Authors have certainly endured our fair share of upheaval. We witnessed a business model that had barely changed in over a century collapse in less than a decade.

Many of us felt the initial seismic activity back in the 90s when the big-box stores obliterated the bookstores we’d known all our lives. Witnessed the places we learned to love reading shutter one by one.

Those aisles where we daydreamed that maybe…just maybe one day WE would be on those shelves? Vanished.

We retooled the dream. Imagined our books in large hardback displays in the front of a Barnes & Noble. Or, perhaps on a kiosk next to the coffee bar at a Borders.

Then that went away as well.

Now, thrust into a digital age where anyone can be published and it seems there are too many hats for one head? It’s hard not to get discouraged.

But, writers are a tough breed.

Straight Talk

I started blogging for a number of reasons. First, I had zero self-discipline. I was a flake who started projects I never finished and was addicted to excuses.

After taking a hard look at my character, I knew my dream of becoming a mega-author would always be just that—a dream—unless I changed. Blogging trained me out of perfectionism, thickened my skin, and forced me to get out of my comfort zone.

It trained me to show up day after day, week after week, year after year no matter how I felt or what was going on in my life. Authors have deadlines. Funny thing? Life doesn’t stop simply because we have a deadline.

Family members still get sick, need care and sometimes pass away. Crises happen. The professional author still writes the words day after day no matter what.

I hit a turning point where I faced the truth. If I wanted to be like the authors I admired, I needed to do what they did even if it meant starting small.

The second reason I began blogging seriously was because, after attending my first conference, I noticed something that disturbed me deeply. Writers had absolutely NO clue about the business of their business.

And, because of this ignorance, authors failed to recognize their value. This made them objects of derision and vulnerable to predation.

Authors & Power

My early conferences—pre-digital age—were a real eye-opener. Writers, in my POV, have always suffered with crippling self-doubt. Fiction is very subjective and we bare our heart and soul in our work, so to put our ‘art’ out there is especially terrifying.

Back when I started out, there was no such thing as self-publishing as we know it. If you didn’t land an agent, GAME OVER.

Authors flocked to conferences and practically wet their pants trying to talk to an agent (myself included). I remember the anticipation of my very first conference, how I honestly believed the agents would be thrilled to meet us, excited to hear about our books.

Boy, was I in for a rude awakening.

***As a caveat, obviously not ALL agents/editors acted this way. But far too many did. Good news is most of them are now GONE.

Looking back, it seemed every conference had at least one agent who took great delight in making the authors cry. I still have memories of me standing in a hotel corridor consoling some woman I didn’t even know, telling her it was okay.

I was dumbfounded how horrible many agents and editors treated authors. They talked to us as if we were beneath them. Sort of like the agent who laughed in my face in February of 2008 when I pitched a book on social media for authors.

Actual Quote: Facebook is a fad just like audio books.

Back then? To listen to many of the agents/editors, watch their body language? It was easy to conclude that meeting new authors was a necessary, albeit unseemly, chore in the tedium of being a…New York agent.

Many openly mocked and castigated authors for mistakes and ‘stupid’ questions about the publishing business. A business we had NO WAY of knowing anything about before being published.

The Trap

At the time, agents demanded authors submit/query only one agent at a time, but with no guarantee they’d get back within six months or even a year…or even EVER. And there was a not-so-veiled-threat that they (agents) would know if we submitted elsewhere.

And that there would be consequences. But we weren’t to send a follow-up query asking our status or call because, again, there would be consequences.

With every conference, I found myself growing angrier and angrier.

Agents chastised authors to be professional, to treat their writing like a business yet shared almost nothing about how the publishing business actually worked. The ‘business stuff’ was their job.

Publishing was as mystifying to the aspiring author as it was to the regular reader. Sacred knowledge was not shared, because if it was, then the hoi polloi might forget their place.

I hit my boiling point when I overheard an agent mocking an author pitch to a colleague. Everything after this is a bit vague…

I remember rounding the corner and (not very quietly) telling the agent how she still reeked of eau de college bookstore, and how DARE she talk to an elder, let alone someone who’d PAID to be at a conference like that?

