Please welcome
Brian A. Klems to my blog. He is here to give our readers a new perspective as an author AND an editor. Please tell our
readers about the magazine you represent.
Brian- I’m the senior
online editor of Writer’s Digest. Writer’s Digest is the number one magazine
for writers who are looking to write better, get published and get paid for
what they write. I’m not just saying it’s great because I work for the
magazine, I honestly believe it to be true. I read Writer’s Digest before I
ever worked on the magazine and consider myself lucky to be part of its
evolution, as well as a member of its awesome team of editors.
Nancy- Who first introduced you to the love of reading?
Brian- My mom. She’s been an avid reader ever since I can remember. I recall her
setting annual goals of reading two books a week to reach 104 for each year.
And she did that on top of raising me and my sister, getting us to our sports
and extra curriculars and going back to college in her 30s to become a
Kindergarten teacher. That still blows my mind. Now I’ve been passing on my
love of reading to my three little ladies, two of whom are the top readers in
their class (and the other is still in preschool and can’t actually read words
yet, but she reads by pictures and I love that just as much).
Nancy- What is the biggest no no you see in submissions that makes you reject them?
Brian- Aside from misspelling my name, which happens
way more than you’d expect considering how easily it is to find my name online,
grammar mistakes will quickly kill a query for me. I’m understanding and know
that we all slip time to time, especially because autocorrect often introduces
errors, but having several typos or grammar errors in a query is unacceptable.
If you can’t be trusted to put in the work to get it right in a query of only a
couple of paragraphs, how can I trust you to get it right in a full-length
article?
Nancy- Please tell my readers a little bit about your
book.
Brian- My book, Oh Boy, You’re Having a Girl: A Dad’s
Survival Guide to Raising Daughters, is a humor parenting book designed to make
you laugh and relate to the trails, tribulations and awesomeness of raising
girls. I have three daughters, all of whom are smart, sweet and have me wrapped
around their fingers. The book isn’t advice-driven in the sense that it tells
you how to deal with a rash or save for college, it’s advice-driven in the
sense that it encourages you to embrace everything and take it all in, because
no matter how macho or tough you think you are, you’ll proudly wear that tiara
when you’re little princess asks you to. I’ve learned it’s become an extremely
popular gift book, given by friends and family to expecting parents and I’ve
also seen it used by parents-to-be to announce that they are having a girl to
family and friends. Either way, I appreciate all the kind comments I get about
it. It makes me smile knowing it makes others smile.
Nancy- When did you start writing toward publication?
Brian- I originally started my blog, TheLifeOfDad as
a way to get my creativity out while also updating close family and friends of
the progress of our first pregnancy. I had started blogs before, but they were
unfocused and unsuccessful. They were valuable, as I honed my voice and learned
from mistakes I made along the way, which I think is important that writers
realize—even unsuccessful ventures can teach you so much. Anyway, the blog
grew and I kept saying, “I’m going to write a book.” Of course, like most writers,
I kept putting it off. Then, in 2011, my dad unexpectedly died of a heart
attack and it put things in perspective for me. Life is short. If I didn’t try
now, I may not have a chance later. So I wrote up a book proposal and sample
chapters and, what’d you know—I landed an agent and a book deal.
Nancy- Having achieved your goal to be a published
author, what is the most rewarding thing?
Brian- The most rewarding part is when people send me a
note on social media, or leave a kind review on Amazon, telling me how much
they enjoyed the book. It really does make me smile and brighten my life.
Putting yourself and your work out there for the entire world to judge is a
pretty gutsy thing to do. Not everyone will love your work and not everyone
will appreciate the weeks, months and years you’ve put in to making your dream
come true. But the people that do—and luckily for me that’s been the vast
majority of folks—make all the hard work worth it. I wish I could personally
thank each and every one.
Nancy- Will you share some encouraging words for
authors still struggling for that first contract?
Brian- Rejection is part of the game—wear it on your
sleeve as a bad of honor, but don’t let it drag you down. Persistence is
everything in publishing. It’s much like playing professional sports. Baseball
players who want to make it to the major leagues work every day at their craft,
pushing their limits, and hoping that they will be lucky enough to impress a
scout that will give them a chance. Getting published is the same. It’s a matter
of working incredibly hard and putting yourself in the best position you can to
succeed while also hoping that you’re lucky enough to connect with someone who
likes what you’re doing and wants to publish your work. And if you’re really
lucky, people will read it.
BOOK BLURB
It's easy to imagine how
you'd raise a boy—all the golf outings, lawnmower lessons, and Little League
championships you'd attend—but playing dad to a little princess may take some
education. In Oh Boy, You're Having a Girl Brian, a father of three
girls, shares his tactics for surviving this new and glittery world. From baby
dolls and bedtime rituals to potty training and dance recitals, he leads you
through all the trials and tribulations you'll face as you're raising your
daughter. He'll also show you how to navigate your way through tough
situations, like making sure that she doesn't start dating until she's 50.
Complete with commandments for restroom trips and properly participating in a
tea party, Oh Boy, You're Having a Girl will
brace you for all those hours playing house--and psych you up for the
awesomeness of raising a daughter who has you lovingly wrapped around her
little finger.
More About Brian Klems
Brian A. Klems is a writer,
husband, perennial fantasy sports underachiever, and father of three lovely
little girls. He's the online editor of Writer's Digest magazine and is also a
proud graduate of the E.W. Scripps journalism school at Ohio University.Brian's first parenting humor book, OH BOY, YOU'RE HAVING A GIRL (Adams Media), was endorsed by Dave Barry and was called "laugh-out-loud funny" by the Chicago Tribune. Brian is a contributor to The Huffington Post, where his most popular piece, "The Letter Every Parent Should Write" was endorsed by the rockstar P!NK.
Read more from Brian at Writersdigest
and at The Life Of Dad blog
and follow him on Twitter @BrianKlems HERE
Oh Boy, You're Having a Girl
Bonus!
Brian will appear April 30, 2016
in Raleigh, NC as the
Keynote Speaker at the
WRITE NOW 2016 Writer's Conference
Learn more about the conference
and register HERE
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