Monday, October 21, 2013

How to Write a Good Book in 30 Days VIA @jfbookman

 

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by Nina Amir (@NinaAmir)

You may not know this but Nina—whose last post here was How to Test Market Your Book Idea with a Blog—is also the founder of National Nonfiction Writing Month, which brings the opportunity of writing a book in 30 days to nonfiction writers at the same time each year that millions of aspiring fiction writers are engaged in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). It's all starting in a few days, so Nina is here to tell you that yes, it's possible to write a book in 30 days. (And don't miss the notice below the post about the promotions that we'll be running for NaNoWriMo on the BookDesignTemplates.com site.) Here's Nina's article.



November hits and the writing world goes crazy. It seems like everyone hustles to produce a book in a month, but is it really possible to create a good manuscript in 30 days?

Actually it is.

Whether you choose to take part in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) or in  National Nonfiction Writing Month (NaNonFiWriMo), also known as the Write Nonfiction in November (WNFIN) Challenge, truth be told, you can produce a good book in a month. However, I contend that doing so takes a good bit of planning prior to the beginning of November as well as some tenacity.

Plotters vs. Seatsers

In the world of fiction, there's a debate between the plotters and seatsers about the best, or maybe the most creative, way to write a book. One group likes to plot out their ideas before they write; the other group likes to write by the seat of their pants—to just let the book unfold as they write.

Nonfiction writers aren't much different. Just as many like to create a solid table of contents or outline for a book prior to writing a word as prefer to sit down and begin writing with no set plan for how they will get from point A to point B; they just know they will get there in the end.

Book Planning

If you want to write a full-length book, or even a short ebook, in 30 days, however, you'll do so more quickly and easily—or lets say efficiently and effectively—if you've done some book planning. By this I mean actually brainstorming your idea or story line, fiction or nonfiction, until you can create a table of contents.

Write Nonfiction in NovemberWith this done, if you flesh out your table of contents further you'll be prepared to write quickly and easily during the course of the month, which means you will, more likely, turn out a good book efficiently and effectively.

I suggest going so far as to produce chapter summaries or chapter-by-chapter synopsis. This helps you know exactly what you will cover in each and every chapter. If you don't want to write these in detail, create a bulleted list of items or scenes you plan to include in each chapter.

Business Planning

To produce a really good book in 30 days, you also must conduct two types of business planning before you begin: market and competition. A good book is directed at a specific market, or group of people you think will be most likely to purchase your book.

First, determine who those people are, and if there are enough of them to make writing your book a viable project. Once you've identified your market, you can decide if you need to re-angle your idea or story to their needs, desires and interests.

If the book is not one they will want to purchase, it won't sell. That means it won't get read. So, how good will your book really be if it doesn't have readers?

Second, to help you produce a good book in 30 days determine if the book you want to write is different from those books already published in the same category. Look at books that directly compete with yours, or that are written about the same subject matter or that tell a very similar story. These books represent your competition.

This takes a bit of time, so set aside a day or two when you can "look inside" books virtually on Amazon or take a trip to your local bookstore. Study these books' table of contents, back cover copy, and first chapter or two.

Do you propose to write a better book? Will your book be unique compared to the others in your category? Be sure you can answer "yes" to these questions. If not, determine how to change your idea, your story, or the structure of your book so it is unique and necessary in both the bookstore category and the market you plan to target.

 

ARTICLE: How to Get Major Companies and Nonprofits to Sponsor The Promotion of Your Book @aBookPublicist

