Where Are All the Writers?

photo courtesy of shutterhacks

Recently, I did a book review at my local SCBWI chapter's monthly meeting. I'm always inspired and informed at our meetings, but this time I walked away with two significant inspirations:

1. I was encouraged to polish an old manuscript and submit it for a manuscript critique at the SCBWI OK spring conference (and I did!). I'll blog about it after I get the critique back. I actually surprised myself at how excited I was to write something I was proud of.

2. I was inspired with a new blog topic (read: today's blog).

The big discussion topic for the meeting was the upcoming spring conference and why the registration numbers are so low (and why they were low back in the fall too). We began by brainstorming ways to get the word out. It became clear to me that the target age of the conference attendee audience is a large factor. For the most part, I believe the conference is targeting teachers and older adults who have always considered writing a book but never done anything about it. Therefore, most of the discussion at the meeting concentrated on print and television advertisements. Personally, I think social networking should be the focus of their advertising, and I think it would bring in a fresh wave of younger writers.

The frustration with the low numbers was palpable, but no one really could put their finger on why the numbers have shifted so much in the last year. Drawing from my recent clients, I suggested that maybe the surge in self-publishing was the reason people didn't feel the need to come to conferences anymore. It was like a light went on in the room, and soon everyone was buzzing about print on demand and people they knew who published a book (but probably didn't make any money off of it).

As an editor, most of my business comes from people wanting to self-pub. And, to be honest, I've turned away a lot of business for people who wanted to self-pub. I believe self-publishing has its place--primarily with people who have a significant market they know they can sell their product to (e.g., itinerant ministers who have a merch table with them wherever they speak). But there are a lot of people out there who want to see their names on the cover of a book, so they think they can be the exception and self-pub to make some money and break into the world of published authors.

I understand how hard it is to trek down the "traditional publishing" road. I know there's a lot of time, rejection, time, disappointment, and, of course, the time factor lurking on both sides of the road; and I realize that the obstacles appear insurmountable. But I also know something else that trumps all of that--when you get your first book contract, you get a big check (I realize big is relevant, but no matter how small you think your advance is, it will, more than likely, make a self-pub's profits look minuscule).

The benefits of self-publishing are short and sweet--you can see your name printed on a book in a relatively short amount of time. It will probably cost you a lot of money (probably more than you'll make back, unless you have an established market); and it will be more trouble than you are expecting. But, yes, your name will be on the cover of a book that you can show off to your friends and grandchildren.

Let me be frank:
1. The quality of your book will be significantly better if you publish through the traditional route (unless you're willing to spend thousands of dollars to get a professional editor and graphic designer to work with you--thousands is not an exaggeration. You get what you pay for in editing and design).
2. The world is a much smaller place, so finding the information you need to get an agent or publishing house to pick you up is easier than it's ever been. If you don't find the information you need, it's either because you don't know how to surf the Internet, or you're lazy.
3. A publisher should pay you for your book, not the other way around.
4. You need help. Just because you write a book doesn't mean it's publishable.
5. If you plan to self-publish, contrary to popular belief, you definitely should be investing in writing conferences and getting involved with local writers in your area. Getting your name on the cover of a book is only a small step in the publishing world. There's so much more you need to learn to be successful (i.e., to make money), and these conferences are your shortcut to getting a leg up on your competition.

Enter my not-so-subtle plug for the upcoming SCBWI OK conference. For the small amount of money you pay to attend the conference, you get to skip weeks of surfing the web to find all the information you need to get published neatly packaged in a day's worth of conference sessions; and you get an opportunity to submit to all of the publishing houses represented at the conference, which are normally closed to un-agented submissions (that's worth the price of admission right there). For a few dollars more, you can have a professional critique your WIP, again, skipping weeks of research and study you would've had to have done perusing blogs, Twitter accounts, and more figuring out what's popular right now, where your manuscript fits into the current market, and how you can make it better (please note, the deadline for submitting a manuscript critique is tomorrow--February 14).

