Carol Adler's Blog

Writing, Writers & Publishing

9/21/2016

My personal opinions about writing, writers, publishing and the book industry in general.

What I believe in:

 ***Quality content
 ***Quality writing
 ***Quality publishing

Notice how many times I’ve repeated the word quality. I stand behind quality work and quality service. I give my all to my clients and I want them to know that. I am deeply committed to delivering a product that looks good and reads well. If my clients aren’t satisfied with the drafted material I’ve completed for them, I reassure them we’ll start over. I’ll be there for them until we get it right!

The same standards hold true for my publishing business. We are a boutique co-publishing company, which means that unlike most online turnkey web businesses that produce whatever is submitted and call it a book, we accept only a small percentage of the manuscripts that are submitted to us.

I or a competent member of my staff personally read a portion of every manuscript. Usually I can tell within the first 20-25 pages whether the author is on target with their material, has something valuable to say and is saying it in a unique way. I do not intend to be dismissive, but after awhile, it becomes obvious if a work is not yet ready to be published. Some writers may submit a work that has potential but may still need a great deal of work. Often, however, they are unwilling to admit this (“my word is the word of God… don’t you dare change one word, etc.”).

If I feel a work isn’t ready for publishing but the author feels otherwise—if they really want to get a book out there, I suggest they go to one of the many turnkey online companies to publish it. Rates are reasonable and some don’t charge anything at all. I don’t know who’s paying the salaries of their book designers, editors and proofreaders, but if their business model works for them and they’re making profits, all the more power to them.

I do know, however, that I wouldn’t entrust my work to an online self-publishing company that promises free editing and proofreading.
If you shop around, you’ll find a variety of co-publishing and publishing service packages as well as self-publishing ones. I offer consulting services for those who are confused about the different packages or about the wording of a publishing contract.
Recently I served as a publishing consultant for a man who was about to sign with a co-publishing company that offered an interesting contract. They did not charge for editing, proofreading, book cover and interior design and layout. Their only fee was for the purchase of 500 books—at print cost.
They also offered wholesaling and distribution. This meant the books could be sold not only online but also through brick & mortar bookstores. To fulfill the brick & mortar bookstore requirement, as I mentioned earlier, this meant the books would have to be printed offset rather than digitally. (It is an industry requirement that only books that are printed offset are entitled to be placed in brick & mortar bookstores.)
This publishing company also offered free marketing and promotion services.

I was amazed because it seemed to be the best of all possible worlds and yet I couldn’t understand how they could make any money. The book in consideration was 600 pages—twice the size of a standard book these days. Most digital or online publishers would suggest that it be divided in two or cut down to approximately 300 pages. The reason for this is the simple mathematics of digital printing. The unit cost for a print on demand book always stays the same, regardless of how many books one prints—unless one prints over 3000 books at a time. The unit cost will then start to drop. However at that point, often the book will be printed offset—a longer process without the benefits of digital printing—because the unit cost will be even less.
A book that is 600 pages in length would have a very high print cost because the unit cost is based on the total number of pages. In order to make significant profits, the publisher must charge at least three times the print cost, to allow for retailer discounts (online bookstores usually discount the list price). The high retail cost would influence sales significantly.
Many editors candidly state, “If you can’t say it in 300 pages, it’s not worth saying.” In other words, it is critically important to learn how to be succinct. Readers are turned off by books that become repetitive and boring. Most often, unless the book requires extensive footnotes, quoted material, diagrams, photos and graphics, I’ve discovered it could easily be given a good barbering.
Added to all of the amazing benefits of publishing with this particular company was the author’s compensation. He would be receiving all the revenues from book sales after the distributor had deducted their share!
I studied the contract, reviewed it with the author, asking many questions, and could find nothing wrong with it. I did ask the author to have the publishing company send him a marketing plan, but apparently they were unwilling to do so. They merely told him they were going to conduct an “aggressive campaign.” That was the only red flag, but it was a big one. The term “aggressive” is meaningless unless accompanied by a document that spells out exactly what the publisher plans to do, how much money they intended to invest and how they plan to do it (with a time line).
Shortly afterward, I edited an exceptionally long manuscript for a client. Since it was a textbook and not what is called by the industry a “trade book” or product for general consumption, the length was permissible.
After I’d completed editing the work, my client asked if Dandelion would publish it. She was eager to get top sales for it; in fact, she even envisioned it as a best seller. Of course, she wanted to see it on the shelves of the brick & mortar bookstores.
I don’t like to disillusion an author because I could always be wrong. Let’s say I was 99% positive that this book did not fit best seller requirements. First of all, it was an esoteric book that had the potential for being banned or censored by some religious groups. Second, even if censorship would work in favor of delivering sales from the curious and clueless, these individuals would find her book difficult to read. I mentioned previously that it would be classified as a textbook.
It was not a trade book. It was not for the general public. Any book that will probably not appeal to the masses usually has little potential for hitting the best seller lists, or even for getting top sales. Clearly, my client had not visualized her readership when she listed her goals for this book—or, for that matter, when she set out to write it.

