Alley News!

It's Friday.

And I'm super late posting.

I blame a migraine and a sick kid. See Amy's post "When it rains, it pours" from yesterday! THIS has been my week!! And then go read Ashley's amazing post from Tuesday, "When you're looking for doors..."

What's up on the alley?

Oh. Nothing much.

NOT!!!!

Laurie's book, With No Reservations, is officially RELEASED out into the world! You have GOT to check it out!

And Mary. Sweet Mary has published her first children's book, William Worthington Watkins III: And The Cookie Snitchers! 

 And then my novel, The Engagement Plot, is available now for preorder.

That's all I have for this Friday!

I pray you all have a GREAT weekend full of good books, sweet conversation, and serving Jesus!

~krista

The Writer's Business Plan

Mom: Aww! You drew our family! Annabelle: Um, no Mommy. Those are birds....

As a mom, I've said MORE THAN ONCE the phrase, "Do as I say, not as I do."

Like when I ask them to clean their room but they look at mine, which is pretty much the catch-all most days for the rest of the house and I'm doing REALLY good to walk through it to the bathroom and not trip and fall flat on my face.

Or when I tell them NO POP because it isn't healthy for you while I'm nursing a Dr. Pepper.

Or... well. I think you get the drift. It is easy to know what you SHOULD do, but the execution thereof throws a wrench in things sometimes.

So a few weeks ago, Pepper and I had a little mini one-night writer's pow-wow. We chatted about brainstorming and story ideas and business plans for our writing.

Or should I say.

HER writing.

Between the two of us, we came up with a fun color coded spreadsheet of her next year and a half of publishing with goal dates to finish and yeah. It made the business side of my brain VERY happy.

But then I went home and tried to write out my OWN plan. Because I've been a bit haphazard lately and the idea of being organized like that sounded really nice.

Uh, yeah.

The plan is still unwritten.

Why is it that it's so easy to tell someone ELSE what they should do but so very hard to then do it yourself???

*sigh*

Business plans are funny things though. It's one of the things Pepper and I talked about. I truly believe God wants us to be wise, and making a business plan for our careers is a wise thing to do. Wise as serpents and gentle as doves, right?

That said, we can make our plans all we want, but in the end, we turn those lovely plans over to Jesus and say, "Okay, here is what I came up with. Feel free to tweak, throw it out, scrap the whole thing, if it is crap. Cause I only want this whole writing thing if YOU are behind this, Jesus."

So over the next few weeks, I'm gonna be trying to work on my own business plan. I'll even color code it like I did Pepper's cause ya know? Colors make us ALL smile.

And then I WILL follow my own advice and lay that puppy down at Jesus feet and let him do with it, do with ME, what he likes. It may end up looking nothing like my plan, but what I'm sure of, is if I'm obedient to God and follow Him, my plan will look like a kindergartner's drawing in comparison to what actually happens.

A Writer's Insecurity

I might be weird.

Maybe I'm the only one who does this.

Totally possible.

But let me give you a tiny peek inside my brain.

I'm going to use this blog post as an example, but take this and change a few details and you'll get the picture of how this plays out in the general "publishing" world for me too.

So I sat down to write this blog.

I'm thinking -- what should I write about, right?

Sometime other writer's might identify with. A good how-to post, maybe?

Eh, maybe not. I mean, who am I, right? I am no expert writer. Who is little ol' me to tell other writer's how to write? I mean, I'm not a HORRIBLE writer.

But there are So. Many. Better. Ones. SOOOOoooo many.

So tips on writing--maybe another day. Maybe after I learn something from someone else and can pass along the message or something.

What about the writing journey? OHhhh, yeah, maybe something about how I--

How I.....

How I what? I mean--I've probably written a hundred posts on juggling motherhood and a day job and writing. How much more could people want to hear from me? There are SO many people who do it better. GEEZ, just look on the Alley at all the other cats. Cara -- multi-published author, homeschooling mom, LAWYER, ACFW board member? Just to name a few? SHE should write about that. And Pepper. Holy cow, she does it so FLAWLESSLY too. Me? I'm sitting here trying to write this STUPID post with heaps of paper piled around me, an empty Dr Pepper bottle, a dirty glass that has probably been there for three days, a plastic baggy full of my daughter's dirty clothes they had to change her out of in school last week (I might just need to throw that away....) kids crayons, books, a hairbrush, the baggie of books I'm supposed to be reading with my youngest but haven't in over a week because I've been busy and honestly I'm just now seeing it peeking out from under the mounds of paper, and my Bible that I REALLY REALLY need to read more.

So yeah. Not talking about juggling unless I want to say how much of a failure I am at--I guess I could post a picture (I'm not...) to make y'all feel better about your own juggling.

Okay, so if not that then -- what?

 I sit here and am all like, Lord, what in the world am I qualified to write about on this blog?!?

I have this picture of him smiling in my head and being all like "Well, you're SUPER good at being insecure about yourself. Might try taking a stab at writing THAT."

Ha. Ha. Ha.

But then I almost started to laugh. Because how right he was.

So I'm going to crack open that Bible that's been underused, sitting on my desk, and share a few verses.

Romans 12 (NLT) - And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice -- the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don't think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us."

I LOVE this scripture. Seriously. If y'all haven't read Romans lately, go do it. The whole thing. It is awesome! 

As I was thinking about the topic of insecurity, this verse played in my head. Low and behold, I picked up my Bible and I SERIOUSLY opened to this page. Not lying. I made red the two verses I think really apply.