Sweetheart, we still have a job without you. You, however, don’t have a job without us.

…and I’ve not been back to that hotel, but meh. Whatever.

Knowledge is Power

Of all the early conferences I attended, most of the sessions were on craft (which, of course, is critical). Yet, there were NO business classes, unless one counts ways to pitch an agent or editor.

To be fair, before e-pub, Smashwords, and Amazon, there wasn’t a lot about the publishing process authors could control.

Thus, it made sense there would only be classes on what we could control (e.g. the query, the quality of the book).

There was a reason authors focused on the writing. Agents and editors handled almost everything else from selling the book to a publisher, negotiating the terms, negotiating the print run, distribution, placement, tending to the proofing and cover art, etc.

We didn’t mess with all that…until we did.

I’d already started a blog to a) train out the flake and b) to demystify publishing. Had already posited that social media would be the single largest shift in human communication…ever.

I even predicted that authors (novelists, not just non-fiction authors) would have the ability to create an audience before the first book was even finished.

I saw the potential in social media, how it could be used for good or not-so-good. Authors, however, needed training. They had to understand the business of their business.

Author Knowledge & Storycraft: Product

One of the reasons people like me recommend pre-published writers to read A LOT is that it helps train ‘the ear’ for story.

Story is a lot like music. A five-year-old can tell when someone hits a sour note in a song. That same five-year-old can also sense the sour note in a story.

If you don’t believe me, try to cheat when reading a bedtime story to a little kid. Try stopping in the middle, pretending the story is finished and see how quickly they call you out .

When we read, we develop an innate sense of structure, pacing, timing and we also fill our creative reservoirs with words, phrases, images, information, ideas, etc. we can use later. I can tell in fewer than five pages if a writer is also an avid reader.

The more we read, the more craft books (classes and workshops) we take, the more empowered we become.

Why? Because if we don’t know/understand the fundamental rules of writing, then it’s very easy to be influenced by outside opinions.

It becomes harder to stand by our work because we lack the ability to defend (even internally) our stylistic choices.

Our book can tip into ‘book-by-committee,’ a.k.a. Franken-Novel. It’s tougher to know if an editor is adding value or making a mess out of our manuscript.

When we understand the rules of writing deep into our bones, then we are empowered. When an editor, beta-reader, critique partner tells us we need more description or less, we can take the advice or not.

Sorry, that simply isn’t my voice, but thanks for sharing.

It’s why I offer craft classes and blog A LOT about craft. A couple helpful posts here:

Self-Editing: 7 Tips to Tighten the Story & Cut Costs

Perspective: Self-Editing Your Dialogue and Characters

Authors: Knowledge & Branding

Author branding and social media is a topic near and dear to me. It was one of the main reasons I began blogging because I saw that our business model WAS changing.

In fact, I knew it wasn’t only going to change, it would be completely ERASED and replaced with something wholly new.

Authors who did not understand how branding and social media worked would be vulnerable and WOULD BE preyed upon. When we fail to get educated in an area, we make ourselves the predator’s target audience.

Shady accountants don’t WANT to do business with someone who understands QuickBooks. Shifty brokers don’t WANT to work with folks who can read a financial report, people who understand how investments operate.

Similarly, a lot of people made billions of dollars exploiting content creators, writers who didn’t understand SEO and how search engines worked. They used the creators’ trust and ignorance make hundreds of millions of dollars in profit off an UNPAID workforce….then bragged about it.

Which was why they then became my pet project for eighteen months (here are a few of the posts).

Writer Exposure: Gamble or Grift?

Welcome to the Matrix: You Work for FREE & There IS NO Payday

Pay the Writer: How to Out-Hustle the Hustlers

They now pay, FYI.

Yet, I still see authors hire ‘experts’ who dazzle them with promises they can’t keep and watch how they keep the customer compliant using a lot of worthless tech-speak (worthless, aside from creating panic attacks/fear compliance).

