"The Titanic was sinking truthful we jumped successful the lifeboat and paddled for illustration hell."
That's really New York Times bestselling writer Mary Kay Andrews describes the root of Friends & Fiction, the play web bid she co-hosts pinch her best-selling writer pals Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey and Patti Callahan Henry. Every Wednesday nighttime astatine 7 p.m. ET, they chat pinch authors for illustration Jodi Picoult, Kwame Alexander, and Elin Hilderbrand astir their latest works, their tips for writers, and the books they've publication that shaped their careers.
In 2020, the 4 friends had their upcoming book tours abruptly canceled owed to the pandemic. They hopped connected a Zoom happy hr to commiserate complete glasses of rosé and began strategizing champion really to scope their readers and support independent bookstores while everyone was stuck astatine home. As the vino flowed, truthful did the ideas, yet manifesting successful their wildly celebrated Friends & Fiction YouTube show and podcast, arsenic good arsenic a Facebook community that has much than 240,000 members.
Related: How to Write a Book (and Actually Finish It) successful 5 Steps
Since its inception, which featured erstwhile big Mary Alice Monroe, the show has branched retired pinch unrecorded appearances, an online book club, a thriving merch store, and newsletters successful the F&F mix. "We thought we were doing this for ourselves and for bookstores, but the organization was sitting location waiting," says Patti Callahan Henry. "I'd for illustration to opportunity we had a scheme for each of this, but we fundamentally built a rocket vessel connected the measurement to the moon."
Entrepreneur caught up pinch the 4 show founders to get their champion tips for writers and creators hoping to make an impact. (Sadly, nary rosé was consumed during the conversation.) While they each person their ain unsocial attack to their craft, 2 words sum up their advice: conscionable start!
Overcoming fearfulness of failure
Patti Callahan Henry: It's scary to opportunity you want to constitute a book and past possibly neglect to get it published, but my proposal is that you've sewage to jump successful the heavy end. Nobody has floaties to springiness you, but find community, return classes, and conscionable commencement writing. What is the phrase? Jump and the nett will appear.
Kristin Harmel: When you're trying thing caller aliases scary, the first point to do is make an finance successful yourself. You request to judge that you tin do it and that each of the clip and effort you put into it will beryllium worthy it. Every awesome activity that's ever been created started successful 1 person's mind.
Kristy Woodson Harvey: You can't beryllium controlled by that small babe vulnerable ego that we each have. The reality is that being a writer usually doesn't look beautiful successful the beginning. We each had those book-reading events wherever 1 personification showed up aliases nary 1 came astatine all. And that ego portion of you says, "I can't fail. I can't fto different group spot maine fail." But here's the reality: group really only attraction astir themselves. I dislike to opportunity it that way, but my nonaccomplishment does not mean that much to anyone else. You conscionable person to move connected and support going.
Self-publishing versus accepted publishing
Mary Kay Andrews: I deliberation it each depends connected what your goals are. If you person a communicative that you are burning to show and you conscionable person to get it retired there, past that's your privilege and self-publishing mightiness make the astir sense. Getting traditionally published, which is the way each of america person gone, takes longer. It's much painful. You look rejection astatine each turn. I deliberation group should really amended themselves not conscionable astir the trade but besides the business of writing. Learn what publishers are looking for. If your communicative is niche and is extracurricular of a emblematic accepted publisher's wheelhouse, past self-publishing whitethorn beryllium the champion and only measurement it tin get out.
Kristin Harmel: To beryllium traditionally published, you almost surely do person to get an agent. I person zero regrets astir having an supplier and it's been a phenomenal activity partnership. But I deliberation that successful position of the changing scenery of publishing, location are much and much opportunities for much and much group to beryllium publication and to execute this dream of having a published novel. I deliberation it's beautiful that truthful galore much opportunities beryllium than existed erstwhile each of america started.
Patti Callahan Henry: I effort to counsel group to beryllium patient. It took maine years aft I vanished my first caller to get published — find the agent, rewrite it, commencement different one. My first book really didn't get published. But you person this urgency because you put successful each of this activity and you mightiness make decisions based connected impatience. So get knowledgeable successful the process. Listen to Friends & Fiction, spell to classes, spell to groups, spell to conferences, participate contests. Once you get that knowledge of the process and the business, you tin find the champion way for you.
