A published Christian author, Laura writes heartwarming encouragement for your soul—especially in her romantic suspense, teen fiction, marriage, and children’s books. Laura is a chocoholic mom of three, married to her high school sweetheart. Originally from the UK, they live in Kelowna, B.C. as audacious empty-nesters.

Laura relishes the opportunity to speak to all audiences about her faith and/ or her writing journey. She enjoys holding book signing events at various locations, being a guest on podcasts, and has given school presentations to students at several schools in the Okanagan, British Columbia. She also had the privilege of presenting at Penticton College for a week at the BC Youth Writers Camp.

If you would like Laura to speak at an event, do a book signing, podcast interview, or writing presentation, please contact her directly HERE.

To stay up to date on her newest releases,
​you can join Megan’s readers community at:
https://www.meganorussell.com/newsletter
​

I never expected the road to publication to be easy. I didn’t expect the FBI to get involved either.
 
I didn’t start writing The Tethering because I dreamt of being a published author. To be completely honest, I started writing because I was miserable and needed an outlet.

It took me about five months to finish the first draft of The Tethering and about a year to edit the manuscript into something people might actually want to read. It wasn’t until that point that I decided I wanted the book to be published. Once I made that choice, I dove headfirst into submissions.

Within six months, I received my first offer. I got the phone call, did my research, accepted the offer, and the publisher put my contract in the mail. In the time between my accepting the offer and the contract showing up in my mailbox, the publisher shut down. I was a little devastated, but I picked myself up and started submitting again.

About a month later, I received another publishing offer from an even better press! I signed the contract, went through five rounds of edits, prepared a blog tour, and was assigned an amazing cover artist. We even had a cover reveal party with the book cover on a cake. Then, six weeks before The Tethering was set to be released, I got an email. The publisher was shutting down. Not only that, no one had been getting paid. The owner of the press had taken all the money and vanished. In fact, it seemed the owner of the press had never existed.

Some unknown person had created a fake identity and published hundreds of books, faked sales numbers and vanished. The FBI had to get involved with the fraud investigation. To the best of my knowledge, none of the authors ever received the royalties they were owed.

As I sat there reading through the email that basically exploded my author dreams, I felt numb. I called my mother, who famously said, “This is a catastrophe.” Thanks, Mom. I didn’t know that.

Then I called an author friend who pointed me to a small press she’d been working with. I sent them The Tethering files, and they sent me an offer for publication.

This time, the book was actually published! And in the meantime, I signed a contract with another press for my Girl of Glass series.

But after the second book in The Tethering series was published, my third publisher closed. Didn’t even really close, just sort of lost interest in publishing books. It was a disappointing kind of betrayal, which, in a way, felt worse than the FBI getting involved.

But I had to move on.

The Girl of Glass books were being released, and I ended up getting a new offer from the largest publishing house I had ever worked with. They contracted three of my series, including (drumroll please) The Tethering.

For a while, it seemed like I was finally living the author dream. I had an agent and, with all the planned sequels, sixteen books under contract! Everything was beautiful.

Until December 2018.

Just after Christmas, I received an email from the publisher of Girl of Glass. They were going to have to shut down. The publishing industry is hard, and honestly the owner of the press handled things in the best way possible. It was heartbreaking, but I got all my rights back and royalties owed, so it’s impossible to be angry. Not every small business can succeed. It’s sad, but a truth we have to accept.

After speaking to my agent, I decided to self-publish Girl of Glass and complete the series on my own. I’d never really considered Indie Publishing, but it was where life had pushed me. So, I embraced the challenge.

About a week after I found out about the Girl of Glass publisher, I received word that the other press I’d been working with was crumbling. Not quite to the FBI level, but it was bad. Really bad.

I had to pull all three contracted series from that press, just to get out of the disaster zone while there was still hope for my books’ survival.

And just like that, I had no books out. No contracts. Nothing.

I don’t want to lie to you. This is the part of the story where I cried a lot, binged a stupid amount of ice cream and drank a lot of wine. It was not a pretty picture.

But once my eyes de-swelled from the tear fest, I realized I had two choices: I could shelve all the books I had written and start fresh, or I could take control and publish all my books myself.
​
In 2019, I published fourteen novels, three novellas, and two complete collections. I went from getting a bit of money from my books sometimes (if the publishers were honest enough to pay me) to making actual income from my years of hard work.

