one candy bar- Reese’s Peanut butter cups”?

So you remember the commercial, and now you’re probably thinking, what in the world does that have to do with marketing?! Actually, it has a lot to do with marketing- and thinking about marketing differently. Or thinking about ideas differently...As in putting two ideas together to create one new, fabulous marketing idea!

Check the Blog for more on Two-Steppin’ (and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups)…

http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/


FEATURED AUTHOR-Of-THE-MONTH…

Author! Author!

Ian Mckinley

The Science Behind the Fiction

Science fiction authors are a motley crew, which includes a small number of professional scientists but also many others with no particular background in science or technology. There is certainly no correlation between the quality of the literature produced and the technical background of the author – for every example of individuals who excel in both fields, there are dozens of SF masterpieces produced by non-scientists and rather dreadful efforts by highly qualified boffins.

Personally, being involved in the rather esoteric area of assessing the safety of repositories for radioactive waste, you could consider that most of what I write in my day job is a form of fiction – discussing and evaluating what would happen to such stuff over the next million or so years. Over the last thirty years, I’ve produced mountains of paper for textbooks, technical literature and articles for more general audiences. With this background, why write a science fiction novel? And, even if a novel, why in the gritty, grungy niche of cyberpunk?

Well, undoubtedly I get pleasure out of writing fiction and I greatly enjoy reading some of the imaginative and exciting books which cyberpunk has spawned, since kicked into life in the ‘70s and ‘80s by William Gibson, Bruce Sterling and the rest. Despite that, there is also a serious reason, which harks back to a common response I get whenever I talk to non-specialists about radioactive waste. Almost everyone has an idea about what radwaste is – but it seems to come from films (Robocop seems particularly notable), novels and, increasingly, comics, manga and anime. The green, glowing sludge that guarantees a horrific death – or transformation into a bizarre mutant – is a far cry from the mundane reality. The biggest risk associated with the material I deal with is dropping the heavy packages onto someone! It’s worrying when politicians try to pass the buck on difficult decisions, by asking the general public to decide on highly complex issues like the future of nuclear power. How can they do this when they haven’t the foggiest idea of what is involved?

This is my own specialist area, but I also see similar effects if I discuss even more critical technical issues which will have major effects on our society over the next few decades – like climate change, economic unbalance, runaway developments in biotechnology. Films such as Blade Runner and Total Recall have more of an impact in building mental images of what the future will be like than the entire outpourings of academia and the “popular science” literature. Many technical communicators find this frustrating and complain about the portrayal of science in arts and the media. However, this is the real world. If you believe sincerely that there are important messages to be made – as I do – then maybe more of us have to forget about conventional approaches and try to penetrate the media that has a real impact.

The important thing, of course, is the story. The plot, setting and characters have to grab the target audience – any messages lurk in the background, at an almost subliminal level. You can’t lecture, talk down to your readers or attempt to force your own opinions on them. You can, however, introduce some issues, which may well be the defining problems of the mid-21st century. If, at the end of the book, readers are left pondering some question that hadn’t occurred to them previously, it has been a great success. This will only happen, of course, if the book is read and enjoyed – so back to the importance of the story – and the marketing of the end product.

“Extremophile” looks at longevity. I introduce the extreme variant of an effective cure for aging – but this is just one end of a spectrum of developments, all of which are moving ahead rapidly at present. The promise of a longer life – that’s got to be a good thing, surely? Sounds great, until you think of it in the context of a world already strained to breaking point by overpopulation and facing up to the additional pressures of climate change and rising sea level as a result of global warming. Immortality may be the dream of the rich, but could end up the nightmare of the governments and other organisations trying to provide a reasonable standard of living to the poor. Think about it! You may worry today about GM crops and cloning – but these may well not be where the huge, global problems arise in coming decades.

So, back to cyberpunk; dystopic futures with lashings of strange sex and gratuitous violence. Is this really what we have in front of us? I suspect so. In many communities, the definition of what is “acceptable” sexually has evolved dramatically in the last 50 years and there is no reason to think this will change in the future – especially in the light of probable medical developments (cures for AIDS and other STDs) and the access to alternative lifestyles provided by the internet. Violence in society is more easily predictable, as this correlates well with social inequality – particularly when those at the bottom of the heap are constantly exposed to the excesses of those at the top. The changes in the world during the coming century will – in the absence of a complete rethink of international politics – inevitably lead to an even greater and better publicised gulf between the haves and have-nots. Does this worry you? It certainly should!

The future is a very frightening place, particularly because it is being defined by decisions made today without a thought for long-term consequences. If science fiction – even the darkest cyberpunk – can introduce a degree of caution, which then avoids some of the scariest possibilities, then it has served very well indeed. Grandiose aims for a new author, don’t you think? Maybe, but you have to remember the inherently chaotic nature of society; nobody knows what will be the equivalent of the beat of the butterfly’s wings which will eventually result in a social phase transition years afterwards. Well, I’m giving it a try and, although I’ll never know if it has done any good, I’m sure that it’s better than just sitting around complaining. And, if anyone enjoys reading my books, that makes the entire effort worthwhile regardless.

