Other People's Rejection Letters

Cover via AmazonI read Bill Shapiro's "Other People's Love Letters" last year and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to find out that a new edition, "Other People's Rejection Letters" was recently released.

The website also has an interesting feature: a Reject-O-Matic.

http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/features/other-peoples-rejection-letters/

Have fun rejecting....everyone and everything!

Also, make sure you check out this link:

http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/10+Hidden+Gifts+Of+Rejection+Letters.aspx

Take a Break!

Image via WikipediaTaking a break from putting together your agency contact list? Good! Take a minute every now and then to breath, read a book, write, or just have fun!

Here's a  website you can go to to kill time while doing one of my favorite things, MadLibs!

http://www.madglibs.com/

Here's one I made today :)

Dear School Nurse:


Silicone Clayton will not be attending school today. He/she has come down with a case of measles and has horrible doors and a red fever. We have made an appointment with the swollen Dr. supercilious, who studied for many years in home and has thirty degrees in pediatrics. He will send you all the information you need. Thank you!

Sincerely

Mrs. round.

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Focus Group Audio Example

Last week I posted a little background information about setting up focus groups and just how helpful they can be. Well, today, I thought I would go ahead and post an edited bit of audio from the focus group I conducted. I recorded the entire interview and discussion, which was really helpful to me personally, but I have provided a small sample here showing just how helpful it can be.

It was amazing to get feedback, and even more exciting to realize that someone could actually be interested in my writing. The whole process turned out to be incredibly motivating.

Feedback Via Focus Groups

Image by Nebraska Library Commission via Flickr

Aside from my own immediate family, aka my younger sister, my eyes have been the only set that have glanced at the pages of my novel thus far. As it turns out, this fact has proven to be both good and bad. For one, since it is my first book, I haven't had to deal with the dreaded negative feedback that so often compels writers to cease writing. One the other hand however, I haven't had a chance to hear any feedback at all. Not positive encouraging feedback, or even helpful hints that could make my novel better.

So, with an anxious mind and a heavy heart, I set out to remedy those issues by setting up a focus group. The concept of a focus group is a pretty simple one, and it really can be set up in a variety of ways. the route
I chose to take involved a round-table gathering of sorts with a small group of individuals I felt would be a part of my target market. The results, or the conversation, that evolved from this meeting will be posted a little later on this week, but I have to tell you it was extremely helpful. Not only did I find myself surrounded by a group of people who were actually interested in reading my book, but I also discovered several aspects of my story that needed just a little more explanation.

To organize your own focus group, here are a few possible ideas/ guidelines you could follow:

1. Choose a format.
Will you be present? Will you give them a copy of your manuscript in advance? Will you all meet formally or will your focus group involve a questionnaire given online? After you answer these questions you should be ready for number two.

2. Choose/Gather your participants.
At this point you should consider the type of individuals you will involve in your group, as well as how you will reach them. This can involve anything from calling local book clubs to flacing fliers in book stores and libraries. Your methods are up to you, but if you choose to utilize a lier as advertisement for your event, be sure to include contact information for yourself as well as the qualifications you've decided upon based on your target market.

3. Create your materials.
Next you will need to create or gather the materials you will need to conduct your focus group. If you plan to give each member a copy of your manuscript you will need to provide copies. Also, I highly reccommend a timeline or series of questions created in advance to help facilitate the event and keep it moving smoothly and efficiently. For my event, I planned to read portions of my manuscript  aloud and let the group discussion evolve from there. I also had a series of questions to ask participants on hand in case the discussion got off topic (as is very possible when dealing with younger individuals and even adults).

4. Set up meeting time.
After finding all of the indivduals that are willing and able to take part in your focus group, I suggest finding a common time that works for them all. This demonstrates the importance of maintaining a file of participants and their contact information. Incentives for participation may also be utilized if you are having trouble gathering participants.

5. Conduct your focus group (record the event).
This is the easy, and by far, most exhilarating part of the whole process. On the day and time you've chosen to meet, get right down to business. An introduction is definitely a good idea, but keep it short. Also allow for a short icebreaker at the beginning to get participants comfortable with one another. I also HIGHLY recommend that you record the event in some way. Options for recording include simply taking notes, or even using and audio or video recorder. No matter the method you choose, make sure you have the permission of your participants, and if the participants are minors, you need the permission of their parents.

6. Compile your data/ make adjustments to your work as you see fit.
After the event, give yourself a day or two to digest all that you've learned before making any changes to your work. After this buffer period has ended, examine your recordings or notes and highlight or take note of the pertinent responses and advice. Remember, even if you don't agree with someone's opinion, you should serioulsy consider what they've said. Afterall, this sampling of individuals is representing the greater population of individuals who will or won't choose to read your book.

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Character Development Exercise

So it's time for another activity suggestion courtesy of me! I am constantly on the look out for projects or activities that might help me improve or encourage my writing, and I thought of one a while ago, but just got a chance to try it out this week.

The concept is pretty simple and involves taking pictures  throughout your day while jotting down a few quick notes at each location. For me, it involved taking my camera on campus  and taking pictures while I traveled to and from classes. At the end of the day I uploaded my pictures and used my notes for each one to create a mini storyline. I used the character analysis I had already done  to basically re-write my day in terms of a main character. Essentially, describe your day as though a character of yours lived it instead of you.

To Recap:
1. Take pictures throughout the day.
2. Jot down notes  of what you were doing, thinking, etc. at that point.
3. Upload pictures and review your notes
4. Last, and probably most fun, re-write your day as though one of your characters lived it instead.

Good luck, and I really hope you give it a try because it was actually fun!

(I took all of these photos today, and the captions included are the portions of text from my re-write. Because I couldn't fit much else into the captions, here are a couple things you should know:
-The only building photographed is University Hall on BGSU's campus.
-The rest of the images were taken in my apartment building and the local cemetary, which happens to be right in the middle of campus.)

That being said, here's my day as if it were lived by Brina Claramund, my main character:



Having trouble seeing the full captions? The click HERE .

Character Personalities

Image by DavidErickson via Flickr

Last semester I was enrolled in probably the hardest class of my college career: Marketing 300. While the concepts of marketing are interesting, the way it was presented in this course was only slightly more interesting than doing laundry, and this, paired with the fact that the professor was an incurable braggart made the class nearly impossible.

That being said, there was one single part of the class that actually turned out to be very helpful. One assignment for the course was to take the online VALS survey to discover our marketing personality (of which there are four according to the survey) and in doing this I discovered a truly helpful way to test the characters I was creating. By taking the survey and answering the questions the way I thought my characters would I found a concrete way of making sure my characters remained consistent throughout. The survey results would also give me an interesting character summary to stick to.

So try it out some time! Take one of your characters, go to http://www.strategicbusinessinsights.com/vals/surveynew.shtml, fill out the survey based on the character analysis you've already done, and see what you come up with.