In this free email course, I'll tell
you everything I know about improving
your writing, publishing it electronically
and in print, and promoting it after the
sale.
Two questions you should ask:
(1) What will it cost me?
(2) What does this Michael LaRocca guy
know about it?
Answer #1 -- It won't cost you a thing.
The single most important bit of advice
I can give you, and I say it often, is
don't pay for publication.
My successes have come from investing
time. Some of it was well spent, but most
of it was wasted. It costs me nothing
to share what I've learned. It costs you
nothing to read it except some of your
time.
Answer #2 -- "Michael LaRocca has been
researching the publishing field for over
ten years."
This quote, from an ezine (electronic
newsletter) called Authors Wordsmith,
was a kind way of saying I've received
a lot of rejections. Also, my "research"
required 20 years.
But in my "breakout" year (2000), I finished
writing four books and scheduled them
all for publication in 2001. Then I spent
almost a year as an editor and Author
Development Specialist for one of my publishers.
After my first book was published, both
my publishers closed. Two weeks and three
publishers later, I was back on track.
All four books were republished, and a
fifth will be released in 2004. Written
in 2003, no rejections.
See how much faster it was the second
time around? That's because I learned
a lot.
2004 EPPIE Award finalist. 2002 EPPIE
Award finalist. Listed by Writers Digest
as one of The Best 101 Websites For Writers
in 2001 and 2002. Sime-Gen Readers Choice
Awards for Favorite Author (Nonfiction
& Writing) and Favorite Book (Nonfiction
& Writing). 1982 Who's Who In American
Writing.
Excuse me for bragging, but it beats
having you think I'm unqualified.
Also, I found more editing jobs. That's
what I do when I'm not writing, doing
legal transcription, or teaching English
in China (my new home). But the thing
is, if I'd become an editor before learning
how to write, I'd have stunk.
I'll tell you what's missing from this
course. What to write about, where I get
my ideas from, stuff like that. Maybe
I don't answer this question because I
think you should do it your way, not mine.
Or maybe because I don't know how I do
it. Or maybe both.
Once you've done your writing bit, this
course will help you with all the other
stuff involved in being a writer. Writing
involves wearing at least four different
hats. Writer, editor, publication seeker,
post-sale self-promoter.
Here's what I can tell you about my writing.
Sometimes a story idea just comes to
me out of nowhere and refuses to leave
me alone until I write it. So, I do.
And, whenever I read a book that really
fires me up, I find myself thinking, "I
wish I could write like that." So, I just
keep trying. I'll never write the best,
but I'll always write my best. And get
better every time. That's the "secret"
of the writing "business," same as any
other business. Always deliver the goods.
I read voraciously, a habit I recommend
to any author who doesn't already have
it. You'll subconsciously pick up on what
does and doesn't work. Characterization,
dialogue, pacing, plot, story, setting,
description, etc. But more importantly,
someone who doesn't enjoy reading will
never write something that someone else
will enjoy reading.
I don't write "for the market." I know
I can't, so I just write for me and then
try to find readers who like what I like.
I'm not trying to whip up the next bestseller
and get rich. Not that I'd complain. Nope,
I have to write what's in my heart, then
go find a market later. It makes marketing
a challenge at times, but I wouldn't have
it any other way.
When you write, be a dreamer. Go nuts.
Know that you're writing pure gold. That
fire is why we write.
An author who I truly admire, Kurt Vonnegut,
sweats out each individual sentence. He
writes it, rewrites it, and doesn't leave
it alone until it's perfect. Then when
he's done, he's done.
I doubt most of write like that. I don't.
I let it fly as fast as my fingers can
move across the paper or keyboard, rushing
to capture my ideas before they get away.
Later, I change and shuffle and slice.
James Michener claims that he writes
the last sentence first, then has his
goal before him as he writes his way to
it.
Then there's me. No outline whatsoever.
I create characters and conflict, spending
days and weeks on that task, until the
first chapter really leaves me wondering
"How will this end?" Then my characters
take over, and I'm as surprised as the
reader when I finish my story.
Some authors set aside a certain number
of hours every day for writing, or a certain
number of words. In short, a writing schedule.
Then there's me. No writing for three
or six months, then a flurry of activity
where I forget to eat, sleep, bathe, change
the cat's litter... I'm a walking stereotype.
To assuage the guilt, I tell myself that
my unconscious is hard at work. As Hemingway
would say, long periods of thinking and
short periods of writing.
I've shown you the extremes in writing
styles. I think most authors fall in the
middle somewhere. But my point is, find
out what works for you. You can read about
how other writers do it, and if that works
for you, great. But in the end, find your
own way. That's what writers do.
Just don't do it halfway.
