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How to Write a Blog: Part 1 (Members Only)

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There’s a daily kitchen conversation between my husband and I that goes something like this:

“Tell me what you want for supper tonight?”

“I dunno. What do you feel like cooking?”

“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be asking what you want.”

If you’ve been married—and cooking—as long as I have, you know that the hardest part of meal prep is coming up with fresh ideas instead of the same meals week after week. Writing a blog is like that—the hardest part is finding an idea. Even this blog was suggested to me by our content coordinator. (Thanks, Brenda!)

So how do you come up with ideas when your partner evades the question with another question and you don’t have a content coordinator? Call me old school (or behind the times), but one way to find ideas is through an online search. Simply type “blog ideas for authors” into your search engine and, voilà, thousands of articles and ideas. You might fine-tune your search: “blog ideas for fiction writers” or “blog ideas for brand new authors.”

You can do the same thing using AI. Here’s where I admit I had never used AI before, but it was time for me to give it a try. I asked Grok (but you can use any AI assistant, like Gemini, ChatGPT, etc.) to create a list of author blog topics. Grok produced a list of 15 items. When I asked Grok again later, I got a different list, this time with bulleted points. I liked this list much better. So do experiment with asking the questions, just don’t waste too much time on it.

Now that you’ve got a list of ideas, pick one. It doesn’t matter which one. Treat it as a writing prompt and just start scribbling (or typing). Maybe that idea becomes a finished blog or maybe it remains a warmup exercise. If the latter, try a different idea and keep writing.

Other sources of inspiration are blogs by your favourite authors. What are they writing about? Can you borrow one of their ideas? I hope you are following at least one author’s blog because art inspires art.

One author blog that I follow is by Terry Fallis. I was a fan long before he became the guest speaker at our London Writers Society event in 2023. (He’s been an LWS advocate ever since, and vice versa.) If you’ve ever chatted with Terry, you know he’s a warm, down-to-earth kind of guy and that comes across in his writing. (Another reason to follow an author is to get a sense of different blog writing styles.)

In one of his blogs, Terry wrote about books in his office. It inspired me to write “My Top Shelf” and “What Does Your Bookshelf Reveal.” Another blog, “My Parents’ Writerly Influences” was also sparked by one of Terry’s blogs.

I also follow Gretchen Staebler, author and “caregiver ally.” I discovered her memoir Mother Lode: Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver when I was writing my memoir If I Could Remember: Bears & Brains & Caring For My Mother (coming soon!).  Gretchen’s style and content is different from Terry’s. She often talks about aging, death and dying. It freed my voice for my blog “Last Rose of Summer.” (Her blog also emboldened me to ask her to write a blurb for my memoir’s book cover. And she did!)

Pádraig Ó Tuama is a poet blogger. Again, different style. He always presents a poem, then dissects it, connects it back to his life, his thinking, his writing. Remember…art inspires art. Sometimes the poem’s message or theme will inspire me, other times it’s just a line or even a single word that gets the creative juices flowing.

And the last source of inspiration I want to mention is going to the Source itself. It’s where I ask for ideas, what some might call ‘setting an intention.’ Basically, just before falling asleep, I put it out there:

“Bring me a blog idea.”

Whether you are speaking to the Universe, The Writing Collective of All Authors Past, Present and Future, or simply seeding your dreams, it doesn’t matter—the instruction works!

This has become a reliable method for me to get ideas which typically arrive next morning during that half-awake time just before dawn. It may take practice to start paying attention to those dreams, those messages. But, hey, isn’t that what authors do—pay attention? To details, to scenery, dialogue, mannerisms…dreams.

In summary, these are some ways to get author blog ideas:

  1. Online searches
  2. Ask AI
  3. Get inspiration from other authors’ blogs
  4. Set an intention
  5. Hire a VP and assign her the task of feeding you great ideas

But forget about getting ideas from your partner. It’s meatloaf again at our house tonight.

***

So, this was Part One of How To Write A Blog. Notice how I talked about my writerly life, made it personal. I also slipped in names and links for my books and blogs without shouting BUY MY BOOKS. And I spoke about other writers, acknowledged their work, gave them a shout-out (because writers support other writers).

All of this is Marketing 101. That’s what a blog does—markets you and your writing. There’s no need to make it pushy, high pressure marketing. Keep it a soft sell. Most of all, just be yourself.

The following parts of How to Write a Blog are available to members only. Isn’t it time you became a member?

Part 2—Setting The Blog Parameters

Part 3—Getting Blog Followers

Part 4—Publishing Your Blog

Donna Costa, President of the London Writers Society and author of If I Could Remember: Bears & Brains & Caring For My Mother, has written a tender and heartbreaking story of caregiving for her mother, who had Alzheimer’s. She blends memoir, fable and medical fact into an honest, sometimes raw, account of the changes faced by Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers. Learn more at donnacosta.ca

qtq80-2r8C6j

How to Write a Blog: Part 1

, ,

There’s a daily kitchen conversation between my husband and I that goes something like this:

“Tell me what you want for supper tonight?”

