It's a Jungle Out There For Hopeful Authors
Recently, I sat on a panel with four other authors who had varying degrees of expertise. Each had his/her own limited experience and/or agenda and each had extremely biased information to share with the audience of about 40 hopeful authors. I was quite frustrated by the time the hour was up because of the questionable advice being handed to this audience.
While working one of four SPAWN booths at the Santa Barbara Book Festival last weekend, hopeful authors came to discuss their projects and ask for guidance. More than a couple of times, after I had a straight-forward discussion with a fledgling author, someone standing on the fringes of our conversation would interject his/her advice. I heard one woman tell a man who has an idea for a nonfiction book to "forget about writing a book proposal—just sit down and start writing." She said, "That's how you become a writer—you just write."
This may be valid advice for someone who has writer's block, who can't think of anything to write about, who dreams of becoming a writer someday, who wants to become a more skilled writer. But this is bad advice for someone who is ready to write a nonfiction book with high expectations of it being widely sold and read. In this case, writing a book proposal is the logical first step.
Folks, there are too many people out there professing to be experts and who are more than willing to share their advice with you. Sure, hear them out. But also be a proactive researcher. Study the publishing industry. Read and listen to the true experts—those with a proven track record. The list of people I recommend as experts include Dan Poynter, John Kremer, Marilyn and Tom Ross, Mary Embree and those of us at SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) http://www.spawn.org.
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