Tag: writers life

Posted on by Fern Brady - 1 Comment on Author’s Professional Growth

Author’s Professional Growth

As a writer, it is important to stay abreast of what is happening in the publishing industry. Many things have changed and when you are serious about having a career as an author, you must stay informed. Author conferences are a wonderful place to network and learn about what is happening in this vibrant industry.

The Houston Writers Guild is hosting an in person conference the weekend of October 6–8, 2023. There will be many amazing sessions to select from as well as lunch as a group on Saturday. Here’s a few things the Guild is offering this fall:

The venue is both comfortable and ideally located for a wonderful view of Houston.

The conference venue is the beautiful Hilton Houston Plaza/Medical Center Hotel located at 6633 Travis Street I Houston, TX 77030  Friday night kicks off the weekend with a session on how to use anthology and journal publications to build your author platform followed by the celebration of the winners of the Journey Into Art short story contest. The compiled anthology features the authors that won this contest sponsored in collaboration with Women in the Visual and Literary Arts as well as local publishing house, Inklings Publishing. (yes my company)

Saturday is the main day and starts with a powerhouse keynote by renowned fantasy author Kevin J Anderson. Sessions offered during the day include: Tips to being a freelance author; legal issues for authors; several sessions on different types of editors and when you need which; using writing to bolster your personal and professional life; a magnificent panel on writing diversity into your books; effective kickstarter campaigns; writing for radio; marketing tips for authors; using critique groups effectively; and even an old-style Samurai Renga Poetry competition.

Sunday the weekend closes with a wonderful session by Kevin J Anderson on how to maximize your productivity.

In addition to the presentations, the conference offers add ons such as pitch sessions with agents and aquisition editors of small presses looking for new voices. Plus, an opportunity to have a one-on-one session with a social media expert. Aimee Ravichandran of Abundantly Social is an award winning influencer who can help authors expand their reach and build audience. This is a golden chance to have her look at your platform and give you specific tips to improving your reach.

If you are an author, I strongly encourage you to check out this conference. It will be a great event and offers many oppotunties for authors to grow professionally. Here’s the link to the website for a more complete description of the offerings as well as a chance to get your tickets. While you are there, consider joining the Houston Writers Guild. It is a volunteer run organization that truly seeks to help ALL authors succeed by offering many different programs. You can check out the membership benefits at the link below.

Link to conference information:

https://www.houstonwritersguild.org/writersroom

Membership Page for HWG:

https://www.houstonwritersguild.org/membership

Posted on by Fern Brady - No Comments on On Deadlines

On Deadlines

As you all know by now, I’m very intense about scheduling. I balance a lot of things and so time management is key for me. This year, my main goal is to keep my writing front and center. To make it a priority and not let other things push it over to a back burner. After all, United Vidden — which is book 1 of Thyrein’s Galactic Wall series — released way back in 2020. Book 2, Gortive Offensive, is now late!

One of the things that I have done to work on this goal is set up times in my schedule for writing. But since I have used this strategy in the past and then re-assigned the allotted times, I knew I needed additional things to keep me on track.

Illustrators:

Continent of Vidden
Planet Jorn

So I reached out to my illustrators. With Araceli Casas, I have arranged for her to make two maps for this novel. Because the book is about the Gortive Offensive, I felt that giving readers a couple maps that show the movement of troops and where key battles take place would be a good idea. In order for her to have them done in time for the production of the novel, I have to have the rough drafts of the maps by February 15. Which means, I have to finish the book before then. This pressure helps me focus on getting the book finished.

Another way to push myself is by working with Arthur Doweyko, who made the beautiful illustrations of the Gortive for my book’s cover. I arranged with him to have illustrations of a jorse and a jippo in the book. A lot of readers like the idea of the AI horse and wish they could have a picture of what I imagine it looks like. Again, by arranging this with my team, I am pushing myself to get the book done.

Royal Crown of Auldivia
Planet Jorn

Editors & Readers:

Of course, the most important people on my team are my editors and beta readers. Max Regan is my primary developmental editor and writing coach, and he is ready to get his hands on the book. The subtle and yet persistent pressure of “When is that coming to me, Fern?” from him is a good motivator.

As is the gentle push from Rachel Connelly. Her input on the book as my second editor is super important to me, especially as she has helped me compile a cheat sheet of my universe as set forth in book one, United Vidden. This has been an invaluable assistance, because it helped me realize I had already given some characters names in that book so changing them in book two was a big no-no. Plus, it will be a great resource to offer my readers either in the book or as a separate giveaway piece that helps them keep track of the world with greater ease… it certainly is helping me do so.

Chief Lorgarn of the Pathos Gortive Leader; Planet Jorn

I also have some hard core fans who are awaiting the opportunity to read the pre-published draft and give me their opinions. These help me a lot to see how readers are experiencing the novel’s events. It is also great inspiration to me as I try to make my super fans love the work even more.

This Blog:

So, basically, what I am saying is, I have to finish Gortive Offensive by February 15th.

There. Now this blog is another tool to push me to get it done. I’ve declared it here and I am committed to meeting that deadline. You all now, dear blog followers, have become a part of the pressure campaign to keep me on track to make this DEADLINE!

Wish me luck!