“I dunno. What do you feel like cooking?”

“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be asking what you want.”

If you’ve been married—and cooking—as long as I have, you know that the hardest part of meal prep is coming up with fresh ideas instead of the same meals week after week. Writing a blog is like that—the hardest part is finding an idea. Even this blog was suggested to me by our content coordinator. (Thanks, Brenda!)

So how do you come up with ideas when your partner evades the question with another question and you don’t have a content coordinator? Call me old school (or behind the times), but one way to find ideas is through an online search. Simply type “blog ideas for authors” into your search engine and, voilà, thousands of articles and ideas. You might fine-tune your search: “blog ideas for fiction writers” or “blog ideas for brand new authors.”

You can do the same thing using AI. Here’s where I admit I had never used AI before, but it was time for me to give it a try. I asked Grok (but you can use any AI assistant, like Gemini, ChatGPT, etc.) to create a list of author blog topics. Grok produced a list of 15 items. When I asked Grok again later, I got a different list, this time with bulleted points. I liked this list much better. So do experiment with asking the questions, just don’t waste too much time on it.

Now that you’ve got a list of ideas, pick one. It doesn’t matter which one. Treat it as a writing prompt and just start scribbling (or typing). Maybe that idea becomes a finished blog or maybe it remains a warmup exercise. If the latter, try a different idea and keep writing.

Other sources of inspiration are blogs by your favourite authors. What are they writing about? Can you borrow one of their ideas? I hope you are following at least one author’s blog because art inspires art.

One author blog that I follow is by Terry Fallis. I was a fan long before he became the guest speaker at our London Writers Society event in 2023. (He’s been an LWS advocate ever since, and vice versa.) If you’ve ever chatted with Terry, you know he’s a warm, down-to-earth kind of guy and that comes across in his writing. (Another reason to follow an author is to get a sense of different blog writing styles.)

In one of his blogs, Terry wrote about books in his office. It inspired me to write “My Top Shelf” and “What Does Your Bookshelf Reveal.” Another blog, “My Parents’ Writerly Influences” was also sparked by one of Terry’s blogs.

I also follow Gretchen Staebler, author and “caregiver ally.” I discovered her memoir Mother Lode: Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver when I was writing my memoir If I Could Remember: Bears & Brains & Caring For My Mother (coming soon!).  Gretchen’s style and content is different from Terry’s. She often talks about aging, death and dying. It freed my voice for my blog “Last Rose of Summer.” (Her blog also emboldened me to ask her to write a blurb for my memoir’s book cover. And she did!)

Pádraig Ó Tuama is a poet blogger. Again, different style. He always presents a poem, then dissects it, connects it back to his life, his thinking, his writing. Remember…art inspires art. Sometimes the poem’s message or theme will inspire me, other times it’s just a line or even a single word that gets the creative juices flowing.

And the last source of inspiration I want to mention is going to the Source itself. It’s where I ask for ideas, what some might call ‘setting an intention.’ Basically, just before falling asleep, I put it out there:

“Bring me a blog idea.”

Whether you are speaking to the Universe, The Writing Collective of All Authors Past, Present and Future, or simply seeding your dreams, it doesn’t matter—the instruction works!

This has become a reliable method for me to get ideas which typically arrive next morning during that half-awake time just before dawn. It may take practice to start paying attention to those dreams, those messages. But, hey, isn’t that what authors do—pay attention? To details, to scenery, dialogue, mannerisms…dreams.

In summary, these are some ways to get author blog ideas:

  1. Online searches
  2. Ask AI
  3. Get inspiration from other authors’ blogs
  4. Set an intention
  5. Hire a VP and assign her the task of feeding you great ideas

But forget about getting ideas from your partner. It’s meatloaf again at our house tonight.

***

So, this was Part One of How To Write A Blog. Notice how I talked about my writerly life, made it personal. I also slipped in names and links for my books and blogs without shouting BUY MY BOOKS. And I spoke about other writers, acknowledged their work, gave them a shout-out (because writers support other writers).

All of this is Marketing 101. That’s what a blog does—markets you and your writing. There’s no need to make it pushy, high pressure marketing. Keep it a soft sell. Most of all, just be yourself.

The following parts of How to Write a Blog are available to members only. Isn’t it time you became a member?

Part 2—Setting The Blog Parameters

Part 3—Getting Blog Followers

Part 4—Publishing Your Blog

Donna Costa, President of the London Writers Society and author of If I Could Remember: Bears & Brains & Caring For My Mother, has written a tender and heartbreaking story of caregiving for her mother, who had Alzheimer’s. She blends memoir, fable and medical fact into an honest, sometimes raw, account of the changes faced by Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers. Learn more at donnacosta.ca

LWS-Anthology-Square

The Anthology Journey, Part 7: Out of the Woods and Into Your Hands

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The books have arrived!! 

