I really like this little book that one of my students gave me as a gift.
It’s called, How Many People Does It Take To Make A Difference? LINK
Here’s the YouTube Trailer:
We all have days when we could use this book.
And we can always stand to be reminded of how unique and important we each are.
Get the book and keep it within reach, so you will never forget.
And then write like your contribution matters. Because it does!
Here’s the truth.
Most writers I encounter are not ready for a tradition book deal.
The are not ready for the mental, physical, and emotional rigors that come with writing a full-length book.
Even fewer are ready for the reality of writing traditional books serially.
You have to have support a steady flow of saleable ideas, and you have to have money to support yourself in the interim.
However most writers are ready to attempt writing something shorter and can benefit, in the short and long runs, from the experience of writing something tighter.
Shorter books are easier on readers.
Shorter books are easier on writers.
And now publishing tools are available to anyone to make every kind of book imaginable.
I focus on teaching writers how to create short, tight nonfiction that becomes a quick, informative read.
But the possibilities for micro-publishing are infinite.
I recently participated in a podcast panel with Jane Friedman and Wayne Ude, where we discussed how industry changes should be impacting the way that writing is changed at the college and post-grad levels.
We all agreed, that focusing on preparing writers for a traditional publishing system is an outdated approach.
I recently shared a guest post over at Jane Friedman’s blog called, 6 Ways Micro-publishing Strengthens Your Author Career, which offers a quick overview of why micro-publishing makes good sense for every writer.
In fact, I have been writing about and teaching micro-publishing for going on three years this spring.
It all started with a thought that woke me up in the middle of the night one night. And that thought was, what if, in the future, publishing looked nothing like it looks today?
What if publishing was not a gauntlet for first-time authors to run through, but a creative process that anyone could learn and practice, like building a platform?
What makes this possible is the availability of technological resources and the availability of publishing know-how.
And this is why we are already living in a publishing renaissance. And change is already underway. And why the future of publishing is being created right now, by those who choose to participate in it.
I’ve written a book that is the first in a series on micro-publishing. The series is called, The Future Is Frictionless, and the first book is Permission Granted, 45 Reasons To Micro-publish. LINK
Whether you have thought about micro-publishing before or not, now is the time to consider the prospect more seriously.
Permission Granted will help you do this and help you get past any sticking points you may have about the idea.
Download your copy of Permission Granted today, so you can start planning micro-publishing into your successful future.
The earlier in your writing career that you read it, the better!
Micro-publishing is about to go kaboom!
With attention spans diminishing, online commerce becoming swifter than ever, and folks curling up cozily with their e-readers in their unique niche interests, the stage is set for a micro-publishing explosion right about…now.
And if you have not jumped on the bandwagon, don’t worry. You will get the hang of this micro-publishing stuff and quick, if you have been paying attention at all to the trends in publishing over the past several years.
First, what the heck is a micro-publisher? You need to know, and I bet you would like a nice short and sweet definition.
So let me borrow one from my latest books on the topic, Permission Granted, 45 Reasons To Micro-publish. It comes with a handy glossary of terms in the back, designed to help anyone get the hang of publishing lingo quickly.
Here goes:
A micro-publisher is a publishing house of one person, who oversees production of short works, typically 45-75 pages long, in multiple digital formats, beginning with PDF and evolving into every digital format available internationally. Micro-pubs can be any genre, but are often nonfiction and niche-oriented. Micro-pubs vary widely in format and price point. Micro-pubs with enough demand can become physical books, but only when there is an existing readership or demand for physical copies.
The reason all writers should care about micro-publishing is because writing, editing, packaging, and launching micro-pubs is a heck of a lot easier than doing the same for full-length publications.
My latest micro-pub, Permission Granted, outlines in detail why writers should care about micro-publishing. I have broken the logic down for various types of writers from seasoned traditionally published authors all the way to totally unpublished aspirants.
Micro-publishing is terrific news for mid-list authors, as well as for everyone else who is neither a celebrity, the offspring of a celebrity, nor an established bestselling author. Sorry to say it, but these guys are going to be ruling the traditional publishing world for a while.
