Okay, show of hands. How many of you remember the movie City Slickers? A group of executives led by Billy Crystal become cowboys only their guide dies along the way.

Now you remember it, right!!

Well, I am from the city. I can use my brain to go to amazing worlds but…well, I’m not very handy. I always have great ideas of how to build and create things BUT the reality resembles more of preschoolers imitating modern art.

So today as I built a home for my daughters’ ducks I could sympathize with these men from that movie.

And then I remembered “The One Thing.” When Curly held up his gloved finger and said “You find the One thing.”

Normally that would cause me to reflect but today I was thinking ducks and blogs. It occured to me. When we are trying to get our books in to the hands of readers WE need to think about that “One Thing” too.

What is that “One Thing” that will appeal to a particular group of readers?
What is the “One Thing” I want a potential reader to know about my book?
What is the “One Thing” I want to accomplish with my story?

If you think about these questions [and likely more will follow. This is just to get you started.] You will find yourself building a marketing plan that will strengthen not only your sales but also your story even before it goes to press.

So think about it. What is the “One Thing”?

I’d like to invite you to visit Writer’s Rest. I have recently been added to the roster of bloggers there. This blog is designed to teach various aspects of writing, marketing, etc. I’d love for you to visit on a few different days [I post on Tuesdays each week. Check the archives for the list of other posters.] then come back and tell us what you thought of the blog in the comments section.

I hope you are remaining focused on your 2008 writing goals. Now that we’re entering the summer it is time for you to begin to reassess your goals and plans.

Your Coach for the Journey, Tiffany Colter

Since it is the beginning of the holiday weekend I want to take a moment to reflect. Monday is Memorial Day, a day we remember the soldiers who died protecting us. It is also a day to remember those who have died over this last year.

On this Friday of Memorial Day I’m thinking about the people who helped me get to where I am. I have had parents, my husband, teachers and my kids all support me in my dream.

Some I’ve told you about [Like Mr. Meister]. His single sentence “Become Famous Someday”-scribbled inside a book 17 years ago has been the inspiration of a good portion of my writing career.

There was my family [husband, kids, parents] who were there in the trenches with me. They read the various drafts of all of my stories. They played quietly while mommy worked. They supported me and reminded me of my dream every time I wanted to give up.

I wanted to say THANK YOU to all of you. Thank you for pushing me in my dream. Thanking for believing I could do it. [And thank you for keeping a straight face through some of those drafts.]

On this Memorial Friday, take a minute to thank those who have carried you through the tough times. I don’t plan to post Monday so that everyone can spend time with their families, but I will see all of you Tuesday. Have a WONDERFUL weekend with those you love, and who love you!!

I have to go. I have writing to do.

Your Coach for the Journey. Tiffany Colter.

Well, I finally did it. I decided to run a special class.

I have been knocking around the idea for a few weeks now. I taught a class in Feb with the Christian PEN [Professional Editor's Network] on building an editing business. It was SO much fun.

I’ve also taught classes in the past for ACFW [where I served a year as their online course coordinator].

I will also be teaching for the Christian PEN in July [this time on time management].

So I finally decided to teach an online course through the Writing Career Coach. I’m super excited about it because it’s something I haven’t taught anywhere else before in a course loop setting. There are two different courses, both will run at the same time. Here are the details

The classes will be an online courses that will run for 4 weeks starting June 1st. Since I know it is end of the year craziness there will only be one lesson a week [with a homework assignment] and the rest of the week will be discussion time. It will be done in a loop format so I will answer questions and everyone will see the answers. I will also comment on each person’s assignment so we can all learn together. [If you're shy and would like to have me comment privately, we can arrange that too.]

The two classes are:

Writing Career Coach: Part 1
Writing Career Coach: Part 2 [this hasn't even been released yet. You will be the first ones to see it.]

You can get details of what will be taught by going to the website using this link.

I want everyone who wants to to be able to participate so the total 1 month class is only $10. If you are subscribed to the blog it is only $7. If you’d like to take both courses it is only $15 or only $10 if you subscribe to the blog. [It's free to subscribe. Simply follow this link.]

To register send me an email through the website’s contact page. In the email tell me which course you want to register for and which email address to send the paypal invoice to [sorry, I can only do paypal invoices for payment.] To qualify for the “subscriber discount” let me know the email address that you subscribed to the blog under [so I can check it against my subscriber list.]

I will invoice and then send you the link to the online course when the balance is paid. I’m really excited about both of these classes. I think you will learn a good deal from them.