God wants to CHANGE THE WAY WE THINK. And I think that includes the sometimes incessant  need to put ourselves down and focus on all our flaws. We're humans. We aren't perfect. NONE of us are. But I know for me, I look at my writing and at my life and feel so very unworthy of this calling. I don't feel good enough, and I'm right. I'm NOT good enough. But God is. I think for me that's where my changed thinking comes in. To remember that even though my offerings might seem meager and imperfect to my human eyes, they are pleasant aromas to God, and he can use them in greater ways than I could ever dream. 

And then on the opposite side, I do think it's important to be honest with ourselves. Our insecurity can easily swing the pendulum to arrogance in thinking we are AMAZING and everyone needs to read our stuff because we are SO STINKIN' AWESOME!

So if I'm honest with myself, and try looking at things through God's lens and not my own, I can say --

I am not a perfect writer. But God has gifted me to be a good writer and has called me to use and hone that gift.

I am not a perfect singer. And God hasn't gifted me to be a good singer so I'm gonna sing for fun but you won't find me in front of a church, singing in the choir.

I am not a perfect mom. But God has gifted me with four beautiful daughters and has called me to lead them and guide them and help mold them into women of God.

I am not a perfect house cleaner or organizer. And God hasn't gifted me in that matter either. I'm gonna take an hour this afternoon to try to clean up the mess that is my desk/dining room table--but I know in a week or two it will be crazy again. And I'm okay with that.

I am not a perfect wife. But God has gifted me with a husband who loves me and cares about me and I will aim every day to be a better wife than I was the day before, and am so thankful by the grace of God and through the hard work of my hubby and me, we have a strong marriage.


So that's me.

Not perfect.

A little insecure--but trying to be realistic about it.

What about you? Do you have insecurities in your writing/life that you could use a honest, fresh look at?

The Birth of a Dream

I stopped by a garage sale in my neighborhood a while back.

In the driveway was a box of a few books. As I was looking through them, the lady managing the sale told me, "There are a bunch of other books over here too if you're interested."

I walked over, and yeah, I barely could control my grin.

JACKPOT!

I bought 15 books from that garage sale at .25 cents each. Most all in like-new condition. (most of these weren't ones I would have purchased new anyway, but for a quarter I'd give them a try, so no writer's guilt...)

The writer I am had to ask who the reader of the house was. Come to find out, it was an elderly woman who was "downsizing" and moving into an apartment/assisted living.

Instantly my mind went to my own grandma. Memories of going to her house and searching her bookshelf flooded my heart. My grandma's bookshelf held my first taste of Christian Fiction, Janette Oke, Lori Wick, and Grace Livingston Hill, to be exact.

A few years ago, my grandparents moved into a nursing home/assisted living facility, and my mother salvaged a few of the books for me from the similar garage sale.  There are no words to tell you how special those books are to me. They are how I fell in love with books, they are what birthed the dream of being a writer someday.

Sometimes, in all the craziness of everything, I like to pick one of them up, snuggle up with a blanket, and read one of those "old" books of grandma's. They make me smile, they made me remember, and they make me appreciate the journey.

Because this writing life IS a journey, a crazy, fun, scary, wild, sweet, wonderful journey.

It also makes me appreciate anew the simple act and pleasure of reading a book.

Those "non"-bookies don't always understand this emotional connection we have to a book. It doesn't really make a lot of sense. But it's special. I can't aptly put it into words (oddly enough!) but it just plain is!

Discussion: What was your first "memorable" book you read? Who inspired YOUR writing journey at it's infant stage?

Trust Your Gut

You ever write something and think... "Man, that's pretty good."

But--something just isn't right.

You can't put your finger on it. The writing is solid for a first draft, so it isn't that.

But there is no escaping that feeling in your gut that something isn't right.

That's how I've been lately with my work-in-progress.

I write a really solid first two chapters. They flowed well, they made me smile in places, but every time I opened up my computer to write, I just got that feeling that something was WRONG.

Was I not supposed to write this story?
Was I being over sensitive and need to just keep writing? (because that's what we say to do when we are stuck, right?)
Did I need to get others opinions?

I had one other person read it and they were like, "I mean, it's good..."

But I don't want my intro chapter to be "It's good."

I want it to be GREAT. To make a reader giddy to read more. To capture a moment of OH MY GOODNESS  so they will keep reading into the wee hours of the morning.

It's good is not good enough, especially for a first chapter.

So I edited and edited... but still, that nagging feeling of disquiet.

I finally chucked the whole thing and rethought a whole new angle for the story and rewrote a new first chapter.

I take that back, I didn't even make it through the first chapter. It wasn't right either.

So yesterday, I took time to read a book. Just to enjoy someone else's writing. Then I took a few minutes and read the first page of numerous books on my bookshelf.

It was there.

That magic of the first page.

What was missing from mine.

So I spent another while dreaming about that first page. What was the big BANG that starts this story of mine.

Finally... it hit me. I was starting in the TOTAL wrong place. And instead of cutting chapters, I actually backed my story up a few months.

Within an hour, I had the first chapter and a half and it was singing to me, that place in my heart that KNEW something was wrong was now dancing with glee.

The writing still needs work because it is super rough. But the story is there, and it is singing again.

Moral of the story:

Trust your gut.
And sometimes just "writing" doesn't cut it. Sometimes you need to step back, step out, and look at it from a different perspective. Sometimes you need to research. Sometimes you need to READ. It will be different for each of us.

Let's chat!

Have you ever been stuck or felt like something just wasn't right? What did you do to push through?

Quality Vs Quantity in Editing

This is a repeat from a post I did a few years ago... but I've been mulling over the idea of getting feedback and this post was interesting for me to reread.

Would love to get your thoughts on how YOU get the best feedback on your writing!

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Getting feedback on our writing is easy these days.

From the barrage of writing contests out there to the numerous online critique groups to one-on-one relationships you've formed, the "HOW" to get feedback, on at least a portion of your writing, is a pretty easy question to answer. And most of these methods are fairly inexpensive and have a decently quick turn around.