Donna, who is usually conservative and proper about not overusing exclamation marks, allowed the excitement (and relief) to shoot out over the ether to the team. We were ready for launch night.

Tuesday, June 3, 2025 arrived and Brenda, along with her sister and husband, arrived early to the Portuguese Club of London to set up balloons, banners, sparkly table décor and signs indicating where to pick up merchandise. Donna’s crew, including her husband and grandsons, got to work “tote stuffing” and organizing payment and book placement stations, while I worked on microphone checks and miscellaneous details. Anne, the final member of the ‘A-team’ as the anthology committee was known, was unable to attend the launch, but she remained engaged via email with the team, offering support and sharing her brilliant insights. 

With one last lipstick touch-up, the doors opened and the guests, finalists, sponsors, first reader judges and Emma Donoghue herself arrived. (To us, she seemed like royalty.) The buffet was laid out (exceeding our promise of “light refreshments”) with meat and cheese platters, sandwiches, fresh fruit, Portuguese tarts, and slices of chocolate and cheese cake—yummy! When the audience settled in, Donna opened the evening to greet our guests and then introduced me as the M.C. 

In that role, I had the wonderful task of thanking the London Arts Council, our sponsors, the first reader judges, editor Heather Godden, and the A-team. I also had the distinct pleasure of introducing Emma Donoghue who gave a thoughtful and inspiring speech. At one point she observed, “This is not just a book, it’s actually a community, and I want to congratulate not just those of you whose pieces made the final cut, but all those on the longlist, the wider pool of Londoners who submitted their writing, and the huge sea of Londoners who are writing.” 

Three of our finalists read excerpts of their work in the anthology: Jeff Orchard (nonfiction), Dominique Millette (fiction), and Brenda Martin (poetry). The crowd was hushed as these three writers read their varied pieces, clapping, laughing, and reflecting at all the right moments. 

The presentation portion of the evening concluded with an excerpt from Terry Fallis’s brilliant foreword. I then read each finalist’s name out to applause and cheers as we gathered at the front of the stage where Rebecca Hamilton, our photographer, took a group shot of the finalists with Emma Donoghue. Then, of course, it was time to party! How wonderful to finally put faces and personalities to the words on the page. We laughed, ate, made merry, ate some more, and shared literary tales until the time came to say goodnight.

In the days that followed, the A-team sent press releases with photos and quotes from the evening to various news outlets. (Oh, did you think I was going to say we took some time off to rest? Nope!) Anne, with her bookselling background, drafted a query letter and we wasted no time getting the anthology into as many local bookstores as possible. 

CBC London was incredibly supportive post-launch. They invited me to speak about the anthology on the morning show with Andrew Brown, bright and early the day after the launch. A few days later, they posted an excellent article about the anthology on their website.  

Tuckey Home Hardware in Wortley Village—also a sponsor of the anthology—was the first local store to carry the anthology in their “local author section” and I’m thrilled to report that they’ve already sold out five times!  

The full list of the more than a dozen independent bookstores is available on the LWS website. The anthology is also available online at Indigo, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and local libraries. Since the launch, we hit #1 in “most gifted book” in our category on Amazon, and the Globe and Mail selected the anthology as one of their “hot new reads” for more than six weeks in a row.  

To say that watching the positive reception of the anthology is “rewarding” would be a gross understatement. In the months after the launch, the anthology committee was busier than ever and we drew strength from our finalists and others who supported us by sending encouraging words, rallying to help sell books, reaching out to contacts, promoting the anthology, and sending those little social media hearts. 

For the members of the A-team, this project was a baptism of fire–none of us had ever produced an anthology before–and one in which the four of us were willing participants. We are fortunate to have such a collaborative team: we supported each other, complemented each other, happily worked together. Even when we disagreed, we were able to quickly resolve differences of opinion through compromise and the willingness to listen to each other’s point of view. 

In the anthology introduction, I mentioned that each A-team member is an astrological air sign, a fact that helped make communication seamless. Maybe it sounds ‘woo-woo,’ but the way the four of us worked together to create this anthology is enough to make even the most die-hard skeptic believe in Star Signs! 

For me, being chair of the anthology committee has been an honour and a privilege and I’m so grateful to each and every person who came together to make this project possible. London Writers Society, this is our book—ahem, our first book—and we should all be extremely proud. 

The End

Photo of Martha Morrison, Chair of the LWS Anthology Committee  Martha Morrison is honoured to have served as Chair of the Anthology Committee for the London Writers Society’s inaugural anthology project Out of the Woods. She holds a BSc in Biochemistry and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction writing. Her work has been published in various literary anthologies and she was shortlisted for the International Amy MacRae Award for Memoir. Her previous careers include flight attendant and professional ballroom dance instructor. Martha lives on a farm outside London with her family, dogs, cats and chickens. Most days, she gets up before the rooster (and the kids) to write in the quiet early mornings. 

