Interview with Priscilla Y. Huff

by Jodi Webb

Priscilla Y. Huff has been a freelance business and nonfiction writer/author for over twenty-nine years. She has written numerous articles and columns on the topics of home-small businesses, women’s entrepreneurship, and other subjects for Home Business Journal, Income Opportunities, Small Business Opportunities, Pennsylvania Magazine, as well as for many online web sites. She is currently a feature writer for the print publication, Home Business Magazine (www.HomeBusinessMag.com). Huff is currently working on a children’s adventure series. Her business, LITTLE HOUSE Writing & Publishing, offers business information, consulting and research services, as well as e-books and other publications.

JODI: So many people treat their writing as a hobby, not a business. Can you help us draw a line in the sand? When should we consider writing a career?

PRISCILLA: Writing is the ideal home-based profession. Most writers start writing professionally on a part-time basis, just like seventy-five percent of all home-based business owners start their ventures on the side. Why? First, of all, most writers are not independently wealthy and have to work a day job (or two). They write in the morning, in the evening, or during any free time they have available, and that is not occupied by family, work, or other activities.

Secondly, it takes time to find your ideal writing “niche” or genre. Entrepreneurs fail an average of three times at business start-ups before they succeed with a venture. Most writers will write poetry, fiction, non-fiction or for other sources, until they discover what type of writing market(s) is best for them and have publishing success. Entrepreneurs persevere and learn the ins and outs of their industry, along with perfecting their business skills. So do professional writers who attend workshops, conferences; and enroll in courses to improve the quality of their work, investing in themselves and their writing skills. Entrepreneurs work and/or study in their industry to stay current as what potential customers need and desire. Professional writers must also study the writing and publishing industry to know what markets are open and how to approach agents, editors, and publishers.

Thirdly, home-based business owners have a passion for their work. That passion drives them and sustains them through the ups and downs and long hours to do what is necessary to succeed. Professional writers, when not sitting down and writing, are usually thinking about their writing: developing plots and characters in their mind; or the next article or book idea they want to research for publishing potential. If you do ALL of this, you WILL be published. When that happens, I can assure you that you will be “hooked” into the writing business and consider it your lifelong career.

JODI: How can we work toward that goal of full-time writer? Should we dedicate a certain amount of time to writing?

PRISCILLA: Dedicate time to write each day. In order to fit in this writing, look at your daily schedule to see where and when is the best time to write. Managing your time and keeping organized with your writing is essential to help you “juggle” your writing career and your personal-work life. You may have to give up something to do this: getting less sleep (writing earlier or later in the day); cutting back on social activities (instead of heading a fund-raiser or being the president of an organization, be an active participant for those you can manage); and giving up mindless TV shows or “wandering” on the Internet. Set goals. Stephen King in his book, On Writing, recommends a writer produce 1,000 words a day for your book. If you are a freelancer, set goals to contact or query so many potential markets a day or week.

JODI: As professional writers, how much should we be earning? Should newbies write for free?

PRISCILLA: To acquire published clips, beginner writers will often write for free for some projects to acquire published clips and build their writing credentials. To offer one’s[work] for free, however, just to see one’s writing in print (or online), “cheapens” the writing profession in general. Professional writers are equal to any other professionals and should charge what the value of their writing is suggested by the industry; and what their markets will bear.

Legitimate writing markets will state in their writer’s guidelines how and what they pay. The annual Writer’s Market, found in the reference section of most public libraries, provides a section, “The Business of Writing,” with suggested pricing guidelines for various writing projectes; along with a listing of organizations that also recommend the professional prices members can charge. But as one editor informed me when I was deliberating on one of my book’s contracts, “Everything is negotiable.” You can always ask for more. Networking with other professional writers will also help you know what is a fair payment for your writing.

If you intend to make writing an on-going part-time business or hopefully, a full-time career, explore different writing venues to see which ones are the most profitable for you. I, like many writers, write for the markets that make me money; while at the same time, I am presently doing creative writing in another genre with the intent to find a publisher for these manuscripts.

Seeking residual income in the form of royalties from printed books or e-books will help to bring in a steady income while you are working on other writing projects. You do the work once and get paid over and over again (with revisions as needed). The ideal is to have your name recognized in your writing field or genre so that you build a loyal readers’ following. Think of your favorite authors and how you look forward to their next book or articles or blog entry.

