Your Writer Board of Directors—Creating Connections

A guide to networking by Tamela Buhrke

If you’ve been reading my series on building Your Writer Board of Directors, then you are probably wondering where you can

meet these mythical guides to your writing career. How will you connect with people who are willing to provide support and give advice on writing, getting published and the business of being a writer?

By joining a writer community, that’s how.

No I’m not talking about that sweet little ladies group that meets in the local church basement (though, they’re nice too). I’m talking about an organized group of writers who live, eat and breathe writing.

These communities come in two flavors: online and real world.

You can join one or several. Plus, you can find groups that deal with specific topics, such as young adult or women's subjects. Here is a sample of the types online communities that connect writers:

• WritersCafe.org is, according to their website, an online writing community where writers can post their work, get reviews, befriend other writers, and much more.
• Protagonize.com boasts over 16,000 authors from around the world. It too let’s you post your work and get review, connect with authors and ask questions.
• Mibba.com is a site for teens and early twenties. You can connect with other young writers, upload stories and poetry then get feedback.
• BookCountry.com is a new social network created by Penguin. You can post part or all of your manuscript and let the community give you reviews and feedback. They also plan to add self-publishing services.
• SheWrites.com Offers the largest community of women writers online. They approach the topics of writing from a woman's perspective. However, men are free to join.

These free social networks provide you with the best of all possible worlds. You can meet and mingle, get inspiration and share your writing frustrations without the commitment of regular meetings. Best of all, you can do it on your own time and it’s always there when you need it. Have a busy week? Don’t log in. Need advice or a pat on the back? Hop into a forum or chat room and find a friend.

These sites are a low maintenance way of learning, growing and networking in our field. You may even pick up a few local friends and be able to set up local meetups, write-ins and coffee talks.

Once you’ve gotten your feet wet online, getting involved with local writing groups and organizations can help you build your connections within the publishing world. There are so many organizations; it would be hard to list them all here. Fortunately, I found a link to a site that has the most comprehensive list I’ve seen:

http://www.forwriters.com/groups.html

From the Alamo Writers group in San Antonio to our own Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, the list will help you to find a group near you or a group that represents your genre or other connections.

Now that you are mixing and mingling with writers, the next step is to build friendships. You don’t need to build your board yet. Right now, just get to know people. Listen and learn. People who attend these meetings regularly often have a world of experience and understanding about the business of being a writer.

Start by getting comfortable with your fellow writers and finding information, friendship and support. As your career grows, you will need critique, publishing and marketing partners. Next time, I will show you where to find groups for more specific purposes.

See you next week.

Writer Board of Directors - Overcoming Loner Mentality

From the lap desk of Tamela Buhrke

Poke. Poke. Hey, you. Yes, you. The one who doesn’t need anybody. The writer who can do it all. Write. Publish. Market. How’s that working for you? Are you where you want to be? Published. Wealthy. Worshiped. Conquering the Best Seller’s List?

Yeah. That’s what I thought.

So let’s take a look at this loner mentality. We know it's not working, but why? According to popular author and speaker on achieving your dreams, Barbara Sher, there is one consistent reason why people fail. She says over and over that isolation is the dream killer. Isolation. The very thing most writers crave, is the thing that will take us down.

The reason?

Isolation limits you. There’s no one to bounce ideas off, and no one to give you advice. You are cut off from resources, ideas and situations that can help you build your dream. After awhile, becoming a successful author sounds too difficult. You get disillusioned and give up. That leads to the final reason for why isolation kills dreams... there is no one there to kick you in the butt and get you back on track.

However, if you have a board of directors, then they will motivate you to succeed. According to Sher, they will also provide a key ingredient to success: guilt. Imagine telling a team of people who are dedicated to your success that you will have a book finished by the end of the month. You don't. The disappointed looks on their faces will guilt you into getting it done.

All of this means that you have a choice. You can be the hermit who never gets the job done, or the hero of your own story. For those smart asses who don’t want to be a hero, feel free to be the villain who dominates the world. Either way, it is time to get out, meet people and build your own personal board of directors. Consider me your temporary butt kicker.

Where do you start? Look for people in your life who can act as your cheer leaders, your critique partners, or your butt-kickers. The people you choose should have writing experience and their own writing goals. Put them on a tentative list. If you don’t know any people who would fit the job, then it’s time to join some writing classes, organizations or social networks.

For the time being, just look around your associates for potential board members. Don’t approach them yet. Don't go crazy trying to find new people. Next week we’ll go over specific positions you will need to fill on the board and how to entice great people to be part of the team.