In the Spotlight: An Interview with Author & Freelance Writer Irene Roth

 by Suzanne Lieurance

Author& Freelance Writer Irene Roth

In the spotlight this month is Canadian author and freelance writer Irene Roth. 

 

As you'll learn from this interview, Irene is quite prolific and I’m sure you’ll find her to be most inspirational.

 

Suzanne Lieurance: Irene, please tell us a bit about yourself and your writing background. 

 

Irene Roth: I started writing in my journal when I was 6 years old while I was growing up in Montreal, Canada. 

 

I was always moved by writing and I used it as a form of self-expression. 

 

Growing up in Montreal, I was an only child. 

 

So, writing became a solace for me, a space where I can express myself in ways that I couldn’t with anyone else. 

 

Add to that, I was a loner. 

 

I’d spend hours on end reading, writing, and just hanging out in my room. 

 

I imagined a lot of stories long before I even knew what I was doing. 

 

I even wrote down some of these. 

 

So, when I got an opportunity to write for the school newspaper in elementary school, I jumped at the chance. 

 

My first published story was about how to spend Christmas. 

 

From that moment on, I knew I found something that I can rely on, regardless of what else was going on in my life. 

 

Writing became my elixir. 

 

And it still is, many decades later. 

 

SL: What kinds of things do you write, and who is your audience? 

 

IR: I write in a wide variety of genres. 

But if I was going to find one umbrella genre for most of my writing, it’s nonfiction. 

 

However, within nonfiction, I write in many sub-genres. 

 

I have written over 50 books for writers on how to be successful. 

 

I also have a large library of over 50 e-courses that I am going to be publishing on my website in the new year. 

 

It has been one of my passions to help writers be their best.

 

In the first part of my creative writing career, I focused on writing e-books for this audience.

 

Here are a few of my more recent titles: 

 

-      How to be an Organized Writer

-      How Writers Can Practice Extreme Self-Care

-      How to be a Productive Writer

-      How to Get Some Writing Done During the Christmas Holidays

-      The Excellent Writer

I also write self-help books for the chronically ill. 

 

This kind of writing is a labor of love since I live with several chronic illnesses myself.  

 

Over the years, I have written over 70 e-books for people living with arthritis, fibromyalgia, migraines, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, and much more. 

 

Here are a few e-books I published on these topics: 

 

-      Living Life to the Fullest: How I thrive with Arthritis and Fibromyalgia 

-      Living Well With Arthritis: Self-Care Practices for a Vibrant Life

-      From Striving to Savoring: Shifting Our Mindset with Chronic Illness

-      From Surviving to Thriving: The Emotional Resilience of the Chronically Ill

-      Sprint into Spring: A Primer for the Chronically Ill to Renew and Refresh

SL: What is a typical day like for you?

 

IR: My typical day starts at 6-9 am. 

 

This is when I get all my creative writing done.

 

The house is quiet, and I can get a lot more done in the shortest time. 

 

I stay off the internet and I don’t bring in any cell phones for three hours.   

 

At 9 am, I take a one-hour stretch break and make a cup of coffee. 

 

At 10 am sharp, my teaching day starts. 

 

I teach critical thinking online from 10:00 to 2:00 daily. 

 

Then I have my office hours, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. 

 

After 3 pm, I start revising my manuscripts. 

 

I revise every day, except Sunday, from 4 to 6 pm.

 

Then three evenings a week, I coach writers on how to be successful. 

 

SL: What is the most challenging part of writing for you?

 

IR: I think the most challenging part of writing for me is changing gears after I teach. 

 

I’m usually tired and distracted. 

 

Here are a few ways I get into the zone with my writing after a 4-to-5 hour-teaching-day: 

 

·      I take an exercise break. I walk on my treadmill for 20-30 minutes or go outside and take a walk, if the weather is nice. 

 

·      I meditate for 10 minutes. I have two apps on my cellphone, Insight Timer which is free, and Calm which I subscribe to. 

