“I've got a great idea for a book.”
I hear this all the time. Heck, I think this all the time. But for me, it mostly vaporizes. For you, perhaps it keeps re-surfacing. Do you want to pursue your idea? Here's a couple of suggestions to...
View ArticleYour Book Proposal
A full-on book proposal is a lot of work. It used to be a necessity for finding a publisher or agent. It would include information such as an outline for your book, a sample chapter, research on...
View ArticleTopics for Your Book Proposal
A book proposal is a business plan for your project. And you are not just the author, you are the star of the show. Your name will be on the book, you are its spokesmodel. Parts of a typical book...
View ArticleIt's Never Too Early for a Style Guide
Pick a style guide and stick to it--reference books like Words into Type, The Chicago Manual of Style, etc. Refer to it for stuff like series commas, capitalizations, abbreviations. Consistency is what...
View ArticlePlease Do Not Invoke the Oprah
You know how when people say: “there's a lot more work for you down the line if...,” or “I know a lot of people who can help you if...,” you immediately think RUN!? In Book World, invoking the Oprah is...
View ArticleWhy Do You Want to Write a Book?
No really, this is part of determining your own commitment to a a very solitary and time-consuming project. If it's cause you think it's a way to fortune, it's kind of not. Book world is like...
View ArticleJust Do It Already
Here's the deal--you're thinking about a very time-consuming project and you're going to be making course corrections and project-changing decisions along the way, which no amount of planning can...
View ArticleI'm making a checklist and checking it like fifty times...
I recently got an assignment to put together an art catalog involving around 60 artists (me being one of them). I was sent a list of artists, a boatload of images that mostly had the artists' names in...
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