LWS-Anthology-Square

The Anthology Journey, Part 6: Book in Hand

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“Out of the Woods and into your hands!” became our rallying cheer.

Social media was a big part of getting the word out and, during our flurry of posts, the LWS attracted a new member. Not only was she a twice-published author in the self-help genre (one of my favourite genres—buy her books for transformational change!), she was also, as we dubbed her, a “social media guru.” Rebecca Hamilton joined us on our next Zoom meeting and offered her services to post and promote the anthology. She definitely drove traffic to our socials! Those of you who follow the LWS on Facebook or Instagram, may have noticed some super cool video reels that started around the time the finalists were announced. Rebecca asked thoughtful questions to our finalists to create “author profile” reels, and we got to know each virtually, hearing their experiences as writers and what it meant to be published. Rebecca also advised us on future videos and posts we should create, beginning with the cover reveal. 

As the owner of her own creative company and with decades of experience, A-team member Brenda generously offered to design the cover. Her vision of a tree-green book with a forest backdrop was sent to the team. The anthology was grounded in meticulous care, art and beauty. Despite popular advice, this is one time when we would encourage you to judge the book by its cover.  

The A-team launched into a flurry of media activity: articles were written for magazines and newspapers like the local Villagers, the Tillsonburg Post and the Middlesex Banner, and interviews were conducted on local radio stations and “What’s up, London?” (Please see our socials to read, listen, or watch.) Our timing worked out as, due to the political climate of 2025, the #ShopLocal movement was stronger than ever. 

So strong in fact, that we had to change venue locations for our launch party due to the larger than expected number of RSVPs including LWS members, judges, sponsors, local dignitaries, media, and friends of the LWS. Donna researched a number of venues, and found that London’s Portuguese Hall would be the perfect fit due to the lovely space, accessible location, and delicious catering available. Our team who started off as a group of writers from different backgrounds, had become event planners! There was food to be ordered, décor to consider and, of course, everything hinged on budget. 

Brenda placed the order for the tote bags, positioning the logos from our top-tier sponsors, choosing background colours and ensuring an on-time delivery. Another item off the “to-do” list! Anne worked in the background creating media release documents and sharing her experience querying bookstores and libraries where we would sell the anthology. 

The trilliums had just bloomed when we received the exciting news that our Advanced Reading Copies (ARCs) had arrived. Brenda and Donna were the first to tear into theirs—they waited together for the UPS delivery to get that all-important social media snapshot—with Anne receiving hers at home, and me finding mine on the doorstep later in the day. I have a framed scroll in my writing room that says, A Book is a Dream you Hold in your Hand. The London Writers Society finally had the anthology that we had collectively dreamed about for years. Holding the ARC, I wanted to scream like Elle Woods when her class graduated from Harvard, “We did it!”

The committee worked with Chrissy Hobbs at Indie Publishing to review the ARC and, with only a few minor adjustments, we were ready to place the order for the June launch. We were all set. 

And then, word came from our printer that they were busier than usual and printing was delayed. The A-team was left wondering, Would the anthology arrive on time? 

To be continued…

Photo of Martha Morrison, Chair of the LWS Anthology Committee  Martha Morrison is honoured to have served as Chair of the Anthology Committee for the London Writers Society’s inaugural anthology project Out of the Woods. She holds a BSc in Biochemistry and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction writing. Her work has been published in various literary anthologies and she was shortlisted for the International Amy MacRae Award for Memoir. Her previous careers include flight attendant and professional ballroom dance instructor. Martha lives on a farm outside London with her family, dogs, cats and chickens. Most days, she gets up before the rooster (and the kids) to write in the quiet early mornings. 

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The Anthology Journey, Part 5: Finalists and Editing and Publishing—Oh My!

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On December 15, 2024 the committee announced the 35 LWS authors whose work was chosen by Emma Donoghue to be included in the anthology Out of the Woods. 

Emma’s selections were thoughtful and can be summed up in the blurb she provided for the back cover of the book: “Out of the Woods is a harvested banquet – the impressively varied fruits of new writing from London. Whether telling stories that are historical, futuristic, or urgently contemporary, in fiction, poetry or narrative non-fiction, these voices speak movingly about a wide range of lives.” 

My poem The Rollercoaster had been selected! My other poem about Snowball and Quackers didn’t make the cut (yes, I re-read my favourite Stephen King Carrie rejection story) and then I celebrated, realizing that the promise I made to my grandmother to someday write poetry was coming true. Not only had I written poetry, I was about to become a published poet. 

Brenda and Donna both had pieces selected too—poems inspired by our day with Penn Kemp. Donna had a fiction piece published as well, a genre that wasn’t normally her focus. And she had a piece rejected. (I let her read Stephen King’s rejection letter.) 