I realize SCBWI focuses on writing for children, and there are many who read my blog who aren't interested in writing for children. The rules are the same. Just find a conference for writers in your area, get plugged in with other writers, and start doing your research online. With today's social media, there is no excuse for wasting your time submitting an inappropriate manuscript to an agent or publishing house.

Okay, lots of soap boxes in this post. I think I need to do more blogging about the research I've done on the publishing world. There's just too much good information not to share.

Two questions I leave you with:

1. Why do you think conference registration numbers are low (e.g., marketing, self-publishing, the economy, etc.)?
2. What are you favorite online sources for current publishing information?

Disposables Can't Keep Up

I am a classic Type-A mama. I've got my to-do lists, my routines, and my schedules. I love to plan, and I stay very busy. Minutes don't get wasted in my day. I'm a problem solver. When there's a problem, I fix it. Right away. I don't wait around for someone else to fix said problem, and I hate it when I ask for help and the so-called experts know less than I do. But my biggest pet peeve is when I use a product that only has one function, and when that function isn't working, that product is useless. Useless product = a waste of money that I have no control over.

Many of my readers know that I'm a cloth-diapering mama. I have sung its praises over and again, and I have guided many along in their quest to begin using cloth diapers. (Read this post for my most helpful FAQ blog about cloth diapering.) I started three years ago because I saw the potential for saving money and controlling which substances constantly rub on my baby's bum. What I've recently come to appreciate is the fact that any pee/poop challenge I encounter along the way, I can find a solution. (Disposable diapers don't afford me that luxury.) Right now, my challenge is a heavy wetter. I've read through friends' (who use disposables) threads on FB asking for solutions to heavy-wetter problems, and the answers boils down to only one option--get up and change the sleeping baby in the middle of the night. Ugh. No, thank you.

I've got a heavy wetter who soaks through disposables at night like a champ, but the solutions to my challenge are numerous in the cloth-diapering world. Right now my daughter, who has a protruding belly that could rival Buddha, wears a diaper to bed that basically balances out her belly in front with a ginormous fluffy bum in the back. Watching her waddle through the hallway in her PJs will bring a smile to the stubbornest of haters. It's really that cute. But more importantly, it's under control and doesn't cost me more money.

I start with a BumGenius pocket diaper, trifold a Hemp Babies insert, and stuff it in the pocket under the full-size insert. Then I layer another Flip cover over top of the BG just to keep it all together and add extra protection. Voila! Dry baby in the morning. Problem solved quickly, and I didn't lose money on useless product along the way--easy and inexpensive.

So, while I started cloth diapering because I wanted to save money and keep yucky chemicals away from my baby's bum, I've found that cloth diapers offer even more benefits:

1. I get to sleep through the night. Ahhh.
2. If my baby wakes up soaked in the morning (yes, she's that heavy of a wetter--we love our agua in this house), then I have other options to try or more layers to add. I don't have to (excuse my cliche, no pun intended) throw the baby out with the (quite dirty) "bath" water. I get to keep my baby, my diapers, and I can always find a solution. Even if I reach a wall in my limited knowledge of cloth diapering, through the networking I've done online, I always have a cloth-diaper mama with an answer who's only a few clicks away. Or I can get on Cotton Babies' website (my favorite source for cloth diapers and accessories) and find answers in their forums, on their live chat, or by calling their helpful customer service.

Disclaimer: I have not received any sort of compensation for this post, but I am entering the content of this blog in this contest.

Confessions of an Addict

Dear Readers,

It's been too long. I've seen many of you have been frequenting my blog even in my absence. Thank you to the faithful! I have to admit, I have been focusing my creative energy in other places, mainly Pinterest (If you need an invite, message me your email address). Does this even count as an outlet for creative energy? I'm just clicking and repinning the stuff I like. BUT, despite my hubby's daily tirades that Pinterest is of the devil, I feel my life has been enhanced. I have many many projects about the house inspired from Pinterest. And I feel like I'm reading more blogs (instead of less) because of it. It's like a pictorial guide to all blogs, and more often than not, I'm lead to blog posts I wouldn't have found on my own yet they cover topics I'm extremely interested in.

