Dr. Jeanne's profileDr. Jeanne's spacePhotosBlogGuestbookMore

Help

Blog

Summary

Listed by:

<< First < Previous Next > Last >>

March 23

MORE ABOUT PUBLISHING

OK, so I said I'd finished the publishing blogs. I changed my mind. I want to just talk with you about my experience with self publishing.

I really wanted to use Print on Demand for THIS PRECIOUS LOVE (HTTP://drjeannehounshell.com). It would have been so much easier. BUT, I would have had to sell my book for $25.00 to earn one or two dollars. I just didn't think that would work. So I had to go looking for something that wouldn't be so pricey.

So I self published. And as if that weren't going to be enough work, I learned that I couldn't do it in WORD. Now I had spent weeks getting it all set up in WORD just the way I wanted it to look. Now I had to learn a book design program (INDESIGN) and do it all over. I worked about 18 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week for 6 weeks to meet my printing deadline.

It isn't easy. It is extremely hard work. AND it looks great! I got a really quality book at a price where I actually can sell the books to bookstores and still have a royalty for me.

I am extremely proud of the job I did. Extremely proud of all I learned while writing and publishing THIS PRECIOUS LOVE. It's one of the most _________ experiences I've ever had. And I'll probably continue to publish my books this way.

In summary, if you're reasonably good at the computer, willing to work very hard, and want to retain all the rights to your book, this is the way to go.

I encourage any of my readers who have published a book, by whatever form, to contact me. I'd love to interview you or have you send me a guest blog so that my readers can get many different perspectives.

Bless you,

Dr. Jeanne
http://drjeannehounshell.com

March 07

PUBLISHING TIPS--SELF PUBLISHING

PUBLISHIING TIPS--SELF PUBLISHING:

When you self publish, you do all the work and you reap all the benefits and headaches. That's the whole long and the short of it. You keep all rights, all profits and you have no help along any stop of the way. It is not for the faint of heart and it is truly rewarding.

Disadvantages:
--It’s unbelievably hard work
--You have to pay for it all
--You have to obtain the ISBN number and copyright.
--You have to do or hire the book cover done yourself and set the book up ready to print
--Marketing is totally up to you though many subsidy and POD publishers have packages you can buy even though you don’t publish with them—but they’re pricey!
--It is by far the hardest way and it’s all up to you.

Advantages:
--It’s quick. You can hold your book in your hand soon.
--You maintain all rights and total control
--By submitting bids to a whole bunch of companies, you can get it printed for a fraction of the cost any of the others would be so that your profit per book sold is much higher.
--Your travel and lifestyle is pretty much deductible
--A new author has to do most of the marketing anyway, why not reap the benefits.

If you’re going to do it, do it right. Dan Pointer’s book: Self Publishing is absolutely necessary. It will take you through the steps to do it right.

Book Design:
Hire the interior design done for you or get a good book design program
--InDesign is relatively friendly and does a good job.
--Quart is probably the best but also VERY hard to learn.
I recommend using one of these two. DO NOT use WORD or Word Perfect. I'm told no self respecting bookstore will accept a book done in either of those--ony in a professional book design program.

Bless you and keep writing,

Dr. Jeanne

3:47 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | WRITING, PUBLISHING, MARKETING

March 05

MAN GIVES HEARTFELT PRAISE FOR THIS PRECIOUS LOVE

THIS PRECIOUS LOVE

Once in awhile we are given a gift that touches our very souls. I was given such a gift today. I’d like to share it with you.

A man in my writing group had purchased my book and read it. Today he handed me this card:

Thank You

For your courage to share
     both pain and joy,

for your perseverance
     in giving your book life,

for your inspiration
      to motivate the shy

and for your willingness
to help us grow.

The parallels in our
Stories illuminates
Our truth

The contrasts provide
Lessons I have not
Lived.

If I touch one persona as
You have touched me,

I will have lived
A purpose.

Thanks,
Erv

Eloquent! Can’t wait to see more of his writing.

So, if you think THIS PRECIOUS LOVE is just for gals, think again. This one has a depth and breadth to touch every heart. And action enough to keep all reading.

Thank you, Erv, you made my day, my week and probably my year!

Bless each of you. It is feedback like this that keeps us writing.

3:18 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | WRITING, PUBLISHING, MARKETING

March 03

PUBLISHING TIPS--PRINT ON DEMAND

PUBLISHING TIPS:

PRINT ON DEMAND
Print on demand has become very popular with digital printing. You pay them to publish your book and as an order comes in, they print that number of books. So you don’t have a garage full of books to sell. They have promotional packages to help you sell your book.

They do not review or critique your book. You’re paying the entire cost so they will print whatever you send them.

They buy the ISBN number and usually take care of copyrighting. They have people available to design your book cover and will do the interior book design for a fee. But you may do these things yourself and send it to them.