JODI: So when does writing as a hobby become a career?

PRISCILLA: Your hobby becomes a career when you begin earning money that you will have to declare taxes and is becoming part of your regular income. The IRS has a page on its site stating the criteria of a hobby versus a business: www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=172833,00.html. Basically, if you intend to earn money with your writing, then it is a career-business, whether you make a profit or not. Entrepreneurs consult regularly with accountants, lawyers, insurance agents, and other professionals to ensure they and their business are following income laws and have liability business protection. Professional writers should also have these experts on hand in the event they need them. Get referrals for these experts from other writers or professional writing associations such as The Author’s Guild and The National Writers Union .

JODI: Are there any advantages, financially, to declaring your writing a career?

PRISCILLA: Yes, you can deduct many business-related expenses incurred while writing and traveling. Intrinsically, you will also treat your writing as a profession, knowing you must work on a regular basis to produce quality material for your readers, clients, editors and publishers.

PRISCILLA: Here are just a few suggested resources:

--Writers’ market books such as the annual Writer’s Market and Writer’s Digest Magazine and others that often present writing business tips.

Additional Suggested Books:
--Getting Started as a Freelance Writer, Expanded Edition by Robert Bly
--The Well-Fed Writer by Peter Bowerman
--Be a Writer: Your Guide to the Writing Life by Steve Peha; Margot Carmichael Lester

Two helpful links:
*http://hollylisle.com/fm/Articles/faqs6.html
*http://www.organizedwriter.com/

JODI: Can you give us advice on how to get clients to take us seriously. How can writers project a professional appearance? Do we need a website, advertising, client referrals?

PRISCILLA: Professionalism is an important goal that anyone serious about his or her career should practice. As I mentioned previously, that includes educating oneself as to the conduct, ethics, protocol, and qualifications that a business person, writer, or any other professional is expected follow and develop to become recognized by their peers and their target markets.

How you approach editors; market yourself and your writing; promote your image as a writer; and most importantly, meet the expectations of your readers, are all part of your overall image and how you will be perceived. Develop your editor and writer referral networks through genuine support and sharing of information. It is rewarding to help others and it will come back to you in many good ways. Study those successful in your writing genre in what they write, how they market their writing, and the steps they took to become recognized, and follow their examples.

JODI: What's the biggest mistake/most common mistake new writers make with their business?

PRISCILLA: In my opinion, the biggest mistake is not being a professional writer. Most of us can write but have we learned to write with above-average skills and to supply what publishers and readers really want? Certainly, you hear of first-time writers who receive large advances, but if you look more closely, even those writers, spent years in developing their styles, their voices, and how to approach agents, editors, and publishers.

Happy Writing!!

GLVWG's "The Write Stuff" Conference

We would be remiss in not giving a huge shout out to our friends at the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group (GLVWG), whose annual The Write Stuff conference will be held on March 25-27 at the Four Points Sheraton, Allentown, PA. GLVWG has the difficult task of staging a conference down to a science, and this year’s schedule is no exception. In addition to their regular schedule of breakout sessions, GLVWG is holding a special pre-conference workshop with bestselling author James N. Frey (How to Write a Damn Good Novel) on Thursday night. Additionally, the day includes appointments with agents and editors (you must register for a slot ahead of time), Flash Fiction writing contests, and the ever-popular author book fair at the end of the day. Some of our BDWN members have attended GLVWG’s conference, and can verify that it’s one of the best—definitely money well-spent. Kudos to conference chair Kathryn Craft and her committee for all of their hard work! For more information on the Write Stuff, visit www.glvwg.org , or their blog, All the Write Stuff.

Writerly Words

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.

~Sylvia Plath

Interview with Jerry Waxler

by Jodi Webb

About Jerry Waxler, in his own words: "I grew up in Philadelphia and went to college in Madison , Wisconsin during the war protest years. Gasping across the finish line with my Bachelor’s Degree in Physics, I slid beneath the waves to become a depressed hippie in Berkeley , California . With the help of a spiritual teacher, I climbed back on to land, gave up meat, fish, eggs, drugs and alcohol, meditated, went to India , came back, joined a commune, became a computer programmer, then a technical writer. In my forties I realized I knew nothing about people, so I went to graduate school, earned a Master’s Degree in counseling psychology, gave therapy, started writing and teaching, and the rest is history."

