Be an Amazing Author

By  KELLIE COATES GILBERT

As authors, we all want to be amazing. We all want to be successful, happy, and regarded as important figures in our fields—those known as A-listers. I am sure that you’ve heard all the keys to success before planning, hard work, perseverance, etc.  Today we’re going to look at the one factor that will likely make or break your success: the people you surround yourself with.

Let’s face it, we all have high hopes for a book release. We envision soaring sales and amassing mountains of accolades.  Many authors soon learn achieving these goals is far more difficult than imagined. This begs the question . . . how do you make that happen?

I don’t have all the answers, but I was fortunate early in my career to have the counsel of a wise author who has built an amazing career. She told me this:  don’t do this thing alone. Find like-minded authors with similar audiences to your own and link arms.

Fortunately, I listened. Taking her advice has not only helped me build a successful career as an author but has provided me with an avenue to keep from feeling the isolation many authors suffer.

I am part of a group of amazing authors who host one of the most fun book gatherings on social media. The BLUE SKY BOOK CHAT was started by Bette Lee Crosby and includes fabulous authors, Marilyn Simon Rothstein, Patricia Sands, Grace Greene, Judith Keim, Heather Burch, Barbara Davis, Maddie Dawson, Kerry Anne King, Peggy Lampman, Alison Ragsdale, and myself.  We are an official Facebook group and now have several thousand readers joining us daily for book chats, contests, story recommendations and a party that never ends!

We’ve become a family of authors and readers who celebrate good books and reading. When one of the hosting authors has a book release, it’s a big deal and we all link arms and spread the word. Blue Sky Book Chat is a place where we can read stories with our readers, talk about characters, the plot lines that left us breathless, and share the books we love. We no longer read alone!

Author friends . . . as mentioned earlier, THIS is the key to book success. Assemble a group of authors who write like you do, authors who have a similar audience (Blue Sky authors all write heartwarming, emotional stories) and throw a party!

In the meantime, I invite you to join our party!  The month of June is packed with fabulous activities and fun!  You won’t want to miss it!  Here’s the link:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/BlueSkyBookChat

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Kellie Coates Gilbert has won readers’ hearts with her compelling and highly emotional stories about women and the relationships that define their lives. A former legal investigator, she is especially known for keeping readers turning pages and creating nuanced characters who seem real. In addition to garnering hundreds of five-star reviews, Kellie has been described by RT Book Reviews as a “deft, crisp storyteller.” Her books were featured as Barnes & Noble Top Shelf Picks and were included on Library Journal’s Best Book List of 2014. Born and raised near Sun Valley, Idaho, Kellie now lives with her husband of over thirty-five years in Dallas, where she spends most days by her pool drinking sweet tea and writing the stories of her heart. My website is:  www.kelliecoatesgilbert.com

Building a Pubishing Team That Wins!

By Kellie Coates Gilbert

Thousands of authors and books exist in today’s publishing environment. With those kinds of numbers, if novelists want to excel in the delivery of great fiction to the widest audience possible, we must develop a certain mindset that positions us for success, especially those of us who are partnering with traditional publishing houses.  Here are five action items I’ve found are essential to this success:

1.               Partner with the best people possible.

Do your research and know which agent and publishing house fits the kind of fiction you write. One of the best tools for accomplishing this is Publisher’s Marketplace, an on-line service associated with Publisher’s Weekly.  You can subscribe for about $25 per month with no contract. Once purchased, you can access a massive database of dealmakers, including agents, publishers and contract deals that will help you research who represents what you write and who they sell to and the advance amounts (in a range of figures, not exact).

2.               Establish yourself as one of the team.

Once your manuscript is sold and the contract is executed, I recommend setting up an initial telephone call directly with your editor and marketing director. Ask to visit the house in person (on your own dime if necessary). You will want to meet your team members, but more importantly, you want people in the publishing house (editors, salesman, publicists) to know you.  There is nothing like a physical meeting to keep you from being just one of the crowd. 

3.               Be helpful…..and never demanding.

Be the kind of author you’d like to work with. Don’t shy away from providing honest opinions and ideas. BUT, never act demanding. Always communicate in a business-like manner and let your team know you understand their business considerations. Try to identify what they care about and approach your team members at the publishing house with that in mind. Eliminate the word MY from the conversation and replace with OUR.

4.               Send gifts.

Often, fellow authors balk when I say this. But, this is another really great opportunity to set yourself apart from the author roster and create personal connections.  These people at your publishing house work hard and when you know they are having a sales meeting, have some cupcakes delivered. The salesmen and retailers will remember you fondly as well.

