Special Announcement: Real Men Write

On June 8, 2013 the Motown Writer’s Network along with Scribblers, Screamers, and other Wordslingers Magazine will conduct its regular monthly meeting around the theme, “Real Men Write”.

“Real Men Write”, is an effort to introduce more people to the contributions African American men have made to the literary community.

The June meeting will feature approximately six African American male authors who will talk about their books, give insight into the reasons they started writing, and actively reach out to young people in the community with the hope of encouraging them to follow in their footsteps.

Barnes and Noble Café at Wayne State Campus on Warren and Cass will be the site for this great event. It will start promptly at 10 a.m. If you have a young man in your life that you want to expose to the literary arts, bring him on this day! This will be every young man’s opportunity to see and talk to some real men about what they love…Writing.  For more information, check out the link to the PSA here: http://www.sswmagazine.com/

Please spread the word! Use hashtag #RMW when mentioning this event on your Twitter or Facebook. Scribblers, Screamers, and other Wordslingers Magazine and the Motown Writers Network are looking forward to seeing you!!!!

-Kelly Greene

Motown Writers Network

 

 

Good Blogging

I had the honor of speaking at our last Motown Writer’s Network Meetup on the subject of Blogging.  I love talking about Blogging!  Blogging is the perfect combination of entertainment, literature, and journalism.  That loud groan you hear off in the distance, is the disdain of professional journalists with my mention of Blogging and journalism in the same sentence.

Many journalists resent bloggers.  Journalists spend years in college studying Journalism and Media Arts.  They feel Bloggers haven’t earned the knowledge necessary to write a proper article.  One journalist went as far as to say that “Bloggers do no more than sit at a computer in their underwear spewing incoherent opinions”.  If I were in my underwear, I thank God I am in decent enough shape that I won’t look so bad.  I understand however, Print journalism is dying.  Newspapers are shedding jobs and the years spent honing their craft seem to be in vain.  A gifted writer with access to the internet can command a nice initial following.   Good Blogging however, gives one a sustained following.  I will give you 3 sure-fire tips to Good Blogging.

1)  Do the Research!  It is important that you research your topics.  Even if you are doing book reviews, you want to look up the author’s bio and or other works by that author.  Not only does research give you excellent material for your Blog, It shows your readers that you are knowledgeable about your subject.  Keeping a file on your computer with your research in it is extremely helpful and time-saving!

2) Keep slang to a minimum and avoid swear words!  This is the biggest issue people have with Bloggers.  Your blog has to look professional and easy to comprehend.  I have a book that I refer to and has helped me a lot! That book is called “My Grammar and I… Or Should That Be Me? : How to Speak and Write It Right” by Caroline Taggart and J.A. Wines.  However, if  your target audience likes swear words, then fire away.  Just take note that you audience will be severely limited.

3) Be open minded and reflect that in your writing.  Readers love blogs that can pose both sides of an argument.  Even if you are doing a book review and you hate the book, try to find at least one thing you like about it. This helps you avoid what one of my friends refer to as being “Preachy”.  Flexibility will help you get more readers faster than being inflexible or polarizing.

These are the three main points that have helped me in building Hollaifyouhearme.com into a well respected and often read blog.  In fact, I am a current member of the Detroit Chapter of National Association of Black Journalists and have opened their eyes to the power of a good blog!  I haven’t won over everybody but I hope that with great blogs from great bloggers, it can be done.  On behalf of the Motown Writers Network, I wish you all… Good Blogging!

-Kelly Greene

Hollaifyouhearme.com

ARTICLE: Introverted Writers: Marketing Is Not a Dirty Word – Marcia Yudkin

By Marcia Yudkin

Do you regard writing as heaven and getting your work known as hell?

If so, I’m guessing that you’re an introvert. Introverts love being alone, neck-deep in work projects they have initiated. Solitary passions feed their soul most, and they become cranky if they don’t get enough quality time to themselves.

Introverts usually shy away from selling and calling attention to themselves. They dread or despise small talk with strangers. In a large group, they look for ways to escape or to create an oasis of comfort with just one or two others.

If you recognize your personality in the previous paragraphs, you probably look upon marketing your work as something alien, exhausting and hard. Well, cheer up. If you approach marketing in a “no rules” spirit, it can feel as comfortable as cooking a meal with friends, singing in the shower or exploring trails that don’t seem to have been trod in years.

You see, society teaches us that promoting yourself is a kind of performing, it is done in public and those with the gift of gab do it best. However, each of those statements is untrue. Let’s take them in reverse order.

In the early 1990s, I teamed up to offer business writing seminars with a friend who could fearlessly schmooze with anyone, on the phone or in person. The idea was that she would land clients and I would serve as the back-office person, in charge of details. We would both deliver the seminars.

After a year or two, though, when I analyzed who was actually responsible for bringing business in the door, I discovered that I was far more effective than she was. My quiet skills of precise writing, creative positioning and connecting with participants in the small adult education classes I regularly taught far outperformed her ability to mouth off like a salesperson.

Promotion doesn’t necessarily take place in public. Putting together a postcard, a press release or a newsletter to send out, or a blog piece to post is something you do in private. Talking to a reporter on the phone, in your writing office or even in a studio under spotlights isn’t like standing on a stage or amidst a crowd at a party, either.

And last, promoting yourself actually works best when you stay true to your values, your attitudes and your personality. Fans of your work won’t want you to pretend you’re brazen when you’re shy or that you’re a city sophisticate when you feel most at home on your ranch in Big Sky country (or vice versa).

So I encourage you to reject the myth that marketing your work requires you to put on a mask, to steel yourself to play a role or to engage in unpleasant tasks. Build an audience your way.

Toss out the “shoulds” dictated by so-called experts and instead, start by listing at least three things related to getting the word out about your work that you enjoy doing. For example, you may love writing answers to questions on writing forums. You may like designing stuffed creatures who resemble your novel’s characters. You may find it exhilarating to coach others who are beginners at their craft compared to you. All these things are activities that can become part of your unique marketing plan.

In addition, stretch yourself and try some promotional activity that’s not on that list. You may be shocked to see how readily you take to something you mistakenly thought you couldn’t handle. For instance, I grew up thinking I was hopeless at public speaking. But when it came to commentaries I had written and then edited with a skilled producer, I was able to deliver them on National Public Radio. It turned out to be one of the most fun things I’ve ever done. And weirdly, even though those commentaries had nothing to do with my primary business activities at the time, they promoted me effectively.

Again, pay no attention to the “musts” in anyone else’s marketing system. Someone says you have to blog to be successful? I don’t blog. Someone says you have to do a book tour? Noted recluse Thomas Pynchon never does. Discover what works for you.

A bookworm as a child, Marcia Yudkin grew up to discover she had a surprising talent for creative marketing. She’s the author of more than a dozen books, including 6 Steps to Free Publicity, now in its third edition, and Meatier Marketing Copy. She mentors introverts so they discover their uniquely powerful branding and most comfortable marketing strategies, and helps them create a promotional presence that attracts the kind of clients who make them happiest.