I will also be releasing a “conference prep” special in the next few days. It will include a critique of the first 3 chapters [12,000 words] of your MS, help with a query and one sheet and 1 hour of phone consultation. Basically, everything you should need to get you ready to go to conference with confidence! [If you want to know about it before I release the info then you can use my contact page on my website to email me.]

Whether you take advantage of these opportunities, or those offered by others, take some time this summer to build your writing business. Do SOMETHING!

I have to go, I’m putting the finishing touches on the courses.

Your Coach for the Journey. Tiffany Colter

Today I want to think about three words: Chance, Opportunity and Fate.

Chance
I’ve heard this word used often when people are talking about something they should have done. It will be expressed in stories “I had a chance once to be something great, but….” I’ve been guilty of that myself. Many people I know in my day-to-day life don’t know I have a blog that has been read by thousand’s of people or that I coach writer’s or that I’ve won awards. They know me as “the mom of the 4 girls”. They see me in my ponytail with mommy jeans and no makeup. Just another mom in the crowd. Nothing special.

Every once in a while I start to feel a need to prove myself and I say “Well, I had a chance to work with a group from Princeton on a research project in Eastern Europe but I passed it up because I didn’t want to change my wedding date.” But as I have now been married more than 10 years I realize how pathetic it is to point back to that. I guess by inflating what we COULD HAVE BEEN, it helps us look better to ourselves on the days when we feel like a failure.

Opportunity
This word I’ve heard in reference to things that could happen in the future, many times with a hint of skepticism. This has been the case with my friend who is putting on the essay contest and is giving away a house as the prize. She had someone write a really scathing blog about the contest [the blogger nearly called the contest a FRAUD]. People will look at what could be a great opportunity [imagine paying $50, winning the house and then auctioning it off for $50,000. THAT is what I call a return on your money!] And pass it by. Unfortunately, most people won’t see it as a potential way to pay off their own house, or start a new life for themselves. They’ll say in a few years “I once had a chance to win a house for $50.” And then say something like “I guess Fate was against me.”

Fate
This poor word gets the blame for our own inaction. “It must not have been my turn” or a dark muttered “Fate” while shrugging ones shoulders. When will we stop blaming this four letter word for our complete lack of intestinal fortitude?? When will we decide our own fate? When will we take that chance, recognize that opportunity and live our dreams??

I decided a while back that I wanted to be the best I could be. That may not mean the absolutely best that exists-but it does mean being the best that Tiffany can be. I am amazed at the accomplishments of other humans. They have overcome amazing odds, fought overwhelming battles and accomplished miraculous things. The one thing most of these people have in common is a complete unwillingness to give themselves an excuse.

Last year my husband and I faced the possibility of losing everything. He’d just finished battling cancer which had not only ravaged his body physically, but had drained all of our savings and put us SUBSTANTIALLY in debt. During this time we sat down and watched the Will Smith movie “Pursuit of Happyness”. We had almost no food, the engine in our only vehicle was dead and we were being told that we could lose our home. What cancer hadn’t taken, the aftershock looked like it would.

As we watched the movie my hubby said “Why do I want to watch this. I’m just watching my life.” It was so true, that it hurt. 4 kids, no money, no hope. But we didn’t let that be the final word. We pushed hard and took advantage of opportunities given to us. We also decided to pursue happyness [happy-ness]. That isn’t happiness as in Joy. I have decided that it really is the decision to be happy! A state of being happy, despite the ‘ness’ around you. [homelessness, joblessness, moneylessness, sickness, whatever-else-ness]

Will Smith’s character faced impossible odds, but he didn’t give up. He pushed harder, because he had to. Failure cost too much!

So as you’re pursuing your writing dream think about these three words and decide which one you’re allowing to control your future. Then take control back, and move ahead!

I have to go, I have a victory lap to run!!

Your Coach for the journey. Tiffany Colter

I imagine by now a good number of you have received your stimulus payments. I have been thinking about these and I have some thoughts to share on them.

“I thought this was a writing/marketing blog!!” You are likely saying.

Stick with me. One thing writing and marketing have in common is the need to study human behavior and that is what I’m going to share with you now.

In the months leading up to the release of checks I heard many people saying “These won’t help the economy. People are going to use them on fuel.” I heard commentators reporting on the changing verbage of the President, from talking of stimulus to talking about relief from the pump sticker shock. I also heard news reports citing statistics saying that the majority of people would be using their rebates for paying bills or paying down debts.

