The Writing Life

Directory of all posts on Blogger

2011-08-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

After much thought and conversation with my Web guru, Doreen Hulsey, we are making to long overdue move to WordPress. My blog will still have the same name—The Writing Life—but a whole new look, many more capabilities, and enhanced ease of use. There is a link to the Blogger version, so you can always get here. In case you are looking for any post since April 2008, they are all here. See you at our new address: The Writing Life.

▼ 2011 (25)
- ▼ June (3)
- ▼ May (1)
  - Finding Your Voice
- ▼ April (2)
  - A Tribute to William Zinser
  - What Every Writer Should Know About Writing
- ▼ March (1)
  - The Legal Side of Writing a Nonfiction Book
- ▼ February (4)
- ▼ January (14)

▼ 2010 (33)
- ▼ December (2)
  - Journal of a New Web site
  - The Day My Web Site Died
- ▼ November (6)
- ▼ October (1)
  - Looking for a past blog?
- ▼ September (2)
  - Been to a meetup lately? If not, why not?
  - No substitute for "face time"
- ▼ August (2)
  - The Reluctant Web Master
  - Deciding where to put my most precious resource—TI...
- ▼ July (1)
  - The Book Launch
- ▼ June (2)
  - Ready-made Marketing Plan
  - The books have arrived!
- ▼ May (2)
  - Step #6: Promotion
  - Unattainable Perfection
- ▼ April (2)
  - Time flies when you're writing a book
  - In the Home Stretch
- ▼ March (2)
  - Words To Live By Gathers Speed
  - Web Site Nightmare
- ▼ February (1)
  - Where do I go from here?
- ▼ January (10)

▼ 2009 (48)
- ▼ December (6)
- ▼ November (5)
- ▼ October (3)
- ▼ September (5)
- ▼ August (2)
  - Portable Office
  - A vacation? What’s that?
- ▼ July (4)
- ▼ June (4)
- ▼ May (1)
  - What to Do When Your Hard Drive Dies
- ▼ April (6)
- ▼ March (4)
- ▼ February (3)
- ▼ January (5)

▼ 2008 (33)
- ▼ December (4)
- ▼ November (4)
- ▼ October (4)
- ▼ September (3)
- ▼ August (3)
- ▼ July (6)
- ▼ June (4)
- ▼ May (3)
- ▼ April (2)
  - Shadow Stories
  - Getting Around the WWW

What Does It Take to Be a Publisher?

2011-06-15T09:28:00.000-07:00

Publishers come in all sizes, from huge New York houses to one-man bands who form their own companies to “publish” one or two books. In between are what is called independent or “indy” publishers who cater to certain specialized niches. Assuming the big ones are well versed in their craft and the indy publishers are expanding their education through the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), I am going to focus on small, less experienced publishers.

Just saying you are a publisher is not enough to make you one. Most authors who decide to self-publish often have no idea what is involved in the process or what the requirements of the job are. To clear up any misunderstanding on this issue, the board of directors of IBPA drafted a checklist for publishers, posted it on its Website, and summarized it in an article in the IBPA newsletter. Added to that list are several important tasks suggested by author and self-publishing expert, Dan Poynter. Some are the responsibility of any publisher; others are implemented in concert with the author.

Technical Aspects

Have manuscript edited and copy edited by two different editors before it goes into design.
When the book is complete, send it out for review to peer reviewers. Take their critiques to heart and make changes.
Have page proofs proofread by a different editor.
Send out review copies of galleys to appropriate publications and reviewers. Mark them as Reader’s Copies. (Don’t send a printed book.)
Secure an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) and an EAN bar code from R.R. Bowker.
Apply to the U.S. Copyright Office for a copyright.
Develop a business plan with a budget,
Create a contract that spells out what the author does and what the publisher does.
Deal with appropriate, industry-related vendors.

Printing & Distribution

Get competitive quotes from printers (Be sure they are all bidding on the same specs), and choose the one that best meets your author’s needs, including, but not limited to, price.
Research all options on digital printers, POD companies, and offset printers (for more than 1,000 book).
Decide how you want to handle storage and distribution. You can do both if you have room and time, but choosing a professional distributor and fulfillment house may be a better alternative. (LightningSource, which deals only with publishers, is owned by Ingram, which is the largest distributor in the country. Most POD companies print and send books when they are ordered. Larger print orders usually require a distributor and fulfillment services.)
Go over the printed books with a fine-tooth comb for appearance, quality, pages, printing—in short, everything. Don’t settle for less than perfect. The author assumes final responsibility by signing the printer’s release form.

Promotion

Write a marketing plan. In its simplest form, a marketing plan starts with an overall goal for what you want to accomplish, strategies for how you plan to do it, and specific tactics or actions you will take, with target dates and estimated costs.
Create a promotional piece, bookmark, or brochure.
Put together two mailing lists—one for regular mail and one for e-mail. You should already have one, but this is the time to hone and add to it.
Develop a Website before the book is published to build an author platform and interest in the book.
Create a blog to build interest for the book’s topic and keep readers informed of the author’s progress.
Request testimonials to include in the book, on the cover, and in promotional materials.
Do a promotional mailing to snail-mail and e-mail lists to announce publication of the book.
Set up a “media room” on your Website so that media people can find the information they need in a form they can use.
Encourage author to write articles on the book’s subject; submit to print publications and on-line article sites. There are countless such sites, but the undisputed leader of the pack is ezinearticles.com.
Explain to author that book promotion as an ongoing, full-time job. The more promotion, the more successful the book will be.
Work with author to develop fresh ways to repackage the content; develop “spin-off” products (CD, DVD, reports, mini-books, Podcasts, eBooks, Website content).

There are many books and Websites on publishing and self-publishing. This list covers the basics. As a publisher, you should work closely with your authors to produce a quality book and let the world know it exists.

Turning Lead Into Gold

2011-06-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

You’re going along doing whatever it is that you do—in my case, writing—and suddenly your world blows up (or so it seems). You get hit in the head with a chunk of debris and end up on your rear end, wondering what happened. There you sit, trying to make sense of the senseless and becoming more immobilized by the minute.

It could be anything—an illness or accident, a family crisis, or a major loss—but whatever it is, it turns you into a zombie. If you are a writer, you simply stop writing. Words don’t come; what’s worse, you don’t ever care. That’s bad. No doubt about it.

In my own writing life, when this has happened, I have experienced a kind of miracle: I have somehow been able to convert the negative energy of the most stressful circumstances into the creative energy that fuels my writing process. I admit it has not worked 100 percent of the time, but in the past forty-plus years, it has happened. This never ceases to amaze me.

The next paragraph should be how to do it, but that’s the thing about miracles: they defy explanation. No matter how insane the situation in which I found myself, I usually wrote right through it. Sometimes, I cried or coughed or ran a fever or swore a blue streak while I was writing, but those things just seemed to intensify the process.

I have been teaching for many years and have yet to find a way to transmit this bit of alchemy. Perhaps in the beginning it was simply that I had a deadline, and it was unthinkable to miss it; so I sat down at my little Smith-Corona electric portable and just did what I had to do. Later, it was an ingrained habit. I had done it before; I could do it again. Maybe for each of us, there is a different trigger. I found mine by accident; I don’t know how you will find yours.

The important thing to know is that it can be done. You too can turn lead into gold. You just have to unravel the mystery in your own way. Please let me know if you do!

The Changing World of Publishing

2011-06-01T14:15:00.000-07:00

The publishing world is constantly changing; and as it does, the choices available to new authors change right along with it. Once upon a time, an aspiring nonfiction author had two alternatives: an established, conventional publisher, often in New York; or "vanity press."

Traditional publishing has always been a tough nut to crack for unknown writers, though sometimes a first manuscript miraculously attracts the attention of an editor and becomes a published book. Vanity press, which "publishes" (prints) anything authors are willing to pay for, quickly developed a reputation for poor-quality books. Unfortunately, the reputation attached itself to self-publishing, which is quite different.

Traditional publishers are having their own problems. There are fewer than there used to be, and the ones that have survived are struggling to make a profit, small as it may be. So, they tend to stick with tried-and-true authors. Not only are publishing houses competing with each other, they are also up against the ever-expanding world of ePublishing. According to Amazon, eBooks are now outselling print books. That doesn't even take into account all of the eBooks that are given away. No one is making any money on those.

They say everyone has a book inside. I believe that because many would-be authors take my classes, hoping to defy the odds. One of the first questions I ask my students is how do you plan to publish your book? Most don't know, or if they have a preference, they have no idea what is involved

Two important points

It is possible to have your book published by a traditional publisher; but you must understand the process and be prepared to invest time, effort, and some money.
Self-publishing is not the same as "vanity press." You can produce an excellent book yourself, but you must be aware of the wide array of available methods and make informed decisions about which one is best for you. Again, this requires time, effort, and money.

Conclusion 

If you want to produce a quality book, there are prescribed steps to follow. The steps may take a few months or more than a year; they may cost you a modest amount or a large sum. As an author, this is not something you want to leave to chance or other people's whims. My advice: Educate yourself.

Finding Your Voice

2011-05-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

There are ten definitions for the word “voice” in Webster’s college dictionary, but none of them explains the word in terms of writers. If your spoken voice is your distinctive sound, your writer’s voice is your singular written style. This is particularly important for nonfiction writers. When people read something you have written—a book, an article, and essay, or a letter—they will recognize you as the writer. Since your voice is so much a part of you, one would think it would be easy to identify. In fact, it takes work to find your voice. Here are seven guidelines to help you find yours.

Be real, natural. Let your individuality shine through. If possible, write the way you speak, even if the grammar is a little shaky on the first couple of drafts.
Start a conversation with your readers. Connect with them; engage them; answer their potential questions.
Concentrate on content, not style. What you say is more important than how you say it. You can’t cover up lack of knowledge with words, words, and more words.
Think with your fingers. Put them on the keys, and keep them there. Let the thoughts pour out, even if they seem jumbled.
Avoid jargon—business, technical, political, academic, medical, any kind. Jargon is like speaking in code; it excludes the reader.
Don’t change your voice for different audiences. All you have to be is clear, conversational, and concise. Don’t pretend to be a CEO to write to business people or a medical expert to write to doctors. Don’t pretend, period.
Don’t try too hard. Some things develop in their own time. Your writer’s voice is one of them.