This is really what I wanted to do--use a print on demand publisher. And I think it has great merit for shorter and nonfiction books. But when I looked into it, if I priced my book at 25.00, I might make 1.00 or 2.00 on each book. That’s because my book is 400 pages long and their charge to print it was very high. I couldn’t see me just making that little after 5 years of work. That didn’t allow me to sell it to any bookstores because they require a 40% discount—so to do that I’d have to have priced it at nearly 30.00 to just get what it cost me. And most people aren’t going to pay $30.00 for a paperback novel.

For a book of 150 pages that will sell for $19.95, this is a very good alternative.

For me it didn’t work. So I had to keep looking. And the only alternative left was to publish it ourselves.

Advantages of Print on demand:

Many!

You can get it published really quickly

Most do high quality work

You retain all the rights

You can choose the program that works for you

If you want to pay for it, they'll do almost everything but write the book

Disadvantages:

High cost. You pay for it all and you pay a premium cost for each book. Check this carefully as you may have to price your book higher than you can sell it.

Vanity publishing, and print on demand is considered a vanity publisher, is still looked down on by many. So there's not as much prestige as using a traditional publisher.

Bless you and keep writing

Dr. Jeanne

http://drjeannehounshell.com

4:43 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | WRITING, PUBLISHING, MARKETING

March 01

PUBLICITY TIPS--SUBSIDY PUBLISHERS

SUBSIDY PUBLISHING:

Subsidy publishing is a compromise between traditional publishers where the publisher pays the entire cost of getting your book in your hand and other forms where you pay for it all. In other words, the cost is split--not necessarily half and half. This differs from one company to another.

Subsidy publishers do not accept all books so you will have to write a query letter and submit your manuscript. They review them but are much more likely to accept them than a traditional publisher because you pay about half the cost of publishing and promotion. Since they are spending their money, they will only accept what they think they can at least break even on.

They still may demand changes and want to control your book because they have a large investment in it too. Again, the rights you will have to give up vary from company to company. If you want someone else to do the book design, deal with printers and do the publishing work and your book isn't accepted by traditional publishers, you may want to consider this route.

I looked at it and it didn't make financial sense for THIS PRECIOUS LOVE.

More publishing options coming soon so check back.

Bless you and keep writing!

Dr. Jeanne

4:00 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | WRITING, PUBLISHING, MARKETING

February 27

SO YOUR BOOK IS READY TO PUBLISH

PUBLISHERING TIPS

This series of articles will evaluate the pros and cons of the various publishing options availabe to you. This first blog discusses Traditional publishers.

You have written a great book and would love to see it in print. Where do you start? This series will give you some ideas of where you might want to start.

If you want to go the traditional publishing route, you start be deciding which publishers are most likely to publish your book. Writer’s Market lists almost all large and mid-sized publishers, the kind of books they publish, how many books they publish each year and usually how many books by new authors they publish. Small publishers

are more likely to take your book than large ones but they also have fewer resources to help you

market the book.

I advise you pick the ones you think would be the best fit for your book, go to their website

and download their submission guidelines as well as the name of the person to send them to. Do

your research. Send to those who publish new authors and publish your genre.

Almost all require that you send a Query Letter and depending on the Publisher you send a few

pages or your entire manuscript. Your query letter is the one thing they will read. Large

publishing companies receive up to thousands a day. So spend whatever time you need to, to make

that letter one that will pique their interest so they will read at least part of your book.
Some publishers almost never publish a new author’s work. Most prefer proven authors. Most

also give a new author minimal help with marketing their book.

If you're fortunate and they do accept your book, you will receive a check up front and they will do all the

work of publishing it for you. They will suggest (and since all the money to publish your book is coming from them, they expect you to take their suggestions) changes they think will make your book more

salable. They may demand you make changes you don’t want to make.

They are likely to keep most of the rights to your book. You lose control

My research shows that for most new authors it takes AT LEAST five years from the time you start

this process until you hold your book in your hand.

Advantages of traditional publishers:

1. You don't spend any money getting your book published. In fact, you should get a check, usually about what the sales over the first few months will being them.
2. All the details of getting ISBN numbers, copyrights, book design, type setting, editing,

cover design and printing are done by the publisher.
3. They will do some marketing for you. Probably not much but some and you will have access to

their experience in planning your own marketing.

Disadvantages

1. For a new author, the check will be small and the marketing they will do won't be much.
2. They may require you rewrite things you don't want to or in a way that you don't agree with.
3. You may give up most of the rights to your book.
4. Your royalty for each book sold is small.

5. You will do most of the marketing for your book. Their budget for a new author's book is usually small.

If you do decide to submit to a traditional publisher:
1. Write a dynamite query letter
2. Check out writer's market and submit to publishers that are accepting books from new authors

and who are publishing your genre.
3. Download their submission guidelines from their site
4. Follow those to the letter.
5. Send it off and wait to hear from them.

I'll be posting pros and cons of other publishing alternatives over the next few days. Check

back so you can compare and decide what is best for you.

Check back. Over the next few days I'll post information on your other publishing options.

Bless you and keep writing! It is your soul's work.

3:04 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | WRITING, PUBLISHING, MARKETING

February 19

INSPIRATION OR PERSPIRATION

WRITING: INSPIRATION OR PERSPIRATION?

