Blisscraft Life With Christina Katz

I’m ba-ack. Both of our family vacations were awesome and now I’m back in the saddle and ready to get back to work!

First on my list is this reminder: there are only NINE more days to pre-order my new book, The Writer’s Workout and get entered into a drawing in which you can win an hour-long session of platform coaching!

And guess what? I have a brand new method of Platform Power Phone Coaching that kicks in beginning September 1st.

I hope you guys are up for it because you will never look at your own platform progress quite the same way once you’ve done it.

And here’s another reason to order today: I’m raising my rate for phone coaching as of September 1st, which makes this offer for free coaching a huge steal!

All you have to do to enter is pre-order The Writer’s Workout by August 31, 2011. And then e-mail me your receipt. (It’s okay if you order other things on the same receipt. Don’t worry about that.) Just don’t forget to e-mail me the receipt after you order! Please send your reciept to “katz christina @ comcast dot net.”

And thank you so much to all the people, who have already pre-ordered and entered the drawing. I really appreciate your support and wish you the best of luck in the drawing.

After September 1st, my Platform Power Phone Coaching rate will go up to $199/hour for non-students and $99/hour for former students. So don’t miss your chance to get quality coaching for the cost of a paperback. The winners will be announced on Tuesday, September 6th right here in this blog.

This offer is only available for the first 50 people who pre-order The Writer’s Workout and submit the receipt to me by the end of the month.

Look forward to working with all the folks who are ready to take their writing careers to the next level!

Whether I am serving students, editors, or readers, I keep a sharp eye on the price tag. My offerings are always affordable and geared towards encouraging writers to inspire and empower themselves.

I understand that writing career success is a life-long process not a short-term formula or strategy. That’s why I am committed to creating empowering contexts so my readers and students can succeed over the long-haul.

It’s also why I succeed over the long-haul, because I am always learning, growing, and sharing the best of what I learn with my readers and students and encouraging them to do the same with their growing readerships.

I want you to be able to afford a class with me, and still attend a conference, buy some books for your reference library, invest in your online presence, and still have some money left for more writing career enrichment. Here’s more of what’s coming up for me this fall and beyond. I’m partnering with some awesome folks and this is just the beginning. I’ve got a steady flow of announcements and probably will continue to until I go on tour in 2012 for The Writer’s Workout, 366 Tips, Tasks, and Techniques From Your Writing Career Coach.

More Platform Advice Than You Can Shake A Stick At!

My very first self-study course, Build Your Author Platform will be part of the Writer’s Digest Premium Collection starting September 1st. For one month only, you can pay a very low price and get more platform advice and instruction than you ever imagined possible. You will save 75% percent on this bundle of helpful platform resources, so don’t miss this amazing opportunity. Subscribe to Premium Collection E-mail Notifications from Writer’s Digest so you won’t miss your chance to buy. A limited number of Premium Collections will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Don’t miss this great opportunity to expand and deepen your knowledge of author platform with experts like me, Jane Friedman and others!

Create Your Platform From The Inside-Out & The Bottom-Up!

My Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform e-mail class begins October 12th. Even if you’ve read everything under the sun on platform development, it always helps to work with someone who has built a book-deal worthy author platform. I have been working with writers on platform development for years and many of them have also gone on to either land book deals of their own or to successfully self-publish. You can hear what my latest students have to say about the latest class here. I’d love to work with you!

I’m Keynoting and Teaching at the 2012 Missouri Writers’ Guild Conference April 20th – 22nd, 2012

Do you live near St. Louis? Are you member of the Missouri Writers’ Guild? If so, that’s great news because I will be visiting St. Louis for the first time as a keynote speaker, workshop presenter, and breakout session facilitator for the 2012 Missouri Writer’s Guild Conference and I’d love to see you there. Stay tuned for announcements about the conference here. In the meantime, I hope you will save the dates!

My Willamette Writers Newsletter Column Returns in January

I took a year off while I was working on The Writer’s Workout and I am happy to announce that my Willamette Writers column is coming back in January. The topic this year is 12 Forms You Can’t Earn Without Mastering. And members of Willamette Writers will have them all down by the time the year is through. Not a member? Consider joining here.