Ian Mc Kinley holds a Ph. D. in chemistry from Glasgow University. He has a professional background in nuclear waste management. A Scot who has lived in Switzerland for 20 years, he has been involved in a diversity of work related to nuclear waste management, including archeology, geology, microbiology, engineering and public communication. He has co-authored three technical books, as well as hundreds of articles in a variety of publications. Extremophile is his first novel.


PUBLISHER’S PROMPT

Writing Prompt

Getting Physical

*(This prompt is from Roberta Allen’s book The Playful Way to Serious Writing)

Set a timer for 10 minutes. Write about someone real or imagined who has one or more of the physical characteristics listed below. How has one or more of these characteristics affected this person’s life?

A Birthmark, A Club Foot, A Double Chin, A Crooked Nose, Ingrown Toenails, Wispy Hair, Pimples, Wrinkles, Tattoos, Large Pores, A Shaved Head, Sideburns, A Potbelly, Freckles, A Snub Nose, Stained Teeth, A Flat Butt, Flabby Arms, Dimples, Thinning Hair, A Mustache, A Face-Lift, An Overbite, A Large Butt, A Hooked Nose, Pockmarks, A Scar, Fat Thighs, False Teeth, Big Breasts, Bitten Nails, A Beard, Frizzy Hair, Crooked Teeth, A Beer Belly, A Muscular Chest, Thick Lips

Use the prompt. Don’t use the prompt. If you decide to play with the prompt, and you’d like to share it, please send it to me (DigitalPulp Pub@aol.com or nicpit@digitalpulppublishing.com) and I will post it in the following week’s Authors’ Advocate. You can find my response posted on the blog:http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/


Site-ings

Robert Ringer: A Voice of Sanity in an Insane World
http://www.robertringer.com/index.html

There’s a great article on the home page right now entitled Beware the Discouragement Fraternity, Part II that tells the stories of how books, once discouraged by publishers and agents became best-sellers.

Dowse/Paying Ezines
http://www.dowse.com/ezine-markets.html

Good list of details and links to paying ezine markets for speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, horror, slipstream, and mystery fiction writers online from Bonnie Mercure.

WHAT’S GOING ON AT DPP…

The Bookstore

We’re Open!

Check out your book at the DPP Store (http://www.dppstore.com/) as well as our other DPP authors’ offerings. Tell your friends! Tell your folks! Tell everyone you meet to visit (and shop at) the store!

Postcards

They’re coming…

I know some of you are quite anxious about receiving postcards to announce and promote your book. We are too! We are sorry for the delay, but you should all be receiving your postcards by January 20, so sit tight and I’ll send an email to let you know when they’re on their snail-mail way to you.

DPP Blogs

Genene runs this blog: http://dpppress.blogspot.com/

DPP Press is geared towards our publishers, but you may also find some good information and fun postings by Genene, so check it out!

Catherine runs this blog: http://dppebookstore.blogspot.com/

Catherine runs the DPP Bookstore, among wearing many other hats (i.e. being the DPP “IT” girl, as in I.T.- she is a technological wiz!). For bookstore flashes, and Catherine’s musings, this is a fun blog to visit.

And, of course, my blog: http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/

Have you all been visiting the blog? That’s where you can find the full posting of each week’s marketing tip, the newsletter is also posted there, as well as my response to the writing prompt. Please feel free to comment and be part of the blog.

Also: if you haven’t started your own blog, and you’d like to- go for it! You can do it for free and it’s pretty easy at http://www.blogger.com/. Below are step-by-step directions that should get you through, if you get confused with the blogger.com directions. Let me know if you have any problems.

How to create a blog:

Go to http://www.blogger.com/

On the right side of the screen is a big box that gives direction
Go to the big orange arrow – create your blog now and click on it

You will enter a Create an account screen
Choose user name Maybe your name
Enter a password Pick one you can remember
Retype password Be sure to be exact
Display Name The name you want people to see
Email address The email where you want messages

Accept

You will enter the Name your blog screen
Blog title Maybe your name
Blog address Maybe your name
Word verification Enter the funny little letters

Continue

Choose a template
Pick from examples Click the button for the pattern you like

Continue

Start Posting

10. Create a post
Title Welcome
Body Whatever you want to say
Allow comments/not Invite comments or block them

Post

View

Happy Blogging!


Communication

One of the biggest parts of my job here at DPP (and one of my favorites), is working as the liaison between our authors (you) and the company. I know that every once in awhile you’ll send an email that I do not respond to automatically. This has typically been because I don’t know the answer to the question you are asking and must find out from one of our other DPP staff members or I need to research it.

From here-on-out, I will respond to your email as soon as I receive it, and either give you an answer immediately, if possible, or let you know that I am “researching” the answer and will get back to you as soon as I have one.

This newsletter is one way to communicate. I will let you know when we will be out of the office for any particular length of time, so that you will know if you call or email during that time, we are not ignoring you- we simply haven’t yet received your communication.

Our typical office hours are 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM, Monday-Friday. If you need to reach us by phone, those are the hours to do it. Email 24/7, of course.

