Most adults hope to write a book. Why
not do so before it is too late? The
author, a retired scientist who has published over 100 articles and has
authored, co-authored, or edited a half-dozen books, tells the would-be author how to plan, prepare, publish, promote, and
reap the pay-offs from writing a book, fiction or non-fiction.
Plan: determine your goals. Why are you writing? For
self-satisfaction? For family, friends, and acquaintances? For the mass market?
Your choice will influence how you go about publishing: merely printing,
self-publishing, or using an indie, subsidy, or traditional publishing house.
Writing for a large audience requires thinking about demographics: who is your
ideal reader? Age, gender, location, race, ethnicity, income, politics,
ethnicity, marital status…all count.
Prepare: book writing tips are
given, from a constellation of authors. Nonfiction,
approximately the truth, requires a degree of research that fiction, not necessarily the truth,
will not, although historical fiction will need to take place in a real time
and place. Your nonfiction title
needs to be short, descriptive, possibly a bit puzzling, clarified by your
subtitle. Your fiction title needs
to evoke curiosity while signaling the genre of the book, as readers rarely buy
books in genres other than their favorites. More advice is given on title, cover, dedication, table of contents,
acknowledgment, foreword, and preface…what’s up front counts. Find time and
space, then sit, think, write, perhaps “open a vein.” Heed the guidelines from Elements of Style. Dr. Cooper describes
the basics of the most popular types of nonfiction and fiction books.
Publish: computer
manuscript preparation and print-on-demand technology have revolutionized
publishing. A million new titles per year can reach the marketplace, ten times
what was typical a decade or so ago. Authors can print their own books, work
with an independent (“indie”) publisher, pay a subsidy or “vanity” press, or
try to get published by a traditional publishing house, usually requiring fame
or celebrity. Dr. Cooper tells of his use of Outskirts Press, a subsidy
publisher that allows him editorial control, retention of all rights, speed to
market, and electronic and print formats.
Promote: Once
you’ve written your book, you want it read. To get beyond family, friends, and acquaintances, you need to have it
known and to generate interest in it. Publicity is free advertising. An
extensive chapter marshals the advice from a host of experts on getting maximum
publicity for your book and for becoming yourself known, liked, and trusted,
crucial if you are to translate book sales into other pay-offs. Traditional
advertising as well as social media methods of free and paid notice are
covered. If lucky, your book, and you,
will go viral.
Pay-off: The
author’s first book, Ting and I: A Memoir
of Love, Courage, and Devotion, was written largely for family and friends,
but went beyond that circle due to favorable publicity, with its themes of the
power of love, the importance of marriage, and the value of life, even if
severely disabled. It thanked many who had helped them. It opened up a writing
and coaching business for him. Often books bring their authors benefits that
dwarf royalties from book sales. A book
can be “the best business card in the world.”
Write Your Book with Me combines
a lighthearted, encouraging approach with insights derived from this author's experience
and the wisdom of experts.
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Published in December 2015 by Outskirts Press, available from them and amazon.com. bn.com, and other online booksellers. Free Kindle ebook copy now available at writeyourbookwithme.com. Comments welcomed. You will not be put on mailing list unless you request it.
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