One Author’s Top Twenty Tips by Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell)

Quick Announcements: The winner of Maria DiRico's Here Comes the Body is Karen in OH!!! Congrats, Karen. Email me at jennmck at yahoo dot com and I'll hook you two up!

Also, my publisher is having a giveaway of 50 ARCs of Paris is Always a Good Idea on Goodreads. To enter click here:  https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/304021-paris-is-always-a-good-idea

One Author’s Top Twenty Tips

Maddie Day, aka Edith Maxwell

Maddie/Edith: Jenn, thank you for inviting me back on the blog!

Jenn: My pleasure! Side note: Edith was kind enough to send me an ARC of Murder at the Taffy Shop and it is sooooo good! Highly recommend!!!

Maddie/Edith: It’s a bit unbelievable to me, but Murder at the Taffy Shop (out March 31) is Maddie Day’s and my twentieth published novel, and it all happened in seven and a half years. I’ve shared most, if not all, of those releases here with the generous Reds and faithful commenters over the years, and it’s only right I celebrate my big book birthday here, too.

So I’d like to share the top twenty tips I’ve learned about the adventure of writing. Even though I get quite peeved when others presume to offer me unsolicited advice – it’s my party, so I’m going to! And I’ll send (at the end of the month, when I get them in) a copy of the new book to one commenter here today.

20: Believe in yourself. When I told Hugh (my wonderful but genetically pessimistic partner) I was writing a mystery, he said (cue dire tone): “You know, it’s really hard to get published.” Me: (cue my inborn optimistic smile) “Somebody’s going to get published, it might as well be me.” Bingo.

19: One speaker per paragraph. This is a pet peeve of mine. Please, after a line of Suzie’s dialog, don’t tell me in the same paragraph what Jimbo did. No! That’s her paragraph. Give Jimbo his own. You’ll only confuse the reader (and if that reader is me, I’m likely to toss the book into the giveaway box…).

18: Commit to your writing. People at book talks often tell me, “I have this book I want to write but I can’t find the time.” I channel Hank’s mother (did I get the gist of this right, Hank?) and say, “If you want to write a book, you will.” Period. 

17: (See #18) Find the schedule that works for you. Me, I’m working by seven every morning (except Sunday), but everyone’s different. Just fit the writing in where you can. It’s all good!

16: Have fun. Sure, a lot of writing is work, hard work. But isn’t it magical when a character does something you never expected, and you have to keep writing to figure out why? Enjoy the moment. Smile broadly, thank the Muse, and type on. 

15: Be kind. To your readers, to snarky reviewers, to clueless authors. Go high if they go low. Be kind to and about successful authors you’re a teensy bit jealous of. And of course to your family, who tolerate you ignoring them. 

14: Find a great editor. Not everyone does this (or can afford it), but all my manuscripts have been read by an independent developmental editor before I submitted them. All were hugely improved. A good critique partner or two can fill this gap if your budget doesn’t allow and if you have time to return the favor.

13: Be patient. You have exactly one shot at querying an agent or sending in your manuscript. Please don’t submit it before it’s ready (see #14).

12: Be generous. Share your fellow authors’ posts, retweet successes, “Like” newbies’ fledging Facebook pages, write positive reviews. Once you make it (however you define that), be like a Jungle Red and host guests, even clueless newbie ones (like me). Julie Hennrikus told several of us long ago, “Social media is ninety percent about sharing and retweeting and ten percent about yourself.” I tucked that into my virtual fist and haven’t let go.

11: Own your genre. Whether writer or reader, don’t let anybody knock your preferred genre. You like village-based mysteries (whether contemporary or historical) where justice is restored to the community in the end and nobody has to read about mutilations or have reason to be scared to go to bed? Be proud to read or write it. You like dark noir, international thrillers, or unreliable narrators? Go for it, and don’t let anybody tell you you’re wrong.