If you're doing what I do, writing a
story that entertains and moves you, then
you will find readers who share your tastes.
For some of us that means a niche market
and for others it means regular appearances
on the bestseller list.
Writing is a calling, but publishing
is a business. Remember that AFTER you've
written your manuscript. Not during.
I've told you how I write. For me.
The next step is self-editing. Fixing
all the mistakes I made, that I can identify,
in my rush to write it before my Muse
took a holiday. Several rewrites. Running
through it repeatedly with a fine-toothed
comb.
Then what?
There are stories that get rejected because
the potential publisher hates them, but
far more are shot down for other reasons.
Stilted dialogue. Boring descriptions.
Weak characters. Underdeveloped story.
Unbelievable or inconsistent plot. Sloppy
writing.
That's what you have to fix.
After my fifteen-year hiatus from writing,
I started by using Free Online Creative
Writing Workshops. What I needed most
was input from strangers. After all, once
you're published, your readers will be
strangers. Every publisher you submit
to will be a stranger. What will they
think? I was far too close to my writing
to answer that.
Whenever I got some advice, I considered
it. Some I just threw out as wrong, or
because I couldn't make the changes without
abandoning part of what made the story
special to me. Some I embraced. But the
point is, I decided. It was my writing.
After a time, I didn't feel the need
for the workshops anymore. I'm fortunate
enough to have a wife whose advice I will
always treasure, and after a while that
was all I needed. But early on, it would've
been unfair to ask her to read my drivel.
(Not that I didn't anyway.)
I don't know how far along you are in
your writing, but if you've never used
a workshop, I keep a list of them at http://freereads.topcities.com/creativewritingonline.html.
Your goal when you self-edit is to get
your book as close to "ready to read"
as you possibly can. You want your editor
to find what you overlooked, not what
you didn't know about.
To that end, I offer two resources.
http://freereads.topcities.com/usefullinksforauthors.html
contains links to online quotations, grammar
and style guides, dictionaries, encyclopedias,
thesauruses, scam warnings, writer groups,
copyright stuff, etc.
http://freereads.topcities.com/commonwritingmistakes.html
contains a list of the most common mistakes
I've seen in my years as an editor. I
still reread it from time to time just
so I don't forget.
Your story is your story. You write it
from your heart, and when it looks like
something you'd enjoy reading, you set
out to find a publisher who shares your
tastes. What you don't want is for that
first reader to lose sight of what makes
your story special because you've bogged
it down with silly mistakes.
Authors don't pay to be published. They
are paid for publication. Always. It's
just that simple. And later, I'll tell
you where to get some free editing.
But there's a limit to how much editing
you can get without paying for it. Do
you need more than that? I don't know
because I've never seen your writing.
But if you evaluate it honestly, I Think
you'll know the answer.
As an editor, I've worked with some authors
who simply couldn't self-edit. A non-native
English speaker, a guy who slept through
English class, whatever. To them, maybe
paying for editing was an option. This
isn't paying for publication. This is
paying for a service, training. Just like
paying to take a Creative Writing class
at the local community college.
By the way, I don't believe creativity
can be taught. Writing, certainly. I took
my Creative Writing class in high school,
free, and treasure it. But I already had
the creativity, or else it would've been
a waste of the teacher's time and mine.
If you hire an editor worthy of the name,
you should learn from that editor how
to self-edit in the future. In my case
it took two tries, because the first editor
was a rip-off artist charging over ten
times market value for incomplete advice.
That editor, incidentally, is named Edit
Ink, and they're listed on many of the
"scam warning" sites mentioned at Useful
Links For Authors. They took kickbacks
from every fake agent who sent them a
client. (I'll talk about fake agents later.)
If you choose to hire an editor, check
price and reputation. And consider that
you might never make enough selling your
books to get back what you pay that editor.
Do you care? That's your decision.
The first, most important step on the
road to publication is to make your writing
the best it can be.
** PUBLICATION **
My goal is to be published in both mediums,
ebook and print. There are some readers
who prefer ebooks, and some who prefer
print books. The latter group is much
larger, but those publishers are harder
to sell your writing to. I want both,
because I want all the readers I can get.
Thus, I advocate something of a stepping-stone
approach. Publish electronically with
a quality place, enjoy the benefits of
free editing and almost instant gratification
regarding publishing time.
Later, if you think you can sell your
book to a traditional print publisher,
you have a professionally edited manuscript
to submit.
Before you epublish, check the contract
to be sure you can publish the edited
work in print later.
If you know your book just plain won't
ever make it into traditional print, print-on-demand
(POD) is an option. Some of my books fall
into this category. The best epublishers
will simultaneously publish your work
electronically and in POD format, at no
cost to you.
A lot of authors swear by self-publication,
but the prospect just plain scares me.