In 2020, I have eight books scheduled for release, and I could not be happier. I am finally in control of my books, my business, and my artistic life.

The funny part, I don’t feel like my five years of traditional publishing disasters were a waste of time. If I hadn’t worked with those editors, bloggers, and designers, I wouldn’t have had the knowledge I needed to be a successful Indie Author. I wouldn’t have met the authors who have become irreplaceable peers and resources.

Would I recommend Indie publishing? Absolutely. Would I recommend traditional publishing? If that’s what makes you happy.

But most of all, remember that there is no one end point to the author journey. There is no one path to success.
​
No matter how many times it seems like your publishing career is a catastrophe, you just have to keep moving forward. There are readers who want your books. You just have to be brave enough to find a way to get the material into their hands.
​

Betrayed by her husband, Willa Jane Wilson and her daughter are left penniless and alone in post-war Germany. She returns to her hometown in rural North Carolina and prays that a new beginning will soothe the anger still raging inside her heart. But no matter how many miles Willa Jane puts between her and her shame, the peace she seeks is drowned out by ignorance and abandonment.

Her saving grace comes in the form of a new opportunity that she can’t pass up. Tasked with caring for children at a local orphanage, she dedicates herself to transforming the financially-strapped institution into a real home filled with love and faith. But when her fundraising mission lands her in the middle of Raleigh’s glittering social scene, she encounters PJ Townshend, a handsome young lawyer with a dedication to service that matches her own. There’s only one problem: PJ is on track to change the country from its political epicenter—Washington D.C.—and the closer they grow to one another, the farther apart their worlds seem to be taking them.

When a natural disaster of Biblical proportions threatens to part them for good, it also puts the orphanage and everything Willa Jane has worked for in peril. An offer for help arrives from the most unexpected source. Accepting it will require forgiveness of the past…but it might also reunite her with the person her heart desires most.

Who are you and what do you write?

My name is Laurie Batzel, and I write romance and women’s fiction, both contemporary and historical.


Where and when and how did the writing life begin for you?

Writing has always been my therapy, for as long as I can remember. But I never believed I could sit down, and write a whole book, the whole process seemed so mysterious and daunting. Then when Downton Abbey ended, there was this plotline that never got explored. It drove me crazy, so I sat down to write it as a fanfiction, figuring it would just be a few pages. A few pages turned into sixty thousand words, and a complete romance novel! When I started getting positive feedback for it on a fanfic site, I started to think this dream wasn’t so impossible after all…


How has the journey to this point been? Can you give us a basic rundown?

It’s been a lot of ups, and downs. When I decided I wanted to try to get published, I did a lot of research on the process, literary agents, publishers, etc. I got in touch with the publisher of my debut novel, Anaiah Press, through a pitch contest on twitter. They asked for the first few chapters, and a synopsis which I sent along, quickly followed by a request for the full manuscript. I was in complete shock when they emailed me several months later offering to publish it!


What's been the hardest part of your writing/publishing experience so far? And the most enjoyable?

The hardest part has been the waiting—there is A LOT of waiting in publishing, from waiting to hear back from agents/editors, etc. to simply waiting for the magic day when you see your book for the first time. It’s been a good exercise in learning patience, which I definitely needed! The most enjoyable has been discovering a community of other writers who in general have been as kind, and supportive as they are talented.


Would you go back and change anything?

Not at all. I just try to learn from every experience, and incorporate that into what I do going forward.


Where would you like to be in 5 years time? And 10? Or, what are your plans for the future?

My plans for the future are simply to write. That’s all. I have a very long list of books that I want to write, that somehow keeps getting longer the more I keep writing, lol. I’m just going down the list, and enjoying the process as much as the result! Not everything you write is going to sell, but if you write what you enjoy writing, and reading, there is no such thing as wasted time.


What's one piece of advice you'd give to new writers just starting out?

Manage your expectations—and by that I mean, try to have as few expectations about the process as possible. You have very little control over the market, over what sells, and what doesn’t. The only thing you can do is look at it as a long game. Write, revise, submit, repeat.


And what everyone needs to know...


