Welcome to the 32nd issue to subscribers of Right Writing News. If you are reading this issue forwarded from someone, be sure and use the link below to get your own free subscription.

Table of Contents

The Book Proposal Hot Seat

By W. Terry Whalin

Invest In Yourself

By Jim Denney

Are You An Unpublished Author? Learn “Everything You Should Know” from America’s #1 Book & Author Publicist

Follow Time-Tested Writing Strategies

By W. Terry Whalin

Whether you are floundering in your writing, just getting started or thriving, I'd encourage you to get this resource from Jimmy D. Brown called 30 Writing Tips for Ebook Authors.

Maybe you are saying that you don't want to write ebooks. OK, you will still find value in this FREE document. If you are stalled and wondering how to get out of stall and into gear, then you need to read this resource because you can pick up several ideas.

I've corresponded with Jimmy a few times and read this Ebook carefully. He's straightforward, targeted to the marketplace and yet this resource can stir something inside you. The price is right for it--FREE, so click the link and pick it up. Don't just print it but pull out your yellow highlighter read it--then put some of the ideas into practice in your own writing life.

Like many things in the writing world, the proof will be in the application of this material to your own life and situation.

A few of you sharp The Writing Life readers will notice that you've never seen the main domain for this free ebook. It is something that I picked up recently and I haven't fully developed it. I've recently signed up for a Hostgator account and I've been learning how to use some of the different functions of it. They have many resources for their customers and one of them is to install a WordPress blog on the domain. There are thousands of different templates to use through WordPress and I thought the colored pencils from Robbie Williams was fun and different. In the last few days, I've even moved my personal site http://www.terrywhalin.com/ to this format. You will notice my site has a completely different appearance. I had not updated the old site for some time and it was due a fresh appearance. I'll be the first to admit, I've got a lot to learn in the WordPress format but I'm starting to learn it.

My encouragement to you: get Jimmy D. Brown's ebook then see what you can apply to your own writing life. I suspect great surprises await you.

Why Novelists Need Book Proposals That Sell

By W. Terry Whalin

While Book Proposals That Sell has over 75 Five Star reviews on Amazon, there have been a few critics (follow this link if you doubt me) who don't feel like novelists need this book. In this entry on teleseminar about book proposals, I want to tackle this question and give you three reasons that you need this book if you are a novelist. These reasons will also apply to the professional and experienced writer. I've heard many writers resist purchasing this book because they have other book proposal books or felt like the book was only for beginners. These objections are also false in my view because many professional and long-term experienced writers (fiction and nonfiction) have gained insight from the pages this book.

First, let me point out this endorsement from Brandilyn Collins, a bestselling novelist who has read the book and says, "With years of experience as an author and an editor, Terry Whalin has written a book that can help any writer. Book Proposals That Sell offers great advice on building the nonfiction proposal and also explains the inner workings of the editor's and publication board's role in acquiring a new book. Novelists, too, will find this background information very helpful. All authors need to understand the uphill battle they face in selling a book before they can be fully prepared to submit their absolute best proposal or manuscript. Whalin's book lays out what they'll face--and then shows them how to win the battle." OK, I marked in bold the final portion of this quote for emphasis.

Now to my three reasons novelists need to read this book:

1. Understand the Rarity of This Information

For over twenty years, I've read a how-to-write book each month. I've got shelves of these books and periodically I have to clear them out. It is rare to find any editor who writes about the process of book acquisitions. In fact, I've heard a number of my editor colleagues say that they don't like to write. If you travel the writer's conference circuit as I have for many years, you will find that many of these editors don't teach workshops because they don't like to teach or have any inclination in this area. The key decision makers haven't written books (or even magazine articles) about how and why they make decisions about which books to publish and why.

I wrote Book Proposals That Sell from the perspective of the acquisitions editor or the person reviewing your submissions--whether a novel or a nonfiction book. I've read many how-to-write fiction books yet the bulk of my writing for years has been nonfiction. Why? Because I want to constantly improve my storytelling for nonfiction and have gained a great deal of insight from these writers.

2. Understand The Pressure and Mindset of the Editor

Every novelist needs to understand the mindset of the publishing executive to succeed in their desire to receive a book contract. Whether you are trying to write for a particular magazine or publisher or just get published in general, the first step is to understand your reader. That first reader is the editor who is actively reading to locate quality material for their publishing house. You can gain a lot of insight into the editor through reading Book Proposals That Sell.

3. Understand A Great Story Is Assumed and You Need Something More

If your novel is published, it must be a compelling story. The editor or literary agents who champions your novel will need this foundation. Every novelist (and nonfiction writer) should be working on learning their craft. In Book Proposals That Sell, I help novelists understand that in today's market they need something more than a good story. Platform is critical in the nonfiction area but it's the way to rejection-proof your story in the fiction area. Can you take the secrets in this book and turn it toward your novel submission? I know many novelists who have done it successfully. Will you follow the path that they have blazed?

