Spotlight on Mary Calestro of Muse Charmer

What can you share with your fellow authors?

by

Mary Calesto

One of the great things about the writing community is how willing we are to share information and knowledge with our fellow authors. The wealth of classes offered not just through the Romance Writers of America, but also through other organizations, shows just how generous we really are. After all, having worked within other genres of writing, I cannot think of another that is so willing to share information so freely and openly.

However, there’s another aspect of this sharing which I feel is something that’s relatively new to the writing community, and that is information products. Those involved in coaching and blogging know information products are a great way to build passive income, but then again published authors also know this because that’s how books sell. A writer works to market his or her backlist and frontlist titles, and readers (hopefully) buy them, providing monthly or quarterly royalties to the author. Information products work on the same way, except, there’s no royalties – there’s simply the entire purchase price (minus any vendor discounts/paypal processing fees/etc.) to the author.

These “information products” are simply books, and many of them are more like novellas. A slice of knowledge, some well-researched information, and an author, especially one who is multi-published and well-loved by fans and reviewers alike, can position him or herself as an expert. This leads to many new opportunities for an author. For example, if an author has published quite a few Regency romances, then a “Romance Writer’s Guide to the Regency Area” would make an understandable information product. Same, too, with an author whose degree or career knowledge would benefit other authors.

Of course, there’s more than information products. Many writing groups, such as local RWA chapters, really appreciate well-written, articles for their newsletters. Your blog can become a great resource for writers (and thus introduce new readers to your books). There are so many ways to share our knowledge, if we simply do share.

I think, in part, that’s why I started the Muse Charmer. Having been in this business so long, and seen so many things, I feel a need to share with other writers. Share my experience, my knowledge, even my stories as a warning, because like other authors, I, too, have run into publishers who were wonderful and those who really weren’t.  Sharing knowledge is important.