Ketchup or Mayo? Ketchup
Night or Day? Night
Inside or Outside? Inside
Dogs or Cats? Dogs
Twitter or Facebook? Facebook
Ebook or Paperback? Paperback
Sun or Rain? Rain!
Keyboard or Pencil & Notebook? Both lol
Comedy or Drama? Comedy
Chips or Chocolate? Chips

​For the past few years, I’ve been reading and evaluating a lot of indie books as a volunteer judge in the Benjamin Franklin Awards. The judges use criteria based on professional editorial and publishing standards. As I was going through stacks of books again this year, I decided to share my perspective on a few things that indie authors and publishers can act on to make a book stronger, depending on the time and budget that’s available.

Note: I’m not advocating for entering book awards—just sharing some things I’ve noticed over the years.   

Book Basics

Here are some editorial and publishing essentials:

• Know your book’s genre and the usual length. Understand what kind of book you’re aiming for and work to meet your readers’ expectations. Reading widely in the genre you write is a great start.

• Invest in developing your opening chapter. This is where you want to win over readers and where you can lose them even if other parts of your book are very good. Introduce the main character, the central conflict of the book, and the world in which your story takes place.  

• Arrange for your book to be copy edited and proofread before it is published. If you’re self-publishing and can’t afford to hire a professional, consider trading peer edits with other writers or see if you can line up beta readers. Or enlist that picky friend who always complains about typos. Take your friend out to lunch and thank them in the acknowledgements section in your book (unless they prefer not to be named). If someone spends a significant amount of time helping you edit or develop your book, it’s a nice gesture to give them a complimentary copy of your book when it’s published.

• Pay attention to cover design and book formatting. Many authors are more verbal than visual. Your book will look a lot better if a visual person with the right skillset is involved in the cover design and book formatting. If you’re self-publishing and can’t afford to hire someone, then take the time to learn basic principles of book layout and design and typographic conventions. Try to match the style of similar books in your genre.

When You’re Ready to Commit More Editorial Resources

Here are some additional things you can do, to bring up the quality of your book. These may be overlooked by indie authors who are starting out and don’t have a lot of experience or resources.

Some ideas for levelling up your craft:

• Does your book begin at the right point in the story? If you remove the first chapter, does the book still work? It’s common for early drafts of books to include extra details at the beginning when the author is inventing characters and settings. If your book starts too slowly, this might be one reason why.  

Don’t be afraid to try taking away the first chapter. You might need to revise or rewrite the first chapter a number of times to get it to a professional level. This is especially true if you’re figuring out how to write your first book. Think of this as problem-solving and discovering new techniques. This doesn’t mean you’re failing. It just means you’re not finished yet.

• Plan for more than one editing cycle for the whole book. Traditionally published books may go through four editorial cycles: developmental editing, line editing, copyediting, and proofreading.

If your budget can’t cover all this, then self-edit as much as you can before you hire an editor. I recommend setting aside the book you’ve written for a couple of weeks or longer before you begin to edit. You can also test drive an editor by having a short portion of your work edited so you can get a benchmark of how much revision it needs.

When you revise your work to fix something, it’s normal to discover that you broke a bunch of other things. It’s like a series of dominos where each one knocks over the next. For instance, if you streamline a section that’s dragging, that might create a continuity error later in the book. You will have to find and fix any problems introduced by your revisions. You might need to come up for air and take a break before tackling that task.

• If you’re self-editing, use professional quality reference books or refer to established editorial standards. Look for books like The Chicago Manual of Style for copyediting or Save the Cat Writes a Novel for pacing. Find your favorite reference books that are the most useful to you.  

Some things you can try:

• Check the pacing. Write a chapter outline for the entire book and see if you spot any problems.

• Make a reference list of any unusual names or conventions in your book. This is especially helpful for world-building in speculative fiction. Check the list to make sure you’re being consistent throughout your work.

• Check your character arcs to make sure they’re complete. If your book has subplots, sometimes called layers, make sure you didn’t accidentally leave any unresolved.

​
Whether you’re covering the basics or committing to more, don’t let the editorial cycle paralyze you. Do what you reasonably can, and then celebrate your published book!

​Award-winning Southern writer, Beverly Varnado, is a novelist, screenwriter, and blogger who writes to give readers hope in the redemptive purposes of God.

She has written a nonfiction memoir as well as several novels and screenplays, one of which was a finalist for the prestigious Kairos Prize in Screenwriting. Her work is also included in several anthologies and periodicals. As an artist, her work was recently chosen for exhibit at a State University gallery.

