Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click here to learn more or sign up.
Happy Star Wars Day!
May the 4th Be With You.
A good day, I plan to have… Correction.
A good day I will have. There is no plan.
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Optional Monthly Question: It’s the best of times; it’s the worst of times. What are your writer highs (the good times)? And what are your writer lows (the crappy times)?
My writer highs seem few and far between these days, but I’ll take’m when I can get’em. My highs usually involve getting feedback on my writing, good or bad, that means someone actually read something I wrote. It’s also nice when someone actually likes something I’ve written.
My lows usually involve time. I never seem to have enough time to write, develop, edit, promote, etc… But the lowest low I’ve experienced came from someone who made racist comments about my writing. The comments themselves weren’t the “low”, I’m used to that, I’ve been black my whole life. The “low” was the fact that the comments came from someone who was supposed to be a leader, someone who was supposed to provide critical responses- not emotional judgments, someone who was supposed to make me feel welcomed in a group of writers all sharing their work. It’s difficult to learn and or create in an environment where you don’t feel safe being who you are, so I left.
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IWSG BOOK CLUB ON GOODREADS
Member Spotlights
#iwsgbookclub
The books we’ve chosen to spotlight in the month of May are Up on the Roof and Other Stories: Revised with Bonus Short Story by Judy Ann Davis (Amazon.com & Bookshop.org) and The Or’in of Tane: Book One: The Chronicles of Aden Weaver by Yvette Carol (Amazon.com & Bookshop.org). Please check these out and consider giving one or both of these a read this month. If you’re not up for reading them, no worries, you can still help spread some love for these publications and or participate in the book club activities.
Feel free to share this image on social media to help spread the word.
My co-mods and I have done a lot of research into the books written by IWSG members to help facilitate the current direction the book club is taking. In the process, I’ve learned about how readers find and don’t find books by our members. So, I’ve put together some, hopefully, helpful tips I like to call…
Ways to Make Your Book(s) “Findable”
…and increase their chances to be featured and discovered.
9) I know I just told you, last month, not to spam and overpromote on social media, but that doesn’t mean you have to pretend not to be a writer, especially if you have published work. Just a simple example- if you have a Facebook page, consider creating a simple photo album of your book covers (with or without links). I’ve had several people find my picture books because they landed on my page and went straight to my photos. Don’t try to be everywhere on social media but do try to find where the community of your potential readers will be and connect with them.
Reminder: Here’s our spotlight schedule.
IWSG blog list 1-50 = Feb, Jun, Oct
IWSG blog list 51-100 = Mar, Jul, Nov
IWSG blog list 101+ = Jan, May, Sep (IWSG Anthologies)
IWSG Registry = Apr, Aug, Dec
Remember, if you are not currently on the IWSG blog hop list and don’t plan to join, the registry is the only way for your books to have a chance to be spotlighted by the book club. If you are on the blog hop list, please don’t join the registry. We want to be fair and give everyone an opportunity to be featured, which means some of us will have to wait our turns, including me (the book club admin) and the co-mods.
Please click this hyperlink to fill out the form to be added to the IWSG Book Club Spotlight Registry, and please help us spread the word.
Now, on to the personal updates.
I got a critique of one of my stories and discovered that it wasn’t working as well as I thought it was. I was actually glad to hear this. I had a feeling something was off but I didn’t know what it was. Now I have some suggestions of ways to improve the work.
I’ll be attending my first live book event of the year this weekend and hope to connect with readers and other writers in my local area. I’m not stressed about the event itself, I just always feel anxious about being around crowds. It’s nice to be able to use my table as a security blanket.
I submitted a story to an anthology with no real expectation of my story being selected. I’m looking forward to feedback and like to stay in the practice of submitting from time to time.
Here’s the latest on my YouTube series, The Read Local Show (Hampton Roads, VA, USA) and The Read All Over Show (global). I’ve been having so much fun with this. I had such a good time finally sitting down for a chat with J. H. Moncrieff. I’ve been following her work and career for years and she is one of my favorite authors.
If you’re interested in being featured: check out the Read Local/All Over Sign-up form here.
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What are your writer highs and or lows?
It may take some time, but I promise, I will eventually stop by your blog. My response time has gotten slower but I’m still making my rounds.
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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Kim Elliott,
Melissa Maygrove,
Chemist Ken,
Lee Lowery, and
Nancy Gideon!
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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #31).
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords #blacklivesmatter
22 replies on “#IWSG May 2022- Writer Highs and Lows”
Hi,
I hope you dismissed yourself from that group. You don’t have to accept a beating like that.
Take care.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange
Yes, I did. Thanks for stopping by.
I’m so sorry you got that kind of pain from a group that should have been helpful. I hate that you are used to racist comments. Sometimes in my bubble I forget how many people are openly hateful. Good for you for leaving that group. And thank you for running the IWSG book club. My life has kept me from participating so far, but I have hopes!
Thank you for your kind words. The book club isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, as far as I know, so participate whenever you can. I’m just happy to have an opportunity to support the wonderful authors of this community.
Really crappy of someone to do that to you.
I bet JH was a fun interview!
It was such a fun interview. I hope to meet in person one day.
Glad you left that group! And I agree with you about getting feedback on one’s writing. Positive feedback is wonderful, but it’s even better to get constructive feedback when you know something is missing.
Yes. Sometimes you need that honesty to move forward, even if you don’t use all of it.
Wow. That shows how long I’ve been out of the loop. I didn’t know about the Goodreads group.
It’s realy fun an pressure free. Come and go as you like.
Good for you to walk when someone destroyed the safety of a supposedly safe space. I’m perfectly fine with a good critique — I can take as good as I give — but there are lines that shouldn’t be crossed.
Ronel visiting for IWSG day Culling the To-Do List and the TBR
Yes, safety first.
Good luck at the event!
“Don’t try to be everywhere on social media but do try to find where the community of your potential readers will be and connect with them.” That’s exactly what I tell writers in my seminars. Go where your readers are and where you feel comfortable.
Glad to know I’m on the same page as you. Perhaps I learned it from you. 😀
You are one busy girl, Toi! I love that you use your table at the event as a security blanket! I am the same way with crowds of people I don’t know. Just give me some space. Love your interview with Holli – I love her work and have followed her for years, as well. It’s been fun to watch her career blossom.
Thanks for sharing your feedback experiences. We all need to be open to ways to make our work better, and good feedback helps us with that task. On the other hand, when someone abuses a position of trust, there’s no excuse. So sorry to hear about your experience. Good for you for saying ‘see ya.’
Yeah, it hurt, but I’m better off in the long run. I do miss the regular feedback though.
I’m so sorry you had to go through that… I feel like you are in a much better place now 🙂
Thank you.
I’m sorry to hear about the racist comments. There are a lot of bad writing groups out there, and you seem to have found one of them. It’s better to work with people who are supportive.
I agree. Unfortunately, you don’t always know that a situation will be bad until it is.
My heart hurts for you after that racist comment. That must have been devastating. Nobody needs that. Glad you left that group. Thanks for what you’re doing with the IWSG reading group.
I’m really enjoying th ebook club. Since I’m going to be reading anyway, I might as well read from this amazingly supportive group.