Fall Classes Begin On Wednesday, August 24th!

You may have heard rumors that I train writers to get published and earn money and that’s true. What I don’t do it train writers to be carbon copies of me. I inspire and encourage writers to discover and cultivate their own strengths so that they can find their own topics, audiences, and specialties and thrive in the gig economy. I never get tired of what I do because there is so much synergy that can be shared when writers keep the focus on creative empowerment and unique self-expression. The group mind is pretty overwhelming right now. It’s harder in some ways than it’s ever been to be a creative individual and sound your own note. But I know how to do it, I know how to teach it, and I do my best to set a good example every day.

Want to join us? See my complete class schedule here. Classes coming up include:

Writing & Publishing the Short Stuff

Pitching Practice: Write Six Queries in Six Weeks

Micro-publishing for Mom Writers

Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform

Abigail Green’s Personal Essays That Get Published

Abigail Green’s Personal Essays That Get Published: Level Two

Many moons ago, I was asked for some tips on productivity by another writer and I’m fairly certain they were never used. At least, I never heard anything about them being used.

I stumbled on them recently and thought, since they never saw the light of day, I may as well share them here.

They still make good sense to me. See what you think…

From an interview with Debbie Ridpath Ohi on Time Management in January 2010:

Basically, I just do it. Whatever “it” happens to be.

I’m a morning person, so my most productive time is in the morning. I can sketch out an idea in the afternoon by hand or jot notes but I write fastest and best in the morning. So regardless of the rest of the day, I get my writing done early.

If a right-brain person is waiting to be more like a left-brain person before they can master time, they are going to be waiting for a long time. But if they explore and experiment with what works for them within their current work context, and strive for their own definition of time-management success (assuming it harmonizes with those around them), they will start to thrive and be more productive.

From Get Known Before the Book Deal:

If you haven’t had success already, you have to become productive. So productive that you hold nothing back. If you want literary success, then you take whatever success you already have and make it bigger.

A lot of writers are already prolific, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are productive. Prolific means you write a lot. Productive means you write with an eye toward the results.

The force that grows your career isn’t a miracle that occurs out of nowhere. It’s you. Are you willing to produce yourself? Or are you going to sit around waiting to be discovered?

Off the cuff…on my relationship with productivity:

No two minds think alike, therefore no two productivity strategies will work for everyone. A strategy that might delight you, might totally turn me off. Productivity might mean one thing to me and something completely different to you. But the bottom line is: are we each getting stuff done? Because that’s what really matters.

Some of the most productivity-enhancing things I do have seemingly nothing to do with productivity: taking a walk, scribbling out a list on a white board, fleshing out an idea in a sketchbook, or bouncing ideas off others. None of these things actually get the work done. But they get me ready to get the work done. And that’s what really matters.

If I had to say what’s the most important aspect of productivity for me, I’d have to say rhythm. Progress has a thrum, a beat, and movement. When I’m in my rhythm, I’m accomplishing my intentions. And when I’m not, I’m probably on Facebook.

Even though it’s the last hurrah for vacation season before school starts, I’ve got plenty of news, so here goes:

Accepted!

The panel I submitted for The Association of Writers and Writing Programs, “The Tech-Empowered Writer: Embrace New Media, Experiment & Earn,” was accepted from a pool of 1,021 submissions.

I will moderate the panel and Jane Friedman, Robert Lee Brewer, and Seth Harwood will join me on it. I hope anyone who is considering attending AWP 2012 will attend the session!

Click on the logo for more info about The Association of Writers & Writing Programs 2012 conference in Chicago.

Updated!

I’ve rounded up the list of Books By Women Writers for High School Students and I need your input to help me polish the list. If you are a woman writer of any kind, these are the writers who paved the way for us. I feel empowered, humbled and inspired after working on this list. I hope it inspires you, as well. Thank you women writers!

Reviewed!

The initial assessments of The Writer’s Workout are in!

