The Anxious Author

   Choosing a genre to write isn't as much of a struggle as it might look. Most authors stumble upon their preferred writing genre while being readers or while studying their trade. You tend to write what you love to read. It all goes back to that cliche saying, "write what you know". Writing what you know is sometimes a safety net, however, and authors have to branch out of their comfort zone if they want to grow and develop their skills.    Author Gloria Herrmann primarily writes contemporary romance but has left her comfort zone to explore the supernatural and the world of children's literature.   "Up until recently, I wrote contemporary romance for adults," remarked Herrmann. "I had been in talks about starting a children's line of books a while back. I tinkered with writing some stories loosely based on my pugs. I have finally connected with some possible illustrators who can bring these books to life. So, I'm excited to have some neat stuf...

   Back when I used to work in an elementary school, they had a saying, "don't wear your weather". If you were having a bad day, you were expected to come to work with a smile on your face. You weren't supposed to show the negatives on your face because your weather could be distracting to others. It's a toxic concept if you ask me. How are you supposed to expect kids to learn to handle their own emotions if they don't see those big people also struggling with big emotions? The important thing is not letting your emotions affect your outlook on the littles.   There were days after a particularly hard class that I would turn to my next class and say, "I'm having a hard day and want to do something fun with you. What would you like to do? Would you like to play Jeopardy, Liar Liar (What we called Balderdash), or read a book together?"    When it comes to writing, the same concept needs to apply. We need to wear our weather with grace. We need to be...

      While putting together the first book in a series of guides, based on this blog, it occurred to me that I never talked about the lingo used in the self-publishing industry. There are a lot of terms that authors throw around without stopping to think if their readers will understand them. This is because an author expects their readers to know the lingo of the genres they read. They don't want to risk insulting their readers by dumbing things down, but if a reader who doesn't know you looks at your page and sees a bunch of abbreviations they don't understand, it could scare them away. The same could be said about new authors doing research and trying to connect with other authors.     I'm a fantasy author, which means the majority of my lingo is common language. I rarely use abbreviations, but when I do I try to make sure I sprinkle in a definition every now and then.  My most used abbreviation is YA, but I also refer to subgenres of fantasy. If you're...