Self-Publishing: Who should you trust?

Traditional Publishing

     If you’ve tried traditional publishing and it’s not working, maybe you’re thinking about self publishing. Or maybe you just don't want to deal with queries, agents, and publishers and feel you'll have more control if you do it yourself. So you surf around the internet for a while and check the many ads in your email. And what do you come up with? Probably,  a variety of articles or ads like the following. They gently (or not so gently) beckon to you to self-publish. Does this one look familiar?

      Fill out the form below to start your publisher search!

About Us:

Designed specifically for budding authors, Search for Publishers gives you free access to an impressive array of options for anyone who wishes to publish a book. Our singular goal is to match the right author with the right book publisher. Search for Publishers is a unique publishing directory that gives you access to some of the most dynamic book publishers who are currently seeking to develop new authors. It doesn't matter whether you want to get a novel published, a non-fiction title, a children's book, a cookbook, etc. Search for Publishers can provide a wealth of essential information to help you publish a book.

Name your book publishing category:

Novel Publishing, Business Publishing, Fiction Publishing, Poetry Publishing, Children's Book, Self Publishing, Non Fiction Publishing, Publish a Short Story,Biography Publishing, History Publishing, Cooking Book Online Publishing,Memoir Publishing, Mystery Publishing, Christian Book Publishing

     Then to hook you, if you had any doubts in the first place, it ends with the following statement:

Some of our authors have sold their books at the following locations:

     Here it lists every well known bookstore you can think of, from Amazon to Barnes and Nobel.  Impressive right? So are you hooked? Well, some of you are, some are wavering back and forth, and others, like my-jaded-self are turned off. The thing is, you never know if these people are legit or not, so you have to spend your precious time asking writer friends what they think, going to your favorite writer sites and posting questions then chatting with the other members, or checking the organization or company out at the Better Business Bureau, Amazon, or wherever…Fun, huh?

I’m really curious…What would you, as a writer,  do in a case like this?

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Profile: One Passionate Woman Writer

I was very fortunate to join a wonderful writer's site a couple of years ago, and to meet many talented and courageous women there who are passionate about writing. It's a site dedicated to women writers. Some are already published...maybe several books, maybe their first. Some are getting serious about writing for the first time. And some are there to find out why all these women are spending so much of their time putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.  It is an exciting environment where exchange of ideas, support and sharing are rampant.

Writer Brenda Moguez

The following piece is by one of those women. It's beautiful, insightful, and  unabashed. It is the writing of a woman who has the courage to lay it all on the line and go for it. She has written her first novel and is going all the way by attempting to publish it. Her creative narrative on strength is reflective of of who she is ...a strong, compassionate, and sensitive woman.

What is Strength?

 Brenda Moguez

It is saying no but wanting heaven and earth to move out of your way so you can say yes. It is saying yes knowing the consequences of your decision and accepting the responsibility for both, the answer and the aftermath.

It is bending your will for the sake of another knowing your words cannot convince them of their folly, but vowing to help pick up the pieces; Standing with your back up against the brick and the hard place knowing the path you are about to walk will yield immediate heartache. In your heart, you will cherish the moments preceding your decision to leave, until you draw your last breath.

Watching your child take her first step, not wanting to, but allowing her to tumble, and then standing out of reach as she wails and waits for you to come, but knowing you cannot.  How to get up and try again, and again, is one lesson a parent cannot gift a child. It is self-taught and often fraught with tears of frustration.

Letting go of a piece of yourself –a chance, a person, a dream—knowing in the moment of release your heart will stutter and later howl,  but in the loss you’ll hear the sizzle of the setting sun burning into the horizon and see the ascent of a new moon.

It is taking a risk when the odds of success are stacked in favor of  karma, because the voice of your sixth sense is singing in your right ear, ‘we are the champions’… and sounding a lot like Freddie Mercury.
It is running at the speed of light—or as fast as your feet can propel you forward— then jumping with reckless abandonment into a mosh pit of possibility or chaos, just because you know there is something at the bottom meant for you to uncover.