A Tribute to William Zinser

2011-04-09T09:55:00.000-07:00

William Zinser is my hero. He is, or should be, every writer’s hero. He is best known for his seminal book, On Writing Well, now in its 30^th anniversary edition. That means he wrote it in 1976, and it is not only still relevant, it’s the gold standard. His book on Writing About Your Life should be, required reading for anyone who wants to write a memoir.

I read On Writing Well when it first came out, consulted it many times over the years, and am rereading it, once again with a yellow highlighter. Then, I’m taking notes on the most compelling sentences in each chapter—the essence of good writing. I want to write a dozen blogs filled with Zinsser’s amazing quotes, such as this one: “Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one can’t exist without the other.” That is so basic, so right! Each time I read that sentence, I am struck by its stripped down wisdom.

William Zinsser knows how to write well. He has spent his life honing his craft and teaching it to others. He is writer, an editor, and a teacher. He was a journalist with the New York Herald Tribune and a contributor to many prestigious magazines. He has written seventeen books, taught at Yale, the New School in New York, and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

It is hard to explain how he has influenced my own writing. In this brief blog post, I have cut out words, rewritten whole sentences, hit the thesaurus for better words to make certain points, and played editor to my own prose. Mr. Zinsser has made it impossible for me to dash off a blog post, an e-mail, or any piece of writing. He is always hovering at my shoulder, urging me to do my best writing. I know I am not alone. This man has made more writers than he will ever know.

What Every Writer Should Know About Writing

2011-04-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

I teach people how to write books. Yet, it’s surprising how little time I spend on the craft of writing. There is so much to say and only one two-hour class in which to say it. I’m afraid it gets short shrift, which is regrettable because it is so important.

I have been a writer all my life but didn’t think about it as “a career” until I was thirty years old. That’s what they all a late start. For a long time I had no idea what I was doing. I was going on pure instinct, not always the best teacher. Stringing sentences together, telling a story, threading in quotes, writing a good first paragraph—these were all mysterious processes I learned over time. I always knew good writing from bad but was pretty oblivious to how that pertained to my own.

In the last twenty-four years, I have come to understand what is most important about writing. I would like you share with you some of what I have learned.

Don’t talk about writing. Don’t explain your story or your article or your book until your listeners are bleary eyed. If you have something to say, write it. Writing is not something you discuss; it is something you do. My favorite quote is by a writer named Hugh Prather in a little book called Notes to Myself. “If the desire to write is not accompanied by actual writing, then the desire is not to write.” I have a hand-lettered, six-foot-wide sign in my office that reminds me of that every day.

Know your subject. Most things require research. Don’t skimp on this step. In fact, overdo it if possible. You’ll never know everything there is to know about any topic. The more information you have, the better you can explain it clearly, concisely, and very carefully. If you have ten pages of data, you should be able to compress then into one, maybe two really tight paragraphs. If you can’t, you didn’t understand the material.

Take time to process what you have learned. Your subconscious mind is a computer. Everything you feed into it is churning around in there—organizing itself, coming to conclusions, solving problems, getting ready to bring forth a finished product. All you have to do is translate it into the right words. When I first stumbled on this principle in a book called Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz, computers filled rooms and the PC was a distant dream. Maltz referred them as servo-mechanism machines. That was a mouthful, but the man was ahead of his time.

Have respect for words. Learn a lot of them. If you don’t know what they mean, look them up. Don’t use the same word twice. Find the perfect synonym. Buy the best dictionary (Webster’s New World College Dictionary) and thesaurus (Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus). Compare what you find to online sources. I grew up with books, so I reach for them first, but there are great tools on the Internet. Look for them and use them. Don’t trust spell check. It will often give you the wrong word—there when you mean they’re, it’s when you want its, apiece when you typed a piece.

Grammar counts. Nothing—absolutely nothing—is worse than a piece of writing filled with inexcusable errors. Of course, you will need an editor at some point, but if you can’t construct a decent sentence with proper punctuation, take a course, buy a book (Chicago Manual of Style 16^th Edition), hire a tutor. Grammar and punctuation are the foundation of everything you write.

Finally, trust your gut. When your writing is mechanical, awkward, overly wordy, sloppy, or unclear, you’ll know it. Don’t muscle your way through a bad sentence. Don’t keep something because it’s “beautiful” and you love the sound of it; but it doesn’t fit, doesn’t say anything, doesn’t advance your story. It’s hard, I know, but highlight the whole thing and hit the delete button. Your Jury of the Deep (inner voices, for you who don’t know me) is never wrong. Never.

The Legal Side of Writing a Nonfiction Book

2011-03-18T12:34:00.000-07:00

Here are some terms you should know and understand: copyright, permissions, acknowledgements, footnotes. Below are their definitions and important facts about each of these words.

What is copyright?

Copyright is a set of rights that regulates the use of a unique way of presenting an idea or information. At its most basic level, it is really “the right to copy” an original creation. Usually, these rights are for a fixed length of time. The notation for copyright may be written out or typed as either © or (C). Copyright may apply to a variety of creative, conceptual, or artistic forms or “works,” ranging from poems to plays, photographs to paintings, and dozens of other endeavors. Copyright is one of the laws covered by the greater term “intellectual property.”

What is not protected by copyright?

Copyright law covers only the precise form or manner in which ideas or information have been produced, i.e., the “form of material expression.” It is not designed or intended to cover the actual ideas, concepts, facts, styles, or techniques that may be represented by the copyright product.

How long does copyright last?

Copyright lasts for different time periods, depending on the part of the country, the category of work, and whether the work is published or unpublished. In most areas, the duration of copyright for many works is the life of the author plus seventy years.

What happens after copyright expires?

In the United States, all books and other items published before 1923 have expired copyrights and are in the public domain, and all works created by the U.S. government, regardless of date, enter the public domain upon their creation. If the author has been dead more than seventy years, the work is most likely in the public domain.

How is copyright transferred?

Under the U.S. Copyright Act, if you want to transfer ownership of your copyright, you must do it in writing. No official transfer form is required. A simple document that describes the work involved and the rights being granted is adequate. Nonexclusive grants (often called nonexclusive licenses) need not be in writing under U.S. law. A nonexclusive grant occurs when you allow someone to utilize your work by giving him your permission, e.g., when you allow a writer to include a paragraph of your book in his work. Your approval can be oral or even implied. Transfers of copyright ownership, including exclusive licenses should be formally noted in the U.S. Copyright Office. While filing is not mandated to make it effective, doing so offers important benefits.

How do you obtain a copyright?

Go to us copyright office http://www.copyright.gov/forms/

Download form CO - instructions

Fill out form on line

Print it out, sign it

Send all required copies along with a check for $50 to

Library of Congress

101 Independence Avenue, SE

Washington, DC 20559

How do you get permission to quote a source?

Many publishers supply a form to be used when requesting permission to quote from their publications. A typical form calls for the following information:

Title of the book to be quoted from

Nature of the work in which the selection will be used

Name of the author or compiler

Publisher of the new work

Intended date of publication

Selection to be quoted

Total pages or total lines

Market for which rights are requested (United States and Canada, world in English, or world in all languages)

How should you phrased acknowledgments?

Sometimes, the copyright owner will permit you to phrase the credit lines and to choose where they will be placed. As the author, you can then approximate a uniform style for the acknowledgments and either group them together or place each one in a footnote. When a publisher specifies the phrasing and placement to be used in the credit line, these instructions must be followed precisely.

When and how should you use footnotes?

The first citation of a work, especially if there is not a full bibliography in the book, should contain the following information, in this order:

Author’s name, as given on the title page

Title of the book, including the subtitle (underline or italicize)

Edition if other than the first

Title of the series, if significant (do not underline or put in quotation marks)

Place of publication (home office)

Publisher

Date of publication

Volume and page numbers

A Contrary View of Social Media

2011-02-25T07:26:00.000-08:00

There is no question that social media is a powerful communication tool not only in this country but around the world. My focus in "The Writing Life" has been on helping writers tap into this power to promote your books. To that end, I have recently posted a series of essays on understanding and getting around the giants of social media—Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube.

I am frequently amazed at the amount of time many of my friends and colleagues spend on these networking sites, as well as staying current with countless blogs, news outlets, and forums. To tell the truth, I often fail to keep up with "friends" and "connections."

Why? Because my daily life is a juggling act of responsibilities and to-dos, and social networking is just one of the many balls I'm trying to keep in the air. I know I have lots of company in this lament.

There is one blog I subscribe to: Zen Habits by Leo Babauta. While I am striving to maintain my personal juggling act, Babauta is urging me to get rid of some of those balls and simplify, simplify. What a neat but seemingly impossible idea. To underscore his message, he has made available his latest book, called focus. It's online and on Kindle, and it's free—not only free but uncopyrighted. Use or copy or forward any part of it he urges, but please attribute the work to its Leo Babauta.

His point is that social media, blogs, everything online, and especially e-mail are addictive. If you can't stay away and you feel empty when you're not online, you are addicted. Breaking an addiction is tough but possible. Babauta is not advocating that you trash your computer, disconnect your Internet access, or close all your accounts. He is simply saying that all this addictive activity is time consuming and counter productive to the creative process. If you are a writer, that is not a good thing.

focus is a practical little book on how to break addictions, shed the superfluous in your life, and get off the gerbil wheel. I think it's worth a try.