“Practical advice, not guru fluff,” says digital expert Guy LeCharles Gonzalez.

“Like having a personal trainer for your brain,” says novelist and playwright Marc Acito.

The one writing book  professor and memoirist Melissa Hart has been looking for to walk her students with kindness and respect “through the maze of learning to live as a working writer.”

Agent and novelist Donald Maas says, “Get ready to flex your muscles—and harness your mind!”

This book contains 366 inspiring quotes, 366 tips, tasks and techniques, and 366 gentle kicks in your creative caboose. Pre-order your copy today!

[Don’t forget to e-mail me your receipt (katzchristina @ comcast dot net) you will be entered in a drawing for the first 50 who purchase the book. I will select three readers for a free one-hour coaching session in September!]

Coming Right Up!

At least one of my former students gets published every single day of the year. Some days, many are published. Rarely does a day go by when one isn’t published. It’s kind of cool to have reached this milestone, which has come from ten years of consistent hard work teaching back-to-back classes while I’ve worked on my own writing.

In my classes, I walk students through the paces from totally unpublished to the thrill and excitement of their first clips to building up confidence and bigger and better writing credits to launching a platform and eventually even self-publishing.

Two of my long-time students have recently published e-books that serve women and families and more of my students’ e-books are rolling out soon (read about Judy’s e-book here and Malia’s e-book here).

I offer up-to-date, inexpensive classes that mom writers can take at their own pace, growing writing, selling, platform and publishing skills as they go along. The next round begins on August 24th. I’ll be offering Writing & Publishing the Short Stuff, Pitching Practice: Write Six Queries In Six Weeks, and, my latest class, Micro-Publishing for Mom Writers. Abigail Green will also be offering her class, Personal Essays That Get Published.

I hope you can join those of us who are getting happily published!

Featured!

I’m quoted in an article by Kerrie Flanagan in the 2012 Writer’s Market on the topic of “The Art of Promoting.” The 2012 Writer’s Market edited by Robert Lee Brewer is now on sale, in case you did not know.

I was also featured in an article by Kelly James Enger on “Do You Need To Build A Platform?” in the August issue of The Writer.

I was interviewed for the premiere issue of Tweet Magazine in an interview about Success On Twitter with Desi Velikova.

Well, apparently I have been holding back because I have more good news. But I think I’ll save some of it for next time.

Make good things happen, writers!

Need your kids to sleep so you can sleep?

Or have any friends who are parents and could use a good night’s sleep?

If so, you are in the right place because today I’m interviewing sleep whisperer Malia Jacobson.

Malia Jacobson is a writer, editor, and widely-published sleep journalist. Her articles on sleep and health have appeared in over 50 publications, including Costco Connection Magazine, Seattle’s Child Magazine, Calgary’s Child, and San Diego Family. She is also a contributing writer at Family Time Magazine.

Malia is launching her first e-book today, Ready, Set, Sleep: 50 Ways to Help Your Child Sleep So You Can Sleep Too. She began her journey toward sleep expertise in 2007 while researching her daughter’s sleep troubles. Soon, she was moderating a global sleep website, where she helped parents around the world put their children’s sleep troubles to rest.

Malia is devoted to promoting healthy sleep for families. So if your family could use more sleep or better quality sleep, I hope you will check out the following interview that I did with Malia to celebrate launch day of her helpful e-book, Ready, Set, Sleep.

Christina Katz: So, Malia, it sounds like you got your start in sleep research because you were having some sleep troubles of your own at home. What was that like?

Malia Jacobson: When my first daughter was born in 2006, I was caught completely off-guard by how little sleep I got as a new parent. Before having kids, I thought newborns slept 20 hours a day! But my sweet baby woke up every 45 minutes through the night, for months. Existing on almost no sleep drained my energy, health, and happiness. I’m lucky I didn’t get into a car accident, because I’m sure I wasn’t fit to drive at that time. The worst part was that I wasn’t able to fully enjoy those early months of parenthood because I was absolutely exhausted.

Christina Katz: Once you started learning more about sleep and applying solutions to your own life, can you describe the leap to sharing tips with others?