I truly never believed it.

I know one thing about humans. [Yes, I am one but for the time being I'm trying to leave my humanity behind in order to study them.] Many of them are well intentioned but they can’t resist a bargain. No doubt many people looked around them a month or two ago and said “There is no way I’m going to spend this on junk. I’m going to get out of the situation I’m in.” But once the $1,200 check was in their hands….it was a different story. Suddenly they wanted to do “just a little splurge.” Until the sales started attacking their TV!! Oh my the REBATE deals! Even our local grocery stores have deals. When you buy $300-$600 or $1,200 in gift cards you get an additional 10% of the purchase price FREE. So a $300 gift card is actually valued at $330. They call it a 10% return on your rebate!

I am willing to bet that a good number of people will end up spending most of their rebate on “Fun” stuff.

Now, how does this apply to your writing?? Encorporate this kind of behavior in to your own characters as you write! They may have the best of intentions to get themselves out of a bad situation but first they want to do “just one thing.” A woman may decide to go say goodbye to that no-good boyfriend, and she ends up walking in on a murder. Maybe they have some money that they really want to give to a family in need, but keep putting it off. Then they find out that the family has lost everything and is moving away to live with family.

Add these ideas of plans contradiction reality [or even logic]. It will make your characters more real and your stories much more interesting.

I have to go, I have outlining to do!

Your Coach for the Journey, Tiffany Colter

Okay confession time. I love paperwork.

I don’t mean I just like filling in forms and filing and alphabetizing…I mean I LOVE paperwork. So the term “Not Applicable” [or the shortened version NA] is one you’ll hear me say often.

Think about when you fill in a form and it asks you a question. You’re given the choice between Yes-No-Not Applicable.

I have to be honest, I usually try to find a way to make it applicable to me. I’m such a student of nuance [probably because I'm a writer] that I need to feel that various things apply to me.

Example:
You own a farm. Yes-No-NA

Well, technically I don’t really own a farm, however, my neighbor is a farmer and we do have cats outside that catch mice, two dogs and 4 ducks. So, I’d have to say “All of the above.

This spills over in to my life. When someone asks me to help our or participate in activities I try to find a way, somehow. Yes, it means I can get over-committed, which then leads to frustration, but I don’t want to feel like I’m missing something. My mom tells me that even as a toddler I would be up from early in the morning until 11pm or later [without a nap] because I never wanted to miss anything.

And then in my stories….AHHH. I dump so much in to my stories that sometimes the poor reader must stop and say “I think I could have figured that out without you pointing out the obvious!”

So think about the term NA as you do your writing, marketing and platform development. As you’re writing and editing your story, keep a file titled “Deleted Scenes” and if something is NA then REMOVE IT. Put it in your deleted scenes folder, and move on. Your story will be better for it.

If you’re trying to create a marketing platform or strategy, understanding NA will keep you from wasting precious time and marketing dollars.

Don’t be like I am when I fill out forms, reluctant to choose NA on anything. Be merciless and give an honest assessment of where you are, where you need to be and how you’ll get there. Doing so will save you precious time and precious marketing dollars.

Embrace the NA.

I have to go. I have writing to do.

Your Coach for the Journey, Tiffany Colter

Hello

As a mom of 4 girls I’ve been through various stages with my children. There was the “Me” stage, the “No” stage, the “Mine” stage and so many others. With a couple of my girls we are firmly in the “But Why?” Stage.

While it can be very frustrating to have every decision I make challenged daily by a child, I try to remember that they’re not trying to be critical-they’re trying to understand.

Last week I encouraged all of you to work on your writing. I told you about a problem I was having with my heroine. Well, despite an insane week full of ballet, theater and teaching [my girls are in ballet and theater] I managed to squeeze in a little time to think about my character. And I solved the problem. It all came down to “But Why?”

Let me backtrack just slightly. When I was at ACFW conference last September Colleen Coble, a Romantic Suspense Author, was teaching on writing….suspense [duh]. What was cool is I realized that my brain worked very much like Colleen’s [good news for me, sorry Colleen ]. She went around a room of probably 100 people and asked them to talk about their WIP [Work in Progress]. I told her about a MS I was pitching while I was there.

Colleen: Why does Shannon do this?
Me: Because she is jealous of Nicki
Colleen: But why?
Me: Because Nicki had the opportunity she never had.
Colleen: But why?
Me: because Shannon’s parents didn’t see a future in real estate.
Colleen: But why?
Me: I don’t know.
Colleen: Find out.