Ten Characteristics of an Outstanding Website

2011-02-04T13:36:00.000-08:00

A memorable identity: develop a clear, consistent message, a theme that is unique to you.
New content: To generate repeat traffic, change something on your Website at least once a month (a headline, monthly feature, blog posts, special offer).
Something of value: Make your content informative, entertaining, inspirational, educational, or provocative. Be generous; give stuff away.
Appeal to search engines: Research and use Meta tags and keywords to help search engines and Web surfers find you.
Link exchanges: Find complementary sites to link to and have them link back to your site.
Interactivity: Provide a way for visitors to comment or provide feedback.
Consistency with other social media: Be sure your identity on social networking sites, blogs, newsletters, and articles reflects the same person and style.
Graphics: A picture is worth 1,000 words; 1,000 words are too many for Web surfers to wade through.
Ease of bookmarking: Use widgets to ask people to bookmark certain Web pages to Digg, StumbleUpon, Sphinn, and other bookmarking sites.
A way to capture e-mail addresses: Use a mailing list service to collect e-mail addresses to send out announcements, special offers, or a newsletter.

[Video] 5 Reasons Wordpress Should Be Your Author Website Platform

2011-02-03T06:38:00.000-08:00

This is a guest post from Russ Henneberry. Russ writes, speaks, consults and executes on Internet marketing strategies that make mighty profits for tiny businesses. You can read Russ's Internet marketing blog here or learn more about his Wordpress Website Design here.

Growing an author's platform starts with a powerful and simple to use website platform. It is the "hub" of activity for you as an author. This 8-minute video and the article below it details 5 reasons Wordpress should be your author's platform.

Reason 1 - Wordpress is Flexible If you need to make a change to the text, images, video, etc., on your Website you will want to be able to make those changes yourself. Wordpress is the most intuitive and user-friendly platform available. In addition to making edits, you will also want to be adding new pages, articles, videos, and images to your Website. A living and breathing Website that is growing over time will build a community around you and your work.

Reason 2 - Wordpress is Discoverable Google is a powerhouse, and you can grow your author's platform by taking advantage of the traffic that Google will send your way. Wordpress makes it easy for both humans and search engines like Google to "discover" the content of your Website.

Reason 3 - Wordpress is Shareable The real power of the Internet is the remarkable speed and efficiency with which we can share things of interest and value to us. Wordpress is able to add the functionality needed to spread your message across the Web.

Reason 4 - Wordpress is Interactive As an author, you will want your fans to be able to interact with you and with each other. Wordpress can be configured to be as interactive as you want it to be with commenting, voting, surveys, forums, and more.

Reason 5 - Wordpress can be Automated When you add new articles, videos, and images to your Website you will want to let the members of your social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) know that you have something with which to interact or share. Wordpress can automate the "pushing" of this new content to your social networks. Learn more about Wordpress Web Design here.

Getting Around YouTube

2011-02-01T10:45:00.000-08:00

This is the eighth in a series on Social Media.

No exploration of the giants of social media would be complete without YouTube, the largest of the video sharing sites. There is no question that YouTube is responsible for some of the Web's most successful viral campaigns (messages that take on lives of their own). Once your video is on YouTube, you can import it into a blog post and embed it in your own Website, thus tripling its exposure.

There are two aspects to YouTube: posting your own videos and watching other people's. Yours can be as simple as sitting in front of a camcorder and talking or as professionally produced as you can afford. Two pieces of advice when you make a video: keep it short and make it memorable—humorous, genuine, out of the ordinary.

When you visit YouTube, you will be prompted to set up an account or log in. In the upper right hand corner, under your name and a little drop down menu with My Channel, Inbox, Account, Subscriptions, My Videos, and Favorites. Your Channel is your public page. It contains your most recent uploaded video, your favorites, a place for comments, subscribers, and friends. You can edit your Channel page, Favorites, and Playlists by clicking on Account in the drop down menu.

There is always more than one way to get around a social networking site. Across the top of the screen are links to many of the same pages, plus some new ones:

My Videos & Playlists - where you will find your own videos
Favorites - other people's videos you have marked as your favorites
My Channel - where all of your information is in one place, plus the ability to change layout
Video Editor - an opportunity to edit or change your personal videos
Subscriptions - new videos you may wish to subscribe to and recommended channels
Insight - total number of viewers who have seen your videos, as well as more detailed information
Messages - from people who have viewed your videos, plus a chance to reply
Account Settings - includes profile setup, playback setup, e-mail options, privacy settings, activity sharing, and mobile setup

It is no wonder YouTube is popular and growing fast. If you haven't explored the many avenues for interacting with viewers and friends, you should set aside some time to do so. Every link leads to a whole set of opportunities.

Getting Around Flickr

2011-01-31T15:22:00.000-08:00

This is the seventh in a series on Social Media.

Flickr is the the largest of the online photo sharing communities. It boasts 11 million regular members, 30 million monthly visitors, and over 1 billion photos. There are also Flickr groups for almost anything you can imagine.

When you set up your account, uploading images requires only three steps.

Choose the images you want to upload.
Click the upload button.
Give each image a title, a description, and popular tags.

Even easier than that is the "Flickr Uploader," which you can download to your desktop. To upload a photo, just drag and drop it into the icon. In addition to ease of uploading, Flickr gives you great exposure with search engines when you use keywords in your tags, file names, and image descriptions. If you click on an image you will see more information about it, such as tags and descriptions; when you click on a tag, you will see all of the other images on your site with the same tag. That's why it's a good idea to fill in this information as you upload each image. Just as you would develop a marketing strategy for LinkedIn or your Facebook page, you should establish one for Flickr.

Clients and viewers can find you through your images. You can share your photos with the public (who can post comments) or limit them to your friends; you can also keep them private. Fickr allows you to organize and link to your photos, separate them into galleries or sets (collections of related images), and export them into your blog and Website.

Flickr is a powerful tool and well worth the time it takes to explore its many tools.

Getting Around Twitter

2011-01-23T14:39:00.000-08:00

This is the sixth in a series on Social Media.

Twitter—also called microblogging—allows you to send messages up to 140 characters in length. While that concept once sounded impossible, Twitter has become a worldwide phenomenon. For one thing, tweets are sent in real time making them a great way to broadcast news, events, products, services, and announcements. People tweet about conferences, uprisings around the w

All kind of apps have sprung up around Twitter, such as TweetDeck and HootSuite, which let you arrange tweets in columns by subject matter or favorites and import your blog posts as tweets.

Twitter has its own language, e.g., retweet is to copy and repost someone else’s tweet because you think it’s worth passing along. Follow means to keep track of another person’s tweets; a follower is someone who keeps track of yours. TweetChat is an application that permits multiple users to follow a Twitter conversation. A hashtag (#) in front of a word helps the Twitter search engine find a particular subject. DM is a direct message only the recipient can see.

Twitter isn't complicated. Across the top of the window is a black bar that contains these links:

Search for people on Twitter. The second column contains current trends.
Home has a place to write your message, as well see messages of those you are following.
Profile shows the messages you have sent to others, plus a section with information about you.
Messages contains recent messages to you and from you, plus a place to send a message to the last person who followed you on the "new Twitter."
Who to follow provides a list of people you might wish to follow.
A little pencil gives you another fast way to tweet.

Twitter is powerful, enlightening, and immediate. The site may have started out as a way to tell the world what you were having for breakfast or what movie you are going to see, but it didn’t take long for savvy social networkers to see its value. Using Twitter shorthand, you can squeeze a lot of information into those 140 characters.

Getting Around LinkedIn

2011-01-18T16:15:00.000-08:00

This is the fifth in a series on Social Media.

LinkedIn is the social network for businesspeople and professionals. It works on the principle of six degrees of separation. The idea is that you can find and connect to your business contacts and then to their business contacts. You can post your resume, write recommendations for others, and keep your contacts informed of changes in your professional life by simply updating your profile.

When you log in to LinkedIn, you are taken to your Home Page. At the top is a bar with links to Home, Profile, Contacts, Groups, Jobs, Inbox, Companies, and More. Next to that is a search box to help you find People.

Home is the main page. This link also gives you an opportunity to advertise.
Profile is all about you. This is the most important page; so, it's a good idea to fill out your profile as completely as possible. You can also make your profile public and searchable. Under your profile is a new feature that allows you to describe your books if you are published or your patents if you have any. There is also a listing of all of your recent activities and blog posts, if you feed your blog(s) to LinkedIn.
Contacts shows your connections in alphabetical order, a search box, and a way to add and organize connections.
Groups has links to Groups you may like, a directory of Groups, a way to create a group, and Groups you have started. Groups are a great way to promote discussion and share information, as well as promote your business. The rest of the page is devoted to Groups you belong to.
Jobs is all about finding, posting, and managing jobs, as well as solutions to hiring problems. You can search for jobs and see those you may be interested in based on your profile
Inbox is for mail. You can accept invitations, view messages, compose messages to others, and keep track of messages you have sent or archived.
Companies allows you to find companies you're interested in and follow them. There is also a list of companies you may wish to follow. You can see how you are connected to a company, who recently joined the company, and where they may have worked in the past. There is even an application on businessweek.com where you could click an icon to see how you are connected to the company featured in an article.
More contains one of LinkedIn's most popular features—Answers— a discussion where people can ask and answer questions. If you are a contributor, you will be ranked by the quantity and quality of your Answers. This is a great way to gain visibility by demonstrating your knowledge and expertise. More also provides links to a Learning Center, a way to Upgrade Your LinkedIn Account, and your personal Applications.

Under the bar is your photo, a place to write what's on your mind, and a button to share what you have written. Under that are updates on what your connections are doing. In the smaller right-hand column are People You May Know, so that you can build your network. Under their pictures are paid Advertisements.

At the bottom of every page are Customer Service links. One of most interesting is Tools, where you can choose among LinkedIn's Productivity Tools. These include an Outlook and a Browser Toolbar, an E-mail Signature, a Mac Search Widget, and a Google Toolbar Assistant.

Take some time to get to know LinkedIn on your own. It is a powerful social networking site for professionals, authors, and people in the business world.