To learn more about the strengths and preferences of introverts, download her free Marketing for Introverts audio manifesto: http://www.yudkin.com/introverts.htm

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marcia_Yudkin

Article: Mind Discipline for Authors: How to Find Time to Write ; Irene Watson @bloggingauthors #mwn

Finding time to write is the biggest difficulty and complaint I hear from authors. It is even a bigger problem than procrastination. In fact, I think procrastination is simply the result of not finding time to write.

The real problem is not lack of time to sit down and write. The problem is that when we do sit down before the computer, we procrastinate because we don’t know what to write, and we don’t know what to write because we haven’t spent any time thinking about writing before we sat down. After all, it’s not easy to pump out a few thousand words just because it’s the hour when you’re supposed to write, and it’s not easy to spend that time thinking about what to write when a blank screen or page is staring at you screaming, “Fill me!”

When is the real best time to write? When you’re not writing. Or let me put it another way: Whenever you can find time to think about your book.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “But if I can’t find time to write, how will I find time to think about my book?” But we all have plenty of time to think about our books. In truth, time is all around us, and the real problem is that we simply haven’t learned to discipline our minds. Here’s a case in point. The author Agatha Christie managed to write something like eighty novels. Granted, she came from a well-to-do family and lived at a time when women weren’t supposed to work, other than doing housework, so you might think she had time, and I’m sure she learned to set aside time regularly to do her writing, but when did she say was the best time to write? She is often quoted as saying, “The best time to plan a book is while you are doing the dishes.”

Christie might not have had a pen in hand while she was washing and rinsing and wiping plates and glasses, but she had a mind that was able to function while her hands were busy. And truthfully, most great books are written as the result of an idea, as the result of taking the time to think about your book. Considering that Christie is the world’s all-time bestselling author with 2 billion books sold, who are you to argue with her?

I firmly believe that if you discipline your mind to think about your writing whenever a few minutes of time present themselves, rather than wasting that time by letting your mind wander, you will have ideas, be able to create characters, and plot out plots for your novels, or come up with interesting topics, arguments, and supporting evidence for your non-fiction. And once you know what you want to write about and get excited about it, you’ll be able to find an hour or two a day, or even just fifteen minutes a day, to focus on getting those words onto paper.

So when is the best time to write? Whenever your mind has a free moment. Here are fifty examples of when you can discipline your mind to focus on your writing.

1. While doing the dishes.
2. While waiting in the waiting room of the dentist’s office.
3. While lying in the chair at the dentist-provided your hygienist isn’t too chatty.
4. While waiting in the line at the bank.
5. While waiting in the line at the car wash.
6. While in the car wash.
7. While riding the train.
8. While riding the bus.
9. While driving the car.
10. When you first lie down to take a nap.
11. When you go to bed and are waiting to fall asleep.
12. When you wake up at 3 a.m. and can’t fall back asleep.
13. When you wake up at 5 a.m. and can’t fall back asleep.
14. When you wake up at 7 a.m. and don’t feel like getting up yet.
15. When you’re dusting the house.
16. When you’re vacuuming the house.
17. When you’re washing the windows.
18. When you’re cooking dinner.

Irene Watson is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, http://www.readerviews.com, where avid readers can find reviews of recently published books as well as read interviews with authors. Her team also provides author publicity and a variety of other services specific to writing and publishing books.

ARTICLE: Plagiarism, Copyright, & Fair Use Irene Watson @BLOGGINGAUTHORS #mwn

You love a poem you saw on the Internet and want to quote it in your book. But is that plagiarism? You want to quote a passage in a book but you’re not sure whether you need to ask permission or not. What counts as fair use and when do you need permission to use a copyrighted work?

All the time I see people stealing from other people on the Internet by reposting their articles, stories, or photographs. Before you post anyone else’s information on your website or use it in your book, you need to get permission. Yes, there are such things as public domain and fair use, but it’s always best to be safe regardless. Before you decide to use something that belongs to someone else and risk angering that person and facing a potential lawsuit, ask yourself a few questions:

1. Do I really need this piece of information, poem, cartoon, or whatever it is? Will my book or website be okay without it?
2. Is this item in the public domain?
3. If it’s not in the public domain, can I use part of it under the fair use laws?
4. Can I rewrite or reword the work and then reprint it?
5. Is giving credit enough?

Let’s look at each of these questions in detail.

Do I really need this piece of information? Will my book or website be okay without it?

I can almost guarantee that in every situation the information, document, poem, cartoon, or whatever it is, is something you can do without. Why use someone else’s property to illustrate your own? Hire your own cartoonist, artist, or write your own poem. If you can’t do that, then look for one in the public domain. If you, however, absolutely want to include something that is copyrighted, then be prepared to pay for it. You will need to contact the owner or his or her heir for permission, and you will doubtless have to sign some sort of document promising you will only use it as you are given permission to do so. You will also usually have to pay to use it, especially if it is for commercial purposes, such as in a book you plan to sell, and you’ll usually pay dear for it-in the hundreds of dollars or more is not uncommon. At that price, do you really need to include it in your book or on your website?

Is this item in the public domain?

Just what constitutes public domain? It varies by country and by the kind of work it is. Today for authors, copyright in the United States is for life plus 70 years, so if I were to die tomorrow, it being the year 2012, anything I write would be copyrighted until 2082. However, copyright laws were less stringent in the past so some works may have shorter copyrights that have expired. As a rule, if an author or artist has been dead since 1941 or earlier, you’re probably safe, but it still never hurts to investigate. Furthermore, while an old work like “Don Quixote” may be in the public domain, that doesn’t mean a modern translation of it is.

What counts as fair use?

If a work is not in the public domain, a lot of the time you can still use a small part of it if appropriate, such as a quote or passage, usually not to exceed a page. That said, a short work like a poem cannot be used in its entirety despite its short length because you will be using the whole work, but you might be able to quote a verse or stanza from it. Even so, in such cases it is best to play it safe and ask for permission to quote from the work in your book or on your website. What constitutes fair use depends on many circumstances including: the purpose of its usage, whether it is commercial or charitable, whether the quote is used to promote the work such as in a book review, or whether your use of it will harm sales of someone else’s book because you provide too much information from it.

To go direct to the source, here is what the 1961 Report of the Register of Copyrights on the General Revision of the U.S. Copyright Law cites as examples of fair use:

“quotation of excerpts in a review or criticism for purposes of illustration or comment; quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work, for illustration or clarification of the author’s observations; use in a parody of some of the content of the work parodied; summary of an address or article, with brief quotations, in a news report; reproduction by a library of a portion of a work to replace part of a damaged copy; reproduction by a teacher or student of a small part of a work to illustrate a lesson; reproduction of a work in legislative or judicial proceedings or reports; incidental and fortuitous reproduction, in a newsreel or broadcast, of a work located in the scene of an event being reported.” (source: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html )

There are always fine lines that exist in using someone else’s work. Even if you are sure it falls under fair use laws, if it’s not in the public domain, it’s best to ask for permission to use the work, and if that seems impractical, it is always best to consult an attorney.

Can I rewrite or reword the work and then reprint it?