She lives in Georgia with her husband, Jerry, and their chocolate Aussiedor who is outnumbered by several cats. Beverly is Mom to three children and Mimi to two grandchildren.

Read her weekly blog One Ringing Bell, peals of words on faith, living, writing, and art at oneringingbell.blogspot.com. Also catch her at www.BeverlyVarnado.com , on her Facebook author page https://www.facebook.com/BeverlyVarnadoAuthor, Twitter @VarnadoBeverly, or Beverly Varnado on Instagram.

Learn more at www.BeverlyVarnado.com or visit her weekly blog, OneRingingBell.blogspot.com.

​

Connie’s Coffee and Cones is thriving, and owner Connie Spencer is right on track to realize her dream of expanding into a catering business. She believes she owes her success to her remarkable ability to plan. In fact, she has a plan for everything. At least, she thought she did—until Michael Cole appears in Worthville.

Michael has an agenda of his own—and a competing business—that threatens to derail everything Connie hopes for professionally. And if that isn’t enough, Michael carries a secret that could cause a backlash for both of them. So, why does she find herself attracted to him? When an accident on a rain-slicked highway leaves Michael temporarily incapacitated, Connie is presented with a dilemma she never saw coming—helping the man she’s falling for, or moving ahead with her meticulous plans.

As life spirals out of her control and Connie faces losing everything, she questions whether her plans are enough. But if hers aren’t, whose are? As she searches for the answer, she learns she must come to terms with her deepest hurt in order to embrace a higher plan for her future.

​

Who are you and what do you write?

My name is VK Tritschler and I write most things, which although not particularly helpful as I don't fit into a specific genre, it is the reality. My last book was a romantic comedy called The Secret Life of Sarah Meads. I wanted to explore the concept of a character who gave all the appearances of coping with life, but secretly wasn't. Because realistically I think life for heroines is beyond the handsome princes and flowing hair. This year I have multiple books coming out including a sci-fi multiverse adventure, and an Australian romantic suspense which is very exciting. On my laptop I have another romantic comedy and a psychological thriller both underway, so who knows what else might slip off my page this year!


Where and when and how did the writing life begin for you?

I would like to say I have always been a writer, and perhaps in a way I have. I liked poetry as a child. But the honest truth is that I started writing only about five years ago, and until I joined my local Eyre Writers group I didn't have the support or the knowledge to be able to achieve my goals of novel writing. Now as my writing improves, and my knowledge grows I have got myself a publisher, a support group and a much better sense of where I am going as an author.


How has the journey to this point been? Can you give us a basic rundown?

There are so many highs and lows as an author that it's hard to put it all into a single paragraph. Learning to take feedback and grow from it was hard, but it has greatly improved my work. I submitted Sarah Meads several times before sinking into despair that I would never be good enough, but I got encouragement from friends and family and made it a reality. Would I change how I got here? Absolutely. But that book gave me a platform to experiment, grow and learn from, which was priceless. And now as I progress into multiple books I am more confident that I can get the time frames right for the best outcome and I know that rejections are par for the course.


What's been the hardest part of your writing/publishing experience so far? And the most enjoyable?

The hardest part is the "Dear John" letters from publishers. Nobody likes to put their soul into a piece of work to have a generic "no thank you" reply. But each time I edited my angle, re-edited my script, and re-focused on my goals until the "no" became a "yes". Then I cracked a bottle of wine. Because I think it's also really important to celebrate the wins as you go as much as you feel the losses.


Would you go back and change anything?

Absolutely! I should have edited my books more thoroughly the first time (I am keeping some copies of the original print to remind myself), and worked on getting my pitch right. But also, and I think this is equally important, I shouldn't have given up on myself so easily. I wanted to traditionally publish my first book, but I couldn't take the rejection letters at the time. The other side of that coin is that I would never have learnt the skills I have now for promotion and brand awareness as an author, which I think is almost as important nowadays as the books themselves. Every author, regardless of their publishing choices, needs to consider themselves a marketable item and how you present yourself is key.


Where would you like to be in 5 years time? And 10? What are your plans for the future?

I have always been a go big or go home kind of person. As my network of readers and author colleagues is growing I am embracing calling myself an author. I don't want to be a part-time anything one day, so I know that I have to work really hard to achieve my desire to earn enough to live comfortably off my work. But I also know that I will make it.


What advice would you give to new writers just starting out?

