Lisa Jackson Chats about Editing, Writing and Zombies!

My guest today is Lisa Jackson who makes her home in Southern New Hampshire. She is a professional writer and editor who enjoys working with words. Lisa is the owner of Write Your Way and creates fiction under the pen name Lisa Haselton.

Can you tell us about your business, Write Your Way? What services do you offer?

Sure. I’m an independent editor and writer and my business provides writing and editing services to businesses, publishers, and individuals. I love working with folks who want to tighten their writing or get something written. I enjoy working with words, and whether I’m a ghost writer on a project, or get to take public credit, seeing a project through to successful completion is something I’m passionate about.
I have a strong business (high tech, beauty, and software industries) background, along with a strong writing background. I work with corporations, publishers, small businesses, and independent writers and authors. I’ve written and edited marketing materials, business profiles, interviews, tech and process manuals, fiction, memoir, and so on. My interests are varied and I love that – the work never gets boring.

Consulting on a project is no cost. I like to find out as much about a project as I can up front, and if I’m not the right editor or writer, I’ll make recommendations for other resources. I don’t accept a project that I don’t feel confident I can complete to the customer’s satisfaction.

If anyone contacts me for writing or editing services and mentions this blog, I will give 30% off the project fee. Every project is different, but pricing is known before any contract is made.

Your web site mentions the importance of maintaining the writer’s unique ‘voice’. Can you give us an example of this?

We all have certain ways of speaking, and that ‘voice’ comes through in our writing, whether it’s a memo, process manual, or something creative like fiction. Some voices are proper, some include humor, some are passive, some are formal, and the list goes on.

When I’m writing technical manuals, I like to make the text enjoyable to read, so I use short sentences and small words. Fiction writing, especially the narrative, varies from author to author. Stephen King’s voice is different from Dennis Lehane’s and J.K. Rowling’s. We have rhythms to our writing which create the ‘voice’.

When I edit fiction or any non-technical, non-business work, my preference is to make suggestions on sentences/phrases that can be improved upon and instead of changing the text to what I would use, I list examples and let the author rewrite the section as he or she sees fit. More and more often though, I’m having authors tell me to just make the corrections. Seems after having dealt with the manuscript for X number of iterations, they just want it polished. I can work with that, too.

I understand you have a short story in an anthology called The Zombie Cookbook. This was written under your pen name of Lisa Haselton. Please tell us about it. Where can we obtain a copy?

I saw a call last year through Writer’s Chatroom (details on this resource below) for stories and poems for an anthology called The Zombie Cookbook. I’d never written about zombies before, but the title made me laugh, so I had to try.

I came up with a poem, actually several, using names and the zombie theme. I submitted my favorite, A Zombie Named Clete, and it was accepted. After that I just felt like I wanted to write a story to go with the poem. It took quite a while for me to come up with the story, but eventually I was able to come up with the setting and it came together.

The artwork on the cover and in the book are quite, um, appropriate for the subject matter, but the stories inside range from funny to gross. And there are some zombie recipes, too. Details on the book, including ordering information, can be found at: Zombiecookbook.net. This anthology helped me land my first-ever book signing, and I’ve enjoyed being a part of it.

Please tell us about the Writer's Chatroom. It was recently awarded with the 101 Best Websites for Writers designation from Writer's Digest. How can we join?

The Writer’s Chatroom is a fantastic place for writers of any experience and any genre. I’ve been on the staff for over 2 years now and love it.

It’s easy to become involved. Just go to the site and sign up for the chat announcements to be notified of upcoming chats. There are moderated chats every Sunday night from 7-9PM EST. We host authors, agents, and publishers as well has have writing-related evenings.

Every Wednesday night from 8-11PM EST, is an “open chat”, where anyone can go for writing-related help on any subject. There is also a forum folks can join to find critiquers, get advice, find writing markets, anything they need. It’s free, and we like to help other writers. You can find Writer’s Chatroom on MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter, too.

Lisa, it has been a great pleasure to learn about the services you offer. I've also enjoyed spending time in the Writer's Chatroom. What a great resource!

Thank you so much for letting me share a bit about myself. I love words; working with them and meeting others who enjoy reading and writing. My fiction can be found at Lisa Haselton and I’m Lisa Haselton on MySpace as well.

You can follow me on Twitter at LisaJJackson and visit me online at LisaJJackson.com.

Michelle Dunn - Expert on Credit & Collections

Michelle Dunn of Plymouth, New Hampshire is the nation's top expert on credit and debt collection. She has seven published books on the subject and has 20 years of experience in the industry. I’m pleased to welcome her to Writers In Business.

~ You have certainly found your niche in the book market and are a respected expert on the topic of collections. Congratulations! Can you tell us what inspired you to write your first book on this?

I wrote my first book titled "Starting a Collection Agency, how to make money collecting money" based on the demand for information on this topic. I had started my agency and had been working in the industry for about 11 years, when I started getting some national media attention. This media attention brought me many phone calls, letters, and emails asking me how I started my agency and became successful at it. This prompted me to write a book on this topic since there were none out there at that time on this subject.
~ I understand when you started your own collection agency in 1998, debt collection was a field dominated by men. You found the strength and courage not only to enter this field, but to become a successful author of books on collections. Did you feel it was an uphill battle to break into this field or did you find support along the way?

I found the strength and courage to enter this field based on my knowledge of the industry and based on how good I was at collecting. I also was getting a divorce and wanted to be home and spend more time with my children. I found that I could not accomplish this while commuting 2 hours a day to my job. I decided to start my own business from home so I could have more flexibility for my family.

In the beginning I did not find much support which is why I started my Credit & Collections Association, (www.Credit-and-Collections.com) and started a networking discussion group, with a website full of resources and information I had been compiling as I started my agency.
~ You have been featured in some well known media outlets including Ladies Home Journal, Forbes.com, PC World, Home Business Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. You were also a guest on (NPR) National Public Radio and the CBS Early Show. I’m sure lots of our readers would appreciate this level of publicity. Can you share with us some of your tips on securing this media attention?

I have always loved marketing as much as collecting. I have read many books, magazines and blogs on the subject in order to learn how to effectively market myself, my association, my books and my business.

I have been very successful at it, mostly because I am passionate about what I do and I don't take failure as an answer.

~ I’ve been reading about your new marketing series of books entitled, Mosquito Marketing. Can you tell us more about this concept and your plans for the series?

The first book in my Mosquito Marketing Series is being printing in the next few months, it is called "Mosquito Marketing for Authors". I wrote this book based on so many people asking me marketing questions.

For example, as you mentioned all the media I have achieved, I tell people in my book how I did that and how they can do it too. I tell them what I did that did not work so they won't waste time and money doing things that aren't effective. The next book to be published in this series will be at the end of the year and is called "Mosquito Marketing for Collection Agencies".

Michelle, thank you for joining us on Writers In Business. To learn more, please visit Michelle’s web site MichelleDunn.com or her blog on Mosquito Marketing Mosquito Marketing Blog. Her books are available through her web site and Amazon.com.