At some point in the journey though, we need to get beyond the "get as many opinions as possible" way of thinking and take a ride on the "Quality vs Quantity" train.

I'm not discounting the easy methods. I used them myself in my journey to publication. They are needed and helpful.

But there needs to be a transition.

Reminds me of labor. (men... and women who haven't given birth... I apologize for this analogy.)

You're going along... contractions 5 minutes apart... you're breathing fairly easily... it's hurting but you can deal with it. But in order to get that baby out, you have to go through transition. It's the moment that the squeeze around your belly goes from not just hurting pretty bad to "Blank-ity-blank-blank-blank, get this baby OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW." The hurt goes deeper, gets more productive, and instead of having nurses coming in and out every once in a while to check on you, trying to remember everything you've read in those child birthing books, or listening to your husband beside you trying to fumble through helping you breathe....  you have a doctor and a dedicated nurse who tells you exactly, specifically what to do so you can deliver this beautiful, sweet, wonderful baby.

Our writing needs to transition as well. At some point, the feedback you receive needs to go deeper, get more productive. Instead of having multiple people telling you different things to try (which might not all work for your story), you need to narrow your focus, get experts in there that know exactly what you need to do, who can tell you what to do without a lot of fluff.

So... how do you find this quality feedback?

Here are two of the main ways to get that deep, lasting, productive feedback.

• A FANTASTIC critique partner - This is someone who gets your voice and doesn't try to change it (unless your voice is getting squeaky and annoying...) Someone who has no problem giving you tough love and telling you like it is. Someone who understands the genre that you write in. Someone whose strengths complements your weaknesses, and visa versa.
• Pros: 
• Doesn't cost any $$
• Can grow into a long-term arrangement that is mutually beneficial, a personal touch
• Can include in-depth discussions on items, brainstorming help, and general encouragement at all stages of the process.
• Cons:
• Hard to find
• If it doesn't work out, it can be very humbling and difficult to dissolve the relationship.
• A large time investment is needed, as you're "paying" them in edits of their own work.

• HIRE A PROFESSIONAL EDITOR - One good way to get solid, thorough feedback on your writing is to hire an editor. This is someone who has a proven record in editing and knows their stuff well.
• Pros: 
• You know you're getting GREAT feedback and can vet the person before hiring them.
• A timely turnaround
• If it doesn't work out... you just use someone different next time. Hard feelings need not apply.
• Cons:
• Costly. Price usually depends on what time of edit, how long the work is that you are submitting to them, and sometimes is a customized price based on how much editing will be needed.
• This is usually a one-time edit with opportunity to discuss, but is not a long-term relationship for this book.

Not everyone is  ready for this level. Really, this should probably come AFTER you've done the whole crit group thing, done the contest rounds, gotten some feedback and done a LOT of editing on your manuscript to make it the best you can. So don't feel like you have to go spend a grand on editing right now.

It might be in your best interest to wait until your manuscript is in the best condition YOU can get it in first.

Discussion: Have you ever hired a professional editor? What was your experience with it? Do you think you are at or near the transition point of your writing career?

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Krista is a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mother, and writes romantic comedy. Her latest book A Side of Love, released February 29, 2016.  She blogs about finding JOY in the journey of LIFE at http://www.kristaphillips.com. She is represented by Sarah Freese of Wordserve Literary.

Trusting God with your Dreams

I don't know if you've all watched Fixer Upper. Personally, we don't have cable so I depend on the shows being put on Netflix and watching back episodes.

But I LOVE LOVE the couple in them. I'm sure they aren't as "put together" as TV shows them---they probably fight and have parenting flaws and lots of other normal things like the rest of us.

The one thing I love about them is that, even before I read more of their story or watched episodes where they talk about their faith or their church, I saw Jesus in them. Sometimes you can just tell, ya know? And Jesus shines brightly through this couple.

I saw this interview linked to on Facebook the other day, and wow. I know there is a decent chance you have already seen it, but a repeat couldn't hurt, right?

As I watched this the other day, it  spoke to my writer heart at the moment I needed it

I was SO that insecure kiddo feeling like I just wasn't good enough.

And I'm definitely had (and still have) times when I look at these dreams that God has given me and feel like such a failure.

The sales aren't what they should be. I've seen other authors who were walking the unpubbed journey with me at the beginning move ahead and be published over and over, with great success, and I'm still struggling for my sales to gain momentum. I wonder if my dream is in vain. If I should just give up. If it was my dream but not God's plan.

I'm trying to be faithful to His calling, but some days it just feels like I'm a big fat failure.

But I love what what God told her. "If you trust me with you dream....I will take them farther than you could have ever dreamt. You need to trust me."

YES!!!!

Trust is this great thing. It sounds really nice and easy but when it comes down to it, trust is the opposite of fear.

I have no clue what God's plans are for my dreams. There is a good chance they will look MUCH different than what I envision.

Let God speak into your life, let his FATHER HEART come and say, "This is what I have for you."

Don't believe the lies. FIX your eyes on Jesus.

Such good words from such an amazing woman who has been given an amazing platform to show the love of Jesus in such an organic way.

I pray that we can all fix our eyes on Jesus, TRUST him with our writer dreams, and walk forth in faith that God is who he says he is.

Let's chat!

Do you ever struggle with trusting God with you dreams? With believing the lies?

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Krista is a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mother, and writes romantic comedy. Her latest book A Side of Love, released February 29, 2016.  She blogs about finding JOY in the journey of LIFE at http://www.kristaphillips.com. She is represented by Sarah Freese of Wordserve Literary.

The Indie Road: No Man is an Island

I know, I know, I know.

"No man is an island" is horribly cliche.

But it is true.