Once again, I’d like to encourage you all to make suggestions about the newsletter, marketing tips, and blog. I am working to provide you with as much good information and encouragement as possible, and your feedback helps me do that.


“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it [write].”

(I took a small liberty with the last word in the above Oprah Winfrey quote)

Happy New Year!

Write on,

Nicky

Publisher's Prompt: Word Pool

Elf Red Glisten Menorah Sideways Fly Gifted Hark Resolution Kamikaze Beard Tranquil Solstice Porsche Cheer Caroling Stuff New Twelve

Use the words in the pool above any way you like and in any order you like, to create a story, poem, song, etc.

Hark!
(That’s the title ‘cause I couldn’t figure out how to get the darn word into the story)

The twelve new Porsches on the lot glistened as the sunlight reflected off the snow and bounced iridescently off the chrome and freshly-painted auto bodies.

Each one of the sportsters was painted a bright, shiny red- the most-bought car color of every December. They looked confidently snazzy, featured prominently in the front part of the lot facing the Boulevard.

It was early morning- seven o’clock- and the dealership was enjoying its last tranquil hour before it opened for its seasonal fifteen hours-a-day of deal-making/deal-breaking pandemonium.

It was December 21, winter solstice, but it couldn’t have been a more dazzling morning if it had been June 21. The sun shone with such a brilliant light, it was as if it was the dealership’s own personal cheerleader.

Like a kamikaze crashing out of nowhere, a small, spry elf descended upon the car lot, caroling Christmas songs at the top of his lungs, breaking the serenity of the early morning stillness.

He landed betwixt the Porsches, in a grand balletic plié, juxtaposed by an upward leap of his beard, which landed in his mouth, nose, and eyes.

Brushing and blowing his unmanageable facial stuffs from his visage, the mischievous imp set about playing his annual practical joke.

With glee, the elf went from car to car, replacing each Porsche emblem with that of a mini-metal menorah, engraved in a tablature that looked just like the Porsche’s: red and black stripes set in a golden background.

He glanced sideways, from time to time, making sure no one was watching, flying around the lot at record speeds as if he was propelled by an inner-Porsche engine.

He gifted every automobile on the lot with his special insignia, and when he was satisfied that his work was complete, he made his annual resolution to come back and do the same thing the following year.

He left the lot just as he came, with a grand plié and a kamikaze shot upwards.

No one at the dealership knows how the Porsche logos get removed every year and why they are replaced with menorahs. But every year it happens. It has now become a tradition, and now you, dear reader, know who’s behind it. You just don’t know why. That may be a mystery to uncover next year. ‘til then, you’ll just have to wait.

You Are Your Own Best Marketing Rep!

It doesn’t work to leap a twenty-foot chasm in two ten-foot jumps.
American Proverb

Steppin’ On

In keepin’ on with last week’s tip One Small Step, this week we’re moving on, perhaps, just a half-step.

In her monthly Muse Letter this December, Jill Badonsky, M.ED. offers a Creativity Manifesto for 2006 (which she suggest you “modify according to YOUR authentic nature”):

In the face of adversity, uncertainty and static in my soul’s receiver, I hereby pledge to remain ever mindful, ever grateful of the magical, infinite, loving reality I live in. This reality conspires tirelessly in my favor especially when I take tiny steps…ever so tiny, daily or even weekly down a path directed by my creative intuition.

I further recognize, that living within space and time, as a creation amongst creations, is the ultimate adventure, because I create my reality with the colors I choose from my palette of thoughts. Dreams come true when I am authentic and courageous, when I say “So what I’ll do it ANYWAY” to any obstacle rearing its silly head and so many things, so VERY MANY things remain forever possible. So there!

For some of you, the above may be a little too whimsical, or “out there”. Please take what you like and leave the rest (and, as Jill suggested, modify it for yourself in any way you like).

The reason I chose to include Badonsky’s “Manifesto” is that I find it incredibly helpful connecting how I approach my craft to how I approach self-promotion: with creativity, persistence, and gratitude.

Did you try that one small step last week- asking yourself:
What is ONE small thing I can do, starting today, to promote my book?

If you did- bravo! Were you able to visualize one small thing? Were you able to write it down?
If you didn’t or you couldn’t, practice asking yourself that question ONCE a day (or more, if you’d like). You might be surprised at the answer/answers that begin to come simply by continuing to ask. That’s persistence. The same kind of persistence we continue to practice in our craft.

By continuing to ask the question daily what is ONE small thing I can do, starting today, to promote my book you might find that your mind authentically becomes a creativity factory. Our mind likes to solve problems, find solutions. Robert Maurer, Ph.D. advocates dropping the same small question into our conscious thinking every day. Every time we do, our mind strives to come up with a solution.

It’s the same kind of creative thinking that goes into our work (well, at least it’s the same kind of thinking that goes into mine). I am constantly asking and re-asking myself the same question(s) over and over, like “what would this character do in these circumstances?” I continue to ask and re-ask that question until I come up with an answer I’m satisfied with. And then I keep working that question out within my writing.