·      I have a protein bar and coffee. This usually centers me to start writing so that my mind isn’t all over the place. 

 

·      I look over my goals that are written in my planner. I usually decide what I’m going to do the next day the night before. Then there are no decisions to make when I sit down to write. 

 

·      I turn off all my devices, cellphone, tablet, and internet. I revise for 25 minutes and take a 5-minute stretch break. And I keep revising like that for two hours, after which time I take a longer break. (If anyone wants to try this, the Pomodoro Method is a great place to start.) You can download the app to your cell phone or computer.

 

SL: What do you enjoy most about writing?

 

IR: I love the freedom of mind and heart that writing gives me. 

 

It is absolutely the best part of my life. 

 

It is a time for me to express myself as I want. 

 

I do so many different kinds of writing, including journaling. 

 

Since I became chronically ill over two decades ago, I’ve discovered a reservoir of wisdom and inspiration in my heart that I want to share with others. 

 

My writing makes this possible, and I feel so honored to be able to inspire others to live their best life with chronic illness. 

 

I can also write about topics that I wouldn’t want to talk about with anyone. 

 

It is a place and space for me to really open up. 

 

And, for me, being a writer allows me to do that with safety and without judgment. 

 

SL: I know you also teach writing. Tell us about that. And what other services for writers do you provide?

 

IR: I have been teaching with Savvy Authors for over 15 years. 

I have worked with literally hundreds of writers. 

 

I also have a mentoring program at Savvy Authors that is in its fifth year. 

 

I meet with writers one-on-one a few times a month, via zoom. 

 

I go over their writing goals and how they are doing. 

 

During our 30-minute sessions, they set goals for themselves for the next 2 weeks, and we go over their schedule for these two weeks to examine any obstacles they may have in completing their goals. 

 

I am in the process of setting up my own mentoring business on my website. 

 

I eventually want to branch off on my own and coach writers. 

 

I will start by keeping my mentoring fees incredibly low so that I can get my feet wet. 

 

But once I do, in a year or so, I will be charging at least $50/month for mentoring. 

 

I am also pretty busy presenting workshops for the Fibromyalgia Group in Ontario. 

 

It is a Canada-wide group, so I have a lot of exposure.

 

I present an ongoing writing program that meets twice a month. 

 

The program is called Writing with Pain. 

 

My e-book group sales have quadrupled since I became a full-time presenter for the Fibromyalgia group. 

 

It’s also so great to hear that the people who purchase my e-books love them and get so much out of them. 

 

SL: How do you find sources of information for your nonfiction books?

 

IR: I read widely. 

 

In any given year, I generally read over 400 books and e-books. 

So, I am always in research mode. 

 

And I find all kinds of wisdom in these books, and topics to write about.

 

I also use the notes I’ve taken from past books that I’ve read to create my e-books. 

 

There is so much information out there. 

 

SL: What writing projects are you working on right now?

 

IR: Currently, I have four main projects on the go. 

 

1.     I’m writing a book on how to live a fulfilling life and even thrive with chronic illness. It is called Kaleidoscope and should be available on Amazon for purchase in January of 2024.  

 

2.     I’m also writing a memoir. It’s taking a lot of energy to write this book, as I am delving into some difficult parts of my life. I’ve been writing the book for a few years now, so it’s time to finish it up. My projected completion date for this book is no later than the end of 2024. 

 

3.     I’m writing a chapter for an anthology about my late mother. She passed away over ten years ago and I still miss her terribly. This essay will allow me to honor her life and how her memories which allow me to hold them in my heart forever. 

 

4.     Lastly, I am in the early stages of writing a quote-plus book for the chronically ill. In it, I will offer ten ways that chronically ill individuals should take care of themselves and some famous quotes by people who are living with challenges. 

 

SL: What is your best tip for writers?

 

IR: To be most successful, you must write regularly, even if it is for as little as 15 to 20 minutes. 

