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Today's post is inspired by a question from an aspiring author. Someone heard this person's story and said that she should write a book. This is a very common motivator for people to start thinking about writing a book. She connected with me and said, "Jevon, I have no idea where to begin." This post is how I answered her.
For the last two months I have been a part of a local cast rehearsing (July and August) and finally performing (this month) the popular play Crowns: the Gospel Musical adapted for stage by Regina Taylor from the pictorial book Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry.
As an independent author, you need to fully consider how much money to budget to get an industry-competitive book product to properly represent you and your message. This post will give you an idea of what to expect from the beginning and will help you navigate the best and most financially appropriate direction for publishing your book.
In the past several years I've had the pleasure of attending a couple conferences more than once (others I've attended only once). What I like so much about going to the same conference year after year is that I get to build relationships and face-to-name recognition with some of the return conferees. I get to see their progress. I get to hear wonderful updates. I also get to hear the same stories I heard the year before...
The standard word count on a typical nonfiction trade book is between 40,000 and 60,000 words. Have you written much more than this? Well, I have been known to take 100,000-word books and cut them down to 60,000 words without affecting the punch, author voice, or quality of information it contains. So let me help you meet your goal of writing a concise, well-developed nonfiction book that will keep your readers' interest and give them just the right amount of content they need to take what you have to offer and build on it themselves for their own lives.
Are you working toward a word count and it seems like an impossible goal because you are running out of things to say? Well, let me help you. I have been known to take an author’s manuscript that was half the word count it was supposed to be and double it with these cool tricks that do not water down the content at all.
If you are like me and occasionally catch yourself drooling over the awesome bookish scene in some of the major cities, especially New York, but live light years away from all the action, I hope this post will motivate you to CYOBS (create your own book scene).
Something I am learning: If you wait until you have no feelings of fear and everything is perfect before you do something your heart has been longing to do, you will never do it. Do not mistake faith for a feeling. Faith is about trusting in God's infinite ability to act on your behalf. His word over your life or the one thing you are aiming to do is sure. He does not fail.
Staying on the path to achieving your dreams is not easy. Quitting seems like a really good option on most days. Ignore those thoughts. Seriously. When you think of quitting, shun it like the dark evil it is. Recognize it. Call it out. Encourage yourself all over again with stories such as this from Christian fiction author Kariss Lynch. In this piece she shares her story of her journey to publication. I hope it inspires you to never, never, never give up on pursuing what you know you have been specially chosen for.
You have it going on over here: platform, credentials, consumer interest, consumer demand, passion, knowledge, and credibility. But you insist on writing over here in the land where nobody cares, where they have "been there done that" so many times that the books on that subject are on sale at Dollar Tree, where if this lukewarm topic of a book is somehow published the market will spew it out of its mouth, where if one more sentence is read someone is going to jump...
When your desires and expectations for certain parts of the publishing process exceed a traditional publisher's ability to meet them, self-publishing may be a great option for you. Read about 10 signs indicate self-publishing may work better for you than traditional publishing.
I ventured out and tried something different on my blog today and let you hear from one of my dearest friends Becky Van Volkinburg, who just became a published author. Becky and I have sang together, cried together, prayed to gather, dreamed together, vented about "stuff" together... I am so proud of her journey and I wanted to share it with you today.
You are the cream that has risen to the top. You have several publishing offers in front of you. You have your pick of the litter. Advance and royalty rates are basically the same. What now becomes your deciding factor? Does it really matter whom you choose to publish with?
Though a career expert could answer this better and every editor has a different story on how they came upon their current job, I will still share my story. And feel free to leave questions in the comments.
When I launched out into the social media scene, my main purpose was to see what it really takes to build some sort of digital presence, so that I could say to my authors, "You really should have an online and social media presence," without feeling like hypocrite.
New York City is known for being the epicenter of book publishing, and in times past I have often wished I lived in New York--if it had Florida-like weather. But I have decidedly stepped out of my wishing to be there to enjoying being here, and what I've discovered is a flourishing love of the literary arts in my local area.
The word on the street about editor-agent relationships is muddled at best and negative at worst. But I don’t give that much thought when I am in the trenches with an agent reviewing a proposal and negotiating an author’s contract. I decide how my relationships with agents are going to be—and I like working with agents.
My purpose for blogging is to share and learn ways to be successful in the publishing industry. In maintaining this goal, I like to share encouragement and tools that help me. These prayers came out of a day when I was facing an uphill climb of completing a massive edit in a short period of time and I thought, “I bet there are others out there who may be struggling with projects of their own. Maybe as I pray, I can share my prayers and maybe they will help them too.”
Here is another fun, but right-on-point infographic from the brilliant CopyBlogger.com people. What an easy reference to keep yourself in check when it comes to these all-too-easy-to-make mistakes. Enjoy!
"How do we know what the trends are in Christian publishing?"
This is one of the most frequently asked questions in the publishing panels I am part of at writers conferences. I am listing it all here for you to peruse at your leisure. Aren't I nice? A one-stop Christian Publishing trends spot.
