Essay Online

You must be prepared to work always without applause. - Ernest Hemingway

Much of the wisdom available from established authors may be surprising in it’s honesty and straightforward nature. The reason this is likely true is the authors in question have had enough success that there is no need to candy coat the truths they have discovered in their experience. This is the final article in this series.

On Learning the Art of Writing

I learned to write by listening to people talk. I still feel that the best of my writing comes from having heard rather than having read. - Gayl Jones

You have to protect your writing time. You have to protect it to the death. - William Goldman

By writing much, one learns to write well. - Robert Southey

To produce a mighty work, you must choose a mighty theme. - Herman Melville

No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader. - Robert Frost

A writer’s job is to imagine everything so personally that the fiction is as vivid as memories. - John Irving

Plot springs from character…. I’ve always sort of believed that these people inside me — these characters — know who they are and what they’re about and what happens, and they need me to help get it down on paper because they don’t type. - Anne Lamott

In your writing, be strong, defiant, forbearing. Have a point to make and write to it. Dare to say what you want most to say, and say it as plainly as you can. Whether or not you write well, write bravely. - Bill Stout

Whenever you write, whatever you write, never make the mistake of assuming the audience is any less intelligent than you are. - Rod Serling

If the stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed. - Barry Lopez

Write about it by day, and dream about it by night. - E. B. White

Any writer overwhelmingly honest about pleasing himself is almost sure to please others. - Marianne Moore

On Humor

When in doubt have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand. - Raymond Chandler

The humorous story is told gravely; the teller does his best to conceal the fact that he even dimly suspects that there is anything funny about it. - Mark Twain

On Naming Your Work

A good title should be like a good metaphor. It should intrigue without being too baffling or too obvious. - Walker Percy

The title to a work of writing is like a house’s front porch…. It should invite you to come on in. - Angela Giles Klocke

I hope you catch the sense that successful authors draw from the real stuff of life, keep things simple and well told. If you look closely, these authors keep a sense of humor about them and remain personable. These are admirable lessons to consider in your writing journey.

Creating a printed book is a bit more complicated than creating a PDF eBook. More steps are involved, just by right of producing a tangible finished product that needs to be handled in the physical world (versus an electronic document that can be distributed by e-mail or online). The basic print publishing process for a print-on-demand publishing cycle for a book that will be sold online through the print-on-demand vendor’s website (and/or other online booksellers like Amazon) breaks down as follows:

1. Complete your manuscript

2. Develop your cover concept (and do a trial run of a cover)

3. Format your manuscript for printing (the final product is called a “galley”)

4. Complete your cover artwork (and proof it with trial runs of a cover)

5. Put your galley and artwork together

6. Create marketing collateral, press releases, etc.

7. Publish!

8. Receive hard copies of your book and send out review copies to press

9. Send out press releases and place advertising and line up interviews

10.Continue the marketing cycle to keep your book in the press

11. Track your sales and order more books for more publicity

I recommend printing out this list and using it as a project plan for your print publishing. And fill in the blanks in the process, where you know there are more steps involved in your own personal experience. Or follow the sample project plan immediately following this section. Having a checklist to follow can simplify what can be a complicated and sometimes confusing process.

Now, one thing you may notice, is that I have listed marketing after the actual publication of your book. I strongly recommend waiting till you have a finished, published book in hand, before you start sending out press releases and generating interest. I’ve had international press people contact me within 24 hours of sending out my press materials, but I had no hard copies in hand to send to them, so that pretty much derailed the opportunity I’d created for myself.

In the traditional publishing world, it’s customary to publicize a printed book at least three months in advance of publication. This gives the press time to review bound galleys and work your publicity into their own production schedules. Now, for traditional publishers who have full staffs and plenty of money and connections and the machinery for publishing, that’s fine. They can pretty much guarantee that a book will come out exactly the way they say it will, exactly when they way it will. But when you’re on your own, it’s a different story. Anything could happen along the way. You could experience delays with the printer. You could experience personal complications. You could find yourself stalled by artwork that didn’t come out the way you wanted… any number of things can go wrong, when you’re on your own.