Authors: Knowledge and Technology

What I want to impart on y’all today is that the more educated you become, the more options become available. You’ll use your time more wisely, because you’ll know the rules of the ‘game.’

Authors who understand the rules of writing can weed out good critique from well-intentioned, but unhelpful critique.

They can discern good advice from flat out bad advice. Authors who understand the craft and editing process can hire better editors, which is working smarter, not harder.

Authors who understand social media, platform, SEO, how search engines work, and grasp basic technical jargon aren’t the ‘target market’ (mark) for the con-artist.

This is one of the main reasons I blog on so many of these topics and we teach affordable and technophobe-friendly classes.

Formatting Phobia

Back in the spring, I begged asked Maria Grace to teach me how to format my ebooks and print. Why? Because I was afraid of the technology.

And, because I didn’t understand all that wizardry, I was paying hundreds of dollars for other people to do it.

Granted, I’m very happy with the formatting I’ve paid for. But what if I wanted to just put out a blog-to-book? A small book on craft? Did I really want to shell out a couple hundred dollars every time?

No.

And, since I didn’t understand the process, I defaulted to throwing money at it.

In learning HOW formatting was done, I realized I’d been doing a lot of oopses that made my formatting bill MUCH higher than necessary.

For instance, Word has code in the background, code WE don’t see.

Yeah, I didn’t know either.

There are ‘little’ things we do to make our document look a certain way (like using hard Returns). But, when this goes to the formatter?

*sounds of primal screams*

They have to spend time REMOVING stuff we never should have added or even knew we added…which makes the bill higher.

When we learn how formatting is done for ebook and for print, we can do a better job of hiring (even firing). We have the ability to format books ourselves.

It’s also pretty obvious that authors with more titles available make better money. They have the advantage of compounded sales. We can now DO THAT TOO!

Authors who understand formatting can keep the cost of formatting far lower. And, AGAIN, when we’re knowledgable, we are no longer the ‘target market’ for those who make a living fleecing the ignorant.

In the End

I’ve dedicated twelve years blogging to demystify what lays behind the curtain. When the smoke and mirrors no longer terrify us?

We have the power.

This is especially critical during a time where technology seems to change faster than we can ‘update.’

Whether this is understanding publishing… You don’t get what you work for, you get what you negotiate.

If this is understanding craft so that we can work on weaknesses and build strengths. We can know what feedback is solid and what’s garbage. If we write leaner and cleaner the overall editing and proofreading bill is WAY lower.

***Check out our ON DEMAND section for cool craft classes.

Even to knowing HOW search engines work. What IS SEO? Do you really need to pay for it? If so, how much? What is something we can realistically expect and what is flat out lies and bull sprinkles?

What does a web hosting service actually provide? Is formatting something that involves animal sacrifice?

The more we know the faster we grow .

Authors Who LEARN

Since Maria Grace was actually able to teach ME how to format (and I still can’t set up my email), I talked her into working her magic for Bad Lamb Academy.

We’ve melted our brains so YOU DON’T HAVE TO!

Grace has a class THIS Friday From Dream to Digital: E-Book Formatting 101(use Tech15 for $15 off). And in two weeks (once your brains cool off) she is teaching From Dream to DONE: Formatting for PRINT. If you sign up EARLY you get this class for $75 instead of $99.

BOTH classes are three hours long, but as with all our classes, you get a FREE recording included in the purchase price. So if you can’t make the class or if you DO make the class and simply want to watch the video over and over so you can learn? Up to you.

As for understanding search engines and SEO and blogs and branding? It can be and should be FUN. It’s so simple even I can do it.

This why I have two classes Branding: When Your Name Alone Can Sell (use Brand10 for $10 off) and Spilling the TEA: Blogging for Authors (use Tea10 for $10 off).

Both classes are designed to teach creative people HOW to build a brand that sells books and not your SOUL. Oh, and leave time to actually write the books AND ALSO HAVE FUN!

***You also can always pick up a copy of my evergreen branding book and definitive guide for social media for authors, Rise of the Machines: Human Authors in a Digital World.