JODI: In bookstores I often see memoirs and autobiographies crammed together in the same section? Are they the same?

JERRY: The definition of “memoir” or “autobiography” depends who you ask, and more importantly, it depends when you ask them. It seems like the definitions change from year to year. A few years ago, I would have said a memoir is more story-driven than an autobiography, and an autobiography is intended more for historians and grandkids. Nowadays publishers occasionally use the two words interchangeably. As a result, I now read the title, blurb, and reviews and form my own judgment.

JODI: Can you tell us how or why you became such a fan of memoir?

JERRY: After I got my master’s degree in counseling psychology, I began to write self-help articles. My writing mentor, Jonathan Maberry (http://jonathanmaberry.com/ said my essays sounded like they dropped from the sky. He advised me to insert myself. I had always been shy and had no idea how to tell personal stories, so I embarked on a journey of self-discovery. The deeper I went, the more fascinated I became. Soon, I was reading memoirs, and realized that each one gave me two gifts. First, it was a window into the life of another person, and second, it gave me some insight into the way life can be turned into story.

JODI: Why do you think memoir publication has exploded in the last few years? Why is the public so interested in reading about other people's lives?

JERRY: In the television age, we all sat on the sofa quietly watching celebrities. In the internet age, we sit at our computers and type. The internet has created a hundred million penpals. I think memoirs are a logical next step. We want to know more about each other.

Another thing that is changing is that talking about ourselves used to be taboo. Memoirs and talk shows have blown the cork out of that bottle. One stunning result has been that we are sharing stories about the journey from child to adult. Bestselling stories like “Liar’s Club” by Mary Karr have encouraged us to take a closer look at Coming of Age.

JODI: Do you feel memoir writing has always been popular in the form of journals, etc.? If so, why is it such a popular form of expression?

JERRY: I journaled for an hour every day for a decade. It gave me a wonderful opportunity for reflection, and helped me form the habit of translating my thoughts into sentences. This process is a fundamental tool for writers, and also a powerful self-help strategy. But while the journals were important to me at the time, I wouldn’t have expected anyone to ever read them. I needed to discover memoirs before I knew how to translate introspection into communication.

JODI: So have you made the jump from introspection to communication? Have you written a memoir?

JERRY: Once I became interested in memoirs as a way to understand life, I naturally wanted to write my own. I took classes and gathered material. As the project picked up steam, I discovered that while I had been reading stories my whole life, I have never told them, so I not only had to learn about my own life, but about the craft of storytelling. I attended writing conferences and connected with writers to learn as much as I could.

I was in a class taught by Jonathan Maberry when I decided to jump in. I wrote my first draft and that was only the beginning. The entire project has contributed to one of the most fascinating, and creatively stimulating challenges of my life.

JODI: Do you have any favorite memoirs you would like to recommend?

JERRY: I have many favorites (http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/annotated-list-memoirs/) . For example, right now I’m reading two memoirs, “Stones into Schools” by Gregg Morenson and “Spiral Staircase” by Karen Armstrong. Mortenson is the author of the memoir “Three Cups of Tea” (three million copies sold) in which he told about building schools in Pakistan. “Stones into Schools” starts where the first left off. Karen Armstrong was a nun, a scholar, and an interpreter of world religion. Her memoir takes me on a journey from religion to atheism, and then back to spirituality. These memoirs teach me to see the world through other people’s eyes.

JODI: How about books on writing memoirs?

JERRY: While there are lots of good books on the subject, I would like to give special praise to two. First is “The Power of Memoir” by Linda Joy Myers president of the National Association of Memoir Writers . In addition to her profound appreciation for the power of Story, she is a therapist and her book offers special sensitivity to the human drama, such as family dynamics and healing from trauma. The other book is the one I put together for my workshops. “Learn to Write your Memoir in Four Weeks.” It is the only short, simple, step by step guide I know of.

JODI: What are you working on right now?

JERRY: In addition to my memoir, I am working on a couple of manuscripts about using memoirs for self-help. I write an essay every week on my blog , and I teach and present at writer’s conferences and other venues. For example, I’ll be teaching an eight hour memoir workshop under the auspices of the Philadelphia Stories Journal , and I regularly give teleseminars and teleworkshops through the National Association of Memoir Writers. You can see my list of events here.