You may paraphrase a work by giving a summary of a basic idea, provided you give credit to the source, but you may never rewrite someone else’s work and pass it off as your own, or even as theirs when it is rewritten. And even when you paraphrase an idea, it is still someone else’s idea (intellectual property) so you must give credit where it is due.

Is giving credit enough?

No, it’s not enough to give credit. You need permission to reprint as well, unless as noted above, it is in the public domain. You must always give credit to the owner, whether it be an author, publication, artist, another website, etc. It is usually sufficient to state who is the original creator or copyright holder of the work. For a poem, provide the title and the author’s name. For a passage from a book, you can state, “George Smith states in his book ‘My Brilliant Ideas,’ that:” Depending on your own book or website, you may want to consult a style manual for how best to cite a source. “The Chicago Manual of Style” is the preferred style manual to use for most books, although others exist depending on the kind of book you are writing, such as the “Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association” (APA style) or the “Christian Writers Manual of Style.” If you do receive permission to reproduce copyrighted material, make sure you ask the owner how you are to cite that permission to reprint the work.

Always find out if a work is copyrighted and always give credit where it is due. Then you will avoid issues of fair use violation, copyright infringements, and plagiarism that can later come back to haunt you.

Irene Watson is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, http://www.readerviews.com, where avid readers can find reviews of recently published books as well as read interviews with authors. Her team also provides author publicity and a variety of other services specific to writing and publishing books.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Irene_Watson

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ARTICLE: Simple Networking Tips for Frightened Authors Irene Watson @bloggingauthors #mwn

By Irene Watson

Few things frustrate me more than authors who give up on their dreams. They’ve always wanted to be an author, and they’ve finally written a book. They’ve done everything right from doing research to having the book professionally edited and having a beautiful cover designed. They’ve even built a website and had the book listed at online bookstores. But then the trouble starts.

All these activities they’ve already done can be done from the comfort of their homes. That’s part of the problem. Up to this point, these authors haven’t had to go out into the public eye or even had to pick up the phone to talk to people.

When you meet these authors and ask them how their book sales are going, they will tell you, “Slow, but I’m not good at marketing.” And they will have a resigned air about them, sadly accepting failure. At times, I have suggested to such authors to join a publisher or writer’s organization so they can learn how to market their books, to which these authors have told me, “I don’t go to conferences. Those are just social gatherings.” Obviously, they feel more comfortable staying home, not meeting anyone, and not selling books. “I don’t want to schmooze,” they will say. Sorry, authors, I hate to tell you this, but here goes: If you don’t schmooze, you lose.

How to Create an Effective Author Platform via Irene Watson @bloggingauthors

Every author needs an author platform to stand upon if he or she is going to get media attention. No, an author platform is not a box to stand on, but it will help an author to rise above his peers and separate the experts and credible authors from the amateurs. An author platform is more like an enhanced resume that provides your credentials and helps publishers and the media take notice that you are a professional, you have experience, you are good at promoting yourself and promoting your book and topic of interest without being self-serving, and overall, you know what you are doing.

The benefits of having an author platform are many. It will help you to get noticed and to appear as an expert to publishers, the media, and readers. Think of the author platform as your credentials. It should be an ever-evolving document or list of your accomplishments, marketing successes, and strategies for continuing to promote yourself and your work.

Following is a list of the qualifiers (proof you are a notch above others) that you should include in your platform. Remember, you should have the vast majority of these in your platform. It’s not sufficient just to have a website, although that’s a starting point:

· Website:Your website should include at least the following pages: Home, About the Author, Buy the Book, Your Blog, and a Media Kit page. Anything additional such as interviews, FAQs, or simply fun pages with games or quizzes, or additional stories or information about the book is a plus.

· Prior Publishing Experiences:Not just a list of books you’ve published, but your success stories-sales numbers, awards won, numbers of printings or editions, etc.

· Speaking Engagements:A good thing to do is keep a journal or log of every event you do, from speaking to the local rotary club to presenting at a national conference on your book’s subject. Publishers and the media want people who are not afraid of public speaking.

· Workshops: Have you facilitated or participated in any workshops relevant to your book or topic?

· Attendance at High Profile Conferences, Events, Workshops:Even if you were not a leader at an event, showing you attended is proof you are serious about staying current on your field of study and changes in the media and publishing worlds.

· Your Online Presence: How do you reach out to readers online? Your author platform includes your blog, newsletter, email lists, social networking, podcasts, videos, and online publications such as articles and book reviews.

· Readings and Book Signings:How frequently do you engage the public face-to-face in promoting your work? Where have you had book signings, readings, or participated in group author events?

· Online Forum:Do you have a way to engage your readers online? It could be a Facebook page for your book, a discussion group on your website, or a listserv group on your topic.

· Coaching/Consulting:Have you been a coach or consultant in your field of expertise on an individual level or for any organizations in need?

· Memberships:What professional organizations do you belong to relative to your topic and to publishing? How involved have you been with these organizations, helping to coordinate an event or serving on the organization’s board?

· Media Press Kit:Your press kit should be available for download from your website for the media’s perusal as well as be in a format you can mail. A press kit should include a press release for your book, a sales sheet, your book cover/image, an about the author page, testimonials or reviews of your book, and a copy of your book or a sample chapter at least, depending on whether it’s on your website or you are mailing a copy.

· Traditional Media Appearances:Any television or radio appearances you’ve made, as well as being interviewed or featured in magazines and newspapers.

· Internet Media Appearances:Have you been a guest on someone else’s blog? Have you been interviewed on Blog Talk Radio or other Internet radio podcast shows?

· Publications:Beyond books, have you published articles or stories in magazines, newspapers, or anthologies?

· Proven Contacts:Who is paying attention to you as an author? How many followers do you have on social media sites? Who is commenting on your blog? What is your website traffic? How many people are on your email list? Who is “Liking” your pages, and how many reviews are you getting posted by readers at online bookstores?

· Target Audience:Who is your target audience? What connections do you have with them, what kind of proven track record do you have, and what plans do you have for future interactions?

It may seem like having an author platform is a lot of work, but if you simply keep track of everything you do and you are actively promoting your book, it will be more like keeping a diary of your experiences. Of course, you have to build the website, go to the conferences, participate in events, but it is all fun and worthwhile if you are passionate about your book, and your passion will set you apart from other authors.

Today, an author platform is less about proving to a publisher that your book deserves publication and you will help market it. While you can still use it to find a publisher, it’s more about getting media attention, whether you are a self-published or traditionally published author. Your platform can be what convinces the media to interview or feature you, which in turn will make readers take notice and buy your books.

Here are some of the benefits to be derived from having a prepared author platform:

· Proves an author’s visibility and credibility as a professional author.

· Provides recognition and expertise that will make the media take notice and give you future publicity.

· Reflects that an author is authentic and not simply self-serving-all your activities have not been solely hard-selling of your books, but also participating in information-sharing and in helping others, such as participants at events and conferences.

· Allows the media and others to make a quick decision about your expertise when they need an expert for a story, a guest for a radio show, or a speaker at a conference.

Think of your author platform as your enhanced resume and your credentials. Constantly working to improve your author platform and to have it ready when it is needed will increase your chances of getting attention, becoming known by the media, and ultimately, selling more books.