Malia Jacobson: I’ve always been a sensitive sleeper, so I was interested in sleep and fairly careful about my own sleep habits even before I had kids. When my daughter just wouldn’t sleep, I went looking for answers in sleep books and on the Web. I was soon asked to moderate a sleep website, and I really enjoyed sharing sleep tips with other parents. It was wonderful to feel like the knowledge I’d gained was useful to other people in my situation.

At that time, I was editor of a business-school alumni magazine, so writing about sleep (the dominant topic of interest in my household) was a natural next step. Along the way, I developed my own approach to sleep that incorporates my perspective as a modern, thinking parent.

Christina Katz: How’s everyone sleeping at your house these days? Is full sleep recovery possible for a family with young children?

Malia Jacobson: Full sleep recovery is absolutely possible. My kids are very well-rested these days. It’s a great feeling, because I know that sleep helps them get more out of life. They’re at their personal best. I don’t think you can ask for more than that, as a parent. Like all kids, they have their tough moments, but everything is much easier when they get the sleep they need. And I know that I’m a more patient, more creative, more fun mom when I’m well-rested.

Christina Katz: What’s the sleep complaint you hear most and what’s your advice to parents with that particular challenge?

Malia Jacobson: Difficulty falling asleep at bedtime is a widespread problem for babies and young kids. I address this particular challenge from many angles in Ready, Set, Sleep. On one hand, children who nap too long or too late may have trouble falling asleep at night. Conversely, kids who don’t nap enough may fight bedtime because they’re overtired. Either way, an age-appropriate bedtime and a rock-solid bedtime routine that’s packed with sleep cues, which I describe in detail in Ready, Set, Sleep, are essential.

Christina Katz: You’ve written lots of articles on sleep for a wide variety of magazines, which parts of the research and writing process are your favorite parts?

I just love gathering and sharing good information. I’ve learned so much from other parents, and I depend on my mom-friends to share what they’ve learned and what they’re dealing with. I love contributing to that ongoing, ever-growing pool of parental knowledge. It feels like I’m giving back to my community—the parenting community. And I love that I get paid to interview doctors, authors, and other experts and pepper them with my questions about parenting and health. How cool is that?

Christina Katz: Does writing about sleep over and over ever put you to sleep? How is it you don’t tire of focusing on one topic over and over?

Malia Jacobson: Sleep science is an emerging field, and that keeps me interested. Plus, I love sharing information about something people can do to improve their health and lives that’s simple, enjoyable, and free. Healthy living can be intimidating; people sometimes think you need expensive exercise equipment or the latest vitamin supplement to lead a healthy life. Sleep is one of the best things you can do to improve your health, it’s available to everyone, and we get another crack at it every night. I think that’s pretty great.

Christina Katz: What are the pitfalls and benefits for parents not getting enough sleep vs. finally getting enough sleep again?

Malia Jacobson: Sleep deprivation adversely affects problem-solving, creativity, and reaction times. It makes us irritable and short-tempered. It’s linked to weight gain and unsafe driving. When I think about the people who really need quick reaction times, speedy problem-solving, safe driving, patience, creativity, and energy—they’re parents. It’s a cruel double-whammy when life deprives us of sleep just when we need it the most. But when parents solve that sleep puzzle, life opens up again. Parents who get their sleep are literally leading safer, healthier, happier lives, and they can enjoy their kids, their partners, their work, their life. There’s just nothing better. And I’m glad to be able to help.

You can learn more about Malia’s awesome new e-book, Ready, Set, Sleep: 50 Ways to Help Your Child Sleep So You Can Sleep Too, which is loaded with quick, easy-to-digest tips about how families can get more sleep, at her website, MaliaJacobson.com.

Thanks for helping me support Malia’s e-book launch. I’d love it if you’d help spread the word about Ready, Set, Sleep!

Hiya writers!

About a month and a half ago I started an exercise accountability group on Facebook called Writers on the Move.

For the first thirty days we grew to about thirty writers sharing our getting-moving triumphs and frustrations, and now, seemingly suddenly, the group has started experiencing exponential growth.