It is giving love today, tomorrow, next month, in the moment, as the sun climbs, when the moon sets, as you watch the door shut, after harsh words, when words are not enough, after or before goodbye, between tears, the last kiss, at the wrong time, or  just because. But especially when it’s a foregone conclusion that regardless of the quantity, how perfect it seems, how much it means or how perfectly love feels snug on your skin, your heart will break, you’ll still give freely of yourself.

It is standing tall when all you have worked for or believed in is shattered when life is dealing from the bottom of the deck or because of lies another has fed to you.  And later, when the tears on your pillow are dried, you’ll draw from a strength you never knew you had and begin anew even though hope flickers with the evening breeze.

It is refusing a compliment or the key to the castle when it comes with a price tag, even if you can make the monthly payments.
It is accepting praise from a foe with humility and the grace of a seasoned diplomat,  and waiting until you are behind closed doors for a victory dance.
It is swallowing your pride or falling on a sword for another or a cause not your own but recognizing the value of your sacrifice will lift the spirit for one or many.
It is giving of yourself when there is nothing left to give because you know it’s in the job description of being a mom, a wife, a friend, a woman.

It is looking into the mirror naked—as scary as it is—and loving every line, curve, imperfection, with gratitude.It is speaking without filters, without an agenda, without expectations, honestly and from your heart.
It is being who you are in mirror by wearing your inside self on the outside.
It is being true to who you always wanted to be, have always been inside, and knowing being unique is sometime a lonely business, but throwing caution to the wind and not giving a damn.

**********

BIO:  Moguez is a wife, mother, and writer living in San Francisco and working on becoming an author. She has completed her first novel and is in the process of trying to publish it traditionally. Her new book is a work of fiction, but she also blogs and writes nonfiction and poetry. Passionate about writing, she describes her writing experience in the following paragraph:

“Writing is a passion that drives me to the brink, and sometimes over. I hate it, love it, covet it, dream it, and cry over it. I found a voice, maybe three, sometimes four, by writing. It's all true what the established writers say to those of us up and coming, just write and do it often, as much as you can even when you don't want to, can't or won't. I found writing during the worst time of my life [when] I was in my very own personal perfect storm with me in the middle of it…”

*Excerpt from Moguez's just completed work of fiction:

Creative Woman Seeking Freelance Work

a novel, by Brenda Moguez

After spending two years mourning the loss of her husband–Bobby Delray,an almost famous, Country-Western, singer–Stella Delray, an understated, self-aware but lost, sexy thirty-seven year old, and mother of six-year old, Santiago, emerges from her grief coma to find her life needs an overhaul. The forces of nature, her own biological needs, her family, and the wider world, are pushing her to redefine her expectations of life.  However getting on with life means facing some demons, namely her mother-in-law, her own prejudices about happily ever after, and making good on some death bed promises....keep reading


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Why haven't I sent out my first query letter yet?

OK. My manuscript is essentially done.  I've had feedback from my critique groups, suggestions from Beta readers and completed three re-writes...the last very major. I've finished an update of my proposal, and query letter. I've been on Agent Query and started an appropriate agent list on Query tracker. I've scoped out agents I think I will send my proposal to and checked out their blogs and/or websites to make sure they accept my genre and to get a feel for their personalities, likes and dislikes, and experience.

I'm ready to send out my first query letter. Right? Well, you would think so after reading the above. Ok then, why haven't I done it? This is the question that was haunting me when I woke up this morning....and still is. Instead of systematically sending out letters to potential agents, I keep going back to my proposal and the chapters in my memoir and re-reading them over and over, tweaking here and there....and actually re-writing in some places.

Am I procrastinating? Or just being careful? After all, I keep hearing from authors, editors, and writing experts how important it is to have you work perfectly polished before you sending it to an agent. And that's what's getting to me. Is this the best I can do. Honestly, I don't think so...but then again I'm one of those people who always thinks she can do better. It just occurred to me that maybe I need some imput from my virtual friends.