Irene Watson is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, where avid readers can find reviews of recently published books as well as read interviews with authors. Her team also provides author publicity and a variety of other services specific to writing and publishing books.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Irene_Watson

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ARTICLE: Trying to Sell an Old Book: Book Reprint No No’s by Irene Watson @bloggingauthors #mwn

Books have a short shelf-life. Most bookstores will only keep a book on the shelf for a few months; if it doesn’t sell well by then, they send it back to the publisher. With a million-plus new titles being printed every year, it’s hard to make a book competitive.

That said, giving up after three or six months on trying to promote a book can be a big mistake. Your book’s life has only just begun at that point. It takes time for people to read a book and begin to spread the word about it. Many a book has not sold well its first year, but then suddenly, it becomes extremely popular, so don’t give up on a book’s promotion just because it’s a few years old. Promoting an older book may turn out to be rewarding, provided you do it honestly. Here are some mistakes to avoid in trying to get new readers for your older title.

Copyright Date:One mistake authors make in trying to promote an old book is to give it a new copyright date. For example, if a book were first printed in 2004, an author might reprint it with a 2012 copyright date to pretend it is a new book. It is dishonest to pretend a book is new when it is not. Instead, the copyright should remain the same and it should be listed as a second (or later) printing in the current year. Honesty is always the best policy, and if a reviewer or book contest catches you passing off an old book as new, it could ruin your reputation and chances of them giving attention to your future books.

Second Edition vs. Second Printing:While changing the copyright date is a mistake authors should know better than to make, a lot of people are confused by the terms “second edition” and “second printing.” A second printing is when your first printing runs out and you reprint the book without making any significant changes to it. (Insignificant changes such as fixing a few typos are acceptable.) By contrast, a second edition implies that the book has new material. Most novels will only be second printings unless the author makes severe changes to the plot, which usually isn’t a good idea anyway. Better to write a new novel than to try improving one that wasn’t very good and didn’t sell in the first place. Non-fiction books, by comparison, frequently do and should come out with second and third editions because they are updated as new information becomes current. “Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide” comes out with a new edition every year, and people frequently will update by buying the new edition because their 2009 edition doesn’t list the hundreds of movies that were added for the 2012 edition. Similarly, “Writer’s Market” has a new issue every year to update lists of publishers for authors seeking publication. In the case of new editions, the cover should clearly state something such as “2012 edition” or “Revised and Expanded Second Edition” and additional taglines might include, “over three hundred new movie entries added” or “New Material: John Smith’s 30 Days to a Slimmer You Program.”

Finally, for book collectors (if you should be so lucky as to write a book that becomes collectible) a lot of confusion results when second editions and second printings are not noted on copyright pages yet printed books have small differences, leaving people asking which is the first and which the second printing.

New Titles:Nothing will make your loyal readers angrier than for you to reprint your book under a new title without any indication it’s a reprint. In my opinion, you should never change your book’s title. Spend considerable time deciding on a title and making sure you truly have the right one, and then stick with it forever.

Authors may think they will attract new readers by changing the title. For example, an author might decide his book “My Journey to Jupiter” didn’t sell because people thought the title was boring, but he thinks they’ll buy it if it’s republished under a more enticing title like “How I Met My Hot Alien Wife.” Yes, the second title might grab more people’s attention, and as a result, the author might sell more books, but what about the loyal fans who see that book title listed and think it’s a new book? They buy the book only to begin reading and realize they were tricked-they’ve read the book already. And even the people who bought “How I Met My Hot Alien Wife,” if they like the book, are likely to go looking for the author’s other books and could end up buying “My Journey to Jupiter” and equally become disgruntled.

If you are going to change a book’s title, make sure you destroy all unsold copies of the first version; recall them from the stores and remove all listings for sale online so no one can buy the old version. And be honest with your readers by printing on the new cover “Originally published as _____________.” Agatha Christie’s publishers often reprinted her books under new titles. Her British publishers had chosen a title, but her American publishers, thinking the British title might not appeal to the American reading public, would reissue the book under a new title. Most of the time, Christie’s publishers were good about statements such as: “The Boomerang Clue” (originally titled “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?”) In this case, the author/publisher is being honest, but even so, Christie’s readers have frequently been confused in trying to keep track of which of her books they did or didn’t read-that she wrote about 100 books makes the task more difficult.

New Cover Image:Changing the cover image is perfectly acceptable for a second edition. There’s nothing wrong with giving a book a new look as long as the title remains the same so there’s no confusion about it.

I’ve seen some debates by authors and publishers about releasing a new book with two different book cover images to see whether one image will sell better than another. I don’t think there’s anything morally wrong about such a strategy, but it seems like a waste of time and energy to me since you have to pay for two pieces of art work and two separate printings. This strategy might work if you’re doing print-on-demand, but if you’re doing offset print runs, you could end up with a stack of books that don’t sell, and you’ll have to keep track of which bookstores and distributors get which copies. Too much confusion in my opinion, and yes, occasionally you’ll have a reader not discerning enough that he’ll buy both copies, not realizing it’s the same book. Better to pick one cover and stick with it, and then when you come out with a second edition in a few years, you can change the cover, or save it for a big event like the book’s 25th anniversary edition.

In conclusion, there’s nothing wrong with trying to promote an old book. Just be honest with readers, book reviewers, and others that it’s not a new book. If a book is truly good, readers won’t care when it was first published, but they will care if they pay for something they think is new, only to discover they’ve already paid for it in the past.

Irene Watson is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, where avid readers can find reviews of recently published books as well as read interviews with authors. Her team also provides author publicity and a variety of other services specific to writing and publishing books.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Irene_Watson

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ARTICLE: Busting Author Myths: Avoiding Get-Rich-Quick Schemes VIA Irene Watson @bloggingauthors

Most aspiring authors I meet seem to think that all they have to do is write a book and they will become famous overnight. And many of the readers I meet instantly think I and other authors are celebrities and must be rich and famous. Unfortunately, these myths about being an author are simply that-myths. For the aspiring author, it’s best to realize at the start the reality about being a writer so the focus can be on what really matters-working incredibly hard to produce a good book. I plan to shatter a few author myths here so aspiring authors can be prepared for what they must do and face if they hope to succeed.

1. Anyone can write and publish a book-Actually that statement is not a myth, but it leaves out the fact that not everyone can write a good book. The average book takes about 400-800 hours to write, and I suspect it takes more than that when you consider time spent dealing with writer’s block and trying to figure out just what to write. Furthermore, even if you write an entire book, that doesn’t guarantee it will be a good book. It’s vitally important that authors have their books edited and proofread and they work to make the book better by getting feedback from trusted readers (preferably knowledgeable professionals and other authors, not just mom and your best friend). A good author does extensive revisions and numerous drafts. Hemingway once notably said that he wrote one good page for every one hundred bad pages. Furthermore, authors must produce a book that looks as good as any book put out by a major publisher, which means hiring a great cover artist, having a professional design and lay out the book, and paying for quality printing so the book looks completely professional. If you are up to the task, you probably can write a good book and self-publish it. But frankly, writing and publishing the book is the easy part. Selling it is where the hard work really begins.