AND, if you missed our killer craft classes like How to Write Deep POV or How to Write a Series and MORE, they’re available ON DEMAND.

See y’all next time!

The post Authors: Taking Charge of Our Future in a Time of Uncertainty appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Writing is like anything else. To really get better, we have to push ourselves. We need to constantly reevaluate what feels comfortable…and then take it to the next step. This is the only way to get better, faster, leaner, and tighter. As I always say, it is a wonderful time to be a writer, but it is also a terrifying time to be a writer.

Discoverability is a nightmare when we are competing against everyone with a computer and access to Smashwords. This is why it is so critical to have an on-line platform. But, it is also vital that we learn to write better than the competition and faster. To do this we must train.

To Grow, Do More

When I was in high school, I was on the swim team, and, when we were training for speed, the coach would make us wear a full sweatsuit to swim our laps. Cotton gets seriously heavy when wet. It felt like we were trying to swim laps pulling a tug boat, if we were actually wearing the tug boat. But, let me tell you, when we took the sweat suits off? We swam like greased lighting.

When I began my career as a writer, I thought a 1000 words a day was a really huge deal. Then I did Candy Haven’s Fast Draft (20 pages a day) and after that? 1000 words a day was a breeze. If you want to be able to up that daily word count, push yourself. Train. Amateurs play for fun, but professionals play for keeps.

Be Uncomfortable

If we are comfortable, we aren’t growing. We don’t always need to grow quantitatively. There probably is an upper word count limit per day. I know I cannot do more than 4,000 words a day. I get tendonitis every time. But, this doesn’t mean there aren’t other areas where I can still be pushing to make sure I am always bringing my best and making myself grow into a better writer.

Understand We Are Capable of More than We Believe

Most of us underestimate what we are capable of if pushed. Last summer, Ingrid told me about Bikram yoga. I thought she was a nutcase and a masochist.

Seriously? An hour and a half of yoga in a 111 degree room? Are you nuts?

But, I was all about at least trying new things so I went to a class (and thought I was going to die). Anyway, Bikram has a 60 day challenge, 60 sessions in 60 days. So 90 hours in 111 degree room bending in ways you didn’t know people could bend. I thought it was nuts, but I wanted to see what I could do. I figured I would be lucky to make it back for Day 2.

My first goal was just to do 5 days. If I could do 5 days, that was a HUGE deal. Well, 5 turned into 10 days straight. Well, hmmmm. I made it this far, lets try for two weeks. 10 days became 14. Well, why not see if I can make it to 20? I ended up doing the entire 60 days, and this was a person who had no idea how she’d make it through Day 1. But here is the thing. I didn’t believe I could do it in the beginning, but I challenged that belief and now I have a free t-shirt.

I am surprisingly motivated by happy face stickers and free t-shirts.

Face is still red from class, but I DID IT!

5 Ways to Push Your Comfort Zone

1. Increase word count—If you aren’t writing every day, start. I write 6 days a week. Start with 100 words. Once that feels comfortable, go to 200 and pretty soon you will be typing with the big kids. Most of us can’t start with a professional pace. We have to train for it.

2. Start a blog—Blogging has all kinds of benefits, but one of the largest benefits is it helps new writers train for a professional pace. Kill multiple birds with one stone. Sure a blog helps your author brand and platform. But a blog also will train you to make deadlines and up your daily word count. A blog will also help you write cleaner, tighter, faster and leaner.

3. Read a genre you don’t normally read—I can always tell writers who read only in their genre. Get out of the comfort zone and read another genre. It will help you fold new elements to your fiction that will help your work stand apart from the competition.

4. Enter a contest—Contests give us deadlines and also put our work out there for peer review.

5. Write in a genre you don’t normally write—Sometimes getting out of our own genre will help develop new muscles. We might even find out that the genre we originally chose isn’t the best fit. I originally wanted to be a thriller author. Blogging helped me discover that actually I excelled at humor writing. If I hadn’t dared to write non-fiction, I might have never discovered I could make people laugh.