When I apply the question-asking technique to self-promotion, I come up with all kinds of answers. Undoubtedly, some of my brainstorming is silly and way too out there- but I typically come up with one completely terrific idea, and then I brainstorm on that idea until I figure out exactly what I can do to bring it to fruition. Before I know it, I’ve come up with a fleshed out step for marketing my work.

And then gratitude sets in. I’m grateful for my creativity and my tenacity, not only for the joy I get from doing my work (and completing it), but my willingness to walk the walk to get it out there. As I’ve said before, I don’t write in a vacuum.

So keep dropping in that small question over the holidays: what is ONE small thing I can do, starting today, to promote my book? You might get a fabulous gift by doing so: an answer.

Newsletter, Edition VII

THE AUTHOR’S ADVOCATE
The DPP Authors’ Newsletter
EDITION VI
December 19, 2005


"It is better to write a bad first draft than to write no first draft at all."
Will Shetterly


YOU ARE YOUR OWN BEST MARKETING REP!

It doesn’t work to leap a twenty-foot chasm in two ten-foot jumps.
American Proverb

Steppin’ On

In keepin’ on with last week’s tip One Small Step, this week we’re moving on, perhaps, just a half-step.

In her monthly Muse Letter this December, Jill Badonsky offers a Creativity Manifesto for 2006 (which she suggests you “modify according to YOUR authentic nature”):

In the face of adversity, uncertainty and static in my soul’s receiver, I hereby pledge to remain ever mindful, ever grateful of the magical, infinite, loving reality I live in. This reality conspires tirelessly in my favor especially when I take tiny steps…ever so tiny, daily or even weekly down a path directed by my creative intuition.

Check the Blog for more on Steppin’ On…

http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/


FEATURED AUTHOR-Of-THE-MONTH…

Feature Yourself!

This week, take some time out to celebrate yourself. The last month of the year is always a great time for self-reflection. Think over your accomplishments, think about where you were last December and what you’ve done since. What’s been wonderful about your work? Challenging? What are your plans for 2006? Don’t forget that your book is going to be out there in January- available all over the world, 24/7. HOW COOL IS THAT?! Bask in your own personal writer-hood. And thank yourself for your talent!

Look for our featured DPP Author of the Month, Ian McKinley, in our January Newsletter.

PUBLISHER’S PROMPT

Writing Prompt

Word Pool

Elf Red Glisten Menorah Sideways Fly Gifted Hark Resolution Kamikaze Beard Tranquil Solstice Porsche Cheer Caroling Stuff New Twelve

Use the words in the pool above any way you like and in any order you like, to create a story, poem, song, etc.

Use the prompt. Don’t use the prompt. If you decide to play with the prompt, and you’d like to share it, please send it to me (DigitalPulp Pub@aol.com or nicpit@digitalpulppublishing.com) and I will post it in the following week’s Authors’ Advocate. You can find my response posted on the blog:http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/

P.S. I did NOT post my response to last week’s prompt because it bordered on X-Rated, and didn’t seem like the best idea for me to post it. However, if you would like to read it, let me know and I’ll send it to you.

WHAT’S GOING ON AT DPP…

The Bookstore

For the third week in a row, I am reiterating that everyone here at DPP is CONTINUING to work their little patooties, brains, and fingers off to ensure that the DPP Store (www.dppstore.com) is completely up, running, and beautiful for its January 1, 2006 opening. 12 more working days ‘til opening! YES- we’re still counting!

On Holiday

Just a reminder: DPP will officially be closed the week between Christmas/Hanukkah and New Years’ Day (Saturday, December 24-Sunday, January 1). The Authors’ Advocate will be on hiatus for that week.

On the Holidays…

Quotes

For holiday cheer, humor, and inspiration.

Roses are reddishViolets are bluishIf it weren't for ChristmasWe'd all be Jewish.~Benny Hill

I do like Christmas on the whole.... In its clumsy way, it does approach Peace and Goodwill. But it is clumsier every year. ~E.M. Forster

Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles. ~Author Unknown

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. ~ Albert Camus

One kind word can warm three winter months. ~Japanese proverb

There are two ways of spreading light: To be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. ~Edith Wharton

Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind. ~Mary Ellen Chase

So, have a merry Christmas, a happy Hanukkah, a kwaazy Kwanza, a tip-top Tet, and a solemn, dignified, Ramadan. And now a word from MY god, our sponsors!
~Krusty the Klown (The Simpsons)

Happy Holidays!


Write on,

Nicky

You Are Your Own Best Marketing Rep!

Any small step taken toward reaching a goal is better than none at all.
Lamar Cole

One Small Step

Self-promotion, though daunting for some, can be accomplished (and accomplished well) by taking one small action step at a time. If you look at the whole, big, whoppin’ picture of marketing your book, chances are you’ll decide that it’s all too much, and it would be a much better idea to just give copies of your manuscript to your friends for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Other Holiday of Choice and be done with it.