 

This will give you continuity and help you will complete your writing goals in a timely fashion. 

 

But what’s more, you will become more confident in the process because what you do repeatedly becomes a habit. 

SL: Where can readers find out more about your writing?

 

IR: My books are on https://www.Amazon.com/ as well as Smashwords at https://www.smashwords.com/

 

I also have an author website where all my more recent books are listed at https://www.Irenesroth.com/

Suzanne Lieurance

For more resources and tips for writers, visit writebythesea.com and get your free subscription to The Morning Nudge.

Suzanne Lieurance is an award-winning author, with over 40 published books, and a Law of Attraction coach for writers.

 

 

Take An Underused Author Path

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

As I meet writers at conferences and speak with them, the majority are focused on publishing a book. It makes sense most people speak to me about books since I’ve been an acquisitions editor at a New York publisher for over ten years. There are over 7,000 new books published every day (including the self-published books). This number shows the huge volume of printed books pouring into the marketplace. Yet if you study the sales numbers, you gain a different perspective. The average self-published book sells 100 to 200 copies during the lifetime of the book. I know it takes a lot of effort and energy to write a 50,000-word nonfiction book or an 80,000-word novel. In this article, I want to point out an underused path for your writing which has much greater audience reach and potential: writing for print magazines.

Many years ago, I began writing for print magazines. These publications have a high standard of quality (much more than online which is much easier), help you to learn to write for a particular reader and to a particular word length. One of the huge benefits is reaching more readers with your work and building your presence and reputation in the marketplace. It is common in the magazine world to reach 100,000 or 200,000 people. My 250-word devotion in The Upper Room reached over six million readers.  

How to Begin

Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, every writer can write for print magazines. The Christian Writer’s Market Guide lists many of these publications. Each one has different publishing needs and requirements. It’s basic but many people skip this important step: read and follow the submission guidelines. The editor is telling you exactly what they need and expect you to follow their guidance. When I was an editor at Decision with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, I was amazed to see the many submissions which had no connection to the editorial needs of the publication. These articles and queries were quickly rejected and not published. Our circulation back then was 1.8 million copies, and with each rejection. the writer missed an opportunity to reach these readers.

While there are many different types of magazine articles, I encourage you to try writing a type of article that every writer can do: the personal experience story. Whether you are brand new or experienced, each of us have unusual experiences. It’s key to capture the dialogue and details when it happens, then use this raw material for your storytelling. You can also use personal experience stories in devotions or how-to articles because these personal experiences will add value to your article.

An Insider Tip

When you look at the various magazines and publications, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the possibilities. Let me give you an idea where to begin--if you write for the Christian market: Sunday school take-home publications. These editors need material for 52 weeks which is more frequent than a monthly publication. They use personal experience stories but follow their submission guidelines to give them the right material.

If you have published books, in one or two sentences at the end of the article, you can include a single website link for the reader. This process is a simple way to build your platform and credibility in the publishing world because literary agents and book editors read magazines as they search for writers. 

While many of the Christian magazines, don’t pay much, the opportunity and exposure make them an underused path to publishing—yet one I continue using and recommend you do as well. 

Tweetable: 

Are you looking for an underused author path to publishing? This prolific writer and editor gives the details here. (ClickToTweet)

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in California. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham. Get Terry’s recent book, 10 Publishing Myths for only $10, free shipping and bonuses worth over $200. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. Check out his free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Got Hacked

 

 Contributed by Margot Conor

I am not sure if this is true for every author, but when I created a pen name, she grew into a whole different personality.

She is far more confident and bold than me. She isn’t afraid to tell people she wrote something they would like and they should read it. She isn’t afraid to write about things I would hesitate to say. As I watch her spread out into the world on this writer's journey, I have grown to like her very much.

If it were me, I would have disclaimers and contingencies. I would make myself smaller, I would be apprehensive and wary of great things as if they couldn’t happen for me. I would hold myself back. But Margot believes in herself, she isn’t shy about making her mark. She’s willing to take risks, just for the hell of it, because why not?