1.Be fearless.
2. If you don't know, ask - there are plenty of authors out there that will happily share their experiences. You don't have to learn everything the hard way. 
3. Dream big. If you want to be famous, be famous. If you want to make money, make money. If you want to write obscure remote fiction on an island in the middle of the Pacific with only yourself and a stray dog, do it. You are the maker of your own success. Be that person.


And, most importantly...
​

Ketchup or Mayo? Ketchup - although local slang would say Tomato Sauce
Night or Day? Night
Inside or Outside? Outside
Dogs or Cats? Both
Twitter or Facebook? Both - (be that brand ambassador!)
Ebook or Paperback? Paperback (its a touch thing for me)
Walk or Drive? Drive
Sun or Rain? Rain
Keyboard or Pencil & Notebook? Keyboard
Comedy or Drama? Comedy - the world has enough drama already
Chips or Chocolate? Chips ​

Running a Kickstarter campaign to fund the publication of your novel can be a real emotional rollercoaster. I should know – I ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the publication of my first dystopian novel, Maternal Instinct.

Before I launched, what I really wanted to know was, what’s it like to run a Kickstarter campaign?

Crowdfunding has become a popular way for indie authors and small presses to raise funds for their next project. There are hundreds of really helpful articles about how to set up the project, run a successful campaign and fulfil rewards. I found there wasn’t much out there about the actual experience of running a campaign.
​
So, I kept a diary, and now I’m sharing it with you. Good luck with your campaign!

Day 1: Launch Publish Maternal Instinct – a novel project on Kickstarter and share the link on my personal Facebook profile. Sit back and feel very pleased with myself indeed. Schedule social media launch posts for my public accounts. Freak out. Leave house to buy wine.

Day 2: Obsessively check pledge total - 17% funded already! Google “Kickstarter success rate.” Discover two-thirds of projects are unsuccessful. Freak out again. Too late to turn back now.
Get excited to receive messages on Kickstarter before realising they're all spam, offering to help promote campaign for the “bargain price” of $300.

Feeling nervous about “name a character” reward. Picturing fictional pregnant girl named “Boaty McBoatFace”. Colleague at day job threatens to get together with other colleagues to raise $300 and make me name a character after our workplace.
​
Day 3: Wake up to discover that Kickstarter has selected Maternal Instinct as a “Project We Love”. Squeeeee! Will be featured in search results and get a lovely heart badge.

​Day 4: Obsessively check Kickstarter category “Projects We Love / Australia / Publishing”. Relieved to see almost all have been fully funded.

Day 6: 35% funded. Feeling very fortunate.
My brother pledges, asks me to name a character after our late Nan. Shed a tear or three. “Sylvia” is a much better name than “Boaty McBoatFace”.
Record a special Kickstarter episode of Story Addict podcast - me reading a scene from the book.

Day 7: The Notorious MUM shares the campaign with her 12,000 Facebook followers and now it's 46% funded!!!!!
Heartened by reading an article that says if a project gets to 20% funded it has an 80% chance of being fully funded. Start researching book cover designers.

Day 8: Another pledge, pushing me over the 50% funded milestone!! 53% funded. Post an end of week 1 update on Kickstarter and share it across my socials.
Check Kickstarter stats - $401 of pledges so far have come from Kickstarter site traffic, thank you Kickstarter!

Day 9: 56% funded. Get tempted by a “crowdfunding boost” spam email, promising to help me get more pledges for a VERY REASONABLE PRICE. Message Lisa over at The Notorious MUM (a Kickstarter veteran) for advice. She tells me to RESIST.

Day 10: 58% funded. Update my world-building writing post from 2017 to include a link to my Kickstarter and share the post on Twitter.

Day 11: Hit $3k! 60% funded! Update project page to include links to blog post series about writing and publishing journey, plus podcast ep and transcript of manuscript excerpt.
Struggling with the voice inside my head that says: BUT WHAT IF THE BOOK IS AWFUL AND ALL THE KICKSTARTER BACKERS HATE IT?? Remind myself it’s not awful.

Day 12: 69% funded. Feeling a bit flat today. Think I'm just worn down from all the excitement.

Day 13: Live tweeted from #Speculate19, Melbourne spec fic convention. An awesome day. Picked up 3 new backers through live tweeting!