I told my client it was an exceptional book; that was true and I felt honored to have had an opportunity to edit it. However, I told her frankly that I didn’t see how my publishing company could get many sales for it because the work had such a select (and narrow) readership. Also, since we print our books digitally (print on demand), brick & mortar bookstores wouldn’t sell it.
I suggested she send her manuscript to the “amazing publishing company” whose publishing contract I had just reviewed. It seemed to answer all her needs, and the price was certainly right.
She did as I suggested, but—here’s the clincher—the “deal” they offered her was considerably different from the one that was given to the man whose contract I’d reviewed. She was asked to purchase 1,000, not 500 copies, and they asked her cut the book size in half. If she didn’t want to do that work herself, they would do it, for a fee. Also, she would not receive all the revenues from sales. Again, no marketing plan was forthcoming, yet the word “aggressive” was included in her conversation with the company’s director.
I was puzzled by the discrepancy in the two publishing contracts, so I contacted the man who had consulted with me.
Following is the information I did NOT know until then:

The publisher was in fact doing a first print run of 1000, but one of the man’s clients who was a long-time best-selling author with this publisher, was paying for half the books, or 500 copies. This meant the man only had to buy the other 500. The celebrity author planned to give away those 500 books to his fan club. (Did you note that? Did you also note that this client is a best-selling author? I forgot to mention that he is also a marketing professional and a member of the National Speakers’ Bureau.) This promotion plan already gave the man a head start for his sales, since the best-selling author’s fan club included some heavy-duty marketing people (in addition to himself) who, the publisher was well aware, would get behind the book and promote it through all of their own venues.
I don’t know yet if this story has a happy ending, since the book was just published, but the “profit” question for the publisher was easily solved. The publishing company was making so much money on their celebrity author’s books, they could afford to give his friend a good deal—especially if that celebrity author made a commitment to buy the first 500 copies and do some significant marketing and promotion for it himself.
Later, I learned that the publishing company did no online marketing and promotion for the book. Although the author has a website, he was not informed that it might be a good idea to promote (and sell) the book on that site. He is not particularly computer savvy and knows nothing about social networking and online promotion strategies. Apparently the publisher doesn’t consider online marketing particularly important, so it was not included in their “aggressive marketing campaign.”

Since the book was written to support this practitioner’s desire to enhance his client base, both offline in his physical office, and online through teleconferencing, in my humble opinion (IMHO) I believe it would surely be in his best interest to link his website to the book.

The reason for citing this example is not to try to find fault with this particular publisher, but to urge you to research your publishing choices carefully. Ask questions. Get definite answers. If someone is getting a better deal than you, as in this case, find out why. Be a good detective.

Publishers Are Secular Priests

9/5/2016

“Publishing is not really a business at all, at least not a very good business,” declared American editor and publisher Jason Epstein. “If it’s money you want to make, go into a real business and take your chances… publishing is a vocation, a secular priesthood for publishers are caretakers of our collective memory, indispensable servants to those other caretakers, poets, story tellers, librarians, teachers and scholars.”

