Welcome to the Writers Connect! Newsletter

Welcome to the Writers Connect! newsletter.

Writing is a human experience. It’s about connection with everyone and everything around us.

We understand you’re busy. So the newsletter usually has just four or five main items of content. A brief but satisfying read.

In this issue:

• Write Here, Right Now: What’s Happening in Writing
• Word of the Day. An unusual word to keep your writing fresh
• Interesting Fact
• Writing Inspiration

Write Here, Right Now: What’s Happening in Writing

In this issue, we explore writing competitions that close at the very end of July 2020.

For competition closing dates, bear in mind these relate to the time zone where the competition originates, so check the relevant site.

Comp 1: Hawk Mountain Short Story Collection Award

It’s heartening these organisers encourage simultaneous submissions. They acknowledge that ‘writers have the right to continue promoting and offering their work while waiting for the decisions of literary organizations’

About: Hidden River Arts offers this award for an original collection of short stories. Previous publication of individual stories is acceptable (see conditions on organiser’s website)

Open to: International writers in English. Multiple submissions, and simultaneous submissions (i.e. submission elsewhere)  accepted

Word count: No limit

Theme: Appears to be open. Check with organiser

Closes: 30 July 2020

Entry fee: $20 (US)

Prize: $1,000 and publication by Hidden River Press

Information and entry here: https://hiddenriverarts.wordpress.com/awards-deadlines-and-guidelines/hawk-mountain-short-story-collection-award/

Comp 2: 12th Casa África Essay Prizes

This inclusive competition allows essays in Spanish, French, Portuguese and English

About: Original and unpublished essays on African themes to enhance people’s knowledge of the African continent – written in Spanish, English, French or Portuguese

Open to: International, 18+

Word Count: 15,000 minimum to 20,000 maximum

Theme: Climate change in Africa

Closes: 31 July 2020

Entry fee: Free

Prizes: €2,000

Information here: http://www.casafrica.es/en/agenda_europa_africa.jsp?DS28.PROID=916523

Comp 3: Seán O’Faoláin Short Story Competition

What a fabulous opportunity for short story writers to visit beautiful Ireland, COVID allowing…

About: Original, unpublished and unbroadcast short stories in English. Multiple and simultaneous submissions accepted

Open to: International

Word count: Maximum 3,000

Theme: Any subject, in any style

Closes: 31 July 2020

Entry fee: €18

Prize: First = €2,000 + publication + accommodation at Cork International Short Story Festival + 1-week residency at writer’s retreat. Let’s hope COVID allows, because read on! ‘Located just outside the colourful village of Eyeries on the Beara Peninsula in West Cork, Anam Cara is a tranquil spot structured to provide support and sanctuary for people working in the creative arts. It offers private and common working rooms as well as five acres of walking paths, thirty-four nooks and crannies, a river cascades and a river island, gardens, and a labyrinth meadow. Editorial consultation is also available.’ Wow! Second prize = €500 + publication. Four Runners-Up = €250 + publication

Details here: https://www.munsterlit.ie/SOF%20Page.html

Comp 4: Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award

An exciting opportunity for young poets to strut their stuff and be published

About: Work must be original and unpublished and written in English

Open to: Young poets 11—17 internationally writing in English

Word Count: Any length

Theme: Open

Closes: 31 July 2020

Entry fee: Free

Prize: First 15 winners = publication in anthology + attendance at residential writing course at one of the prestigious Arvon Centres, or mentoring from a professional poet (age dependent). The 85 commended poets = publication in online anthology and names in print anthology.

Guidelines & entry here: https://poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/foyle-young-poets-of-the-year-award/

Comp 5: Winchester Poetry Prize 2020

While I’m sure all writing competition judges look for the ‘wow factor’ in writing, the judge of the Winchester Poetry Price actually says so: ‘Then there’s that extra thing, the wow-factor … the moment a poem becomes literature’

About: Previously unpublished poems on any theme

Open to: Anyone 18+

Word Count: No longer than 40 lines (excluding title)

Theme: Any subject, any form or style, in English

Closes: 31 July 2020

Entry fee: £5 first poem, £4 each subsequent poem

Prize: First = £1,000. 2nd = £500. 3rd = £250

​Details here: https://www.winchesterpoetryfestival.org/prize

Word of the Day

pyjamas

Did you know that the name of this snuggly garment originates from a Persian word pāy-jāmeh (‘leg clothing’)? The word was only introduced into English around 1800.

