Writing and Publishing News

I’m off to another book festival today at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Ventura, CA. I hope to earn a bit above expenses and make some interesting contacts. I am always seeking out hopeful authors who can succeed and, in fact, excel if only they had a little knowledge.

I did a lot of “helping” this month. And the remuneration for my outreach efforts will pay the months bills with some left over for a rainy day. As we all know, those rainy days do occur. I am blessed. I have some amazing, talented clients with good stories to tell and who are eager to learn.

Are you getting a lot of writing done this summer? Where are you with your writing project? I have 5 clients who are moving forward swiftly with their book projects despite the lure of summer weather and activities. I have 8 students who are working hard to complete book proposals or establish freelance article-writing careers. Five other clients completed their books this year and are spending their summer promoting. And there are some who are feverishly seeking publication.

I sometimes wonder where my clients and students would be if they hadn’t come to me for assistance. I don’t mean to sound pompous in this statement. It’s just that most of them were either floundering or were headed down the wrong road with an inferior project. Oh what a difference a little education and guidance can make—not to mention editorial support.

Folks, just because you have a good idea for a book doesn’t mean that it is a viable product or that you can successfully navigate the competitive world of publishing. Just because you can write doesn’t mean that you can produce a worthwhile manuscript. Just because you know how to market, doesn’t mean you can successfully promote a book. Just because you have an assertive nature doesn’t mean that you can easily locate and land a publisher.

There’s much more to successful authorship than one typically sees on the surface. It isn’t a simple matter of writing, publishing and raking in the royalties. Successful publishing means understanding the publishing industry; knowing your options, the possible consequences of your choices and your responsibility as a published author. A successful book generally starts with a complete and well-researched book proposal.

If you have a book in your mind, developing in a computer file or in manuscript form ready to be published, stop now. Do yourself and your future a favor and write a book proposal. It will reveal volumes about the potential for your project and how to proceed with it. What you learn from the book proposal process could change the focus and scope of your book and, believe me, this could be a good thing.

Learn about writing a book proposal by using my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book and the companion Author’s Workbook. Order them together and save: http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

If you like hands-on help and you want to work with a professional, sign up for my Online On-Demand Book Proposal Course. http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookproposal.htm Ask my students&#8212it’s well worth the reasonable price.

I also work one-on-one with clients on their book proposals. Check out my credentials, client testimonials and my fees at http://www.matilijapress.com/consulting.html

SPAN members, be sure to read my article on page 19 of the July 2008 edition of SPAN Connection. It’s all about how to more successfully use your blog to promote your book.

Terry Whalin, literary agent, editor and writer contacted me yesterday to say that he finally finished reading my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book and he wrote a 5-star review for Amazon.com. Check it out at my book page at Amazon. This book has 11 five-star reviews posted at Amazon. There is 1 four-star review and, I am sorry to say that there is an erroneous one-star review attributed to this book’s standing.

Here’s what happened: the reviewer gave the book 5-stars in her written review. But, when she clicked on the stars provided, she neglected to set the stars before moving on and some of them disappeared. You’ve probably had that happen. With some programs, if you don’t click the mouse after setting the stars or date or whatever in the space allotted, it will change or disappear when you move the cursor to do something else on the form. I have attempted a couple of times to reach this reviewer and ask her to make the correction (she’s the only one who can). But she has disappeared.

Visit Terry Whalin’s informative blog at http://terrywhalin.blogspot.com

And don’t forget to contact me about working with you on your book proposal. You’ll be awfully glad you did. PLFry620@yahoo.com

By the way, I’m still offering a FREE manuscript evaluation to my blog readers. This is good for a book manuscript or an article. Contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com for details.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 26th, 2008 at 4:59 am and is filed under Publishing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.