So...what would you do?



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Getting the theme across

 On this, my third major re-write of my memoir, I have tried to learn and incorporate what I feel are the most valuable ideas from authors, editors (who've read my pages), and readers (who've read my pages).  Currently, I'm reading two books on re-writing memoir: Fearless Confessions by Sue William Silverman and Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon. I'm learning a lot from both.

     William Silverman's book has focused my attention on a number of things: internal story and depth of writing, showing feelings, and emotions, using metaphor, and discovering and delineating the theme in each chapter or piece. I have only read half of her book, so I'm sure there will be much more for me to learn. But these particular issues are ones I've been grappling with for a while. So, in my re-writing, I've been going chapter by chapter and attempting to delve beneath the surface of my story text, develop appropriate and interesting metaphor, and focus on theme.

      I was particularly interested in her third chapter on theme. According to my beta reader, in one of my chapters the theme was not carefully delineated. I was all over the place. I knew what I wanted to say but was letting the story get away from me. After reading what William Silverman wrote about theme, I  analyzed the chapter in terms of focus. At times, I just sat and repeated the theme over and over. I found I had to go back and delete everything that was not slanted towards that narrow theme, which was " moving to Louisville." All that deleting was hard at first.. But as I re-wrote, the theme revealed itself more succinctly. William Silverman says "the discoveries we make during revision are a vital part of the writing process." And I can't agree more. When I realized the specific message I was trying to get across,  it made the deleting easier.

     Furthermore, as I focused on the theme, I started "slanting" the details, as she suggests, so as to reveal more about how I was actually feeling about moving. As always, I attempted the use of sensory language and the technique of showing instead of telling. It sounds so easy, and it does get somewhat easier as we remain aware of what we're trying to do, but in reality, it's not easy. And we must always be vigilant. I've already caught on to thinking of each event in my memoir as a scene, like in a movie. And that helps with the "showing." but I discovered that I was relying too heavily on just telling my story without letting the reader in on the whole picture.

     It's a slow process, but a rewarding one.

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Keeping up with it all

This is what I do: I run a bed and breakfast, I write 4-5 hours a day, and I read and research a lot. Yes, I have help in the bed and breakfast so that I am free to think and write. I also have four blogs of my own and maintain a blog for the Louisville Bed and breakfast Association. I occasionally blog on She Writes and BlogHer. In addition, I write for the following online magazines: Examiner.com, EyeonLife.com, Hub Pages, Pink and Salon. I also guest post on a lot of websites.

I started a memoir about a year and a half ago and have written around 56,000 words so far. I am now on my third re-write. I have a Beta reader who is reading my chapters and giving me lots of feedback. And I belong to a critique circle of writers, who are giving me critiques chapter by chapter. Recently I hired a professional editor to help with the final editing and polishing.

You probably think the first thing I’m going to say is that the answer to keeping up with this kind of schedule is organization. And, that is partly true. But there are some other components that are just as important. I’m referring to: flexibility, work ethic, and the ability to stay and to switch focus easily. Lastly, it doesn’t hurt to have a good sense of humor, a positive attitude, and the motivation to keep going day in day out. Let me add one more thing here, despite the fact that I am eighty years old, I am in great health, get a little excersize, get 7-8 hours sleep every night, and socialize occasionally...but only occasionally, and always with close, positive friends. Most of my socializing is with guests who visit my Inn. I meet a lot of interesting people from all over the world.

Do you have to give up anything for the sake of your writing? The answer to that is a rousing yes!
I have given up friends and acquaintances who drain me or who are totally negative. I have, for the most part, stopped watching TV, gabbing on the phone for extended periods, going to business meetings, and shopping in stores. Except for groceries and meds and sundries, I do everything on-line. In place of those activities, as breaks from the writing, I run a business, play word and brain games on the computer, go to the gym, and read a lot. Right now I am reading mostly memoirs and books on fictive techniques.