2. Authors can live off their royalties-I know hundreds of authors, but I don’t know personally a single one who lives off his or her royalties. The vast majority of authors today are self-published, which means they don’t receive royalties off their books. They work hard to print their books, distribute them to bookstores, sell them at book signings, and then they collect their book payments. Does that sound like a way to make money? Sure, if you’re among the 1 percent of authors who actually sell more than 500 copies of their books. If you’re not, most likely you will be lucky to break even on the printing costs-and trust me, you’ll never get paid for all the hundreds of hours you put into writing the book. All the authors I know have day jobs to supplement their incomes, plus to pay for their publishing hobby-”hobby” because they don’t sell enough books to call it a true business.

And even if you do find a traditional publisher and you receive royalties, most publishers pay a fairly standard 10 percent, so if your book retails for $19.95, you’ll receive $2.00 per book at best. Furthermore, when books are sold through a distributor and a bookstore, and almost all the books are, the distributor will take its cut, usually about 55 percent, and then the bookstore wants a 40 percent cut that comes out of that 55 percent. That leaves the publisher making 45 percent off the $19.95 book, which is about $9.00 and the author’s 10 percent royalty is then 90 cents. Can an author live off such royalties? If you think you can scrape by at just above the poverty level in the United States, which for one person in 2011 was at $10,890, then maybe-but you’ll have to sell somewhere between 5,445 and 12,100 books per year to do so if you’re collecting standard royalties (and that’s selling about 10-25 times more books than the 500 copies that 99 percent of books do not achieve). Hmm, somehow living at the poverty level doesn’t sound like the rich and famous author lifestyle you imagined.

3. You can sell millions of books once you get on Oprah. Guess what. The Oprah Winfrey Show is off the air so she’s not going to call you. Even when Oprah did endorse books, it was only about one a month. And even if you got on a popular daily television or radio show that endorsed books, the networks usually produce less than 200 new episodes a year (the rest are reruns). Of the one million books published this year, what’s the chance your book will make the 200 cut?

4. Authors live fabulously fun lifestyles. The myth of the F. Scott Fitzgerald lifestyle still seems to pervade aspiring authors’ minds. Many people think they just need to write a book and they will be able to live like it was the Roaring Twenties, go to fabulous parties, dance with beautiful girls and handsome men, live like a movie star and even befriend a few stars, and do all their writing while sitting in Paris cafes. Well, I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time concentrating on my writing in a cafe-you get interrupted and distracted so much that you can’t get any writing done. And it’s not very easy to write when you have a hangover from all those parties and your phone is ringing off the hook from all those gorgeous girls calling you. Sure, Fitzgerald lived a wild life, but think how many books he could have written if the partying hadn’t killed him at the young age of forty-four.

Facing Reality:People are largely attracted to the myth of writers as famous and glamorous. But the reality is that most true writers who stick with writing do so because they enjoy putting words together. I know of many young men and women who went to college determined to become writers. They went through creative writing programs, then never finished the Great American novel, and ended up getting jobs in the corporate world like the vast majority of people. Perhaps you will be the exception, but you won’t be if you expect it to be easy and for fame to find you. The only way to become an overnight sensation is to work hard at your craft for many years to become a good writer, and then to learn practical business skills so you can run your business, and to study marketing trends and do your best to capitalize on them so you can sell more books than the average author. Writing and selling your books is one of the hardest, most time-consuming, and often frustrating jobs out there. And don’t forget, Steinbeck called writing “the loneliest job in the world.”

But writing can also be very rewarding if you do it because you love it, celebrate each small success, and use your common sense to make good decisions for your books and your image as a writer-just remember, showing up at a book signing with a hangover doesn’t count as a good decision.

Irene Watson is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, where avid readers can find reviews of recently published books as well as read interviews with authors. Her team also provides author publicity and a variety of other services specific to writing and publishing books.

http://www.readerviews.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Irene_Watson

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How to Avoid Overextending Your Author Expertise via @bloggingauthors #mwn

Once you’ve published your book, your goal is to sell books and make contact with your readers, so you may be surprised when you find that a lot of the attention you receive is from other would-be authors asking you questions about how you got your book published and wanting you to help them with publishing their own books.

You can help everyone and soon be overwhelmed, or you can take advantage of the situation while separating the serious from the non-serious future writers.

The next time you are approached by an author wanting your help, here are some questions to ask and responses to make to their questions. Let me first make it clear that my purpose is not to dissuade any author from writing a book, and it is not that I want to stop anyone from giving or receiving help, but we are all only human and only have so many hours in a day, so we have to use those hours wisely. If a thing is worth doing, it’s worth doing well, so if someone wants to write a book, he or she needs to be serious about it because it is a serious, expensive, and time-consuming task.

QUESTIONS TO ASK WOULD-BE AUTHORS
When asked for help by would-be authors, here are a few initial questions to ask to determine whether the person’s interest in being an author is real and whether or not you will be wasting your time by trying to help.

How much of your book do you have written, and when do you plan to have it finished?If the book is not three-quarters done and the author does not have a timeframe in mind for completing the book in the next few weeks or months, you will be wasting your time trying to help someone who is unlikely ever to finish the book. If the person says that’s the problem-he’s looking for someone to help him with writing it, run the other way. You may suggest he find a ghostwriter, and there are people who do a good job of ghostwriting, but it is tasking on a person’s energy to ghostwrite a book, and ghostwriters deserve to be well-paid. If the person is insistent, ask:

What kind of budget do you have to pay for editing (or ghostwriting)?
Of course, the cost of doing either will depend on the length and type of book, but a fair number to begin with is at least in the high hundreds-after all, think about how many hours it will take and what you deserve to be paid per hour. If the would-be author says he doesn’t have money or he needs to make payments, depending on how well you know this person, you may want to run in the other direction.

Of course, you may not be an editor or ghostwriter, but if the person hasn’t considered getting the book edited and is resistant to the idea when you suggest it, chances are he isn’t serious about producing his book.

What kind of marketing plan do you have?
If the person doesn’t have a marketing plan, suggest he get one. Tell him to do some research and come back to you when he has a list of ideas and strategies written up for how to sell his book to his target audience. You might refer him to a few books to read or publications or even a writer’s group for him to join where he can share ideas with other writers. But don’t do the work for him.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WOULD-BE AUTHORS WILL ASK YOU
In the end, no matter how you try to weed people out, they are inevitably going to ask you for your time. Here are some responses you can make to their questions.

Would you have coffee or lunch with me so I can ask you a few questions?
Without hemming and hawing or blinking an eye, state upfront, “Sure. I charge a consulting fee for offering publishing and marketing advice. My fee is $X.00 for one hour.” I’ll leave it up to you what kind of a fee you want to charge. The first or second time, you might settle for the other person buying you lunch, but after that, start with something you feel comfortable with, but don’t shortchange yourself. $25 an hour is reasonable for beginning. If the would-be author tells you he doesn’t need a full hour of your time, just a few minutes, tell him it’s not that easy to publish a book and to come back when he has an hour worth of questions so you know he is serious. That may sound harsh, but if you don’t make it clear upfront that you are serious about being paid for your help, one question will lead to another as he constantly seeks your free advice.

