Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

non-fiction

Are Reference Ebooks Cool Again In The Digital World?

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by Kimberly A. Cook                   (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Read a fascinating article in Publishers Weekly magazine about the changing world for reference writers and publishers. Seems the demise of the Oxford English Dictionary and Encyclopedia Britannica print editions did not spell the end of reference works, just the paper format.

Reference books are making gains online in the digital ebook revolution.
Reference books are making gains online in the digital ebook revolution.

The long and short of it is that non-fiction or reference writers need to cater their content delivery vehicle to the age and target market of their reader. Now this has always been true in publishing, but even more so now with the digital publishing revolution as it relates to reference works, which includes how to write books.

But some reference titles are still selling quite well in print, so as the saying goes, there is never just one answer to a publishing question. Some reference publishers are targeting parents of college students and the students themselves according to the article. So once again a niche market divides into smaller niches by need and age group.

For the non-fiction author this is another great source about markets to study and trends to watch when considering how to publish your how to or how not to book to readers. The article talks about the importance of libraries in the digital reference migration and how libraries have pushed the reference publishers to adapt to their needs as library users demand more online resources.

The only thing constant in publishing is change and right now we keep seeing the rise of the author and that readers are Queen. Take the time to consider the best way to have your non-fiction work meet your readers and do some research, you might be surprised!

Read the article here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/new-titles/adult-announcements/article/56795-the-changing-world-of-reference-focus-on-reference-2012.html

Did You Get An Easy Bake Oven Or A Chatty Cathy Doll?

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by Kimberly A. Cook                    (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

A writer tells as much about themself by what they leave out of their writing as by what they include.  This point was driven home to me this past weekend while staffing a garage sale with my longtime buddy, Michelle. We’ve known each other since first grade so we remain friends because we have so much blackmail material on each other.

Christmas Moose Cookie Jar left over from the garage sale. Maybe I'll just bake cookies and keep him after all.
Christmas Moose Cookie Jar left over from the garage sale. Maybe I’ll just bake cookies and keep him after all.

The weather was great and we had a steady stream of customers Saturday morning until 12:55 p.m., then not one shopper for the rest of the day. When the weather gets above 80 degrees here in early May on a Oregon weekend,  people shop early and play in the sun in the afternoon. Standard operating procedure.

So Michelle and I had plenty of time to talk in between her family running in and out, the area kids checking out the sale, neighbors stopping by and the Slip and Slide water party going on across the street. “This reminds me of when we were kids during the summer,” she said. “Not a care in the world.”

We chatted about odd things we remembered. Michelle must have a 500 GB memory. She recalls the most embarrassing and odd facts about me, most I’ve forgotten on purpose. A retired teacher, she has an Android app in her head to categorize kids, people and memories.

I noted the Easy Bake Oven she’d had for sale for $5 when I dropped my items off Friday night to set up; it was gone when I arrived Saturday morning – neighbors getting in on the pre sale. I’d always wanted a pink Easy Bake Oven growing up and it must be why I prefer to bake instead of cook to this day. I did get my Chatty Cathy doll and I still have her, no garage sales in her future.

While we watched shoppers sift through our items for sale and talked about the details of our childhood, I knew there must be a million stories out there about gifts kids wished for and never got and the ones they wanted and received. Shades of “The Christmas Story” movie come to life. Got a gift never received Christmas, holiday or birthday memory? Write that story!

Then go find the toy on eBay and buy it for yourself. It’s never too late to fulfill childhood dreams, including becoming a writer.

Got A Writer Pit Crew? Or Three?

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by Kimberly A. Cook                  (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

This past Friday I met with my author buddy and editor, Cindy Hiday, (www.cindyhiday.com) for one of our frequent staff meetings. We call them that because we write alone and need another carbon-based life form for creative support. These days I joke(?) it takes at least three NASCAR pit crews to keep me together, but one of those pit crews is full of writer and author buddies.

Bleeding Heart blooming in my garden today after surviving this weekend's thunder, rain and wind storms.
Bleeding Heart blooming in my garden today after surviving this weekend’s thunder, rain and wind storms.

Then on Saturday I met with my writer support group, a bunch of five authors and writers who talk about what is going on with our writing and our lives. We don’t critique each other’s writing, but we each get thirty minutes to tell what is happening with our life and art.

Turns out three of us had been through some pretty tough challenges in the last two months and the other two had been decompressing at the beach for seven months after moving to their dream location. We all support and help each other out. Writing is a craft we fit in around our pesky regular lives which keep intruding on our work. Personal and weather storms of all kinds don’t stop because we want to write our stories.

In these days of crazy news and even wackier odd things on tv, there is nothing like sitting with writer friends and really listening to each other. We unplug and open our ears to hear each others life stories. It always inspires and recharges me; like a camp fire without the smoke, flying embers and bats.

Writers need writer friends who support and encourage our work, plus hopefully bring snacks. If you don’t belong to a group like this, create one. That is how our group started, I needed one so I asked writers I was compatible with if they were interested. Now, several years later we are still at it meeting every other month for a couple hours.

No one understands a writer like a fellow writer. Let’s face facts, we can be an odd bunch at the best of times. Non-writers think we are in charge of our fiction characters and know what is going to happen. Ha! They also think we just whip out those non-fiction books and articles in no time flat. Nada.

One of my favorite sayings applies to writing, “If it was easy, anybody could do it.” True for both writers and Special Operations personnel; not everybody is cut out for the long gut grinding haul of these two professions. So whether you need a “staff meeting” or a “writer support group,” make sure you have writer friends and buddies to help you along the way.

It’s always a good idea to come out of our writer caves and interact with real people instead of screens and keyboards. Build your writer pit crew today!

Are We Ready To Spring Clean Our Writing Minds?

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by Kimberly A. Cook             (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Last Friday I spent seven hours in my home office cleaning and organizing. Actually, my real goal was to find the floor. Seems simple, but after piling different boxes and baskets and rearranging things, it had become a mess. Like the bees working hard in my backyard, spring is a time for new starts and saying goodbye to old projects and failed dreams.

Busy honey bee in my backyard on March 25th doing his pollen collecting job for Spring.
Busy honey bee in my backyard on March 25th doing his pollen collecting job for Spring.

It amazes me how much paper this can all entail. Not only do I hoard office supplies in case a meteor hit leaves me without OfficeMax, but my writer tendencies to squirrel away pieces of paper, brochures, newspaper articles and notes can overwhelm me. When my pile management system is at the point I can’t find anything, including the cat, it’s time for the big spring purge.

As a former journalist, I hold on tightly to what is called “source material.” For the digital natives of the Internet age, this means it is the actual document where something was first said, as opposed to being copied and remade in 8,000 versions by everybody on YouTube.  In other words, in a court of law or an IRS audit, you can pull out the source document and live to litigate again.

That is why one file cabinet drawer is full of all the source documents from the first edition of my book; those files are not going anywhere soon. But, the “this is interesting” and the “I should read this” and the “this would make a great romance story if I ever write about singing vampire cupcake makers” need to move on.

Our writing goals, dreams and desires change over time. That’s okay. I’m looking forward to finally getting my non-fiction work squared away this summer so I can get back to my first love, romance fiction. Military romance fiction that is, where there are storylines with veterans in every book.

But before that happens, all of us have to clean out our old, don’t like and ain’t never gonna happen projects so both our brains and surroundings are ready for new adventures and stories. A favorite de-cluttering book of mine says, “storage is sorrow.” So true.

Let the stories, clutter and paper which no longer work for your writing life loose into the cosmos so they can find the correct writer. We might all be amazed with what we find on our floors and in our minds. Happy Spring Cleaning!