Getting Around Your Facebook (Business) Page

2011-01-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

Facebook pages are the business side of Facebook. If you want to market your business, product, or book this way, the good news is it will be indexed by search engines. Here is how to create your page. Log in to Facebook under Account at the far right and click on Manage Pages. In the blue bar to the right of your picture are five links:

Get Started First, choose a name for your page keeping in mind how well it will attract search engines. Under your photo is a link to edit your page. This takes you to another menu of options.
- Basic Information is about your business or product. If you are publisher, write about your company; if you are an author, describe your book.
- Profile Picture is for your business photo. You can use the same one as your profile or select another one.
- Marketing provides a list of ways to promote your business or product.
- Manage Admins allows you to add another administrator to your page.
- Apps are applications by Facebook or other developers you can add to your Page.
- Mobile give you ways to manage your Facebook page on your mobile device.
- Insights permits others comment or "like" your page.
- Help is filled with topics, FAQs, and a place to ask a specific question.
Wall Just like the Wall on your Profile, here is your opportunity to talk about what's going on in your business or what is new with your book.
Info shows the information you filled in on you basic information page form about your business or product.
Photos are for new albums related to your business or product.
Discussions are opportunities to launch new discussion and invite comments from others.

In the left-hand column of your Facebook Page is all of your important information plus pictures of your friends who have indicated they "like" (endorse, recommend) your page. At the bottom is a Share link—another way to broadcast news or opinions.

The middle column is a guide to promoting your page. The right-hand column lets you invite more people to "like" your page.

Getting Around Your Facebook Account Settings

2011-01-14T10:15:00.000-08:00

This is the fourth in a series on Social Media.

The top blue bar at the top of your screen is always the same. At the far-right side is the word Account with a little arrow next to it. Here is where you control everything in your Facebook account, from whom to “friend” to how much people know about your life. When you click on the Account button, you will see a little box with your picture and name and a list of links. Each link takes you to another screen.

Edit Friends - In the far-left column are Requests to join your network (you can Confirm or click on Not Now); your Phonebook (phone numbers for friends who have made those numbers public); Find Friends (a search box for names); and Invite Friends (a place to type in e-mail addresses, draft a note, import address books, and let invitees see your profile).

Manage Pages is an understated heading for a very important aspect of Facebook. A Facebook Page differs from your Profile in that it is specifically intended to promote a business, product or personality. Here, you have an opportunity to describe your business or book and take advantage of all of the regular features of Facebook. There is no charge for this service.

Tell your fans, let your current customers and subscribers know about your new Page, and Import Contacts
Post status updates (what’s happening in your professional life) and Share your latest news.
Promote this Page on your Website by adding a Facebook "Like" Box to your site and giving people an easy way to discover and follow your Page.

In the far right column are Top Questions regarding how to permanently delete your account, retrieve your password, remove a friend, understand Chat, delete apps and accounts, change your name, and conduct common searches.

In the middle column, you can Create a List, find a list of friends with whom you have recently interacted, and Edit Your Friends List.

In the right-hand column, as on previous pages, are places to Create an Ad and see who has Sponsored ads on the page.

Under the large box are these links: About · Advertising · Developers · Careers · Privacy · Terms · Help

You are completely in charge of your Privacy and Security Settings, what you choose to reveal and to whom. Whether you want to keep your involvement strictly social or market your book or business. The important thing is to go to your Account Page and click on all of the links to familiarize yourself with what is in each one and what they mean. If you don’t understand the terminology, click on Help.

Finally, at the bottom of the page you will find friends who are available to Chat online in real time.

Getting Around Your Facebook Profile Page

2011-01-13T13:21:00.000-08:00

This is the third in a series on Social Media.

Your Profile Page is personal. Across the top is a search bar that lets you look for people you know. To help you tour your new profile are little arrows that say 1 Bio, 2 Photos, 3 Navigation, 4 Education and Work, and 5 Interests. When you click on an arrow, a small box appears telling you what to do.

Below the arrows are two columns. The left-hand column is topped with your photo, followed by these links:

The Wall is where your all of your posts are stored. (Your friends' posts can be seen on their profiles.) When friends want to send you a message they write on your wall.
Info is your background—education, work history, philosophy, political leanings—anything you are willing to share.
Photos are links to all of your photo albums. When you post photos your friends can see them on your Profile Page.
Notes (on my page) are my forwarded blogs.
Friends are pictures of all of your Facebook "friends."
At the bottom of the column is a link to Add a Badge to your site. There are several categories of badges to choose from. Just click on the one(s) you want.

In the second column, after the word Share, are the following links:

Status is the place to bring friends up to date on your life.
Photo allows you to share a photo, add a photo, or create an album.
Link is a box in which you can direct viewers to another URL.
Video tells you to record or upload a video.

On my Profile Page are forwards from my blogs, as well as the most recent photos I have posted. At the bottom of the page are comments from friends who have looked at my profile page.

Guide to Creating and Publishing Your New Website

2011-01-12T12:17:00.000-08:00

Welcome to guest blogger Bobette Kyle. Bobette draws upon 20+ years of Marketing/Executive and planning positions, business ownership, online marketing experience, and a marketing MBA as inspiration for her writing. She co-owns Lifestyle Inspirations LLC (MY LIFE MATTERS Womens Personal Planner) as well as publishes WebsiteMarketingPlan.com and MyOnlineWeddingHelp.com.

For the uninitiated, the process of starting a Website can be filled with new terminology. Here is a quick vocabulary lesson of some of the used here.

Domain Name ("register a domain name"): Sign up and pay for the URL to the homepage of your site.
Host/Hosting ("sign up with a host"): This is the company that will have your files on its server and provide the means for people to be able to see your Website. Make sure you pick a good host because you don't want to have to move this later.
Nameservers ("link them together using the nameservers"): This is information that tells the domain name services where to find your hosting service’s server.

Note that with some solutions you take care of all three of the above at once. Other solutions require you to handle each separately.

Steps To Getting Started – Overview

During the process of getting your Website started, there are many steps to complete. Many you will be completing simultaneously. Also, please note that if you do not have a Website developer, you would complete all steps on your own.

Initial Administrative Steps

Register your domain names.
Decide on a Website developer and choose designs or template.
Choose a hosting provider, with input from your Website designer, and open account.
Change the nameservers on your domain name to point to your host’s nameservers.

Initial Marketing Steps

Decide on the purpose of your Website; the way(s) it will help you with your business, book, or service(s); and what kinds of people you want to visit the site (target audience).
For better success with Website ranking, complete keyword research so – from the start – you can incorporate those words into the text on your Website.
Create Website launch strategies and a marketing plan while site is in development.
Begin marketing activities as soon as Website is functional.

Development Steps

Settle on site layout and navigational structure.
Create or choose images – Website header/logo, photo(s), book cover(s), etc. and send digitally to developer.
Write text for each page (incorporating phrases from keyword research) and send to developer.
If taking orders online, decide on e-commerce solution (Paypal recommended to start, then upgrade to merchant account after volume increases) and work with developer on details.
With developer, decide upon and secure any third party services or software needed to implement marketing programs (For example: newsletter hosting/list management service, blogging software, online audio/mp3 technology, etc.)

Site Finalization and Publication

Approve the final Website.
Upload the site to your hosting account.
Begin marketing activities.

Getting Around Your Facebook Home Page

2011-01-10T18:08:00.000-08:00

This is the second in a series of blog posts about social media.

Facebook can be overwhelming without a map or step-by-step instructions on how to navigate the pages and links. When you log in to Facebook, you are on your Home Page, where you will see banners, columns, and links that provide information or lead you to other pages. This post is a map of your Home Page.

Across the top of your Home Page is a blue bar. Reading from left to right, you will see the word Facebook, three little icons, Search, Home, Profile, and Account. The icons are:

Friend requests from people who want to be your friends (You will also find this elsewhere on the page).
Messages are from people who are your friends and want to hear from you.
Notifications alert you to people who have written on your Wall (more about that later).

Under the blue bar, there are three columns. Working your way down the left-hand column are your picture, your name, Edit My Profile, News Feed, Messages, Events, Friends, Create a Group, App Requests, Ads and Pages, and Friends on Chat. It is easy to get lost in all of these links. Here is a quick rundown:

Edit my Profile takes you to your profile page, which contains as much information as you wish to include about yourself.
News Feed shows you what people in your network (friends) have posted. You can also view these posts in the middle column.
Events list friends' events, birthdays, and occasions that have already taken place (so you know what you missed).
Friends is a repeat of people who want to join your network, as well as recently updated profiles.
To Create a Group on Facebook, just click this link and fill in the blank.
App Requests are add-ons to Facebook that help you connect to other people. There are also lists of your own apps and those of your friends.
Ads and Page allows you to set up a page for your business or book. Your Page differs from your personal profile in that it is strictly for professional purposes.
Friends on Chat alerts you to who is available for instant messaging. If you send that friend a message, he or she will probably respond.

In the middle column there is an announcement about your New Profile and a link to Learn More about it. Under that, in a white bar, are News Feed, Top News, Most Recent, Share: Status, Photo Link, and Video. The rest of the column is devoted to what your friends are doing and saying in each of those catagories. If you have many friends, that can keep you reading all day.

News Feed, Top News, and Most Recent all take you to friends' posts and provide a place for you to post your comments.
Share: Status has a box for you to fill in your news, thoughts, or comments; Photo allows you to post a photograph or create an album; Link lets you insert a link to a URL; and Video is the place to record and upload a video.

The column on the right begins with Events and See All, which shows all events your friends are planning and a place for you to enter your own event. Under that is Find More Friends and pictures of people who have found many of their friends through Friend Finder. Finally, there are five headings: Sponsored, Create an Ad, Requests, Pokes, and Get Connected.

Sponsored is for paid ads others have posted.
Create an Ad is a fill-in form to place your own ad.
Requests is another way to see friend and application requests.
Pokes are short notes from friends who ask you to "poke back."
Get Connected helps you find friends who are Facebook, are not on Facebook, or are here because of you. It also explains how to connect with others on your mobile device.

You can see how the many ways to connect and communicate might seem like a maze if you are new to Facebook. Just remember the purposes of this fastest-growing social media site. It's all about making connections, networking, and showcasing your business. and, you can do it all on your Home Page.