Did I cringe when I read that statement? I hope so—otherwise I, like many other publishers would be living in denial. Every serious publisher is well aware that it’s not the brass ring of a best seller but something else far more significant that motivates us to dedicate ourselves to delivering quality books.

We “secular priests” are also deeply committed to the backlist: preservation of the written word. If only one person finds value in a book that is out of print, it is worth the effort to re-issue that work and make it available.

Epstein’s backlist mission began with the creation of paperback books, which cost less and were also easier on the publishers’ budget. However, paperbacks still required print runs that often led to out of print books and investments in inventory and warehousing.

Print on Demand – Backlist Bonanza

The major breakthrough occurred when digital technologies burst into the marketplace and print on demand became a reality.

As a writer who signed a contract with one of the major publishers for a book that was censored shortly after it appeared, and as a publisher who opened one of the first “traditional” online publishing companies in 2000, I knew we were on the brink of a book industry revolution. I realized that digital on demand production and delivery technologies were a way to save the backlist… and also distribute censored books to a public hungry for the truth. The Internet was a refreshingly free and open venue where it seemed possible to avoid censorship and book banning—at least for awhile.

“Books written last year, ten years or a hundred years ago will always be available, thanks to print on demand,” I wrote in newsletters and press releases that described the Dandelion vision.

I recalled looking forward to a time when we would be able to provide one-off book buying and seamless order and fulfillment from a shopping cart website.

Colleagues thought I was crazy. “It’ll never happen,” they retorted.

“And then,” I added, ignoring their rebuttals, “one day someone will come up with a portable print on demand machine that will print books a minute at a time. Like a jukebox, the buyer will punch in the letter and number code, press the ‘Start’ button and out of the chute will slide a perfectly produced paperback book. We can then place these glorified printers in bookstores, coffee houses, libraries… wherever people want to read, discuss and buy books.”

“It’ll never happen,” my colleagues repeated.

Today, thanks to Jason Epstein’s Espresso Book Making Machine® and his mission to save the backlist, it has happened… and all the nay-sayers are now jumping on the bandwagon.

Do your research

Once your manuscript is finished and ready to go into production, do your homework before deciding how you want to publish it.

In the checklist below I’ve separated book and article publishing, since you may wish to do both. I certainly encourage publishing articles as well as full-length manuscripts, especially if they’ll give you good name exposure that could help promote your book as well as your company.

Books

Study the book industry. Learn everything there is to know about publishing.
Research industries related to book publishing (audio books, ebooks, films, etc.).
Visit many publishing websites.
Become familiar with book industry associations (Literary Marketplace, Publishers Marketing Association, etc.).

Join writing and publishing forums.
Learn how to write a book proposal.
Learn how to develop a media kit.
Interview authors to learn how they publish.
Interview literary agents.
Interview publishers and editors.
Be sure to check out my websites at DandelionBooks.com and ghostwritercaroladler.com.
Feel free to contact me with your questions and concerns.

August 17th, 2016

8/17/2016

Previously I mentioned giving your book away and I pointed out that often this idea is greeted by shock until or unless a savvy business person perceives it as an investment.

I’m sure you know how many millions of dollars are spent on media ads. Why not consider your book an advertisement for you and your business?

This is the best way to view any publishing venture. I’m quick to point out to anyone who comes to me for co-publishing with my company, Dandelion Books www.dandelion-books.com that 1) they, the author, are in charge of marketing and promotion—I can put them in touch with excellent offline and online marketing and promotion people, but Dandelion is only the publisher; 2) it is extremely important not to ask how many books one needs to sell in order to break even on one’s investment. To release that thought process which often becomes an obsession and ultimately turns into a failure model, I suggest that the book be categorized as a marketing and promotion tool rather than a stand-alone product. Whatever profits are generated from sales can be re-invested in advertising and promotion.