Scott Lorenz President Westwind Communications_180w_255H_19k
"How to Get Major Companies and Nonprofits to Sponsor The Promotion of Your Book”
Hi Sylvia,
Scott Lorenz of Westwind Book Marketing.
What if in less than 18 months, you could accomplish the following without spending one red cent of your own money?
Have a major PR firm representing you and getting you booked on...
* ABC World News
* National Public Radio (NPR)
* Oprah & Friends
* 63 major radio stations 
And then...
What if companies like Coca-Cola, Wachovia, Yahoo, Toyota, Sony Pictures plus other Fortune 500's and leading non-profits offered to...
•           Buy 50,000 copies of your self-published book every year
•           Make it possible for you to get $500,000 in advances for your next book,
•           Pay you fat speaking fees for 65 speaking engagements
•           Give you testimonials from their CEO
•           Send emails to 100,000+ of their customers or volunteers promoting your book or business
•           Feature you on their website and guarantee you'll get at least 5 million impressions.
Is the above a fairy tale?
Can it REALLY happen ... especially if you're not already famous?
It already has for Brendon Burchard, an author and speaker who's figured out some really ingenious ways to land corporate and non-profit promotional sponsorships and use them to fund his marketing efforts.
To discover how you can use his methods to promote your own book, product or business, you're invited to a free telephone seminar on Thursday, October 24th in which you'll hear Brendon interviewed by Steve Harrison:
http://j.mp/1i7jVmZ
In the interest of full disclosure, you should know I'm a compensated affiliate for Steve's programs. Here's just some of what you'll learn on Thursday's call with Steve and Brendon:
•           What to do step-by-step to get a major company to sponsor your national promotional tour and pay for everything!
•           Why the current economic downturn means more big companies and non-profits sponsoring authors, speakers and entrepreneurs -- even if they're not famous.
•           A website you can use to find potential sponsors and promotional partners.
•           The "secret phrase" which gets big nonprofit organizations to endorse your book and promote it to their members.
•           The title of the BEST person to contact with your proposal and why you should never send one done with Microsoft Word.
•           The #1 fatal mistake to avoid making when trying to land a deal a sponsorship deal with a Fortune 500 company.
•           How to write a short proposal that gets huge companies to sponsor you -- even if you're an unknown, self-published author (HINT: there are five elements and he'll reveal all five on the call.)
and more!
Again, to sign up for Thursday’s call go here now: http://j.mp/1i7jVmZ
One more thing Sylvia, if I can ever be of service to you in the promotion of your book please contact me.

Be sure to check out my new article below about Authors: Use Alliteration for Illumination of Your Book Title.

Good luck!


Scott Lorenz
President
Westwind Communications
Office: 734-667-2090
scottlorenz@westwindcos.com
www.book-marketing-expert.com  
Follow me @aBookPublicist

Authors: Use Alliteration for Illumination of Your Book Title
By Scott Lorenz
Westwind Communications

Alliteration is a very useful literary tool. Alliteration is simply defined as the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words and also the repetition of an initial consonant sound, as in "a peck of pickled peppers." Incorporating alliteration into your book title can help people remember your work and it will stick out in people's minds. Here are a few examples of books with alliteration in their titles:
          The Teeny Tiny Teacher by Stephanie Calmenson
          The Magical, Mystical, Marvelous Coat by Catherine Ann Cullen
          Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
          A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
          The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
          Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
          Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
          Love's Labor's Lost by William Shakespeare
          The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
          The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen
          Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
          Caesar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw
          The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
          Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le CarrĂ©
          The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Roger Parker of personalbrandingblog.com explained on his website, "Sometimes the most important lessons in personal branding are the simplest ones, like using alliteration, or repeated “hard” sounds, to make the title of your brand-building book stand out and be easy to remember." You want readers, fans, and your potential audience to enjoy your book's title. Alliteration can help that title roll off the tongue nicely. If your book's title is memorable and fun or easy to say, people will talk about it. The alliteration will stand out in conversation or in the review section of a website.
According to Mike Ball, author of 'Banjos, Boats and Butt Dialing', alliteration can be a very effective  tool for a humorist. Ball explains, "I rarely use it for serious subjects but judiciously used, alliteration is an author's best friend. Since humor is all about timing, alliteration forces the reader to participate in the timing you are trying to set up. That's why my book title 'Banjos, Boats and Butt Dialing' gets people to laugh before they crack the cover."
As J.R.R. Tolkien observed, alliteration "depends not on letters but on sounds." Thus the phrase know-nothing is alliterative, but climate change is not."
Domey Malasarn from the website "The Literary Lab" feels that alliteration can belong in titles as well as within your book. "I have used it on occasion myself in places where I thought it was helpful. For example, if I had a sentence like 'Alfred was furious.' I might revise it to "Alfred was angry." because to me it pairs the subject of the sentence with his emotion a little more powerfully."
Puja Lalwani of buzzle.com explains, "The importance of alliteration should not be undermined as just another literary device that is beyond comprehension. It is highly useful and most invaluable, whether just to drive a point home, make for a fun read, or as a marketing tool that will leave your product etched in the mind of the consumer."
On the website, helium.com, Stella McIntyre perfectly outlines the benefits of using alliteration across various mediums. "Although most commonly used in literature, most particularly poetry, alliteration can also be found in non-fiction writing: leaflets, newspaper headlines, advertising and merchandizing. Its effect is twofold. Firstly it draws attention to and emphasizes a phrase and secondly, it can create connotations that significantly add to the understanding and enjoyment of a writer's meaning."
The Bottom Line: Alliteration in book titles will help people remember your book title because it will help your work stand out and engage your reader before they even open your book.