For example, food. I've been cooking and baking. A. Lot. Yikes. Calorie counting beware. I feel like all bets are off during fall. The pumpkins. The apples. The squash. The cooler weather that begs me to turn my oven on. Ahhh. I love it.

So, if you need a little inspiration and a new outlet for your creative energy (I refuse to repin the "Thank you, Pinterest, for helping me feel creative even though I've really been sitting at my computer for three hours" because it's not true), here are some links to my favorite boards right now:

Party Ideas (From decorations to food to themes, ahh, inspiration!)

Homeschool Activities (Mainly preschool stuff but really a little bit of everything including some Montessori-inspired pictures that I adore)

Pumpkins and Red Maple Leaves (Everything fall)

Gift Wrap (DIY ideas for wrapping gifts, making cards, and free printables)

Dinner (Recipes, recipes, recipes. If I've already made the recipe, I've commented below it with my evaluation and suggestions for next time)

Enjoy. And go jump in a pile of leaves. I just love this season.

*photo courtesy of jinterwas

Living Simply

photo courtesy of Horia Varlan

Lately, I've been dwelling a lot on the concept of living simply. I read stories like this of people who limit their possessions to 100 items or less, and I wonder if I'm capable of the same. I don't see any need to do something this extreme, but the principle of reducing, refusing, and rejiggering is appealing.

If you strolled through my home, you'd see a severe lack of toys. Despite the fact that I have two young girls, my house is not overrun with plastic or large toys. I prefer to buy things that stimulate the imagination and leave room for creativity rather than dead-end items that only have one purpose or character to each. Sure, my daughters love going to friends' homes and excitedly running/crawling from toy to toy trying new buttons that flash and make noise and rolling around new characters they don't see often in their own home. And I'm completely fine with that. It's new and exciting for them, and I love to see them experience new things.

Despite friends' toys' newness, I cannot think of a single item in the last three years that my daughter has chosen to cling to, cry for, or desperately want after we leave our friends' homes. In fact, most toys she plays with at others' homes only hold her attention for a few short moments before she's on to the next one. Playtime is generally a race to touch every new toy in the room before leaving.

We've all heard parents lament the high-ticket items they were so excited to buy for their children only to find that a bucket filled with water and other cups and bowls, or an empty box provided hours and hours of child-preferred entertainment. This only reinforces my desire to keep only meaningful toys in our home. Perhaps this will change as the girls get older, but my desire is that the principle will never leave them--money can't buy happiness; enjoy life in the now and the people who surround you.

All this to say, while I make it a regular routine to clear out our toy baskets and throw away unused toys or cheap kid's meal prizes, I see a great disconnect to extend that routine to every other area of my home. With our house for sale, we've filled a rather large storage unit with all of our "unnecessary" stuff to de-clutter our home for show. I can count on one hand, actually, one or two fingers, the number of times I've had to go back to the unit to get something out that I needed. Naturally, this makes me wonder why I needed all that stuff in the first place.

If our home does sell quicker than we find a new one, we've contemplated switching to an apartment temporarily. To be honest, this idea thrills me--a life of less. Less bills. Less cleaning. Less clutter. Less responsibility. It sounds divine, doesn't it? And since my daughters thrive both in the home and outside doing activities of all sorts, I have no doubt they'll conform well to a change toward simplicity.

What are your thoughts, dear readers? Are you appalled at my hypocrisy to simplify my daughters' lives and yet hoard useless items of my own? I'll be honest; I am appalled at myself. And I have every intention of having a huge moving sale once our house sells. Even though I had to put all my stuff in storage to realize how little it means to me, at least I've taken that step, and now I'm ready for the next. How about you?

Need Help!

Dear Lovely Readers,

My daughter is less than two months away from a big diet change to more table food and less monochromatic (i.e., boring) food. She's doing great eating well--almost too well. My grocery bill is growing in leaps. This girl consumes A LOT of food at each meal. So, I'm looking to you for some new, fresh ideas. Here are the big players in our daily diet right now:

Sweet potatoes

Black beans

Avocados

Bananas

Mangoes

Blueberries

Strawberries

Raspberries

Broccoli

Peas

Carrots

Zucchini

Watermelon

Almonds

Coconuts

I'm staying away from rice and flour until age one. She's tried yogurt, but it made her break out, so she's off that until she turns one. Any ideas? Snack ideas are especially welcome.