Where does that leave the rest of us?
Well, the technology for micro-publishing easily and inexpensively is finally here.
Do not underestimate the significance of this truth in the history of publishing.
We are past the turning point already. It has come and gone.
The time to micro-publish, if you have not tried it yet, is now.
And if you have tried it, I suggest you do it again, and again, and again.
The future of publishing belongs to all of us. But the real story is that it belongs to those who work hardest for it.
If you would like to learn more about micro-publishing, please check out my recent post in Jane Friedman’s blog:
6 Ways Micro-publishing Strengthens Your Author Career
Download your copy of Permission Granted and give it a read. It won’t hurt and it won’t take long, I promise. And the book is now available in every digital format available.
I’m telling you that micro-publishing is the future.
Are you ready for it?
My articles often appear in Our Kids Magazine. January 2014 cover shown here.
One of the reasons I love writing for regional parenting publications, is that I get to put my personal experience to good use.
I also love working with other mom writers who have ideas for their own articles, and who wish to learn the professional skills required to write for regional magazines.
Writing for regional magazines always was and still is a great way to get started as a freelance writer, if you are willing to use your imagination, carve out time to write, set boundaries with the family, and submit your polished work.
I have been showing stay-at-home and working moms the writing ropes for thirteen years now. That’s a heck of a long time but I still love it. And I still love writing and submitting regional parenting magazine articles myself. Just follow this blog or follow me on social media and you will see my consistent results.
Best of all, writing for regional parenting publications provides steady income flow for me and my long-time students, so we can pursue other types of projects, too, and still reap the benefits that come from writing regularly for regional parenting publications.
If you are ready to get started, here are a few simple tips:
1. Familiarize yourself with a handful of regional parenting magazines
2. Brainstorm some topics from your life you might write about
3. Organize your topics by time of year, start with seasonally and then eventually sort them by month of the year
4. Draft your ideas in a format you think will serve regional publication editors (not too long or too short)
5. Walk away from your draft for a bit to let it cool off
6. When you come back, make it better with the addition of quotes, facts, stats, examples, or anecdotes
7. Keep polishing the piece again each time you sit back down
8. Have someone else proofread the piece to make sure you have not overlooked anything you can no longer recognize
9. Submit the article to the regional parenting magazine of your choice
10. Repeat, repeat, repeat until you have a body of work you can submit and resubmit each season and month
Here are a few articles I have written based on personal experience:
Streamline The Back-To-School Paper Flood
A Puppy As A Present? Ten Ways To Survive The First Ten Days
Ho-Ho-Hanukkah! How To Balance Hanukkah And Christmas Celebrations
If you would like to learn more, please check out my resources and offerings below.
I am the author of Write For Regional Parenting Publications For Fun & Profit.
I also teach the online video course, The Art Of Short Article Writing For Nonfiction Writers.
I offer ongoing and inexpensive accountability coaching for writers who are finding their writing and submitting grooves.
I am also the author of the classic, dog-eared reference for mom writers, Writer Mama, How To Raise A Writing Career Alongside Your Kids.
You might also like to read my post 10 Reasons To Write For Regional Parenting Magazines.
I hope we will have a chance to work together soon. In the meantime, I wish you the best of luck in your professional writing pursuits!
Folks, I have extended this giveaway/goal-sharing opportunity in honor of Snowmaggedon 2014. You now have until Sunday, January 12th at midnight! Thanks for sharing!
Happy New Year, writers!
I asked some of my favorite authors if they would share their 2014 resolutions as part of a week-long e-book giveaway.
And they said yes!
We’re giving away a total of 15 e-books to one lucky winner one week from today on Monday, January 13th.
I’ll announce the winner here, in this blog.
To enter for a chance to win, simply post your professional resolutions for the New Year in the comments.
Post your comment by midnight, Tuesday, January 7th for your chance to win. Keep it short and sweet like this, and no blatant self-promotion, please. Focus on your mission/goals for changing the world for the better in 2014!