So, it’s prudent to be a bit more conservative about marketing a book you’re working on. Even if you’re 100% absolutely positively unwaveringly convinced that your book will come out in three weeks, anything can happen in that time, that can hold you up or wreck your carefully laid plans. So, don’t make any promises you can’t keep to the press. It will only work against you.

All this might sound a little daunting, but if you’re reading this, you’re probably an independent type of person, so the inherent risks and dangers will trouble you a lot less than someone who’s never published before and is nervous entering uncharted waters. Certainly, going it alone as an independent print publisher can take a lot more preparation and organization, than operating solely in digital formats. But it’s also very satisfying, to have a book in hand that you can give to friends, families, reviewers, and others who say, “So, you’re a writer?”

And if you format your book well, your work can be indistinguishable from the work of other writers published by mainstream publishing houses. You can get your own ISBN, your own professional-looking cover, a great looking interior, and all the marketing collateral you could ask for… without spending a small fortune. All it takes is determination, the right information, some creative inventiveness, a keen eye for detail, and a willingness to keep going, no matter what.

With a little extra care, some advanced planning, and an eye for detail, you can turn your eBooks or white papers or other digital information products into printed books — and not drive yourself crazy in the process.

Has anyone else noticed a trend of books, both self-published and from commercial publishers, that were originally ebooks and have not completely shaken the unfortunate signs of their origin?

1.Since ebooks can be sold easily at 80-100 pages, but print books cannot, the book version gains length through appendices that take up one-third of the page count. Sometimes the appendices are quite tangential to the main topic, and other times they contain golden information that should have been better integrated with the main content. There’s also padding evident within the book, especially a lot of large illustrations, cartoons or Powerpoint slides that add little to the reader’s learning experience.

2.Because ebooks are often sold with a lot of time-limited bonuses, these books also contain bonuses printed in them &ndash bonuses that have already expired when the book was purchased! This just happened to me with a hardcover 2007 book from John Wiley purchased through Amazon.com - not from some aftermarket source. What were they thinking?!

3.Ebooks, both free and for-fee, often function as a first step in a marketing funnel, with a disproportionate emphasis on moving the reader into the next, higher-priced offering, such as a boot camp or seminar. I’ve read two hardcover books recently that have too prominent and too pushy a pitch for the author’s very expensive seminar. A book should be a self-contained information unit, with other offerings mentioned but not with a hard sell. All promos should be placed after the main text, not within the chapters.

4.It’s common to create and sell or distribute an ebook anthology by asking contributors to send something in on a loosely defined theme and accepting all the contributions, with wildly uneven quality and relevance to one another. If it’s got a salable title, people will buy this sort of thing as a print book also, but reviews will be so-so at best, and the book is destined for a quick death.

5.Above all, laziness abounds. Since most ebooks have a short shelf life, there’s little thought given to making the contents substantive enough to withstand the evolution of the marketplace for a year or two. People who buy books for their personal library don’t want something that will make little sense when they pull a volume down from their shelf in three years’ time.

People can be fooled once, but book lovers won’t buy that author’s “books” again when it’s really an ebook in the trappings of a book &ndash without a book’s soul. Additionally, one of the big benefits for an author of publishing in print is getting books into libraries. Librarians don’t normally purchase books with the above weaknesses.

Want to turn an ebook into a print book that fully works in its new format? Give it depth, organize it well, use quality control if coordinating multiple contributions, make it useful and relevant for years to come, and keep self-promotion low-key. Then you’ll have readers eagerly awaiting your next book &ndash and the next and the next &ndash to add to their personal libraries.

Have you given much thought to the voice of your narrator? Perhaps you assumed the narrator in your novel should remain neutral. Many writers believe that the narrator should have little in the way of identity and the use of a narrator is essentially a necessary means of moving the story from one scene to the next.

It may come as a surprise to learn that your narrator can, and SHOULD, have a distinctive voice. The narrator should be used to do more than simply take the reader on a guided tour of your story.

