by Crystal Caudill | Oct 25, 2022 | Author Interviews, Writing Craft
Carrie Schmidt is one of my favorite people. Her heart for books, authors, and the reading community is like no one else I know. She seems to do nothing but eat, sleep, and breathe bookish EVERYTHING. The woman wears more hats than shoes on a millipede. I don’t know HOW she juggles it all. But I’m getting ahead of myself. FIRST, let’s get you introduced properly.
Schmidt is an avid reader, book reviewer, story addict, KissingBooks fan, book boyfriend collector, and cool aunt. She also loves Jesus and THE Story a whole lot. Carrie started the popular blog ReadingIsMySuperPower.org in 2015 and since then has had the honor of co-founding the Christian Fiction Readers’ Retreat and JustRead Publicity Tours. In addition to these endeavors, she is a regular contributor to Seekerville and has written for magazines such as RT Book Reviews and Christian Market. Carrie now lives in Georgia with her husband, though her roots range from East Tennessee to Central Kentucky and northern Illinois.
You can connect with Carrie on ReadingIsMySuperPower.org, Facebook @meezcarriereads or @meezcarriewrites, and everywhere else social at @meezcarrie.
DEAL ALERT: *Subscribe to the Publishing Gatekeepers newsletter (https://publishinggatekeepers.com/newsletter-signup/) and receive a tip sheet on 12 ways for getting past the gatekeepers.
Now for the fun stuff! I have to admit I am partial to my Fast Five. 🙂 So settle in as I hit Carrie with rapid-fire.
CC: Milk or Dark Chocolate?
CS: Milk. Always milk.
CC: Print or E-book?
CS: Yes. LOL. I love having print copies around me, so I can hug them occasionally. But with the amount of reading I do, I pretty much read exclusively on Kindle these days because I can enlarge the font to an obnoxious size to reduce eye strain 🙂
CC: Cat or Dog Person?
CS: Dogs. There’s nothing quite like the unconditional love of a dog.
Morning Person or Night Owl?
CS: The last time I was a morning person was as a little girl when I would wake my parents very sweetly pre-dawn with “I waaaaaked uhhhhh-uhhhhp” lol. I’m definitely a night owl!
CC: Spring, Summer, Fall, or Winter?
CS: WINTER. But, I should clarify – I mean the northern Illinois kind of winter that I grew up with. The winters we had in Kentucky and now in Georgia really don’t count lol.
CC: How did I not know you grew up in Illinois. I guess since first met you when you were in Kentucky, I just assumed you were a Kentucky girl. Well, let’s see what else I don’t know.
What is your favorite Bible verse?
CS: One of my favorite Bible verses is Micah 7:8 – “Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.” (NIV). This became one of ‘my’ verses after a season of deep depression and panic attacks in my 20’s and early 30’s. It’s a sweet reminder to me that, even though we may go through times of darkness and/or brokenness, the enemy doesn’t get a vote in our worth or the power of the Savior who is our Advocate. That promise that the Lord will be my light is so tender to me.
CC: Amen. That is such an encouragement and one I need to highlight in my Bible.
What do you like to do when you AREN’T reading or writing?
CS: I love puzzles (word or jigsaw) and I occasionally get the urge to pick up cross-stitching again.
CC: I love puzzles too, but the cross-stitching impresses me. It looks so neat, but I’m not sure I”ve got the patience for it.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? (And I’m laughing as I ask this because I know the answer even before you give it.)
CS: Confession: I don’t want to be a writer. I love reading too much lol. But I DO want to help writers. Everything I do – from my blog to CFRR to JustRead Tours to the Art of Writing Conference and this book – has come from a heart of wanting to give back to the authors who have so many times “stood between my heart & Satan’s knife” (to quote Andrew Peterson’s All the Poets I Have Known song). I love fiction in nearly all its forms, and I love being able to connect authors and readers, in many ways as the go-between for the two groups. That’s why I accepted the invitation to write my section of Getting Past the Publishing Gatekeepers. It also gave me another way to honor my sweet Dad who went home to Jesus almost a year ago. He always told me I would write a book someday, and now I have.