All that promo, all that self-editing,
maybe driving around the countryside with
a back seat full of books. I'm a writer,
not a salesman. But, maybe you're different.
I self-published once, in the pre-POD
days. Mom handled the sales. I had fun
and broke even. With POD, at least it's
cheaper to self-publish than it was in
1989.
If you're flying solo, POD can range
anywhere from US$99 to over $1000. Don't
pay the higher price! Price shop. Also,
remember that POD places publish any author
who pays, and do no marketing.
Print Publishing vs Electronic Publishing
http://freereads.topcities.com/printpublishing_electronicpublishing.html
This site provides a comparison of the
two mediums. Each has plusses and minuses.
Even if you already know what epublishing
is, take a look.
Electronic Publishers
http://freereads.topcities.com/onlinefictionbooks.html
A list of the ones I believe are reputable
and my criteria for selecting them. Plus,
a link to award-winning author Piers Anthony's
totally excellent in-depth analysis of
many more epublishers than I'll ever list.
How To Break Into Print Publishing
http://freereads.topcities.com/printpublishing.html
If you're at the beginning of my stepping-stone
approach, seeking an epublisher, you'll
probably just want to bookmark this one
for a year or two. That's fine, because
it's not going anywhere. I plan to use
it myself in a year or two. If, on the
other hand, you're ready for traditional
print, use it now and I wish you success!
Print-On-Demand Publishing
http://freereads.topcities.com/printondemand.html
What is it? Should you use it? If so,
how? What to beware of if you do.
** PROMOTING YOUR PUBLISHED WRITING **
It doesn't matter how you publish your
book. Self-published, epublished, POD,
or traditional print publishing from an
absolute powerhouse. Marketing falls largely
on you, and the same things always work.
Book signings, interviews in the local
newspapers and on radio.
Start with http://www.kidon.com/media-link/index.shtml.
It will allow you to look up all the local
media outlets in your area that have websites.
If you write to them all, you're a spammer.
Plus, it'll take ages. Look for the ones
with a legitimate interest and fire away.
If you find a stale URL, and I think
you will, look for the name of that media
outlet at some place like Google. Spend
some time looking for the right press
contacts, spend some time writing your
press release, and do what you can.
Most of these sites list email, snail
mail, and phone calls. Since I live in
China, I've only used email.
Book reviews, author interviews, book
listing sites, and book contests are something
we can all do, regardless of where we
live. Again, I'm going to give you some
web pages to visit. Pages where I keep
my resources, so I don't lose them. Some
of the sites I mention do ebooks, and
some do not. The POD option can help e-authors
here, but balance cost vs. likelihood
of gaining enough readers to offset that.
Some are ezines and some are websites.
Some are printed newsletters, some are
printed magazines, and some are newspapers.
This is just a starting point. If you
visit them all, and you have time for
more promotion, you can find many more.
Book Reviewers, Author Interviews, Book
Listing Sites http://freereads.topcities.com/bookreview.html
Book Contests http://freereads.topcities.com/bookcontests.html
Okay, let's get back to my overseas angle.
Aside from two radio interviews and a
seminar in Hong Kong, and some emailed
press releases to the LOCAL media back
in the US which may or may not have succeeded
in anything, my marketing has come from
the Internet.
I have a website. I have a newsletter.
I'm giving away a free ebook, the essence
of which you're reading now. You found
me somehow, right?
Here's the type of message I receive
often in email. To be more precise, in
spam.
If a million people see your ad, and
you get 1% of them, that's 10,000 readers
and therefore $15,000 profit and you only
paid $1000 for those million addresses.
NO!! It doesn't work that way. Need I
use the words dot-com bust?
My website is free. My newsletter is
free. I don't buy mailing lists, I don't
harvest email addresses, and I don't spam.
I want interested traffic, not just sheer
numbers.
Do you think the Phoenicians tried to
sell sails to people a thousand miles
from the water?
Internet marketing isn't a replacement
for the methods mentioned above, but a
complement to them. And by using it, I
got you here.
Your goal in marketing is this. There
are certainly people in the world who
like what you like. And since you like
your book, they probably will too.
But you have to find those readers and
make them interested, without spamming
them and without just "playing the numbers
game."
If you're an e-author, let me state the
obvious. Nobody buys ebooks who doesn't
have Internet access. Do they? So you
definitely need a website.
Traditional print authors need websites
too. Even blockbuster authors like J.R.
Rowling and Stephen King, who I doubt
could garner any more name recognition,
have websites. So does every long-established
inescapable monstro-business like McDonalds
and Coke.
Okay, those folks pay web designers.
I'm not doing that. I can't generate those
kinds of sales figures. And yes, I've
formerly been employed as an HTML programmer.
