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Patricia Fry |
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The Eighteen Questions |
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18Q |
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Author’s 18Q |
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1. Did you choose the writing profession or did it choose you? I knew from the first moment I received positive feedback on the poems I wrote inside greeting cards for family and friends when I was a young wife on a budget, that I wanted to be a writer. When my 3 daughters were young teens (in 1973), I set up a manual typewriter in the corner of my bedroom and began writing articles for magazines. It was through article-writing that I managed to establish a career within the writing/publishing field, which I still pursue.
2. What is your background? (education, work, etc.) Thirty-five years in the trenches. I’ve grown with the publishing industry. The majority of my education came through independent study; through random classes, courses and workshops over the years and through experience.
3. When did you “know” you were a writer? I probably “knew” I was a writer after receiving payment for my first article (in 1974), but I don’t think I could say it out loud or admit it to anyone else until after my first book was published in 1978.
4. How would you describe your style of writing? I have always been interested in nonfiction writing—“give me the facts, ma’am.” And I still am. I have a knack for organizing my thoughts and information, which is key to writing good nonfiction.
5. What is your writing process? I can usually write an article from beginning to end on automatic pilot—without having to write an outline or think too much about the order of things. But I’ve had a lot of practice over the years. For a book, I will begin by gathering material and filing it by subject in a file box. Once I have, say, 12 file folders, I organize them into logical chapters or sections. I will generally create a table of contents before I start the writing. And I write a book proposal before the writing begins, as well. Things can change through the process of writing a book proposal—things that can make or break your book. Once the table of contents is set, I will pull the material from the first file folder, organize it and start writing Chapter One.
6. What was your path to publication? I have had many paths to publication. But let’s talk about book publishing. My first book was published by a traditional royalty publisher with offices in New York and London. This was a book on how to care for the backyard horse. The first publisher I approached, issued me a contract. But then, I had done my homework and knew that A.S. Barnes was a major producer of books for horse people.
I self-published my second book as it was a comprehensive local history. I established my own publishing company, Matilija Press, in 1983, before it was convenient or even fashionable. I’ve produced several books through Matilija Press since. But I’ve also had books published by traditional royalty publishers.
Currently, my focus is books on writing and publishing. Eleven of my books are on these topics. “The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book” is my hallmark book. I also have books on how to revive a stalled or struggling book, how to write a book proposal in 8 days or less, how to start a career as a freelance article writer…
When people ask me what is the best publishing option, I tell them it depends on the author and it depends on the book.
7. What is your favorite self-marketing idea? I love promoting my books through article-writing. I also find book reviews really useful. Most authors don’t realize that you can get book reviews even for older books and, in most cases, lots of them. All you have to do is locate appropriate magazines, websites and newsletters and start contacting them. I also like doing live presentations and I travel the U.S. speaking to my audience. My audiences, these days, consist of writers and authors.
8. What are the biggest surprises you’ve encountered as a writer? When I came to understand that editors and magazine publishers are not interested in what their readers want as much as they are interested in appeasing their advertisers. Many of them are not interested in saving the world, through you amazing articles, for example, unless it is dictated by their advertisers.
I’m also surprised by the numbers of hopeful authors who do not even conduct enough research, before signing a publishing contract, to know what their basic publishing options are. Most authors today make costly mistakes with their first books because they let emotions drive their decisions. Most of them try to approach the business of publishing from the creative mindset of a writer and this can prove disastrous.
9. How do you inspire yourself? What are your sources of creativity? I walk every day. That is my meditation time. If I’m struggling with a writing project, I almost always return with a solution. I also take regular breaks from writing and editing to pursue other creative activities—gardening, needlework, photography.
10. What is your proudest writer moment? When I was invited to be the first woman keynote speaker at a Toastmasters convention in Dubai—all expenses paid. And the reason I was chosen was because of my writing. The Toastmasters there had been reading my many articles published in The Toastmaster Magazine over the years. Writing has certainly opened many doors for me.
I also feel great pride when clients and students come back to me with praise for the work I’ve done on their manuscripts or the direction I’ve pointed them. It’s especially heartening when they report that their manuscript has been accepted by Houghton Mifflin or ???
11. What’s the best advice you were given about writing? I don’t recall anything specific. But I certainly put in a lot of time studying the process of writing for publication before diving in. And I do recall my Dad’s advice over the years, “If you don’t try it, you definitely won’t succeed.”
12. What is your most embarrassing writer moment? I’m sure I’ve had them, but I don’t remember them for long because I’ve taught myself to focus on the positive and the successes. Your perceived failures and negative residue from having experienced embarrassing moments only drag you down—not a good place for a writer to be.
13. What business challenges have you faced as a writer? Writing and publishing, for me are businesses and I had to learn early on to treat them as such. I guess the biggest challenges come, not from my end, but when counting on others to do their part—to pay for a shipment of books or an article, to complete their part of a project, etc.
14. What is your writer life philosophy? Everyone should strive to enmesh themselves in whatever makes their hearts sing. If it is writing, we should passionately pursue it.
15. When you’re not writing, what do you do for fun? Usually writing! Or thinking about writing! It IS a way of life for me. However, I do suffer burnout if I don’t take those breaks and enjoy a social life, involve myself in other creative endeavors and so forth. I love to drive the 15 minutes to the beach and walk periodically. I consider this a mini-vacation.
16. Who do you like to read? I like it light and I like it fast-paced. However, usually, when I read, it is with a purpose in mind—education or research, for example.
17. What’s your advice for new writers? A: Write, write, write. Enjoy the process. And, if you get to the place where you want to become published, educate yourself, first. Publishing is NOT an extension of your writing. It takes a completely different mindset and knowledge-base.
18. What are you currently working on? I have a book of cat stories in the works, but my clients keep me so busy, I haven’t looked at it in a few years. I love my clients and the work I do for them. It has become a passion for me to keep writers and hopeful authors from taking the wrong paths and making costly and heart-breaking mistakes. |