CC: We appreciate you so much, Carrie! Both on the reader and author side of things. AND I ADORE that your Dad told you that you’d write a book someday. He must be getting a real kick out of watching you from Heaven.
Let’s talk about Getting Past the Publishing Gatekeepers.![Getting Past the Publishing Gatekeepers: Winning the Hearts of Agents, Publishers, Editors, and Readers by [Linda Fulkerson, Hope Bolinger, Rowena Kuo, Carrie Schmidt]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51UfYkNmYUL.jpg)
Remember when Dorothy finally reached the Emerald City only to be halted by the Gatekeeper, blocking her hopes of seeing the Great and Powerful Wizard?
The path to publication is like that. Agents, and Editors, and Publishers, oh, my! Each one is a barrier between you and a publishing contract.
But what if you understood what agents, editors, publishers, and readers really want?
If you’re struggling to get past the publishing gatekeepers, this book will give you a behind-the-scenes peek at how to win the heart of each type of publishing professional. In fact, Getting Past the Publishing Gatekeepers won’t just give you a peek—it will give you a guided tour. In this book, four publishing professionals—an agent, a publisher, an editor, and an influencer—share what it takes to unlock each “gate” within the publishing industry.
Getting Past the Publishing Gatekeepers is a must-have resource for all aspiring authors, and it offers insights to help multi-published authors as well.
Purchase your copy at Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books Depository | Bookbub | Goodreads
CC: You have a real heart for the publishing industry, authors, and books, and I know that is why you agreed to be a part of this great writing resource. Tell our readers what perspective you brought to this collection. How is it different from other writing resources out there?
CS: My perspective is a bit different than the other authors of this book, because I’m talking about what happens after you’ve made it past all the other industry gatekeepers. You have a published (or soon-to-be) book and now you need to get it read. How do you find readers? How do you keep them once you’ve found them? I think the book overall is different from other writing resources because it is written from four separate professional perspectives, each of us bringing our own years of expertise to our distinct sections. It’s like going to a writing conference and taking four different classes without having to change rooms.
CC: I love that and so much cheaper than a writing conference!
What is the most important thing that you hope writers walk away with after reading your section of the book?
CS: My ‘most important thing’ is really three things lol. First, I pray that they are encouraged that their story matters – the one they’re writing & the one they’re living. Second, I hope they walk away with a new perspective and appreciation for readers & influencers and the voluntary-but-vital role each plays in promoting an author’s books. And finally I want them to close the book feeling less overwhelmed about how to find & keep readers.
CC: I love all those things, especially the last one, and I think this book really has given writers a way to feel lest overwhelmed.
There were a couple of places where you talked about surveying readers. Was there anything that you found surprising when conducting your surveys? Or were your thoughts confirmed?
CS: Mostly my thoughts were confirmed … BUT I was surprised when I surveyed readers about what most influences them to try a new-to-them author. However, the surprise wasn’t what does influence them. It was what doesn’t. Two things that I honestly thought would show up, didn’t. You’ll have to read the book to find out what they were 😉
CC: Ha! Ha! I see what you did there, but it is absolutely worth picking up the book to find out!
Thank you so much for joining me today and sharing your wisdom and experiences. As my final question, I have my usual “Fun Question”.
If you could travel anywhere without worry about cost, where would you travel?
CS: I would love to travel to Scotland some day…. but it would need to be in a private jet or something because flying terrifies me. So I’d want a big plane with just me & my travel companions (and the pilots, of course lol) and a big recliner or bed where I could just take some kind of pill and not wake up until I got there. Hence the need to not worry about cost 🙂
CC: Ha ha! It sounds like you’ll need a good dose of bravery should the opportunity arise!
