For Beginners: 10 Ways To Prepare To Get Published

Written by Jill Nagle


For Beginners: Ten Ways to Prepare to Get Published (Skip directly to ten forrepparttar fastest shortcut!)

By Jill Nagle

Like any field, excellent writing requires study, practice and mentorship. Very few successful authors ever published their first draft of their first work. Nearly all had to expend considerable effort to improve their craft. Here are some ways to prepare for that moment of publication. These tips also help keep you on your toes after publication for better and better writing results as your career develops.

1) Read, read, read in your field. You can never read too much when you’re trying to excel as a writer. Reading in your field helps you develop a discerning eye. You need this discerning eye for when you step back and look at your own work.

2) Cultivate role models. Know whorepparttar 128506 top-selling authors are in your field. Find out more about them. How did they get to where they are? Do searches inrepparttar 128507 Internet (available in most libraries-ask your librarian how to use a search engine) for information about particular authors whose careers you admire. Let your role models inspire rather than daunt you. There is no competition, only inspiration, potential teachers and opportunities for cooperation. That author you envy this year may be writing a blurb for your first novel next year.

3) Research your markets. If you want to publish in periodicals, whether literary fiction, journalistic writing, or anything else, realize publication standards serve a purpose other than to frustrate new authors.

4) Take classes. Many cities offer writing classes through community colleges or local writing groups. Online writing classes are popping up everywhere. If possible, choose a writing teacher who has published in a field you’d like to enter. Even better, find someone you already consider a mentor. Not every published author has what it takes to offer beginning writers what they need, but many do.

5) Join or start a writer’s group in your area. We teach best what we most need to learn. There is no better way to improve your own writing than to help others with theirs.

6) Find a writing buddy with whom to check in on a regular basis. The two of you can be each others’ inspiration, accountability market, guidepost and reality check. Having structure and someone to check in with may help you look forward to your otherwise lonely writing sessions.

Platform Development Tip #1: Switch Writing Hats!

Written by Jill Nagle


Platform-Building Tip #1: Switch Writing Hats!

Around eighty percent of nonfiction books today are written by “experts,” that is people who have a) earned credentials inrepparttar field they’re writing about, b) germinated information via articles, live presentations or other media, or c) had extraordinary, unique or memorably told life experiences relevant to their topic.

For an autobiographical work, such as a memoir, an author needn’t have any special expertise—she isrepparttar 128504 foremost authority on her own life. For a how-to or self-help book, however,repparttar 128505 first thing mainstream publishers want to know is, “Doesrepparttar 128506 author have a platform?”

Amongrepparttar 128507 multiple definitions of “platform” in Merriam Webster’s 10th edition are 1) a place from which to speak, 2) a set of principles, and 3) a vehicle for carrying things. All these are important to an author’s platform. The good news is, inrepparttar 128508 six to eighteen months it will take most authors to write either their book proposal or their entire book, they can develop a platform.

Here are some things editors look for in a platform:

- publications inrepparttar 128509 field demonstrating your expertise - a mailing list - pamphlets, tapes or other media carrying messages related to those in your book - teaching or leading experience onrepparttar 128510 topic of your book - a column - a unique point of view with demonstrable appeal - regular speaking engagements - courses taught at a local venue - a well-designed website

The section ofrepparttar 128511 nonfiction proposal entitled Author’s Bio or Author’s Credentials detailsrepparttar 128512 information aboutrepparttar 128513 author’s platform. Many aspiring authors I work with, at least initially, grossly underrepresent themselves in this section.

SOLUTION 1: WORK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE—THEN SWITCH HATS! Assume that you probably already have more of a platform than you know. Instead of beginning by writing your bio in paragraph form, put on your Scribe hat and make a list—yes, that’s right, a long, tedious, unsexy list—of everything you’ve done that seems even remotely related to your book.

Once you’ve made your boring list, switch hats. You’re now a Publishing Consultant looking over your client’s resume. How are you going to make her shine? Simple—you’re going to take everything even remotely relevant torepparttar 128514 book and change into a language that will make publishers perk up their ears. How do you know what will make publishers perk up their ears?

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