Of course, it’s both. Our best writing comes from inspiration. And You must do the

hard work that’s required.

Let me tell you how I do both:

First of all, for inspired writing, I have to have a pen and paper. I can’t write my

best at a computer. I wish I could. I hate the time it takes to get my writing from paper to

computer. But the muse sings to me when I sit with pen and paper. So I still do it the old

fashioned way.

First Create the Atmosphere that inspires you to write: Set up a place where you always write.

Make it attractive and comfortable. Putting a flower or a something you love in front of you can

help.

I found that one piece of music let the words flow more easily for me. Now any beautiful music

(no words, those you have to come up with) works for me. But in the beginning, it was Mike

Rowland's AND SO TO DREAM.

It’s gotten much easier for me to get to inspiration. But in the beginning, it was rare and not

easy. I found that I needed to go to my special place and turn on that certain piece of music.

With this combination I could write—it flowed from deep within and sometimes—once in awhile it

was truly beautiful.

That’s still my favorite way to write but now inspiration may come as I sit waiting to see my

doctor or as I’m driving to town.

Commitment is the key to both inspiration and perspiration. Keep trying different things until

you find what works for you. But in the beginning you must set aside time to write and write.

Sometimes it will be awful and can only be thrown away. But when you write even a sentence or

two that sings, you know you’ve found the secret. All you have to do is keep writing and it

will come oftener and oftener.

Writing in a supportive writing group also seems to call forth my best writing so if there is a

supportive writing group here, join it.

I don't worry about polishing while I write. If I can't think of the right work, I leave a blank

line or I circle a word that means about the same thing. I'll come back later and go to the

thesaurus and pick the word I want. But when I'm writing, I don't slow down to do research of

any sort--I just let the story flow. Editing and polishing are different functions than writing.

Don't try to do them all at once. Just write. Maybe someday, we'll be experienced enough and

good enough to do it all together--but for now--just write.

Find your own style. Don’t slavishly follow what anyone tell you. Break new ground. Do it

your way. Try rewriting one scene three totally different ways. Which flowed best? Which do you

like best when you read it?

Buy my book. It is inspiring. It is different. It will give you MANY ideas—sometimes things

you want to emulate and sometimes things you want to avoid at all costs. But it will help you.

Read! then read some more. You'll learn how to write better by observing how others write.

Sometimes reading something truly beautiful (That is often poetry for me) just before you write

will help you jump start your writing.

Next blog on writing will talk about perspiration. For right now, just try to get to the inspiration for when you do, you will truly come soar with me in the land of the writer.

Bless you,

Dr. Jeanne

1:02 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | WRITING, PUBLISHING, MARKETING

February 02

I HAVE A BOOK BUT WHERE DO I START?

I HAVE A BOOK INSIDE

You bet you do! Everyone has a story to tell. Some are true; some are fiction. But we all have a story worth telling and worth reading.

So how do you get it from your brain to the paper or computer?

1. Write about what you know. You're the expert when you do and your writing feels real. It takes less research, and for me, at least, research is not the most fun part of writing.

2. Write with passion. That means writing about something you are passionate about. I am passionate about writing. It is nmore than a job or oa hobby. It is a calling I MUST write.

I am passionate about good health--mine and yours. So much of this blog will be about health and about writing.
And I am passionate about love and romance. So I write novels about love--love that shines and makes life a joy.

It isn't just the book that must be about passion. You must be passionate--every episode must soar.

3. Add some humor. If you can make your readers laugh and cry, they'll love you. The more feeling you can impart to your characters, the richer they'll be.

4. Don't avoid the tough issues--they make a character real.

To sum it up, you write what you love to write. That's the only way you'll be willing to sit down and write every day. It has to be enjoyable.

Remember, this life is precious, so write about what you love.

Your first assignment is to decide what you want to write about. Not just the overall plot but how you will develop it. How will you keep passionate throughout the writing.

The only really important thing is that you begin. Take out a pen and paper or sit down at your computer and begin. Soon you'll be soaring with me as your book or article develop. You can never do anything that will bring you more satisfaction. So, dear friend, begin today and write!

Blessings,

Dr. Jeanne

3:19 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | WRITING, PUBLISHING, MARKETING

January 27

EVERY PERSON HAS A SONG

Every person has a song (or a story). Wayne Dyer says the saddest thing that could happen is to die with our song still within us. (Not an exact quote but close.)

Every person has a story! Probably a lot of stories. Whether your story is about your life, the life of an ancestor, someone well know or whether it is a work of fiction doesn't matter. Each of us has something very important to tell and no-one can tell it as well as you can. No One.

Proably no-one else can tell your story at all. So it's up to you! I'll try and help you get started. And finished. And everything in between. So hang around. But while you wait for the next blog, start thinking about where and when you'd like to write and what your story is.

I can tell you, holding your book in your hand is a thrill like no other. It is a profound moment that you will always remember. Worth every minute, every oounce of sweat and every bucket of tears.

Come soar with me and get ready to write your story. You're in for the ride of a lifetime!

Bless you,

Dr. Jeanne

8:08 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | WRITING, PUBLISHING, MARKETING