What are some ways you get out of the comfort zone? How do you push yourself to the next level? What keeps you motivated? Do you struggle with being lazy? Have you ever attempted something you believed you could never do, and you actually did it? Tell us your story!

I love hearing from you!

I hope you will hop over to WANA International and sign up for a class. We offer affordable training right in the comfort of your home or office from the best teachers in the industry.

I also hope you pick up copies of my best-selling books We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media and Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer . And both are recommended by the hottest agents and biggest authors in the biz. My methods teach you how to make building your author platform FUN. Build a platform and still have time left to write great books.

The post 5 Ways to Get Out of the Comfort Zone and Become a Stronger Writer appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

For those who haven’t visited WANA International, the video above is Francis’s debut film. I believe his story might sound familiar. Francis is our WANA mascot, and embodies what we believe at WANA. Too many artists are trying to be something they aren’t, largely because they don’t have a system of support. They believe they need to be “practical”, that following their hearts and pursuing their passions are “foolish hobbies.”

The world need art. The world needs you.

I remember the day I met Francis, he came to me looking like this:

Francis has come a long way, and so can you!

We at WANA look forward to helping you live life in full color. Join us for the launch party at #WANAParty on Twitter. We will be celebrating a new age for artists starting at 2 p.m. CST. We will be having fun, chatting, networking and also giving away cool gifts and prizes.

Make sure you take time to join us at the new social media site for creatives. WANATribe is the artist salon of the Digital Age. Writers, dancers, actors, painters, filmmakers, all creatives all the time. No matter where you turn on WANATribe you will find friends who understand you because they are creatives, too.  Here is the invitation.

WANA is more than training, we’re family. Creativity and imagination needs to be nurtured. Artists need input, tough love and accountability. It is too easy to spend our lives miserable, trying to stuff a square peg in a round hole. Well, no more. WANA offers the professional training and WANATribe offers the network of support.

With WANA success is now up to the individual artist, because…We Are Not Alone.

WANA International—Connecting the Hearts

Just so you guys know, Natalie Markey is doing an interview with Francis on her blog today. Here is a peek:

Natalie: When did you first know you wanted to be an artist?

Francis: I was born in a chicken coop and raised by a family of Easter Eggers. My mother, being, well, a big chicken, never encouraged me to pursue much beyond the daily pecking out a living. I always knew I was different. I didn’t look like my sisters and brothers and they made fun of my different colors, because I wasn’t like them. But no matter how I tried to fit in, it never worked. That was part of how I started losing my feathers.

Seriously embarrassing.

Bird-pattern-butt-baldness is never sexy.

I always loved to paint. I think it was because Easter was my favorite time. All the Pez egg dye, the glitter, the pizzazz. I didn’t know why we didn’t decorate the eggs all year long.

I was in the minority.

Natalie: Tell us about losing your job. Did your love for art help you cope?

Francis: No matter what I tried I could NOT learn Excel. I actually had a few feathers when I took the position. The spreadsheets and Power Point presentations got the last few. Then typing…all hunt-and-peck.

I was terrified when I got fired. What was I going to tell my mom back at the henhouse? How was I going to scratch out a living? I was scared, but in a way, I felt liberated. That place had clipped my wings a long time ago, yet I was too numb to feel it.

Actually, my art didn’t help me cope at all. It was my calling all along, but I was too busy fitting in to see it.

See the rest of Francis’ interview here.

The post Life in Living Color–Meet Francis, Herald of the Digital Renaissance appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

I know I have been driving you guys nuts for months about this gift I had in store for you. Well, my business partner Ingrid Schaffenburg (the ballerina) and I been working 16 hour days 6 days a week since February. We’d wanted to space out your gifts, kinda like Hanukah or the 12 Days of Christmas, but we had a lot on our plate.

Even though a lot of the WANAs helped us—and we totally could not have done this without them—we’re still trying to change the world, which is a HUGE deal. So instead of Hanukah, you guys are getting the “Mommy’s working two jobs so she stayed up all night wrapping your gifts in Happy Anniversary paper and here they are…all of them.”

A Small Speech First

Hey, stop whining! You’re getting all your gifts at once. Stop pulling up the edges of tape. We see you O_O.

