Category Archives: Business

A Stone’s Throw – Launching a Sequel

A Stone's Throw coverToday I’m celebrating the launch of A Stone’s Throw, the sequel to my popular YA fantasy novel, Set in Stone!

In this highly anticipated sequel, Connor travels to the Carraig, the school of the Petralists, hoping to learn more about his curse and gain patronage on his own terms before his curse rages out of control.

Things don’t go according to plan.

At the Carraig, it’s all about the game, and the stakes have never been higher.  Connor plunges into a maze of deadly intrigue as old enemies appear from under every rock, and new challenges threaten to destroy everything he’s trying to accomplish.

With the help of loyal friends, he launches his own game, breaking all the rules, and gambling everything on a daring attempt to control his own fate and save the lives of the ones he loves.

It’s a fun read, full of big adventure, big magic, and lots more humor.  It builds upon the thrilling foundation created with Set in Stone.  The book’s available in ebook, hardcover, and paperback formats.  Help me celebrate the launch by picking up your own copy.

I’m also offering a special deal to anyone who signs up for my newsletter.  They’ll receive a free Kindle copy of Saving Face, the prequel to my fast-paced alternate history fantasy series, the Facetakers.  They’ll also receive a $5 off coupon for the Kindle version of Set in Stone.  So if you haven’t started the series yet, that’s the cheapest way to check it out.

Merry Christmas!  And happy reading.

About the Author: Frank Morin

Author Frank MorinFrank Morin loves good stories in every form.  When not writing or trying to keep up with his active family, he’s often found hiking, camping, Scuba diving, or enjoying other outdoor activities.  For updates on upcoming releases of his popular Petralist YA fantasy novels, or his fast-paced Facetakers alternate history fantasy series, check his website:  www.frankmorin.org

Getting Ahead of Deadlines

I have always been a dyed-in-the-wool procrastinator, telling myself that I work best under pressure and that turning around projects at the last minute provides me with valuable motivation. This might all be true. Or it might just be something I tell myself to justify continuing to be lazy. There’s really no way to know. (Or is there? Read on.)

I’ve had to change my ways. It turns out that when you become inundated with a certain gross tonnage of deadlines all at once, you can’t actually wait until the last minute anymore. Especially when a dozen (or two dozen, or three dozen) important deadlines all congregate on the same day. When that happens, some advance planning is not just a balm to one’s state of mind; it is non-negotiable. At least it is to me—nowadays.

For the most part, I have a job that allows deadlines to be a little bit flexible. Freelance editing allows for the occasional grace period. And writing novels on spec? Well, all those deadlines exist in my own head and pretty much nowhere else. It’s possible, as a result, that I have developed some bad habits.

But in August 2015, that all changed. Abruptly. In addition to editing and writing at my previous pace, I added a third job—newspaper editor. It will surprise no one to reveal that in the newspaper business, deadlines are extremely inflexible. There aren’t any grace periods. The print deadline is the print deadline. Everything needs to be written, revised, fact-checked, and proofread on time or the whole enterprise falls apart.

This was probably one of the best things that could have happened to me, because frankly I could stand to have greater structure imposed on my work life.

The result is that I’ve been forced to get out ahead of deadlines. If twenty articles are all due on Thursday, some of them have to be finalized on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday. There’s just no way around it.

Likewise, I’ve been forced to apply this new approach to deadlines to my other jobs. The result is that I now find myself finishing projects several days before I absolutely have to—and for a lifetime procrastinator, that is a strange feeling.

Having learned this lesson, I can confidently revisit the question posed in the first paragraph of this post and inflict a bit of newfound logic on the situation. While it may be true that working at the last minute results in strong motivation to get things done, it also ensures that only the bare minimum ever gets done. By completing projects ahead of schedule, by necessity, my productivity has significantly improved in all areas of my life.

Evan BraunEvan Braun is an author and editor who has been writing books for more than ten years. He is the author of The Watchers Chronicle, whose third volume, The Law of Radiance, was released earlier this year. In addition to specializing in both hard and soft science fiction, he is the managing editor of The Niverville Citizen. He lives in Niverville, Manitoba.

Writing for Magazines and Newspapers

AntiquesThe place of my day job interviewed several candidates to assist with marketing a retail antique store and restaurant. After floating through a few self-proclaimed gurus with no real results we became frustrated. Then someone pointed out that Jace was a writer. I hadn’t considered writing in that fashion and at that time knew very little about antiques, but why not give it a go? I liked being referred to as a writer and wanted to prove that I deserved the title, so I wrote a piece and submitted it to a local paper.

Let me pause here to emphasize an important observation. While the piece was well written and fairly entertaining, the paper was overly excited to have content. I’ve noticed that time and time again magazines, periodicals, and papers are looking for content to legitimize their advertising space.

That local paper liked the article so much that they asked if they could run it in their national paper. Now antiques are a bit of a niche, I’ll admit, but still there are enough readers to support a national distribution. Within a month I had received versions of these papers from as far away as Rhode Island and Canada all featuring my article.

So I did it again. This time I was let in on a little secret. This national paper only had a handful of contributors and they were extremely grateful for another. The articles allowed me to mention our store, and have helped with some free press.

I wasn’t compensated for these articles from the papers but the free advertising we received was worth thousands. And because I wasn’t compensated there weren’t any contracts or rights or terms. So I turned around a couple months later and submitted that same first article to several other papers. Now I’ve submitted articles all over. I’ve ran the same article in multiple papers at the same time. In fact, each time I’ve submitted an article to a paper I’ve been thanked and the article has ran in the next installment.

This goes back to my earlier observation: papers are looking for content.