5.               Don’t play the comparison game

There are a multitude of business reasons why one author gets a certain marketing program different from yours. Don’t compare. Don’t expect to get the same treatment as a bestselling author who brings in tons of revenue. Ain’t gonna happen.  So, be practical in your expectations and you will be a lot more content. That said, don’t have low expectations either. You have every right to expect that your team will do everything possible to build your brand and sell your books.

These are my top five suggestions for building a publishing team who will work hard for you. Employ these tactics and watch how this effort positively affects your sales!

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Kellie Coates Gilbert is known for thrilling readers with her fast-paced, highly emotional contemporary stories for women. RT Book Reviews called Kellie’s writing “crisp and deft storytelling.” Her books have often been Pulpwood Queen selections and Library Journal chose A Woman of Fortune as one of their Best Books of 2014. A former legal investigator, Kellie spent nearly twenty-five years working in courtrooms and behind the scenes of some of the largest and most well-known cases in America. Her books not only explore the heart issues that matter most to women, but often allow readers an inside peek into her former legal world. Her book A Reason To Stay released 10-6-15. 

Working with a Writing Partner

By Kellie Coates Gilbert

Recently, I’ve heard a common complaint from full-time novelists. Demands on our time—manuscript submission deadlines, marketing, blogging, book tours, social media—all contribute to our social lives suffering. Isolation seems to be a universal malady we all fight. Isolation leads to cramped creativity. A vicious cycle.

There is a remedy to these obstacles:  a writing partner!

About three years ago, I connected with a gifted writer named Lynne Gentry. Every weekday morning, between six and six-thirty, we talk on the phone. We discuss plot issues, character development, marketing ideas, industry news—anything that is on our minds regarding our writing careers and the stories we write.

This tiny investment of time has produced huge benefits. After leaving a full-time legal career to write novels, my time with Lynne fills the need I have to collaborate. Iron sharpens iron, and we propel each other to excellence. Our brainstorming reduces the risk of rewrites. We motivate each other. We are that one safe and confidential place to share whatever we struggle with, or the place we can shout out our successes with another writer who truly understands.

If interested in finding your own writing partner, here are ten things to consider:

1.     Evaluate the kind of writer you are.  Are you a person who carefully plots or are you a person who writes by the seat of your pants? Writing partners do not need to match in this area, but it’s helpful to know each other’s writing style.

2.     Evaluate what kind of person you would most like to work with. Your writing partner doesn’t necessarily have to be just like you, in fact, while Lynne and I have a lot in common, we find our very different styles complimentary.

3.     Make a list of potential candidates. I recommend both being experienced fiction writers. Someone you can trust to remain confidential. Sources can be writing groups, authors you admire, critique groups, etc.

4.     Narrow the list to three, and prioritize. Contact them with your idea and then agree to a ninety-day trial run. Evaluate at the end and only continue if BOTH of you feel the time has been a benefit.  If you find your match, agree to move forward on a more permanent basis with the understanding either party can bale for any reason. No hard feelings.

5.     Define your primary needs. However, you will likely find the conversations tend to morph into what’s important to both of you. I know some writing partners who read everything the other writes and does a line-by-line critique. Lynne and I don’t. We ask for what we need that morning. I need help with this plot or that character, or I need a way to get from here to there in the story. Sometimes, we want to read a few paragraphs of our brilliant work, just to show it off.  We love applauding each other.

6.     Be honest – yet sensitive. Lynne knows I have a background as a legal investigator—that my style often incorporates a lot of information processing and analysis. I write women’s fiction that focuses on relationship tensions. She writes adventures with strong women characters who love justice. We take our differences into account as we seek to guide and provide feedback.

7.     Keep the sharing balanced—no one person hogs the effort. Be sensitive to writing deadlines and family commitments.

8.     Absolute confidentiality is essential.  NOTHING gets shared without permission.

9.     Don’t do the work for the other person.  I suggest solutions, evaluate Lynne’s story development. I do not write for her. Neither do I get offended if she doesn’t follow my advice. Our stories are our own, and we have entire freedom to write the stories as we see fit.

10.  Thank God often for your writing partner. A good fit is a huge blessing.  And, pray for one another.

I hope this list is helpful. My writing partner relationship has blessed me beyond expectation.  If you establish a new writing partner relationship, write and tell me about it. I’d love to hear.  

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A former legal investigator and trial paralegal, Kellie Coates Gilbert writes with a sympathetic, intimate knowledge of how people react under pressure.  Her stories are about messy lives, and eternal hope. Ahe is the author of Mother of Pearl. Her next release, A WOMAN OF FORTUNE, will be available this June.  For more information, go to www.kelliecoatesgilbert.com