We heard from many of the finalists about their excitement at being chosen for the anthology. Their enthusiasm made all the hard work behind-the-scenes worthwhile. 

With the collection in hand, our next step was to send the document to our editor. A few months earlier, we had researched professional editors and had met a London-based editor whose nurturing but thorough style was a perfect fit for the anthology because we knew the authors would likely range from the ‘first-time-ever-published’ to seasoned writers. Our editor generously offered a discounted rate for a community project so Donna, our money-tracker, gave that a thumbs up. 

During the editing process, our editor announced to us that she had transitioned and would be using new pronouns and a new name, Heather Godden. I share this information now, as we did with the Out of the Woods authors, just in case you read past anthology communiqués and wonder why the name changed between the announcement of our editor and the acknowledgements in the book. We are honoured that Heather felt comfortable to share her truth with us. 

For some writers, this was their very first experience with professional editing. The anthology team served as the liaison between editor and author to help with the process, ensure content moved back and forth for those requiring more than one set of revisions, and to make sure we stayed on budget. We also assisted folks who had never worked with “tracked changes” in Word. Heather emailed back and forth with the anthology authors until each piece was polished and typo-free. She then carefully and considerately selected the order of appearance in the anthology until we had our final approved document. 

Many enjoyed Heather’s thoughtful and generous editing style so much, they hired her for other projects. (Check out goddeneditorial.com if you’re looking for a great local editor!) 

We sent the finished manuscript to award-winning author and friend of the LWS, Terry Fallis. This author who has twice won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour and has nine national bestsellers to his name (soon to be 10 as his latest novel, The Marionette, is forthcoming in October, 2025) volunteered to take time out of his packed schedule to write the foreword for the anthology. If you haven’t yet purchased your copy, you might consider doing so to read his moving words on the writing process and the importance of local art. 

Terry also helped us connect with celebrated Canadian icon, Douglas Gibson (of McClelland & Stewart fame), to read the anthology and provide a blurb for the back cover. What an honour to have Douglas Gibson, a man who edited work for the Who’s Who of Canadian authors, cast his eyes on our anthology. 

Behind all this excitement, committee Zoom meetings were ongoing and emails were still flying between the A-team. There were author bios to organize, cover art to finalize, an introduction to write, and newsletters to prepare to keep our members up-to-date on the progress. 

We had researched many publishers, but one stood out for both professionalism and quality, and that was Indie Publishing Group, owned by LWS member, Chrissy Hobbs. Chrissy splits her time between London, Ontario and Tasmania, Australia, so finding Zoom times wasn’t always easy, but Chrissy’s easy-going personality and dedication to detail made the process not only seamless, but fun. Plus, those Tasmanian landscape backgrounds on Zoom were incredible! When she noticed the four of us glancing over at her window, Chrissy would tilt her screen and let us have a glimpse of her world down under. 

Chrissy also talked to us about sales, specifically pre-orders. We would have to do a lot of promotion in order to meet our goals. Now that we had the finalized document, we needed to start selling books!

To be continued…

Photo of Martha Morrison, Chair of the LWS Anthology Committee  Martha Morrison is honoured to have served as Chair of the Anthology Committee for the London Writers Society’s inaugural anthology project Out of the Woods. She holds a BSc in Biochemistry and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction writing. Her work has been published in various literary anthologies and she was shortlisted for the International Amy MacRae Award for Memoir. Her previous careers include flight attendant and professional ballroom dance instructor. Martha lives on a farm outside London with her family, dogs, cats and chickens. Most days, she gets up before the rooster (and the kids) to write in the quiet early mornings. 

LWS-Anthology-Square

The Anthology Journey, Part 4: The Portal is Open!

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The submissions started rolling in! What a thrill it was to hear that the numbers were increasing each day. With each submission, we knew another brave member had polished their work and made the courageous decision to hit “submit” for a chance to be published in the anthology. I submitted two very different poems: The Rollercoaster explores the emotional ride we experience when a loved one faces cancer; and Barnyard Duet depicts a humorous incident involving my goofy goldendoodle and an unwanted duckling named Quackers.

And so, with everything ticking along nicely, the anthology committee (with lattés in hand) sat back, put our feet on our desks and relaxed. 

Just kidding! There was way too much work to be done to enjoy more than a momentary virtual clink of glasses. This was confirmed as I researched past emails in order to write this blog. There were thousands of communications between the A-Team members as we worked furiously behind-the-scenes to research publishing options, figure out promotional opportunities, find an editor and finance the project. While the London Arts Council grant had covered a large part of our expenses, it wouldn’t cover everything. We decided to seek out sponsors from community members. Brenda’s years of expertise with corporate sponsorship served in creating levels of support and incentives such as being mentioned in the anthology, thanked on the website and social media channels and, for some levels, logos added to the tote bags. 