Your Life is a Story. Tell it in a Memoir

2011-01-07T15:07:00.000-08:00

Whether you realize it or not, your life is a story, and it’s a story you should share, at least with those closest to you. If you decide to write a memoir, chances are it won’t be a best seller. You may or may not even choose to publish it. But I urge you to write it.

If you’ve never written before, you will be amazed at what an almost mystical experience it can be for you. If you have dabbled in writing, but kept your precious thoughts and words buried in a drawer or hidden on your hard drive, this is the best way I know to write, first, for yourself and, second, for your most appreciate audience, your family.

Merriam Webster defines a memoir as “a narrative composed from personal experience” or “an autobiography.”

Ten ways to structure a memoir

A theme or a thread
Chronological
Flashbacks
Function: how things work
Journey: circular changes, from beginning to end
Mosaic: pieces of a puzzle or little vignettes
Organic: from physical qualities or layout
Origins: how things came to be or are made
People or characters
The seasons

Ten ways to begin

You do not necessarily have to start at the beginning. Consider starting with:

An important moment that reveals character — yours or someone else’s
A memory or flashback
A photograph or memento
Beginnings, endings, first times, last times
A significant event — illness, birth, death, funeral, wedding, divorce
Sensory memories — sights, sounds, smells
Secrets, epiphanies, encounters, accusations
Successes or failures
Worst and best moments
Mentors, heroes, villains

What to do

Use impressionistic description through metaphorical language: metaphor – direct comparison; simile – metaphor, using like or as or as though. Paint a picture with details, active, descriptive verbs. Orient yourself with the landscape. The external landscape reflects the inner landscape of your life (turbulent, stormy).
Personalize your writing, using “I” words and a subjective approach to subject matter. Use present tense; it gives energy to the writing. Use dialogue; direct conversation is powerful.
Break your memoir into moments or scenes; include conversation. Capture interesting conversation that reveals something about the character; leave out what’s not important. Boil events down to the basics. What is important to convey? What about you is different because of this incident or time in your life?
Make your story complex, unpredictable, powerful. Loop together a series of scenes like moments of conflict; conflict makes writing interesting. Do your best to tell the truth, as you know it; but even when you’re writing about the truth, it’s OK to combine several people into a composite character.
What not to do
Don’t just write down facts; create images for the reader. Don’t tell; show. Show with visual description, metaphoric language, dialogue (either conversation you remember verbatim or close to what could have been said based on the situation). Don’t use clichés and expected language; use powerful verbs. Don’t weaken your writing with adverbs; get rid of all “ly” words. Don’t ramble; compress language.

Why it’s personal

A memoir is about you. It is creative nonfiction. The greatest strength about creative nonfiction is that you stick to the essence of the truth, but you can exercise some creative license by including factual information and physical details to make a scene come to life. Creative nonfiction teaches something, even if the lesson is subtle.

A memoir challenges you to do more than recall and record facts about you life. It asks you to engage in courageous writing — to reveal yourself, your humanity, and the range of human experience, both joy and pain.

There is something in your story that every reader can relate to even if you don’t know what that will be. So, even though it is your story, as you write it, seek universal themes so that it relates not just to you but also to humanity in general. Above all, remember that your life is a story. Write it!

Two Sides of a Coin: Attention Span & Focus

2011-01-07T15:00:00.000-08:00

Some types of writing can be achieved in a relatively short time span. In advertising, for example, the bulk of a writer's effort goes on before the writing begins. Like an iceberg, hidden from view, the brainstorming and creative processes are unseen and can take more time than the actual act of putting words on paper ... or, more accurately, on computer screen. That part often seems to come in a flash of inspiration. "Eureka, I've got it," and The Pepsi Generation is born.

Such instances are the exception rather than the rule. The rule is that most writing takes time--lots of time. An article, a brochure, an annual report, a speech, a training program, a Web site, and, certainly, a book is not conceived in a single brainstorming session or written in a matter of hours. Any of them, as well as many other assignments a writer is likely to encounter, may consume weeks, at least, and many months at most.

Of the myriad strengths a writer needs, two of the most important are focus and a long attention span. Focus means total concentration or fixed attention on the project at hand. This definition suggests that you are also very interested in this activity. You are immersed in the subject, to the point that you are almost one with it. It helps if you are one of those people who are incapable of boredom, because you will be asked to write about many things that would put the average person to sleep. If you're focused, you are, by definition, not bored. The trick is to stay focused; that is what is meant by having a long attention span.

The ability to get excited about a subject and stay excited is a rare gift. If you weren't born with this talent, I would strongly advise you to cultivate it. The question is how do you do that? The answer is, with the right attitude. Let's use an article as an example.

There are a number of prescribed steps to putting together a good feature article, no matter what kind of publication it will appear in. They begin with the initial assignment and end with a final, approved manuscript. In between, there is the need to track down sources, conduct interviews and all other varieties of research; sort, absorb, and process the information you have gathered; write a first draft; spell check, revise, proofread, refine, do a final edit, rewrite; and, at last, send it off to the editor.

That's the best-case scenario. The worst-case scenario is when the editor or client wants it shorter, longer, more detailed, or completely different than the way you wrote it. At that point, you may find yourself back at square one, virtually starting from scratch. In either case, it can be a real challenge to keep your interest and enthusiasm from waning or just plain dying. The secret lies in your attitude - the one element over which you have complete control.

Attitude is a conscious choice. You create it, you nurture it, you keep it alive through every step of the process, no matter how long it takes or how frustrated you may become. Here are the attitudes I have cultivated over time about each of the steps in the process.

• Initial assignment - a way to add to my store of knowledge or to learn something completely new

• Tracking down sources - a timed scavenger hunt

• Interviews & research - assembling a complicated puzzle

• Sort, absorb, and process - cramming for an exam (believe it or not, I enjoyed that)

• First draft - a state of "flow," to borrow the words of psychologist and author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

• Revising, refining, rewriting - going for the gold

• Sending it off - satisfaction, confidence, and relief

• Great reviews - sometimes, even better than money

• Not-so-great reviews - gratitude (honest!) for an opportunity to improve the product

• Back to square one - another chance to perfect the process (this is the tough one)

Does it really work? Most of the time, it does. Choosing the most productive attitude at each step of the process keeps me focused for as long as necessary. In a project like an annual report, that could be several months; for a book, it could be well over a year. As I said, it helps to be incapable of boredom.

What Every Author Should Know About Saving Book Files

2011-01-07T14:50:00.000-08:00

It’s easy to get confused and lose files when you’re writing a book, but there is a way to keep track of every thought you have, every draft you write, and every improvement you make.

The first step is to create a file folder called BOOK FILES or the title of your book.
Step two is to create folders (within the BOOK FILES folder) for each chapter and give it a simple name, such as CHAPTER 1 and perhaps a keyword to remind you of the subject.
Finally, inside the chapter folders you will keep your drafts, as you write them.

Imagine you are writing a book on communicating within an organization, and one of the chapters is on meetings. Within your folder called BOOK FILES or COMMUNICATING is a folder called CHAPTER 1: MEETINGS. Within that file folder is a document titled “Meetings,” draft #1, and the date you wrote it. This is how you write and save the document:

Meetings_1_041108.

Now, let’s say you are going to make changes to that document, but you don’t want to lose your original version. Before you write a single word, save it as Meetings_2_051109. Then, make your changes to the new draft. When you are finished, save the latest version. Within your MEETINGS folder your now have two files:

Meetings_1_041108
Meetings_2_051109

If you are doing a lot of rewriting, you may accumulate numerous drafts of each chapter. In the case of ten drafts, for example, your MEETINGS file folder would look like this:

Meetings 1_041108
Meetings 2_051109
Meetings 3_052008
Meetings 4_052508
Meetings 5_062508
Meetings 6_070208
Meetings 7_071108
Meetings 8_071208
Meetings 9_071608
Meetings10_072008

Why bother going to all this trouble? The answer is that you never know when you are going to want to refer to or use something you’ve written weeks or even months ago. If you had simply typed right over your words, they would be gone forever. Don’t imagine you will be able to remember what you wrote because, after 10 drafts of one chapter, believe me, you won’t. When the book is finished and in print, you can throw away your old drafts if you want to. I tend to keep them, however. I simply burn a CD and file the whole book away. “Better safe than sorry” may be a cliché, but it is one to live by when you are an author.

The Two Traits Every Writer Needs

2011-01-07T14:44:00.000-08:00

Curiosity and imagination are two sides of the same coin: One is the unquenchable thirst for knowledge; the other is the process by which we create something entirely new out of that knowledge. It has been said that there is no such thing as a new idea, that everything that exists is already known. If that is true, then curiosity impels us to search for what is known, and imagination sees it in a new and unique form.

It's hard to imagine how or why one might choose to be a writer, especially a freelance writer, without this trait. What would be the incentive, if not to absorb information and reconfigure it in a way that others can enjoy and absorb as well? Without it, this chosen way of life becomes merely a job - a way to earn a living - and for most of us, that's not what it's about.

Curiosity
Curiosity cannot be created or taught when it doesn't exist, but it can be nurtured even when only a tiny spark of it exists. If you've ever begun a sentence with the words, "I wonder ..." or followed the thread of a thought around in your head to see where it would take you, or become lost in a subject other people consider boring, or found yourself asking a million questions of someone you've just met, you've got the spark. Now, all that's necessary is to let it catch fire. Here are some ways to fan the flames:

Don't be satisfied with just enough research or just enough information to complete the assignment. Keep digging, keep analyzing, keep seeking a deeper understanding of the material. Eventually, you'll run out of time, you'll run out of sources, or your sixth sense will tell you that one more fact will be one fact too many. That's when you know you've done all you can do, and it's time to write.

Get involved with your topic. Care about it, make it personal, invest yourself. Believe it or not, this will not compromise your integrity as a writer; it will enhance it. If you care, the message will ring true and the words will come alive; if you don't, the reader will sense - often without knowing why - that something is missing.