JODI: We’re excited that one of the events on your calendar is the Write it Right Conference in April!

What's Holding You Back?

How are you doing with meeting your writing goals?

Have you given any thought to what’s holding you back from accomplishing as much as you’d like?

One word: fear.

Fear of failure, or even worse, a fear of success, often holds writers back from accomplishing as much as they’d like. It can be absolutely paralyzing, and hold many of us back from even getting started. There’s that pesky “inner critic” in our heads that tells us our stuff is garbage, we’ll never amount to anything, and we should just give up the dream and try something else for awhile. It’s also fear that stalls projects all the time; we get overwhelmed by what the characters should do next, or we think that no editor will ever be interested in that article or this manuscript, so we stop in midstream and the project lies there, abandoned.
So how do we conquer that fear of failure? Think of how much worse we’d feel if we never tried writing at all. We owe it to ourselves to at least power through a first draft. No book that has ever been on the shelves started out as the version we see; chances are they’ve gone through many, many revisions until the story was told as well as it could be. We never lose that inner critic completely—the secret is to ignore him and focus instead on the work in front of you.

****
Kudos to BDWN member Richard Clark, whose book The Wreck of the Red Arrow has earned some nice publicity! Read the full article from Friday’s REPUBLICAN Herald here.

Writerly Words

There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.

~Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith

Interview with Tisha Tolar

Tisha is a full time writer of non-fiction materials for the Internet market. She makes a living providing web content for a multitude of clients in a variety of industries. She began her online writing career in 2007 by chance after meeting her now business partner, Debbie Dragon, through an online job posting. Forming a working relationship via Instant Message, the two set the stage for the writing e-course, MakeMoneyFromWriting.com which teaches others how to make money writing for the online market. Prior to establishing herself as a freelance writer, Tisha wrote her first full length manuscript in 6 weeks just to see if she could do it. She decided to dust off the manuscript on the advice of her colleagues in 2008, finally self-publishing her debut Gen X in the summer of 2009. She currently is the editor and contributor to several major websites, including Wisebread.com and actively works to promote her novel and her company, Trifecta Strategies. Since the novel’s release, Tisha has participated in several local book signings as well as a reading awareness program for local elementary school children. Tisha is a Schuylkill County native. She is married and has one daughter.

BDWN: Thanks for speaking with me, Tisha! We're so glad to have you as our presenter at our meeting this month!

TISHA: Thanks, Sara for inviting me to be the featured speaker at this month’s BDWN meeting. I am really looking forward to it and I thank you and all of the members for the opportunity. I had so much fun and took home so much from the January meeting. Your group is such a necessary resource for writers and I am glad to be a part of it.

BDWN: Can you tell me a little bit about your job as a full-time freelancer and your company, Trifecta Strategies?

TISHA: My job requires me to write every day, in some capacity. I am also the marketing strategist at the company, writing marketing materials and sending emails to promote our services. Trifecta Strategies is an online content writing company, meaning we write content used on websites, articles, blog posts, and e-books for a variety of clients and industries. We also manage the content by adding it to the websites directly, using social media to promote it, and building links back to our clients’ websites. There are three of us that make up Trifecta Strategies and we all maintain our own clients as well as shared work. We also manage several of our own websites and blogs under Trifecta. Plus, we have developed a program to teach others how to do what we do, which can be found at MakeMoneyfromWriting.com. We are growing and now work with a great team of subcontract/freelance writers to accommodate our work load.

BDWN: How did you get the idea for your novel, Gen X?

TISHA: I had the idea for Gen X many moons ago when I was actually living in Philadelphia and going to art school. It was a little autobiographical with a ‘what if’ twist in the beginning. It wasn’t until more than 10 years later that I actually sat down to write the story in 2006. It was 2003 when I came up with the name for the book. The idea, title, and storyline had stuck with me all those years. When I sat down to write it, I did so just to see if I could. I had no plans to publish but eventually I shared the completed manuscript with others who thought I was crazy for not doing anything more with it. I started querying agents (a LOT of agents) and after a year, I got tired of waiting for someone to make something to happen – so I did it myself. I self-published last summer and still work weekly on promoting the book.