From family members to local businesses to friends of the LWS, we were humbled by the amount of support we received. Brenda coined the term “Literary Champion” because that’s what each sponsor was to the anthology project. It cannot be overstated the gratitude we felt, and continue to feel, toward the sponsors who made this project possible. 

When the portal closed at midnight on October 15, 2024 and submissions were no longer being accepted, an image of a closed door with a huge padlock appeared on our socials. The anonymous entries were sorted by category and sent to our panel of First Reader judges. 

We provided our First Reader judges with a scoring rubric (generously provided by Mirror World Publishing) to ensure that they were reviewing each entry consistently. Based on the judges’ final scores, the top percentage in each category formed the longlist. The judges had a month to review the submissions. And so, we waited.

On November 15, 2024, it was a thrill to announce the longlist. But as in any contest, there will be those who do not advance to the next round. The anthology committee received some emails and in-person conversations about the disappointment of not being chosen. As we faced these conversations, the words of one of my writing teachers, Alison Wearing, came to me: “Rather than taking rejection as evidence that you are not a writer, it’s also possible to take it as evidence that you are.” 

The truth of the writing life is that there’s a lot of rejection involved. While I know this personally, I also keep a list of famous rejectees near my laptop: J.K. Rowling, Beatrix Potter, Agatha Christie, George Orwell, Stephen King. A favourite story is that after King’s debut novel was rejected more than 30 times, he threw it in the trash, only to have his wife retrieve it and encourage him to try again. A few years later, Carrie was published and became a bestseller and major motion picture.

The longlist entries were passed on to Emma Donoghue who would curate the shortlist which would become the anthology Out of the Woods. An agonizingly long month stretched out ahead of us as we waited for word from Emma with the results.

To be continued…

Photo of Martha Morrison, Chair of the LWS Anthology Committee  Martha Morrison is honoured to have served as Chair of the Anthology Committee for the London Writers Society’s inaugural anthology project Out of the Woods. She holds a BSc in Biochemistry and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction writing. Her work has been published in various literary anthologies and she was shortlisted for the International Amy MacRae Award for Memoir. Her previous careers include flight attendant and professional ballroom dance instructor. Martha lives on a farm outside London with her family, dogs, cats and chickens. Most days, she gets up before the rooster (and the kids) to write in the quiet early mornings. 

LWS-Anthology-Square

The Anthology Journey, Part 2: Out of the Woods and Onto the Page

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When the Anthology Committee Zoom meeting ended, I paused to admire the woodland behind my house. The title Out of the Woods was still dancing through my mind. The theme encompassed a diversity of ideas, from a fantastical piece with a forest setting to a metaphorical interpretation. I also loved that it was a nod to London’s moniker as “the Forest City.” 

I glanced at my phone. My mother was calling. Our family was facing multiple health challenges, so I quickly swiped “accept,” because a phone call meant news, lately mostly bad news. But this call was different. This news was hopeful. 

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” my mother said as we ended the call. Out of the woods! The words shot through me as I felt the creative force that I hadn’t felt in so long. Some committee members were sure they were going to submit to the anthology, others had decided not to. I was on the fence but, hearing my mother’s words at that moment, I knew I was going to quote her, write about the experience, and submit a piece. 

With the vision and title in place for the anthology, it was time to get back to the ever present “to do” list. At the top? How to fund the anthology. We researched different grant opportunities and applied to the London Arts Council. Donna Costa, with her background in holistic health and a steady, grounded energy took the lead, completing hours of research and paperwork, collecting writing samples, bios, and signatures Then she hit “submit.” These grants are competitive, and we weren’t sure we would be selected, so, in the meantime, we also started formulating a plan to solicit sponsorships. 

It’s here that I will pause to thank Marco Muzzi, whose technical help was ever present. He was always in the background, making a landing spot on the anthology website, and creating our own anthology email address. Throughout the creation of the project, there were dozens of tech questions solved by Marco.  

Have I mentioned that none of us had ever put together an anthology before? Research needed to be done! I poured over the half dozen anthologies on my bookshelf (ordering more in the process) and together the committee analyzed different literary contests and other anthology publications. LWS member and prolific author, Elaine Cougler, joined us for a meeting to offer her expertise. Justine Dowsett from Mirror World Publishing, with her vast experience publishing anthologies generously answered our questions and shared judging rubrics to ensure an equitable process. 

As we wrote the ‘Submission Guidelines,’ in addition to being mindful of modern inclusions such as certifying that work is AI-free, we wanted to keep the emphasis on local writers while recognizing that London serves as the literary hub for the surrounding rural areas (shout out to my fellow rural folks!). We settled on southwestern Ontario as the boundary for entrants and judges. In my research of the region, I came across a newspaper article that described ‘Souwesto’ as an area of considerable interest artistically, but also of psychic murkiness and oddity. Perfect. 