The technique used to add life to your narrator is called ‘Voice’. How you ultimately choose to define the character of your narrator can add a new dimension to your work. By adding a unique personality to your narrator the reader has a chance to visualize the story through the eyes of someone that intrigues them. They may not particularly like the narrator, but the voice you choose help the reader find a new facet of interest in your story.

Your narrator could have a strained relationship with the main character and might make occasionally negative comments as they unfold the story. The reason for the animosity could be explained and resolved as the story unfolds.

The Disney movie “Emperor’s New Groove” was narrated by the main character who interjected humor, sarcasm and arrogance that allowed the viewer to gain a clearer picture of the primary character, the conflict his actions created, and the ultimate need for him to lose some of his pride. What is interesting is the narrator’s voice also allowed the viewer to actually enjoy the Emperor’s character even more.

In western fiction the narrator often provides range-hardened wisdom during the course of the narrative that leaves you feeling as if you’ve saddled up a horse and are paired up an agreeable partner that has much to teach you.

Some writing intentionally portrays the narrator as distant and rather formal in their story telling. In this case the writer does not wish to have the narrator play a significant role in the storyline and only wishes them to fill in the blanks with no commentary or personality showing through.

Determining the voice of your narrator can be an important element in the development of your story. Choosing the ‘voice’ of your narrator may be best achieved early in the story-writing process to avoid needless rewriting.

There is some beautiful literary styles that thrive on the repeated use of words and phrases. The language is poetic and beautiful. This, however, is not an article that encourages the use of repeated words.

Unless you are writing in a style that demands the use of repetition it may be in your best interest to read through your text and determine if a word or phrase is overused.

Example:

Bad

The purpose of this exercise is to find the purpose of the repeated use of a word and then purpose not to use that word so much.

Good

The purpose of this exercise is to discover the objective of the repeated use of a word. After which you resolve not to use that word continually.

Both sentences said the exact same thing, but one was infused with different, but related words that allowed a more readable flow.

Many writers work on a first draft by simply attempting to lay down the ideas in a coherent fashion. It is only after they toil through their first draft that they begin to notice a repetition of phrases or words.

Many writers utilize a tool that provides a benefit in saying something a more unique fashion &ndash that device is a thesaurus.

A thesaurus can be used to take a sentence like the following and transform it into something new.

Original

Taking part in the school play was hard for Tammy because she was so shy and awkward.

Enhanced

Participating in the theatrical production at school was challenging for Tammy since she was so reserved and self-conscious.

Many word processors provide a tool function that allows you to highlight a word and it will provide a list of word choices that you can use to replace an overused or ill-fitting word.

If you have a greater interest in writing longhand you should consider the purchase of a thesaurus that may assist you in your writing. You might be surprised at how a thesaurus can help open up new avenues of creativity and expression in your writing.

Sometimes a word will have more than one meaning and a good thesaurus can help provide words in context of the original meaning giving you flexibility in the application of any given word.

So the next time you stumble across a word that has seen lots of appearances in your writing, break out a thesaurus and expand the possibilities.

The most valuable of talents is never using two words when one will do. - Thomas Jefferson

There are many books that provide tips and guidance for publishing success. This series of articles takes you directly to a trusted source of wisdom &ndash established authors. The hope is the experiences they have encountered will assist you in your writing objectives.

On Editing

There is but one art, to omit! - Robert Louis Stevenson

A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. - William Strunk, Jr., from The Elements of Style

My most important piece of advice to all you would-be writers: when you write, try to leave out all the parts readers skip. - Elmore Leonard

The great art of writing is knowing when to stop. - Josh Billings

As to the adjective, when in doubt, strike it out. — Mark Twain

When rewriting, move quickly. It’s a little like cutting your own hair. - Robert Stone

Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light. - Joseph Pulitzer

On Writer’s Block

If you are in difficulties with a book, try the element of surprise: attack it an hour when it isn’t expecting it. - H. G. Wells

On Motivation

Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. - Cyril Connolly

The most original thing a writer can do is write like himself. It is also the most difficult task. - Robertson Davies

If you wish to be a writer, write. - Epictetus

Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely essential. - Jessamyn West

You write about the thing that sank its teeth into you and wouldn’t let go. - Paul West

On Humility

Young writers should be encouraged to write, and discouraged from thinking they are writers. - Wallace Stegner

In the third and final part in this series we will look at a few words of wisdom from authors on the naming of your work, learning from the success and failure of other writers and the inner struggles authors often face.

