Be Your Own Editor

Contributed by Stacey J. Miller

When authors place sole responsibility for their book promotion campaigns into a book publicist’s lap and leave it there, the results are often disappointing. Despite their best intentions, book publicists may fail to generate important reviews. Interview opportunities may slip through the cracks. Worse still, highly promotable books may languish without visibility in a highly competitive marketplace. The book promotion campaign, and the book promotion specialist, can disappoint you. Does that mean you should give up on book publicists and wait for Oprah to call you? Or that you should give up on your book promotion campaign altogether? There is another option. You can work in partnership with your book publicist and take the following steps to maximize your chances of success:

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Contributed by Shaun Fawcett

Copyright © Shaun R. Fawcett

This is the first in my series of articles that explain the Online Publishing Model and how small-time authors and/or self-publishers can use the OPM as a viable alternative to the often archaic and dysfunctional traditional book publishing model.

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Here’s an interesting article from the Christian Science Monitor about “The Online Book,” i.e., a nonfiction book written with the aid of input and collaboraton garnered through an author’s website.

An intriguing idea for nonfiction, perhaps—but please, God, keep this “trend” (if it is that) away from fiction. Oops, too late. Don’t good novels—even commercial ones—need a voice? That is, one voice?

If you’re an aspiring novelist, two major obstacles exist on the path to glory. First, finding a literary agent. Second, with the help of that agent, finding an acquiring editor at a publishing house to sign you to a book contract. One is the seller, the other the buyer, but you’d be surprised at how thin the line has grown between the two.

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Okay, my author friends, here’s a little way to flex (and show off) your writing muscle. And maybe win a free book! This writing exercise couldn’t be any simpler, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. It’s a test of your ability to be both creative and concise in your writing—a challenge, a dare, if you will. Impress me. Wow me with your literary wit, your pathos, your ability to make every word of every sentence count. Make it a thriller. A romance. A literary novel. A memoir. A math textbook… All you have to do is write three little paragraphs.

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The Chicago Manual of Style, now in its 15th edition, is the style bible for anyone in the book industry who works with the nitty-gritty of the words on the page: copy editors, proofreaders, indexers, book designers, etc. And it should be a part of any author’s reference library.

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