Making Connections Long Distance
Reaching Out, Keeping in Touch When You're a Long Way From Anywhere
By Julie Tollefson
Our chapter, spread across 13 states, covers a lot of territory. Member Steven Miller lives in one of the farthest corners — Garden City in far southwest Kansas. That’s 800 miles from Minneapolis, 900 from Chicago, and more than 1,000 from Columbus, Ohio. Given those distances, attending in-person events with other chapter members can be, to put it mildly, challenging. But Steven, whose debut novel How Everything Turns Away came out in August under the pseudonym Steven J. Kolbe, has found living at the edge of our region doesn’t mean writing in isolation. Here, he offers five tips for being an active member of the mystery writing community, no matter how far removed you are, geographically speaking.
1) Don’t be shy — Though Steven isn’t the only writer in Garden City, population 28,000, the community doesn’t have the same kind of active literary scene found in big cities. “When there are only four writers in town, they’re all so niche that it’s hard to compare notes,” he says. He’s made local friends who write poetry or fantasy, middle grade or young adult, but to find like-minded crime fiction writers, he’s had to look farther afield and that’s meant, in some cases, pushing beyond his comfort zone.
In one bit of serendipity, while looking for readers to give thoughtful feedback on his work, he found MWA just in time to participate in our chapter’s 2020 holiday party and open mic reading — an event that had moved online because of the pandemic.
“How cool is that? I just joined. I don’t live in Chicago. But I can read at this big event,” he says. The reading gave him an opportunity to put his work in front of other writers and make new connections.
If, like Steven, you don’t have a local writing crew, look for opportunities to forge new friendships online. Hint: Start with your friends at MWA Midwest. Attend our virtual meetings, sign up for our Groups.io email list, or join our Saturday morning writing sprints on Zoom.
2) Don’t be afraid to ask for help — An editor’s suggestion that he seek a mentor led Steven to MWA and the Midwest chapter’s Mystery Mentors program. Steven’s mentor worked with him on the opening of his manuscript. With her suggestions, he rewrote the book and resubmitted it to the same editor the following spring. That manuscript ultimately became his debut novel.
He’s also swapped manuscripts and favors with authors he’s met through his publisher, Wild Rose Press.
“I’ve reviewed four other authors in the last eight months,” he says. “I don’t know that it creates any sales, but I think it has helped me grow as a writer to read other people’s work and to have them read mine. The feedback has been both constructive and authentic. Here are authors who are trying to reach a similar audience to mine, and they’re telling me what’s working in my novel and what needs to be improved upon in my next one.”
3) Make tech work for you — Zoom, social media, email loops, blogs, podcasts, and more have become indispensable tools for writers in the absence of in-person events during the pandemic. With the publication of his first novel, Steven has relied on technology to spread the word and introduce himself to potential readers. He mixes personal and professional posts on his social media accounts, posting “sales-y” things about his writing and his book but also sharing glimpses into his life beyond his literary pursuits.
“I think it’s helpful to show people I’m a real person,” he says.
He’s also made guest appearances on blogs and podcasts. When his alma mater, Kansas State University, invited him to submit an essay for the English Department’s blog alongside essays by other writers with greater name recognition, Steven reached out to the friends he’d made through his publisher to help publicize his post, then watched the likes and retweets roll in.
“It’s cool when that sort of thing happens,” he says.
4) Try something new — This summer, Steven plans to set out on a tour of Kansas libraries, with a program that’s part book promotion, part writing workshop. His Mystery Writing Workshop Tour has booked dates in nearly a dozen cities so far, covering every part of the state. Building on workshops he’s offered closer to home since his book came out, he’ll cover the basics of writing crime fiction — elements of mystery, structure, how to create suspects and sleuths, the publishing process.
“When I go somewhere physically and talk to real humans, I know that I’m connecting with people,” he says. Plus, he believes the workshop format is a selling point, a way of giving something to the communities he’s visiting in return for their time — and maybe some of the participants will buy his book.
5) Make the most of your MWA connections — Though we’re all happy to see in-person events making a comeback, the ability to connect every month through Zoom chapter meetings has been a boon to writers living and working far from the big cities where meetings were typically held before the pandemic. Everyone with a computer and an internet connection can participate, no matter where they are physically.
“We can see each other there. We’re asking questions of a presenter,” Steven says. “It’s all very relevant to what we’re trying to do. It’s just a great way to be connected.”