But you can write your own website without
even learning HTML if you want. It's no
harder than writing a manuscript with
a word processor.
It won't be super-flashy like the big
boys, but it'll communicate the information.
Remember, you can communicate. You're
an author! And that's what keeps people
coming back to a website after the thrill
of the flash wears off. Information. Content.
Your specialty.
I consider my website and my newsletter
to be successful, and I've created a free
email course to analyze how they got that
way. Yes, there are legitimate ways to
bring traffic to your website and your
newsletter. Not massive numbers overnight,
but slow steady growth over the long term.
** CLOSING THOUGHTS **
We've been talking about soft sell.
Now, at the end of my free workshop,
I'll tell you about 2 URLs that I think
will help you and one that won't. You
can decide if any are worth a visit.
After that, I'll get back to the lesson.
Books OnLine Directory
http://freereads.topcities.com/
You've been to parts of it already and
seen that it delivers something you're
looking for. (I hope.) Don't forget to
go back from time to time.
Mad About Books
http://freereads.topcities.com/archive.html
My free weekly email newsletter will keep
you up-to-date on the latest info as I
find it. Plus, it has a certain goofy
charm that the website lacks.
Both URLs mention my books, but in the
background. I hope you'll look one day
out of curiosity or because you really
like my generous nature, but it's not
mandatory. Soft sell.
From Watha, NC, USA to Shaoxing, Zhejiang,
China
http://michaeljan.topcities.com
This site doesn't mention writing at all.
I wrote it for my students. I teach English
in China, and this is where I tell all
about it. Along with a hefty helping of
personal history and photos. How I got
here, how I quit a job via email to marry
a lovely Australian, dog and cat photos,
stuff like that. Just for fun. It won't
help you a bit.
Now let's get back to your writing. That's
why you're here.
Here's something you've heard before.
When your manuscript is rejected -- and
it will be -- remember that you aren't
being rejected. Your manuscript is.
One reader took me to task for that statement,
claiming he'd never been rejected in his
life. I'm very happy for him. But why,
if I may be so bold as to ask, would he
need advice on How To Get Published? I'd
rather he write some advice so I can hang
up my "helper guy" hat and learn from
a master.
But I digress. You aren't being rejected,
I was saying. Your manuscript is.
Did you ever hang up the phone on a telemarketer,
delete spam, or close the door in the
face of a salesman? Of course, and yet
that salesman just moves on to the next
potential customer. He knows you're rejecting
his product, not him.
Okay, in my case I'm rejecting both,
but I'd never do that to an author. Neither
will a publisher or an agent. All authors
tell other authors not to take rejection
personally, and yet we all do. Consider
it a target to shoot for, then. Just keep
submitting, and just keep writing.
The best way to cope with waiting times
is to "submit and forget," writing or
editing other stuff while the time passes.
And finally, feel free to send an e-mail
to me anytime. michaellarocca@yawweb.org.
I'll gladly share what I know with you,
and it won't cost you a cent.
I would wish you luck in your publishing
endeavors, but I know there's no luck
involved. It's all skill and diligence.
Congratulations on completing the course!
No ceremonies, no degrees, and no diplomas.
But on the bright side, no student loan
to repay.
Best regards,
Michael LaRocca http://freereads.topcities.com/archive.html
| About The Author
Michael was born in North Carolina,
USA. He teaches English at a university
in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province,
China. Five of his books were published
in 2002, and another is scheduled
for publication in 2004. One of
his novels is an EPPIE 2004 finalist
in the Mainstream category. One
of his novels was an EPPIE 2002
finalist in the Thriller category.
He's also won two Sime~Gen Readers
Choice Awards for nonfiction. He's
proud of the fact that he rarely
writes in the same genre twice.
He's listed in the 1982 Who's Who
In American Writing, but that impresses
him even less than it impresses
you. Michael has worked as an editor
for the past thirteen years. For
ten years he was responsible for
all the tech manuals and sales literature
produced by an R&D firm. He also
wrote their website. Then he moved
to China in 1999 and began editing
and reviewing fiction for several
U.S. publishers via the Internet.
He has been involved with the publication
of almost 200 novels. He also works
as a legal transcriptionist for
a Hong Kong firm. When he should
be squeezing writing into his schedule,
he is usually enjoying the company
of his wife and their cat instead,
or sweating through Chinese lessons.
In July he finished obtaining his
TEFL qualification, so maybe now
he'll find time to write. For more
information about Michael and his
books, visit his website at http://freereads.topcities.com
which was listed in Writers Digest's
The 101 Best Websites For Writers
in 2001 and 2002. His email address
is michaellarocca@yawweb.org
|
This article was posted on May 05,
2004