Thanks so much!

Birdie Birthday Party

I've decided the earliest age to throw a big birthday party is three. Up until now, birthdays were fun, but they were not something my daughter anticipated, got excited about, or really understood in the moment. This year that all changed. I talked it up a lot this year to help her prepare. (Talking my daughter through future events really helps prepare her to get the most out of a situation. I'm not sure if this is universal with children her age or if it's just because she's so shy, but she always does better when she knows what to expect.)

For the past few months, we have been watching the birds through a big picture window by our dining room table. I started to explain what a birdhouse and birdbath were, and she told me she wanted them. I told her she could ask for them for her birthday, so every time someone asked what she wanted for her birthday, she said, "I want a birdhouse and a bath for the birdies." This made picking a party theme easy (and a present theme, for that matter).

My newest addiction is Pinterest. It's THE answer to the question, "What do I do with my old magazines if I don't want to throw them out?" Don't read magazines anymore. Find everything online and save your favorite stuff on Pinterest. You can organize your boards by themes and pin your favorite pictures/inspirations together. Each picture will link back to its original source, so if there's a recipe, DIY project, or more details that you're looking for, all you have to do is click on that picture. Never again do I need a magazine or a notebook.

I. LOVE. It.

And I love snooping through other people's boards to get new ideas. So, I started a party board (this link will only work if you have a Pinterest account. If you want to start one, message me, and I'll send you an invite), and I pinned all my favorite decoration and favor ideas there. I didn't use everything, and I've added a lot of other random party stuff since, but I'm really excited about the results.

The party was a smashing success, and my daughter even thanked me for it afterward. Sigh. Perfect. Enjoy!

Activity: Paint-Your-Own Birdhouses. I found these cheapest at Hobby Lobby with either a coupon or when the unfinished wood was 40 percent off.

This was my favorite area. The bunting is a handmade gift from a dear friend. We have used it over and over again in our home. The DIY egg-carton flowers tutorial is here.

Scattered throughout the trees were these hanging lanterns. The tutorial is here.

My amazing dad, Eric The Balloonman, is a handy resource for birthday parties! These balloon columns were all him. They really made everything look magical. Thanks, Dad!

Cupcakes courtesy of Sam's Club. I can't recommend them enough. Beautiful. Delicious. Cheap. I'm gushing. Seriously.

Let the party begin! Birdhouse painting was a huge success, but I made the mistake of not checking to make sure all paint was washable. Good thing most of the invitees were boys who could take off their shirts ;-)

My hottie hubby (no pun intended) slaved over the grill most of the party. It was in the mid-to-upper nineties for the party, which made the grill the least likely place to want to spend your time. He's my hero. He didn't complain once.

If you want people to attend/stay at your party, my personal belief is you must feed them. And feed them we did!

There was no shortage of help unwrapping presents. Smile.

A few of my favorite shots of the birthday girl.

And one of my favorite shots from the entire party--the aftermath. Party = complete success.

All photos courtesy of my talented mama, Judy. Thanks, Mom!

Baby Food Part 4 . . . and some news!

I'm back! Sorry for the delay between posts. I have some very exciting news, which semi-justifies my delay--we're selling our house! My hubby and I know it's the right time, so we've been working faithfully to de-clutter and spruce up our home. I always vowed I wouldn't save updates to do on my house until I get ready to sell--why not update while I'm living there and enjoy some of the fruit of my labors, right? Well, that has panned out to making the transition to sell a fairly straightforward process. If my hubby weren't working over sixty hours a week, we could've been ready to go in a matter of a couple of weeks, but with a hubby who's not home much (and when he is, he's justifiably exhausted), two little ones under my constant care, and a semi-normal existence, it's been a challenge to get anything, no matter how small, done in a reasonable amount of time.

photo courtesy of kevindooley

Of course, this naturally begs the question, where are you moving to? The answer is simply, I don't know. We're looking for some change--either closer to everything we love in the city, or possibly land on the outskirts. With as little free time as we have, we've decided to take things ONE STEP AT A TIME. First step, prep the house to sell. Second step, find a realtor and put the house on the market. Finally, start doing some research about where we want to live.

