You have resolved to write your book in 2017. Congratulations. Soon you will have completed a 70,000 word document- what do you do next? As an author- I am “Here for the Win!” I knew I needed to pick and stick with a good team. Who, how? Back in the fall of 2015, I assembled my team and it took me ten seconds.
10 seconds…I see you are skeptical. I will explain more about the team process
My goal for 2017 is to establish and then unleash the power of my Social Ambassadors team. I plan to develop a core group that will broadcast prepared social media tweets and posts and other marketing material that I will prepare. I am excited to see what a coordinated and enthusiastic effort can do! I also plan to interact even more with my friends on social media sites and I am committed to read and comment on more blogs. I have learned and thrived with my buddies on social media and the joy and enthusiasm is priceless. So I want to continue to forge strong connections. And I am going to get brave and schedule more workshops, book signings and other zesty live events.
Time to do it!
Back to the beginning of my journey. After I promised my husband I would get a round tuit and stop talking and actually write my book, I decided it was time to leave my coffee table office and set up a formal work area. I picked the loft area in my house, commandeered some stray furniture and then I started my opus. No I didn’t. Instead I played with cute paper clips, tested broken staplers and tried out pens and various colors of sticky notes. Then I stopped fiddling with my office, made a cup of coffee, let the dog out, emptied the dishwasher and I started my book.
With my snoring dog at my side, I wrote every morning, 1,000 words a day. Sometimes I was so touched by my own work that I read aloud to my big mutt. One day, one fateful, rainbow, fluffy kitten and pony-filled day, I was looking on the online thesaurus and saw a message, “Are you writing a book?”
“Yes, yes I am!” In less than ten seconds, I had clicked the ad and within the hour I had received a call from a consultant at a self-publisher, iUniverse. And the rest is history. The consultant explained to me that iUniverse offered supported self-publishing and that meant I could choose to have professional help every step of the way.
I signed up for a publishing package and that’s when I learned how to write a book. I needed developmental editing, line and copy editing, book cover design, printing, marketing and promotion services. I learned so much, that not to take away anything from folks who have earned an MFA, I feel I should receive an honorary MFA, thanks to my team. (Point of pride, my second book needed much less editing because I had learned from my mistakes!) Hello, The Golden Age of Charli!
You don’t have to use my team, but you do need a team. You need to create the best product you can. You want a book that is well written, free of grammatical errors and typos; you want a professional-looking cover and copy. You want a real book. And you want a team to help your market and promote your masterpiece.
Many writers have echoed this thought, “to be a writer, you must write.” (Ann B. Ross) and “just get it written” (James Thurber) In 2017, plan, plunge, write and then pick and stick with your team.
I am a writer, blogger, book reviewer, and bon vivant and encourager. I have lived my entire life in Tropical Ohio. My goal is to make friends with everyone in the world. I wrote a fiction series, The Golden Age of Charli, that presents the problems and praises, and the love and laughter of family life and retirement. My passions are blogging, reading and reviewing, and writing. My life is a WIP.
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