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Blog postFor an introvert, it turns out I’m really bad at a full pandemic lockdown. I know people who haven’t left their houses or seen anyone outside their immediate family for almost half a year. Me? It only took about a month before I couldn’t do it anymore. Washington state shut down in mid-March. By mid-April, … More Hot Meals and Coffee to Go: On Becoming a Hospitalera in My Own Backyard
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Blog postThis morning I spent a delightful hour talking with two authors I admire, Richard Frazer (Travels With a Stick) and Ian Smith (Stepping Out). They’ve both thought deeply about the meditative and spiritual aspects of pilgrimage, and were gracious enough to allow me to join them next week in a free, public Zoom discussion about Pilgrimage in Pandemic, hosted by the Heart Edge program of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London. (You’re all invited. Click here for details.)
I’m not sure -
Blog postToday’s #CaminoTuesday theme* over on Twitter is “Camino After Dark.” That struck me as a trick question at first, because Camino pilgrims rarely stay awake long enough to do much after dark. (Travel tip: Pilgrimage is not the way to experience European nightlife.) But then I remembered a night in Conques, just 10 days into my first Camino on the Via Podiensis…which means it was April in the mountains of France, and so the sun set early.
The Abbey Church of Sainte Foy, Conques, France -
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Blog postThere’s an article in The Guardian today about how the small towns of Spain were affected by COVID-19. Specifically, the writer explores Santo Domingo de la Calzada, a name familiar to most pilgrims of the Camino de Santiago. It’s worth a read.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/04/spain-la-rioja-small-town-one-of-europes-worst-covid-19-hotspots
This is the home of “the chicken church” — the cathedral known for the two live chickens that live inside — and a memo -
Blog postPractice acceptance, my husband would remind me when the Camino got the best of me.
When the gites were full, the markets were closed, and the rain just would. not. stop.
You know, all of the times when traveling through new places didn’t line up with my plans.
Practice acceptance, I remind myself now, when this new world gets the best of me.
When the people wear masks, the markets are closed, and the news just will. not. stop.
You know, -
Blog post“There are no beds.”
“There are too many people.”
The rumors flew up the Way faster than I could walk, carried by Radio Camino. They were shared over pilgrim menus and café con leche, baguettes and French cheese plates. Even when I’m home, if I see them ripple out across the Facebook groups and discussion boards, my shoulders get a little tighter.
Feeling the pressure to keep up as we passed through a village in France, along the Via Podiensis The Bed Race The C -
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Blog postJust outside Mazarife “We need to be reminded sometimes that a sunrise lasts but a few minutes. But its beauty can burn in our hearts eternally.”
– R. A. Salvatore
Anyone who’s met me knows I am not a morning person. I don’t often see the sun rise, nor do I want to. (A more accurate quote for me might be the one from Nanea Hoffman:
“Today’s goals: Coffee and kindness. Maybe two coffees, and then kindness.”
My first “first light” of the Camino, Le Puy -
Blog postBefore we left to walk the Camino de Santiago the first time in 2015, I read everything I could, including plenty of Camino memoirs. I was desperate for practical information and advice. How would I know where to sleep? Where would I find food? What if I needed a bathroom in the middle of the day?
But I noticed that every story focused mostly on the people the authors met along the way.
My Camino family on the Chemin du Puy: We saw each other every day for weeks. The people here c -
Blog postLast week, on New Years Eve, the Twitter world had a #CaminoTuesday theme of “The Old and The New.” I didn’t have time to write up a whole blog post, but I did share this:
Here are the photos bigger, in case you’re curious:
Pont Valentré, Cahors, France Pedestrian elevator (complete with Camino yellow arrows) in Deba, Spain
And that got me thinking about bridges, and how important they are to the Camino experience.
“We build too many walls and not -
Blog postI’m going to keep it short this week, because we’re diving into holiday planning, and there’s not much time or attention this week for anything that’s not a gift or a baked good.
But here it is, #CaminoTuesday again, and the assigned theme is “Favorite Camino Art.”