Why would anyone want to create a printed book, when then can create eBooks a lot more easily — and cheaply? Why would anyone want to get mired in the process of printing and shipping physical books that take time to deliver to customers, when they can deliver a digital information product immediately, with no additional production or shipping costs? What’s the point of having a tree-killing artifact of yesteryear in your creative portfolio?

Well, like it or not, a lot of people still prefer printed books to eBooks. They like — no, they love — the feel of a printed copy in their hands. It gives them a sense of well-being and solidity, to have a physical work they can carry with them and put on their bookshelves. They’re “old school” and they like it that way. Or, they just never warmed up to eBooks or digital media.

I had a conversation with an international television reporter about one of my books that was coming out soon — I didn’t yet have the printed version in my hands, but I had a PDF eBook I could send him. He said many times over that he hated to read eBooks, but that was all I had at the time, and so I sent it to him. It would have been a whole lot better if I could have sent him a printed copy, instead. Of course, I made do with what I had, but if only…

Now, there’s a very good reason some people like printed books better than eBooks — they can read them anywhere, anytime, without needing a computer to do it. For all the talk about “portable media,” these days, a book is really the ultimate in portable media! It fits in your hand, it doesn’t require batteries, and there are no complicated instructions to figure out! As advanced as our technology may be, there’s nothing like a book to truly “transport information” quickly and efficiently, across the bounds of time and space.

Ironic, isn’t it, that the ultimate medium for portable, instantaneous information sharing is just the thing that a lot of us thought was on its way out, with the advent of the internet!

Books are not “reserved” for the technologically gifted. They’re not available only to people with a computer and a broadband connection. They’re easy to use, easy to transport, and — unlike some of the cutting-edge entertainment technology available today — everybody understands what they’re all about.

When you publish a printed book, you level the playing field for potential customers, and you make it possible for a wider variety of people to access and enjoy your work.

Another reason to create a printed book, is for credibility. With a printed book in hand — especially one with an ISBN — you can approach magazines and newspapers and radio and television hosts and have something in hand to talk about with them. You can mail your book to reviewers and reporters, and you can hold up your creation for the camera, when it comes time to tell the audience what all the excitement is about. And when members of your audience go to their local bookstore to see if they carry your book (depending on what service you use to publish your book), they can put in a request for the book from the bookstore, and potentially help you get it stocked on the bookshelf stores. (Though you may already be convinced, like many other infopreneurs, that bookstores are not the place to sell books, still, it doesn’t hurt to see your book on the shelves of a brick-and-mortar store.)

Probably my favorite reason to publish in print, is how it can take your ideas to a whole new level and get you the kind of exposure once reserved only for the connected elite. Having a book in print has a way of instantly establishing you as an expert, in ways that producing (even getting rich from) digital information products can’t, in the “real world” offline. When people hear you’ve written a book, and they see that book in your hands, a connection kicks in, somewhere inside their heads, that says you must be pretty smart. Chances are, it’s true — you are! But the perception of others that you must be one smart cookie, since you’ve written this book, usually doesn’t get so far as to delve into the nature of your book, if it’s any “good,” or if your work is widely accepted and respected in academic or commercial circles.

Everyday folks have an innate respect for people who can write down enough coherent thought, and organize it completely enough, to produce a book. An awful lot of people never get that far. Some may think about it, but never do it. As a published author, as far as a lot of folks are concerned, you’re in a league of your own. And that’s a pretty good feeling!