Interesting Fact

In English, loanwords – words that are borrowed from other languages – make up an astonishing 80% of the English language and represent around 350 other languages.

Get Inspired

Spanish author Rosa Montero, renowned journalist and correspondent for Spain’s El País newspaper, has an interesting perspective on writing: ‘The truth about being a writer is that you do not choose the stories you tell; the stories choose you. Therefore, you do not choose characters either. Novels are like dreams you dream with your eyes open; they are books which appear in your head with the same apparent immediateness as they appear in your dreams at night.’ In speaking about her novel Te trataré como a una Reina (I will Treat you like a Queen), she says, ‘I almost went crazy because my characters did not let me say what I wanted and kept forcing me to speak about things I had … [not intended] to mention. So I came to the conclusion that I had to be true to them, because they had a life of their own.’

If you’re interested in reading an article by Rosa Montero, here’s a great one published in El País about cultural prejudices and stereotypes: Never Mind the Bullfights https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/30/spains-changed-national-character

Keep well, keep safe, keep writing 🙂

Know your Target Audience

Writers need to know their target audience regardless of the type or genre of their writing: creative writing, business writing, poetry, essays… Arguably, it’s even more important in creative writing because readers choose to buy your work – or not!

Why do Writers Need to Know their Target Audience?

When, before you start writing, you have clear in your mind who your audience is, it’s much more likely that your readers will find your writing engaging. You’ll maintain their attention and interest in the story.

How to Find your Audience

You know what you want to write? You have imagined who your audience is? That’s great, although imagining your audience isn’t the same as knowing it.

Let’s say you’re writing a crime thriller targeted at both women and men aged 35 upwards. To define your target audience, as Dana Sitar advises, think of five people you know reasonably well who read crime thrillers. It could be friends and/or family. The caveat here with family is they will usually love what you write. Alternatively, they will be overly critical, so choose your five wisely. If you are clear about genuinely seeking honest feedback and say you’re not precious about your work and want their objective opinion, in my experience, people will oblige.

Think again about your five chosen people. When did you last see them reading a crime thriller? Do you know why they chose the particular novel they were reading? How do you imagine them reacting to several of the action scenes you’ve written in your book? If you told them about your book, do you think they would want to read it?

If the answers to the above questions are ‘I haven’t’, ‘I don’t’, ‘I can’t’ and ‘No’, then consider a different novel. While there are no guarantees of sales in the publishing world , it’s better to be sure of a ready audience. After all, you’ve put a lot of hard grind into writing and you’ll put just as much into promotion.

If you come up trumps with your hypothetical questions, then ask these people what they think of the idea for your novel. The advantage of asking them is that you’re running your idea by a realistic target audience (Sitar).

When Family and Friends are not your Audience…

As above, if you know that your family and friends will either love your writing, thinking you’re the smartest person on our planet, or criticise it, then it’s best not to ask this group for their opinion. To gain objective feedback on your writing, ask other writers – whose opinion and ethics you trust. You could join a supportive writers’ group to read out excerpts of your work and gain feedback that way.

Sometimes Knowing your Audience Happens Intuitively

When I wrote my non-fiction eBook Ten Ways to Supercharge Your Writing Skills, I followed my own advice and had a specific audience in mind! These were writers who were seeking to improve various aspects of their writing skills. Nevertheless, I have to admit that with my historical novel, Winter in Mallorca: Turmoil to Triumph, ‘defining my audience’ happened intuitively rather than consciously. The inspiration for the novel came to me while on a visit to Mallorca in Spain. I knew with certainty this was the novel I’d always wanted to write.