Related: Self-Publishing aliases Traditional Publishing: Which Is Best for You?
The request to beryllium relentless
Kristy Woodson Harvey: I was moving successful finance and I approached getting published for illustration I would person approached a customer who had plentifulness of money but was a basking messiness pinch their finances. I researched each of the agents I wanted to transportation and I besides publication the publishing stories of immoderate writer I admired. How did they do it? Then I made this large spreadsheet of each the ways group had gotten published. I hated the thought of conscionable saying, "Well, I'm going to taxable to these agents, and if they each opportunity no, past that's that." I had my scheme A, scheme B, scheme C and scheme D. I did really motion pinch a literate agent, but astatine the aforesaid time, I was submitting to immoderate penning contests. And I ended up getting my first book woody because of a penning contest. So I show group to ne'er deliberation "Well that didn't activity retired truthful I'm dormant successful the water." It's much like, "If this doesn't work, what's next? And what's adjacent aft that?"
Mary Kay Andrews: When I was trying to get published, I was moving full-time arsenic a newspaper newsman astatine the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I was really unhappy pinch my career. The managing editor told maine I was not a writer and I'd ne'er beryllium a writer. That sadistic connection was seared onto my encephalon pan. And I was for illustration Scarlett O'Hara, "As God is my witnesser I will beryllium you wrong!" And I developed this point a friend told maine astir called Scam a Day. That intends that each time you return 1 small subversive measurement toward achieving your goal. So my Scam a Days mightiness beryllium getting myself assigned to question and reply authors coming done Atlanta connected book tours aliases querying an supplier while I was astatine work. That is against the rules, but you tin put that connected the record. As everyone knows, I person nary fucks near to give.
Related: How a Self-Published Author Sold 500,000 Copies of Her Book
Writing process hacks
Mary Kay Andrews: I draught longhand successful 1 of those aged achromatic and achromatic speckled creation books. I commencement jotting down thoughts and segment ideas and questions — my supplier ever calls this the "I'm talking to myself" portion of the process. Once I've talked to myself enough, past each of a abrupt I commencement penning scenes and I commencement penning dialogue. And I effort to get astatine slightest 500 words down. On a really bully day, I'll constitute 2,000 words longhand, past I jump connected my laptop and type them into a document, revising arsenic I go.
Kristin Harmel: I judge very powerfully successful outlining. I americium a plotter. The other of being a plotter is being a pantser, wherever you alert by the spot of your pants. And I wish I could beryllium a pantser, it feels for illustration it would beryllium truthful overmuch much fun. But if you're caller to this, I would propose starting arsenic a plotter because it gives you a roadmap. It gives you a information broad and astir importantly, it's a defender against writer's artifact because if you cognize the basal measurement to the extremity you're ne'er going to get stuck.
Kristy Woodson Harvey: I'm astir apt the astir loosey-goosey of our group. I wrote my first book mostly erstwhile I was up for feedings pinch the baby. There was nary clip past I could beryllium like, "Oh, I'm going to beryllium down and constitute 2,000 words." I would conscionable usage immoderate moments I sewage and constitute immoderate portion of the communicative was burning successful my encephalon — the speech betwixt 2 characters, a scene, immoderate it was. And erstwhile I finished, I had three-quarters of a story. And past I did thing very master that I nicknamed "Writing done the story." I filled successful the missing parts betwixt each those pieces. And that has been my process ever since.
Patti Callahan Henry: When I first started writing, my kids were five, 3 and newborn. So I sewage successful the wont of penning from 4:30 to 6:30 successful the morning. I do not constitute astatine 4:30 now, but I do constitute successful the morning. I support my greeting hours sacred. I'm very dedicated to them. There are a batch of different approaches, but the important point is that you person to find the measurement that the communicative comes to you and past beryllium disciplined astir it. I don't deliberation you tin unit yourself to beryllium a different benignant of writer than you are, but I do deliberation you person to beryllium dedicated to the benignant of writer that you are.
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