Overwhelm. I don’t know about you, but sometimes, actually, most times, I become paralyzed by overwhelm when I have to deal with the bigger picture, or the end result. This happens to me when I get into the “I’ve got to finish my book” (or finish my weekly newsletter, truth be told), or I have to clean the whole house- pretty much when it comes to anything I want to complete.

By just biting off a piece, taking one small step, or obliging myself to a short increment of time (fifteen minutes, let’s say, or five, or just one minute if that’s all I can muster)- I can begin, and the overwhelm usually passes. I didn’t learn this all by myself, mind you.

Jill Badonsky, M.ED., inspirational seminar leader, artist, and creativity coach, channeled a specific muse to help with the problem of overwhelm and gaining inspiration to take small steps: Marge.

In her book, The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a bodyguard) Badonsky introduces Marge (named for the protagonist in the Coen Brothers movie Fargo), who personifies the attitude of “okay now, let’s get started,” suggests tackling any goal by taking small steps in small increments of time.

In his book One Small Step Can Change Your Life: Using the Japanese Technique of Kaizen to Achieve Lasting Success, Robert Maurer, Ph.D., explains how successful one can be in any area by applying the process of taking one small step. This technique has proven time and again to work whether it’s applied to a personal goal (such as losing weight) or to big business (like a Japanese car manufacturer).

Let’s go back and take a look at the question I posed in last week’s marketing tip:

What are some things I can do, starting today, to promote my book?

Do you feel any resistance when you read that question? It’s okay if you do. Do you know what the resistance is? If you can name it- great. If not, that’s okay too. Regardless, maybe it’s just too big a question. Try making the question smaller:

What is ONE small thing I can do, starting today, to promote my book?

Last week, I shared Bob Barker’s suggestion about brainstorming. If you’re up for it, try brainstorming ONE idea. Write it down (putting the idea on paper, or your computer, can help you see it better). If that feels like too big of a step, see if you can come up with an idea in your head. Try to visualize the idea. Let it brew and manifest itself in your imagination.

See where that takes you. Can you expand on that idea? Can you see yourself actually utilizing the idea? If you weren’t able to write it down before, try doing that now.

If you can’t, that’s okay. Congratulate yourself on simply thinking about it. If you were able to write it down, congratulate yourself for doing that.

If you feel like it, try jotting down one, small action step you can take to get your idea moving. Write as much as you can or as little as you can.

Whatever you were able to do, know that you accomplished something. Congratulate yourself…because you took one step towards promoting your book!

Recommended reading:

One Small Step Can Change Your Life: Using the Japanese Technique of Kaizen to Achieve Lasting Success, by Robert Maurer, Ph.D.

The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a bodyguard), by Jill Badonsky, M.Ed.

Both are available at Amazon (as far as I know they’re not available digitally…yet)

Newsletter, Edition VI

THE AUTHOR’S ADVOCATE
The DPP Authors’ Newsletter
EDITION VI
December 13, 2005


"I just sit at a typewriter and curse a bit."

P.G. Woodhouse
(after being asked about his writing technique)


YOU ARE YOUR OWN BEST MARKETING REP!

Any small step taken toward reaching a goal is better than none at all.
Lamar Cole

One Small Step

Self-promotion, though daunting for some, can be accomplished (and accomplished well) by taking one small action step at a time. If you look at the whole, big, whoppin’ picture of marketing your book, chances are you’ll decide that it’s all too much, and it would be a much better idea to just give copies of your manuscript to your friends for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Other Holiday of Choice and be done with it…
Check the Blog for more on One Small Step…

http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/


FEATURED AUTHOR-Of-THE-MONTH…

A big thank you to Patrick Stafford for his insightful interview, printed in last week’s newsletter!

A Departure from DPP Authors

This week I give you three websites to visit. The first two feature authors that you may, or may not have, heard of before. Regardless, you might want to check them out and gain some insight, inspiration, and/or entertainment from them.

The third site is one I just stumbled across that I thought you might find interesting- lots of good information about all that’s going on in the writing world.

Just thought I’d offer a petit smorgasbord of what’s out there author-wise. Bon ape-reading-tit!

British Council Arts: Contemporary Writers

http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth52

This unique, searchable database contains up-to-date profiles of some of the UK and Commonwealth's most important living writers

Right now the site features a bio and perspective on author Kazuo Ishiguro.

Scottish Writers

http://www.slainte.org.uk/scotwrit/

Scottish Writers: Authors’ Views

http://www.slainte.org.uk/scotwrit/Views.htm

This is where you have the opportunity to find out more about writers, their method of writing and to read the answers to the questions posed to them during the course of the Project.

BookReporter.com : Where Readers and Writers Click

http://www.bookreporter.com/

A great site for all of you writers to check out!


PUBLISHER’S PROMPT

Writing Prompt

OOPS! The picture wouldn't copy into the blog!

Write a poem, story, interview, ditty, or a headline about the man in the picture above.

