Category: Frankie Chandler

Do You Really Want to Be a Writer?

by Jacqueline Vick

Lots of people dream about writing. And writing for yourself and your family is great. Recording memories. Journaling for fun and self-awareness. These are all wonderful, creative pastimes that I encourage. In fact, if you write, you are a writer.

I suspect what most people mean when they say they want to be writers is that they want to make a lot of money doing something they enjoy. And that’s an honorable goal. But there will be challenges.

One thing that stands out from my time with the Sisters in Crime Los Angeles Speakers Bureau is the number of people in the audience who asked published writers for tips and then rejected them.

Audience Member: How do you find time to write a book?

Writer: You need to write every chance to get. On the train or bus if you commute. During your lunch hour. Or get up early.

AM: I drive to work. My lunch hour is too short. I have enough trouble getting up for work. I have no time.

Audience Member 2: How do I sell my book?

Writer: You have to put yourself out there to meet other writers and readers. Meet with book clubs. Do library or bookstore events.

AM2: I’m too shy. And I don’t have a car.

Writer: If in-person events are a problem, there are many online opportunities available.

AM2: I don’t have internet access.

Writer: You could do paid advertising.

AM2: I have no money.

Based on those conversations, I thought I’d give aspiring writers a reality check in the most loving way possible.

If you want to write for a living, you will run into obstacles. You will either find a way over them or around them, but, if you’re serious, you will move forward.

There are many paths to publication.

Online zines publish short stories, and some of them pay. Competition is high.

Traditional publishers will most likely require you to have an agent submit your book, which means having a clean, edited copy of your manuscript along with a polished query letter. Check with each agent for their requirements. (Or the publishers, for those who accept direct submissions.)

Self-publishing. You will need to have a professionally edited book and a professionally designed cover. After that, everything falls under your responsibility: submission to the markets, marketing the book, and handling all business decisions and finances.

My point is not to scare you but to prepare you.

I spend my typical day writing AND marketing. At this point, probably 40% of my time is working on marketing, whether that is appearances on websites or blogs, testing creatives for ads, testing headlines for ads, testing primary text for ads, keeping up with trends, watching my ads and making adjustments, such as killing the ones that aren’t working and adding ones I hope will work better. And so on.

I also spend hours each week in marketing groups as well as writer’s groups.

Part of my budget is spent on tools that help make me a better writer and marketer. ProWritingAid for grammar. Fictionary for story development. Unbounce, Mouseflow, and Shopify for marketing and direct sales. And the plugins to make Shopify perform better. Not to mention the thousands of dollars I spend on ads each month.

Usually, I come out ahead, but there are no guarantees. Some months, especially when Facebook makes a change that affects the algorithms, I don’t. But it’s a growing and learning process. You need to hang in there.

If that sounds like something that interests you, I suggest you join a writer’s group that focuses on your genre. Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America, and Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators are a few. They often have great resources.

Follow authors you like, especially those who write in the same genre, on social media. See what they’re doing. Study their Amazon book pages, author pages, or, more popular now, their direct sales shops.

And don’t expect overnight success.

If that sounds appealing to you—or at least it doesn’t scare you—good luck. May you have a long and fruitful career ahead of you.

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Catching Up With Jacqueline Vick

Where to start.

It’s been an incredible ride of highs and lows, and all along the WinRs were there to support me, even those who weren’t yet officially part of the group.  We may not see each other face-to-face that often (on my part) but this incredible group of women are the best.

In October of 2011, the hubby took a major fall off a ladder at work and wound up with emergency brain surgery, titanium in his collarbone, and months of rehabilitation.  Through the prayers of many and the Grace of God, both of us made it through that tough time without any scars. (Well, hubby has scars, but scars are manly on men.)

I went through the same rigmarole that each and every one of you who writes goes through. Is this working? Why am I even doing this? I’m a sham! Maybe I should write romances instead, though I don’t like graphic scenes. Maybe the leads can just be friends. Maybe I should renew my insurance license instead.

When I look at what I have listed on Amazon, I actually managed to produce more than I thought I had.  There have been several short stories and a few novels, including the Frankie Chandler, Pet Psychic mysteries, which seem to be popular with readers. (A Bird’s Eye View of Murder, has just been released in paperback and Kindle.)

I’m hard at work on Civility Rules, a Harlow Brothers mystery, and I have a mystery involving a priest–a former exorcist–who’s been condemned to work at an all-girl high school. And the third Pet Psychic mystery is written in my head. So there is a lot on my plate!

I think that as you read the Catching Up With posts, you will find that each of us has been extremely active. I’m so pleased that we’re back together again with two new members, and my hope is that you’ll find plenty to entertain and inform you here at Writers in Residence!