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Earn Money From Freelance Writing
If your writing skills are not so good, or you’ve failed your English test on the high school, you may be feeling a little slighted about writing an article, report, sales copy or ebook. If it’s your case, there is a solution just for you. ...
Freelance Writing on the Internet
So, you’ve decided to take up a career in freelance writing. You’ve hooked up the computer, installed the printer, and learnt the nitty-gritty of your word processor. You’ve maybe even been published a couple of times. You’re all set to conquer the...
How to Multiply Your Freelance Writing Work
You can turn your $200 fee to write a press release into $2,000 to carry out an entire PR campaign simply by convincing clients to invest in campaigns, instead of individual assignments. Campaigns achieve better results and cost less in the...
Listen Up and Improve your Writing
Are you a good listener? Almost everyone will answer this question affirmatively. However, listening is not the same as hearing; it requires concentration, effort and practice. To be an effective listener, you must be an active participant of...
The online writing business requires constant and regular writing
Many writers do not understand that the online writing business is very different from the offline writing world. The economics are totally different and no amount of lobbying and noise will change that. Sadly, because of this reason, many good...
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Platform Development Tip #1: Switch Writing Hats!
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 in the 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 is the foremost authority on her own life. For a how-to or self-help book, however, the first thing mainstream publishers want to know is, “Does the author have a platform?”
Among the 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, in the 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 in the field demonstrating your expertise
- a mailing list
- pamphlets, tapes or other media carrying messages related to those in your book
- teaching or leading experience on the 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 of the nonfiction proposal entitled Author’s Bio or Author’s Credentials details the information about the 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 to the 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?
Switch hats again. You’re an Acquisitions Editor at a major
publishing house sitting behind a desk, asking yourself, which of these 163 proposals that arrived this week is worth risking my reputation, bank account and job to publish? Then put your Publishing Consultant hat back on, and do your translation—but don’t forget about that anxious editor.
Here’s an example:
Bob Jones, who’s writing a book on personal accounting and finance for the masses, picks a phrase from his Scribe list, “Instructor at Coleridge Community College for twelve years.” With his Publishing Consultant hat on, he rewrites this phrase to read “translated high-level accounting concepts into laypeople’s language to over 3,000 adults of various backgrounds over twelve years.”
Moving right along, Bob changes “facilitated students home accounting practices, enabling them to pay bills and prepare taxes with greater efficiency” to “Over these twelve years, the author developed a series of steps, called the Number Crunch Shuffle. Students consistently report that the Number Crunch Shuffle helps them overcome their fear of numbers, streamlines their home accounting process and cuts their bill and tax preparation time in half.
guerilla tip: Bob didn’t really call these steps the “Number Crunch Shuffle” at the time he taught them at Coleridge Community College. He got help developing this tag for the technique around which his book is built. However, he did develop the method itself while teaching those 3,000 students.
guerilla insight: There’s plenty of reality to work with. Take what’s there and describe it in new and exciting ways. Find a gem that makes your book special and give it an attention-grabbing name.
You are welcome to reprint this article any time, anywhere with no further permission, and no payment, provided the following is included at the end or beginning:
Author Jill Nagle is founder and principal of GetPublished,
http://www.GetPublished.com, which provides coaching, consulting, ghostwriting, classes and do-it-yourself products to emerging and published authors. Her most recent book is How to Find An Agent Who Can Sell Your Book for Top Dollar http://www.FindTheRightAgent.com.
About the Author
Author Jill Nagle is founder and principal of GetPublished,
http://www.GetPublished.com, which provides coaching, consulting, ghostwriting, classes and do-it-yourself products to emerging and published authors. Her most recent book is How to Find An Agent Who Can Sell Your Book for Top Dollar http://www.FindTheRightAgent.com.
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