Reader, what would be YOUR mascot?
by Crystal Caudill | Dec 28, 2021 | Writing Craft
As I’m still trying to read through my book for the challenge, I’m going to post another answer to one of the questions a local 8th grader posed to me during her “Ask an Expert” project. As a reader, I thought you might find it fascinating, and if a writer, I thought it might be helpful. So here’s this month’s question:
How do you decide how to form the book? Notes, pre-made plans, etc?
In the writing world, we have two classifications (technically three) of writers. Plotters, pantsers, and what I like to call plansters.
Plotters are the people who plan out every event that is going to happen in their book before they write it. They look at the structure of story, and determine what needs to happen when. Some do high-level plotting and just look at major turning points in the story. Others go down to the nitty-gritty of what will happen in every scene of the book.
Pantsers are those who sit down and write without anything more than a general idea in their head. They see where the story takes them, which can mean lots of revisions and edits as they get rid of rabbit trails or dead ends from the book. These writers tend to have a natural feel of story, and I really recommend new writers don’t just sit down and write. Try to think through the story and plot things out so that you can learn to understand the important elements of Story and when they happen. I spent two or three years studying story structure and plotting things out before I discovered that plotting wasn’t how my brain worked.
Plansters is a category name of my own making . We are the rogue black sheep of the writing world. We want to be plotters, but our characters just won’t allow us. I’ve discovered I cannot plan out an entire book even on a high level without my characters taking over, laughing in my face, and taking the story in a different direction than I expected. What I have discovered is I can do a high-level plan of where I need my characters to be in the next 1/4 to 1/3 of the story.
For right now, I’m shooting for my hero to join the board of a house of refuge where possible counterfeiting may be taking place so he can investigate the institution. However, I only have general ideas of what is going to happen to get him there or the order of those general ideas. So as a Planster, I am working toward that goal, but often sit down with no idea of what is going to happen in the scene I am writing until it ends up in words in front of me. This makes for slower writing, but I enjoy it.
All writers do brainstorm though. Before I sit down to write or plan, I’ll think through: What are the possibilities of this chapter? What are the promises to the reader that I need to fulfill? Are there clues I need to drop? What problems need to happen? What is expected in this chapter? What would be unexpected? I don’t always do it, but when stumped, I’ll write down every single idea that comes to my head, whether ridiculous or not and push until I have no other ideas. Then I look back at my list for anything that might be unexpected and would push my story forward in a fun and exciting way. I also do a lot of brainstorming with other writers. They help to push me to think of things in ways I never would have before. They help my stories to become better.
One thing to note is NO writer is the same. Every writer is going to develop their own methods and comfort zones for developing Story. It might even change with every story they write. If you are a new writer, spend some time studying writing craft and trying to plot out the various parts of your story. If you want to know more about story structure, I have a few posts on that on my Writing Resources Page under Story Structure.
Now, I’m off to let my characters look at my plan, laugh at me, and then go their own direction while I follow behind trying to make sense of their actions. At least every day writing is an adventure!
What questions do you have about writing and the writing process? Maybe your question will end up as a post. 🙂
by Crystal Caudill | Nov 26, 2021 | Writing Craft
Hi readers! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family. I very much appreciate you and your willingness to read my little reviews and other thoughts. One of my favorite delights is giving back to the writing community, and this week I had the opportunity to be the “expert” for a local student’s 8th Grade project. She presented me with a whole host of questions which I answered for her, and I thought maybe, as a reader or writer, you might be interested in some of the answers I gave. Therefore, mixed in with my Endorser Spotlights on Fridays, I’m going to share the answer to a few of her questions and then add them to my writer’s resources tab. I’ve edited it to fit the general population, as she also had specific questions about her particular story.
How do you write a book most people would find entertaining and enjoyable?
The first thing to understand is no book is for everyone. Each reader has their own preferences for what they like or dislike in a book. No matter what you write, there will always be someone who thinks it’s the most awful book on the planet and it should never have been written. However, there are people who will adore your books and call you their favorite author because you write what they like. A person who loves horror books along the lines of Stephen King is not going to enjoy a romance book by Nicolas Sparks.