Would you be willing to read my book and tell me what you think?
You can approach this question a few different ways. A lot of traditionally published authors will say “No” to such a request because their publisher or agent has told them not to read manuscripts from fear they will later use something in another author’s book as an idea in their own book. You can take this same tactic.

However, if you’re interested in consulting, tell the person there are two options available in terms of your giving help:

1. You will read the book and provide a manuscript evaluation, meaning a list of suggestions, as well as what you think are the book’s strengths and weaknesses, for a reading fee.
2. You will do a sample edit of a few pages and look over the general organization of the book for free so you can come up with a price for helping the author. You will then do the full edit for said price.

If the author is serious, he will agree to pay you for one or the other. If he wants you to read the book for free, you know you will be wasting your time.

FINAL ADVICE
I would never agree to work with an author without seeing a sample of his or her writing. I hate to say it, but a lot of would-be authors out there can barely put two words together to make a readable sentence. If that’s the case, unless you are going to do serious rewriting and editing for the author, you probably don’t want to get involved. And if the author is a terrible writer, you should be upfront, although kind about it, with the writer and let him know that he will need you to help with all the other writing involved beyond just the book manuscript to promote the book.

Make sure you and the author are clear from the beginning on what you will do as editor/consultant and how payment will be made. If you’re just doing consulting on the phone or a one hour lunch, then ask for a check upfront. If you are doing a large project, such as editing a book, then ask for half the price upfront and half when the project is finished. Depending on the project, you may agree to break up payments into three or four monthly payments. If you do so, make sure you have reason to trust the person you are assisting, and you may want to draw up a contract you both sign.

Remember your boundaries. Just because you agree to help an author with his book, whether it is reading it and offering advice, editing it, or assisting with marketing it by writing marketing pieces or simply giving advice, you are not ultimately responsible for the book’s success. Once you finish the task you have agreed to do for the author, do not let yourself be roped into continual extra work without payment. For example, if you agree to edit the book, don’t agree then to write the press release, the sell sheet, the marketing brochures, and the text for the website without being paid additionally.

You and your potential author clients can have satisfying and successful relationships that are profitable for both parties, but you will save both of you a lot of headaches and frustration if you initially weed out the less than serious and potentially high maintenance clients from the future professional authors who are willing to do the necessary hard work to make their books successful.

Irene Watson is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, where avid readers can find reviews of recently published books as well as read interviews with authors. Her team also provides author publicity and a variety of other services specific to writing and publishing books.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Irene_Watson

ARTICLE: Tips for Writing Good Query Letters VIA Irene Watson @bloggingauthors #mwn

By Irene Watson

A good query letter is not difficult to write if you remember to leave out the irrelevant. Over the years, as a literary agent and someone who publishes other authors’ articles on my websites, I’ve seen some serious mistakes in query letters that have made me quickly think otherwise about publishing an author’s work. Following are a few tips on what you should and should not include in a query letter.

Do not offer unnecessary information: If it isn’t relevant to your book or article’s topic, I don’t need to know it. Unnecessary information can include where you live, all the places you have lived, how many children you have, your marital status, why you haven’t published anything yet, anything personal like your divorce, how long you have been writing, your religious affiliation, and on and on and on. I don’t need you to tell me about where you live-I can get that from the return address on the envelope. If you’re writing a fantasy novel, I don’t need to know about your children, your divorce, or what religion you are. If you are writing an article about religion, it might be relevant to tell me about your religion, but that is not necessarily always the case. If you are writing a children’s book, telling me about your children and how they love your book is not going to convince me-of course your children love Mommy’s book.

Do not try to wow me with your experience: I don’t need a list of every publication you’ve written for and the name of every article published. Most publishers are not impressed by degrees, careers, or experiences because while those things may show that you are an expert in your field, they do not necessarily prove that you know how to write well.

Do not tell me what is wrong with your book: I can’t believe how many people will list all the publishers who have already rejected their books. If your book wasn’t good enough for them, why would it be good enough for me? You want to present your book in the best light possible so don’t mention the rejections. Similarly, don’t in any way belittle yourself or your book such as “I know the opening chapter is not that interesting, so I hope you will help me to make it more intriguing.”

Do not send query letters with typos in them: Proofread, proofread, and proofread. If your query letter has punctuation and grammar errors, trust me, most likely, so does your manuscript, so you’re hurting your chances. Yes, publishers have editors on staff, but they want to begin with someone who can write well and turn him or her into a great writer. Mediocre writers who can’t spell take a lot more effort to turn into great writers and the competition is fierce.

Do not tell me your terms for publication: It is up to the publisher to offer the terms. For example, don’t make the mistake of saying, “I am offering you the North American printing rights at a ten percent royalty while I retain the right to publish the book in Europe. Please note that my work is copyrighted.” The publisher and you will negotiate once the publisher decides to publish your book. Offering terms upfront is like going to an employer and telling him how much you want to be paid before the job interview. Stressing the copyright of the work is a defensive turnoff that makes it sound like you think the publisher is going to steal your work.

Write an engaging opening sentence or paragraph about your book: Keep the opening brief, and focus on the conflict, suspense, or cliffhanger. A bad opening would be: “Laura lives with her mother and sister in South Dakota. She is eleven years old when her Uncle George comes to visit. He brings her a present from Australia. At first, Laura is shy around Uncle George but she soon warms up to him when she sees what the present is.” In other words, we don’t need a blow by blow description of the story’s opening. Write a brief cliffhanger or something that evokes mystery or suspense, such as: “Eleven-year-old Laura McAdams never knew she had an Uncle George until he showed up on her family’s doorstep one day with a gigantic present for her. Her curiosity over why her parents never told her about this mysterious uncle was only superseded by what could be in the box that was as large as her. When it turned out to be a baby kangaroo, accompanied by an invitation from her uncle to travel with him to Australia, Laura began the adventure of a lifetime, even though her parents refused to let her go.” The second example raises all kinds of curious questions for readers: Why don’t Laura’s parents like her uncle? How does she end up going on the trip if her parents don’t want her to go? Is the baby kangaroo going along on the trip also?

Tell me briefly about your writing background: If you have never published anything, no need to mention it; your silence implies it. No need to mention you’ve written six novels all of which have been rejected and you have the ninety-six rejection letters to prove it. If you don’t have an impressive writing background, leave out that information. If you have written for a newspaper or a magazine, or have published or self-published other books, go ahead and mention them briefly. For example: “For the last six years I have written a weekly column for the local newspaper about parenting, and I have previously published my novel, Martha’s House, with Writers Press.”

Be clear who will be the book’s audience: No publisher wants to hear that your book will appeal to readers of all ages. The publisher wants to know that your target audience is girls ages twelve to sixteen, or divorced middle-aged men. To think everyone wants to read your book is to make it obvious you know nothing about the publishing industry. Remember, you, not the publisher, will be primarily responsible for marketing the book, so if the publisher is going to take the time and spend the money to publish your book, it wants to know the book is marketable and who is going to buy it.

