Ellen Gable Hrkach Catholic Fiction – Catholic Writers Guild

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From the President’s Desk – Success, Faithfulness and Farewell

November 27, 2015/6 Comments/in Catholic Fiction, Catholic Writing and Publishing, CWG Member News, Fiction/by Ellen Gable Hrkach

At the 2015 Catholic Writers Retreat in Michigan!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a wonderful feast yesterday.

Catholic Writers Retreat: I’d like to thank all the attendees, presenters and organizers of the Catholic Writers Retreat. We all had a wonderful time writing, praying and socializing! Special thanks to Margaret Realy for organizing this wonderful event.

Blessed Mother Teresa once said, “We are not called to be successful. We are called to be faithful.”

In about four days, I will no longer be president of the Catholic Writers Guild so this will be my last “From the President’s Desk” post.

When I first discovered the Catholic Writers Online group, and later, the Catholic Writers Guild, I truly felt like I had come home. I was so happy to be a part of a group of faithful Catholic writers. I hadn’t really thought much about “success.” I just wanted to write. And I just wanted to be faithful to my Catholic faith. At the time, there were only about 40 members of the Guild. In the eight years since I’ve been a active member, our membership has grown to over 500 members.

When I was asked to run as vice president in 2010, I readily agreed. Later, when I was asked to run for president, after a short discernment process, I readily agreed. Of course, I had no idea what was in store for me. Being president of this non-profit, mostly volunteer organization has had its share of challenges, but I’ve learned so much and I’ve gained many lifelong friendships.

I owe a tremendous gratitude to everyone in the Guild. Thanks especially to Ann Margaret Lewis (founding member and past president), who was always available to listen when I needed to chat, Karina Fabian (original president of the Guild), and the current members of the board: Dave Shaw (secretary), Karl Erickson (treasurer), Nancy Ward (committee coordinator), and Arthur Powers (VP and founding member).

Although I joined the Guild to be with like-minded faithful Catholic writers, I was surprised to find that much of what I’ve learned from Guild members over the past eight years has contributed to whatever “success” I’ve been fortunate to have. In the early years, I attended online conferences and chats. Later, I attended and helped to organize the live conferences. The success I’ve had as a writer has been the direct result of my involvement with the Guild. My books have been collectively downloaded over 625,000 times on Kindle. All of my novels have spent time on various Amazon Kindle bestsellers’ lists (In 2012, my novel, Stealing Jenny, was either #1 or #2 in several categories for 40 weeks of that year). I’ve been on EWTN’s Bookmark three different times and other TV and radio shows. And I’m actually making a modest supplemental income from my novels.

That success aside, my time as the president of the Guild, has been spent being faithful not only to the magisterium of the Catholic Church, but also to the values of our wonderful organization.

I won’t be leaving the Guild, however! I intend to remain on two very busy committees: the Seal of Approval and the Live Conference committees. I have a new job as the marketing director for a wonderful Catholic apostolate that promotes the regular practice of fasting. I write for the Live the Fast blog and newsletter; I write press releases and, best of all, from my regular practice of fasting, I’ve grown stronger in my faith (and even lost 10 pounds!).

Fellow CWG member and New Jersey native, Joe Wetterling, will be your new president. I’ve worked with Joe on three different committees. Besides being witty and knowledgeable about a variety of topics, Joe is level-headed and dependable. A little bit about Joe, in case you don’t know him:

Joe Wetterling is a professional educator and writer. During the day, his work includes performance improvement, technical training, and editing for the Temple University Health System. At home, Joe teaches the faith at his blog Ho Kai Paulos, comments on religious themes in fantasy and sci-fi at Baptized Imagination, and makes everything relate to Latin while helping homeschool his son. He’s a member of the Militia Immaculata. At the Catholic Writers Guild, Joe participates in blog editing, the Seal of Approval review process, and the CALA. Learn more about him at JoeWetterling.com.

Please take a moment over the next several weeks to welcome Joe to this challenging — yet fulfilling — position.

It has been my privilege and honor to serve as your president for three years and to serve on the Catholic Writers Guild board for five years. I look forward to continuing to be a part of this wonderful organization.