Which, I confess, threw me into a bit of an anxiety attack. That word–favorite–does it every time. How do I know if something is a favorite? Do I like the modern statues in the plaza of Burgos more than I like the s -
Blog postYou wrote a manuscript that you want to see published. You read the previous blog post (and this and this), and understand the importance of editing, revising, polishing, and working to make that book the best it can be. You’ve done all of that, and now it’s time to find the right publishing partner.
Here’s the secret:
Know what you’re pitching. Really? That’s it?
Yep. And you would be amazed how many writers get stuck here, because they don’t know how to talk about t -
Blog postYou wrote a book. Maybe it’s a novel, or a memoir, or a spiritual guide to finding happiness in troubled times. Maybe you’re not sure what it is. But you’re already dreaming of seeing your book on a local bookstore shelf.
Photo: Renee Fisher on Unsplash All you have to do now is get a publisher on board, right?
Wait. Do You Even Need a Publisher? Yes, I know. Technically, you don’t need a traditional publisher. I’ve happily self published my own work, and have helped dozens of -
Blog postIn 2014, I published The Author’s Guide to Marketing, a resource for writers who wanted to know how to attract more readers, sell more books, and maybe even enjoy themselves. I had a boatload of experience in book marketing at that point, both from my years as a literary agent and as the director of marketing for an author services company. I’d created and executed marketing plans for hundreds of writers, both fiction and nonfiction.
But what I didn’t have was firsthand experience. -
Blog postA couple of years ago, I got the urge to write a book. I’d recently returned from a sabbatical in Europe, where my husband Eric and I walked a thousand miles on the Camino de Santiago, a network of pilgrimage trails that date back to the Roman Empire. (You can read more about that on my personal blog, Camino Times Two.) I hadn’t intended to write about the trip when I left, but when I got back I couldn’t shake the suspicion that there was something book-worthy in the experience.
I’d w -
Blog postIf you want to self publish, you will have to work to get noticed.
Here we are at last, on the final point of this blog series “Before You Self Publish.” So far we’ve talking about the importance of thinking like a CEO, the danger of releasing a book too soon, the value of print, and the importance of the cover.
Now let’s think about how to get that book in readers’ hands.
Yep, if we’re going to talk about self publishing, we need to talk about the M word: Marketing. < -
Blog postWe’re continuing the Before You Self Publish series. Don’t miss Part 1, Think Like a CEO; Part 2, Don’t Publish Too Soon; and Part 3, Publish in Print.
Long before I worked in book publishing, a friend introduced me to a twist on the classic cliché:
If you can’t judge a book by its cover, then someone’s not doing their job. First impressions matter, especially in books, where readers have so many options. A person browsing in a bookstore (either physical or online) -
Blog postWe’re continuing our series of 5 Things Self Publishers Need to Know with a super-simplified look at production and distribution (and a reminder that you have choices).
Once you learn to think like a CEO and recommit to writing a GREAT book, it’s time to get practical about how to get your work out there.
Which leads me to this:
The benefits of having both print and electronic versions of a book almost always outweigh the additional costs. When I teach classe -
Blog postWe’ve all heard the amazing opportunities of self publishing: direct access to readers, total control over the work, and the potential of a long-term income stream. And those are all true. But the challenges are real, too, which is why we’re spending 5 weeks looking at Things Writers Must Know Before You Self Publish.
The first thing was “Think Like a CEO.”
Here’s the second, and it’s equally important:
Almost every self-published book is released too soon. This o -
Blog postWe’ve all heard the success stories. The writers who rejected the rejection letters, took their futures into their own hands, and self published their books. The ones who shot to the top of the bestseller charts. Fame, fortune, and Hollywood movies followed.
Well hey. You’ve written a book. Is this self publishing thing for you?
Not long ago, I gave a talk about the 5 Things Writers Must Know Before They Self Publish. Over the next few weeks, we’ll take apart all five suggesti -
Blog postThis has become a bit of a tradition: every December since, well, 2015, I’ve looked back at the year and compiled a “best of” summary of the Top 20 articles, news, and resources for writers who are working toward publication. Making the jump from writer to published author means entering a whole new world of business, and it’s important to do your homework and understand the landscape.
The Trends This year, as I went back through my tweets and notes, two things became clear:
It wa
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