Think of everything you learn as a thread in a tapestry. If you stick with it long enough, no matter what kind of writing you do, patterns begin to emerge. You'll find that no idea exists in isolation and that every piece of knowledge is inexplicably linked to every other piece. The more you learn, the more obvious those links will become. New ideas combined with long-forgotten snippets of information give birth to deeper insights, which, in turn, become new threads in the pattern.

Imagination
Tapping into the imagination is not something only novelists, poets, and promotional writers do. It is something every good writer does, consciously or instinctively. Imagination is our secret weapon, our special ability to put an original spin on virtually anything, no matter how tired or hackneyed it may seem. A good writer looks at the assignment, the raw data, the blank page, and sees something no one else sees - a unique perspective, a hidden pattern, the very heart of the matter. Like combining chemical elements, in go bits and pieces of information, impressions, and interpretations; out comes something completely new, a one of a kind.

If curiosity can be nourished, like a tiny plant, is that also true of imagination? Why do some people view the world through a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes, while others see it in black-and-white, straight lines that go from here to there? Can imagination be created out of the raw material of our minds, or is it something one has or doesn't have, like blue eyes?

If we are to believe many of the great writers, imagination is part of our human birthright. If the spark exists, the hidden light is just waiting to shine. What turns an analytical thinker into an imaginative one? Try these suggestions.

Open your mind to other ways of looking at things. If someone else suggests a different perspective, don't dismiss it out of hand. Delve, explore, examine. Turn it over in your mind. Add to it. Add it to the mix of ideas on the table.

Don't be satisfied with your first take on anything. Don't be in a hurry to get on with it and hit the computer. Unless you're on a killer deadline, step back and give it some air. See what else comes up. Walk around it (figuratively), and chances are you'll see it from a different angle.

Don't settle for the way you've always done it. If you usually surf the Web or use the business library, find an expert to interview. If you plunge into writing the minute you finish your research, try giving yourself a day to read and absorb your notes and sleep on it before you sit down to write. If you polish every sentence as you go, try stream-of-consciousness writing. Just changing your habits will stretch the limits of your imagination.

Take time to do nothing. Call it meditation, daydreaming, or kickback time. Carve out some time at least once a week for you. Go to the park, the zoo, the country. Take a walk, a bike ride, or a drive. Let your mind roam wherever it chooses to go. The idea is to slow down the compulsive thinking/doing mind and give it a break. Just imagine what could come out of such an afternoon!

Between the Covers of Your Nonfiction Book

2011-01-07T14:39:00.000-08:00

There is more to a nonfiction book than a catchy cover and table of contents … much more. Wherever you are in the process of writing your book, if the chapters contain your message, everything else you write must attract, inform, clarify, or sell.

FRONT MATTER

Front cover: If the book is a hardback, it will have a book jacket; if it is a soft cover, the cover will contain the same information as a jacket. The front cover contains the title, your name, an illustration, and perhaps an endorsement or quote from a favorable review.

Back cover: The back cover is your billboard. It should include a description of the main features of the book, a category, your photo and a brief bio, the publisher, an ISBN number, a Library of Congress number, a bar code, and the price. Much of this will already exist in your book proposal and can easily be converted to the appropriate language.

FRONT MATTER

Copyright page: This page is usually provided by the publisher, whether that publisher is a conventional one, a print-on-demand, or you, if you self- publish. It contains certain basic information, such as the title, the author’s name, the copyright date, a paragraph explaining copyright rules, the country in which the book is printed, the ISBN number, a Library of Congress number, the publisher and its location, and contact information.

Preface: This is written by the author and explains why and how you wrote the book. It can tell your story in a very personal way, if you wish.

Foreword: This should be written by someone other than the author and is particularly powerful when an expert in the field writes it. If the writer is a person with a recognized name or title, you might want to mention “Foreword by name” on the cover. Sometimes, it is helpful to write the foreword yourself to demonstrate to the expert what you would like to see.

Introduction: Think of the introduction as a practical guide to using the book. It should explain what the book is about, why it was written, and how it should be read, if there is more than one way. If you are expressing a point of view that will enhance the reader’s understanding, include it in the introduction. If the story behind the story is interesting, by all means include that, as well. This is your chance to editorialize and explain your rationale, so take advantage of it.

Acknowledgments: Few of us write our books without help, no matter how well versed we are on the subject matter. There are hundreds of ways in which assistance is given, from people willing to share their expertise and knowledge to editors who turn our rough prose into pearls. Friends or professionals transcribe interview tapes, proofread manuscripts, listen to us read aloud, and encourage us when we feel we have become brain dead. Those who help deserve to be acknowledged, and some of these sections are wonderful to read. That’s how you want yours to be.

THE CHAPTERS

Of course, the bulk of the writing takes place between the front and back matter. By now, you should have mapped out your main headings, which will become your Table of Contents, the key points under each heading, and one-paragraph chapter summaries. The question is how do you get from a paragraph to a chapter? Each key point becomes a subhead of your chapter. A summary is the big picture; the subheads are the way you will organize the material. This is the time to fill in the meat — your research, narrative, quotes from interviewees, resource materials, and graphics. The important thing is to get all of the pertinent information under each subhead. Then, you can refine the writing and build your transitions.

BACK MATTER

Index: When a book is filled with facts or topics a reader might want to find quickly, an index is the fastest way to find them. There are two types of indexes — subject matter and detailed. You can create your indexes in Microsoft Word or hire an indexer to do it for you. The published authors I know strongly recommend that you use an experienced indexer.

Bibliography: If you have read other books and quoted other authors, a bibliography acknowledges these sources. Of course, you should attribute quotes in the copy or with footnotes. In some cases, you will have to secure written permission to use other people’s work and may even be charged a fee. A bibliography also gives readers a list of references to read if they wish to dig more deeply into the subject.

Appendices: Sometimes, you have so much background information or detail that, if you included all of it in the main body of work, you might overwhelm your reader. That’s what appendices are for. They are a good place to put scientific data, charts, reports, and detailed explanations without ruining the flow of your text.

Glossary: This is an optional, alphabetically arranged dictionary of terms peculiar to the subject of the book. Try to define such words in the text.

Epilogue: If you have “one last thought,” this is the place to express it.

Building a book is like building anything else: You begin with the basics, and you add one element at a time. The most important content is in the middle — the chapters. Logically, you should write those first. What goes in the introduction, for example, depends on how the book is organized, as well as several other factors. You can’t write the index until you have finished the book. If this looks overwhelming at the beginning, remember, you don’t have to write the whole book in one sitting, nor should you.

Remember this: Nothing becomes published that hasn’t been written first!

Getting to Know the Giants of Social Media

2011-01-05T18:25:00.000-08:00

By 2012 more than 1 billion people are expected to be online through blogs, social networks or photo/video sharing services. Social media is a great equalizer. Ordinary people are talking to each other and the businesses they patronize about what is important to them. Every day new sites are launched to enable people to broaden their conversations. Still, many stick with the sites they know—the giants of the social networking scene.

MySpace started out as the exclusive domain of young people, and after tying to become a mainstream site, went back to its roots. MySpace was the first social network to make the word “friends” (meaning contacts) part of our everyday language. While MySpace members aren’t as old or sophisticated as Facebook users, they function seamlessly in their own piece of cyber space. If you are an adult who insists on being on MySpace, ask your teenager to help you.

Facebook is big—the biggest—social networking site. Forty percent of its members are over thirty-five. Facebook offers personal profiles, calendars, movie reviews, photos, groups for every conceivable interest, targeted advertising, demographic profiling, and multiple ways to keep in touch. Members use Facebook to keep up with friends and friends of friends. It now also provides “fan pages” for setting up professional and businesses profiles.

LinkedIn is the number one social network for businesspeople and professionals. The site works on the principle of six degrees of separation. Members find and connect to their existing business contacts and then to their contacts’ contacts. Members post resumes, form networks, write recommendations, and keep their contacts updated on changes in their professional lives. When members update their profiles their new information becomes immediately available to everyone in their networks.

Twitter is an innovative, free social network that restricts messages to 140 characters. “Tweets” range from “what I’m doing right this minute” to trends and important issues. More than 100 services have sprung up that mimic Twitter, and there are many sites that augment its services. Followers can tune in to messages from other members and send targeted messages to people they follow by simply putting @ in front of the other person’s Twitter name.

YouTube is the best-known and most popular video-sharing site. It was acquired by Google in 2006 and went mainstream in 2007, appealing to both individuals and businesses. Members upload more than 65,000 videos a day. Most social networks and Websites support video. As a social networking site, YouTube features personal spaces, playlists, friends, favorites, and conversations. To assess its value, think quality over quantity; positive comments mean more than the number of views.

Flickr is right up with Facebook in terms of size. It has 11 million regular members, 30 million monthly unique visitors, and more than 1 billion photos. There are Flickr groups for almost anything you can imagine ... anything. In addition to making it easy to upload photos and other images—with carefully chosen keywords, tags, file names, and image descriptions—Flickr has no trouble attracting search engines. Tags are descriptive labels photographers and viewers can apply to photographs.

These are the big kids on the block, but in each category, there are many other sites that are attracting members and offering an increasing number of features. Biggest is not always best. It pays to explore the less-well-known social media sites to find the right fit.

Journal of a New Web site

2010-12-26T14:04:00.000-08:00

This adventure started when I lost my home page, otherwise known as index.html. It just disappeared. I had no idea where it went, but I knew I had no way to access my Web site. I called my Web site host, who had never failed to save my life in the past but declined to help me this time for less than $50 and hour. I will spare you the details of their new policy or their sudden decision to enforce their old policy.

I called my friend Doreen Hulsey who kept me from total panic. Eventually, I found an old index page on my laptop and was able to recreate it to the most recent version.Then, I realized the rest of my pages were blank. I downloaded them to my local folder feeling quite clever. The problem was they were all Web pages that couldn't be changed in Dreamweaver (my Web design program). This was very bad news.

Doreen is a Web site and software designer, and in a matter of minutes, we agreed that she would design a new Web site for me. Having designed my own, originally—even though I thought it was very complicated—I had no idea what was involved in doing it correctly. I was in for an education.