Day 14: Campaign halfway mark, 71% funded! Crowdfunding marketing company emails me claiming their algorithm predicts I'll fulfil my goal and get >$7k funding if I can maintain momentum. Pretty chuffed, but I only need $5k.
Halfway mark celebration - publish updates on Kickstarter, Story Addict and social media. Invest $10 on Instagram and $15 on Facebook to promote the posts.

Day 15: This must be the mid-point lull people talk about. So frustrating as it feels like the campaign is SO CLOSE. Pledges are still trickling in, but I feel like bombarding people and telling them I promise to shut up when it's fully funded, even if the campaign hasn't ended. Probably not a great long-term marketing strategy though...

Day 17: No pledges for more than 24 hours then finally a single one! Not sure I can stand another 11 days of this. Exhausted and the suspense is killing me.

Day 18: LinkedIn sends me a $50 advertising credit, what perfect timing! Set up a Kickstarter ad on LinkedIn almost immediately.
74% funded. Only 10 days to go!
​
Start to seriously think about my final week push. Put together a collage of comparable book covers to use, plus a series of “which actor would play xx character if Maternal Instinct was made into a movie?”

Day 20: Introduce a new reward specifically for a friend of my mum’s who wanted two books. Share the new two-book reward on social media and two people pledge for it! Who knew people would want more than one?
Post a backers-only update on Kickstarter, including the images I’m planning to share on social media in the next few days. A backer shares the update on Facebook and tags a friend of hers to gauge interest for turning the novel into a PLAY!

Day 23: Feeling thoroughly depressed about the campaign today. What if it doesn’t make it to 100%??? Suspect I'm just tired.

Day 25: We made it! Goal reached 3 days early! 80 backers, $5,026 raised, 100% funded. Massive sense of relief. Also exhausted. I just want to lie down and sleep for a week.
​
Now the real work starts – publishing my first novel…

Who are you and what do you write?

My name is Colleen Hall, and I write Historical Inspirational Romance.

Where and when and how did the writing life begin for you?

My mother tells me that I wrote my first story when I was in third grade. I’ve been writing ever since. During my grammar school and junior high years I wrote mystery stories in installments, one per day, and then my friends would read the latest episode on the bus coming home from school. I wrote novels all through high school just for the love of writing. I picked my writing up again after college. I think I would rather write than eat!

How has the journey to this point been? Can you give us a basic rundown?

In spite of my love of writing, I got off to a slow start. I didn’t know any other writers, I didn’t know writing procedure, or writing terms. I discovered the Writers’ Market after I was married and started poring over that. A few years later, I learned about the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writer’s Conference and attended the conference that year. My eyes were opened to the writing world, but with young children at home, writing had to go on hold. When the children had left the nest I had time to go back to my writing. I pulled out a manuscript that I’d written years before, reworked it, and googled “Christian publishers that take new writers.” One of those publishers that fit that criteria and matched my manuscript was Anaiah Press. I followed their guidelines and submitted what they requested, and now I have two books published by Anaiah.

What's been the hardest part of your writing/publishing experience so far?

The hardest part of my writing/publishing experience so far was editing my first book. So much of it needed to be reworked. I got very discouraged during the process and almost vowed never to write another book. And the most enjoyable? I love creating characters and watching them come to life. And I love polishing my manuscripts once I’ve written the rough draft.

Would you go back and change anything?

I wish I’d learned more about plotting a manuscript, point of view,  character arcs and pinch points before I submitted my first manuscript. It would have saved a lot of agonizing during the editing process.

Where would you like to be in 5 years time? And 10? Or, what are your plans for the future?

I would like to get to a position where I could quit my job and write full time, not just in the evenings after supper is over and the kitchen is cleaned up.

What's one piece of advice you'd give to new writers just starting out?

Don’t give up no matter how many rejections you get and educate yourself about the writing process. Be careful of who you let critique your manuscript.

And now for the important bit...

Ketchup or Mayo? Mayo
Night or Day? Definitely day!!!
Inside or Outside? I love being outside if it’s not too hot or too cold. Otherwise, inside is just fine.
Dogs or Cats? Cats
Twitter or Facebook? Facebook
Ebook or Paperback? Paperback
Sun or Rain? Sunshine!!!
Keyboard or Pencil & Notebook? Keyboard
Comedy or Drama? Drama
Chips or Chocolate? Definitely chocolate!