I think there can be a tendency to go into indie publishing with a mindset of "OHMYGOODNESS I have to do this all by myself!!!"

And yeah... you kinda do. Kinda sorta anyway.

You are now your own publisher.

You make the decisions.


But just like any small-business, it is important not to rely on your strengths alone.

No, you don't have a corporation behind you. No, you don't have already built-in infrastructure and a bank account balance to support you.

But that doesn't mean you can, or should, do this by yourself.

What does a HEALTHY and SUCCESSFUL small business owner (which you are now...) do to overcome the island challenges?

1.) Network. They join groups with other small business owners so they can learn from each other and support each other. Networking in the writing business is SO IMPORTANT. I literally could not have indie published without the amazing support and help of fellow Indie authors. When I thought I was going to lose my mind, I could post on a Facebook group and instantly have responses of people who have been there, who have already traveled that road, who will give HONEST feedback, not "pat you on the back" fake encouragement. People who will tell you when your cover stinks. People who will talk you off a ledge when your KDP rejects your formatting. People who won't roll their eyes when you sheepishly ask what the heck KDP is anyway. There are a TON of these groups out there, you just have to network with other indies to find them. If you are serious about indie publishing, joining one or more of these groups, in my personal opinion, is the first step.

2.) Outsource. Instead of hiring staff that is costly, they do some of it themselves, and the rest they outsource. A big publisher has an accounting department, an editing department, a marketing department, a sales department. You have---well---you. You can't do it all, I hate to tell you. You can do a LOT of it though. Some of outsourcing will depend on your bank account, but remember that time is money too, as is quality. You may think covers should be super easy to do, I mean, YOU know what a good cover is, right? And some authors do a GREAT job of this. But if it takes you a month of work to design and format a cover--- and it is so-so and doesn't entice readers to buy it--- it might be worth a few hundred dollars to hire it out. In fact, it probably is. So you have to decide where YOUR strengths are and what you need help with.

3.) Listen. To those people who are criticizing you. Our culture today shouts that we need to ignore the haters and embrace our individuality. And maybe in some cases that is true... and that's fine if you want to. But just don't be surprised if you don't sell anything. The truth is, we are too close to our work. We NEED the input of others. We are not perfect, and whether you use beta readers or editors for the actual book, or hire an cover designer or do it yourself, listening for feedback is so important. YOU are the publisher. YOU make the final decision. But don't let that power go to your head. Don't let it make you think that your opinions are the only ones that matter--or are right. Would a small business owner tear up customer comment cards as stupid and ignorant? Not if they want to stay in business, they wouldn't.

4.) Observe. One of the best things a small business and an indie publisher can do is to study others. Study traditional publishers. What are they doing right? Study the successful indies. What are THEY doing right? Study the not-so-successful indies. What are they doing WRONG? This isn't being judgmental, it's being a good study and learning from those around you. It's called being wise and informed. Take some time to observe.


Let's chat!

Indie authors, how have you benefited from the help of other people on this journey? Do you have any points to add?

Prospective indie authors, any question? Anything surprise you or frustrate you? Have you thought about how you would need others, or were you excited about the whole "go-it-alone" idea of indie publishing?

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Krista is a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mother, and writes romantic comedy. Her latest book A Side of Love, released February 29, 2016.  She blogs about finding JOY in the journey of LIFE at http://www.kristaphillips.com. She is represented by Sarah Freese of Wordserve Literary.

The Indie Road: The New Perspective

Okay, so you've decided to check this Indie thing out, or have firmly planted your foot on the road.

What now?

THE FIRST thing you need to do is grab this pretty pair of new glasses I have for you.

If you're a hybrid author, don't chuck your old glasses. You'll still need them.

But Indie glasses are important, because the view changes on this journey from what you're used to.

Write-a-book-edit-get-critiques-enter-contests-submittoagent-submittoeditor-pubboard-contract-editsomemore-PUBLISH --- that is basic traditional publishing sequence.

Indie looks similar, but oh-so different.

You still write a book.

You still edit it.

You can still get critiques, and you can still enter contests if you want, but this takes on a whole new look.

No longer are you polishing those first three chapters until they are spic-n-span shiny for an agent/editor.

You are editing every word of your novel for READERS. They are your 100% priority. (well, we are Christian authors, so I would argue that GOD is our 100% priority, but that doesn't mean you forget that your readers are your audience.)

But regardless, you are trying to attract readers, not an agent or editor. These edits and critiques are no longer going to "gatekeepers" (I'm careful with that word because it inspires lots of feelings on both sides of the fence!) So YOU are responsible for making sure they are "buy" worthy.

Yes, you can (and probably SHOULD) hire an editor. But you still have the final call. It's a big responsibility. Some are excited about this, because YOU have control over the content your readers get. Some are petrified that the responsibility now rests with them.

Regardless of your feelings on the matter, you need to understand this new perspective.

The other big perspective shift is publishing.

YOU are the publisher. Sure, you can outsource a lot of it. Find a cover designer, editor, formatter. Hire a marketing firm.

But whether you tackle it yourself or hire it out, it still is costly --either in time for learning/doing, money for hiring out, or money because you have no sales because you did it and stunk at it. Sorry, just being blunt here!

So understand this new job of yours as publisher. You are not just a writer.

The good news is -- you get perks for this new job. Like larger percentages of royalties (70% in most cases when you price your book $2.99 or more) You also can have control over your sales, have real-time data of how well sales are working, and no more fearing of a horrid cover that you hate. Nope, if you hate the cover, it's YOUR fault because YOU are the publisher now.

Another change is the timeline. Traditional publishing, you're used to a LOT of awaiting. Like in months/years.

You still wait in indie publishing. But mostly you're waiting on yourself. And the other waiting is like "days" verses months. You can set your own deadlines/timelines, which can be a pro or con.