Just as a few of the very committed among us were starting to see some results from of our focus, commitment, and accountability the group exploded in size to several times the original size.

Growth is awesome. And kind of tricky, too.

As of today, we are 133 writers committed to getting in and staying in some kind of shape. Feel free to join us if you are looking to get in and stay in shape too. Here’s the description of the intention of the group as I conceived it. The group is open to all writers and I administrate it.

Welcome to writers on the Move!

This is a group of writers who strive to move it to lose it, started during the summer of 2011.

If you are new, we are using this group to help motivate us to get off our duffs and get moving, whatever that means to each of us.

Our goal is to eat healthier, exercise more, and write on!

Thanks for inspiring us by inspiring yourself and then sharing your experiences.

If you would like to join us, just search on Facebook for “Writers on the Move” and you will pull the group up. Then just request to join.

We don’t use the group for self-promotion or even to link back to our blogs or promote our friends. We just use it to help us each be more accountable to our intention to get and stay moving…and simple as this sounds, it seems to work!

I started by walking, then run/walking, and now I’m run/walking. I’m not sure I’ve lost weight but I am definitely getting in shape and I feel more fit.

I gained some weight writing each of my books, Writer Mama, Get Known Before the Book Deal, and The Writer’s Workout. I’m so happy to have help and support on the journey of reversing the negative progression that comes from such a sedentary profession.

I encourage other writers to do the same by inviting you to join us!

The group is a low-commitment, low-distraction way to set healthy goals and realize them…for those who are looking for this kind of support.

But when they meet you right where you need support, they can help you grow from there.

For eighteen months I’ve been teaching Dream Teams with my former students. Dream Teams are training groups of 6 – 12 writers who want to put skills they have learned with me in classes into action in their careers.

The results for students who join the Dream Teams are amazing and, over time, I’ve come to realize why. Members of my Dream Teams have awesome attitudes. They not only expect to be challenged and pushed, after they reach one set of goals they come back asking to be challenged more.

I love working with students who strive to grow, grow, grow in every aspect of their work. Here’s what former Dream Team participants have to say about their experiences:

I’ve found my Dream Team experiences to be some of the best investments of my writing career. Something magical seems to happen during each team experience. Backed by an inspiring and encouraging support system with Christina as coach, I’m making strides in my writing career at a pace that doesn’t seem quite real.  ~ Christa H.

Not only did I appreciate the mutual accountability the Dream Team afforded me in achieving my writing goals, but I also enjoyed being part of a community of writers. It has been thrilling to see the bylines of my fellow Dream Teamers alongside mine in different publications. And I’m looking forward to more of that in the future!  ~ Lara K.

Being involved in a Dream Team with Christina was extremely beneficial to me.  She guided me through the mass-submission process, which helped me get published in numerous publications.  ~ Deanne H.

Participating in a Dream Team goes far beyond the actual calls. Your team becomes an incubator for all kinds of fresh ideas, and a source of continuous counsel, support and encouragement to push yourself and your career even further.  ~ Lela D.

Hearing other writers talk about their accomplishments is inspiring, and Christina helps to solve the sticky issues that inevitably arise for writers working on the many facets of their platforms.  ~ Cindy H.

Writing can be a lonely occupation. The Dream Team experience is helpful in supporting me as I grow my platform. The encouragement, camaraderie and sharing between team colleagues is invaluable.  ~ Judy M.

Do you know any parents of adoptive kids who are approaching their teens? If you do, I hope you will introduce them to Judy M. Miller because the work she does with adoptive parents can make all the difference.

Judy works as an adoptive parent support specialist, equipping parents with new techniques and information and encouraging and empowering adoptive families.

In addition to teaching a six-week class, Parenting Your Adopted Child: Tweens, Teens & Beyond, Judy coordinates and teaches parent preparation education and transracial parenting to parents who are in the midst of the adoption process.

For busy parents who don’t have time to take a class or even read an entire book from cover to cover, Judy is offering a helpful, informative, and affordable e-guide, What To Expect From Your Adopted Tween.