About Book Publicist Scott Lorenz
Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it's their first book or their 15th book. He's handled publicity for books by CEOs, CIA Officers, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Woman's World, & Howard Stern to name a few.
Learn more about Westwind Communications’ book marketing approach at http://www.book-marketing-expert.com or contact Lorenz at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 734-667-2090. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist

Again, to sign up for Thursday’s call go here now:
http://j.mp/1i7jVmZ

Monday, October 14, 2013

Rochester Writer Events &News via @talktravel #michlit

Writer Events and News
 
The Freelance Marketplace Writers' Groupmeets Tuesday, October 15, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. at the Rochester Hills Barnes & Noble Bookstore to discuss the Business of Writing. Our topic this month will be networking with other writers. We meet monthly (except in December) on the third Tuesday of the month. It's free and open to new, working and published writers, photographers and illustrators.
 
Detroit Working Writers hosts CindyLa Ferle's two-hour workshop, "Writing the Stories of Your Life," on November 9 at the Troy Community Center from 2:00 p.m - 4:00 p.m. New and experienced writers are welcome at the workshop. $25 registration fee. For more information visit the Detroit Working Writers web site.
 
Michigan Press WomenPresents "How to build your best-selling book" on November 16, 2013 at the Michigan Library and Historical Center in Lansing from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. $60 registration fee. Visit www.MichiganPressWomen.org for more information.
 
The second annual Rochester Writers Writing Contestwill open on Tuesday, October 15, 2013 with categories in Fiction, Poetry and First Page. Visit www.RochesterWriters.comto enter starting on Tuesday.
 
Michael Dwyer
Freelance Content Provider
248-651-6869
 
Read My Weekly Column:  www.RochesterMedia.com                            
Facebook Page:  www.Facebook.com/talktravel
Twitter Page:  www.Twitter.com/talktravel
Google+:  http://plus.google.com/101929068102938229523
Annual Rochester Writers' Conference:  www.RochesterWriters.com
 

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Jack Ryan Franchise Author Tom Clancy Has Passed Away at Age 66

Tom Clancy

With Paramount Pictures poised to release their new action thriller prequel Jack Ryan: Shadow One this Christmas (as long as The Wolf of Wall Street doesn't push it away), the author behind the recurring spy character has sadly passed away. The New York Times reports that author Tom Clancy, best known for creating the series of books featuring Jack Ryan, has passed away at age 66. Ivan Held, the president of Clancy's publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons, revealed the news, but did not disclose a cause of death. Clancy's books served as the source material for grounded thrillers like The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger and The Sum of All Fears. But his big screen legacy isn't over. ›››

Continue reading Jack Ryan Franchise Author Tom Clancy Has Passed Away at Age 66


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o/t: Zazzle Poetry Helps You Wear Your Heart on Your Chest via @mashables

 

Zazzle-poetry

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You've probably seen some of the very weird items up for grabs on Zazzle. The retail site allows users to create their own custom designs — no matter how bizarre.

For Maxwell Robinson, the blogger behind Zazzle Poetry, that weirdness has become a true art form.

His designs can be described as incredibly odd and relatable at the same time. (Who wouldn't choose fries over guys?) But it's not just the words that make these shirts seem like poetry. The stock photos, basic fonts and almost clashing color choices all add to the charm. Read more...

More about Zazzle, Watercooler, and Pics


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