Six Tips to Upskill Yourself Without Attending a Writer's Conference

By Iola Goulton @iolagoulton

Registration has now closed for the 2018 Omega Writer's Conference to be held in Adelaide from 26 to 28 October. For those of you who are going, it's going to be a great weekend (and I'll have some tips for you next week).

But for those of you who can't make it ... does this mean you miss out on the opportunity to learn, to upskill yourself? Not at all. Here are six tips for upskilling yourself without going to a conference:

Reading In My Genre

Reading in my genre (Christian romance) enables me to observe genre trends. It also means I can suggest comparable titles for clients to include in contest entries, proposals, or in developing their own marketing plans. I tend to focus on debut authors (because that shows me what publishers are buying) and new-to-me authors.

Reading Outside My Genre

Reading outside my genre expands my genre horizons, and often teaches me something new about writing craft. For example, I have been heard to say I don't enjoy reading fantasy. Yet I've recently read and enjoyed Fawkes by Nadine Brandes. What did I enjoy? What can I learn from that? (Click here to read my review).

I've also recently read a couple of Christian romance novels I didn't enjoy. Why not? What can I learn from that? And was it the book ... or was it me? (Sometimes it's that I didn't care for the characters. So what can I do to put more emotion in my writing and editing?

Reading Craft Books

I also read writing craft books, and I often quote respected writers such as James Scott Bell, Janice Hardy, Randy Ingermanson, and Orson Scott Card in my editorial letters. Reading experts helps me edit to a higher standard by showing me areas in which I (and my clients) can improve, and giving me a language to describe both what needs work, and how to fix it.

Many popular writing instructors and speakers also write books on writing craft or offer online courses. Some of their books are based on their courses or conference presentations—so if you can't make the conference, buying the book will give you the main content.

For example, I've recently purchased Verbalize by Damon Suede after hearing him speak at the 2018 Romance Writers of New Zealand conference. I've also bought books by Michael Hauge and James Scott Bell after hearing them speak. The books don't replace listening, but they are a great aide memoir for all the notes I didn't take (Damon Suede makes the Engergiser Bunny seem slower than a sloth).

Read Blog Posts

There are dozens—hundreds—of great writing blogs. Most are written by writers for writers, although some are written by editors (or people who both write and edit). Some of my favourite writing blogs are:

• David Farland
• Writers in the Storm (a group blog with some great contributors including Margie Lawson).
• Writer Unboxed (a group blog which features Dave King as a regular guest)
• The Kill Zone Blog (a group of thriller authors which includes James Scott Bell as a contributor)
• Janice Hardy's Fiction University
• Randy Ingermanson (who also has an excellent monthly newsletter)
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch (for publishing and marketing advice)

Of course, I should also mention my own blog, Christian Editing Services, where I share a weekly post on some aspect of writing, editing, publishing, and marketing.

Online Courses

Many writing instructors offer online courses either through their own website (e.g. Margie Lawson and Lawson Writer's Academy) or through online platforms such as Teachable or Udemy. If you aren't able to hear Michael Hauge in person, then his Udemy course is a great substitute (and it's sometimes on sale for as little as USD 10).

Some courses are delivered via email or an online classroom and give students the opportunity to submit writing samples, receive individualised feedback on their writing, and interact with other students. These are generally more expensive, as students are paying for the instructor's time. They also operate over a fixed timescale (e.g. one month), so it's only worth enrolling if you will be able to make time to complete the assignments, as that's how you get the best value.

Other courses are delivered via email or through online audio or video platforms, and students can work through the course material at their own pace (my Kick-Start Your Author Platform Marketing Challenge is one such course). This can be an advantage and a disadvantage: it's easy to sign up for a work-at-your-own pace course, and it's just as easy to not complete it because life gets in the way. These courses require more self-discipline than the classroom-type courses.

Conference Recordings

Some of the bigger writers conferences record the teaching sessions and make the audio recordings available for members to purchase for as little as $10 each. Conferences which sell audio recordings include:

• American Christian Fiction Writers
• Christian Proofreaders & Editors Network
• Romance Writers of America

So there you have my six ways to upskill yourself without going to a writing conference (or to keep learning throughout the year between conferences).