Use the prompt. Don’t use the prompt. If you decide to play with the prompt, and you’d like to share it, please send it to me (DigitalPulp Pub@aol.com) and I will post it in the following week’s Authors’ Advocate. You can find my response posted on the blog:http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/


WHAT’S GOING ON AT DPP…

Press Releases

Last week I told you that new press releases were being posted online, one for each of our authors, announcing the release date (January 1, 2006, available at the DPP Store: http://www.dppstore.com/), ISBN number, and the publication date (March 31, 2006) and a synopsis of your book. They’re all out there and daily we receive Google Alerts letting us know. They’re popping up everywhere- very exciting!


The Bookstore

Everyone here at DPP is CONTINUING to work their little patooties off to ensure that the DPP Store (http://www.dppstore.com/) is completely up, running, and beautiful for its January 1, 2006 opening. 19 more working days ‘til opening! But who’s counting? WE ARE!

On Holiday

Just a reminder: DPP will officially be closed the week between Christmas/Hanukkah and New Years’ Day (Saturday, December 24-Sunday, January 1). The Authors’ Advocate will be on hiatus for that week.


Write on,

Nicky

You Are Your Own Best Marketing Rep!

I am only one, but still I am one.
I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.

Edward Everett Hale

Commitment

As writers we make a commitment to ourselves- to make time to write, a place to write, and to what we will write. Eric Maisel asks, “Is commitment more about duty or love? Is it something one demands of oneself or does it flow naturally, given the right circumstances?”

For myself, I know that I am committed to what I love- which is writing. But there are days when inspiration is nowhere to be found and motivation won’t kick in no matter how many times I try to jump-start my inner motivator. That’s where “duty” comes in.

It is my duty- to myself and, of course, to my job to write. Sometimes that simply means sitting down, putting fingers to keyboard, and writing…anything- even if it looks like, feels like, and sounds like, down-right doo-doo. This is because just getting something on the page is better than putting nothing on the page. And typically, though not always, I usually find a little gem among the muck, or at least an idea for a gem.

The same can be said for self-promotion of my writing- though I can’t say I love marketing myself, I do love the results. And I believe it is my duty to market my own work. Though I do write for myself a good deal of the time, it is not my desire to write in a vacuum.

“Marketing” sounds like a big word. It sounds busy. It sounds like a lot of work. It sounds like something somebody else should be doing who has connections and knows how to hobnob. It sounds slick. And most of all, it sounds like something I don’t want to do- ugh! Put myself out there, scheme and sell myself? No way!

But maybe I have to think out of the box a bit. Maybe marketing isn’t the big corporate monster I think it is. Maybe there are some strategies I can use that are, well, maybe a little more non-traditional than the typical marketing I am so accustomed to thinking about.

In his book Unleash the Artist Within, Bob Barker suggests the employment of brainstorming. I have used brainstorming to help me in my writing, so it makes sense that brainstorming could be used in terms of exploring marketing ideas.

You could start by asking yourself one question. Try this one:

What are some things I can do, starting today, to promote my book?

Write down as many things as you can think of. Let them be silly, wild, quirky. Let them be serious. Let them be small, medium, or big ideas. Let them be fantastical. Just write them down!

If you allow yourself to come up with ideas to promote your book, you’ll probably stumble upon at least one that you like, that you think is doable, that you can commit to. I know that I am more amenable to my own ideas than being told I “should do this” or even that I should “try that”.

Barker also suggests writing a commitment statement. I’ve written commitment statements (or “personal mission statements”) for myself and my work, but I really appreciate the marketing commitment statement that Barker shares in his book:

When marketing and promoting my [book], I resist the urge to stick only with obvious methods. There are gold mines of overlooked promotional opportunities waiting to be discovered. And I have an ongoing burning desire to find them.

You could borrow Barker’s statement or create one on your own. But I can tell you, from my own experience, if you create a commitment statement and commit to one marketing idea- even if it’s a small one (especially a small one- the smaller the idea, the easier it will be to accomplish), you will have fulfilled your duty to yourself to promote your book. After all, you’re not writing in a vacuum.

*Next week, I’ll share one small self-marketing strategy with you.

Newsletter, Edition V

THE AUTHOR’S ADVOCATE
The DPP Authors’ Newsletter
EDITION V
December 5, 2005


"It is perfectly okay to write garbage- as long as you edit brilliantly."

C.J. Cherryh


YOU ARE YOUR OWN BEST MARKETING REP!

I am only one, but still I am one.

I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.

And because I cannot do everything

I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.

Edward Everett Hale

Commitment

As writers we make a commitment to ourselves- to make time to write, a place to write, and to what we will write. Eric Maisel asks, “Is commitment more about duty or love? Is it something one demands of oneself or does it flow naturally, given the right circumstances?”…
Check the Blog for more on Commitment…

http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/


FEATURED AUTHOR-Of-THE-MONTH…

Inner View

DPP interviews and gets a better “inner view” into DPP author, Patrick Stafford.

(DPP) What is your ideal writing environment?

(Patrick Stafford) As a poet, for years now I guess I have followed in the footsteps of Dylan Thomas and Jack London who both liked to do some of their most inspirational writing at the local pub or tavern while imbibing the drink of choice. Mine is rum 'n coke and my home personal bar is the pub of choice! Thus, when I'm in the poetic mood and The Muse has seized me I enjoy sitting at my bar and listening either to Chris Isaak, The Moody Blues or The Gee Bees. Not the disco Bee Gees, mind you, but their later music from over the last 20 years which, like Isaak and Justin Hayward's band, I find very moody and conducive to writing verse. Besides, at my personal bar there are plenty of tasty appetizers, proper ambience and just the right kind of stiff rum 'n coke. And all are free!