Note how this strategy changes the whole perspective of exactly what this book is and how it is to be used. The truth is: authors who write quality books will only begin to understand the value of their product after they’ve published it and start to get feedback from their readers. It’s simply a matter of being in the flow of abundance and understanding how the marketplace works.

We're living in a digital, electronic multi-media age

If you choose to work with a co-publishing company, i.e., a company that you contract to do all the production and print setup, you will want to work with one that understands and uses “on demand” printing and distribution.

If you’re considering placing your book with a publisher that does not have a website, use the Internet or any other digital technologies—beware! This is a sign that they would have a difficult time completing pre-press and post-press book production processes efficiently and economically.

Today’s online book marketing and promotion capabilities far surpass any type of exposure and publicity that currently exists through other venues, especially for new or unknown authors. It’s another red flag if a publisher is unfamiliar with Web 2.0 marketing technologies and if viral marketing and social networking are not part of their promotion package.

More about Print on Demand (POD)

In the book industry, on-demand usually refers to “print on demand” and is abbreviated as “POD.” It is now becoming SOP (standard operating procedure) to print books at the time of purchase, after the customer has paid for them.

At the turn of the century, POD took the book industry by storm and by 2004 it had gained such a stronghold, the handwriting was “virtually on the wall”: Gutenberg & Co.—most forms of offset printing using metal plates and rollers—were on their way to the graveyard. Today a small table-top printer (The Espresso Book Making Machine®) can produce “15-20 library quality paperback books per hour” –a process that only a few years ago used to take days.

If Gutenberg led to literacy, POD has led to poderacy. Taken to the ultimate, POD dispensed with the need to:

Warehouse books and pay all the warehousing fees, insurance, taxes, etc., etc. As soon as a book is purchased, it is printed from files archived in the digital printing equipment. Within 48 business hours, it’s on its way to the customer.
Pay huge sums of money to an offset printer for large print runs.
Use wholesalers and distributors for trucking cartons from wholesaler to distributor to bookstore warehouses, and finally to the bookstore, where the customer purchases an often war-torn looking product.
Force the publisher to take the loss of returned and often damaged books.
Invest huge sums of money to print a second edition if the author wishes to correct errors or make other editorial changes… and suffer the loss of an out-dated first edition.

Today, most publishers use digital printing unless a book requires a large print run. Recently, Lightning Source International introduced speedy offset printing for larger print orders. Printing companies can now use digitally implemented “hybrid” models that are more efficient and economical for any size print run.

Obviously, anything manufactured in volume will be more cost effective than one-off or on demand production. Also, if a book requires special high resolution reproductive work that a digital printer may be incapable of performing, it will be offset printed. As digital printers continue to become more sophisticated, however, this will no longer be a challenge.

Welcome to the 21st century where you, the author, are in charge of your publishing options and the finished product.

More about the Espresso Book Making Machine® and the Backlist

Book printing has taken a giant leap forward not only off the page and virtually “into space,” but also reincarnating in digital format through an amazing device known as the Espresso Book Making Machine.®

Jason Epstein, former editorial director of Random House and founder and CEO of On Demand Books, the company that markets the Espresso, is one of the pioneers of the new book printing and storage revolution.

The backlist—backbone of the book industry

In 1951 when Epstein went to work for Doubleday, it didn’t take long for him to learn that the key to book industry survival is “backlist.”

As Epstein expounded in his 2008 Hong Kong Book Fair address, publishing cannot exist without backlist:

“Backlist is a publisher’s most important asset: titles that have covered their initial costs, earned out the authors’ advances, require no further investment except the cost of making and shipping the book itself and which sell steadily year after year without advertising or significant sales expense.”

“Without a substantial list of such titles a publisher cannot survive,” stated Epstein. “The same can be said of a civilization, for the books that survive the test of time, books that are treasured and read year after year, are humanity’s backlist, our collective brain.

“I do not refer simply to the classics of our various traditions but also to the more recent books,” continued Epstein, “hundreds of which are published every year and join the backlist if not permanently at least long enough to move the process forward, providing depth and complexity to our understanding for those who seek it.