And now, without further ado, let’s meet our giveaway authors via their 2014 resolutions.
Cindy is giving away a copy of the Mother-Daughter Book Club Meeting Planner Guides, Collections One & Two and the Cultural Explorations Collection Learn More
I will continue to write about family literacy and the multiple ways to achieve it, especially through parent-child book clubs, so that every parent will understand the many benefits that can be gained through reading with their children and have greater access to resources that support their efforts. By the end of the year, I will have an easily accessible collection of e-books, magazine articles and videos for all my readers.
Judy is giving away a copy of What To Expect From Your Adopted Tween Learn More
My mission in 2014 is to continue to write about parenting adopted children, focusing on a broader and deeper examination of the fallout that can occur because of issues inherent to adoption. I will continue to be a resource for adoptive parents and support for adopted persons and birth parents through coaching, teaching, workshops, and appearances at conferences and on radio. I will launch my second book—a healing workbook for adopted adults—in early 2014. I will launch a third book in the second half of 2014.
Krysty is giving away a copy of Late-onset Hearing Loss, A Parent’s Perspective Learn More
My mission in 2014 is to support and provide information for parents who have chosen the path of listening and spoken language for their children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). My view of working with children who are DHH is that they are part of the mainstream education setting, so it is just as important to get the mainstream ready for them, as it is to get children ready for the mainstream. With this in mind, my mission is also to help classroom educators and administrators understand the strengths that children who are DHH bring to the classroom, as well as the challenges they may face.
In order to support my mission, I will work towards developing my website into a go-to resource for families and educators who are supporting a child who is DHH. Website users will find what they need via my e-books, free informational downloads, and informative resources.
Parents are inundated with information right from the initial diagnosis of their child’s hearing loss. It can be an overwhelming task to sort through the emotions of learning about a diagnosis as well as trying to make appropriate decisions as to what therapy is needed. The information found in my e-book and website help parents of newly diagnosed children gain confidence in working with their child’s hearing loss.
Malia is giving away a copy of Ready, Set, Sleep, 50 Ways To Help Your Child Sleep, So You Can Sleep Too Learn More & Sleep Tight, Every Night, Helping Toddlers & Preschoolers Sleep Well Without Tears, Tricks Or Tirades Learn More
In 2014 I will continue to support parents in building a happy, healthy, well-rested family. I will work hard to provide the latest evidence-based health and parenting information for readers across multiple media platforms. Through national and regional articles, television appearances, speaking engagements, my blog, and personalized sleep coaching, I’ll assist families as they work toward their goals of better sleep, better health, and a harmonious, thriving family.
Heidi is giving away a copy of Detachment Parent, 33 Ways To Keep Your Cool When Kids Melt Down Learn More
My mission in 2014 is to help parents uncover the emotional habits that shape their realities. Through a series of how-to articles, readers will learn how to tune in to their feelings, step back in healthy ways, and revise unhelpful beliefs and behaviors. My goal is to offer great insights and specific strategies that profoundly change readers’ awareness of themselves and their ability to handle life’s toughest personal and parenting challenges. Armed with this practical emotion management wisdom, parents will be empowered to build healthy emotion habits with their children.
Lela is giving away a copy of Blacklisted From The PTA Learn More & Who Peed On My Yoga Mat? Learn More
In 2014 I will continue to share the strange and ordinary things that make me laugh or cry or create a spreadsheet. Now with new and improved sources of material (ie. co-workers, startup culture, cowboy boots). If you’ll have me, I’d love to come talk to your group. From the Junior League to your book club meeting at Carl’s Jr., I am happy to oblige. And finally, I’ll be scribbling away in notebooks and on MacBooks, collecting the best moments for my next essay collection, coming Spring 2015.
Christa is giving away a copy of Confidently Connected, A Mom’s Guide To A Satisfying Social Life Learn More
I am energized and excited about 2014! This year I plan to continue reaching out to moms who create a thriving, balanced social life that supports emotional health. I will continue to expand my portfolio of published articles, my live and online communities, my blog and monthly newsletter. I will continue to inspire healthy communication in family relationships in all of my expert roles, and I look forward to launching a second ebook by the end of 2014.
