Writer’s Corner: Writing Communities & Tribes and more…

I often say that I am a one woman show at WordCrafter Press, and for the most part, that is true. I write stories and books, edit, publish and promote. But if I’ve learned only one thing throughout all of my writing and educational endeavors, it’s that there is just too much for a single person to handle it all. Especially when you are as over-ambitious as I am, and try to produce three different anthologies simultaneously.

One thing that I’ve found to be great about the independent author community is that most everyone is willing to extend a helping hand to others who are on the same journey, if perhaps at different points along the way. I have admired this in other authors whom I’ve met along my own journey, and aspired to do the same in my own writing endeavors. I do it by offering reviews on my blog, by doing author interviews, by running a newsletter swap group where members promote other members work in their newsletters, and by offering affordable editing and social media book promotion services.

A lot of this is just a way to pay it forward, and I’m a firm believer that it all comes back to me, in one way or another. Kevin J. Anderson refers to his writing community, which is growing with every cohort he takes in at Western Colorado University, his tribe. I was a part of that tribe and I guess I still am, although at a distance.

As I and my cohort members hang up our student hats and go back to our own individual writing lives, that network that we built during our course studies relaxes and becomes much more loosely knit, but I know they are all still there. Heck, I’m still in contact with most of the members of my original cohort, from my M.F.A., and some of those from my second emphasis cohort, too. Some drift away in time, but others have been, or will be, incorporated into my own tribe, the tribe that I’ve created right here, on Writing to be Read and social media channels. You, my friends, are a part of the writing community that I’ve created over a decade.

And that’s not a bad thing. This is the writing community which I have worked to build and create, and it’s filled with some really great people, who always seem to be there when I need them. (And hopefully, they can say the same about me.) Let me tell you a little bit about my tribe and the great people that make up my own writing network. if you’ve followed me for a time, you may know or recognize many of them.

First on the list is Robbie Cheadle, who puts out three different blog series on Writing to be Read, and coedits the Poetry Treasures anthology each year, is always willing to host tour stops for WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, and participates in WordCrafter Press anthologies and the resulting blog tours, and occasionally finds time to edit some of my works.

Next, is Jeff Bowles, who was in my second emphasis cohort. Jeff currently runs one blog series, but he has produced several others on the past, and he’s always willing to throw up a fill in post in a pinch. He has also participated in WordCrafter Press anthologies and the resulting blog tours, and in WordCrafter writing events.

Arthur Rosch has been a member of my blog team for many years, has participated in WordCrafter anthologies. D.L. Mullan has provided cover design services and helps with WordCrafter book events, and currently hosts tour stops and provides reviews for WordCrafter Book Blog Tours and has a story featured in the up coming Visions anthology.

Just as I depend on my blog team, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours couldn’t exists without my wonderful hosts: Miriam Hurdle, Patty Fletcher, Annette Rochelle Aben, Victoria Zigler, Carla Hicks, Barbara Spencer, James Cudney, and Jessica Bakers, in addition to those mentioned above.

My tribe is growing. I’ve recently added new friends, including Mark Leslie Lefebvre, who graciously joined in as a contributor for Ask the Authors 2022, and Sara Wesley McBride, who has two stories featured in the upcoming Visions anthology, and got her husband, Wes McBride, to design the fabulous new cover for it. And I am blessed with the opportunity to work with some truly talented authors with every anthology WordCrafter Press publishes, and every writing or book event WordCrafter hosts. And if you are a follower of Writing to be Read, or someone who pops in occassionally to see what content is offered here… You, dear readers, are all a part of my tribe, too. Without you, there wouldn’t be a blog.

So, you see, while my claim of being a one woman show is true in one sense, I really couldn’t do any of this without the members of my writing tribe. The world of the writers and authors is filled with marvelous writing communities from which we can all build and grow our own tribes.

Who’s in your tribe?

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