The good news was I knew what colors I wanted—earth tones—and that there were many pages of my copy floating around out there on the server that could be retrieved. Beyond those two things, I had a lot to learn. Here are some of the elements that had to be decided, rewritten, illustrated, or created from scratch:

Template: This would be used for every other page on the site, so we couldn't go forward until it was complete.
Home page: What elements should it include? How could we create some visual interest that would attract the reader's eye?
Color scheme: Earth tones mean different things to different people. For example, there are 50 shades of brown and caramel is not spelled camel (a typo), or even carmel.
Menus: Should we use buttons, drop down menus, or bars? And what pages would go in the main menu, at the top, or on the bottom?
Content: There was way too much copy and too many pages. What should we keep and what could we pitch?
Movement: This required screens for a Adobe Flash movie, which in turn meant copy, layout, colors, and appropriate images. Flash was as a total mystery to me.
Images: People expect to see something besides words when they surf the Web, which meant we needed a graphic for every single page. I scrambled to find appropriate images or take my own photos. The best image site I found was i23rf.
New stuff: What are my shipping and privacy policies? How should they be worded? What else was I missing? I didn't know those policies should be on a Web site.
Links: Could we connect to my blogs and other Web site? My "links" page was a mess and needed reorganizing and repair.
Timing: Could we unveil the new site by the end of the year? Doreen didn't think so, but I've never seen anyone work so fast.
Search engine optimization (SEO): SEO is part art and part science. I am neither an artist nor a scientist, but people were landing on my pages. The idea was to improve that performance.
Articles: I had a great many on my article page, but they were difficult to navigate. More reorganization took place
Videos: I have 46 videos on YouTube created and owned by Expertvillage.com (which is now called EHow.com). The videos are unrehearsed but fun, and they do explain how to write a nonfiction book. Would it be possible to embed that code into my Web pages?
The store and shopping cart: the store moved to the new template, but the shopping cart was stuck. Since it was originally installed by another consultant, Brett Fullmer of Fullmer Media Group (new company name), I have to track Brett down.

These were the BIG questions. there were countless smaller ones. It seems I will also need "template lessons" so I can maintain my own site, unless I want to hire Doreen for the rest of her life. So, here I sit, eagerly awaiting the unveiling of the new WriteANonfictionBook.com. Believe me, I'll announce it here first.

The Day My Web Site Died

2010-12-02T12:33:00.000-08:00

There are those days that go to hell in a hand basket, and you stare at your computer screen is utter dismay. Usually, it’s a hard drive crash, and while you may just want to lie down and die, you usually calm down and do what you have to do. A comparable event is when you lose your Web site. One minute it’s there; the next, it’s gone. That’s what happened yesterday.

I know it was my fault, though I'm not sure exactly what I did. Failing to undo my own folly, I called Verio, my Web site host, who has never let me down—that is, until yesterday. Every time I have ever called in the past, the genius-tech has solved my problem in the flick of an eyelash. Not yesterday. Instead, he explained that if he went back and retrieved an earlier index page from the server, it would cost me $50/hour. But, even then, he was “not allowed” to check to see if worked.

What happened? Had there been a change of policy since my last call? I asked to speak to a supervisor, who patiently explained that the policy had not changed, only its enforcement.

Before I paid the $50/hour, I called my friend Doreen Hulsey who knows everything about Web sites and DreamWeaver, the program in which my site was designed. Somehow, we managed to find an older page on one of my many backups and reinstate it. Then, of course it had to be brought up to date without losing it again. Doreen looked at my site and tactfully observed that it was overcomplicated and a few other things I am embarrassed to relate, since I designed it to begin with.

The result of this conversation was—or will be—a completely redesigned Web site, done correctly and professionally. I am almost too excited to write this. While Doreen can’t promise it by the New Year, she assures me it will be “live” by my birthday. It’s a long overdue gift I am giving myself!

The other good news? I saved $50.

The Parts of a Nonfiction Book

2010-11-21T13:09:00.000-08:00

When you consider writing a book, your first thought is about the subject matter. In fact, most new authors don’t think much beyond the main content. But the chapters in your book are only one of the parts you must write; and though they are the most important and the most time consuming, they cannot stand alone.

The front cover has the title, your name, an illustration, and perhaps an endorsement or quote from a favorable review. The back cover is your full-page ad. It should include a description of the main features of the book, a category, a brief bio and a photo of the author, the publisher, an ISBN number, a bar code, and the price.

Front Matter

Copyright page. This page is usually provided by the publisher. It contains certain basic information, such as the title, the author’s name, the copyright date, a paragraph explaining copyright rules, the country in which it is printed, the ISBN number, a Library of Congress number, the publisher, its location, and contact information.

Preface. This is written by the author and explains why and how you wrote the book. It can tell your story in a very personal way, if you wish.

Foreword. This should be written by someone other than the author and is particularly powerful when an expert in the field writes it. If the writer is a person with a recognized name or title, you might want to mention “Foreword by name” on the cover.

Introduction. Think of the introduction as a practical guide to using the book. It should explain what the book is about, why it was written, and how it should be read, if there is more than one way. If you are expressing a point of view that will enhance the reader’s understanding, include it in the introduction. This is your chance to explain your rationale.

Acknowledgments. Few of us write our books without help, no matter how well versed we are on the subject matter. There are hundreds of ways in which assistance is given, from people willing to share their expertise and knowledge to editors who turn our rough prose into pearls. Here is the place to thank everyone who contributed to the book in any way.

The Chapters

Of course, the bulk of the writing takes place between the front and back matter. Your main headings become your table of contents; each key point becomes a subhead of your chapter. Under the subheads, is the meat—your research, narrative, quotes from interviewees, resource materials, and graphics. The important thing is to get all the pertinent information under each subhead.

Back Matter

Bibliography. If you have read other books and quoted other authors, a bibliography acknowledges the sources. Of course, you should attribute quotes in the copy or with footnotes. A bibliography also gives readers a list of references to read if they wish to dig more deeply into the subject.

Appendices. Sometimes, you have so much background information or detail that, if you included all of it in the main body of work, you might overwhelm your reader. Appendices are a good place to put scientific data, charts, reports, and detailed explanations without ruining the flow of your text.

Glossary. This is an optional, alphabetically arranged dictionary of terms peculiar to the subject of the book. Try to define such words in the text.

Epilogue. If you have “one last thought,” this is the place to express it.

Index. When a book is filled with facts or topics a reader might want to find quickly, an index is the fastest way to find them. There are two types of indexes—subject matter and detailed. I strongly suggest you hire a professional indexer instead of using the index feature of your word-processing program.

It Takes a Team to Produce a Nonfiction Book

2010-11-15T15:14:00.000-08:00

Very few people can do everything that must be done to take a book from beginning to end. It takes a team of people who will play a role in some aspect of your book. You will not need everyone on this list, of course, but there are a few in the “must have” column. If you are self-publishing, they include an editor, a graphic designer, and a printer. If a traditional publisher or a reputable POD house publishes your book, some of these professionals will be furnished. Here is a list of the most important professional partners.

Administrative assistants or virtual assistants will become your right hand, handling correspondence, permissions, research, bookkeeping, organization, filing, inventory, publicity, and myriad other details.

Attorneys serve several functions, from analyzing contracts to advising you on copyright laws and registering art work.

Graphic designers often can handle both cover design and page layout. Conventional publishers will provide these elements based on input from their marketing departments.

Distributors such as Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Follette, and BWI provide a range of services including electronic ordering systems (EDI), warehousing, fulfillment, shipping, billing, collection, marketing, editorial consultation, and sales.

Editors work at different stages of the project. A developmental editor helps you craft your concept, organize your ideas and material, and keep yourself on track. Copy editors and proofreaders check for grammar, punctuation, and consistency.

Indexers are necessary when your book is technical, scientific, fact-filled, or a textbook. You have two options: your word-processing program or a professional indexer. Hire a professional. A conventional publishing house will provide indexing services when necessary.

Industry experts or readers are professionals who know your subject matter and are willing to give you feedback on how accurately you present this information in your manuscript. Often, they will also provide endorsements that will give your book valuable credibility.

Printers range in quality from quick copy to high-end digital or offset. If your book is published by a conventional or independent publisher, this won’t be your responsibility. If you plan to have more than 1,000 copies printed, choose an offset printer. If you want copies printed as you need them, opt for digital printing.

Publicists save you a lot of legwork by arranging for travel, radio and TV appearances, book signings, interviews, and articles in various publications. Quite often, you will wear the publicist hat. The important point is that you must market your book, usually well before it finds its way into print.

Reviewers are often affiliated with some form of media. They assess the quality of the writing, how well and logically you cover the topic, and how readable your book is. A positive review can be mined in many ways, one of which is to quote the reviewer on the back cover.

Transcribers convert recorded interviews into text. An option that allows you to avoid transcribing is voice-recognition software, which must be trained to recognize your voice. The best for PCs is Dragon Naturally Speaking; for Macs, the latest is Macspeech Dictate.

Wholesalers handle books based on demand. They carry books from most publishers and fill orders as they receive them. Their main service is delivering books quickly; they do not have sales reps. There are several categories of wholesalers, including national, regional, specialized, and library.

95 Ways to Market Your Nonfiction Book

2010-11-15T14:04:00.000-08:00

1.Sell book on Web site and amazon.com.

2. Write articles

a. Have copy edited.

b. Set up article page on Web site.

c. Submit articles to on-line sites.

3. Increase presence on Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin.

4. Maximize presence on Amazon.

a. Post customer reviews on other people’s books.

b. End them with a blurb about your book.

c. Set up a reviewer’s profile.

d. Investigate Amazon Web 2.0 Interactivity.

e. Make friends on Amazon.

f. Sell products on Amazon’s WebStore.

g. Establish yourself as a true author presence.