I have people ask me all the time how I handle writer’s block, how often do I blog, and how do I come up with ideas for posts. Amazing as it sounds, I never have writer’s block. I try to post on all of my blogs at least once a week, sometimes more. Finally, the secret to coming up with compelling copy for posts and/or articles is to be compelling and interesting yourself and to focus on interesting things. How do you do that? By reading magazines, books, newspapers, other peoples blogs, on line articles, etc. There's a wealth of information out there...the world is full of it. Also, traveling, engaging in conversations, watching TV and listening to the radio will generate ideas. Another place to look is at yourself: Do you have hobbies and talents? Are you a good mom? a good cook? and so on.

You absolutely do not have to come up with something thought provoking for every post. You can post a recipe and talk about how your baby wont eat vegetables and what to do about it. Or post a video. Or do a book review or review a TV Show or movie or a new CD just out and why you think it's awful. If you’re new to blogging or have not tried it yet, try this: Just start writing about the things that interest you...the thought provoking stuff will come later after you get used to blogging. The more you write, the easier it gets. Jot down ideas for blogs as soon as they pop into your head. Good luck! I'll be looking for your posts.

Finally, the reason I emphasize blogging is that it will definitely help your all over writing. You can experiment with various styles, find your “voice”, and start feeling comfortable about putting your writing out there for all the world to see. This is how I got up the courage to start a memoir. This is also how I found my “voice”, the one I’m using to tell my own personal story. If you don’t have a blog already, I suggest you go to Blogspot or Wordpress and start one. You’ll never regret it.

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On-line critique of my query letter.

For those of you who are still working on you query letter and looking for more feedback, here's a idea you might want to try. I thought the following might be helpful.

I started writing my query letter a year or so ago, around the same time I was nearly finished with my memoir and also working on a proposal. Since I'd never written a query before, I spent a lot of time reading books and searching on-line to learn as much as I could about writing good queries.

After I had a handle on it, I began posting my letter in places where writers could read it and give me feedback. One of the best places, a place where I got a lot of feedback that helped me end up with my final copy, was SheWrites.com.

I spent a lot of time re-writing the letter, incorporating the best suggestions from other writers, and finally got it to a point where I was just about satisfied. I say "just about" because I don't think any writer is 100% satisfied with her writing. She always feels  like it could be better...and this may be true.

A couple of months ago, after the letter had been sitting on my desk for a while I decided to submit it to Marla Miller, a writer and editor who has her own on-line query critique page at Writer's Magazine. Below I've posted my query letter and then the video of Ms. Miller critiquing it.

Query Letter

Dear Agent, 

Demanding divas, naked Irishmen walking in their sleep, and amorous honeymooners leaving remnants of unforgettable wedding nights are all part of the parade of flamboyant guests who came in and out of my life as an innkeeper.

Despite being a reclusive, retired schoolteacher with no business experience and little start-up money, I took a risk, purchased a turn-of-the-century mansion, and turned it into into a charming bed-and-breakfast. Operatic Divas and Naked Irishmen: An Innkeeper’s Tale is the humorous and sometimes poignant story of my 17-year journey through a minefield of contractors, housekeepers and eccentric guests looking for Southern hospitality and gourmet breakfasts. I have included recipes reflecting the content of each chapter and descriptions of how and why many of them were developed at our inn.

I am co-author and editor of Room At The Table, a cookbook written for the Bed and Breakfast Association of Kentucky, for which I won the president's Award in 2009. In addition to maintaining several websites and several blogs, I write online for examiner.com, eyeonlife.com, Pink Magazine, Salon,  and Hub Pages. A teacher of music and English, I have taught and written creative nonfiction, poetry and lyrics throughout my adult life.