It seemed to work! Last June, on the writers’ retreat in Spain, I read out excerpts from my novel to the other writers. Their unanimous feedback was interesting: they related to and enjoyed the readings. (None of them wrote in the same genre or were normally readers of historical novels or love stories.) I’ve also been surprised by a similar reaction from my readers. Many of them have said they’ve never read an historical novel in their lives but they loved the book. I’m not blowing my own trumpet, just giving a real-life example. You may not always consciously define your audience, but you need to be aware of addressing a particular audience regardless. As I was writing the novel, I thought of my readers as lovers of history and historical fiction, with an interest in Chopin’s life.

Why Writers Need to Know their Target Audience for Pitching

If you’re planning to submit your manuscript to publishers and agents, have your target readership clear. This is especially important if it’s your first novel. Be prepared to answer in a considered way the question ‘Who do you see as your target audience?’ Don’t just say ‘It has universal appeal’ or ‘Anyone who likes a good story’. Kim Wright illustrates the inaccuracy of such statements: ‘They’re probably trying to imply that their book has equal appeal for men and women, young and old, that it cuts across all racial and national lines and thus has the potential to be a best seller. Hmmm…yeah.’

Checklist for Knowing your Target Audience

1. Before you start writing, have your target audience clear in your mind.
2. Think of five people you know who read and enjoy the genre you’re planning to write.
3. Ask yourself: have these five people recently read a book in this genre? Why did they choose to read that novel? How do you think they would react to several of the scenes in your book? Do you think they would want to read your book?
4. Ask these people for their feedback on your book idea.
5. If you have started or even finished writing your book, become aware of your audience retrospectively (before publishing it). Make any necessary adjustments to the writing.
6. Be prepared to answer the question, ‘Who do you see as your target audience?’

Acknowledgements

Bay Tree Publishing, The Ten Most Important Things Every Writer Needs to Know, https://baytreepublish.com/ten-things-every-writer-needs-to-know/ , n.d.

Dana Sitar, Who Is Your Target Audience? Use This Simple Trick to Figure Out If They Actually Exist, ‘Writers Digest’, https://www.writersdigest.com/publishing-faqs/does-your-target-audience-exist-use-this-simple-trick-to-figure-it-out, 6 Feb 2019.

Kim Wright, Who Is Your Target Reader? ‘Writers Digest’, https://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/who-is-your-target-reader, 8 April 2012

AN Author, an Accountant and an Introvert is part of ‘Let’s Talk with the Authors’, a series of interviews with authors who have worked with editors4you or WriteDesign Publications. The promotional opportunity is also open to other authors (contact us for details).

An Author, an Accountant and an Introvert: Lynda Steffens

Promoting Your Books

Around Christmas 2019, I offered my authors a simple way to promote their books through an author interview.

As we writers know, it’s one thing to write a book. It’s quite another to promote it. Writers tend to shy away from promotion, but it’s vital to kick the shyness habit and get our books out there in the big wide world.

In this interview, the featured author is Lynda Steffens, an author, an accountant and an introvert from the Gold Coast whose book Accounting Revolution is a guide for accountants. Lynda describes the profession as ‘overworked’ and accountants’ efforts as ‘undervalued’. As she herself has done, Lynda encourages accountants to go beyond being ‘bean counters’ and evolve their current business model to run a powerful high-level accounting and business advisory service.

About Lynda

In her own words, Lynda ‘lives and breathes’ accounting and is passionate about the industry that has shaped her career. She is the founder of The Small Business Project, a three-phase program that incorporates Business Metamorphosis®, Leading Edge Business™ and Ready Set Coach™ workshops and programs. Lynda has more than 25 years’ experience as an accountant, business advisor, practice manager, speaker and coach.

Lynda, did you always want to write a book?

I never saw myself as an author but the universe had other ideas, lol! I was developing workshops to leverage and scale my coaching and consulting business when the universe kept sending me hints about writing a book. For example, in a professional speaker workshop I attended they advised ‘writing a book’ was recommended. Next, a very well respected coach and friend of mine said ‘writing a book’ would take my business to the next level. They recommended a trusted friend who could help me with that and then this friend’s workshop just happened to be coming to the Gold Coast. I kept blatantly ignoring all the hints, mainly because I never thought I could write a book. Then one day, after being doggedly stalked on social media by book writing courses and offers, I found myself in a book writing information session and discovered to my horror that I really needed to write a book! I’m sure the universe was sitting back and having a good old laugh at me for having this grand epiphany, and the rollercoaster of feelings that followed.