Welcome to the Digital Age. It is an amazing time to be a writer. There are so many opportunities to succeed, and, for the first time in human history, it is actually possible for a fiction author to not only make a living, but earn a good living.

For the first time, an author’s work ethic and training truly count. In the Digital Age, it ain’t over until we quit. In the old paradigm, countless good books failed to to thrive because of a number of factors outside the artist’s control. Additionally, many excellent works were never published for factors that had more to do with the market than the quality of the writing.

In the olden days, in the face of rejection, a writer had only three choices.

1. Stuff the work in a drawer and keep writing and hope the market would want the rejected work one day.

2. Keep shopping the work forever hoping he could hassle enough people until someone saw the genius in his work and would take a chance.

3. Quit and go back to evil day job and rue the day he was foolish enough to want to be a writer.

4. Get plastered and type drunken messages on the publisher’s Facebook page.

Okay, four choices, but I would totally avoid that fourth one.

These options, of course, are still available to all of us. Ah, but in the Digital Age of Publishing we have new options and more options. Self-publishing is now a viable career path.

Many agents are now looking for clients among the self-published successes.Why? Because they are a tested commodity, but also many self-published authors come with a strong platform and excellent business skills. They are able to write good books very quickly to keep pace with demand from the fans.

In fact, many traditional publishers are now requiring their authors to have a social media platform, to blog, and to do book tours and digital launch parties…even the mega-authors. Last year I helped NYTBSA James Rollins throw a digital launch party for The Devil’s Colony and this year we are back at it with Bloodlines. 

So this idea that traditional publishing will allow us to sit in our cave and listen to Enya and write books while they do all the marketing is urban legend.

Yes, urban legend like Mr. Rogers was never a Marine sniper, there was no mermaid body found on the beach and the whole Richard Gere Gerbil Incident? Never happened. Sorry. Agent and publisher that does all our business stuff is a myth…much like Monkey Boy.

I was bummed too.

So the modern author has a lot of options and a lot better chances of success. Ah, but here is the catch.

Success in the Digital Age

The modern author has to be leaner, meaner, faster, hungrier and be able to telepathically communicate with dolphins. Okay, I totally made that last part up, but it would be a cool power, right?

Here is the deal, writers need to learn a lot more stuff. This notion that an agent is going to adopt us and do everything for us is another urban legend…like the man-eating snake.

Problems of the Digital Age

We Need to Know More….A Lot More

Back in the old days, all we had to know was how to write a really awesome book and lick a stamp. These days? We need to know how to use Scrivner to help us organize our novel and Excel to help us track expenses and then there is One Note to keep us on top of what we are doing for the book launch. Then we need to know Facebook, G+, Twitter, Flikr, Pinterest, Tumblr, Goodreads, Klout, Squidoo, You Tube and on and on.

Of course maybe we don’t need to know all of those, but how can we know the best fit for our platform if we don’t know what all these sites do? But how can we know what these sites can do if we don’t take time to check them out? But where can we find the time?

We’re already working a day job and writing while keeping the toddler from eating the dog food and checking to make sure our elderly mother hasn’t used the Easter egg dye on her hair again and…it…is…all…too…..much.

Technology Changes So Quickly

We need to know a lot more stuff, but to add another level of interesting, it changes all the time. We just about figure out how to use Facebook and they New and Improve us with Timeline.

Thanks, Facebook. You seriously suck.

For those who want to self-publish, this technology changes constantly and it is a time-investment of trial and error to figure it out. Time you don’t have!

Conferences Have Limits

Writing conferences are some of the best investments we can make in our career, but they only happen once a year. Also, unless we happen to live in the area, we have to travel and travel is grossly cost-prohibitive. But there is so much to learn. We need writing classes and social media and technology classes and EEEEP!

Our Budget and Schedule have Limits

Conferences can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, so obviously it isn’t like we can attend one a month. We need classes that are affordable and that fit within our busy schedule.