ALL THE DANCE PARTIES! You are SO excited – you have a new project.
 
Maybe you just started a proposal – CONGRATS! 
Or signed with an agent or publisher – BIG NEWS!
Your book is out – CELEBRATE!
You set up a call with an agent or publisher for the first time – WOO!
 
Now comes your hard part – how can you make small talk about this very exciting thing, either in the moment with this very exciting person or when you’re talking to other humans?
 
First, take a breath and focus on how exciting this is! Small talk can stress a lot of people out because it’s often seen as shallow, awkward and disconnected. Think about it - how do you feel about small talk? Are you excited? Nervous? Worried about being interesting enough? 
 
Your small talk does not need to cause emotional stress! You can have a valuable and connected conversation that doesn’t just feel like regretful word vomit with a few quick mind shifts about your before, during and after:
 
 
Before your conversation:
 
Think about your audience

This is not only critical but often overlooked. Consider your audience first! Who are they, what is your relationship to them, what do they want, what do you want – and don’t worry about overthinking this, just think about a few points. Let’s take the example of chatting with an agent:

• They are an agent, you are a potential client.
• They are interested in you! They wouldn’t have set up a call otherwise – you’re already winning.
• They want to learn more and see if you’re a good fit – you should want this too, and to tell them more.

 
And now the example of a less specific situation, maybe a professional networking event:

• They are people also attending the event, looking for connections and new people (and possibly free food and drink!)
• They want to connect with someone that might help them in their career – you are probably going for the same reasons.

 
Be specific about the audience and pay attention to questions. By understanding the people you’re talking to, you can talk TO them versus AT them – which is great in editing what you say.
 
Practice a few phrases

The first time you talk about your project or book out loud, it’s going to sound strange and maybe even awful. Practice talking about it! Don’t script and memorize word for word – or overly practice by talking about it all the time – but don’t let the “big important moment” be the first time you talk about it. Find a friend, partner, parent and talk about it!
 
Relax

This one is big: we get the energy we put out. If you go into a situation and it’s THE MOST IMPORTANT SITUATION EVER and your energy weights the situation as such, you’re going to put undue pressure on yourself AND make that other person feel anxious because of your anxiety.
 
It’s just a conversation in a series of many conversations that make up your life. Do not weigh any conversation like the one that will “make or break” you.
 
 
During the conversation:
 
Listen and respond

This one is simple – just listen and respond! Don’t answer the question that you think is being asked, or that you want to be asked – answer the question that you are asked.
 
When it comes to listening, don’t simply hear the person you’re talking to. Truly listen to them: respond, react, ask questions, make eye contact – all ways to show someone you’re listening to them. This is very specifically before talking about your project because you don’t want to just dump all of your information on to someone without letting them get to know you first!
 
Talk to, not at

Read that text again: you want to talk to people, not at them. When you’re talking about what you’re working on, stick to being evocative. You want people to ask questions because they are curious, not feel overwhelmed because you just talked about your book, its audience, the competitive titles, the marketing, your ideas, the next one…you get the picture.
 
When someone asks you “What do you do” or “Tell me what you’re working on” or “Tell me about your project” you want something short, specific, concise and interesting. This is where that practice comes in.
 
Remember the questions about your audience? Try to align your wants with their wants – and don’t just focus on your wants. It’s really difficult to care about a person and their exciting thing when they show no care towards you! Don’t be agenda oriented. Be genuinely interested in the other person and what they do.
 
Have Fun!

You get the energy you put out, remember? If you’re enjoying the conversation, the person you’re talking to will enjoy the conversation. 
 
 
After the conversation:
 
Glows and Grows

We use this Glow and Grow reflection mentality with my company, The Engaging Educator, when we’re helping folks with their communication skills. What went well? That’s a Glow – keep doing it. What needs work? That’s a Grow – keep working on it.
 
Rinse, wash, repeat

Remember when I said this can’t be THE MOST IMPORTANT CONVERSATION OF YOUR LIFE – ever?
 
It’s not and it never will be. 
 
Have a conversation, reflect on how it went, and get out there and keep having conversations. The more you do it, the easier it gets.
 

If you’d like to learn more impromptu communication tips, check out Jen’s book Think On Your Feet: Tips and Tricks To Improve Your Impromptu Communication Skills On The Job (November, 2019) or her business, The Engaging Educator.
​