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I just wanted to post a poem I wrote for my mom's memorial. She passed away in August, and I was originally going to do the eulogy, but decided I wasn't going to be able to get an intelligible word out if I had to speak in front of anyone. So instead, I did what I think I do best:write. Well, actually poetry is not my thing, but these words came from the heart( I hammered it out in about five minutes). Enjoy. And rest in peace Mom.

Selfless

To You, what is a mother?

Is it to birth a child, feed it, hold it?

Well, to me, it is to selflessly and without complaint, care for another...

Katherine Blackburn blamelessly fit this part. 

Yes, she was a woman whose children carried her heart.

From a boy with lashes long and eyes blue, to another whom she was proud, in all that his talent allowed him to do. 

Then there was number three, a boy as well, whom swelled her with pride, for the fact that he was her baby boy, she would not hide.

Then number four; while a daddy’s girl, this mother taught everything, all her wisdom, which I consider a priceless pearl.

Did this mother ever demand payment or reward? Did she ever once complain?

No, she did everything she did, regardless of the pain.

For motherhood is not an easy task, but for my mother, not one thing in return, did she ask. 

She disciplined, cleaned and cooked, and when times were quiet, she would sew or read a book.

But the little enjoyments she would quickly put aside, for a mother’s work never ends, never subsides.

Yet still, she did it with abundant pride.

Does she deserve a great reward for her selfless giving?

Yes, indeed, yet earthly things would never be fitting. 

But do not fret. Her legacy lives on, in four, now grown children, who will lovingly and forever, call her mom.

So when Katherine Blackburn stood before God, and by Him, was of her life asked to describe, 

she answered ‘I was a selfless mother,’ with head held firmly high. 

And she was sure, by that truthful account, not all the gold in the world could ,or would, ever amount.

So God smiled, and nodded His head. ‘Yes Katherine Blackburn, you were. A mother you were called, and a mother you became. The world where you lived will never be the same. You were honored, loved and cherished. Your family, they were surely blessed. 

‘They call their time with you priceless...

‘Yes, Katherine Blackburn, indeed you were exactly what I called you to be:

Honestly, blamelessly, and perfectly...

Selfless.

So Let's Begin...

I'm back! Thank God for my six year old. She has turned out to be the best babysitter, giving me at least ten minutes here and there to get some things done, like working on my much neglected blog. 


Long ago, and many posts far away, I promised that I would share with you lessons learned in working to get my first novel published. Well, I'm making good on that promise now, and I want to begin at the beginning, at least what I thought was the beginning: finding out who to send your manuscript to. 


The obvious thing to do in today's technological savvy world is to look on the internet,  'googling' anything you need to find out. Well, don't get your hopes up, thinking I went about it some other, more creative, more fulfilling, more scholarly way, because I didn't. I'm guilty. I googled. 


And it gave me about a billion ways to get my manuscript into someone's hands.


I'm going to save you some time, because I know you looked here before anywhere else, right?  Well, the first bit of crucial knowledge I'm going to pass down to you will save you oodles of time, but will cost you about 20 or 30 bucks, albeit money well spent, I assure you. 


YOU NEED A COPY OF 'THE WRITER'S MARKET GUIDE.'


Or, if you specifically want Christian publishers, then you need 'The Christians Writers' Market Guide.'


Fellow writers, this book should be your bible if you're looking for a publisher. There truly is, in my opinion, no better way to research who your manuscript should go to. Listed within are hundreds of publishers, with exactly what they are looking for, whether or not they're accepting manuscripts, if you need an agent to do it for you, even how many pages they're wanting. Each year a new edition is published with updated information.  I tell you the truth, this is the book to get. After days of surfing the web making sure I indeed should buy said book, I went to Barnes & Noble and picked up the latest edition of both the regular guide and the Christian one. 


Before you begin, you should know the topic/genre/classification of the book, how many pages it is, who your target audience is(some publishers listed within the book are audience specific, i.e. children, young adult, African American), and if you have an agent(again, some publishers will not take unsolicited manuscripts, meaning if you don't have an agent, don't waste their time).


In edition to having book publishers, the guide contains consumer magazine listings, Canadian and International book publishers, trade journals, and listings for awards and contests and even literary agents. You will need to find the section for book publishers, which has both fiction and non-fiction publishers.  


I started by reading the 'How to use the Writer's Market guide in the beginning of the book. It had lots of nifty info, and I can truly say I learned quite a bit, especially how to do research within the guide. 


Next, I looked up some publishers I knew by name, simply because they're popular, like Harlequin and Little and Brown, just to name a few. The publishers are in alphabetical order, by the way. 


When I realized that the big time publishers either wanted an agent to submit my work, or their guidelines just didn't suit me for various reasons, then I started at the beginning(this is not to say you shouldn't seek out the popular publishers first, even if you are a first time author. Do whatever you think you should do concerning your work). What do I mean by I started at the beginning? Well, just that. I started at A and ended with Z. I read through every publisher's requirements listed, and if my work could be a possible fit, I highlighted them. I came out with about a dozen publishers I felt my novel could be submitted to. Why only a dozen out of hundreds? Because some of the publishers listed are so specific as to what they're looking for, that it left no room for me to even wonder whether or not I  should submit to them. For instance, does my novel have any curse words? If so, don't bother submitting. Or, does my novel empower a certain social group to think beyond their current circumstances? No? Then don't bother submitting.
You get the idea.