I’ve gotten a bit of practice having that feeling. To my friends and family, I’m “just Kay” and that’s fine with me. All that fame business just kind of gets in the way, when it comes to my personal relationships. But to people who read the international press in the areas I publish in (technology and cross-cultural concerns), I have a somewhat different persona — I’m a published author who has caught the attention of folks from Asia and Europe with a controversial and rabble-rousing work that hit the presses in the fall of 2006. It’s pretty cool, to come across people from far away, who have read reviews of my books in magazines and newspapers I’ve never heard of. And I’ve got some pretty cool clippings of articles that mention me — and my book — exclusively, or in passing. That was all possible, because I published a printed book. It doesn’t matter that I have eBook versions of my works available for instant download. Most of the time, that’s not even on the radar of the mainstream international press. In fact, if anything, they kind of turn up their noses when I mention my eBook. But my printed version of that same book… well, that’s another story.

Publishing a printed book widens the reach of your ideas in ways that digital media can’t quite do. You open up your ideas to a whole different audience, and you get the chance to make even more of an impact with your concepts and your unique “take” on the world… taking a position of true thought leadership in a hurting world that’s sorely in need of fresh, new ideas. In fact, now is really the perfect time to be stepping out as a innovative new author in the print publishing world. The old formulas and the old ways of seeing the world and talking about it and conceptualizing it and relating to it, are pretty tired and worn out. We need fresh new ideas, brilliant new insights, and innovative ways of thinking about our world. You may have distilled everything you know and popped it into an eBook, but the print world offers you yet another medium (or “channel,” if you prefer marketing lingo) for your ideas.

My favorite reason of all for publishing a printed book, is the profound satisfaction that comes from holding a real, honest-to-goodness tangible book in your hands. I’ve been a book reader for over 30 years, and I’ve never lost my love for the sight of words on a printed page. All the better, when those words are mine! Some would call it vanity, but I call it doing my talents justice… and having something to show for all my work, all those live-long years of writing, writing, and writing some more, against all odds, hope against hope. I’m a very tactile person, when it comes to words, too, so I like to have something to hang onto. Digital is great — it’s my medium of choice, these days — but I can’t flip through the pages of a PDF quite the same way I can thumb through a book.

It really is an incredibly exciting time to be a writer and independent publisher! I’m so deeply grateful to have been born at this point in history, with my love of language and books — and the ability to put that love into manifest product. The possibilities really are endless… provided, of course, you know how to explore them. And that’s what this guide is about — getting you, an infopreneur or digital product creator, the tools and the skills and the orientation you need, to turn your digital content into print format, so you can reach a wider audience and more firmly establish yourself in your own niche of thought leadership.

One of the difficulties a writer faces is reviewing their work in an attempt to locate all errors. There are generally two forces that work against a writer who attempts to ensure their work is error-free.

1. Being too close to the work you have difficulty concentrating on the writing.

2. You know what you want to say so it is possible you read over mistakes simply because your mind only sees your impression of the article.

In order to be effective in proofreading your own material you have to work hard at reading every word…

Refuse to speed through simply because you know what the writing says.

Consider each word, then each phrase and then the context of the thought.

Does the article flow or are there phrases that bog it down?

Check punctuation and grammar.

Look at the headline and make sure it is correct.

Do the above all over again.

Most often the best personal proofing requires multiple readings and ongoing edits. The key to the entire process is discipline &ndash personal and professional discipline.

Check and recheck the facts in your story and when possible allow another set of eyes to proofread your writing. They will likely see things that you missed.

There is another myth that is closely linked to proofreading and that is the myth of the perfect story. Anything we write will either have a shelf life because styles and accepted practices change or we have missed something in the arena of consistency, grammar, spelling or word use.

If we keep a piece of writing under lock and key until such time as we think it’s perfect we will likely find that the article will never see publication. You can go over your article with a fine tooth comb and you are likely to see some error when it is finally published.

Writing should be taken seriously, yet not so seriously that the stress of word crafting removes the joy that caused you to become a writer in the first place.

The best advice may be to simply write your story first and worry about fixing any problems afterward. If you stop writing in the midst of your story in order to correct trouble spots you are likely to lose the spontaneity of the storyline. This can ultimately have a detrimental effect on the overall reading satisfaction of the consumer.

If you have to be a perfectionist wait until the story is complete and then get out your red pen and make a few alterations.