“Backlist deepens our knowledge of human experience past and present. Without these books we would not know who we are or where we came from or where we may be going.”

Publishing & Promoting Your Book - Part I

8/2/2016

“For better or for worse,” the knot has now been tied between The Elite and The Masses in the world of publishing. Also “for better or for worse,” this is a marriage that is bound, or doomed to last.

At the 2009 60th annual National Book Awards ceremony, host and comedian Andy Borowitz said when he was first invited to emcee the awards, he was so honored, he told them that he’d have done it for free. As it turned out, he quipped, “The NBA (National Book Association) had the same idea.” And when it comes to the economics of the publishing world, Borowitz said, “We’re all in the same sinking ship.”
[http://features.csmonitor.com/books/2009/11/19/2009-national-book-award-winners/]

The Burnham Wood has come to Dunsinane *—and none too soon as far as the growing group of outstanding authors (The Masses) is concerned. Bleeding from multiple stabs of undeserved pink rejection slips, they now realize that for too long they’ve been slighted by an industry that was never set up to publish hundreds of thousands of books annually. It was never even set up to publish one hundredth of the outstanding books that deserve to be out there in the marketplace.

Bottom Line: Today, just as in the automobile industry, the resulting hybrids of traditional, co- and self-publishing companies often operating under the same corporate roof are here to stay, often not by choice but by necessity. The masses, aka savvy online authors and marketers, are already eating cake.** The Internet has been a boon to entrepreneurs and marketing gurus--especially for those who understand the value of using a book with their byline as a marketing tool.

Digital technologies came, saw and conquered the marketplace and this is a fact that no traditional publisher can ignore. That they have “evolutionized” the publishing industry is another fact that Wall Street as well as the corporate media moguls have been forced to accept—even though at times the truth has been hard going down. Collapse of the print newspaper and magazine industries are imminent and no one can deny that the latest business model for the book industry—1) print on demand hard copy books, 2) virtual books delivered wirelessly or as downloads to computers and reading devices, and 3) books instantly printed at the point of sale—are both a reader’s and writer’s bonanza. For the entrepreneur and business owner, a book bearing their byline is even more than that because of the value it adds to their promotional toolkits.

The Information Age and advent of the Internet with the World Wide Web followed by sophisticated search engine technologies have turned book-buying strategies upside-down. Instead of publishers dictating what readers should buy, readers are telling publishers what they need to produce—and if they refuse, all is not lost. They’ll publish the works themselves.

For the enterprising business person who knows how to brand and create trends, a book reinforces the link between you and your customers or the public at large. It sets the tone of trust, quality and dependability that gives people that feeling of doing business with someone you feel you know personally even if you don’t.

Never before has the world been friendlier to book authors and never before have there been so many venues for publishing and selling books.

A brief history of publishing

Not so long ago, unless you wanted to be labeled a “vanity author,” your works had to be published by a traditional publisher. “Vanity” was a term that was frowned upon by elitist publishers, published authors and any writer who took their career seriously. They never would have considered vanity or self-publishing. Today that term has taken its place among hoop skirts, corsets and button-hook elbow length gloves. It is not only archaic and outmoded but has also undergone a serious semantic face lift. “Vanity” publishing is now known as “self-publishing” and in most business sectors is treated with the utmost respect because of its marketing and advertising potential.

Traditional publishing and how it works

A writer submits their finished manuscript either directly to a publisher or in more recent times, indirectly through a literary agent. Today most of the large traditional publishers will not accept unsolicited manuscripts. The literary agent shops your book to appropriate publishers or to the ones with whom they have “connections.” Politics has always played a key role in getting a book on the desk of the editor-in-chief. We need to be honest about that, just as we need to be honest about “vanity” publishing in former days.

Often, unless they looked for the evidence, the reading public never learned that a significant percentage of traditionally published books were subsidized by a private foundation, benefactor or corporation. Subsidies were in the form of grants and charitable donations from foundations or trusts, or they were simply business arrangements made between the CEO and marketing director of a large corporation and the publisher.