Operatic Divas and Naked Irishmen, a 65,000-word memoir, combines wit and humor with delicious recipes, a subject that may appeal to a wide audience—more specifically, to women ready to reinvent themselves, whether they are starting a second career late in life, coming out of a divorce, or forced by the recession to stop mid-career and rethink their options. In addition, it may appeal to the same audiences of books by Ruth Reichl and Maya Angelou.

A manuscript is available upon request.

Thank you for your kind consideration,

Query Critique

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Should we, as writer's, ever experiment with narrative form?

I actually started writing my memoir a couple of years ago without even realizing it. I joined a writers site and began posting as often as I could, which was just about every day. I wrote articles on every topic I could think of. I even wrote poems...a whole slew of them. I got hooked on writing short pieces. I wrote about Johnny Depp, how to plant and take care of an herb garden, and how to make Christmas cookies. I had the attitude there was no topic I couldn't write about. I was encouraged by all the good feedback I got from my readers.

Then I started writing about things that were closer to me;  my interest and expertize in music, my work as a teacher and as an Innkeeper, and closest of all, my family. I wrote about my mother and how she translated everything in life into something positive. I wrote about my father who was a jazz musician. And I wrote about my grandmother, who was the rock of the family. The only family I didn't write about were my daughters. They both told me they were off limits.

When I wrote my first post about my bed and breakfast, I received a lot of feedback...all positive. Readers said they wanted more. By this time, I was more relaxed in my writing and felt extremely comfortable writing first person narratives and publishing them on-line. So I continued writing about my experiences in the bed and breakfast and started grouping them under the title, Tales From an Innkeeper's Crypt. Pretty soon I had quite a following just waiting for new tales. After a while they started encouraging me to make a collection of all my stories.

I thought about it. And thought about it. I wasn't real sure I was up to it, but one day, I decided I would write a memoir of the seventeen years I'd been an Innkeeper, rewriting the basic stories I already had and adding more.  I just wrote and wrote, not paying much attention to the format. I finally ended up with around fifteen chapters, in no particular order.

I've been working on my stories for over a year and although they are coming together individually, I'm still not sure how to group them. Right now they are not grouped chronologically and I think they'll stay that way. Although most of the stories have a story arc, some do not. And I'm not sure I want to change that. The all-over narrative form does not seem to meet the traditional model. But I'm wondering if I should, as the title of this post suggests, experiment with the form.Would you?

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The narrative hook

"The narrative hook - also known as a literary hook - is the literary device whereby you hook the reader's attention and intrigue her enough so that she'll keep reading.

When a reader (whether a beta reader, or a literary agent or publisher, or hopefully a real-life genuine member-of-the-public reader) - picks up your book, you literally have only seconds to impress him or her.

There is so much competition for that reader's attention - whether it's the slushpile, (in the case of agent or publisher) or all the other books in the bookshop (in the case of the end-use reader).

And so, he or she will only allocate a very short period of time - maybe as few as thirty seconds! - to deciding if your work is worth reading.

Therefore, your job as the writer is to make absolutely sure that the answer to that question (“Is it worth my while reading on?”) is an absolute categorical 'yes!' - and the narrative hook is one way to do that.
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The most popular way to use a narrative hook - and the easiest to carry off too - is to pose a question in your reader's mind, so that she just has to read on to find out the answer to that question.

There are two options here. The first is to pose the dramatic question early (e.g. Will the hero save the world?). The reader will have to read the whole book to find out the answer to that one!

The other option is to pose a smaller question (examples are given below, in the list of opening lines of famous novels). And, of course, by the time you've provided the answer to that question, you'll already have posed another question to keep her reading to find out that answer, and so on. As I often say: a writer's first job is to keep her readers reading!

Popular advice is to begin in medias res, which literally means in the middle of things. This surely has the advantage of intriguing and hooking the reader. It's not without its difficulties though, as whatever happened to get the characters in that situation then becomes back-story with all the challenges that entails."




excerpt from: www.fiction-writers-mentor.com/narrative-hook.html

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