IWSG: Pitfalls

Hello All;

I love the Insecure Writers Support Group question for this month: What pitfalls would you warn other writers to avoid in their publication journey?

Now, I don't love this question because I have lots of advice to give to newbie writers. Quite the opposite; I love this question because it gives me the opportunity to request YOUR advice and experience in the comments on this post.

Ask yourself this question before submitting to a publication, or agency: what are they doing for me  (you) as an author? What do I (you) put in, as opposed to what I (you) get in return?

Basically, my advice on pitfalls is to have the self confidence to know your skills and marketability, and follow your instincts.  If it seems too good to be true, it probably is, especially if a small fee is to garner exponential profits.

Thanks for reading my post today. And I'm serious about wanting to know what pitfalls you have to share in the comments. I will visit a lot of blogs on the IWSG linky over the next few days, but I can't visit all the 195 links (194 minus mine) and I'm curious to know what publication pitfalls other authors have encountered. So if you stop by my blog, leave your insights. I do return a visit to every blog that comments here.

And please, add a reply comment to todays IWSG post, as well as visit our IWSG creator Ninja Captain Alex J Cavanaugh, and this month's co-hosts Erika Beebe; Sandra Hoover; Susan Gourley; Lee Lowrey.

I have also been a consistent participant of the Write Edit Publish (WEP) prompt writing web site. The WEP post on July 26 announces that WEP and IWSG are now partners, with spec-fic author and IWSG admin Nick Wilford as prominent WEP judge for the WEP prompt writing contests. Visit the WEP prompt writing challenges site for full details on the prompts, posting dates, prizes, and judging criteria. Winner of the WEP prompt  receives a $10 Amzon gift certificate, a guest post on the WEP blog site, and a special badge proclaiming the author a winner of the prompt.

Sign ups for the next 1000 word WEP/IWSG challenge is August 1, with a posting date of  August 15.

Who hasn’t had one? This one’s easy, right?

A commitment made when a prospect looked attractive, a decision on a course of action, and then regrets and reluctance to follow through.  It could be an engagement, a date, a diet plan, a chore someone said they’d do and didn’t follow through.  A strip poker-game. Or maybe a gamble with super-high, panic inducing stakes.  A break for independence that once made, gives pause for second thoughts.  A bolt for the grass-always-greener pasture and then wanting to vault-n-turn right back. Something offered, then withdrawn.  Myriad ways to go

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See you there/then. And don't forget to vist IWSG creator Alex J Cavenaugh and the Aug 1 IWSG POST that announces the next IWSG Anthology details.

Oh: in adding the links to this post, I read a resonating post by Cloud Nine Girl (aka Erika Beebe) and discovered this line in her post that really resonated with me as an author:

"In a post by the beginningwriter.com, the author states POV is “who’s eyes we see the action through, who’s head we’re inside of, and who’s feelings we experience as that character feels them.”

The author goes on to say, “This is why it’s so important to choose the right POV character for your story. It will “determine what you tell, how you tell it and, often, even what the action means.”

I hope you find this quote as inspirational as I did.