This week as I was trying to work on the problem with my character I remembered what Colleen had said about asking WHY. The phrase “But Why?” can deepen not only your characters, but your plot.

But why should the reader care?
But why does the hero/heroine care?
But why is this happening now?
But why is this affecting this person in this way?
But why is this [minor] character involving themself in the hero/heroine’s problem?

Are you starting to see how this can help your writing?

And since I am passionate about Marketing you can ask yourself the EXACT same question when you are trying to create a marketing plan for your books. As amazing as it is, people will not simply fall all over themselves to purchase your book-simply because it has appeared on a shelf. [I know! It is hard to believe.] So by asking the “But Why?” question on your books and on your marketing you can take characters, plots…and Marketing much deeper.

I have to go. I have questions to ask.

Your Coach for the Journey, Tiffany Colter

Hello and Happy Tuesday.

I was looking over my traffic numbers last week and I learned something funny.

You guys are morning people!!

Wow, how did I get so many people that like to wake up with the birdies?

Do you know how I know this? Well, last week I tried an experiment. Nearly every day last week I posted a blog BEFORE 9:30am [some days right at 9:30am] instead of the usually late morning posting.

Would you believe my traffic TRIPLED??? I was shocked.

I knew that I’d seen a steady increase in traffic the earlier in the day I posted but, being a night owl, I don’t alway get to post my blog early in the morning. that requires me getting up early enough to get breakfast, start school with the kids, and get my blog all done-before 9:30am. Tough when you’ve been up until 2am writing the night before!

But I found out that Blogger now has it where you can write your blogs and SCHEDULE THEM!! How cool is THAT!?!?!

So that’s what I did. Last Sunday night I wrote my blogs for Mon-Wed and scheduled them to go up each day before 9:30am. And THREE TIMES as many of you read the blog as usual. In fact, we shot past the 4,000 hit count without me noticing it. Amazing. Since the last week of September there have been almost 4,100 hits to this blog. 3,100 of those in 2008.

So, find out about your demographic, whether blogs or books, and make adjustments wherever possible. For me, I now find it easier to write a few of my blogs Sunday night before the Chaos of my week hits. And then schedule them.

For those of you who were looking for the time to blog, maybe you’ve just found it?

Remember, it is the little things that can mean the difference in your writing business. Little word choices. Little plot twists. and in marketing, little things like scheduling your blogs to post before 9am.

I have to go! I have reading to do.

Your Coach for the Journey, Tiffany Colter

Hello

Well, it may seem that I’m starting this week on a fairly sour note, but rest assured. I’m not.

In fact, I was reflecting this weekend on the times when I’ve really made huge strides in my life and, for the most part, they were during periods of NEED. Yep-despite what I always thought, I wrote best when I had a need.

When I NEEDED to get the story out of my mind.
When I NEEDED to sell an article to buy groceries.
When I NEEDED to believe in my gift of writing again.

Right now Economic Downturns are in the news. Despite a slow growth in the first quarter, most people believe we are in a recession. But I never was one to go with the flow. I am a marketing person and I seek to keep my eye to trends, but I don’t allow them to dictate my future to me.

That is part of my personality. I did great in college, graduating with a 3.9 cum GPA from the Honors College at my university, simply because in my first term when I got a 3.4 in my first term someone told me that I’d never get a higher GPA.

I guess I like proving people wrong.

So what about you? Do you allow circumstances and the market to DICTATE TO you, or do you take the information you learn from the market and apply it to your strengths to make you stronger?

Think about it. Truly, understanding whether you use circumstances as information or as an excuse will make a huge difference in where you end up.

I have to go. I have writing to do.

Your Coach for the Journey, Tiffany Colter

For those of you who don’t know, my oldest daughter Caitie does book reviews of Children’s books. She is currently a fourth grader, at least for another month, and she gives a kid’s review of new books. Her reviews appear both on this website and on Novel Reviews. This book is a self-published book and she enjoyed it very much.

So now, a book review of Astro Socks by Leigh M. Le Creux.

Hi Welcome back to Caitie’s Corner

Today I’m going to tell you about a book called Astro Socks. It’s about a boy, Chris. Before his tenth birthday he got a little sister named Rachel. Chris was called “Mr. Intensity”. When Rachel was in her bouncy thing her socks always came off. Chris tries to figure it out but he gets seen.

But good things happen. It’s about changes and to follow your dream.

Bye for now, Caitie.

You Should read this. It’s awesome.