Finding Motivation in a Writers Conference
Elizabeth Lucas Taylor January 13, 2007
For many years, I traveled as an International Finder to Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Hawaii, and Japan. I have had some wonderful adventures in the course of my work, and there were moments when I wondered if I would survive the trip and make it home in one piece. Once I shelved my suitcases, I realized I had loads of background material for novels, and plenty of experiences to weave into stories.
My first book took two years to write, mostly because I didn’t know about format, or anything else to do with writing and submitting to a publisher, and time was a factor as to when I could write. There were many stops and starts, wondering what I would do with my work when I did finish the manuscript. In the course of my research, I came across a local writers group that was having a writers conference. It was the best thing I ever did for myself as a hopeful writer. I signed up for the conference and the rest is history.
Writers Conferences are a wonderful way to network and to learn the ins and outs of the writing craft. I learned many things in that one conference. I also learned there wasn’t much information available for beginning writers about the importance of reviews, where to go for a review, how do you query, how do you make an Authors Review Copy to review, how do you single out publishers to query, to agent or not to agent, a whole gambit of information that wasn’t available in a collated, cohesive list that oriented a writer to what was their first, second, third step.
I found plenty of “this is how I did it” workshops, and each story was different. No help there. Writing and getting published sounded like a crap shoot, and it is, make no mistake. It is estimated only ten percent of manuscripts actually get published. That is changing with self-publishing, but the big boys in New York turn down 80-90% of all submissions, and don’t even blink in the process. They have become masters of the oft copied rejection form letter. I also discovered that just because I wrote a book, and it was published, does not make me an expert. Each day, I learn something new about my craft, and writing is a craft, a business.
Starved for information on “how to,” “where to,” ”should I” and “could I”, I began collecting data, mostly for myself. Then, I found out many seasoned writers didn’t know how much was available to them as they functioned from their own niches. I began giving “how-to” and “why you need to” workshops based on the information I found on the Internet. It is a fact that as writers, marketing has to be done by the writer. The days of publishers doing a campaign blitz around a particular author is pretty much history. In the course of my research, I found over 700 free or low cost ways to market my book. This year I plan to turn the information into a book to help other aspiring authors.
My first book,
Unfinished Business, had five rejections before I found a publisher. I was devastated. I had a writer friend that laughed. He said, “Ha! I have shoe boxes full of rejections.” No matter how many rejections or how few, it still is a blow to your delicate writer’s ego. After all, our work is our ‘baby,’ and when we show our baby pictures, we want everyone to oooohhh and ahhhhhh over our baby. As writers we have to have a thick skin. I’m still working on it. Not everyone, including publishers and reviewers, will like my work. For those that do like my work, they are my “fans” and I cherish each and every one.
About Elizabeth Lucas Taylor
Elizabeth Lucas Taylor is the author of the romantic fiction,
Unfinished Business. She has more than 30 years writing experience. She writes adventure/intrigue fiction, vintage cookbooks, and poetry. She was newspaper op-ed columnist for the
Arizona Republic, and a featured columnist for
Austin Woman Magazine. She’s contributed to many books. A Certified Hypnotherapist, as well as a world traveler, she used to lecture and write on Dream Interpretation; Behavior Modification & Relaxation; Using Visualization To Set Goals; the ABC’s of Mental Projection, Marketing & Promoting Yourself As A Writer, and Marketing Yourself As A Freelance Writer. Elizabeth has been a contributing author to several publications and books on Women’s Networking, Self-healing, Mind Disciplines, Diabetes, and Hypnosis. Deaf now, she limits her lecturing to small groups, and spends her time writing. She lives in mountains of Phoenix Arizona. To learn more about Elizabeth, visit
www.authorsden.com/elucastaylor or visit her blog at.
www.elucas-taylor.blogspot.com
Elizabeth Lucas Taylor Profile at OnceWritten.com
