The WMF Archives

By Angela Atkinson

Writing Mommies is honored to have been given the privilege of interviewing Christina Katz, author of Writer Mama and Get Known Before the Book Deal. Christina has been helping other writers for more than ten years. She's an expert on platform development and writing for publication.

The Interview

Writing Mommies: Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Christina Katz: Pretty much. Like many writers, as a kid, I loved books, words, and listening to stories but it wasn’t until after college that I made an internal commitment to writing. One of the wisest decisions I ever made was to put myself through three years of graduate school doing something I really wanted to do—writing, which was a great apprenticeship and likely changed the trajectory of my life.

WM: Can you tell us about your earliest experiences with the publishing business? Where were you first published?

CK: I was published twice while in graduate school at Columbia College Chicago in the early nineties. The first time a short story of mine was selected from a group of class work for the fiction department’s award-winning anthology, Hair Trigger. Later I was invited to write an article for the journalism department’s Chicago Arts & Communications magazine. I got to interview three of Chicago’s most prominent architects, which was nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time. Needless to say, once I saw my words edited and in a book and then in a magazine, I was pretty much hooked.

WM: What has your writing career been like since then?

CK: Graduate school was an opportunity to put my money (literally) where my mouth was. I’d been splashing around with writing but once I got to grad school, it was time to start swimming laps. For classes, we were writing 1,000+ words a week, which was a great habit to get into. So naturally, doing all that work, I started to find my writing rhythm. I consider those three years of regular writing my “apprenticeship” and I've been writing pretty darn regularly ever since.

WM: Have you dealt with rejection as a writer? How did you cope?

CK: I have been fortunate to encounter minimal rejection as a writer. Every writer has his or her tripping points and rejection has not been a particular one of mine (with the exception of a nonfiction book I wrote in the late nineties, which was rejected and thank goodness!). Instead procrastination has been more of a tripping point of mine. At one time, longing for something to happen without daring to work hard enough to make anything happen was a real impediment.

Today, I have an actual writing career and I invest many hours each day making sure I’ll have one tomorrow. For me, writing isn’t a fantasy; it’s my job.

WM: Have you ever dealt with writer’s block? How did you handle it?

CK: Writing is like medicine for me. I would become a pretty blocked, neurotic mess of a person if I didn’t do it. I’ve been writing regularly for almost two decades now, so much so that I’ve recently spent time with a physical therapist to make sure I keep writing. For folks who struggle with writer’s book, I’d recommend reading Julia Cameron, Nathalie Goldberg or Anne Lamott. They can really help a writer write her way beyond writer’s block.

WM: When was the first time you realized you were a “real” writer?

CK: Probably back in graduate school when I had a short story and a feature profile published. The short story was strong. I still think so. The feature profile…ooo, I still cringe at how naïve I was as a journalist. But then again, I was a fiction student attempting to write in an unfamiliar style, so I’ve forgiven myself.

Maybe real writers are born, not made. Either way the rest of the world will never know about us as writers unless we devote ourselves to the craft, selling, professional development, and self-promotion it takes to be a writer in these times. I think a lot of aspiring writers don’t get that writing is an art and a business and that the learning curve goes up for a really long time. If you are a lover of life-long learning, writing is a good career for you.

WM: Tell us about ‘Writer Mama.’ What inspired you to write it? What can a reader expect from it?

CK: In 2005, I decided to pitch a book at my first writer’s conference. The world of writing conferences where you pitch your ideas to agents and editors was totally new to me. So I asked authors Julie Fast and Elaura Niles for help at one of our monthly breakfasts that we were having back then. They helped me take a cold, hard, look at my strengths and then craft them into a book pitch, which became the “Busy Mom’s Guide to Freelance Writing.” I hooked Jane Friedman, an editor from Writer’s Digest Books at the time, with the idea. Elaura had worked with Jane and mentioned that she was looking for someone to write a book for parent writers. I whipped up a quick proposal, submitted it, and landed the deal. Jane suggested the title switch to Writer Mama. And I’m so glad she did.