Let's Chat.

What do you think? Does this new set of glasses make you grin or fill you with fear? Are you excited about the idea of being your own boss or no-so-much?

**UPDATE** I picked a winner for the drawing last month, and it is Kathy R! Kathy, please send me an email (krista at kristaphillips.com) to claim your prize!

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Krista is a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mother, and writes romantic comedy. Her latest book A Side of Love, released February 29, 2016.  She blogs about finding JOY in the journey of LIFE at http://www.kristaphillips.com. She is represented by Sarah Freese of Wordserve Literary.

The Indie Road: The Starting Line

Like a year or two ago, I did a mini-series on Indie publishing on The Writer's Alley.

I'm doing another one because:

a.) Things change FAST in the publishing world and probably 75% of the things I said are probably now obsolete.

b.) I've now published my 4th indie book and I think I was working on book #2 at the time. Needless to say, I learn a TON more with each book I publish. So when I get up to 10, I'll probably have to do a new series again, HA!

I've been having LOTS of chats with fellow authors about the "to-Indie-or-not-to-Indie" decision.

My posts won't help you make that decision. Because it is personal and the answer will be different for each author.

I know a LOT of traditional authors who still swear by trad. publishing and would never go indie.

I know a lot of trad. pubbed authors who do a little of both right now.

And I know a lot of indie authors who swear they wouldn't take a traditional publishing contract even if it came with a nice hefty advance with it. (most would rethink it when that number got into 6 or 7 digits, but I digress, I am pretty confident in saying that few if any of us are looking at that happening any time soon.)

So no, my posts will for the most part not focus on the decision.

But if you've said, "Okay, fine. Indie. Let's do this."

*crack knuckles*

This series is for you. This is also for you that are saying, "Okay, fine. Indie. I'm not completely opposed. Tell me more."

There is a TON of information out there. I'll attempt to point you to GREAT places to give it, and give some helpful tips I've learned along the way.

For now, let's chat about Indie.

Where are you at in the process? Are you still 100% traditional publishing bound? Are you interested in the whole indie process? Any questions you have? I'll be glad to answer or put on the list for future blog posts to address!

Beyond the Sparks in Romance - ~~PLUS BOOK GIVEAWAY!~

When I sat down to write a book all about "love" (because the title was, A Side of Love...) I struggled a little bit.

I mean, I write ROMANCE y'all.

ALL my books are about love, right?

But love is about more than romance.

It's about more than the first flutters of attraction, that heat that swirls in your belly when his hand grazes yours for the first time. The thud of your heart beat when he slips his hand behind your neck and pulls your lips to his.

I've had more than one reader tell me lately that one of the things that discourages them about romance is that it is full of the superficial. Full of the things that make us attracted in the first place but fade when those initial sparks of heat have faded.

Now, I fully believe that those sparks of heat need to be fanned regularly, even in married couples. I say this as a woman who will celebrate her 17th anniversary this year, well past the normal time when the spark dies out. That spark can definitely be reignited with some work on both ends, and can be kept burning. It's not easy, but oh-so-worth it.

But those readers are right.

There is more to love, and really more to romance, than just spark.

I encourage your romance writers out there -- definitely have the spark. But also go deeper. Find out what they are attracted to beside just the passion between them.

In A Side of Love, Garrett gives up his dream job to take care of his elderly mother, moving from the bustling city of Chicago to the small town of Sandwich, IL. That sacrificial love is oh-so-attractive to Beth. It points to his character being one of quality.

So let's chat.

What "deeper than sparks" attraction does your hero/heroine have for each other? Even if you don't have romance, your characters still need a deep character "win" that attracts them to the READER? (and yes, they still need flaws. But flaws without a "win" is, well, probably more like the villain!)

And if you're a reader, what book have you read recently that did a GOOD job of going beyond just the sparks in romance?

AND GUESS WHAT!!!!????

   

I'm doing a doing a GIVEAWAY today! Everyone who comments gets their choice of a copy of my novel, Sandwich, with a Side of Romance, OR  a copy of my newest novella, A Side of Love.  

These are paperback copies and will come with a special little extra gift with it! 

(Giveaway ends Sunday night 3/20/16, then I'll post winner in the comments and update here!)

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Krista is a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mother, and writes romantic comedy. Her latest book A Side of Love, released February 29, 2016.  She blogs about finding JOY in the journey of LIFE at http://www.kristaphillips.com. She is represented by Sarah Freese of Wordserve Literary.

Making your Words Count

My sweet, sweet 9 year old has inherited her Momma's love of writing gene.

She's also inherited my tendency to use the love of words for slightly-nefarious purposes.

I remember when I was in the 7th grade, I had to write a paper on the Civil War. I can't remember how long it was supposed to be, but it was the longest paper I'd ever been asked to write. Like 10 written pages long or something like that. And that was before we had typewriters/computers, so this was all long hand.

I loved to write papers --- much more than I loved studying history.

So I did what any girl would do in that situation.

I tried to write smart. Not like, history smart. Nope. I used pretty adverbs and big words. "The esteemed Abraham Lincoln presided boldly over the United States of America as president of this great nation during time of chaos and war." versus "Abraham Lincoln was president during the Civil War."

That's 23 words versus 8 people. (I don't have the paper anymore. I'm sure the words were even worse than that. But you get the point...)

Imagine a WHOLE paper filled with that, that only had minor facts and lists that I could easily come up with by looking at the history book's timeline (so I didn't have to, like, actually study it, you know.)

I'll have you know I got an A on that paper with a note about my great writing.

I was so proud of that.

Looking back.... I'm not sure if I actually fooled the teacher or if he was like, "Eh, she won't be a history major when she grows up, but she'll be able to write at least!"