5. Blogging

a. Visit blog directories and check out the top-ranked blogs.

b. Check out blogs on writing.

c. Comment; let the blogger know you have done so.

d. Answer questions you have been asked in the past.

e. Give brief reviews and recommend competitive titles on your subject or books you are reading now.

6. Internet marketing

a. Build list of contacts, and keep in touch with them.

b. Keep adding to Web site.

c. Make contact information obvious.

d. Include name, e-mail address, and phone number.

e. Make sure content is high quality and provides a benefit to readers.

f. Inform, educate, inspire, motivate.

g. Include lots of ways to do things associated with topic.

h. Don’t lecture or proselytize.

i. Be generous. Give stuff away, particularly information.

j. Demonstrate expertise.

k. Show, don’t tell, that you know your subject.

l. Identify your target market; if you have more than one, you need more than one Web site. Buy several domain names.

m. Hire a Web-marketing consultant.

n. Research and register with directories and search engines.

o. Create new links to your Web site by link building.

p. Use different delivery mechanisms for different audiences—blog, newsletter, e-zine, Podcasts.

q. Stay active in Twitter, Yahoo, Gather, Facebook, LinkedIn

r. Create name recognition by submitting articles on your subject to multiple article sites.

s. Be clear but subtle about having something to sell.

t. Make it easy for people to buy and pay for your book.

u. Set up a store through shopsite.com or some other shopping cart service; sign up for PayPal or get a merchant’s account.

v. Set up a media page. Include a press release that announces your book in a copyable format (Word or a text file), links to previous interviews in print and on-line.

6. Send Advance Readers Copies (uncorrected galley proofs) stamped “reader’s copy” to reviewers at trade magazines within the book industry.

7. See Literary Market Place in the reference room for magazine and newspaper book reviewers, book review syndicates, columnists, radio and television stations, book clubs.

8. Advertise in inexpensive newsletters and Writers’ Digest and The Writer.

9. Bookstores

a. Compile a list of local bookstores and visit them, book in hand.

b. Offer to do a workshop, a presentation, or a signing.

c. Help with promotion of the event,

d. Cooperate with the community relations person in any way you can.

10. Book clubs: Go to each Web site, and download guidelines for submission.

11. Elevator speech: be able to tell someone what your book is about between floors in an elevator: “My book is about (main point) in order to help the reader (main benefit).”

12. Articles

a. Make a list of print and Web publications that address writing.

b. Research writers’ guidelines.

c. Query the editors about writing free articles.

d. Learn what the editor is looking for to address the publication’s reader.

e. Use keywords so it will be found. Link to the appropriate page on your Web site.

13. Direct marketing

a. Consider hiring a knowledgeable professional to help you.

b. Develop a plan what you want to achieve, your target audience, the list, what you will offer, and designer; establish criteria for your target audience.

c. Build or buy a list of people who meet those criteria.

d. If possible, call those listed to determine if list is up to date.

e. Keep culling list; when a piece of mail comes back, remove the address from the list.

f. Track and measure results.

g. If necessary, mail to the same list several times.

h. Ask yourself: (1) what is the average order you will receive? (2) What will it cost you to mail each piece? (3) Can you generate enough money to pay for your mailing? (4) Will you make a profit? If the answers to questions (3) and (4) are no, rethink this as a method of reaching customers.

15. Networking

a. Join appropriate associations for self-publishers, marketers, professional speakers, and those that cater to people interested in your topic.

b. Get involved in the organization, talk about your book.

c. Network on-line.

16. Nontraditional sales

a. Think beyond the bookstore. Other places are called “nontraditional sales.”

b. Consider spin-off products.

c. Sell not just your book, but your message as well.

d. Send free books as review copies, three-dimensional business cards, gifts, or marketing materials to associations, organizations, meetings of any kind, and libraries.

e. Submit book for inclusion in catalogs.

f. Attend book fairs and special events (note prior caution).

g. Sell books in the back of the room when you give presentations or workshops.

17. Public relations

a. Prepare a professional-looking press kit. Paste the cover of book on the front of the pocket folder. Inside, put a press release, an information sheet about your book, an author’s bio and photo, talking points to be used in interviews, and contact and ordering information.

b. Give away premiums that display book’s cover.

c. Create your own audience.

18. Speaking engagements

a. Position yourself as an expert.

b. Line up speaking engagements at no charge.

19. Specialty retailers

a. Ask yourself how you will sell this kind of book? Where?

b. Research & visit stores and sites that sell special-interest books and related products.

c. Bring your own point-of-purchase displays.

20. Last thoughts

a. Go where the audience is. Network.

b. Be a walking/talking commercial for your book.

c. Remember, life is a marketing call.

Four Critical Factors in Writing a Nonfiction Book

2010-11-14T09:48:00.000-08:00

A warm welcome to guest blogger, Joan Hoffman, EdD, author of Ready, Set, Counsel A Practical Guide to Being a School Counselor In the Real World. Here are Joan's recommendations for what it takes to produce a finished manuscript for a nonfiction book.

As I thought about writing a book, I realized there are four critical factors that need to come together in order to get to a finished product. Missing any piece will make your writing more challenging and may keep you from completing your book. The first is passion—your strong emotional tie to your topic, the belief in your knowledge base and ability to write on the topic.

The second is vision, which lets you refine and focus your topic to give you a clearer picture of exactly what you want to write. Through refining and focusing, you will be able to develop your elevator sentence—a short statement about your book, the clear picture of what you want your book to be. As people ask you what your book is about, you only have a short time before they glaze over or start yawning because you are going on too long. Just because you find your topic fascinating doesn’t mean others necessarily agree. If people want to know more, they will ask.

The third factor is tenacity. You need the energy and determination to complete your project. I found I had to cope with frustration and even stopped writing for a while. My passion reasserted itself and brought me back to continue on my book-writing journey. Without this piece I might never have completed my book.

Of course, you need to dedicate yourself to the book; it won’t write itself. I found it helpful to write down short-term goals. When you write the goal, it becomes a commitment, unlike thinking about a time line. I also found it helpful to give myself small rewards along the way. It might have been a manicure, a special night out, or even a warm bath. Do whatever works for you as a motivator.

Since I had passion, a clearly defined vision, and tenacity, all I needed was a plan. I thought I had a plan by outlining, re-outlining, and writing my chapters. However, as I took Bobbi’s class, I discovered that I had much left to do and, in fact, had made this harder than it needed to be.

There was the necessary research to see if there was even a market for my book. How disappointing it would have been if I had spent all that time writing only to find out there was already a glut on the market. Thankfully, there was not. Chapter summaries would have clearly defined my walk through my book, instead of writing, rewriting, and merging topics. I encourage you to follow the path defined by Bobbi’s book. It will certainly shorten your time to get to completion.

I can’t begin to tell you how rewarding it is to complete the query letter, proposal, and book. It’s so wonderful to actually see the finished product and know that it happened because of your dedication, blood, sweat, and tears. No one else could write your book. It is uniquely you! Success!!

Planning your nonfiction book

2010-11-05T08:39:00.000-07:00

As you know, if you have been reading The Writing Life, I teach and coach six steps that take a nonfiction book from concept to completion. It is a huge topic, with much to cover, and there are always questions. I hope to answer as many of them as I can in the upcoming series of blog posts.

What are the three most important questions an author must answer before he or she starts writing?

What is my book about (in one sentence)? Why one sentence? Because if you can't clearly and succinctly explain what your book is about in a way that anyone will understand, you don't know. If you don't know, you can't write it.
What is my book's purpose? Why are you writing this book? What do you want it to achieve? A book needs a mission, a reason for being. The purpose might be to entertain, to educate, or to inspire. Whatever it is, the mission must include providing a benefit to the reader.
Who is my ideal reader? Think about this. "Everyone" or "every woman" is too broad. if you were having a conversation with your reader, who would that person be? To whom are you delivering the benefit you promise?

How do I know if my idea for a book is viable?

If you write a book proposal for an agent or publisher, your job is to prove that your book will sell. You do that by answering these ten questions (three of them may look familiar):

Why are you writing this book?
What is your book about?
How are you qualified to write this book?
Why is this an appropriate and timely topic?
Who are your target readers?
How will they benefit?
How will you reach them?
How big is the market? How many potential readers are there?
What else is out there on this subject? How is this book unique/special/important?
How will you help to promote your book?

Why do I need a proposal if I’m self-publishing my book?

A proposal is your plan. if you can answer the ten questions above, you have the basis for your proposal. If you don't intend to pursue traditional publishing, this may be all you need. Proposals may be organized in various ways, but they must address the basics. When you reread your answers you will know if your book is viable. You will also use all of this information as you write and promote your book.

"Graduate School"

2010-11-02T17:59:00.000-07:00

For the second time since I have been teaching my class in "Writing, Publishing & Promoting Your Nonfiction Book," I have offered a follow-up class, euphemistically referred to as graduate school. The idea is that anyone who has ever taken the first class and is still somewhere in the process of writing a book can sign up for the second one. In the interest of full disclosure, I must add that these classes are offered by the St. Louis Community College as continuing education—in other words, they are noncredit.

That makes no difference to me; I teach both of them as if students were, indeed, receiving college credits toward a degree. Each class is two hours a week for six weeks. Despite the number of years I have been teaching, I write new lesson plans, bring in new outside speakers, and gear the course to the new people who take it. Therefore, it is a different course every semester.

To my knowledge, the community college has never offered anything like this before. It is not so much a class as a workshop or authors' support group. I try to get everyone on the same page on the first night by asking what I consider the four fundamental questions:

What is your book about?
What is your book's purpose?
Who is your ideal reader?
Where do you want to be by the last week of class?

I set a maximum of twelve students because I try to do a lot of individual coaching and editing. This time, eleven people signed up, eight from the last class and three from previous classes. On the first night, we had a great speaker who had taken both parts of the class while she was working on her book. She was informative, inspirational, and very funny.

After telling everyone what she did wrong and what she did right, she pulled out a letter she had received that day. It was from an literary agent to whom she had sent a dynamite query letter. The agent wrote that she "would be honored" to see the complete book proposal.

The class burst into spontaneous applause.