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IWSG

#IWSG May 2022- Writer Highs and Lows

IWSG

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.

This post contains affiliate links. If you click through to make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Any amount I make goes towards my dream to host a book fair in Hampton Roads, VA. Please see my About page for more details. Thank you for your support.

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

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IWSG

#IWSG December 2021- There’s a thin line between stress and delight.

IWSG

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.

This post contains affiliate links. If you click through to make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Any amount I make goes towards my dream to host a book fair in Hampton Roads, VA. Please see my About page for more details. Thank you for your support.

Optional Monthly Question: In your writing, what stresses you the most? What delights you?

At times, the writing process itself can be stressful, when the words and or ideas aren’t flowing, but for me, that’s a good kind of stress. I always enjoy the process of writing a story and working out the plot and characters. Even in the developmental editing phase when critique and beta readers are giving me feedback I don’t want to hear because I know that part is good no matter what five other people tell me (well, maybe). Once I get passed all that and start to think about publishing, that’s where the stress comes in.

I don’t even stress about marketing anymore. I will do the best I can and hope for the best, but I’m not stressing over advertising. For me, editing and the actual process of publishing is what stresses me out. Making sure all the edits have been applied, making sure all the formats are ready, making sure files and codes are ready for upload, etc… This isn’t so bad when publishing traditionally because someone else takes care of all that, but still, the waiting drives me crazy- waiting for the release date to be announced, waiting for author copies to arrive in the mail, etc…

So, I guess my point is that writing isn’t that stressful, even when I never have enough time to do it as much as I’d like. It’s the stuff that comes after writing that stresses me out. Writing is the delightful part… when it isn’t driving me crazy. There’s such a thin line between stress and delight.

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IWSG BOOK CLUB ON GOODREADS

Member Spotlights

#iwsgbookclub

The books we’ve chosen to spotlight in the month of December are Falling for the Villain by Kim Elliott and Being Human by Patricia Lynne. 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.

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.

4) When listing your books on your website or blog, go a few extra miles and do more than simply post the book cover. By listing a description and or genre, it will clarify for a potential reader whether it’s something they really want to know more about. I discovered several wonderful-looking books with great cover art, that didn’t explicitly let me know what to expect from the pages within. When a description and or genre was listed, I had a better idea of whether I was interested or not. The books without descriptions or genres were overlooked because I didn’t want to risk it. *Also, if you have books in a series, please list the series number.

Reminder: Here’s our new 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 (Anthologies)
IWSG Registry Apr, Aug, Dec

In January we’ll feature books from authors in the 101+ position of the IWSG blogging list. We are very excited to be featuring books by IWSG Facebook members this month. Don’t forget, 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.

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 think I’m finally ready to start working on something for publication. I’ve been playing around with the idea to release another collection of short stories but didn’t really know what direction I wanted to go. Next year, releasing that collection by my birthday will be a big focus. I’ll be needing critique readers early on and ARC readers closer to publication. It will either be a collection of fantasy shorts or science fiction, but not both together. Perhaps I’ll release one and then the other, depending on how the first wave of critiquing goes. When I’m ready, I’ll see if any IWSG members are interested in reading ARCs. I have a list of people I want to ask for critiques. We’ll see how that goes.

Also, I’m excited to announce that the Kickstarter for RavenCon relief was so successful that they released two anthologies. My contribution to the effort appears in the first book. I’m so excited about another royalty opportunity.

Amazon.com

Last month, I posted my previous month book reviews with my IWSG Book Club Poll announcement and will do that again this month. Come back next week if you want to see that. Below I’ve attached a fun video of me unboxing some new glasses!

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So, what about writing stresses you?

Where do you find delight in the process of writing?

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:
PJ Colando,
Diane Burton,
Louise – Fundy Blue,
Natalie Aguirre, and
Jacqui Murray!

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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

Categories
IWSG

#IWSG September 2021- Success Isn’t What it Used to Be

IWSG

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.

Optional Monthly Question: How do you define success as a writer? Is it holding your book in your hand? Having a short story published? Making a certain amount of income from your writing?

