Today’s special guest is writer Melanie Faith to chat about her non-fiction book for writers, From Promising to Published: A Multi-Genre, Insider’s Guide to the Publication Process.
Bio:
Melanie Faith is a night-owl writer and editor who moves through the daytime world with her camera. She’s an introvert who likes to wear many hats, including as a poet, photographer, novelist, editor, professor, and tutor. She’s been a doodler for years but just recently started to share her perfectly imperfect doodles. She loves to write about historical settings in poetry and prose, and this fall she taught both a Leaping Worlds class for historical-fiction and time-travel writers as well as a university class about publishing. She especially enjoys creating nonfiction craft books that assist fellow authors on their writing paths, including books packed with tips about writing flash fiction and poetry. Her latest published craft books are: Photography for Writers, guides for teaching online and writing a research book respectively, and From Promising to Published: A Multi-Genre, Insider’s Guide to the Publication Process (all from Vine Leaves Press).
Welcome, Melanie. Please tell us about your current release.
This book has a little something for every writer interested in expanding their audience and sharing their writing with readers, from pre-writing and writing your drafts to choosing your market and the writing life before, during, and after publication.
What inspired you to write this book?
I love connecting with fellow authors and talking about this writing life. I also teach creative writing, and for almost seven years I’ve taught a wonderful course in publishing at an online university’s grad program. In the course, I get to share a lot of tips and suggestions for where and how to get started preparing a query letter, writing an author bio for submissions and websites, approaching publishers or agents, learning about self-publishing and traditional publishing options, and preparing a book proposal.
I’ve learned so much about publishing from first-hand experiences writing, submitting, publishing, and marketing previous books that I always have a multitude of insights to share with my students, and I want to share that knowledge, support, and suggestions with a wider audience of writers looking to break into publishing or self-publishing as well as well as already-published authors seeking to up their marketing game for their latest books.
Excerpt from the chapter “Celebration Station”:
“Dissatisfaction is too easy to cultivate in the arts. Too often, we wait to celebrate for the big-kaboom, more-recognizable milestones in our writing careers, such as those above or, say, the cover release. All of these large milestones are certainly celebratory territory—go for it!, I say—but don’t live like arts ascetics in the meantime when it comes to savoring the joy of each part of the writing, editing, and seeking-publication processes…
So, have you finished a sloppy first draft? Bravo! Half a first draft? A third? An outline of the first chapter or of story ideas? Marvelous! It’s on its way!
Did you push around a few sentences in your fifth draft? Work it!
Did you reach out to a writing friend you haven’t talked to in a few weeks or months to see about critiquing each other’s work or set up a schedule for checking in about your progress on your latest chapter or article. Way to go!
Did you get your twentieth rejection letter that had ink praising your work from a real-live editor? That’s marvelous—you’re still writing, you’re still submitting work!
Wherever you’re at on your ongoing quest in your current piece(s)/projects, it’s worth rewarding yourself with a proverbial pat on the back or maybe a more tangible sign of your sustained fortitude. Mu shu, anyone?”
What exciting project are you working on next?
I’m working on three books of historical-fiction poetry, another nonfiction craft book, and various articles about writing and the writing life. I’m also a photographer and a doodler, so I’m always working on some visual pieces, too.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I knew I was a writer since before I knew how to read or write the alphabet. I have memories of being around 3 or 4 years old where I would “write” lunch orders on carbon-copy restaurant-order pads that my cook grandmother gave me or I would “write” lessons for my stuffed-animal students on lined paper. I was always fascinated with marks, meaning, stories, symbolism, imagery, ink pens, books, and writer culture (and I still am).
One of my first experiences with considering myself a writer out loud was in high school, when I typed my first book I wrote one summer break. Of course, the manuscript never got published (nor did my next few), but it was a great experience in calling myself a writer and knowing in my bones that it was true. I also clocked in a hundreds upon hundreds of pleasant hours crafting my characters and learning how to type with speed as I tried to keep pace with my imagination.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I have multiple part-time jobs. Each and every day is utterly unique, which I love since I enjoy variety, but most days include at least some of the following work-related activities (with everyday life stuff like meals, dishes, answering personal texts, and the like interspersed in-between that which I’m not going to bother mentioning but which take time): moderating discussion boards, grading student projects and assignments, offering detailed feedback to freelance clients, editing books for clients, answering student emails and/or providing additional links for students, posting about my own books or writing on social media, tutoring students online, double-checking my to-do list and ranking items in order of importance, and working on my own writing drafts of personal projects.
I often write at the end of the day or whenever I get a break, such as after having lunch and before delving back into emails, editing, or grading (or all three) for the afternoon. Now and again, I also write first thing in the day, especially if it’s been a few days since working on a personal project because my own writing got shoved aside a lot that week—it happens to all of us.
Finding solid blocks of time to write has never been more challenging (which I know from my students is also the case for the vast majority of us writers), since I juggle multiple jobs, clients, life events, and projects at once, and at the same time, it’s never been more important to take half-hour breaks to do some of my own writing projects to keep myself creatively rested and rejuvenated.