In Jesus and Mary,

Ellen Gable Hrkach

From the President’s Desk – February 28, 2014

February 28, 2014/0 Comments/in Catholic Fiction, Catholic Writers Conference Online, Catholic Writing and Publishing, CWG Seal of Approval/by Ellen Gable Hrkach

Image from iStock

You don’t have to live in Canada to have experienced a brutal winter this year with record breaking amounts of snow and bitterly cold temperatures across the North, Midwest, South and East. Some experts say that it’s the result of the Polar Vortex. Whatever it is, I am sure of one thing: I’m ready for spring.

I’m also ready for the Catholic Writers Conference Online which will take place from March 10th to 21st. If you’ve already registered, great! If not, registration is now closed (and hopefully you can join in the fun next year). Take a look at the schedule here.

In other news…are you a self-published author? If so, have you ever heard of The Independent Author Network? I belong to IAN. They are a great resource as well as a good marketing tool for the independently published author. Starting on March 1st, they will be offering a special yearly rate, 20% discounted from their normal rate. If you’re interested, email me at fullquiverpublishing(at)gmail.com and I will give you more details (as well as a coupon code for the discount).

Have you written or contributed to at least one book? If so, your book is probably on Goodreads. Goodreads is an excellent marketing tool for both self-published and traditionally published authors. To learn more about the Goodreads Author Program, click here.

Volunteers needed! We have two positions currently open that need volunteers.

First, Sarah Reinhard, SoA Chairperson, has asked for one additional volunteer for the Seal of Approval committee (Evaluation Coordinator) whose duties are as follows:

1.Recruit evaluators by sharing the link to the Google Form
2.Follow-up to make sure evaluators have received books, are reading
3.Log denial points from submitted evaluations on current quarter’s Decline Notes document
4.Bring concerns and needs to Chair’s attention as needed

Second, the CWG blog needs a Virtual Book Tour (VBT) Coordinator, duties as follows:
1.Communicate with CWG members regarding new books and hosting them for VBT
2.Copy and paste the information for the VBT into a blog post (making sure that the books are appropriate for the blog) Note: VBT Books do NOT have to have the Seal of Approval
3.Schedule posts

If you feel called to do either of these two positions, please email me: president(at)catholicwritersguild.com

Last, but not least, my fifth book, A Subtle Grace, will be coming out on Kindle March 22nd and in paperback on April 6th. I recently received a proof copy. After years of work, it’s always very satisfying for me to hold the finished product in my hands. Special thanks to my husband for taking this cool photo of all my books (this represents ten years worth of writing, polishing, editing and nearly 500,000 words!)

photo copyright James Hrkach

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me: president(at)catholicwritersguild.com

Ellen Gable Hrkach
President, Catholic Writers Guild

Balance in Fiction Writing

February 26, 2013/17 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing, Editing, Encouragement for Writers, Fiction, Marketing Your Work, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tricks/by Leslie Lynch

Balance.

A few days ago, Ellen Gable Hrkach posted a great blog on common errors to avoid in writing fiction. One item she mentioned got me to thinking, namely too much dialogue.

What’s ‘too much’?

A lot of times that depends on the genre you’re writing. Clearly, screenplays and graphic novels rely almost exclusively on dialogue.

Novels, however, require a blend of narrative, description, introspection and dialogue. The ratio of one to the other changes with both prevailing ‘style’ and with genre. Novels written a century ago utilize long passages of description and flowery stretches of dialogue, whereas the trend today is for faster, tighter construction in all areas, especially dialogue.

How do you know if your manuscript has a good balance? Part of this comes down to voice, that elusive factor that makes your work yours. However, we’ve all had the experience of reading a book and finding ourselves skipping over passages, maybe even pages. If we skip too much, we’ll put the book down – and if that happens, we may never pick it up again.

Not good, if you’re the author.

Next time this happens, stop and analyze why you lost interest. Chances are there was too much of one element on the page. Too much description. Too much internal monologue, or perhaps too much narrative. Sometimes too much dialogue, but if that’s problematic, it’s more likely because the ‘voices’ of the characters are too similar. They need to be so distinctive that the reader knows who is speaking. Even so, if they go on for pages, the reader may tire. (For more on dialogue, click here.)

One helpful technique is to analyze your manuscript for the different elements and highlight the pages. Margie Lawson teaches a method for this in her Deep Editing classes. Choose different colors for narrative, description, emotion, dialogue, and internal thought, etc., then go to town with your highlighters (or crayons, or whatever your inner child wants to play with!). If one color dominates a page, revision might be in order. One of my critique partners occasionally says of my work, “This section has too much yellow.” Since we’ve both taken Lawson’s class, I immediately understand what the problem is. My work flows better if the page has a rainbow of colors. Another application of this technique is to apply your highlighters to one (or more) of your favorite published books.