Describe your writing routine…if you have one.

Most of all the prose I scribe is done on my computer as well as when I am ready to type and edit the poems I write in longhand at my personal bar. It is during the day when I enjoy writing journalism, film script and other genres of prose. And I assiduously spend at least five days a week--anywhere from three to seven hours a day--at my computer engaged in the creative writing process. But with no music nor other extemporaneous sound or noise to distract me at this time. Selective music only works for me when I'm penning original verse, not when I'm doing real writing!

What do you do when you aren’t feeling inspired or motivated to write?

Naturally, there are times when I am not inspired or motivated to be a writer or creative. I do not consider these times a case of writer's block, not that I don’t suffer from this plague upon all artists at one time or frequently. Poems, novels, articles, film scripts--you name it--all come from ideas. And no doubt artistic ideas often come from inspiration or emotional impetus. This impetus I believe can be self-generated. I accomplish this by reading and through discourse. And from what another writer has created, be it a novel or a poem, an idea is formed and takes seed in me. Often it is no more than an image or a short phrase or even one word. But throughout a day when I'm busy with domestic chores or just relaxing I let this idea fester--so to speak--in my mind, until it develops into a blueprint or outline for a complete poem or article or story that needs to be put to paper. And needs to be put there as soon as possible and while the fire is hot and the passion for writing is dire!

What authors inspire you most?

My two favorites poets are at opposite ends of the romantic spectrum, at least historically speaking. They are Robert Frost and Lord George Byron. But many others have also influenced me and continue to enwhelm me with their timeless verse. Particularly inspiring and emotionally charging are two whom I consider the two greatest female poets ever: Laurence Hope and Sara Teasdale. But I've learned my craft from a number of giants other than these enumerated- Poe, Tennyson, Longfellow, Whitman, Kipling, Keats, Shelley, Woodsworth, Service, Thomas Wolfe and Dylan Thomas, to name a few.

Your father, Elsan Stafford, is a novelist. In what ways has he and his writing influenced you and yours?

My father's teachings to me in all things, and not just in writing and poetry, have been invaluable to me. His being a writer and published author has no doubt been even more invaluable to me than any formal education or self-education I have acquired. Steady, disciplined writing precedes good writing. And this was my first lesson from him: write regularly and be self-disciplined in the craft and profession of a writing. Writing once a week or once a month doesn't cut it. Like being successful at any avocation, one must do it regularly and geared to always completing what you write. For writing is damn hard work most of the time, although a lot of fun some of the time. But it takes discipline and dedication and sticktoitness. A rocket scientist who only looks at his rocket once a month won't ever see his rocket make it off the ground. Unless he manages to live a few hundred years. But by that time, his new rocket might seem like horse and buggy!

Asian Darkness covers so many different aspects of the Vietnam War, and each one seems so personal. What piece in the collection would you say reflects your personal experience the most?

In the Brotherhood of Asian Studies and the first poem, Vietnam Thesis, are two of my favorites. And two of the very first poems I penned for Asian Darkness. They incorporate my general views on the War as well as personal feelings about how the War was handled by our government and the media. Moreover, in each poem I give a feeling how the common G.I. or military man experienced and felt the War. And the bitterness, anger, horror and emotional impact the conflict had on so many who served and fought and died in Vietnam.

Poetry is such a different expression than other works of writing. How do you edit or revise yours (if indeed you do)?

I write my poems in longhand. When I type them I do so at my office computer and tend to take my time at it. I often use a Thesaurus and occasionally a rhyming dictionary, which I do not mind admitting. The great lyricist/songwriter Cole Porter was found out later in his life to have often used a rhyming dictionary. And after this became known it much distressed him. But I feel no such distress or embarrassment. All real writers use many tools to hone their craft and create their labors of love. When I'm typing my poems I am undergoing the process of rewriting. And focusing on perfecting the rhyme, meter and structure of my poem until I am completely satisfied in the finished product, and that it is the best and most accurate labor of love it can possible become. For I believe the three greatest tools a writer has in his possession are: "Rewrite! Rewrite! Rewrite!"

In your essay on Passion (published in last week’s newsletter) you talk about how passion is the most important ingredient in writing. How do you couple that with technique?

Passion does more than allow me to exercise my own manner of writing and to develop the process of it. It motivates and galvanizes me to do a good job, and a job I will become completely satisfied with. Thus, I am spurred to pay heed to all the tools of the trade. Technique is one of them. And, like personal style, I try to pay close attention to, although personal style is not an aspect I really concern myself with. But technique, yes. For technique is the procedure of establishing structure. For me, structure is vital to a good or successful poem, and towards writing and developing it. Having a passive or dispassionate interest in the composition of anything invariably leads to its demise, I believe. And another scrap of paper being wadded up and tossed in the nearby trash receptacle. One who is passionate about his work and the quality of his work, I do believe will almost always do a good job. The greater the passion, the greater the quality of a laborer's work. And the more he will pay attention to the tools with which he writes. For a wordsmith, they are technique, theme, plot, character, dialogue, atmosphere, pace, exposition, narration and structure. Telling a good story and telling it well is, or should be, in my humble opinion, the goal of every passionate writer.