BDWN: It seems like it would be a difficult transition from nonfiction to fiction. What kind of challenges did you experience?

TISHA: Honestly, I was a fiction writer first but I didn’t realize it. I only wrote out Gen X as a challenge to myself and never thought twice about it making me a writer. I was one of those people who still at 30 wondered what she was going to be when she grew up. I fell into writing by accident but when I did I knew I FINALLY figured out where my journeys had been leading me.

I don’t think there is any difficulty for transitioning from fiction to non-fiction and vice versa. For me the bigger challenge is finding balance as a work-at-home writer/mom/wife. Running a business is tough and can often be a roller coaster but I love every minute of it. I could say my biggest challenge between fiction and non fiction is finding time to write the fun stories because the fact stories are a priority since they pay cash.

BDWN: Do you have a preference of fiction or nonfiction?

TISHA: As an online writer, there is no subject I am not asked to write about. From the most boring to the most over-your-head topics imaginable – I’ve written some weird stuff. After doing this for so many years, there are some topics that I once knew nothing about and now I can just write articles off the top of my head. I really enjoy the research and non-fiction writing and it comes easy to me.

I wish I had more discipline and time to write fiction. I literally have a handful of stories started and I continually update the story lines in my head all the time but I never sit down to write them out. I think it is because I spend so much time already at the computer writing for work that writing fiction doesn’t always seem like such a fun idea. When I wrote Gen X I do recall being completely fascinated by how the story in some parts just wrote itself.

The answer to your question is I haven’t a preference – I enjoy it all.

BDWN: Do you think writers should just focus on honing their skills in one genre, or should we dabble in whatever interests us?

TISHA: I think they should do whatever suits them. ‘They’ tell us write what you know. I do believe in that piece of advice. But I think as any kind of writer, you need experiences. Take yourself out of your comfort zone from time to time and see what you can do. I never thought I would be a writer at all. When I was young, I was good at writing quirky rhyming poems and stories but never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be a writer of both non-fiction and fiction – until I tried it. You have to really put yourself out there to be writer of any kind. If you want to focus on one area – great but don’t forget to explore what else is out there even if it is just in little peeks.

BDWN: Since you already spend most of your day writing, was it easier to find time to spend working on the novel?

TISHA: I didn’t have that problem in the beginning because I wrote Gen X before I became a full-time, online writer. Now it is a big problem as I’ve mentioned. People ask all the time ‘when is book two coming out?’. I have started it and I know what is going to happen for the most part but finding a few more hours in a day to sit back down at the computer while my daughter is bored isn’t always practical. I do have spurts of motivation that helps but I think for true motivation to occur, Gen X will have to take on a life of its own and force me to complete the rest of the series. I hope that isn’t the case but right now, it’s the reality.

BDWN: Can you give us a little sneak peek of your presentation at the BDWN meeting on February 20?

TISHA: Since I already had the pleasure of meeting with the group in January, I am a bit more open to letting the questions lead the way for the discussion. I plan to talk a little bit about how I became a non-fiction writer and how much that has helped me with my fiction writing, especially the promotional end of things. I have made a name for myself online, I have learned the ropes of online promoting, and I use all of these skills to promote my self-published novel, Gen X. Even if I was working with a major publisher and agent, I would still be required to self-promote my little heart out. No one is going to do it for me (not even your family and friends) and because of my non-fiction writing I have learned so much. I also wanted to share a few insights about how to become an experienced online writer to help springboard other writing success.

BDWN: What do you hope the members will get from your presentation?

TISHA: Motivation. I think that is the number one priority for writers. If I had a quarter (inflation) for every time I heard someone say ‘I should write a book…’, I wouldn’t be very worried about making a living as a writer. I want people to realize that there is more out there than this one book they created. I was personally amazed at the guts people showed during the last meeting. They were so willing to share and the listeners were so welcoming. That goes a long way to helping people ditch the fear and really believe in what they can do. Ask my closest friends and they will tell you I can probably convince a fish to buy a glass of water. However, public speaking is not my forte and I hope people will see that stepping outside your comfort zone is good for the soul. I also hope people who might be interested in exploring online writing will take the opportunity to learn more about how they can make a career doing what they love – writing.

Thanks again, Tisha!

Learn more about Tisha's company at www.trifectallc.com
Learn more about Gen X at www.genxthenovel.com