Keep in mind there is no ‘one size fits all’ in fiction. Thank God! Otherwise, reading would get boring! Check out a wide variety of books to see how other authors manipulate the elements that create story.

For instance, action novels such as Lee Child’s Reacher series use lots of dialogue, but it’s nearly all less than one line long. Child also uses relatively long stretches of description/narrative, and he tends to go with one or the other at any given point. His books are effective, powerful, and popular.

Debbie Macomber takes a more blended approach in her wildly successful women’s fiction and romance novels. You will find narrative, description, introspection and dialogue on nearly every page.

Many authors are exploring screenwriting classes, some for the challenge of breaking into a new field, but most for a better understanding of both story structure and use of dialogue. While this is an excellent strategy for honing of specific elements, written fiction is more effective and more engaging when the entire spectrum of tools are used to create the final product.

The subject of balance also touches on pacing, which is a topic deserving of its own post. Narrative, description, and interior monologue can slow the pace—although skillfully applied, they can ratchet up the tension until it is unbearable. Dialogue tends to speed things up.

As you can see, there isn’t a cut-and-dried answer to ‘how much is too much’. But a willingness to analyze and evaluate your writing will always make it stronger. Look at your work with an eye toward what you want to accomplish in a given scene. Learn to use all the tools in your toolbox. Buy books on the craft of writing. Review them once in a while. Take classes. Be open to feedback from trusted colleagues, and then decide how (or if) you will apply their advice.

Find the best balance for your story and your voice.

Have you struggled with this aspect of writing? Do you have tips to share? Please do!

The Stigma of Self-Publishing

March 12, 2012/4 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing, Self-Publishing/by Ellen Gable Hrkach

I am the self-published author of four books. Three of my books are currently on various bestsellers’ lists on Kindle. My second novel, In Name Only, won a Gold Medal in Religious Fiction in the 2010 IPPY Awards (the first Catholic novel to win this award). It has been #1 in its category for nearly three months (dropping to #2 for two weeks when my third novel Stealing Jenny took over the #1 position). Stealing Jenny is #2 in one category and has been in the top 20 of four other categories for three weeks. In the past year, my books have been downloaded by tens of thousands of readers. And yet, when I recently asked a local Catholic newspaper if they would write a review of my latest book, they replied, “We don’t review self-published books.”

Another time, I attended a large “book fair,” where hundreds of local authors set up tables and sold books. There were other self-published authors at this event. At first glance, however, it wasn’t obvious that I was a self-published author. My books had professional looking covers and book trailers. I sat beside a published author who began conversing with a prospective reader. “Did you self-publish your book?” the reader asked. “Oh, no, I would never have done that. My books are published by a reputable publisher.” She would never have stooped so low as to self-publish. Ouch.

Self-publishers have come a long way. Years ago, authors who took the “vanity” publishing route were rarely taken seriously and they rarely sold more than a few books.

That attitude has improved in the seven years since I published my first novel, although many professionals in the publishing industry and some traditionally-published authors continue to have a bias against self-published authors and books.

I believe part of the reason is because self-publishing is so easy nowadays that just about anybody can do it and the quality of some self-published books is poor. Some naive first-time authors think they can do it all. Some newbies think that they are great writers and don’t “need” an editor. Novice authors often think they can design their own cover without any sort of advice from a visual designer. I have seen more than a few self-published books in my capacity as reviewer for Catholic Fiction.net in which the quality of writing was so bad I won’t even review it.

Another reason there may be a negative bias toward self-publishing could be the belief that self-published authors wouldn’t be able to get published by a traditional publisher or that perhaps they have already been rejected. This may be true for some self-published authors. But consider the case of self-published millionaire, Amanda Hocking who was rejected by traditional publishing houses and who is selling 100,000 books per month on Kindle.

On the one hand, I understand why some newspapers, magazines and websites need to have a blanket rule in place for self-published books (since there are many poorly written self-published books). On the other hand, I have also read extremely well-written novels by authors who self-published: Elena Maria Vidal, Gerard Webster, Christopher Blunt, Krisi Keley, Regina Doman, to name a few.

Although self-publishers have come a long way, we have not arrived yet with regard to “stigma” of self publishing. Despite the stigma, I don’t believe I would ever go the traditionally published route. After self-publishing four books (with lots of assistance) and after having 100 percent of the control, it would be hard to give my books to a publishing company. For me, it would be like giving my baby away to someone else to raise.