An agreement to buy the first print run of 10,000 books within the first 30 days at retail price creates a best seller. Or, simply the sponsorship of a print run of over 10,000 copies gives the publisher enough capital to produce the book and get it into distribution.

A traditional publisher pays all the production and administrative expenses. They used to make the full investment in marketing and promotion as well, but today, unless the author is well-known, this is no longer part of the package. In fact, often the publisher requires a commitment from the author to deliver a certain sum to be applied toward the “marketing budget.”

They may also request a new author to contract a publicist for at least six months to a year after the book reaches the street. These are things the author learns about after the book has been accepted and they’re about to sign on the dotted line. At that point they may be so excited to be working with a bona fide “traditional publisher,” they’ll spend two or three times the amount on a publicist than they would have spent had they self- or co-published their book. (Remember, no publisher can guarantee sales, especially for a new or unknown author. Therefore, in a marketplace glutted with new books, whether a new or unknown author publishes traditionally or self-publishes, the stakes are almost the same.)

The author retains the copyright for the book; a publisher merely acquires a license to publish and sell it. The author will receive a royalty or percentage of the sale price of each book sold. (“Sale price” can be significantly different from the “list price.” Amazon.com, for example, discounts most books.)

Books that are traditionally published have certain advantages over self- or co-published books:

Media will interview the author (especially if the publisher and media network are owned by the same corporation).
Top of the line literary magazines and publishing trade journals, including library journals (the ones that give the nod to acquisition directors and bookstore buyers) will review the books.
Brick & mortar bookstores will give the book shelf space (at least for 30 days; if the book catches on, shelf and display space and time will be extended).
Brick & mortar bookstores will also welcome book signings, readings and appearances. They may even invest in marketing and advertising (especially if the stores are partly owned by the publishing /media conglomerate).

It would seem that an author should be thrilled to have their manuscript accepted by a traditional publisher because: 1) they don’t have to pay any of the production costs and may not have to pay marketing and promotion costs, although this is becoming rare, and 2) they get the best possible media coverage, free.

The cold hard truth

Most books don’t make it past the 30-day point and the game is over almost before it begins. Books that don’t catch fire and start to deliver significant sales numbers will be removed from brick & mortar bookshelves and trucked back to the distributors’ and wholesalers’ warehouses where they will be inventoried to collect dust (and fees paid by the publisher) until sold off as remainders, returned to the publisher at the publisher’s expense, or destroyed.

Publishing would be a losing business if not for a few staple categories, such as diet books, cookbooks, chick lit, romance and whodunits; and the publisher’s stall of celebrity authors. Publishers owned by film companies can also make up for losses through subsidiary rights or other versions of the book as films, DVDs, etc.

Etude

6/24/2016

One day it will seem so natural to slip into
the largeness of ourselves it will simply
happen as if it had always been.

And in the stillness that follows, acceptance
will be as guileless as the Master’s chiaroscuro
illuminated from within. And even

if we cannot yet pluck the strings of
recognition, even if we cannot yet
touch what seems too tenuous,

too abstract; even if we can only
feel the slightest trembling,
we will still sense that unnamable joy

that lives in the delicate sinews
of remembrance tethered to respond
to every nuance that stitches us

together and that reaches beyond
even the farthest boundaries of
ourselves. This is the Event

for which we are created. This is
certainty beyond hesitation.
Jubilee’s anticipation harvesting

consent. For is it not true
that once touched by The Immutable,
there’s no going back? No excuses

or apologies, nothing to forgive
or confess? What we know
and feel is what only we can

express. This is the music
of the spheres transporting us to another
universe beyond mere

platitudes and homely rituals.
And this is why we have deliberately
created ourselves in our own
image. Each stanza,
each verse, flesh on
flesh, irremediable confirmation.
-Carol Adler, from Chaconne

Horton's WHO

6/7/2016

Following is another story I want to share with you that was told to me by a good friend and colleague, also a writer and editor.

“I’m married to an amazing man,” she told me, “and he has an amazing story.” I knew that her husband, “Tim,” was a well-known artist. His works could be found in most of the permanent collections of major art museums throughout the world.