In a way, I suppose it is like being an actress and stepping into a role. You’re able to suspend your hangups and leave your insecurities behind. You set your concerns aside too, especially those that whisper that you're not good enough… and let this other persona live larger than you ever dreamed of doing.

I created Margot to be the writer I wish I had the courage to be years ago. She is younger, more worldly, and more business savvy. She will market her books and have more success than I would have. Because I am an introvert. I am the woman who never lived up to her potential. The one who let time slip away and collected a stockpile of unfinished manuscripts and unpublished stories.

With a little luck, Margot will finish them. I created her so that I can stay hidden. I wear my anonymity like a comfortable coat. 

I like letting her take the lead. 

That is why when she got hacked and some stranger was trying to take over her social media, I felt extremely protective. I made myself sick over it, thinking that some malicious unknown force was trying to take away all that Margot had started to create.

It was a stressful few days, but with the help of someone near and dear, we got it sorted for her. Margot’s sites were recovered and we made her passwords much stronger. We also did that multi-factor authentication. Which seemed like such a hassle before, but it is far less difficult than getting hacked! Margot would like to encourage you all to do the same if you haven’t already.

Protect what you create and believe it is worthy because you have poured your heart into it, and it deserves all your hope and love.
 
~Anonymous
For Margot Conor

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Margot Conor has been writing for as long as she can remember, but it wasn't until the COVID lock-down that she had enough time to dedicate to the craft and bring something to completion. Having finished her first novel, she went through the grueling two-year process of editing. Now she has jumped into the author's world with both feet. She's preparing to debut her first novel, which means learning how to promote it. The last year has been spent attending many writing retreats, seminars, and writers' events. She also listened to presentations specifically on the topic of publishing and book marketing. She will be sharing what she learns with the reader.

You can learn more about Margot and her writing at her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/margotconor/
@MargotConor (Facebook)

Goals for Winning

Before you set goals, count your wins. Winning is the fuel that keeps you motivated on the road to achieving your goals. This is especially for long-form projects like novels, screenplays, and non-fiction books. 

On a recent GoalChatLive, I talked about winning with Aime Card, author of The Tigerbelles; Annie Korzen, 85-year-old TikTok influencer and author of The Book of Annie; and Liz Lachman, a filmmaker, whose documentary Susan Feniger FORKED is currently on the film festival circuit. 

All three have pursued projects that define what it means to win. 

Winning Words to Live By

• Aime: “I’m tired is not the time to quit.” 
• Annie: “Yeah, why not” 
• Liz: “Leave me alone”

Winning Goals

• Annie: Phone a friend who doesn’t realize you feel like they are neglecting you Aime: Get out of your comfort zone Liz: Literally jump for joy

Watch Our Conversation:

Final Thoughts

• Annie: To appreciate what you’ve got, make the best of what you’ve got 
• Aime: Gratitude goes a long way 
• Liz: Another therapist told me: Your head is the secretary. The gut is the boss. The gut says, here’s what I want to do. The brain makes it happen. Don’t confuse the two. Don’t let the brain start making the decisions

I hope you have a successful year full of joy and lots of progress, Start by counting your wins. And let that energy carry you through the ups and downs you face along the way. Happy New Year!

* * * 

For more inspiration and motivation, follow @TheDEBMethod on Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin! 

* * *

What are your wins for 2023? What wins are you planning for 2024? Please share in the comments. 

* * *

Debra Eckerling is the award-winning author of Your Goal Guide: A Roadmap for Setting, Planning and Achieving Your Goals and founder of the D*E*B METHOD, which is her system for goal-setting simplified. A goal-strategist, corporate consultant, and project catalyst, Debra offers personal and professional planning, event strategy, and team building for individuals, businesses, and teams. She is also the author of Write On Blogging and Purple Pencil Adventures; founder of Write On Online; host of  #GoalChatLive aka The DEB Show podcast and Taste Buds with Deb. She speaks on the subjects of writing, networking, goal-setting, and social media.