The stigma and negative bias of self-publishing will likely not disappear completely. However, if self-published authors continue to publish quality books, sell to thousands of readers and raise the bar for self-published books, it will hopefully lessen the stigma.

To learn more about self-publishing, I’ll be giving two chat presentations at the Catholic Writers Conference Online in March: Self-Publishing and Kindle e-books.

Increase The Odds For Self-Publishing Success

February 13, 2012/2 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing, Fiction, Self-Publishing/by Ellen Gable Hrkach

When I began writing my first book, Emily’s Hope, ten years ago, I did so thinking, “If just one person can read my book and feel they’ve learned something, then I’ll have reached my goal.” It never even occurred to me to “make money” with my books. But, eight years and three books later, I am making a nice supplemental income.

The average self-published book will sell fewer than 150 copies (and most of these will be to the author’s family and friends). That isn’t even enough to pay for your printing and/or editing expenses.

Remarkably, self-published novelist Amanda Hocking, has sold 1.5 million Kindle books. And while that is unusual, many self-published authors ARE selling books and making money.

So what is the difference between successful self-published books that sell thousands of copies and ones that only sell a few hundred or less? And what can you do to increase your chances of selling more books?

1) Quality of Writing
There is usually (although not always) a difference between self-published books that sell thousands of copies compared to those that only sell a few hundred and it’s most often in the quality of writing. Please, please, please don’t just accept praise from your friends and relatives telling you that your book is the greatest masterpiece ever written. Give your manuscript to a professional editor, as well as a copy-editor. Humbly consider their advice. Once you’ve finished editing, ask those friends who think your book’s a masterpiece to proofread it for you.

My spiritual director once told me that editing a manuscript is like polishing a diamond. The more you polish a manuscript, the more the brilliance shines through.

It takes a lot of work to write the first draft of a book. However, in my experience, it takes a lot more work to edit, polish, edit some more, polish some more until the book is ready for publication.

2) Eye-Catching Professional Cover
If I had a dollar for every self-published book that had a poorly designed or downright bad cover, I’d be able to take my family out to dinner weekly for the next month.

A book’s cover is the first image a perspective buyer/reader sees, whether it’s in print or on Kindle. The cover MUST be professionally produced, aesthetically pleasing and tell the story of a book with one glance. Learn more about making a good cover from my post on covers entitled “Discover Your Cover.”

3) Extensive marketing versus minimal marketing
This is the one thing that can make or break a book, in my humble opinion. There are many, many outstanding (even brilliant) self-published books out there that are going virtually unnoticed because the authors have done little or no marketing.

Writing the book is only a small part of the success of a book. In my talk at the Catholic Writers Conference Live last year in Philadelphia, I spoke about the importance of marketing: blogging, social networking (Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter, Linked In), blog tours, Kindle e-books. Marketing takes 90 percent of my time. But then again, I’m a social person. I like connecting with people on Twitter or Facebook. I enjoy a lively conversation on my blog. I enjoy commenting on other bloggers’ posts. If an author is not willing or doesn’t have the time to market, this will show in sales.

4) Target Audience is Too Small
Sometimes an author will write a book directed to a smaller target audience. This has definitely been an issue with my first book, Emily’s Hope, which some people have coined as “NFP Fiction.” Since NFP-users probably make up a very small percentage of women who read, my target audience for that book is decidedly small. Most readers don’t even know what NFP is, so it’s not a book they would normally pick up.

My second novel, In Name Only, is very different from my first book. Although the characters are Catholic, it’s not as genre specific. It’s an historical romance, which makes it more appealing to the female population. It’s not as religiously thick, so secular readers can enjoy it as much as Christian readers. It has been my most popular book thus far, selling hundreds of e-books a week on Amazon Kindle, often attaining the #1 position in Religious Drama.

Most self-published books sell an average of 150 books. You can increase your odds of selling more than that by considering the following factors: quality of writing, eye-catching cover, good marketing and a wide target audience.

Keep these things in mind for a successful self-publishing experience.

photo purchased from iStock

Ellen Gable Hrkach is an award-winning, bestselling author of four books. She will be doing two presentations this year at the Catholic Writers Conference Online: Self Publishing: From Draft to Quality book and The Future of Self-Publishing: E-Books.