What’s in your ‘Happy’ file?

This week I received my first rejection. It was for my young adult fantasy and yes; I know that this is part of this business. Honestly, the rejection is a good thing. I don’t want a literary agent who doesn’t love my book as much as I do. I want someone ready to work hard, just as I did while writing it. Someone who loves the characters, their troubles and victories and will not rest until the rest of the world is enjoying them. That is the acceptance I want. Until then, life goes on and writing goes on, but it never hurts to stop by the ‘Happy’ file.

What?.....

What is a ‘happy’ file you ask? You may have read about authors that save their rejection letters as tools for motivation. That is a great tactic and let me tell you; since I received my rejection my writing has been on fire! But I still prefer a more positive solution. A ’happy’ file is where I keep copies or even notes of my successes. Some items towards the front is the beautiful book cover for my published non-fiction book, ‘Caring for Your Special Needs Dog.’ It always makes me smile. I’m a published author in something that I am passionate about. And that cover is beautiful!

I have an email from a reader that said she was going to adopt a special needs dog because she’s seen the ease and rewards of saving one thanks to my book. This email still makes me cry.

I save emails from critique partners and beta readers that talk about how much they enjoy my story. I have thank you notes from fans of Cassandra Clare’s ‘The Mortal Instruments’ series thanking me for holding an essay contest. I report on her series as The Mortal Instruments Examiner. And your successes do not have to be “writing” related.

The number one item in my ‘happy’ file is a picture of my daughter. She is my biggest success and will continue to be long after I write a blog telling you that my fiction novels have hit the New York Times bestselling list. Having a baby is always a miracle. However, I was on bed rest and fed through IV’s the majority of my pregnancy. It was horrible and I know how lucky I am to have my blue-eyed beauty.

When I decided I was going to become an author I read all the articles and blogs on rejection. I knew I would not be the one person in the history of the craft to defy all odds. Instead of focusing on the negative, focus on the positive. For each rejection, there are still many reasons to be happy and keep writing—and maybe with a renewed passion after a trip to your ‘happy’ file. What’s in your ‘happy’ file?

I LOVE listening to music. I must have it while I write and I always listen to a short clip to get pumped up before launching into my days writing goal. I’m currently obsessed with the song below. It is from the ‘Real Steel’ movie trailer and it almost makes me want to pay the extra money for a sitter to go see the movie. Enjoy!

Announcements:

I will be hosting a live webinar on September 26 6:30-8 PDT with Farm Dogs USA titled ‘Caring for Special Needs Dogs.’ My lecture will be based off my book, ‘Caring for Your Special Needs Dog’ along with new research. Click here for more information.

Blog spotlights:

Author Katie Ganshert, ‘Three Criteria for a Killer Title.’

Literary Agent Donald Maass at Pitch University, ‘How to Be a Story Master.’

Author and social media guru Kristen Lamb’s, ‘Deadly Sin of Writing #4- Beware the Bog of Back Story.’

Social Media: Friend or Foe

Earlier this week I spoke about the benefits of the social media impact to both readers and writers. The biggest impact is the interaction that social media creates. Many authors can be found on social media networks, which allows fans to connect with them and discuss books in forums, chat rooms, etc. This grows the community, making authors more human and relatable.

BUT, and yes there is a big BUT here. There are really two sides to every coin. With all the benefits that come with social media, there are also some downfalls. Today, authors must do more than just write a really great book. In order to become that big fish in the large publishing sea, writers must promote, network and develop a platform. If you haven’t read Kristen Lamb’s books, “We Are Not Alone-The Writers Guide to Social Media” and “Are You There Blog? It’s Me, Writer” then once you’ve finished reading my blog, immediately click on those pretty blue hyperlinks. Seriously, I wish I would have read these prior to starting this blog but I didn’t. And many of you keep coming back to listen to my writerly (yep, I made up that word) rants, thoughts and Oscar stories. I agree with Kristen’s advice to not take on too many social media avenues. She recommends focusing on a blog, Twitter and Facebook. I have done this. In fact, I recently set up my author page on Facebook. You may “like” me here. But, I do take her social media advice a little further.

When I first got on Twitter I quickly figured out my favorite part of this new social media resource. Hands down, Twitter is my number one place for networking and finding craft articles. I could probably jump on Twitter every 30 minutes throughout a day and find at least 5-10 great craft articles or articles in general to read. That timeline is always moving, giving me new, current information to soak up.

While this is a good thing, I quickly found myself sucked into a world ruled by a little blue bird, patrolled by a whale and where writers can’t exceed 140 characters. I found that I was building a great network of people, learning much from their wisdom but the key to my success was suffering—I wasn’t as focused on my manuscript.

I learned from my mistake and I fixed it. I still benefit from the wealth of knowledge from Twitter and other social media sites, I’m just smarter about how I use them. Here is how I manage my social media.

Step 1: Click on interesting links from Twitter as you see them. DO NOT READ THEM! Open a blank word document and save the links you collect throughout the day.

Step 2: Set time limits for yourself when you are on a social media site. If need be, actually set a timer. Only you know the right amount of time to dedicate to social media without jeopardizing your writing. For me, I take a writing break at least every hour on the hour. During my break, I’ll hop on Twitter or Facebook; chat with a few people, retweet some worthy sounding articles by followers I trust and the get back to writing. Again, unless an article really jumps out at me, I save anything I want to read on my word doc.

Step 3: At the end of the day I look back over the articles that I have saved. I then, relax with a Disney mug of hot green tea and learn from my fellow peers. I find that learning something new is the best thing to end a day with. It doesn’t matter how much I struggled with a scene or how many times Baby Markey decided I didn’t need to work that day, reading and learning something new is refreshing. It sends me off to bed to dream of the fabulous, productivity that I will accomplish the next day, thanks to the fact that I’m always learning and improving.

So, is social media our friend or foe? Social media is the school gossip. You know the kid you could go to for all the gossip but you never wanted to give them a reason to dislike you. Social media can be a great resource and a fabulous way of getting you out there. But if misused, it will suck up your time until your goals are a fowl ball flying out of the ballpark and taking you further away you’re your overall goal. I keep a sticky note within eyesight to my desk at all times. On the sticky note is my long-term goal and latest short-term goal. By always keeping those in mind and seeing them, it makes it easier for me to hit the red circle at the top left of my web browser.

In summary: Save links you find from social media sites. DO NOT READ THEM. Set a time limit for yourself on how long you can be on social media sites and stick to it. Finish your day by reading and learning from the articles that you saved. And go buy Kristen Lamb’s books!

Announcements:

My book, “Caring for Your Special Needs Dog,” is out by Who Dares Wins Publishing. A percentage of the profits go to The Texas A&M Foundation to the benefit of the Neurology Section, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinarian Medicine. To learn more about the book, which is currently selling for $2.99, click here.

Weekly Blog Mash ups: For my first blog mash up I'm sharing some of my favorite people to follow. They know writing, the craft and the industry, If you're a writer, you must follow these blogs.

Write It Forward- Who Dares Wins Publishing

Ending Unplanned- Rachel Harris

Warrior Writer- Kristen Lamb

PW Creighton- Phillip Creighton

Piper Bayard- Piper Bayard

Anna Writes- Anna DeStefano