10: Heed your peers – mostly. In a critique group, pay attention to the same comment from several readers. Take a look and give the edit a chance. But if they’re asking for a change you truly think is wrong or doesn’t fit with your view of your story, stick to your (fictional) guns.

9: Pay attention to industry and genre standards. Don’t polish a 100,000-word manuscript about a tea shop if you want to sell it as a cozy. And don’t end your dark thriller (which might include dismemberment and obscenities) at 70,000 words if you want a publishing house to buy it.

8: (See #9) Review the book you read on its own merits. Okay, this tip is for readers only. Please don’t give a book a one-star review because you don’t like the genre (or the cover…). If you’re a domestic suspense or thriller fan who hates cozies, what’s the point in giving a cozy one star because it’s not your cup of tea (so to speak)?

7: Heed your publisher’s editors. These professionals are way more tuned into the market and your potential fans than you are. Ignore an editorial comment at your own peril. Carefully consider if you want to stet a copyeditor (ahem and however, comma before “too” is fine in my book…).

6: No matter how famous you are, please don’t phone it in. None of the Reds do this, of course, but we might all be able to think of a few writers with zillions of sales who keep writing the same story over and over. Their characters don’t grow, the love triangle never gets resolved, the language is sloppy, and the authors ignore their editors (see #7). Let this befall none of us here.

5: Get help. No, I don’t mean counseling – unless you need it, and then, please do. I mean, well, for example: I’m worthless at graphics. It takes me forever (and a new crop of silver hairs) to come up with a nice-looking square thingy (that is, “meme”) advertising a sale price or a new release. So I hire out the graphics to a virtual assistant, who also posts to Instagram for me – with my input, of course – because I’m no good at that, either. It saves me a huge amount of grief and is well worth the fairly low cost. 

4: Find your tribe. Go hang out, in person or online, with others writing in your genre – Sisters in Crime (National, your local chapter, the Guppies), RWA, SWCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators), sci-fi writers – whoever and wherever they are. You’ll hear about most of these tips from people who get what you do.

3: Schedule health. By that I mean daily exercise, lots of water, the healthy food of your choice. Because…don’t you want to keep doing this wonderful work?

2: Appreciate your readers. Because, really, aren’t we crafting the best story we can because we want people (lots of people…) to read it? I seriously don’t care if readers buy the book, check it out from the library, borrow it from their sister, or find it in the dollar sale bin. I appreciate you. If you are so moved, please tell everyone you know how much you liked my writing. And if it made your life better for a while, I’ve done my job.

1: Enjoy the ride! Grab a bottle of bubbly (forget about #3 for the moment) and some chocolate. Isn’t it glorious for your dream to come true? Whether you have a single half-finished manuscript, your first book under contract, or dozens of published books (looking at you, Reds), we’re doing the work we love. We’re bringing joy, nail-biting, sleepless nights of page turning, and escape to readers. What could be better?

Readers: What are your tips? Writers: please add yours. I’ll pick my favorite comment and send a signed copy when my ship – I mean, box of books – comes in!

Book two in the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, Murder at the Taffy Shop, is set in August, full season on Cape Cod. When bike shop owner Mac Almeida heads out forll a walk with her friend, she finds a horrified Gin staring at an imperious summer person, dead on the sidewalk in front of Gin’s candy shop, Salty Taffy’s. When the police find the murder weapon in Gin’s garage, the Cozy Capers book group members put their heads together to clear Gin’s nameand figure out who killed the woman whom almost everyone disliked. After the killer later invades Mac’s tiny house to finish her off, Belle, Mac’s African Gray parrot, comes to the rescue. Murder at the Taffy Shop releases March 31 in a paperback exclusive from Barnes & Noble.

Maddie Day– aka Edith Maxwell – is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha-nominated and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She pens the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries and the Country Store Mysteries. Maddie lives with her beau north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen. She hopes you'll visit her alter-ego and her on their web site, sign up for their  monthly newsletter, visit them on social media, and check out all their books and short stories.