Lara is giving away a copy of Family Bucket Lists, Bring More Fun, Adventure & Camaraderie Into Every Day Learn More
In 2014 I resolve to make more time for completing goals on my family’s bucket list (like seeing Blue Man Group) and venturing deeper into interests my kids & I have discovered in the past year. I hope to see more moms than ever embrace the bucket list lifestyle with their families. I plan to create more tools & resources that encourage moms to write down and live out their own bucket lists.
And last but not least, here’s my 2014 resolution…
I am giving away a copy of Permission Granted, 45 Reasons To Micro-publish Learn More, a copy of Write For Regional Parenting Publications For Fun & Profit Learn More, and a copy of Discover Your Platform Potential, A Get Known Before The Book Deal Workbook Learn More.
In 2014, I will continue to teach, coach, and train the most highly motivated writers, helping them own their expertise, channel it into written forms, and leverage their best works so they can prosper while growing a satisfying writing career that makes the world a better place for all. I want every writer in the world who wants to micro-publish to know how to proceed and succeed by the end of 2014. Also by the end of the year, the best of my work will be available in a complete library of multi-media forms at ChristinaKatz.com.
Okay, now it’s your your turn!
What are your professional 2014 New Year’s resolutions?
Please post yours in the comments below for a chance to win.
Keep it short and sweet like this, and no blatant self-promotion, please. Focus on your mission/goals for changing the world for the better in 2014!
And happy New Year!
A few weeks ago, I wrote about participating in a panel discussion for host Matt Garland on his Author MBA Podcast…and now it is available on iTunes.
If you do iTunes, you can listen here. Our podcast is called “Whidbey MFA Panel.” I’ve posted the image here so you can recognize it.
If you don’t do iTunes and you would like to listen on your computer, you can listen here.
Thanks so much to Yi Shun Lai (@WhidbeyWriters), who set up the panel, to Matt Garland (@WinningEdits) for hosting and troubleshooting our tech and schedule challenges, to Wayne Ude (@WhidbeyMFA) for inviting me to speak at the Whidbey MFA Program, and to Jane Friedman (@JaneFriedman) for being so awesome at basically everything.
Learn more about the Whidbey MFA Program here.
Learn more about Winning Edits here.
Learn more about the Author MBA podcast here.
And learn more about Jane Friedman at JaneFriedman.com.
Happy listening!
If you are interested in more audio by me. Stay tuned to this page in 2014!
Why am I an expert on micro-publishing?
Because I have been teaching nonfiction writers how to write short and tight for over a decade.
Because I have been leveraging short topics of my longer works with satisfying results for seven years.
Because I also understand how to leverage shorter works into longer works in association with publishers.
Because I know how to train nonfiction writers to produce successful micro-pubs that grow their platforms.
Because the future of economic success and personal satisfaction for writers lies with diversifying efforts, not in putting all of our eggs in any one type of publishing basket.
Join me in 2014! Check out Permission Granted, 45 Reasons To Micro-publish. Now available globally in all digital formats.
Jane Friedman is the one who helped me get past my fear of micro-publishing in the first place. Today I am in her blog discussing "6 Ways Micro-publishing Strengthens Your Author Career."
We have got to stop talking about publishing as us and them.
Anyone who is only talking about publishing as a higher echelon of elite professionals who gate-keep writers is talking about days that have already gone by.
Publishing is already more diverse than this by far.
What’s the problem here? Why can’t writers get with the program and emblazon a giant “P” for publisher on our chests and get on with it already?
The problem is that mindsets lag behind reality. And we writers really need to get more proactive about changing our attitudes.
I understand the resistance to change many writers feel in our minds, emotions, and even in our bones because I’ve experienced it myself.
Human beings resist change. That’s simply how we are wired.
Someone revive Darwin and ask him: why the heck is evolution such a slow process?
Regardless of the answer, it’s time, writers. It’s time to wake up and start saying, “I am a publisher. You are a publisher. We are all publishers…if we want to be.”