Now I get to witness my sweet 9 year old trying to pull the same stunt. She has a presentation she has to do on Wednesday and is writing out what she will say. It has to be 3-5 minutes long. She is VERY concerned about the timing because she tends to talk fast when she is nervous.

Her presentation is on "How to make make a healthy smoothie."

Her introduction went a little like....

"Being healthy is super important, but how do you be healthy on the go? I have a solution! This smoothie is the perfect thing. It's a delicious and nutritious lean green smoothie. I know what you're thinking. How do you make such a thing? I'll tell you."

Sigh.

I know. She's 9. It isn't THAT bad. But when I asked her about it, she proudly told me she was trying to write as many words as possible in the introduction so it would meet her 3-5 minute time frame.

She and I chatted about making sure all our words have VALUE. That adding words that have zero impact or worth just to meet a timeline or a word count is NOT how we write well. It's called LAZY writing.

Here is her rewrite:

"Being healthy is super important, but how do you be healthy on the go? My solution is my delicious and nutritious, lean green smoothie. It may look gross at first, but I promise you, it is very tasty (and luscious--but I made her take out this word for OBVIOUS reasons.) Just try it. It might surprise you."

It's actually only two less words. But she added information that has value to what she's presenting. She knows this smoothie she is holding looks like someone vomited in it. It is green and pretty horrific looking to most 9 year olds. So it is a MUCH better way to "sell" her presentation by addressing that assumption than "I know what you're thinking, how do you make it? I'll tell you."

While these are silly examples, the message is the same. We as writers need to remember our words should COUNT. Every single one of them. Adding fluff deludes our message and bores readers. I've deleted whole paragraphs, whole chapters, whole POINTS OF VIEW before when I realized it added nothing to the story.

Cutting out our precious words is difficult sometimes. We worked hard on them. Sometimes they even SOUND really pretty. And yes, sometimes we really like those scenes too. But if it isn't integral to the story, if it doesn't move the plot ahead, if it doesn't add depth and meaning for your reader, then you need to let it go.

Don't make me break out in that Frozen song..... (sorry, I KNOW that is in your head now! You're welcome!)

Let's Chat! Are you good at chopping off the unneeded parts? DO you tend to overwrite like me???

And SHAMELESS PLUG!!! My latest book, A Side of Love, just released on MONDAY!! I'd love for you to check it out!!

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Krista is a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mother, and writes romantic comedy. Her latest book A Side of Love, released February 29, 2016.  She blogs about finding JOY in the journey of LIFE at http://www.kristaphillips.com. She is represented by Sarah Freese of Wordserve Literary.

Fears

What if I like to write but I have no talent?
What if I only entertain myself?
What if my manuscript stinks?
What if no agent will ever take me on?
What if no editor will ever take a chance on me?
What if an agent and editor DO take a chance and my book fails miserably?
What if I get all 1 star reviews because all readers hate my book?
What if I put myself out there only to be crushed into smithereens?
What if this whole writing thing was just my own wants and not God's will?
What if I make the wrong choice to go indie instead of waiting for a traditional publisher?
What if I wait for a publisher when I should have gone indie?
What if my cover stinks?
What if my editor misses 100 spelling mistakes?
What if my fellow writing friends hate my books but are too nice to tell me?
What if--what if I'm just not good enough?

Am I the only one who hears these voices in my head from time to time? Sometimes daily?

One of my favorite songs right now is No Longer Slaves.

A few of my favorite lines:

"I'm no longer a slave to fear, for I am a child of God.

"You split the sea so I could walk right through it. You drown my fears in perfect love."

All those what ifs?

They represent our very real fears. Fear of rejection. Of failure. Of inadequacy.

I'm not going to lie. Some of those things might happen. You might get rejected. You might never publish a book. You might make a wrong choice and go down a path that isn't the best. You might have a stinky cover on a book, etc.

Our fears are real. They are valid. But they don't have to control us. We are no longer slaves to them.

Those fears lead to despair and bitterness.
But perfect love leads to hope. The hope we have in Jesus.

If we let go of fear, we can change up our what-ifs.

What if I like to write and God has gifted me with talent?
What if I can entertain someone when they need it most?
What if my manuscript is stellar?
What if the perfect agent says yes?
What if an editor takes a chance on me?
What if my book sells beyond my agent and editors' wildest dreams?
What if I get letters from people who have been touched by my stories?
What if I put myself out there and God is glorified through it?
What if this whole writing thing was not only my dream, but God's plan?
What if I make the choice to go indie and it opens wide new doors?
What if I wait for a publisher and get that contract God has been telling me to be patient for?
What if my cover is breathtaking?
What if my editor puts a pretty polish on my manuscript and makes it shine?
What if my fellow writing friends love my book and give me their honest praise?
It's so easy to think the bad. To be consumed with our fears and doubts to the point that it guarantees failure.

I'm not saying you'll never have fears.But I challenge you to let God's perfect love drown you fears. To focus on the what-ifs of HOPE.

Because regardless of how good WE are...

GOD is ALWAYS good enough. And always will be.

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Krista is a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mother, and writes romantic comedy. Her latest book A Side of Love, released February 29, 2016.  She blogs about finding JOY in the journey of LIFE at http://www.kristaphillips.com. She is represented by Sarah Freese of Wordserve Literary.

The Writer's Sandbox: How to champion your fellow author (and not annoy everyone else...)

One of my big struggles since becoming a published author is marketing.

Not only my own (which definitely is a struggle) but how to best market my fellow authors that I want to support!

My last post I got "real" and talked about the insecurity that comes when you feel like support from other writers is "eh" at best.

So I wanted to spin it to the other side today.

There are a LOT of authors out there. And quite a few of them I count as "friends" even though we may only be acquainted on Facebook.