As Sally E. Stuart, the author of The Christian Writers' Market Guide, wrote, "Selling a book may be one of the most intimidating challenges you will ever face. However, an intimate knowledge of the process helps make it easier. Terry Whalin offers his broad knowledge of this business--from both sides of the editor's desk--make him the perfect resource for helping you develop a proposal that sells."

Some readers for this post will probably add some additional reasons. In this post, I've attempted to dispel some of the doubters.

Get On National Television

By Fern Reiss, CEO, PublishingGame.com/Expertizing.com

A Cover and Title Education

By W. Terry Whalin

Where do you get educated about how to create a great book title? Or how do you learn what makes a bestselling book cover? From my experience in publishing, people seem to learn this information through trial and error or years of experience.

At least ten or twelve years ago, I wrote a series of back covers for a small publisher. As a freelance writer, the publisher sent the manuscript, the book title and information about the author. Often on a tight production schedule, I skimmed the manuscript, crafted a headline, then some bullet-points of benefits for the book and sent it back to the publisher along with my invoice for the copywriting. I probably wrote twenty or thirty of these back covers. Besides my payment, I received a copy of the finished book. Often I pulled my submitted copy and compared it to the printed book to see what I could learn from the comparison. With few changes, my words appeared on the finished book. I worked in isolation with almost zero feedback from my connection at the publishing house. No one kicked back my words and asked me to rewrite them. From what I know now about the internal process of publishing houses, I suspect the overloaded production person simply took my words, tweaked a few things and pushed it ahead in the process.

Most recently at a publisher, the editor who did the developmental editing for the book also did the copywriting for the back cover material. Yes, the marketing department had input into the final version but the initial draft of the copy came from the editorial department. There are many different ways this part of the process is handled within the publishing community. From my experience it is learn-on-the-job, thrown-off-into-the-deep-end-and-start-swimming sort of effort with little education and instruction. Yet each day customers make critical purchasing decisions about the books from these efforts.

Within traditional publishing situations, the publisher titles the book and designs the cover along with the words on the back of the cover. Many authors feel powerless and out of control of this particular part of the book production process--yet they don't have to be. I've told authors for many years if they propose an excellent book title and subtitle then that title will remain throughout the publishing process. It is the same way with your back cover copy. As the author, you can propose language and if it is excellent, it will be used in the creation of the book.

Back to my original question about training in this area, where do you get it?

I'd like to suggest an unusual yet in some ways expected suggestion. Turn to experts in design and creating book titles to get the right one for your book. I've recently listened to Cover That Book which in several hours of education gives incredible value and ideas for any author. Whether you plan to self-publish or go to a traditional publisher. Why pour this type of energy into the title of your book? Because when you send a proposal to an editor or literary agent, you have seconds--and I mean that--to grab their attention and the first thing they will see if your title and subtitle.

I can hear the authors protesting this information about the cover design. Yes, within a traditional publishing arena, the cover design is the responsibility of the publisher. But I suspect even a major publishing house would carefully look at cover designs from an author they want to publish.

Finally I want to suggest that editors and literary agents in the publishing community will also benefit from Cover That Book. It's an area of the marketplace where most of us have learned through trial and error. There is huge value (and earnings potential) if you get the right training. Susan Kendrick writes a valuable blog called Book Cover Coaching. Whether you get their valuable package or not, I recommend you subscribe to this blog and follow her writing. It's another means to get educated about covers and titles.

How To Thrill an Editor - Tension Creates Exciting

By Laura Backes

Often it's the characters weaknesses, or flaws, that get him in trouble in the first place. Or, create secondary characters that work in opposition to your main character, throwing roadblocks in her way as she wrestles with the story's conflict.

Ask "What if...."  In The ABCs of Writing for Children, compiled by Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff (Barnes & Noble Books), author Katherine Sturtevant said, "If you're writing a novel, spend some time writing pages that you know will never be part of the book. Put your character in various situations and see how he or she behaves. How would she react if her house had burned down and all of her possessions were gone? What if her best friend won a contest she'd been hoping to win herself? If the person she resented most in the world suddenly gave her a present? Since these situations don't have to appear in your book, there's an endless list of them. You can put your character in scenes with her parents, siblings, or friends until you feel you have a good handle on how she would behave under a variety of situations."

Once you've learned your character's reactions to stressful situations, incorporate those reactions into scenes from your plot.

Raise the stakes. The most satisfying plots have the character trying to achieve a goal, failing several times, and finally succeeding. Each time the character fails, the tension mounts. Don't be afraid to raise the stakes for your character--put him in danger, pull the rug out from under her feet, make him face his worst fear. If the worst thing that could possibly happen to your character actually occurs, and your character overcomes those odds and succeeds, your readers will hang on every word