The next challenge was to find a judge not connected to the LWS. It was evident we would need a longlist to give to that person, so the judge wouldn’t be inundated with potentially hundreds of pieces. We settled on a model based on a few anthologies we studied: a panel of First Reader judges who were experts in their fields (poetry, fiction, nonfiction) would create a longlist to pass on to the Finalist Judge who would then curate the entries for publication. 

Committee member, Anne Kay, had just published her debut historical fiction novel The Salt Man, and took the lead on the panel of First Reader judges. With her contacts in the industry and the Writers’ Union of Canada, we assembled a wonderful team: Anne Kay and Margaret Whitley for nonfiction; Barbara Haworth-Attard and Kym Wolfe for fiction; and Andreas Gripp for poetry. 

We needed a Finalist Judge. A celebrity judge, if possible. We started working up a list. “Did you know Emma Donoghue is a London resident?” Anne asked. 

“The author who wrote Room and The Pull of the Stars with a literary CV the length of a novel?” I asked, thinking it would be amazing, but assuming she would be too busy to participate in a community anthology. 

With a few clicks, Brenda pulled an email address from her website. “We could ask?” And so, with palms sweaty and a bit breathless, I hit “send” on our request. 

In the meantime, I began writing my piece to submit to the anthology. 

To be continued…

Photo of Martha Morrison, Chair of the LWS Anthology Committee  Martha Morrison is honoured to have served as Chair of the Anthology Committee for the London Writers Society’s inaugural anthology project Out of the Woods. She holds a BSc in Biochemistry and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction writing. Her work has been published in various literary anthologies and she was shortlisted for the International Amy MacRae Award for Memoir. Her previous careers include flight attendant and professional ballroom dance instructor. Martha lives on a farm outside London with her family, dogs, cats and chickens. Most days, she gets up before the rooster (and the kids) to write in the quiet early mornings. 

Elaine head shot ed

Self-Publish But Do It Well

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Self-Publish but Do It Well

Written by Elaine Cougler

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When I first felt coming from deep inside me the call to write books, I absolutely wanted to be traditionally published. All the books I read were put out by publishing companies, and serious writers simply followed the well-trodden path.

Or so I thought.

Talk to the Speakers

Over the six years my first book took to reach its audience I went to writing conferences across Canada and the United States. I joined writing groups, critique groups, and even a couple of weekend writer retreats. And at those events I learned everything I could. How? I asked questions. After a writer’s workshop I always found my way to the front to establish contact with the speaker. We exchanged emails. I went home and wrote blog posts to pass on all I had learned in their sessions. And I implemented what I had learned.

For the most part this worked well. I began to feel like I could actually call myself a writer and, now and again, was moving toward using the exalted term author. I didn’t feel comfortable with that until I was published, however. Strangely, once I was published, I used the terms interchangeably and had no problem thinking of myself as either a writer or an author. Funny how the mind works.

I learned to write and send query letters and experienced the frustration of hearing nothing from almost every one of those letters that went winging via snail mail out into the universe. One person in Toronto who has an agency there read my draft manuscript and sent me a nasty critique. He basically said the first 100 pages of my book were crap. My friend worked with that gentleman for many years and still has not had any of her books published. And they’re good. I’ve read them. She got caught in the agent dilemma of them wanting something fresh and new but not knowing where to sell said new ideas. I, having been a voracious reader all my life, decided to trust my instincts and move on. During that period, I must have rewritten parts of that book about 10 times, trying things on for size, crossing them out, starting again, rewriting ad nauseum until I finally felt I had a great product.

Professional Editors?

Then I found a professional editor and went over her suggestions. I didn’t always agree with her thoughts but between the two of us we got that first manuscript ready to go out and meet the world of readers. For my next book, The Loyalist’s Luck, I instituted my beta reader system. By this time I knew a lot of clever and educated readers who were anxious to help out. I called them beta readers. Once I got their comments about my manuscript back, I worked through all of the suggestions. Most were excellent and I remain very thankful for those readers. Other suggestions didn’t work, and I became comfortable knowing the difference. Here was where I had to put aside all of those voices who said writers always need to pay an editor. Don’t trust yourself, they said. But it wasn’t until I had a couple of books under my belt that I began to realize my own unique abilities.

I also learned a couple of techniques that serve me well. When each beta reader’s comments and suggestions come in, I pay a lot of attention to them. I especially love those from my favorite grammar guru who finds things even I have missed. Strangely, after I have gone through all of their edits—I have nine beta readers for my current book—and think I’m finished with the process, I let the manuscript sit for 2-4 weeks, depending on my schedule. I always find a few things that have been missed in the earlier readings. That rest from the manuscript gives me fresh eyes and a clear brain, allowing me to read what my readers will read without any spill over from what my brain has kept from earlier readings. It’s like washing the chili pot out well before I make a new recipe.