There’s a lot of blogging going on these days, but print articles are still in demand (especially free articles). There are nationalized papers, journals, periodicals that are specific to niches like antiques. Most (I assume all) of these papers maintain their existence through advertising, but they all need someone’s words to print, stories to share. Larry Correia gains continual attention when he writes nonfiction about things like gun control.

It has been good for me in my writing career. Not financially per se but it has given me deadlines to meet, word counts to maintain, and it has gotten my name in front of tens of thousands.

Tracy Hickman once asked me why I write. He answered for me while I was thinking on the question, “To inspire,” he said. Whether fiction or non, contract or free, I write to inspire. Antiquing has become a fun niche where I can do just that.

 

jace 1I live in Arizona with my family, wife and five kids and a little dog. I write fiction, thrillers and soft sci-fi with a little short horror on the side. I’ve got an MBA and work in finance for a biotechnology firm.

I volunteer with the Boy Scouts, play and write music, and enjoy everything outdoors. I’m also a novice photographer.

You can visit my author website at www.jacekillan.com, and you can read some of my works by visiting my Wattpad page.

 

Grants – Money to Write

Big grants, small grants, grants for individuals or groups, writing, editing, professional development, retreats, workshops, literary festivals, delivery of and promotional activities – there are many grants writers can access. Applications for writing grants may not appear as formal as for other granting projects but the principles are the same. The following points will help you navigate through ambiguous jargon such as provide a summary of your creative purpose for using this grant, and how you will use these funds to assist in this process.

1) Follow the guidelines exactly. You can’t make the program fit you – you have to fit the program and that’s where the work in writing the grant comes. Never be creative on the format, too wordy, general, or too familiar. It’s a formal document and, like with editors and publishers, being silly or sloppy or not professional is reason for a rejection.

2) Answer only what is asked for. For example, the proposal may ask for your resume or your organization’s history. Focus only on that. This is not the section to talk about the problem and your solution to it, or how, in doing this project, you or the community will benefit. In the history/resume section, the funder is looking for experience, reputation, if your mission aligns with the funder’s values. So as an artist or writer, what have you done and accomplished that makes you a worthwhile candidate?

3) Current programs and activities. Focus only on what you’re currently doing. They want to know what you’re doing on a daily basis, the operational information that is relevant to the project you’re proposing. They want to know if you have the capacity to follow through on the grant monies. Don’t list programs/projects that aren’t current, weren’t successful, have no relevance or received negative reviews.

4) Target groups. If you must define your target groups, always be specific, never general and use charts and graphs if you can. If the funder targets a specific group, it’s because they’ve already determined there is a need and will know if you haven’t done your homework. As a writer, you may need to say what age group you’re writing for, what makes it unique from the current offering and if it’s for promotional purposes, what schools you’re targeting, age groups, etc.

4) Partners. A funder looks for the impact of individual and collaborative efforts, representation of the target population, and monetary or in-kind contributions. These are your partners. As part of a community group, your partners are obvious. As an individual, your partnerships are less obvious. Do you belong to writers’ groups? Is there any benefit that you can extend to them by what you’re doing, or that you can teach? You may not have project partners per se, but partnerships can be informal, in-kind like partnering with schools, book stores and writing groups as part of a promotional plan. Fatal flaws: non-existent partners, no letter of support from the partners, overstating a partner’s role.

5) Project description. A project goal is what you’ll finish between the start and end dates, and this may not be a product finished in its entirety. Objectives are the milestones that allow you to achieve the goal and form the program design.

A project description can be as tricky as a query letter. Not only must you describe planned activities with timelines and expected results/benefits, you must be concise yet speak to who you are as an artist. What are you aiming to achieve? What is your artistic process? How will this grant benefit you as an artist?

You may wish to start with a summary (a short paragraph) which addresses who you are as an artist, what you’re planning to do, why you want to do it, how much funding you’re seeking.

Be clear, detailed, yet precise. Ensure that your goals and objectives are realistic. For example, if you’re applying for a marketing grant, you’ll need to discuss the target audience, specific media and promotional strategies to reach that audience, if it involves travel (dates, location, promotional plans for those appearances,).

6) Expected results and benefits. For some granting agencies, this is where you set the scene by giving a brief profile of yourself to provide a paragraph resume about yourself to set the context of the application. This may include whether you are emerging or professional, which includes a brief synopsis of what you’ve done to date. What about you will give this project a reasonable chance of success and, how will it enable you to develop your craft or skills? Note: you may still be required to provide a more detailed resume.

7) The budget. Some funders give a small sum for development and don’t require a line by line account. But if they require line by line items, you must be able to explain and justify every item. Make sure every line item matches the objectives and meets the guidelines. For example, if travel is required, research airline, hotel and meal costs. If there are costs to research in a specific archive or museum, include them.

8) Support materials. Here, you sell yourself through the eyes of others. Supporting materials are memorandums of understanding from partners or collaborators, letters from experts in your field who can vouch for you and your work, or other materials such as scripts or story boards.

9) Other key points:

  • Project Start date – in some cases, activities can’t begin before the application is submitted.
  • Make sure you meet basic program eligibility guidelines such as geography/residency, discipline, target population (emerging, professional).
  • Allow yourself enough time to research and prepare your application.
  • Granting agencies may have consultants or they may give you examples of successful applications. Use them!
  • Jurors have limited time, so be as succinct as possible and follow the guidelines for the required information which includes formatting and number of copies.
  • Get a PROOF READER! Whether it is a spelling or grammatical error, an unclear statement, any minor thing alleviated is one less reason to deny the application. Questions a proof reader should ask (a juror will):  Is the purpose clear? Is it clear how the money will be spent and is it concisely stated? Do the goals provide a solution for the needs presented? Are the goals and objectives realistic? Are the objectives measurable?

Grants can be a big boon to your writing time and career. They are a lot of work to do well, but the rewards are well worth it.