Life's too short to play it safe
Today I’m guest blogging on Blogging’BoutBoys
Jennifer L.W. Fink is a freelance writer and homeschooling mom of four boys. She’s written for Parents, Pregnancy, American Baby, Boys’ Life and more and blogs about all things boy at Blogging ‘Bout Boys.
I decided to give an excerpt from Chapter One in my book, which I hope will give you a little background.
I shall respond to comments on Blogging’BoutBoys.
These days, being a great writer will only take you so far. Good looks will get you media coverage.
In the September 2009 issue of, The Writer, I found an interesting article on page 8, about “The marketing of an author’s image.”
According to Harper Collins editor Gail Winston, attractive authors, “get a little bit of an advantage” when marketing their books.
Nicholas Latimer, director of publicity at Knopf, told National Public Radio what he heard from an editor at People magazine: “If you have an attractive-looking author, there’s a better chance that your book will get reviewed.”
This may not sound fair to struggling writers, but we live in a society where the media and consumers worship celebrity. So what can we do about it?
Perhaps authors should ask for a publicity and a plastic surgery advance in their contract with their publisher. (Yeah, right. I can just see that happening in the near future.)
With advances running between $500-$2,000 for unknown authors, it seems that writers today, not only have to be extremely talented, but also millionaires before they can get published.
Example of a writers out-of-pocket expenses:
1) WRITING CLASSES
University extension classes: $1,000
Local writers conferences, including hotels: $2,000
Freelance editorial fees: $1,500-$3,000
Other workshops, writers’ retreats, writers’ clubs: $800
Total: $6,000
2) PUBLICITY
Hiring a publicist: $3,000-$5,000/month. Easily $15,000 total
Media Training? no clue. Perhaps they’re included in publicist’s fees. Anyone know?
TOTAL: $15,000
3) PLASTIC SURGERY
If you’re over 40 and you want media coverage, maybe you need to budget. If you’re under 40, then no worries.
$15,000-$25,000 Facelift
Botox, Juvederm, MicroDermabrasion
TOTAL: $30,000
4) DENTAL
Teeth Whitening, other dental work, depending.
TOTAL: $500-$3,000
5) CLOTHING
Suits, clothing, accessories:
TOTAL: $2,000
If my calculations are right:
Author pays out $56,000, and receives $500 advance from publisher.
$56,000-$500 = $55,500 total out-of-pocket expenses for author. Sounds FAIR to me (Ahem!).
Please share your thoughts on this topic, whether you’re an aspiring author, already an author, or if you care to share your opinion.
I’m curious if this is the same for writers in other parts of the world.
Big Sergio and his son, little Sergio, in Belize.
I am so lucky to live in a part of the world where my children can have an education.
Living in the developed world, I sometimes forget that education is a privilege, despite my belief that it should be a right for every child in the world.
Greg Mortenson, author of NYT bestseller Three Cups of Tea, is the director of the Bozeman-based non-profit Central Asia Institute (CAI), and has been building schools, particularly for girls, in mountain areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. As of 2007, he had built 64 schools which provide education to over 24,000 students, including 14,000 females.
I wanted my 15-year-old son Jordan to watch the special on CNN last night where children in Afghanistan and Pakistan were begging for an education. Kids sat cross-legged on dusty desert floors, watching their teacher write on the outdoor blackboard. The concentration and enthusiasm they expressed, was equivalent to U.S. teenagers being offered the latest, most expensive electronic gizmo. When asked what they wanted more than anything, “an education” was their first response.
When we lived in Belize, my three sons spent hours fishing with big Sergio, our caretaker and his son, little Sergio. One evening we had them over for dinner. Big Sergio, only twenty-one said, “You lucky. You go school, get books and computers. I work in sugar-cane fields at thirteen, to help for food. No money for books, only work for food.”
Big Sergio gave my family a gift. No amount of lecturing from me, could ever make my kids understand that in many parts of the world, education is seen as a privilege.
I know they were shocked to hear big Sergio had quit school at thirteen. During the year we spent on Ambergris Caye, my boys showed him how to use a computer and little Sergio how to read and speak English.
