There's still time to register for Flash Fiction Camp with Marcia Lee Laycock. Starts Monday at 9:30 am MST. (Miss the first day? There are replays!)
We're chatting NOW. Want the Zoom link?
It's my birthday, and I want to give gifts all week long! Here are my two requests:
1. Buy some books in the Siretona Creative bookshop (get 10% off with the coupon code COLLEENBDAY56).
2. Support Kathleen Templeton's pre-order campaign for her new novel, Jar of Tears.
Want to know more? Ask me for a link!
It's all about the reader.
This week I attended the Women in Publishing Summit -- four jam-packed days of learning and networking and thinking about publishing!
One theme that stood out to me over and over is the preeminence of the reader. In every stage of publishing -- from setting up an ecosystem (aka platform) to editing and design, distribution, promotion, marketing, sales -- if we get self-conscious, we stop excelling and we stop serving.
This principle applies to a lot of things in life, but I was thinking especially about myself as a publisher and the author-clients that I serve. How can I help them get over self-consciousness and equip them with the skills and tools they need to bring books to the readers who need them?
How can we serve?
#WomenInPublishingSummit #Publishing #ReaderFirst
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**And now the remixed version complements of LinkedIn AI**
Attended the Women in Publishing Summit this week and one theme stood out to me - the preeminence of the reader. In every stage of publishing, if we get self-conscious, we stop excelling and we stop serving. This principle applies to a lot of things in life. As a publisher, I'm thinking about how to help author-clients get over self-consciousness and equip them with the skills and tools they need to bring books to the readers who need them. How can we serve? It's all about the reader.
Do you enjoy selling? Do you see it as serving your audience, your clients, your readers?
#amselling #sales #salesisservice #servesellrepeat #marketing #salesandmarketing #bookselling #bookmarketing #sellingbooks #publishing #gethelp
How do you deal with criticism?
#amwriting #bookpublishing #betareaders #bookcritique #writingcritique #receivingfeedback #feedbackmatters #feedback
Lisa LeBlanc's inner editor is a grumpy, slovenly, hyper-critocal old man. She named him Stanley, and she derives great satisfaction from telling him, "Shut up, Stanley!"
Does your inner editor have a name? What do they look like? How do you get them to be quiet?
Is your relationship with your inner editor comfortable, collegial, or conflicted? Do you think Lisa can ever be friends with Stanley?
All images in this reel were generated by Canva Magic visual AI, using Lisa's description of Stanley from her blog, with some adaptations to refine results. Which one do you think is Lisa's pick? @lisamayleblanc
#editor #editors #authors #innereditor #voiceinmyhead #devilonmyshoulder #writinglife
Incompetence.
What do you think of when you hear that word?
I've mostly had negative associations with it, like a chasm I could fall into or, not just an empty space but a vacuum that might suck me in and obliterate me. Ouch.
This morning I attended a coaching call, and incompetence was reframed for me. Yes, it's an empty space, but it's a beginning, a space for possibility, a space requiring faith and courage.
Have you seen this trajectory?
➡️ Unconscious incompetence - we don't know what we don't know
➡️ Conscious incompetence - we're painfully aware of what we don't know
➡️ Conscious competence - we see and appreciate our progress
➡️ Unconscious competence - the new thing is so natural we don't have to think about it
I still have a knot in my stomach about my conscious incompetencies. But I know that if I persevere, I can make wise decisions, increase in knowledge, gain skills, and eventually arrive at competence -- only to start over with something else.
What about you? Do you see incompetence as negative or positive?
Do you see the possibilities? Do you have faith and courage to step into the empty space?
#competence #incompetence #unconsciousincompetence #consciousincompetence #consciouscompetence #unconsciouscompetence #possibilities #faith #courage #persevere
p.s. I deliberately left a couple of rough spots in the recording as a nod to conscious incompetence (i.e. room to grow).