Social Media Taught by Social Media Experts

Yes, I list this as a problem. A HUGE problem. Why? Because social media experts are not artists first. They are social media experts. Many of them don’t understand that we need time to do our art.

Also, many of them don’t understand that traditional marketing does not sell books. Period. Never has and never will. What works in Corporate America does not work for books. For those curious as to why, go here.

It isn’t enough to know how to use a certain social platform. We have to know how to use it in a way that sells books. WANA works and that is why I openly share WANA success stories like Author Jillian Dodd who made over $100,000 last year and donated $10,000 to her favorite charity. Before WANA, she’d sold 36 books. Same book. Same work ethic. Different approach, a WANA approach. Also, she had time left to write more books.

Jillian is amazing and she truly embodies the WANA spirit. She not only does her own stuff, but she stops to offer help to new writers. She is never too successful to pay it forward.

To Be Successful, We Have to Write Good Books Quickly

The indie and self-published author has to be able to write a lot of books to make the big money. If we look at all the indie authors who are making a good living, they either came to the table with a traditionally vetted backlist (Bob Mayer, Barry Eisler) or they just were super fast writers (John Locke, Amanda Hocking, H.P. Mallory) who could keep pace with the demands of the fans.

Even traditional publishing is making authors pick up the pace. They used to only require a book every other year. Now? A book a year and they are requiring authors to release novellas to prime the pump for the main release. So a book and a novella a year. And, as the indies gain more market share? Expect that pace to pick up.

Kristen STOP! We need a paper bag and a prescription of Xanax!

No, you will be fine. In fact, you will be way more than fine. You are gonna be AWESOME. Get your shades cuz the future’s so bright you gotta wear shades cuz it could fry off your corneas.

That was actually the original lyric to that song, but nothing rhymes with “cornea.”

Anyway, back to your gifts…

Gift #1 WANA Learn?

WANA International–Empowering Artists of the Digital Age

WANA International is here to help the artist of the Digital Age. We have over 40 instructors all over the world. We offer holistic training for the artist.

Craft

We have craft training from some of the top authors in the business—New York Times Best-Selling & USA Today Best-Selling Author Shirley Jump, Nationally Best-Selling Author James Scott Bell, award-winning author and revered writing teacher Les Edgerton, Vicki Hinze (RITA Award Winner who has over a million books in print). These are just of the few talented individuals we have to help you guys learn to be faster, better, cleaner writers. From plotting to dialogue, we have you covered.

Technology

Want to finally learn how to use some of those programs you paid good money for? Not only do we have the best technology trainers, but they are all artists. They are all using the technology for their writing career. They speak your language!

Social Media

Need a platform? Need to learn to blog? Want to learn how to use Pinterest, G+, Goodreads, Tumblr, Flikr, Twitter, etc.? Not only does WANA International have a class, all our classes are taught by writers using the technology successfully. Our instructors are not from a PR firm or “marketing experts” with marketing/promotion companies and services to sell.

Our instructors are all writers who understand marketing and promotion using social media, and they are using it successfully without using automation, form letters or spamming people. Our instructors all use WANA methods.

I can only learn so many social platforms, but with my WANA team? We’ve got all the bases covered. Learn the WANA Way for any platform you choose, and, if the platform makes a major change? *cough* *Timeline* WANA will have you covered.

Lifestyle

Balanced writers are happy and productive writers. Our lifestyle, attitude and health affects our art, so we need to learn ways to manage all these new roles we’ve gained in the Digital Age. At WANA, we care about the whole artist–mind, body and soul. This is why we offer training for time-management, setting boundaries, and nutrition for maximum productivity, just to name a few.

Business

When should writers become an LLC? What about taxes? What should writers look for in a contract? How do we decide when to go indie versus traditional? How do we land an agent? Write a query letter? What do we look for in an agent? Do we still need an agent even if we are self-published? How can we succeed using KDP Select? When do we need a web site? What advantages are there to book trailers? How do we find the right cover design? How do we do a book launch? A blog tour? Score a book review?