That being said, if you know who your target audience is, you are more likely to write in such a way as to make them happy and enjoy your book. Every reader who picks up a certain book type has specific expectations that match the genre.
So for a reader who picks up a historical romantic suspense novel like my book, they are going to expect to have a hero and heroine set in a historical time period with rich details and a plot that puts them in danger as they fall in love with one another. Readers are going to expect a villain, dangerous situation, and a happily ever after that leaves them satisfied.
In a mystery story, the reader expects to have something happen right away that leaves your characters trying to answer that question for the rest of the book. For example, who stole Mrs. Clark’s favorite songbook from her choral collection? Readers expect to have the questions who, why, and how answered. The character who stole the book must have believable means (How did they commit the crime? What abilities did they have?), motivation (Why did they do it?), and opportunity (When did they do it?), and the reader must have all three answered by the end of the story.
Keep your target reader in mind. What things do they like? What things would they be upset if you included in the story? Avoid those. If your target audience is 10-15 years olds, you are going to want to have main characters who are likely in high school and encountering some of the things high schooler students encounter as a teenager–mean teachers, too much homework, friend drama, family drama, awkward moments, sports, or anything else that works well with your story.
Your job as an author is to know what your target audience wants in a book and to provide it. You aren’t going to please everyone, but you want to strive to please the ones who enjoy your type of story. Even then, you won’t make everyone happy.
Question for readers:
What books do you like to read? What do you expect to find in those books?
Question for Writers:
Who is your target audience? What can a reader expect when they pick up your stories?
by Crystal Caudill | Nov 24, 2021 | Writing Craft
Two of the most important things to realize as a writer are 1) Your first draft is going to be awful. That is what edits and revisions are for. 2) You need the help of others to push your story to become better than it would be on your own. This involves friends to brainstorm with, critique partners who read your work, and making suggestions on anything from storyline to sentence structure and grammar. Each critique partner will have different strengths. I’m really good at looking at the big picture and tightening up fight scenes. One critique partner is really good at helping me cut out unnecessary words. Another is super amazing at grammar and punctuation. Even when we’ve gotten it the absolute best we can make it , I send it on to a professional editor who takes it through everything from big-picture revisions to word-by-word edits. My book has passed through at least a dozen people’s eyes before ever going to publication, and even then, typos will happen. No book is ever going to be perfect, but you have to get it to the best you can, and then let someone on the outside look at it and help you push it to something even better than you could do on your own. Writing is both a solitary and team sport.
Another thing you should know is there is a difference between revising and editing. Revisions are where you are looking at the big picture of the story. You are making sure that it fits story structure, the story makes sense, the characters are behaving in a believable way, your facts are correct, and that your story is engaging. Edits are were you zoom in and look a little closer. Is your sentence structure the best it could be? Are there better words you could use? Should this paragraph go somewhere else? Do you need to delete this part and expand on this part? Is your grammar and punctuation correct? There are all sorts of levels and nuances to this, but this is just the big picture look at what happens after you finish a rough draft.
When you finish your rough draft for the first time, I recommend setting it aside for a week (or really a month) or more if possible. Giving yourself some distance from your story will allow you to see things you wouldn’t have seen before.
Another important thing in writing books is realize you are never done learning. Good writers are constantly studying writing craft books, taking classes and workshops to improve themselves, and allowing others to sharpen them into better writers. This is a HUGE thing, honestly in whatever career you pursue. Learning is neverending. If you want a list of writing craft books, I can provide those.
One last bit of information that is important when writing a book: Remember, your story will not be liked by everyone. It’s going to hurt when someone doesn’t like it–maybe even hates it–but the important thing to remember is everyone has different tastes.
by Crystal Caudill | Nov 24, 2021 | Writing Craft
How do you decide the setting?
When choosing a setting you want to make sure it’s a location that makes it so if your story were set anywhere else, it wouldn’t work the same way. For example, in my book coming out in early 2022, my setting is set in Cincinnati during the flood of 1884. Without that flood, the climax of my story couldn’t happen. If I moved it to another time and location, my story would change.
