Writers Need Vibrant, Creative Partnerships

I'm sure you've heard before that an author platform is mandatory to your publishing career. You've also heard that in building a platform you need to blog, social network, and use video sites. In other words, you have to do your own marketing and promotion.


by frankdasilva

"Publishers want to know how many people you know," says Jennifer Hill Robenalt, a 20-year communications pro and the principal of Robin Hill Media. "Whether that's fair or not, or effective or not, it's all we have to measure how big our audience truly is."

But what you may not know is that all of your platform-building could be for naught if you don't bring people into your fold who can collaborate in helping you access your full creative and marketing potential.

Even if you're the type who likes to go solo, there are times you'll need powerful partnerships and alliances.

Do yo need a website designer? Do you need a publicist?

"Own up to what you need," says Gail McMeekin, author of The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women.   "Then carefully bring in someone who aliens to your purpose."

Jennifer Hill Robenalt says, "Every time I have a new partnership, I have a new cheerleader for my work."

Writers need partnerships to cross reference and promote each other, share contacts, network, act as speakers and teachers, motivate, and provide gifts to each other's audience.

And how does a writer forge such partnerships?

Jennifer shares 6 ways:

1. Use Technorati, Google blog, and other author's blog rolls to seek out people who are doing similar work and are like-minded. Forge relationships with them online, comment on their blogs, and on Facebook. Collaborate content. Guest blog and vice versa.
2. Create a dream list of people you want to form partnerships with. On every website there's a contact or media tab. Find the publicist or contact the author directly. Tell them you are a blogger and would like to be on their "media list." You may be invited on blogging calls or virtual book tours.
3. Create your own mini media empire. You tube, Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress and Blogger are all free. Add a video to your blog. All you need is a flip camera to make videos of yourself when you speak in public, etc. Create a buzz.
4. Start an Internet radio show. Blog Talk Radio is free. All you need is a computer and a phone.
5. Check out sites such as Help a Reporter Out, where journalists and national reporters are looking for sources.
6. List the top ten places you want to see yourself featured, then follow them and invest time in them.

The opportunities for creating vibrant partnerships are endless.

Share contacts. Share ideas. What goes around, comes around. A good deed is never wasted.

6 Ways to Add Vibrant Partnerships to your Author Platform

The big lesson that I learned from Janet Conner's sixth Plug In class, How to Build Your Author Platform, is:

Writers need vibrant, creative partnerships.

I'm sure you've heard before that an author platform is mandatory to your publishing career.  You've also heard that in building a platform you need to blog, social network, and use video sites.  In other words, you have to do your own marketing and promotion.   

by frankdasilva



"Publishers want to know how many people you know," said Plug In guest Jennifer Hill Robenalt, a 20-year communications pro and the principal of Robin Hill Media.  "Whether that's fair or not, or effective or not, it's all we have to measure how big our audience truly is."

But what you may not know is that all of your platform-building could be for naught if you don't bring people into your fold who can collaborate in helping you access your full creative and marketing potential. 

Even if you're the type who likes to go solo, there are times you'll need powerful partnerships and alliances.

Do yo need a website designer?  Do you need a publicist? 

"Own up to what you need," said Gail McMeekin, Plug in guest and author of The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women.  "Then carefully bring in someone who aliens to your purpose."

Jennifer Hill Robenalt went on to say, "Every time I have a new partnership, I have a new cheerleader for my work." 

Writers need partnerships to cross reference and promote each other, share contacts, network, act as speakers and teachers, motivate, and provide gifts to each other's audience. 

And how does a writer forge such partnerships?