But there is NO way I can champion them all. I just can't. None of us can. There isn't enough time in the day. And if I shared EVERYONE'S Facebook memes, my followers would be beating a path to the unfriend/unlike/unfollow button.

I am not perfect at this. In fact, sometimes I'm BAD at this. But wanted to share a few tips, not based on what I DO, but what I STRIVE to do. There is a difference. LOL. (Kinda like when I tell my kids they don't need dessert but sneak a little ice cream when they're in bed! Shhhhh.... don't tell....)

So, my confession aside, here are my tips --

BE HONEST. Sharing a post and saying, "BEST BOOK I'VE READ ALL YEAR" when you struggled to finish it might help the author in the short term, but it will damage your credibility when your readers pick it up and see the less-than-stellar writing. Personally, I'm a fan of the "if you can't say something nice, say nothing at all" rule.

DON'T OVER PROMISE. One of the lessons I learned in the corporate world, I believe said by our CEO at the time, was "Under promise, over deliver." Better to beat our promises than not to deliver on them! When agreeing to influence/review a friend's work, don't set unrealistic expectations. "I'll have it reviewed next week" and then get to it a month later. Or worse yet, "I'll leave you a glowing review" but then actually READ the book and not be able to review it at all because nothing you could say would be positive.

SHARE SMART. Don't let your page or your timeline become a walking advertisement, for your books OR your friend's books. Your shares and "advertisements" should be balanced with engaging content, or find a way to MAKE the share engaging. "I just read this book by Pepper Basham set in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Oh my goodness it was so good and made me want to take another weekend trip to Gatlinburg! Anyone have a favorite spot to visit in the mountains? I'd love some ideas for our next weekend away!" Or something like that!

PERSONAL DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK."My friend wrote this amazing book -- go read it!" will garner a little less enthusiasm than "Oh my goodness, I'm swooning right now! Just finished When Fall Fades by Amy Simpson, SO. STINKIN. GOOD!" The first shows clear bias and may put a question in your friend's mind.... Did she REALLY like it or is she just super biased? The second is much more word-of-mouth friendly!

TIMELINE OR PAGE. A lot of authors, myself included, have both a personal FB timeline and an officially author page. Many promotions, I share both places, because only a small portion of my friends like my page and only a small portion who like my page are my friend. SO, for authors who have pages, always share from their PAGE and not their TIMELINE. This helps them get more likes, and pages are HARD to get views on sometimes due to FB algorithms. Shares help visibility of their page and ups the helpfulness of your share!

VARY IT UP. We have so many social media options. Facebook, twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, blogging.... There are so many ways to help promote. Mention their book on your blog. Share or post on FB. Retweet on Twitter. Post a pic of you and their book on Instagram. Have a board for covers and links on Pinterest. You don't have to do all of them. But varying it up will help from overloading any one site with advertisements.


But regardless of HOW you do it, supporting each other is important. No, you can't support everyone. And there is no "perfect" way to do so. But word-of-mouth is still the BEST marketing for books, and chances are that when it's your turn to be published, you'll be looking around at your fellow author friends and hoping THEY help you promote too.

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Krista is a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mother, and author of Sandwich, With a Side of Romance, A Side of Faith and A Side of Hope. AND nnow the author of A (kinda) Country Christmas! She blogs about finding JOY in the journey of LIFE at http://www.kristaphillips.com. She is represented by Sarah Freese of Wordserve Literary.

Problems in the Writer's Sandbox: Friends and Marketing

Warning: This is a slightly uncomfortable post for me to write. And MIGHT be slightly uncomfortable to read.

But a fellow pubbed author friend and I were having an "honest" conversation the other day about writing friends and supporting each other in marketing and what expectations abound there, and I realized that we don't really talk about it that much. It's kinda like talking about sales numbers. It's uncomfortable and a bit taboo!

In fact, as an unpublished author, I never really thought about it. I think I just made this vast assumption, as I think most of us do, that once my book was PUBLISHED that all my writer friends whom I love, who I have supported with both my money and my time during my pre-published days, would be SO excited for me and jump on the bandwagon with reviews and Facebook shares and whatnot. Not like huge overboard by any means, but just in general.

But then you get published.

And a few of them share your Facebook post.

Even fewer invite you on their blog or post about THE BIGGEST MOMENT IN YOUR LIFE (not really, but it seems so at the time.)

And even fewer take the time to go on Goodreads/Amazon to post a review for you.

Some do. Definitely.

But a very small percentage.

It can leave an author feeling devalued. Deflated. Especially when we see those same author friends cheerleading and rallying around other author friends in your same "circle" and you think... what in the world?!? Did they hate my book? Do they hate ME? Did I get an F in the author popularity contest?!?

That evil, green-eyed monster called jealousy tiptoes in and takes a bit chomp out of your heart and you're left with more questions than answers and a bleeding heart.

Don't get me wrong. You're thankful for the few who DO support you.

So.... what do you do about it?

That's what fellow newly published author and I were chatting about.

I can no longer claim the status of "newly published" since my 5th book is coming out in February. But I am well acquainted with the feeling of jealousy and that sadness that comes with feeling like no one really likes your books. (My second Sandwich novella has a whopping 14 reviews... and very few if any of those are by fellow authors. This is not a woe-is-me moment, just a fact.)

But over the last few years, I've learned/realized/been-convicted-of a few things.

1.) I value friendship over marketing. At the end of the day, I do NOT want my friends, writer or not, EVER to feel that our friendship is based on whether or not they review or share about my book. Ever. Ever. Ever.