You, Your Reviews and Your Lifelong Marketing

You, Your Reviews and Your Lifelong Marketing

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the winningest book in her 
#HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for Writers, The Frugal Editor

Generally speaking, your two most important parts of a writing career is your byline and credit line. You will find an example of the byline in its most helpful form above, and an example of the credit line below this article as a mini bio. (The lease effective credit line—and shortest—I have ever seen was in the LA Times when only a moniker for Twitter (X) given. I mean, there wasn’t even an introduction saying what it was for! Nevertheless, even that was helpful to readers.

But in today’s #WritersontheMove, I want to celebrate (or mourn) the end of the release period of my The Frugal Editor, (about a year after the copyright or any book), I want to share with you important intricacies of reviews which is also the number one most effective marketing techniques for any book release no matter where it first appears—print, TV, radio, and online media, the cover of your book, or sometimes even handwritten reviews from the salespeople at your favorite hometown bookstore..

One of the reasons reviews and the excerpts that can be drawn from them (also called blurbs, testimonials, endorsements) are my favorite is they are likely to be the most active marketing period of a book—both pre- and post-release. Another is that they are so lasting I call them forever marketing techniques. And I want you to know one of the most important ways to keep them working for as long as you decide the life of your book should be—right up to its becoming a classic. As important as general reviews are (and I have written a tome-sized book on about every aspect of reviews called How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically) the big secret is in those excepts/blurbs. Below you will find a short example of a review that is ripe with possible excepts (many are!), but in Hollywood one great word like “fabulous!” is a poster-worthy excerpt that they call might call a “logline” in addition to all the other monikers I listed above. So, you can play this game as well as they. Ta da! 

Example of Full Review: Oh, how writers wish someone could take them by the hand and lead them directly to publishers, helping every step of the way? Look no further as all the answers are in this book, Third Edition of The Frugal Editor. Previous editions were excellent. Nothing could be better . . . except this book which has an additional 50% new content. The publishing world changes quickly, and this text allows writers to keep up with the ever-changing world of editors, publicists, finicky agents, trends, cultural expectations, queries, and media kits. Carolyn Howard-Johnson wastes no time clearly and succinctly explaining the how and why, sharing little known secrets and exploding grammar myths. Information about possible scams and misinformation is important to understand. Save yourself time and money by learning from the best, Howard-Johnson.” ~ Carolyn Wilhelm, BA, MA, MS and author of environmental content is a veteran educator

Excerpted for Passion: “Oh, how writers wish someone could take them by the hand and lead them directly to publishers, helping every step of the way? Look no further as all the answers are in this book, Third Edition of The Frugal Editor. Previous editions were excellent. Nothing could be better . . . except this book which has an additional 50% new content.” ~ Carolyn Wilhelm, BA, MA, MS, veteran educator, and author of environmental content  

NOTE: This could be three excerpts, depending on submission standards and other preferences and a little rearranging carefully using ellipses and parentheses advised for editing direct quotes.

Excerpted to Impart Specific Information: “The publishing world changes quickly, and [the 3^rd Edition of The Frugal Editor] allows writers to keep up with the ever-changing world of editors, publicists, finicky agents, trends, cultural expectations, queries, and media kits.” ~ Carolyn Wilhelm, BA, MA, MS and author of environmental content is a veteran educator

Note the use of parentheses.

Excerpted for Brevity: 1. “Save yourself time and money by learning from the best, Howard-Johnson.” ~ Carolyn Wilhelm, BA, MA, MS and author of environmental content is a veteran educator

There are a couple of extras where the clarifying changes might require the permission of the reviewer; that is generally not a problem when you explain the quotation will include their credentials and/or the name of the media in which it first appeared. Occasionally, that source-name is all that is needed.