Will you be attending the 2018 Omega Writer's Conference? Of not, how do you plan to upskill yourself in 2018 and 2019?

About Iola Goulton

Iola Goulton is a New Zealand book reviewer, freelance editor, and author, writing contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist. She is a member of the Sisterhood of Unpronounceable Names (Iola is pronounced yo-la, not eye-ola and definitely not Lola).

Iola holds a degree in marketing, has a background in human resource consulting, works as a freelance editor, and has recently introduced an Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter

Non-Fiction Book Review: James Scott Bell x2

by Andrea Grigg

For all your writers out there, I’ve got two beauties for you, both written by the highly-esteemed James Scott Bell. This man knows his stuff, believe me. Let me introduce you to the first book, one that leapt out at me simply because of the title:

Marketing For Writers Who Hate Marketing.

The tagline’s great, too: The No-Stress Way to Sell Books Without Losing Your Mind.

I know, right?

I don’t totally hate marketing, but I know a lot of writers who do, writers who wish they could just hide in their garrets and pound their keyboards, and not have to worry about beastly old marketing. If you’re one of those people, then this book is for you. And if you’re not, then this book is still for you.

I’m paring down a lot of things in my life at the moment, and Marketing For Writers Who Hate Marketing totally hits the spot. For a start, it’s short. According to the ‘about the book’ pop-up, it can be read in one hour and thirty-eight minutes. I read it in less than that, but I’ll be going back to it many times. I’ll tell you why.

As James Scott Bell (a.k.a. JSB) points out on the second page, “You don’t have to love marketing, nor do you have to get sucked into its vortex in order to be good at it.”

Reassuring, hey? Empowering, even.

He goes on to prioritize the basics (yay for basics!), and explains them succinctly in manageable, bite-sized chunks. He states the number one marketing tool (nope, I’m not telling, but you’ll be relieved when you find out what it is) and then outlines the importance of a book’s first impression, the cover. There’s a whole chapter devoted to it. Then comes the following:

·      Tips for writing cover copy, your elevator pitch, a tagline, your author bio, the opening pages

·      An explanation of the mysteries of categories, keywords and search terms

·      Advice on pricing your book and the variables involved; advice concerning giveaways

·      What’s needed in a website, your Amazon author page

·      Advice on book launches, reviews, and key influencers

·      A chapter each on Live Networking, Things That Suck Time, (funnily enough there’s no mention of Social Media in that one, although it is mentioned in another chapter), 15 Things That Cost Money, and more.

Another chapter is devoted to Short Writing as a Marketing Tool, which I found totally intriguing, and leads straight into my second - albeit brief - review:

How To Write Short Stories and Use Them to Further Your Writing Career.

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I found this fascinating. Like novellas, short stories have their place, mainly because ‘time is of the essence’ more than ever. Short stories can be used as giveaways for people who sign up to your email list, or in a collection to be read on the bus or train on the way to work.

JSB suggests a short story should be between 1000-7000 words. Obviously, they’re quicker to write, but there’s a unique skill to it, which he explains beautifully.

Within this ‘short’ book, JSB explains exactly what a short story is and outlines the structure; gives a “big key” then shows you how to use it; suggests publishing strategies; gives easy-to-follow steps to put your short story up on Amazon Kindle Select program (should you wish to do so). The book also includes five short stories (one of which is by JSB himself) all of them containing the elements outlined.

At $3.99 USD each, Marketing For Writers Who Hate Marketing, and How to Write Short Stories and Use Them to Further Your Writing Career, are fantastic value, and well-worth purchasing for your writing craft library.

Andrea Grigg lives on the Gold Coast, Queensland, and is author of two contemporary Christian romance novels, and a novella. She would love to connect with you via: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/author.andreagrigg?ref=hl

Twitter: @andreagrigg https://twitter.com/andreagrigg

Email:    andreagrigg@live.com