2.) It is HARD to champion ALL the books by ALL your author friends. Especially once you are published. You are on your own deadlines and your own tight schedule and you just can't do everything. And if I shared every Facebook post by all my author friends (or even one of each) my own timeline would look like a whole heap of ads and it would NOT be helpful, for my own marketing or for the people I'm sharing.

3.) Those writers you see being heralded by your writer friends? Chances are they have a large percentage of THEIR writer friends who are silent too. 

4.) Some authors I know just plain don't post reviews. Ever. At all. Amazon has been known to delete reviews by fellow authors (although definitely not all the time.) And because of this, and because of this whole fear of hurting others feelings, there is definitely a new trend of authors not reviewing books.

5.) There is a newish trend for authors to band together. To form a little "marketing" group to help promote each others books and "share" readership if you will. On one hand this is smart marketing. But I also think it is why we are seeing such a feeling of "holy cow everyone is supporting her and no one is supporting me" because a Facebook blitz by 10 people for the same author can feel like EVERYONE is supporting them all the time... even when it is only 10 people.

LAST BUT MOST IMPORTANT!

~~~Not everyone will like your books.~~~ EVEN YOUR FRIENDS. It's a fact. Face it. Deal with it. Move on. Maybe it's too steamy for their comfort and they don't feel like they can promote that. Maybe it isn't steamy enough. Maybe it just isn't their taste in genre or the voice isn't something they care for. It doesn't have to be personal. And I'd rather have 10 honest reviews then 100 fluff reviews from people who are doing so out of obligation. (Okay, that's a lie. I'd probably take 100 fluff reviews when it came down to it, 'cause bottom line, reviews can help sell books. But I'm happy with my honest reviews too, HAHAHA!)


What about you?

If you're published, do you have any tips for other fellow published writers about dealing with the complicated quagmire that is authors supporting each other?

If you're unpublished, had you ever thought about this before? Are you just assuming all your friends will be ready with pompoms and Facebook shares once that first book is released?

I'm a fan of being real. Of stripping off that cloak of PC fakeness and sharing real struggles. And the above HAS been one for me. I'm still working on it. I hope you'll feel this is a safe place to share, too.

It's all about Love, Love, Love, Love LOVE!

We all come into the New Year, usually, with something stirring in our brain.


Maybe it is a few resolutions (that statistics show we will renege on fairly quickly) or one word or just some goals you'd like to achieve this year. Maybe it's a special trip you'll go on this year for the first time (last year, we were looking forward to our FIRST trip to Disney!) or a milestone you'll look forward to.

Last year, I decided on the word HOPE. My book, A Side of Hope, was releasing that spring, and I just had a LOT to look forward too. New releases, ALLEYCAT new releases, trip to Disney, trip to SEE my alleycats, and my youngest who had been on a feeding tube since birth was---hopefully--- going to get her feeding tube taken out.

All of that happened, too!!!

But this year, I was contemplating the year and just really had no clue. I had no big plans (aside from book releases) and have a few really big writing decisions to make that I was (read: am) stressing over a little.

"Indecision" seemed to be the right word, but BOOOOOOOO on making THAT the word of the year.

Then it hit me.

Last year, A Side of Hope was releasing, and HOPE was my word. And while the correlation hadn't hit me until after the word felt spoken to my heart, it was like confirmation that it was supposed to be my word.

So this year, my next book to release will be A Side of Love, planned for February.

So could Love be my word?

The more I thought about it, the more right it felt.

It encompasses everything I really want to strive for this year.

I want to WRITE about the Love of God and the beautiful dance that is romantic love.
I want to LOVE OTHERS more, getting outside of my own comfort zone and desires.
I want to LOVE GOD more, maybe not MORE, but better, but putting him in priority over my life, instead of letting things of the world crowd in.
I want to LOVE MYSELF more, by taking care of my body, not eating so much junk.
I want to LOVE MY FAMILY more, be on my phone less and present more, to help make our home a cheerful place more where they feel loved and cherished (while still having important rules and boundaries.)

Maybe this doesn't seem super writing related. I'm sorry if not. But love is wrapped up SO much in my writing, and the theme is going to be a HUGE part of my books releasing this year.

So what about you? Do you have any themes of your year God is impressing on you for your writing this year?

'Tis the Season -- Holiday Books at their Finest!

I never really noticed a lot of "Christmas" books in past years. I've seen them before, yes, but this year, everywhere I turn there seems to be a Christmas book coming out!

It MIGHT be because my OWN first Christmas book means I'm paying more attention, but that's only a wild theory :-)

I thought I'd highlight some of the ones I'm seeing that look REALLY good and are definitely on my to-do list.

 

 

 

   

(uh, those last two were a little self-serving...I know!)

WRITING a holiday themed book was interesting. I had to get in the "Christmas" spirit in July, which was kinda funny since the hook of my book revolves around the heroine celebrating Christmas 365 days a year! It was, for me, a bit easier too, because part of the "theme" of the is pre-decided -- It's CHRISTMAS!

So what about you? Have you ever thought of writing a holiday themed book? Do you enjoy READING holiday themed books? Have your read any of the above books yet?? Any other christmas-themes novels/novellas you'd recommend?!?

I dunno, I'm just in the mood to chat CHRISTMAS today, so fa-la-la-la-la and ho-ho-ho!! 

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Krista is a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mother, and author of Sandwich, With a Side of Romance, A Side of Faith and A Side of Hope. AND nnow the author of A (kinda) Country Christmas! She blogs about finding JOY in the journey of LIFE at http://www.kristaphillips.com. She is represented by Sarah Freese of Wordserve Literary.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!

We here at the alley are praying that you will have a FABULOUS Thanksgiving, with a day full of thankfulness and maybe some turkey on the side!

Enjoy your day, and we'll be back tomorrow, stuffed like a turkey but happy as a clam:-)

Love,

Your Alleycat Friends!