What was the hardest thing about writing your book?

As a first-time author and a recalcitrant one at that, the hardest thing was getting started. I needed accountability. So in true ‘me’ style, I announced it to the world via social media that I was writing a book and well … then there was no turning back. I had to make it happen.

I found the process of writing somewhat difficult to begin with and had to try a few different methods until I settled on just typing out the manuscript.

As an introvert, I found the speaking and transcribing method recommended to me just didn’t work. For me, planning was super-important and I mapped out the entire book before starting any of the content. I also didn’t follow the most logical sequence but instead jumped around a bit if I got stuck on a chapter. 

What kept you going on writing your book?

I just knew that I had to get my message out and support accountants to grow and transition their businesses. I often talk about my love affair with the accounting industry as having all the hallmarks of a trashy soap opera. Starting out as a 14-year-old girl with rose-tinted glasses, to a somewhat more jaded 20-something-year-old who flirted with other careers, to having a business divorce in my 30s and falling completely out of the love with accounting altogether, I’ve come back full circle in my 40s to be more in love with the accounting industry than ever. This is because I see the fathomless potential of the amazing people and professionals in the industry, who can bring so much to a business relationship if they just learn how to connect and engage with their clients.

You describe accountants as overworked and undervalued. How can accountants communicate their value to their clients?

That’s a great question. You have to communicate your value to your clients in a way they understand. You have to change the conversations you have with your clients.

The two biggest concerns for the accounting industry today are the impact of technology, and adapting to the rapid pace of change while remaining relevant. If accountants don’t change the way they engage with clients, then they run the very real risk of completely losing their relevancy.

So Accounting Revolution gives accountants the tools, steps and actions needed to venture beyond the traditional realm of the accountant, into the role of esteemed business advisor.

You mention you are an introvert. I imagine it’s a trait shared by many other accountants. How do you see an introvert taking the leap from a behind-the-desk role to an in-front-of-a-workshop-audience role?

Ah, the million-dollar question. To us as introverts, the world simply seems set up for extroverts always playing to their strengths and not ours, but that’s simply not true. You just need to scratch the surface, look a little deeper, learn about yourself, and you’ll find it’s as simple as finding your way, not an extrovert’s way but your way. For accountants that means structure and process. By using structure and process, I show accountants that they too can advise, consult and coach their clients with confidence and that the transition to an in-front-of-a-workshop-audience role as you put it is actually not that hard, it just takes some time and practice.

In what ways have you used your book since publishing it?

I’ve now been able to use my book as the foundation for workshops and it’s become the central feature of my business marketing. My book helps me to get speaker engagements and media attention that I could have never achieved without being an author.

As a business person writing a book to support your business, did you seek testimonials before publishing your book?

Yes, I did, and in my view, it’s really important for this type of book. I sought testimonials from a number of sources including clients and other accounting colleagues and included them in my book.

You also self-published your book. Can you tell us (1) why you chose to self-publish, and (2) how that looked for you?

For me self-publishing was the simplest and easiest way to get the result I needed, which was a book I could sell and market using my own business contacts and channels. I had heard plenty of horror stories about self-publishing, finding out you signed over rights to your book and generally just getting yourself stuck in agreements you couldn’t get out of, so I made sure I did my research. I interviewed a number of author services businesses before I made my decision, and based my choice on how well they explained their packages, how easy they were to talk to and finally on the recommendations of other authors before me. Thank you, Gail, for your advice and assistance in this area as it was crucial.

Find out more about Lynda and her book Accounting Revolution at these links:

Latest news, blogs and workshops https://lyndasteffens.com

Drop her a line at [email protected]

Find her on Facebook: https://business.facebook.com/therealaccountant

See her LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynda-steffens