Tough love for wannabe writers

Jane Friedman, my editor at Writer’s Digest for Write is a Verb, has compiled her best tough love reality slap for those of you who are really serious about being published writers. To paraphrase Betty Davis (who said Old age is not for sissies), writing and publishing are not for wimps.

Get some tough love from Jane and go get published if you (and you work) are up to it:

http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/2009/10/06/TheSecretsToPublishingSuccessJanes2009ToughLoveGuide.aspx

Cool new book+ video format

Called a Vook. Check it out at:

http://promo.simonandschuster.com/vook/

Why You Should Never Write Your Book Before You Sell It Video

How I got an agent in one day video

An online course to help you write your book and get it published

I started out clueless in both Writing-Land and Publishing-Land. I only succeeded at writing and publishing 29 books (my next one, A Guide to Trance-Land, comes out from W.W. Norton next year) because I had such unstoppable passion for getting my ideas and work out into the world to contribute to others.

But I quickly discovered that one gets passive income from books, if they do well enough. Most of mine are still in print and it is so cool to get checks every six months from my publishers. I never know how much they will be for, since sales are variable, and I never count on this money as income, so it is always a pleasant surprise.

I’ve discovered that most people are a bit stymied by the writing and especially by the publishing process, so I have created an online Book Writing and Publishing Course. The course tells you where to start (never write your non-fiction book before you sell it; but always write much, if not all, of your fiction book before you sell it), how to get yourself to write (Did you know you could write a book in five-minute chunks and it would take you less than a year to get it done?), how to get an agent (I’ll tell you how I got one in one day!), and how to make it likely your book will sell to a publisher and to readers.

You can take the Book Writing and Publishing Course at your own rate and pace, when it convenient, from anywhere you have online access. I wish I had had this course when I started. I would have made many thousands more dollars, had even more books published and written, and avoided myself costly errors. It’s a bit like having a friend in the publishing industry.

If you want to see a book with your name on it and want to set up ongoing sources of passive and residual income, visit:
http://www.getyourbookwritten.com/online-writing-course/

Cool New Website for Authors

While I was at BEA (Book Expo America, the big author/publisher confab) in LA recently, I met a guy from Germany (Gunnar Siewert) who is part of a cool new website for authors called BookRix (www.bookrix.net). You can use this site (free) to create an online book or article and invite others to view it like a real book, but with enhancements. If you want to develop a following or put a sample of your book on the web to gauge interest, this is a nice resource. It’s sort of a social networking site for authors.

Grammar Girl – Turning a podcast into a book

Grammar Girl. Former freelance science writer Mignon Fogarty decides to create a podcast discussing common grammatical errors she encounters in her editing work. She launches Grammar Girl, a lighthearted and kindly guide to grammar. Fast forward sometime later. Oprah is doing a show on grammar. Several of her staffers tell Oprah she must get Grammar Girl. Problem: Grammar Girl has a book contract but no book to tout when she is to go on Oprah, wasting a golden opportunity. Solution: She and her publisher, working non-stop for several days, create an audio book version from Grammar Girls podcast audio files and make the book available through Audible.com. Many audiobooks are sold, saving the day. Writers will find this essential and the rest of you may just find it amusing and helpful. You can learn about Spoonerisms, when to use lay vs. lie, when to use sit vs. set and other good stuff, presented with a light touch. You can get the podcast through iTunes or visit GG’s website: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/

 

The point for those of you who are aspiring writers? Pursue your interests and passions. Put something out into the world rather than sitting and dreaming about it. (Of course, make sure this isn’t a distraction from your writing or something you are doing instead of writing). Podcasts, like blogs, can enhance your platform and can generate material to use in your writing project. And as Grammar Girl has shown, it might even get you a book contract or a spot on Oprah.

Write is a Verb featured on radio show/podcast

Bill appeared on Santa Fe Radio Café on Tuesday, August 28, 2007 with host Mary-Charlotte and fellow guests Anne Hillerman of the Hillerman Writers Conference (http://www.hillermanconference.com/) and WordHarvest Writers Workshops (http://www.sfworkshops.com/) and thriller writer David Morrell (http://www.davidmorrell.net). David and I will both be speaking at the Hillerman Writers Conference in Albuquerque in early November 2007. It was a nice radio show. We spoke about writing and our latest projects. David has just completed a graphic novel, I have Write is a Verb out, and Anne, in addition to organizing conferences, has two books coming out in the next while. The host is sharp and we all got along well, I think. You can listen to the show on the site link below, download it or subscribe to their podcast in iTunes.
http://www.santaferadiocafe.org/podcasts/?p=148

Now you can hear me as well as read me talk about getting your book written and published in record time

I have a new version of the audio blog/podcast I have been doing. Episodes will be released on a regular basis. I read somewhere that 38% of people are auditory learners, so this may be for you.

Visit: http://www.getyourbookwritten.com/getpublishedinrecordtime/podcast.html

Radio publicity for a book

Tomorrow I am appearing on a local radio show for my new book (Write is a Verb). I have done television publicity, print media (magazines, newspapers), lectures, book signings and other means of publicizing book. I like radio. The hosts are usually nice and fun folks (TV is mixed; there are quite a few shallow/persona-only characters in this medium, along with again, some nice folks who are prepared for the interview and have at least glanced at the book). The time one gets in radio is often more than TV (although not always). You can also do radio from anywhere by phone (although I will be doing it in person tomorrow on KSFR here in Santa Fe – they do the interview at the Santa Fe Baking Company and you can sometimes hear orders shouted in the background). I did a “40-city radio tour” in my robe (you have to get up early for east coast “drive-time”).

I’m not sure how well radio works (or anything else, excpet Oprah, of course) because most of the time I am doing multiple channels and efforts to publicize my book. The effect of being on Oprah was easy to observe (the book went from 766,000 ranking on Amazon.com to #13 while the show was on), but for most other avenues of publicity, the effect will be more subtle and cumulative. But being on radio is easy (no travel, good people, a little more time to talk about the book, location flexibility), so it is a good way to go.

My book companies have used several publicity companies to set up radio tours:
Krupp Kommunications (http://www.kruppkommunications.com/) – Yes it is spelled correctly. I loved the person who coordinated my publicity–Jennifer Heesler
Newman Communication (http://www.newmancom.com/)

They both sell their services to authors and are worth the money.