Okay, I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, here are some more baby food suggestions and hints I've picked up in the midst of transitioning my baby from nursing to solids.

1. Taste the food you're giving your child. If you don't like it, don't give it to him/her. This is especially true with jarred baby food. Thankfully there's a great new alternative that we've been taking full advantage of--baby food in a squeeze pouch. It's re-sealable so you can use the leftovers later. There's no spoon needed--just squeeze the food into your baby's mouth. And when he/she gets older, he/she can feed himself/herself. My baby's a little over nine months, and she's already got the pouches mastered on her own.

You've got to do some shopping to get the good prices. Our favorite brand right now is Happy Tot because it's organic, tastes really good, and the packaging is BPA free. (Although the new studies on how people are able to so quickly making plastic products BPA free is a bit disturbing. For more information, read this.) We can find Happy Tot in some of our Targets, but not all of them. And it's way cheaper than Plum Organics. Happy Tot also went on sale at Babies R Us recently, so that's a good place to watch. But, the best prices are on Amazon--sign up to be an Amazon Mom, and then use the "Subscribe and Save" option instead of checking out through your cart--there are also occasional discount codes available too).

2. It's easy to feed your baby sweet fruits and sweet orange veggies, but give green a try! Spinach has been really easy for me to incorporate. I can blend raw baby spinach in fruit smoothies, and none of my family--even the big kids (hubby included) are any wiser. I can rub baby spinach with sea salt, drizzle with olive oil, and chop with some kalamata olives, and my nine-month old will eat it without hesitation. As I've mentioned before, I try to incorporate raw foods into my baby's diet as much as possible, and I've found that blending pears and spinach, or apples and spinach is really easy, really healthy, and my baby loves it!

Oh, and I use my Magic Bullet to make all my baby food--it really is magical. Another tip, if it's not blending right away and you need to add some liquid, use coconut water. It has so many more nutrients and good stuff in it than just plain tap water. My firstborn used to drink bottles of coconut water with her meals. She loved it. My second born isn't as excited, but she doesn't mind it blended in her food.

3. As I mentioned before, I'm following Gabriel Cousens's guide to raw baby food. To give you an idea of how we started things, I've give you a really abbreviated list of foods we used. To get the whole list, you'll have to buy the book.

At six months we used a lot of bananas, coconut water, mangos, pears, cucumbers (peeled & blended) and avocados.

LOTS of avocados!

At eight months we added some almonds (soaked and blended with fruit they make DELICIOUS porridges), grapes, olives, and more. Nine months is when we added more greens--kale, spinach, and more. And like I said, you really just need to buy the book to get the full lists and the delicious recipes. Seriously, I eat any leftovers of the recipes I make from this book. They are so yummy!

4. We talked about the dirty dozen before. I want to give you one more tip about using produce that will really set you up for success--and it will help you actually use all of the produce you buy. I think I heard this first on the Rachel Ray show. Wash/soak your produce as soon as you get home and unload the groceries. My routine is to unload groceries. As I'm unloading, I stack all the produce that needs to be soaked by the sink. Once my counters are clear again, I fill my sinks with an apple cider vinegar/purified water mix, and I throw everything in the sinks and let them soak for 30-60 minutes. Bam! It's all washed, so I don't cringe when pulling it out and grumbling as I wash it while rushing to make a meal. Bam! It's ready to eat, so I can just pop it in my mouth when I need a snack.

This is a pretty average supply of produce for one week (about two sinks' full).

What are your baby food tips? I'd love to hear what you've used, what you've found effective, and what you'd recommend to others just starting.

**Coming soon--pictures and details about my daughter's three-year birdie birthday party!