I encourage fellow writers to pencil themselves into their own schedules (I do that), especially if they haven’t written creatively in days or weeks—it can really help us to show up for ourselves and our writing when life gets chaotic and beyond busy. You deserve fifteen, thirty, or even sixty minutes at a time to enjoy your creativity, even if that’s the only few minutes in a day or week that you get the luxury to focus on your own writing. Penciling it into your schedule increases the odds that your writing will happen on that particular day.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I alternate projects, so some of my projects sit on the backburner for months or even well over a year before the muse strikes to get back to them again. I work on projects intuitively, so I’ll write a chapter or a handful of poems or an article or two at a time and then either start a new project or rotate back to an already-started one that feels ready to work on again. Last weekend, I worked on two chapters of a project I hadn’t worked on since May.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Other than a brief period around age 7 or 8 where I wanted to be an astronaut (it was the height of the Space Race; I still do find planetary and earth sciences interesting, despite motion sickness and an aversion to math that would certainly make me a poor astronaut—that, and learning about space diapers helped me to change my mind), I’ve always wanted to be a writer and a teacher. It’s a meaningful path to have fulfilled both of these ambitions for more than 20 years. I’m grateful to students, fellow colleagues, fellow writers, readers, and family for their encouragement and support on this path.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I want to encourage other writers that we’re living in an exciting time with myriad great options for publishing or self-publishing and sharing our writing with our target audiences. With some consistent work and research into publishing and marketing to find the very best fit for you and your project, you can and will connect with readers who will savor your writing.
Keep writing, and be willing to do the work in small chunks with whatever time you have available right now—you’ll get there. I hope that my book will provide an additional support system for your dreams and ambitions as they turn to reality. Write on!
Links:
Website | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Blog | Amazon.com | Barnes and Noble | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | Bookbub
Blog Tour Calendar
December 5th @ The Muffin
Join WOW as we celebrate the launch of Melanie Faith’s blog tour of From Promising to Publishing. Read an interview with the author and enter to win a copy of the book. https://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com
December 5th @ Karen Brown Tyson
Visit Karen’s blog today and read about whether to monetize your writing or keep it a hobby. https://karenbrowntyson.com
December 7th @ Create Write Now
Visit Mari’s blog today to read a guest post by Melanie Faith about how to self-motivate. https://www.createwritenow.com/journal-writing-blog
December 8th @ Margay Leah Justice’s Blog
Join Margay as she reviews From Promising to Published by Melanie Faith. https://margayleahjustice.blogspot.com/
December 9th @ Blunt Scissors Book Reviews
Jennifer shares her thoughts about Melanie Faith’s helpful book From Promising to Published.
https://www.instagram.com/bluntscissorsbookreviews/
December 10th @ World of My Imagination
Visit Nicole’s blog to catch her review of From Promising to Published by Melanie Faith. https://worldofmyimagination.com/
December 11th @ Shoe’s Seeds and Stories
Visit Linda’s blog as she reviews Melanie Faith’s book From Promising to Published. https://lschuelerca.wordpress.com/
December 12th @ One Writer’s Journey
Sue shares her thoughts about Melanie Faith’s helpful book for writers From Promising to Published. https://suebe.wordpress.com/
December 13th HERE!
December 15th @ Mother Daughter Bookclub
Join Cindy as she reviews From Promising to Published by Melanie Faith. https://motherdaughterbookclub.com/
December 16th @ The Faerie Review
Lily shares her thoughts about Melanie Faith’s book From Promising to Published. https://www.thefaeriereview.com/
December 18th @ Michelle Cornish’ Blog
Come by Michelle’s blog and read Melanie Faith’s guest post about overcoming imposter syndrome. https://www.michellecornish.com/blog
December 20th @ A Storybook World
Deirdra features a spotlight of Melanie Faith’s book From Promising to Published. https://www.astorybookworld.com/
December 21st @ Elle Backenstoe’s Blog
Join Elle as she reviews Melanie Faith’s book From Promising to Published. http://ellebackenstoe.com/
December 22nd @ Author Anthony Avina’s Blog
Visit Anthony’s blog and read his review of From Promising to Published. https://authoranthonyavinablog.com/category/blog-tours/
December 23rd @ Help Me Naomi
Noami shares a review of From Promising to Published by Melanie Faith. https://helpmenaomi.com/
December 24th @ The Mommies Reviews
Join Tara she reviews Melanie Faith’s book From Promising to Published and hosts a giveaway too. https://www.themommiesreviews.com/
December 27th @ Mindy McGinnis’ Blog
Join Mindy’s blog today where author Melanie Faith shares tips on writing author bios that have personality and heart. https://www.mindymcginnis.com/blog
December 27th @ Beverley A. Baird’s Blog
Join Beverley as she reviews Melanie Faith’s book From Promising to Published. https://beverleyabaird.wordpress.com/
December 29th @ Beverley A. Baird’s Blog
Visit Beverley’s blog to read a guest post by Melanie Faith about the benefits of hiring a freelance editor and how to find a good fit. https://beverleyabaird.wordpress.com/
January 2nd @ Elle Backenstoe’s Blog
Visit Elle’s blog again and read Melanie Faith’s guest post about the benefits of beta readers and how to find one. http://ellebackenstoe.com/
January 3rd @ Editor 911
Join Margo as she features a guest post by Melanie Faith about the taking-on-too-much spiral. https://editor-911.com/blog
January 4th @ Liberate & Lather
Visit Angie’s blog and read her review of From Promising to Published by Melanie Faith. She hosts a giveaway and also interviews author Melanie Faith about her book. https://liberateandlather.com/blog
January 5th @ Word Magic
Fiona reviews this helpful writing book From Promising to Published by Melanie Faith. Don’t miss it! http://fionaingramauthor.blogspot.com/
January 7th @ Leslie’s Voice
Join Leslie as she reviews From Promising to Published by Melanie Faith. https://lesliesvoice.com/