This definitely isn’t that last thing you should know about this process, but it’s an important one. Copy-and-paste or otherwise preserve both reviews and blurbs whenever and wherever you find them. Put them in a file. Remember, reviews are forever. You might even reuse some of them when you publish your book’s second or tenth edition.

About the Author

Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the author of the multi award-winning series of HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers including USA Book News’ winner for The Frugal Book Promoter. An instructor for UCLA Extension's renowned Writers Program for nearly a decade, she believes in entering (and winning!) contests and anthologies as an excellent way to separate our writing from the hundreds of thousands of books that get published each year. Two of her favorite awards are Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment given by members of the California Legislature and “Women Who Make Life Happen,” given by the Pasadena Weekly newspaper. She is also an award-winning poet and novelist, and she loves passing along the tricks of the trade she learned from marketing those so-called hard-to-promote genres. Learn more on her website at https://HowToDoItFrugally.com. Let Amazon notify you when she publishes new books (or new editions!) by following her Amazon profile page at https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile. Her The Frugal Editor is now in its third edition from Modern History Press and sorrowfully ending its official release year. Let it help you edit your 2024 work-in-process and happy new year.

Developing Outlines and Character Details When Writing Middle Grade

 

 Contributed by Karen Cioffi, Children's Writer

The majority of my clients ask for picture books, but currently, I’m working on two middle grades.

While a middle-grade book can be significantly shorter than a novel, it still has a big chunk of words at around 20-50,000. Quite a difference from the under-800-word picture book.

When I write a picture book story, I use the seat-of-the-pants method. I find it works well with around 600-800 words.

This is not the case with a middle-grade story. Writing a middle-grade story is similar to writing a novel, so the same practices should be used. Because of this, I use an outline.

CREATING AN OUTLINE

With an outline, you can make it as detailed as you like.

Being impatient, I used to write as bare an outline as possible. I've found, though, that writing a more detailed outline is a huge help when getting down to writing the story.

This became particularly apparent to me when a client from five years ago recently called me.

I had written one middle grade for him and started a second one. For some reason or other, the client stopped the project after a month into it.

He now wants to resume the project … after five years.

Fortunately, I keep good records and files. I make sure I have them backed up. In fact, I use Dropbox and Carbonite. I also have an external drive that I back my files up to.

Overcautious?

Maybe, but I've had the experience of losing a client's project – the entire manuscript - due to a computer mishap, so I take extra precautions.

Because I save everything, I have the information from the first book and what I had done on the second book.

Going over my notes, I was THRILLED to see that I had written a detailed outline of Book 2.

Granted, this is an unusual situation as it’s the first time I’ve had a client stop a project, and especially stop one for such a very, very long time, but it helps emphasize the importance of an outline.

Having that detailed outline is going to save me time and effort.

CREATING CHARACTERS

Along with creating an outline, it's important to develop character details.

Writing coach and author Suzanne Lieurance says that if you know your characters before writing your story, you'll write a better novel.

Why?

Well, if you take the time to create your characters, especially the main characters, you can open up other details or subplots within the story that you might not have thought of before.

This also helps you to create unique characters. Characters with their own personalities and quirks that make them easily distinguishable from the other characters.

You'll know that Jeff has a temper, Russell is timid, and they're best friends despite their differences.

You'll know that Marisa has a crush on Matteo, who has a crush on Abby, who likes Jeff.

All this is going on behind the scenes in subplots as the main character struggles to reach his goal.

Knowing all this will allow you to understand how a character will react in certain situations. It'll also help you write particular scenes with ease.

I hope these tips help you write an outstanding middle-grade story.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, ghostwriter, rewriter, and coach. If you need help with your story, visit Karen Cioffi Writing for Children.

Karen also offers authors:

FICTION WRITING FOR CHILDREN COURSE
A guided self-study course and mentoring program.

HOW TO WRITE A CHILDREN'S FICTION BOOK
A DIY book to help you write your own children’s book.

WRITERS ON THE MOVE PRESS
Self-publishing help for children’s authors.