The book shows how moms can launch a successful and productive writing career while taking care of the kids. Busy writers, who aren’t parents, will appreciate the baby-step approach for applying writing skills to nonfiction markets. I am continually amazed and humbled by the positive reception the book continues to receive. The high point of any day is a personal note from a reader saying how much she appreciates the book or was helped by applying the tools to her writing-for-publication toolkit. I still work with writer mamas on a regular basis through my e-mail classes and two of my former students had books published this year. Two more signed book contracts. Teaching writer mamas continues to be one of the most gratifying aspects of my career.

WM: How about your latest book, ‘Get Known Before the Book Deal’?

CK: For years, there has not been enough information on platform development and suddenly, there is a flood of it everywhere, not all necessarily comprehensive, useful or well organized for folks who don’t have a platform yet. Get Known discusses platform development in-depth for writers who are not yet authors, and therefore saves a lot of writers from wasting time and money. Getting known doesn’t take a lot of money, but it does take an in-depth understanding of platform and then the investment of time, skills and consistent effort to build one. I show how to avoid the biggest time and money-waster, which is not understanding who your platform is for and why. Hopefully the book can save writers from the inertia that can result from either information overload or not taking the big-picture into account.

Joe Wikert, General Manager and Publisher at O’Reilly Media, Inc. says that Get Known is “The Platform Bible.” Best-selling author Hope Edelman recommends the book to her students at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. And Andrew L. Rogers, a recent Amazon reviewer said, “Any aspiring author, almost author, or new author will benefit from [Katz’] insights on how to create and grow a writing platform.” The book has been so popular that I’ve had trouble keeping up with inquires this past year. I’m working on a series of downloadable audios that I hope will address the coaching needs of more people than I can personally accommodate.

WM: What is the best piece of writing advice you ever got and who did it come from?

CK: Nathalie Goldberg’s Zen teacher Katagiri Roshi said it takes, “great determination” to become a writer. Truer words have never been spoken. I’d add that it takes a heck of a lot of perseverance, as well. Writing is not for the faint of heart.

WM: What would you say to a writer looking to get a first book published? What’s something you wish someone had told you?

CK: I say:

1. Writing careers are a process, not an overnight occurrence.

2. The best people for your career are writing mentors, who have been where you are trying to go.

3. If you want to write a book, pitch it properly. Different types of books are sold in different ways. It’s a writer’s job to understand what is expected.

There isn’t anything in particular I wish I’d been told. I’ve written two books on learning and communicating what I wished I’d learned in graduate school. So I’m as thankful for what I didn’t learn as much as for what I did learn.

WM: Do you schedule your writing? Perform any special routines or rituals?

CK: When I'm working on a book, I get up very early in the morning to work. I love when everything is hushed. I can get a lot more done at this time of day than I can later when everyone's up and about. But I don't have a strict schedule because, as a nonfiction writer, deadlines typically dictate my writing schedule more than anything. My saving grace is keeping a sketchpad handy so I can doodle out all the ideas in my head both for my writing and for managing my career.

Writers have been curious about this process and have asked me to describe in detail how I use a sketchpad. But it’s not magic; it’s just doodling! Sometimes I hang the doodled pages up in my office as reminders that my best information bubbles up from the inside so long as I take the time to notice, listen, and write it all down.

Learn More About Christina Katz:

Every time a bell rings, one of Christina Katz’ former students is signing a writing contract. A “gentle taskmaster” with over a decade of professional writing experience, Christina Katz teaches writers success strategies that help them get on track and get published.

Katz is the author of Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform and Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids for Writer’s Digest Books.

She has written hundreds of articles for national, regional, and online publications, presents at literary and publishing events around the country, and is a monthly columnist for the Willamette Writer. Katz is the founder of #platformchat, The Writer Mama Back-to-School Giveaway, and The Northwest Author Series. She holds an MFA in writing from Columbia College Chicago and a BA from Dartmouth College.

Writers to Watch: Christina Katz