Because this is the reality whether we like it or not.
I have a post on JaneFriedman.com today called, “6 Ways Micro-publishing Strengthens Your Author Career,” and I hope you will read it and share it with other writers.
I have a series of books on micro-publishing rolling out right now. In the first one, Permission Granted, 45 Reasons To Micro-publish, I focused on the resistance writers must get past in order to thrive and prosper in the future.
The book addresses in detail, all the ways writers may be inclined to resist micro-publishing, and how resistance to taking charge is futile.
Publishing already belongs to all of us. For years, I have been asking writers to “produce your own career.”
We need to stop resisting change. We need to embrace publishing as our inalienable right as we embrace freedom of speech. And we need to spread the word to other writers that we are allowed to be successful publishers without waiting for someone to grant us permission.
Here’s a post I wrote in 2012 on the definition of micro-publishing, if you feel like you want more info.
I wrote, Permission Granted, 45 Reasons To Micro-publish because I too experienced that writer-in-the-headlights feeling that comes from standing at the crossroads, knowing that it’s time to start seriously self-publishing, and worrying about one disastrous outcome after another.
But we really have nothing to fear from taking charge of our careers except fear itself, writers.
I hope you will read Permission Granted and identify for yourself, what, if anything is holding you back from micro-publishing.
Permission Granted is now globally available in multiple digital formats. With any remaining formats rolling out soon!
Thanks for checking out Permission Granted, and stay tuned for book two. Coming in February 2014.
I’ve been teaching micro-publishing for going on three years now. Stick around for news about a micro-pub giveaway before year’s end!
Challenge yourself to complete all five levels this year!
My popular 21 Moments Writing Challenge begins on January 1st, but December 30th is the last day to sign up!
So hurry and register now. The cost of this fun, expansive way to start your writing year is only $21.
I started the 21 Moments Writing Challenge one year ago and it has helped hundreds of writers get writing and stay writing.
It’s also helped numerous writers get back to writing to take a project or idea to the next level.
And if you take my writing challenge and write every day for 21 days in response to the prompts, I can promise that you will start your writing year off right!
When writers don’t write, we are cranky, distracted, and sometimes even miserable.
But when writers write, we are expansive, inspired, and joyful.
I encourage you to be a writing writer in 2014, whatever a writing writer means to you.
And if you need help getting your writing year off to a good start, I hope you will try or return to the 21 Moments Writing Challenge.
The 21 Moments Writing Challenge is now offered in five sequential levels. Those who complete levels one – four can submit their best moment to try and win a free round on their next round.
Writing inspiration + creative motivation + being a part of a productive community of writing writers — what more could you want in 2014?
It’s what I’ve always offered. Register for the 21 Moments Writing Challenge and start your year off write!
I hope you can join us for the round that begins on January 1st.
I am a long-time member, columnist, and supporter of Willamette Writers.
If you are an Oregon writer and you have not yet joined, I hope you will give yourself the gift of membership for the New Year!
Ownership and writing, these are two words that never seemed to go together for authors in the past. Before today, success as a writer was defined by who else wanted to publish your work. But tomorrow, long-term success for writers will hinge on developing the skills to micro-publish your own work and build a career that consistently identifies and serves a target audience. So, what are you waiting for? In this presentation, writing career coach, Christina Katz will ask key questions that will help you identify your strengths and establish your audience, so you can spend years to come happily and prosperously serving your readers.
Location
The Salem Chapter meets at Macy’s, Salem Center (mezzanine level).
Directions
6:30-7 pm: social time & refreshments*
7-8:30 pm: news and member announcements followed by the speaker
* We will have snacks, but if you want coffee or water please bring them with you.
Cost
Chapters meetings are free to members of Willamette Writers and full-time students under 22 years old; guests of Willamette Writers members are $5. Non-members pay $10 to attend.
Please visit our website or Facebook page
If you are an Oregon writer, won’t you consider joining Willamette Writers?
If you are a writer who has benefited from Willamette Writers membership in the past, won’t you consider making a donation?