The writing business has become a whole new level of complicated. But no fear, WANA is here. We bring you literary agents, entertainment lawyers, and the top experts in publishing to answer your questions and train you to be an Artist-Entrepreneur.

Format

We will be using Go-To-Webinar technology to make learning easy and fun.

Gift #2–WANA Family? A Community? A support network?

One thing that WANA does differently is we won’t cut you loose to sink or swim. We not only teach you, but then we plug you into a community to help support you and nurture you during those early days when your career or platform is in its infancy. We give you better than a family, we give you a TRIBE.

I knew that artists needed a support network almost as much, if not more, than training. This job is hard, it’s lonely and we need creative energy to thrive.

My business partner an I were inspired by the movie Midnight in Paris and we thought it was so cool how writers hung out with other creatives. The Paris salons were filled with writers, dancers, actors, painters, filmmakers, and it was this glorious cross-pollination of imagination.

Then I, being the social media Jedi, thought, “Why can’t we recreate that digitally?”

So, we did. We built you your very own social network, WANATribe.

WANATribe is the modern salon. We aren’t Facebook and aren’t trying to be. We are only for the creative professional. No matter where you turn on WANATribe, you will find friends, because everyone is an artist just like you. WANATribe is free of spam and automation because on WANATribe? I am GOD and will smite them and cast them to the unholy depths of the recycle bin.

No more bots! On WANATribe, you can be yourself and talk about your art because we care. 

WANATribe is integrated with Twitter and Facebook so you can still connect with coworkers, family and schoolmates, and we also have all the functionality of the major social platforms. Upload photos, music, video and even customize your own page to express your uniqueness in a way that FB doesn’t offer.

I’ve been running a beta version for the past six weeks and we already have a growing population of writers, artists, videographers, graphic artists, designers, etc. Connect with all kinds of creatives. Now networking is a whole new kind of fun.

Sign up today and please invite all your crazy artist friends. The more the weirder merrier.

Gift #3–WANA Mascot?

When we began WANA, we wanted a symbol, something that embodied what WANA stood for. I happened to notice that the eye of the peacock feather was an inverted heart wrapped with what looked like a W.

I’ve always referred to WANA as The Love Revolution because we aren’t founded on marketing or promotion or selling stuff. We aren’t founded on self-serving objectives. We are founded on the principles of love, service, and community. It’s why WANA works and it’s why it thrives. It feels right. So the fact that the peacock feather had a heart and a W was just kismet.

Also, the peacock is revered in cultures all over the globe. It has been a symbol of art, beauty and resurrection for thousands of years. How perfect is that?

Once we decided on a symbol, I dusted off my art supplies and drew us a mascot. I drew Francis in all his splendor, a mascot for all artists.

But Francis didn’t always look like this. Like most of us, Francis has a story…

We are all Francis. The night I drew Francis I had a dream. Francis told me his story and I woke up upset…no. I woke up heartbroken. I pulled out my sketchpad and I drew out his story. When it was complete, I knew it had to be shared. We knew we were launching WANA International and WANATribe, but we needed this final piece. So we contacted an animator in NYC and scraped together the funds to tell Francis’s story…because it is my story, and likely it is your story, too.

Artists live in a world that doesn’t value their contribution the way it should. Many artists get discouraged and give up. WANA is here to change that. There are many wonderful resources to help artists, be we want to help the whole artist. We will give you the skills and the support to reach your dreams.

We are not alone.

Thanks for being patient and I hope you will go check out your gifts. Go browse WANA International. Francis’s debut film is on our home page, so check out his short film and then come back here and let me know what you think :D. Here is your invitation to WANATribe and I am super excited that I can hang out with you there.

Also, two of our WANAs are going to be throwing us a Twitter party! *happy dance* Join us on FRIDAY if you #WANAParty. There will be fun, prizes, digital mojitos and the World’s Largest Twitter Twister Board. We will be giving away free webinars, consultations with literary agents, and all kinds of cool stuff!

You guys are awesome and I am so thrilled to be a part of your success. THANK YOU!!!

The post I Bring You…A Gift–A New Era for the Digital Age Artist appeared first on Kristen Lamb.