Jennifer shared 6 ways:

1. Use Technorati, Google blog, and other author's blog rolls to seek out people who are doing similar work and are like-minded.  Forge relationships with them online, comment on their blogs, and on Facebook.  Collaborate content.  Guest blog and vice versa.
2. Create a dream list of people you want to form partnerships with.  On every website there's a contact or media tab.  Find the publicist or contact the author directly.  Tell them you are a blogger and would like to be on their "media list."  You may be invited on blogging calls or virtual book tours. 
3. Create your own mini media empire. You tube, Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress and Blogger are all free.  Add a video to your blog. All you need is a flip camera to make videos of yourself when you speak in public, etc. Create a buzz.
4. Start an Internet radio show.  Blog Talk Radio is free.  All you need is a computer and a phone.
5. Check out sites such as Help a Reporter Out, where journalists and national reporters are looking for sources.
6. List the top ten places you want to see yourself featured, then follow them and invest time in them.

The opportunities for creating vibrant partnerships are endless.

Share contacts. Share ideas. What goes around, comes around. A good deed is never wasted.

Thanks for stopping by,

The Creative Life/Tips for Writers and Artists



Photo credit:  Stephen Poff

What specific practices, rituals, or habits do writers and artists use or evoke to assist the creative flow? 

That's one of the questions Janet Conner asked of the following four guests on Bonus Night of her Plug In Telecourse:

1. Gail McMeekin (writer and creativity coach)
2. Mary Anne Radmacher (artist and writer)
3. Rebecca LoCicero (writer and medium)
4. Ann Hartley (Dutch master painter)

Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, their answers didn't vary all that much.  In fact, I can narrow them all down to ten:

1. Consult your guides.  The creative path can be lonely.  Gail McMeekin said it helps to consult with guides (Secret #7 from her book, 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women), be it for inspiration or spiritual support.  Guides come in many forms, including books, groups, and mentors.  Define your need and what style of guidance will support that need, and be careful about who you invite into your circle.  Mary Anne Radmacher added, "Your trusted guide will hold up a mirror to yourself."  
2. Focus.  Gail uses journaling to organize her thoughts and set priorities, because often she has more ideas than she can accommodate at once.   Mary Anne chooses a book to keep company with for four months at a time.  She reads until something "zings" her and then she focuses on that for the day.  Mary Anne said to focus on being productive in your own soul and things will come to you. 
3. Play.  Mary Anne says that for her work is play.  Through play, she brings information from the world around her into her art.  
4. Relax into your art and take time to feed your soul.  Stress and worry block the creative flow.  Ann Hartley loses herself in her work.  When she paints, she actually feels as if she's rearranging the surface of the canvas with her hands.  She also said that doing nothing is sometimes absolutely important.  Rebecca LoCicero recommended taking Sabbaths and sabbaticals.  
5. Send away your inner critic.  That's your monkey mind, and we're all familiar with this one.  But it's nice to have this reaffirmed by four successful writers and artists. 
6. Be kind to yourself and don't give up your own power.  Ann said, "everything exists within yourself.  Have faith in that."  Mary Anne added, "Don't give up your own power.  Have faith in your own work and talent and power."
7. Keep an open mind.  This suggestion also came from Ann.  She said that negative space is as important and non-negative space, what you leave out is as important as what you leave in.  This goes with Mary Anne's suggestion to bring information from the world around you into your art.   "We are all dealing with symbol," she said. 
8. Accept.  Rebecca said that acceptance through acknowledgment leads to enlightenment
9. Shoot for the moon.  I know, you've heard this before, but why not?  That's what all of these guest artists do with great success.
10. Have a grateful heart.  As with all of the answers above, there was an overall consensus on this one.  Gratitude works wonders in assisting an artist's creative flow.

I took the liberty of reading "between the lines" and coming up with a few generalities of my own after listening to these guest artists speak. 