Judy is the Adoption Pro for Parenting Squad’s ProSquad and a columnist for the adoption network, Grown In My Heart. Since 2008, her articles and essays have been appearing regularly in adoption and parenting magazines.

So, Judy, before we start talking about adoptive parenting, you are a working mom and the mother of four kids—what’s a typical day like?

Similar to most moms my typical day is extremely busy. My day begins before my kids wake and ends long after they’ve gone to bed. I work while my kids are at school. I am often scrambling to finish “catching-up” or getting a jump on the next day late into the evening, after I’ve had some time with my husband.

You have been writing for many years now. What was it that made you decide to write about adoptive parenting in particular?

I’ve learned writing comes easier from a place of knowledge and heart. I parent. Three of my four were adopted.

Once you began writing about adoptive parenting, you honed in on parenting teens and tweens as a specialty topic, why these ages in particular?

I’d say that it was happenstance—wrapped up in the package of my oldest son. He was into his teens when I began writing so I naturally “went” there and the topic has evolved.

What are some of the challenges for parents of adoptive kids when those kids start to become tweens and teens?

Parenting tweens and teens can be challenging. Parenting tweens and teens who have been adopted can be more challenging because these kids often have emotional issues tied to adoption. Adoptive parents need to provide guidance, support and understanding of what can be complex layers.

Do you think adoptive parents might hesitate to reach out for help when they find their families confronted by challenges related to their adopted kids?

Yes. As wonderful as being a parent is I believe that parenting is the hardest job any adult will ever have.

Most parents are emotionally invested in their children. They want to be able to understand and support what is going on with their child. Sometimes they can’t and that’s when they need to ask for help.

Asking for help doesn’t imply that parents are failing; it often means they and/or their children need assistance—perhaps with new or different parenting tools or a different lens though which they can observe what is happening.

You also teach and do other things related to adoptive parenting. Can you tell us a little bit about what else you do?

I teach a six-week on-line class, Parenting Your Adopted Child: Tweens, Teens & Beyond. I work with parents who are waiting to adopt, covering topics of preparation, adjustment, transracial adoption, fertility, advocacy, culture, racism, etc. I also work as a support specialist, assisting parents and their children with information and techniques to equip and empower them during challenging times.

Of all the many things that you do, which part or parts of your many jobs bring you the most joy?

I love working with parents face-to-face, knowing that I am able to share some of my “in-the-trenches” adoptive parenting experience. I am looking forward to speaking at two adoption conferences this fall, one in Richmond, VA and another in Indianapolis, IN.

You can learn more about Judy’s awesome new e-guide, What To Expect From Your Adopted Tween, which launches today at her website, http://judymmiller.com.

Thanks for helping me support Judy’s e-book launch. Please spread the word!

2011-2012 Season

September 18th
The Northwest Author Series Presents Jeff Baker
Qualities of Critically Acclaimed Books: How To Write for Raves

October 23rd
The Northwest Author Series Presents Emily Chenoweth
Memoir or Fiction? Make The Most of Your Choice

December 4th
The Northwest Author Series Presents Christina Katz
The Writer’s Workout: Whip Your Literary Ambitions Into Shape

January 29th
The Northwest Author Series Presents Karen Karbo
Passions Into Paychecks: Make A Living Without A Brand

February 26th
The Northwest Author Series Presents Bill Johnson
A Story Is A Promise: The Essential Elements of Storytelling

March 18th
The Northwest Author Series Presents Pamela Hill Smith
For The Love of Research: How To Write Biography

April 15th
The Northwest Author Series Presents Kevin Sampsell
The Book World: From Reader To Published Author

May 6th
The Northwest Author Series Presents Heather Vogel Frederick
Much Ado About Middle Grade: Mastering Setting, Character & Plot

Presentations take place in the Oak Room at the Wilsonville Public Library
Time is 3:30 – 5:30 pm
Cost is $5.00 for all ages
More info and subscribe for e-mail reminders: http://northwestauthorseries.wordpress.com/