The best advice I ever heard was to consider your setting a character. Your setting is going to influence your story, and you get to decide how. Think about how your story would be different if it were to take place in Winter instead of Summer, in a big city versus a small town. Figure out what your elements need to be, and pick the setting that will best support those needs and impact your characters.
How do you pick the main character’s name?
There are lots of ways I do this. Since I write historical, I look up the census records for the time period and region that I want to write in and sometimes pick from there. Sometimes a name just comes to me. Sometimes I look up the meanings of a name and have it connect to my character in a special way. Sometimes I just want to be humorous. For example, in my current story, I have a character who is murdered off screen very early in the story. I named him Mr. Farwell because it’s close to Farewell. Corny, but I get a chuckle out of it. 🙂 I also take into consideration the characters nationality, family heritage, and names that were common when they would have been born.
How do you pick a book name?
For books, I try to look for a theme, or even a single line that really resonates with the book. For my first book, Counterfeit Love, I (and thankfully my publisher) chose the title because counterfeit had multiple meanings to the story. Money, reasons for marriage, and where love comes from were all being counterfeited. Love was the main thing being counterfeited, so that is what we stuck with. The subsequent books are Counterfeit Hope and Counterfeit Faith. All these tie in with the theme and lessons of the book. Sometimes names, especially with cozy mysteries, have cutesy, whimsical, or even funny names. Search cozy mysteries on Amazon and you’ll get all sorts of funny, cheesy titles. You want to take into consideration your genre as well. If suspense, you want to have words that hint at suspense. Same with mystery, romance, and comdey.
by Crystal Caudill | Nov 24, 2021 | Writing Craft
Hi friends! I’m continuing my series, Ask the Author. Feel free to send your questions through the contact form and yours might end up on my blog. Don’t forget to check out my questions for you at the end.
Where do I start my story?
I always end up writing more than I keep. Usually what happens is I write in a lot of unnecessary background, about a chapter or two, so that I have a chance to get to know my characters and the storyline a little more intimately. However, when I go back to edit, I have to ask myself where does the story actually begin? Where is it that my main character faces the incident that is going to send them on their “quest” to achieve their goal? In a mystery, you usually start with the crime happening or having just happened off-screen. Oftentimes, you start the story as the amateur sleuths are about to discover the crime has occurred. In a romance, it is often around the first time the characters meet, or if they already know each other, during the something that proceeds them being forced to be together more often than they would have been otherwise.
When you start with too much background information, that is called an info dump. As a writer, we are told by those older and wiser than us that readers need that background information sprinkled in throughout the story. Readers are invested when they have questions they want to be answered. The character screams when she sees a picture of a snake. The reader might wonder, why is the main character deathly afraid of snakes? Later on, they find out an incident where someone dropped a pet snake on her that bit her… maybe even the hero if they were friends or enemies early on when they were kids. It all depends on how you want to build your story out and how you want the character to change over the course of the story.
Bottom line is, don’t be afraid to delete words from your story. Sometimes you need to write it just for the sake of you as the author. Once you have that solid in your head, you can reevaluate your story for where the READER needs you to start your story. If it makes you feel better, you can cut and paste those lost words into a separate document labeled deleted scenes or scenes to use later. You may never look at those words again, but you will always have them. I promise you, a lot more writers than you think do this. Many of has have files and files of such documents.
Schmidt is an avid reader, book reviewer, story addict, KissingBooks fan, book boyfriend collector, and cool aunt. She also loves Jesus and THE Story a whole lot. Carrie started the popular blog ReadingIsMySuperPower.org in 2015 and since then has had the honor of co-founding the Christian Fiction Readers’ Retreat and JustRead Publicity Tours. In addition to these endeavors, she is a regular contributor to Seekerville and has written for magazines such as RT Book Reviews and Christian Market. Carrie now lives in Georgia with her husband, though her roots range from East Tennessee to Central Kentucky and northern Illinois.