How to Get Your Book Published

Make it a good read! Ah, easier said than done, I hear you say. Not really. If you have a way with words, and are prepared to tackle this matter with discipline and intelligence, you, too, can write and publish a book. I know, because I've done just that, and I'm no Shakespeare, or Grisham, come to think of it. There are thousands of truly dreadful books published every year, which should give you hope, and the occasional gem, which should tell you something else: publishers are snowed under with manuscripts from new and aspiring writers and are always on the lookout for the glint of something special. Book editing services can support you once you are into the writing itself, but first you need to buy the land, and draw up some plans.

Your initial task is to have a cracking theme to work with. And, as a professional book editor, I have to tell you something. Many new writer have difficulty grasping the difference between theme and plot. A theme can cover a lot of ground, but its essence is a generalisation that sums up a human condition or attitude about life.

A few examples: lies can come back to haunt you; affability often masks a sinister character; you can't teach an old dog new tricks; the meek shall inherit the earth; conflicting loyalties; my family or my country; one law for the rich, another for the poor. The trick is to keep your theme general in nature, yet one that is universally accepted or capable of being accepted.

Every writer, often unknown to themselves, has a personal arsenal of themes just waiting to be tapped into. Not surprising really, when you think that life is so rich and varied that no two human beings are going to experience the same things, in identical ways, and be similarly influenced.

To explore this goldmine of themes just beneath the surface, ask yourself what really moves you, infuriates you, arouses strong feelings. Cruelty, physical or mental, might be high on the list, or brutal games of sport, like rugby. Talk to yourself when nobody's around and list a couple of dozen of these themes. You'll soon have a shortlist of candidates for a theme that can act as the bedrock upon which the next stage in the writing journey will be launched: the search for a plot.

Let's say that you hate money, and what it can do to people who have either too much of it . . . or none. Your possible theme, a bit hackneyed I admit: money is the root of all evil, or a variant of same. Now you need a plot; a structured sequence of events that involves a few central characters. And of course, your plot revolves around money and what it does to them. You want to be creative? Now is your chance. Come up with a great plot that will mystify, intrigue and enthral. All you then have to do is write it. It can be done, and after your patient planning it will be far easier than you imagined.

Of course once you have produced a well planned and executed 'masterpiece' that pulls all the right strings and presses all the right buttons, then the publishers will take it seriously. Because that is exactly what they are looking for.

Writeaway provides help and advice on how to write and publish a book. You will also have access to a dedicated team of people who can provide a comprehensive book editing service having had personal experience of the book publishing process.

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Writing in the Dark

I used to be a public writer and would spend hours describing my surroundings while at parks and coffee shops. Some may have called me a poser with my black spiral notebook and leather jacket, yet I feel my public writing phase helped me learn to write with all my senses.

At 17, I was more preoccupied with making observations and sharing my opinion than writing poems or a novel. Some of my blurbs read more like rants and I almost stopped writing when one of my high school English teachers told me that I was wasting my time and talent because publishers would never print a diary or journal unless the person was famous.

Although the internet was already around, this was a time when a blog was thought to be a hard-to-remove stain and Altavista was the ultimate search engine. Thanks to AOL, I created my first homepage which I populated with thoughts from my black spiral notebook. Amazed with the Instant Messages from strangers online that found my writing funny, or agreed with my view point on a topic, I continued to develop my thoughts on paper and used the web as my editor.

When I lost my sight in 2007, learning to read and write in the dark reminded me of my teenage phase of learning to use words to decipher my world. I traded my black notebook and mechanical pencils for a laptop with talking software for the blind called JAWS (Job Access with Speech), a pair of headphones, digital recorder, and electronic dictionary. At the beginning, the robotic voices that read my writing back to me seemed flat allowing me to only write a few sentences at a time. My first short story of five pages took months to complete because of the constant interruptions I call "ear breaks" between my writing sessions that involved listening to the radio to help refresh my eardrums. However, just like with many things in life, JAWS became tolerable and eventually my friend. Learning to focus solely on my content and ignore JAWS was the first step in mastering writing in the dark.

Attempting to reclaim my roots, I ventured to public places with my laptop and guide dog Madge; I found that chatty crowds and buzzing cars kept me from hearing my inner and computer voice. Most of my writing is now done at my house and my writing breaks consist of playing with Madge or listening to an audio book. Breaks now serve more as an acknowledgement that I achieved an editor's deadline or writing goal for the day. I also find that taking breaks to stretch or get a snack can reduce writer's block. For editing, I rely on spell check, my writing group, and mentors in the San Francisco literary community. Writing in the dark definitely requires a deeper level of concentration that allows me to see my writing utensils not as tools, but extensions of my body and mind.

Belo Cipriani writes both creative non-fiction and short fiction across several genres with the help of adaptive technology. To read and edit, he uses a talking computer that runs a screen reader called JAWS and a talking dictionary device called Franklin.

Belo holds a Masters Degree in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Notre Dame de Namur University, where he studied under award winning poet Jacqueline Berger and fiction writer Kerry Dolan.

He is heavily involved with the San Francisco literary community and is a member of Litquake, The California Writers Club, and a contributing writer for Bay Area publications. Belo and his guide dog Madge live in San Francisco. Learn more at http://blindamemoir.com/.

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How to Beat Writer's Block

Writer's block happens all the time. It is almost always a signal that you aren't as mentally prepared to write as you should be.

Ask yourself: "What is my purpose in writing?"

Say, for example, you are writing to inform your customers of a new product your company is offering. Your purpose is: "I want to tell you about an exciting new product we offer." The letter builds off of this. But let's go further. What is the product, and why should the reader care? Most importantly: What do you want them to do about it? Answer these questions and pretty soon you have the outline, and possibly first draft, of your letter.

Writer's block can usually be solved by answering these questions:

Who? What? When? Where? Why?

Of the five questions, "Why?" is the most important. Writing without a purpose is, by definition, pointless.

"Who?" is an important, but often overlooked question. Who are you writing to? Visualize them in your mind and then write to them. If it's a large group of people, find someone you know who would belong to that group, and then picture that person in your mind as you write. In this way, writing becomes like a comfortable conversation.

"What?" is another important question to answer. What exactly are you trying to say? Write it down. If you find you can't, then you've also found the reason for your writer's block. You'll need to take some time to better formulate your thoughts before the writing can continue.

Some projects might not have a "when?" or "where?" to answer. So be it. As soon as you can get back to writing, do it. But when the words won't come, it means that somewhere there is a question you need to get answered.

On the other hand

Sometimes the trick to beating writer's block is to simply get words on the page.

Write out exactly what information you want to get across to your reader:

"I want to tell you about the new service my company offers."

"I want to convince you to buy a new car."

"I want you to donate money to our organization."

Make sure you are as detailed as possible. Write it down like this:

"I want you to know -- about our product."

"I want you to feel -- about it."

"I want you to do -- about it."

Once you have written down everything (and I mean everything) you want your writing to communicate, you can revise it into a more appropriate form. You'll often find that working through this process provides you with a fairly good rough draft. Most importantly: It breaks your writer's block.

Andy is a professional freelance writer specializing in web and marketing copy. He maintains a site at http://greenbaycopywriting.com and also at http://gbcopywriting.wordpress.com
or visit him on Linkedin

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