• All of these talented women have, in one form or another, stepped out of the box and into what Janet Conner calls "The Intersection," Elizabeth Berg calls, "The Open" (Escaping into the Open, the art of writing true), and I call "The Between." 
• They have plugged into the Intelligence that exists as potentialities around them and aligns to their own particular talent, often relying on intuition and extrasensory powers to do so.
• They live multidimensional lives and know how to connect with their inner core (what Margaret Stortz calls "inner spaces of refreshment"), and feed their soul. 
• They are open to life's messengers, knowing that whatever catches their attention is trying to tell them something and that whatever they pay attention to will grow. 
• They have a flexible response to life and know there aren't any wrong turns, only new ones. 
• They use their imagination to create something extraordinary out of the everyday.
• They are the writers, actors, and directors of their own stories.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Plug In With Janet Conner

What makes writers happy, besides working on their craft, of course, is connecting with other writers to delve into the unknown and explore each other's minds for fresh ideas. 

Add to that a team of experts and inspirational speakers and you've just kicked up the happiness factor a notch or two.

So you can imagine my reaction when I read about Plug In, The Intersection for Writers and Other Creatives, a twenty-week, eleven class teleseries inspired and led by Janet Conner, author of Writing Down Your Soul.

Janet Conner, a writer I'd recently friended on FaceBook, posted a notice about "Plug In" on my FB page, which immediately sparked my interest.  I followed the link to her website Writing Down Your Soul, and saw that her Plug In course was to start February 8. 

Wouldn't it be awesome to be part of that course, I thought and then moved on to other things. 

Little did I know that I'd end up taking the course and thereby step into the Intersection, where new and powerful spiritual practices merge with craft.

So, what do Plug In participants do? 

At Writing Down Your Soul all is explained, but, in the mean time, here is a partial list.

As a participant, you will:

• discover what is blocking you and release it
• dramatically improve the level of your craft
• clarify your purpose
• get your message to your audience through social media, blog, etc
• begin to build your platform
• learn about publishing options
• harness Focused Attraction to magnetically attract all you need

And what do Plug In participants receive?  Again, here's only a partial list.

• eleven 90-minute live teleclasses including 5 with guest experts
• two private sessions with Janet
• gifts from all guest experts

As Janet says at Writing Down Your Soul:  This twenty-week, eleven class teleseries is unique. It is the first in-depth exploration of The Intersection. And it is designed specifically for creatives--writers, speakers, artists.... It merges new and very powerful spiritual practices with your craft, infusing your work with access to limitless creativity and guidance. The result? You create a unique message that cannot help but find its expression in the world. All you have to do is Plug In to the incredible power of The Intersection.

Last Monday, in a post called Journal Treasures/Standing in the Doorway, I shared a journal entry that I'd written on January 3, 2000 (just before starting my first novel), about standing in the doorway and looking in on a gathering of writers.

I wrote about how their minds didn't seem connected to their bodies, how they appeared unaware of their surroundings, and how time seemed to stand still. I longed to step into that room and join them, but instead I turned away to do what was required of me at that time in my life.

Well, on the evening of February 8, during my first Plug In experience with 26 other participants, representing a variety of creative expressions, I felt as if I'd finally crossed the threshold and entered that room. 

Janet talked about how she discovered The Intersection and what happened as a result.  She talked about the power of intention, and she introduced special guest, Gail McMeekin, author of The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women, who, in turn, shared one of her Gateway Secrets.

The 27 Plug In participants are as yet disembodied voices, but I expect by the end of this series, we'll know each other well.  In the mean time, I can think of no better way to spend 90 minutes on alternate Tuesday evenings than learning, sharing, opening up, and plugging in.

As you know, the name of this blog is Enter the Between, A Writer's Journey, and it's purpose is to share a journey, often full of angst with the occasional sprinkling of joy and victory. 

In contrast, Janet's Intersection is full of light, inspiration, and hope, peopled with allies and mentors.  It's about positive thinking and aligning with success.

A nice change, wouldn't you say?

And just so you know that I'm taking this course seriously, I'll share my first "Play Book" assignment.

My Intention Mandala.

To learn more about the Intention Mandala, go to: The Lotus and the Lily: Intention Mandala, or to Jumpstart 2010 With A Conditions Mandala.

Oh, and guess what I'll be posting about every other week until the end of June?

You got it.

So stay tuned.