What are your views on this topic?
Do you have any stories to share about your kids and education or kids from other parts of the world?
Mix blogging, cooking and Paris, and what do you have? A recipe for success.
As an avid blogger, and an optimist who plugs in her cell phone every Sunday night, just in case Random House calls first thing Monday, I’m convinced Nora Ephron made “Julie and Julia,” just for me.
When I first saw the trailer for “Julie and Julia” two months ago, Meryl Streep, in the role of Julia Child, propelled me to my kitchen where I circled Friday August 7th with a giant red Target-like ring. Thanks to Meryl, I forgot my twenty-third wedding anniversary on August 10th.
What fascinated me in Julie and Julia, wasn’t only the life of Julia Child in Paris, but the way the publishing world works, and how an ordinary employee, bored with her day job, could get 70-80 publishers, agents and media people calling her, thanks to her blog being discovered, and one interview.
According to Drew McWeeny from HITFIX “Nora Ephron, thanks to this film and “You’ve Got Mail,” has emerged as one of the few filmmakers who seems to be actively chronicling the way the Internet is changing us socially. I don’t think anyone’s captured the lifestyle of a blogger on film until now, and the little ways they get it right impressed me.”
Catherine Sanderson, an English author I blogged about here, also succeeded in receiving media attention from her blog as an English expat living in Paris.
I’m trying to follow the footsteps of both Julie and Catherine Sanderson, and on Sunday, August 9th, received the best present I could wish for when my blog post was picked up by the OC Register, The Mom Blog. My wedding anniversary gift in disguise.
If you’ve seen the movie, what did you think?
Do you like the way the Internet is changing how we promote ourselves as writers, business owners, professionals?
Please add any other thoughts or comments that can stimulate a discussion.
I treat myself to a fresh poppy seed bagel with cream cheese and boysenberry jam spread so thick, I can no longer see the bagel. Two eggs are boiling in the saucepan while my Sumatra coffee has finished perking. I find the only tray I own, wipe off the dust, and carry my breakfast outside, pretending to be on vacation.
This morning is going to be me-time: enjoying my garden, the hummingbirds, the owl that hoots from time to time, and the early morning sunshine.
As I bite into my bagel, jam oozes out onto my fingers landing in a blob on my Oprah magazine. I wipe it off and swallow a sip of smooth strong coffee.
Looking at the powder blue sky, I force myself to relax, trying so hard to recapture the serenity I felt in Belize. I can’t. Why?
I’m focusing on my “to-do” list.
Did I remember to sign up for my read and critique session with an agent at the writers’ conference? I jump up, take another bite of bagel and head to my computer. Searching for the website, I get distracted. Feelings of guilt take over as I remember dad had surgery and forgot to e-mail him. How can I be checking out my blog before e-mailing dad? There must be something seriously wrong with me.
I check personal e-mails, then realize, I forgot to show my gratitude to Lady Glamis for the Humane Award she gave me.” I must remember to add it to my blog. I return to my other Google personal account and add a note in my post as a reminder. I notice a new e-mail from my critique group and read it, then decide it’s not urgent, so I click on the yellow star next to it, hoping to respond to it later. The problem is I have too many yellow stars. Which one do I give priority to?
Meanwhile, I find an interesting Twitter comment on how to get your blog or website on the Google index. Better read that one before I loose it in the mass of Twitter comments. Oh, I need to Facebook that one to my writer friends, perhaps they haven’t heard of this.
The sad part is I don’t have to report to work, I can make my own time, yet I feel stressed, especially when I flitter around like the hummingbirds in my garden–the ones that I’ve already forgotten about, and now remember my breakfast is waiting for me outside.
How do you stay organized?
Do you plan your time in segments? Do you allocate so many minutes, hours/day for your blog, Twitter and Facebook?
How do you organize your comments on other blogs? Do you use Google Reader, Bloglines, BackType? or do you flitter from blog to blog, like the hummingbirds I forgot to spend time with in my garden?