Word People

I am a word person. I was the only person in my large high school who did not take Physics or Chemistry and who took only languages in Grade Thirteen. (Yes, they had that back then!) I took English, French, Latin and German and had Royal Conservatory music credits to complete my diploma and go on to Western. That all tells you that I am a language person. I know my grammar, I spell well, I love to read aloud and hear the cadence of the words while I am digesting their meaning.

In my professional life before I jumped into writing with both feet, I taught high school French, Computers and English, even becoming the Assistant Head of the English Department in my high school. Again those courses were leading me toward becoming an author once I left the Thames Valley Board. And the years of helping students say with their words what their minds were aiming for helped me with my own writing journey.

I went to a writing workshop in Niagara Falls put on by an American from California and that is where I got my title for my first book. I had called it Loyal to the Crown. The group there hated that and someone suggested The Loyalist’s Wife. I liked it. The Loyalist series was born. I also met some amazing people at that conference. Toronto writer Barbara Kyle was there and the inimitable Stephen Leacock recipient, Terry Fallis. I talked in group sessions to them and again socially in the evenings. Later I took a great course with Barbara in Toronto and Terry wrote a wonderful quote for the back of my first book.

Find a Printer and a Cover Designer

In Victoria on a visit to my daughter I went into Island Blue and talked to the owner about my book. Face to face, I liked and trusted this man, and the way to getting The Loyalist’s Wife published and out to the world became clear. That led me to their cover designer who did and still does terrific work. For the whole trilogy I used their services, an arrangement that worked well for all of us.

I kept going to writing events and meeting people and asking questions and learning. I drove to Ajax/Oshawa once a month for meetings of WCDR, the Writers’ Community of Durham Region. My husband accompanied me and did his own thing while I was at the morning breakfast meeting. Then we would lunch with a bunch of writer friends. I looked forward to those long Saturday morning drives and the exciting things I learned at every one of them. When I had two books written, I had a sales booth at the meetings and even did some book events in the Toronto region because of my connections there.

Know What Your Skills Are

The takeaway from all of this is simple. We writers all bring unique talents to the job. What I have learned is to spend money on the things either I don’t care to do or that I’m not any good at. I don’t do my own cover designs although I certainly have the final say once I’ve digested what my cover designers put forth. They know more about it than I do so I pay for their knowledge.

I am not very interested in learning how to set up my books in InDesign or other similar programs (even though I am pretty computer literate) so I am happy to pay for an interior book designer. If I’m lucky one of those people, once the final file is ready, will walk me through uploading to Amazon my books in print, e-book (Kobo and Kindle) and even audio versions to Audible. That reminds me of my audio engineer. I found him years ago, he knows his stuff, is easy to work with and we have a great time recording the books in his studio. Yes, I read them myself and that sometimes leads to some great laughs at my mistakes. Once in a while, I get to laugh at his, too, so it all works out.

People tell me I’m a good marketer. I can always see many more things I could be doing, though, so I keep working at it. It’s lucky that I love to go out and speak about my books at events. I sell a lot of books that way and I get to meet some fabulous people. Right now I am investigating putting my books on another sales site with completely new readers. I’m also thinking of reissuing my Loyalist series complete with new covers.

The Final Say

The thing about self-publishing is that I get the final say. I’ve had other authors tell me their traditional publishing companies don’t give them any say in things like the cover. One even told me she hated the cover for her latest book. I can’t imagine spending two years on a book and then not liking how it looked at the end. I get to proofread the final copy and find any lingering errors. Of course, it’s my fault if I miss some but that’s the price I am happy to pay. If you are one of those who has been courted by a reputable agent and publisher, go for it. Just remember you’ll still have to do most of the marketing but you won’t receive nearly as much of the proceeds from your books.

If you are a person who does not have that perfectionist gene (one I’ve been accused of having), you’ll probably have to make friends with a good editor. Treat them well. They are invaluable as we readers hate to find grammar, fact or structure errors when we’re reading. We don’t want to be distracted from the story by the wrong word or by atrocious spelling. Get help. Again I say that each of us has a unique brain. Learn what your skills are and go with them. You might be a terrifically creative writer with amazing plot twists and unique characters. Write your books but get help with the editing. Readers will thank you for it.

Book graphic, 7 books

Elaine Cougler Post Author

Amazon #1 Bestselling Author Elaine Cougler likes to create characters who rise up and fight when faced with impossible situations. Her historical fiction and her biographical books praise the indomitable spirit of amazing human beings both in our time and through the annals of history.

She is a former high school English teacher and lifelong performer, singer and parent who survived all of that to take up writing in a serious way. Descended from Loyalist and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors, Elaine is one of thirteen children—yes, thirteen—and was raised in a post-war Ontario farming community by parents who expected the best from their children and consistently helped them to achieve.

See her full collection of works at www.elainecougler.com.

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