The IWSG Guide to Publishing and Beyond!

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.

The awesome co-hosts for the October 1 anniversary posting of the IWSG are Kristin Smith, Elsie, Suzanne Furness, and Fundy Blue!

Today marks the one year anniversary since the IWSG site and Facebook group opened. The IWSG Team is putting together an eBook that will benefit all writers - The IWSG Guide to Publishing and Beyond. We invite all IWSG members, Facebook members, and followers to contribute, whether you are a writer on the journey or a published author.

Here are the details:

The purpose of the book is to assist other writers on the journey, so we are looking for tips and instructions. It can be inspirational in nature as long as you provide a solid benefit.

The three topics will be writing, publishing, and marketing. Please let us know what category your submission falls under.

Each contribution needs to be between 200 and 1000 words. Give us your best tip or procedure. The essay can include bullet points, top ten lists, and recommendations. (Websites, software, books, etc.) We’re trying to keep it simple, so no images.

If it’s under 300 words, you can post it for your October 1 IWSG post. Once you have posted, go to this PAGE at the site and submit your link. (With almost three hundred members, we don’t want to miss someone’s submission.)

If over 300 words, please email it directly to the IWSG email or to Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Be sure to include: title, topic (writing, publishing, or marketing), a one line bio (with your name, book(s), and blog), and state that you give us permission to use it.

Please use fresh material – no recycled blog posts. Include a one sentence by-line. Also state that you give us permission to use it in the book and note which topic it falls under. (We will only edit for misspellings and grammar mistakes.) Also no images or hyperlinks.

All submissions need to be sent or posted by October 2, 2014.

To submit, you must be a current IWSG member, IWSG Facebook member, or confirmed follower of the IWSG website. This book needs to represent the group.

We will compile them into an eBook and aim for an early December release. The book will be free and available for all eReaders.

Thank you for making the IWSG such a huge success!!

Adding Flesh to our Characters' Bones & IWSG Anthology News

The stories we remember long after reading them are the ones with compelling characters. As writers, we should try to replicate this quality in our work. Plotlines are important, but along with conflict, characters' actions are necessary to drive stories to completion.

Character charts are useful for helping us to better understand our hero/heroine. Rounding them out makes them realistic enough for readers to want to spend time with them and while crafting, there are things we should remember.

Avoid Isolation - Apart from friends and relatives, a variety of people cross our paths in a day—at work, school and where we live. While we don't need to insert every interaction, little touches that advance our storylines and add colour to our characters' lives can also hold clues that tie plot lines together.

Character Traits - Relationships tell a lot about people. How does your main character treat the people in his/her life? Is he kind, impatient or self-absorbed? It is necessary to create situations that show the strength and individuality of the characters we want our readers to admire.

Hobbies If we're not careful, our characters can be consumed by their problems, which is unhealthy and unrealistic. By giving them things they like to do, we remind readers that despite challenges, life continues.

Mannerisms. We all have habits that identify us—twirling our hair, giving other people ‘the look’, or making snappy comebacks—and so should our characters. The more unique the habit, the better it defines the person and should remain with them until the story is complete, or they give up the habit.

Problem Solving Approach
Another thing that sets individuals apart is the way they handle problems. One person may whine and moan about the unfairness of life and do nothing. Another individual is resourceful and tackles problems head-on. The most memorable characters are those who take action despite discouragement, fear and opposition.

Now that you’ve read my list of must-haves, what are some of the things that make your characters more rounded?

Don’t forget that Wednesday, October 1, is IWSG post day. It’s also this website’s one year anniversary and the day to post your entry for the IWSG anthology. If it is over 300 words, you can email it to theIWSG@gmail.com

The purpose of the book is to assist other writers on the journey, so we are looking for tips and instructions in the areas of writing, publishing, and marketing. It can be inspirational in nature as long as you provide a solid benefit. We’ve already received a lot of great entries–mostly in the area of writing–so looking for some good tips on publishing and marketing. Be sure to state which category, add a one line by-line, and permission for us to use it in the book.

Once you have posted on October 1, go to this page at the IWSG site and enter your link - http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-guide-to-publishing-and-beyond.html The deadline for submissions is October 2.

Fighting Insecurity at Conferences and Events with Jennifer Hillier

In the past three years since my debut novel was published, I've been fortunate to have attended five conferences (four ThrillerFests and one Bouchercon), I've gone on a book tour in the Philippines (which included a feature spot at the Manila Book Fair), and I've done a variety of other book events across the US and Canada, including a charity ball for the Toronto Public Library. It's actually not that much when you compare my schedule to that of other authors, but for someone like me – who's relatively new to publishing, and naturally shy to boot – in-person events like these can be terrifying.

For starters, the other authors I meet at these events seem to be so much more confident. They've been around longer. They know they belong. Unlike me. I'm always wondering if I have anything to contribute to the conversation, and I'm always scared that I don't. Whenever I receive a panel schedule only to discover that I'm discussing serial killers with authors who are consistently on the New York Times bestseller list and who have movie deals in the works, I always want to email the conference coordinators to ask if they made some kind of clerical error inserting my name in with theirs. That little song, "Which one of these is not like the others?" always goes through my mind.

And then, of course, I'm genuinely amazed that anyone even shows up to my panels. Surely the audience isn't there isn't to see me, when everyone else on the panel is funnier, smarter, and more interesting than I am. After the panels, when I'm sitting at the signing table, I always assume someone is lost when they approach me. Even if they're holding a copy of my book in one hand and a pen in the other, I'm still thinking they probably just need directions to the bathroom.

At the Book Lover's Ball, a charity gala for the Toronto Public Library, I found myself at a table filled with corporate sponsors who'd paid good money for a chance to talk to a published author all night. The hotel ballroom was packed, and each table seated eleven people – ten dinner guests and one author. And even though there were exactly ten copies of my book at the table, I still found myself waiting for the real author to show up. I had a hard time accepting that the author for my table was me.

It's an insecurity that I doubt will ever go away. I think I've managed to write each book more confidently than the last, but when it comes to feeling like I belong in the publishing world, I still feel like a fraud most days. I keep waiting for the moment when someone will tell me that I'm in the wrong room, that my name was accidentally added to the panel, and that the kind-looking lady approaching me really does need my help finding the bathroom.

If she does, I will gladly show her the way.

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Jennifer Hillier is the author of the psychological thrillers THE BUTCHER (2014), FREAK (2012), and CREEP (2011). Find her on Facebook at JenniferHillierAuthor, and on Twitter at @JenniferHillier. She blogs at Serial Killer Files and her official website is here.