Always be polite and professional. Do not demand anything from the publisher, such as “I wish to hear from you no later than May 1st or I will find it necessary to look for another publisher.” Instead, simply end the letter by stating, “Thank you for your consideration. If you require any additional information, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from you.” You will have your contact information on the letter-mailing address, email address, phone number-if the publisher feels the need to contact you.

A good query letter is necessary for getting a publisher’s attention. Before you can sell your book to the public, you need to sell it to the potential publisher so it needs to be as professional and attention-grabbing as possible. Spend time on it. Rewrite and rewrite it until it is as perfect as you can make it, and don’t forget to proofread it multiple times. Good luck!

Irene Watson is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, where avid readers can find reviews of recently published books as well as read interviews with authors. Her team also provides author publicity and a variety of other services specific to writing and publishing books.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Irene_Watson

ARTICLE: How to Build Your Credibility As a Self-Made Expert VIA @marciasmantras

Some people achieve the status of expert through degrees, licenses, prestigious job appointments or awards. A few people without those advantages have the mantle of expertise thrust on them without their going after it, through word of mouth and a reputation among a close-knit circle of customers. However, most people without conventional professional credentials need to anoint themselves as experts, and this effort may or may not succeed.

Earn the respect of your target market and take the uncertainty out of the process of becoming viewed as an expert by using as many of the following nine self-made credibility factors as you can.

1. Media coverage. When a large metropolitan newspaper or a well-known magazine writes positively about you, acclaims you as a trailblazer or even simply quotes your opinion, you acquire the beginnings of a public halo that adds a golden sheen to whatever you are doing. It’s much easier to orchestrate this than most people assume. Pick up a copy of a book on publicity, such as my own 6 Steps to Free Publicity, and implement the recommended tactics. When you do achieve media coverage, be sure to quote it prominently on your web site and elsewhere.

2. Carefully documented research. Your research can consist of surveys, observations, experiments or in-the-field tests. A couple of scuba divers with no scientific credentials who fell in love with giant sea turtles during their annual trips to Maui became regarded as experts on the honu (the Hawaiian name for this lovable sea creature) by keeping diligent written and photographic records of more than 750 individual sea turtles they encountered during their dives. When they attended a marine biology conference, they discovered they had learned more about honu habits than nearly all of the university-affiliated researchers there.

3. Collaborations with recognized, respected organizations. A British man without any medical qualifications cured himself of a serious psychological ailment and built up a business teaching his therapy method to others like him. One factor that elevated his reputation far above the level of a “quack” was the fact that England’s National Health Service sent their most intractable cases to him for treatment. Having any sort of official relationship with a government entity or prominent company, from supplying Microsoft or the Pentagon to being on call for your community ambulance service, boosts credibility.

4. A hype-free, professional tone. To earn respectability without credentials, you have to stay away from the kind of over-excited marketing pitch that’s characteristic of late-night infomercials. Go easy on exclamation points, exaggerated claims or promises, long stretches of capital letters, ungrounded superlatives and “buy now or else” demands. Fairly or unfairly, most people regard such sales techniques as unworthy of legitimate experts.

5. Publications. A hardcover book from an established publisher gives you the most credibility credits, with a paperback book from anyone other than a company you own clocking a close second. Not helping you much at all would be a self-published book that came out only in eBook format or a paperback that looked amateurly produced. Articles by you in journals, magazines or online publications that prospective customers respect count significantly as well.

6. Endorsements from individuals with reputations. A Baltimore-based alternative healer presented herself as a pioneer in a certain type of medical hypnosis. What she needed most to cement her expert reputation was quotes from people connected with the internationally well-known medical school in her city – Johns Hopkins. She and I brainstormed a list of seven different ways she could make her work known to health-care professionals with the right prestigious affiliations for possible testimonials or endorsements.

7. A well-reasoned, consistent and distinctive point of view. True experts rarely have same-old, boring opinions. Therefore it’s easier to be perceived as an expert when you have a website, blog, newsletter or advertising campaign that takes some kind of stand and backs up the position with facts and arguments. Don’t be bland or generic. If other experts begin to disagree with you respectfully, you are definitely on the right track.

8. Impressive, objective track record. If you’re a pest control company with a 96 percent success rate in getting rid of bedbugs without harsh or harmful chemicals, you can certainly claim expertise in organic or natural pest control. Precise numbers are key in this arena. Your relevant achievement might be anything from owning a collection of 457 Barbie dolls dating back to 1959, having coached three successful American Idol contestants or having homeschooled 11 children, including four with special needs.

9. Elimination of typos, errors and outdated information. Even people who are not highly educated or personally fussy take note and hold back their trust when supposed experts display sloppiness or get things wrong that they should know. According to the Stanford University Persuasive Technology Lab, “Typographical errors have roughly the same negative impact on a web site’s credibility as a company’s legal or financial troubles.” The same goes for would-be experts.

Some of the above strategies require long-term effort. Even so, the payoff for perceived expertise in additional sales, more referrals and higher fees is huge. From conversations I’ve had with self-made experts who have implemented these tips, the effort is definitely worth it.

A bookworm as a child, Marcia Yudkin grew up to discover she had a surprising talent for creative marketing. She’s the author of more than a dozen books, including 6 Steps to Free Publicity, now in its third edition, and Meatier Marketing Copy. She mentors introverts (and those with other personalities) so they discover their uniquely powerful branding and most comfortable marketing strategies, and helps them create a promotional presence that attracts the kind of clients who make them happiest.

To learn more about the strengths and preferences of introverts, download her free Marketing for Introverts audio manifesto: http://www.yudkin.com/introverts.htm

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Paperbacks

6 Steps to Free Publicity (Awesome English)Author: Marcia Yudkin
ISBN: 1601630271

Persuading People to Buy: Insights on Marketing Psychology That Pay Off for Your Company, Professional Practice, or Nonprofit OrganizationAuthor: Marcia Yudkin
ISBN: 097164070X

Meatier Marketing Copy: Insights on Copywriting That Generates Leads and Sparks SalesAuthor: Marcia Yudkin
ISBN: 0971640718

Celebrate @ebookweek w/ @sylviahubbard1: FREE Internet Marketing 4Writers & Business #michlit #mwn

Internet Marketing Guide for Writers and Businesses

Nonfiction » Business & Economics » Marketing

By Sylvia Hubbard
Rating:
(5.00 based on 2 reviews)

Published: April 12, 2009
Words: 18437 (approximate)
Language: English

description

A guide for writers with or without published work. A comprehensive resource that every writer should have in their library in order to learn how to publish, promote, and market themselves on the Internet. With over 1000+ websites, tips and more to help you become a success and spreading the word about your product and services.

Available e-book reading formats

Format	Full Book
Online Reading (HTML, good for sampling in web browser)	View
Online Reading (JavaScript, experimental, buggy)	View
Kindle (.mobi for Kindle devices and Kindle apps)	Download
Epub (Apple iPad/iBooks, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, and most e-reading apps including Stanza, Aldiko, Adobe Digital Editions, others)	Download
PDF (good for reading on PC, or for home printing)	Download
LRF (Use only for older model Sony Readers that don’t support .epub)	Download
Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices)	Download

Scheduling Your Book Project via @bloggingauthors

“Where will I ever find the time to write my book?” or simply, “How long does it take to write a book?” is a good question authors often ask themselves. The first-time author may feel overwhelmed just trying to decide where to begin, and even the seasoned author can find beginning each new book to be a challenge.