PUBLISHER’S PROMPT

Writing Prompt

The following prompt is from A Creative Writer’s Kit: Prompts & Practices, by Judy Reeves

Write about a series of mishaps

Use the prompt. Don’t use the prompt. If you decide to play with the prompt, and you’d like to share it, please send it to me (DigitalPulp Pub@aol.com) and I will post it in the following week’s Authors’ Advocate. You can find my response posted on the blog:http://digitalpulppublishing.blogspot.com/


WHAT’S GOING ON AT DPP…

Press Releases

New press releases are going out this week online, one for each of our authors, announcing the release date (January 1, 2006, available at the DPP Store: www.dppstore.com), ISBN number, and the publication date (March 31, 2006) of your book.

Also included in the release is a synopsis of your book, a quote about your book from you, one from Genene, and a short bio about you, the author.

The announcements are being posted on PRWeb, and will guide search engines such as Google, Overture, Yahoo, and eMediawire to each press release- giving it the broadest search reach of any press release distribution network on the Internet.

Imbedded in each press release are links to the DigitalPulp Publishing website as well as to the DPP Store.

Congratulations- you are being EXPOSED!

The Bookstore

Everyone here at DPP is working their little patooties off to ensure that the DPP Store is completely up, running, and beautiful for it’s January 1, 2006 opening. We have already had orders and inquiries, so please make sure you tell your friends, family, acquaintances, grocer, mechanic, high school biology teacher- everyone to check out the store (www.dppstore.com) on January 1 and buy your book!

On Holiday

FYI: DPP will officially be closed the week between Christmas/Hanukkah and New Years’ Day (Saturday, December 24-Sunday, January 1). The Authors’ Advocate will be on hiatus for that week.

Write on,

Nicky

Publisher's Prompt: Write About a Series of Mishaps

MISS HAPS

Miss Haps always started her first period class by dropping something. Sometimes she dropped a text book, sometimes a piece of chalk, and sometimes a tissue that she always kept tucked into her sleeve for her ever-runny nose.

Her students were used to their perpetually-dropping teacher. Whenever an earthquake drill would take place, commonly referred to as a “drop drill”, they would laugh and shout out things like, “Hey, Miss Haps- this is your kind of drill!” Or when the series of short bells would go off, they would say, “Under the desks everybody, we’re having a Miss Haps drill!”

They would say these things with a smile and affection, for they loved their teacher and they found her dropping habit endearing.

Miss Haps good-naturedly accepted her students’ rubs, for she knew that they weren’t criticizing or making fun of her- well, at least not making fun of her in a demeaning way.

During passing periods, on her way to grab a cup of coffee or to make copies of lesson plans, Miss Haps always tripped in the hallway. Sometimes there would be a sticky place on the floor that would catch one foot and make her lose her balance, or she’d trip on one of the stairs in the stairwell, usually as she was going up, but sometimes as she was coming down. And sometimes, she’d just trip over her own feet.

Some faculty members passing through the hallways would roll their eyes, not in an unkind way, just in a “there she goes again” way, while others would rush to help her, concerned that she might have hurt herself. The students who were passing through the hallways just would yell things out like, “Taking another trip, Miss Haps?” “You’re a real trip, Miss Haps!” And Miss Haps would just smile, and sometimes blush, and wave them off knowing that her students were just giving her a good-natured tease.

In the cafeteria at lunchtime, Miss Haps never failed to drip spaghetti sauce down her chin and onto her blouse, or knock over a container of milk, spilling it across the table, or to open a bag of chips, only to have them burst out of the bag and fly in ten different directions.

The kitchen workers would let out sighs, grab a wet cloth, a broom, or a mop, and with affable irritation (if there is such a thing), clean up yet another mess. While the lunching students would yell things out like, “Don’t cry over spilled milk, Miss Haps!” “Don’t worry, Miss Haps- just let the chips fall where they may!” And Miss Haps would just blot the sides of her mouth with her napkin, and smile a half-way-embarrassed grin at her silly foibles.

But that was just how Miss Haps was: all-thumbs, with two left feet, and a bit ham-fisted. Every day brought a new series of spills, tumbles, plunges and plummets. And it didn’t matter. Because for all her klutziness and clumsiness, Miss Haps had an inner grace. Her students knew it, the faculty knew it, and even the kitchen workers knew it. But most importantly, Miss Haps knew it. She made mistakes, and took missteps, but perhaps that was just so she could be an example for her students and co-workers. To have grace, you also have to be a little bit ungraceful- and accepting that about yourself, means that you accept your humanness. When you accept your humanness, you give others permission to accept theirs. And because of that, Miss Haps was one great teacher.