If you have an easier method than going through each listing, then go for it. I simply wanted to make sure all possibilities were exhausted. This was my first novel, my baby so to speak, and I was chomping at the bit to get it into print. It was my dream, and I couldn't afford to let one sentence go unread. I didn't want a single publisher to slip by my radar because of hastiness. And, since I knew nothing of the publishing world, except what I googled of course, I felt I needed to educate myself. 


I will stop there for now, because getting my list of publishers I wanted to submit to was really the first important step in getting my book in print. And it's bottle/nap time. I will detail my next step in the next post.

I'm Still Alive

Barely, but I am. Sleep Deprivation does odd things to the mind, one being creativity-challenged. As much as I want to write, I simply don't have the brain power to do it right now, at least not on any of my new stuff. I have, however, been approving edits on 'Seven Days Normal.' It has been tedious to say the least, but the end product will be awesome. So I just wanted to give a little update to let everyone know I'm still here, if only in body. Maybe one day this baby will lose her super-human ability to evade sleep and I will be able to have a normal life once again. Until then, keep writing!

Temporary Hiatus

Kudos to all the women out there who can juggle jobs, the domestic stuff, and new babies. Oh, and blogs. Sorry to say, I'm not to be lumped in with that awesome group! The last trimester of my pregnancy was hellish, and now that I've had my baby, I'm going on about three hours of sleep at night, so my poor blog has been neglected, but definitely not forgotten. My mind has been inundated with all things baby since November, but as I get this kid on some semblance of a routine, I will start posting again, and that's a promise.

Your Writing Resume

If I've learned anything in the past couple of months, it's this: build your writing credentials BEFORE you get published.
Easier said than done, you might say, and at one time I would agree with you, but not anymore. Your writing resume, or credentials for being published and marketed, is actually easy to build, as long as you use your ever-so creative brain and put some work into it.
First, let's start by defining writing resume. It is similar to a professional resume, in that you will use it to present yourself in a way that seems credible. For writers, you want to present yourself as marketable. You want what you've done for the world of writing and reading to stand out so that you already have a viable market in place to sell your works.
'But what if I've never published anything?' you might ask. Don't worry. Neither have I. At least not until now. And this is the aspect of your resume I want to talk about. Just because you've never been published doesn't mean you can't write. It doesn't mean you can't sell, and it doesn't mean that your stories are going to flatline. It simply means you haven't been given the chance to showcase your talent yet, and soon a publisher will pick you up and present you to the wonderful world of being a published author. Keep that hope in the forefront of your thinking.
Anyways, I digress. Having a list of published works is great, but there is something else you can add to your resume that shows you have a potential audience/market- your involvement in the community. More precisely, your hometown. Are you active in any clubs? Is there a book club in your city of residence? No? START ONE. Are you involved in any library organization, any church organization, or any organization that could serve as an audience? No? Then get busy! Join whatever club/organization/committee you can that has anything to do with books, or really people for that matter(since your goal here is to show you have a base audience to market to, and that may help you market your works in the future). Your goal is to build relationships so that once you are published, you already have part of your marketing strategy in place. For example, let's say you've been contacted by a publisher, you've signed the contract, and now your publisher wants you to create a marketing plan. They want to know how you are going to involve yourself with getting the word out there about your book. Well, if you are a member of your hometown book club, you can start by letting the other members know that you are now published, your book will be out on such and such date, and the book is about such and such a thing, and would any of them like a free copy to read and pass around to anyone they know?
It's that easy.
And you can do the same thing with other clubs you are a part of. You can even go to local bookstores and speak to the managers about your upcoming book, just so they know you. Plant those little seeds anywhere you can, and to anyone who will listen.
A writing resume will not only help you after you get published, it will help tremendously beforehand as well, especially if you have no publishing credits to your name(such as newspaper articles, blogs, etc.) You will look a little more sparkly, if you will, when you submit to a publisher and can say that you are involved in x amount of clubs, and all the members know you are aspiring to be published.
So build your resume. Join whatever you can locally. And if I had it all to do again, I would have tried to write newspaper articles or something along that nature, just so I could have that extra credential to my name. It couldn't hurt, and it definitely will help you look more attractive. But even if you've never been published(I'm stressing this point if you can't tell), you can still build a market, which in my opinion is the most important aspect of becoming a published author. Until next time, ink well!

The Work Begins!

It's been a long week!
But I'm not going to complain, because it's not everyday someone can say they've been working on a marketing plan to help their publisher promote their new book. In between designing my website, getting head shots taken, and doing the normal mommy/wife thing, I've been calling radio stations, the local newspaper, visiting bookstores, and answering all manner of questions pertaining to my book. It was all a little overwhelming, but I'm fueled by knowing that in about a year or so, my story will be in print, and all the sleep deprivation will be entirely worth it. Soon I will start a series here on my blog about the writing process down through submissions, rejections, etcetera, that way I can stay true to the purpose of this blog: to help you, the aspiring writer, in your journey to being published. Looking back, I truly wish I had someone holding my hand through it all, giving me advice, clueing me in as what to expect next. I'm more the wiser having researched and learned by myself, but I do feel an obligation to my fellow writers to share what I've learned in any way I can (it's the same feeling I get when I walk in a bookstore and want to buy everything on the shelves, just so I can contribute to an author's income!). So in the meantime, you can visit my website, www.joleewilson.com to see what my stories are about, and the motivation behind them. Happy reading!