First of all, let me say that I know hardly any author who has not found that writing a book ends up taking a lot longer than was initially planned, but I also know that few things can leave a person with such a sense of accomplishment as writing a book. However long the writing and production take, it will be worth it if you spend the time being serious about the process, you allow yourself to be inspired, and you produce a quality product in the end.

To make what feels overwhelming seem more manageable, we can break down writing and producing a book into a series of steps that give an idea of the order and time needed for each step in the process.

Come Up with an Idea (a few minutes to a few years): Coming up with a good idea for a book is easier said than done. Usually good ideas just come to us rather than our going out looking for them. But even after you have the idea, you need to refine it. You’ll want to play around with it for several days, weeks, or even months. Look around for books that might have similar ideas. Read them so you can see whether your idea has been done before or you have something new you can say on the topic. Be sure not to steal ideas from other authors; you don’t want to plagiarize, but you can cite other sources in your book.

Research (one month to a few years): Even if you are going to write a novel, you will find aspects of research you will need to do. Sometimes the research is just simple fact-checking. For example, if your novel is set in Atlanta, it might just require double-checking the name of a restaurant or a street for accuracy in your book. If you’re writing a non-fiction book, it might require months of research to assemble your information. In my opinion, research is often the most exciting part of writing the book. It’s when you gather and discover new information, which can cause your idea to expand and change, become stronger and more refined. Let yourself go crazy with the research and read everything on the topic that you can. Take notes and make sure you write down the sources for all your notes-the authors, books, page numbers, etc. Look at some other nonfiction books to see how they are arranged with notes, footnotes, and bibliography pages. You will want to use “The Chicago Manual of Style” or some other style manual to make sure you incorporate your research properly into your book.

Write the Book (weeks to years): According to a study done by the Brenner Information Group, it takes 475 hours to write a fiction book and 725 to write a nonfiction book. Of course, those numbers are averages. It depends on how long you want your book to be, what your topic is, and what your goals are. If you’re writing a long scholarly work, it’s going to take longer than it does to write a thirty-two page children’s book, although both will be time-consuming. I’m sure many of you are thinking, “Where am I going to find 475 hours?” Truthfully, it’s not that hard to find. I’m a firm believer in “steady wins the race.” I frequently tell people that if they just write a page a day, they will have written a book by the end of the year. If you can find just an hour a day, or even half an hour, you can do it. If you can block out two or three hours every Sunday, you can do it. And besides, writing a book is not a race. It’s more important that you take your time and create a quality product than that you rush it.

Revising the Book (days to months): Again, the amount of time needed for revision depends on the book. I should point out that none of the steps in this process to this point have to be done in specific order. You might start writing your book, realize you have to stop and do some research, then go back to writing, then realize you need to do some more research, which could mean finding out something new that causes you to go back and revise what you have already written before you go on to write the next part. It’s a constant back and forth process when you write a book, and you will find yourself revising as you go. You might get frustrated that writing is not really a linear process, but try to enjoy the process anyway and realize that however long it takes, you are getting closer to your goal. The main thing is that once you have a complete rough draft, you sit down and revise the entire book. That means more than proofreading. It means seeing the big picture, making sure the book is organized properly, that the arguments make sense, that the sentences flow, that there are no inconsistencies, and looking for places where you may need to remove something that is irrelevant, or expand something that needs more explanation.

Editing (two weeks to two months): I have editor friends who complain that every author thinks the editor can start working on the book the day the author calls. Editing a book can actually be time-consuming; the editor will usually go through the book several times and send the book back to the author with revision suggestions. It usually takes several weeks to do an editing job, so authors should schedule plenty of time for the editing and for doing more of their own revisions. Don’t put the cart before the horse and plan your book signing for one month after you send the editor the book. Wait until you know the books are being printed. Plan for the worst case scenario-that the editor will discover a lot of work still needs to be done on the book. Call the editor a few weeks before you finish writing the book so he or she knows the book is coming and can plan accordingly so you don’t have to wait weeks for the editor to get to it.

Proofreading (one to two weeks): If you and your editor have done a good job, the proofreader should not take too long on the book, but again, your book is not the only one the proofreader has to proofread so plan to give yourself plenty of time.

Cover Design and Layout (one week to one month): A cover design can take little or a lot of time, depending on whether you have artwork or a photograph you want to use for your cover or you need to hire an artist to create a cover for you. Be thinking about your cover as you work on your book so you’re prepared for this step. As for layout of the book, if you’ve written a short novel with no pictures, the layout person might be able to have it done in a day or two (but again, remember you are not the layout person’s only customer). If your book has a lot of graphics, charts, or photographs, it could be weeks or even months before the layout is done. Remember, you will need to look over the proofs to make sure photographs are in the right places, and there are no typos. However, now is not the time to rewrite sentences or paragraphs. Only minor changes should be made at this point. Anything major should have been caught before the book went to the proofreader, and the layout person is likely to charge you extra for any corrections.

Printing (four to six weeks): Four to six weeks is standard for the printing. You will be sent a paper proof copy (different from the pdf file the layout person previously sent you), and a copy of the cover to look over and approve. Again, any corrections needed will slow down the process and the printer will charge you for changes. The four to six weeks should include the shipment of the books to your door.

Pre-Marketing (four to six weeks): If you haven’t started already, then while the book is at the printer is the time to begin marketing your book. It’s when you can build your website, make up your business cards, brochures, fliers, and arrange for placement in stores and to hold book signings. Be cautious here-if your book is supposed to arrive on March 20th, don’t schedule your book signing for March 21st, only to end up with the books not coming until March 22nd. Plan your book signing for a few weeks after the books arrive so you have time to get them in local stores and to list them at online stores. Then you will feel prepared when the truck with all those books shows up at your door. Make sure you have cleared a place to put all those books!

While writing your book, you will experience hang-ups, frustrations, and moments of triumph, all of which may alter your schedule, but if you plan it out, you should be able to produce a book in the given timeframe above for each step. At the very least, plan for writing and production to take you a year. It will probably take you two. But we all know how fast time passes-so you will have that book in hand before you know it, and then you will feel that all that hard work was well worth it.

Irene Watson is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, where avid readers can find reviews of recently published books as well as read interviews with authors. Her team also provides author publicity and a variety of other services specific to writing and publishing books.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Irene_Watson

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ARTICLES: Google Alerts and Book Marketing via @bloggingauthors

Google Alerts is a simple and free tool that is available to anyone for tracking topics on the Internet. For authors, it is a great advantage because you can have it provide you with results whenever a new mention appears on the Internet of your name, book title(s), or topics relevant to your book that you can capitalize upon for promoting your book. This information can be delivered to you via email in a timely matter-as it happens, daily, or weekly – so you are aware of the latest conversations and topics that may interest you.