When I first started writing, I had no idea what I was doing. For me, at that time, success was all about anyone wanting to read something I wrote. I couldn’t get over the idea of people wanting to read something I wrote. Then once I published and sold a few copies of my work, I lost my mind.

I started trying to “make myself a huge success” but never really defined what that meant. At the time, I knew being a “huge success” was something that I wasn’t but that was about it. I think maybe it had to do with several factors. I still worked a day job, my work wasn’t selling consistently, I wasn’t writing consistently, I wasn’t improving my skill the way I’d hoped, and no one who didn’t already know me knew who I was- I wasn’t getting famous. Plus, I was doing a lot that wasn’t taking me anywhere.

After 8 years of blogging and self-publishing something here and there, while submitting to a few anthologies here and there, something finally clicked with me. I was doing too much and expecting too much. I had to take a step back. I cut back on a lot of the “things” I was doing and began to focus on my joy of writing or using writing therapeutically. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t care whether my books sold well or not, but the truth is, I stopped worrying about sales and started focusing on what made me feel whole and happy. Once I found a way for writing to fit back into my life naturally, my idea of success changed and my approach to writing changed.

I think I’ve reverted back to an innocent newbie writer who was amazed anytime someone wanted to read something she wrote. I guess in terms of writing, that’s success to me. Writing something for myself and sharing it with the world and discovering that at least one other person likes what I wrote.

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IWSG BOOK CLUB ON GOODREADS

Member Spotlights

#iwsgbookclub

I’m so excited to be part of the next chapter of the IWSG Book Club on Goodreads. We’ve made some changes that we hope will excite, motivate, and encourage members on their writing, reading, and blogging journeys.

The books we’ve chosen to spotlight in the month of September are Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime and Parallels: Felix Was Here. These are both IWSG anthologies featuring the talents of several IWSG members. 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.

My co-mods and I have done a lot of research into the books written by IWSG members in preparation for the new 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.

1) Post to Goodreads and other Library/Cataloging type sites, such as Library Thing (I admit I never finished setting up my profile there, but I am on Goodreads). These are great places for readers to discover books without feeling any pressure to buy books. Plus, since this is a Goodreads club, it’ll be easier for us to feature IWSG member’s books if they are searchable on Goodreads.com.

Now, on to the personal updates.

My personal writing has gone pretty well lately. I’m still struggling to get to the point where I feel I have anything I’m willing to pursue publishing, but that’s ok. It’s not like a have a deadline. I did submit a story for the IWSG anthology, but it was mostly just me going through the motions of submitting. I still submit stories from time to time just to stay in the practice. Sometimes my stories are selected and sometimes they are not. I don’t take it personally. Especially with this story. The story I submitted was one of, at least three, prequel short stories I’ve been working on for my Sayings Series that I’ve neglected for far too long. I would have written the story whether the anthology submission was on the table or not, so I figured, why not.

I finally posted my book reviews for June and July since the two months blended together after I took some time offline. Click here to see my monthly “What I Read” post. I just finished reading two ARCs and can’t wait to talk about them.

My health issues are still an issue, but I’m working through them. I was finally able to see a specialist and I’m on a treatment plan as they continue to run more tests. I don’t consider myself young or old. I have no shame in stating that I’m middle-aged. I like being in the middle, at least, I thought I would. With my health issues, I feel as though I’ve been robbed of my middle-age and jumped straight into seniorhood. It had to happen eventually, but I thought I had another twenty years to prepare. Oh well, can’t complain too much. There are others in this world who would give anything to be where I am, and so, I count my blessings.

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What does success as a writer mean to you?
Wrote anything new lately?
It may take some time, but I promise, I will eventually stop by your blog.

*I’m having some access issues. If you see comments from WordPress support, that’s likely me.* 

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Rebecca Douglass ,
T. Powell Coltrin @Journaling Woman ,
Natalie Aguirre,
Karen Lynn, and
C. Lee McKenzie!

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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 #34).

This post contains affiliate links. If you click through to make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Any amount I make goes towards my dream to host a book fair in Hampton Roads, VA. Please see my About page for more details. Thank you for your support.

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