Wednesday, July 23, 2014

The Top 5 Reasons You WON'T Get a Book Deal From a Traditional Publisher



The top 5 Reasons You WON'T Get a Book Deal From a Traditional Publisher: 

You aren’t going to want to hear what I’m going to say. It will destroy many of your illusions and you will vehemently disagree with me.

But everything I’m going to tell you is true.

So before we continue, ask yourself. ARE YOU SERIOUS ABOUT BECOMING A PUBLISHED NOVELIST?

Are you sure?

Because as published novelist I’ve met a considerable number of people who fancy themselves as yet to be discovered writers whose ticket to literary superstardom will arrive at the completion of their latest book.

No it won’t. And the reason is because they fancy themselves to be undiscovered authors on the verge of superstardom.

I’ll explain. The number 1 reason talented writers fail to become a published authors is their EGO. A writer’s EGO is enormous. And until the day comes when they value constructive criticism FAR more than praise, they’re not going anywhere. The amateur is devastated when their labor of love is criticized or told it requires a lot of rewriting. 

They are so convinced their manuscript is a masterpiece of word and phrase that ANY attempt to improve it will only destroy its beauty.

That belief is proof that writer isn’t publishable. A publishable writer can take their manuscript and rewrite it six ways from Sunday and each and every rewrite will be better than the previous one.

Reason #2 You think the publishing world is the same as it was in the days of Steinbeck, Faulkner and Hemingway. The days of writing a novel with cross outs and erasures and instruction to remove this paragraph and place it at the end of page thirty-five are long dead. A PROFESSIONALLY edited manuscript is expected and anything less will almost always wind up in the rejection pile. And you better know what a “As you know, Bob” is, the first 5 page rule and what your characters need to be doing while they talk.
And a hell of a lot more. But, moving right along.

Reason #3  You’re nobody, so why would an agent or publisher working within a very tight budget take a chance on an unknown? Been to Wal-Mart or Target lately? Notice that the majority of the books being sold are from media superstars? Kardasians, Duck Dynasty, Televangelists and already established authors like King and Collins and Grisham? Do you have any idea what books are presently selling? You should, because that’s what agents and publishers are looking to publish.

But you just read an article about a completely unknown author submitting the first book she ever wrote and it sold immediately and became a best seller. So why shouldn’t that happen to you?

Because it was LUCK. If she didn’t have a book published, she probably would have won the lottery. You read about it because it was news and it was news because that very, VERY rarely, happens.

And if you’re waiting for that to happen to you, here’s what will actually happen.

Writing is a VERY solitary profession. Very Solitary. And eventually your spouse is going to get fed up with your dream of literary superstardom and start looking for someone they can actually have a life with. And they will leave you to your dream.

Alone.

Reason #4 You haven’t actually made any money writing.  True artists can’t be bothered writing copy or work for hire because it’s beneath them. That’s why most artists die, usually by suicide. And why not? Their fantasy with becoming a world famous novelist has taken over their lives. Their spouses have gone, their kids want no contact, money is non-existent and they have alienated all their friends.  But at least they’ll have the comfort of believing that their work will be discovered after they’re dead and then people will appreciate them.

If that’s what you’re thinking then ask yourself, if you’re dead, how will you know?

Reason #5 You haven’t learned to sell books. This is the most important skill for a writer to acquire. Here’s how it works in today’s world. Say an agent actually shows interest in your book. He calls you and asks you to talk about your book. If you say it’s a feel good story about a man and his dog and their travels through Vermont, you will likely have a very short call. On the other hand if you say the self-published version is selling 500 copies on Kindle a week, you will have an agent, a publisher and a very hefty advance in a short period of time.

So you have a choice. Keep sending manuscripts to agents and publishers. Keep collecting rejection notices, keep telling yourself that your next book will be the one that will get you that book deal and watch as the years pass as you obsessively feed that dream.

Because that’s what it is…a DREAM.

OR…

You can pick up a copy of How to Write Publish and Market Your Novel into a Best Seller, so you can stop dreaming and learn what you have to do to get that deal!

Here’s one last fact that you’re not going to like, but you need to know it exists.
There are thousands of “writers” who make 7 to 10 thousand dollars a month in royalties who have never written a single book. You don’t know their names because they all use pen names.  Agents and publishers are dying to sign them but those “writers” aren’t interested. Why? Because they make much more money selling on Kindle than they would with a traditional publisher. How do they do it? They outsource the ENTIRE process.

Isn’t it time you stopped chasing agents and publishers and instead have them chasing you? It Can happen but first you’ll need to read How to Write, Publish and Market Your Novel into a Best Seller. It’s available as an e-book for under $5.00 as an Audio book for under $7.00 and as a paperback for under $10.00

Dreamers dream.









Friday, July 18, 2014

The Top Ten Rules for Writers from Famous Writers

The Top Ten Rules for writers from Famous writers

Today blog is from Kim McLoughlyn from Lyra Communications and she will do the presentation via video It's well worth watch so why not give a look?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLIGZEBmBUk
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Sunday, July 6, 2014

The Paul McCartney Concert Review




The Paul McCartney Concert Review

Paul McCartney and his backup band performed at the Times Union Arena  in Albany NY last night and I was there thanks to the generosity of my daughters who bought me tickets as a father’s day present.

I have been fortunate (and old enough) to have seen all the greats live in concert. But seeing Paul McCartney was truly something special. We often forget just how many truly great songs Paul has written and performed. And he was really in his element. Of all the Beatles, its clear Paul enjoys performing much more than the others.  Two hours in he had only touched on his phenomenal list of amazing songs and probably could have played all night and STILL had a number of classics yet to play.

They performed a number of songs from their new album during which most of the audience took that opportunity to go to the bathroom or get something to drink, a fact that Paul took notice of and jokingly commented on.

Other than that it was one fantastic song after another played by a tight group of professionals fronted by one the greatest talents of the last century. In between songs Paul told stories about his days with the Beatles and became a bit emotional when he sang his tribute to John Lennon.

One interesting occurrence was when some old guy nearly came to blows with some kid in his twenties because the kid kept jumping out of his seat and blocking the old guys view. What really surprised me was the amount of attendees under thirty. These kids weren’t even alive during the Beatle OR Wings era. Yet they were just as excited as the teens back in the sixties were.

If you haven’t see McCartney in concert by all means do so, BUT save up and purchase the expensive seats. Because of today’s digital technology seeing him at home in HD is just as good if you’re stuck in the cheap seats.

I’m so glad I got to see McCartney because that will be my last concert. It took nearly an hour to get a parking space because of all the traffic. On the way to our seats we were squashed together like a New York Subway car during rush hour, and it was the same on the way out. Getting out of the parking garage was another nightmare and frankly I’m getting too old for this shit.

As I said I saw all the greats. I saw The Rolling Stones TWICE, Led Zeppelin Twice, The Kinks, the Who, Simon and Garfunkel, The Doors, The Grateful Dead, The Jefferson Airplane, KISS And many others whose careers didn’t last all that long. Missed out on seeing Hendrix, Joplin and Yes but I’m Okay with ending my concert going career with Sir Paul. It’s always best to end things on a high note.

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make

Thanks, Paul


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