“One day,” continued my friend, “I suggested to Tim that he write his memoirs and he responded, as I knew he would, “But I’m not a writer. I’m a painter! You’re the writer. Why don’t you write them for me?”

“That’s all the encouragement I needed—and in fact, that’s probably what I wanted him to say! I’d already created an MP3 file on my computer for collecting the interviews with him that I would transcribe and turn into a book.

“We had a wonderful time doing the recording sessions because it gave us a chance to reminisce about the many years we’d spent together. His childhood was also very dramatic. His parents were dairy farmers from the Midwest and neither of them understood or appreciated their youngest son’s passion to become an artist. It’s an amazing, bittersweet story how he ran away from home, hiding as a stowaway on a freight train and ending up in Chicago where he earned money painting signs and houses… eventually winning a scholarship to the Chicago Art Institute. It’s a real American rags to riches story!

“Upon completing the draft of Tim’s autobiography, I shared it with an editor colleague for her input, but when I received her comments a short time later, I was devastated as well as extremely disappointed.

“Here’s what she wrote:

Dear M,

You did such a great job! You’re such a good writer. BUT… I have to be totally honest with you. Otherwise I couldn’t live with myself, and we’re close enough that I know you’ll understand exactly what I mean.

Tim isn’t in this book. He’s had such an extraordinary life and his stories are magical. But the reader never really learns about him. We never discover the inner monologue, what he’s thinking and feeling throughout all these experiences. In other words, it’s all about the stories and not about Tim.

What are his deepest thoughts, his feelings, his dreams? How does he feel about such and such? When such and such happened to him, how did he react inwardly? What did he learn from it?

When he paints, what inner process does he go through? Is the preparation easy or difficult? Is it different every time he starts a new work? What are his deepest fears?

I think you know what I mean. A man’s life is here through these anecdotes—and so skillfully written. But the man himself is absent. That’s the most important part of a biography… the part people really want to identify with. What does he really want to tell the reader about himself?

“I showed the letter to my husband, waiting for a response to register in his eyes, his facial expression, his body language.

“Nothing. Nothing at all except a shrug of his shoulders and a secret smile. ‘You see,’ he said at length, ‘that’s the point.’

“‘What do you mean, “that’s the point?”’ I asked him, not understanding.

“‘I’m an artist, not a writer. I paint. Whatever I have to tell the world is in my paintings—and if people don’t understand, if they don’t get it—that’s their problem, not mine. My message to the world is in my art, not in a book.’

“I understood what he was saying, yet deep down, I didn’t totally agree with him. It’s not that he’s so much more than his painting because his art is who he is. And his message is powerful. If it doesn’t move you or ‘get you in the gut,’ he feels as though he’s failed to communicate, to express himself. That communication or expression for him is not through the written word and a published book, but through his paintings.

“Yes, I certainly did understand,” my friend continued, “even though I wasn’t satisfied. I still felt empty. Certainly no artist needs to be called to the witness stand to defend themselves, to explain ‘what their work means’ or ‘what they’re trying to say.’ I was after something different. First and foremost, Tim expresses himself through the medium of painting, the visual arts. He is also a person, and even though the two are integrally linked, he also has the ability, as we all do, to be self-reflective, to view himself as the ‘observer,’ or as he appears as a Self to himself.”

My editor friend was trying to explain the difference between a book written by an artist, and the artist’s output. It’s true that often a creative person also discovers another form of self-validation through a written version of their memoirs.

You: That really is an interesting story, and I have to admit, I’m not a particularly modest person. I do have a high regard for myself, but let’s be honest. A new book has to be original. What would make people want to read and buy my book?

Me: Thank you! That is exactly the question I’ve been waiting for you to ask so I could deliver the meat and potatoes of this book. Let’s not waste another minute! My message to you can be summed up in six little words:

You are your most important asset.

Those six words are your Treasure, your Gold Mine. They include your self-esteem and your self-love. They inspire and motivate you to be the very best you can be at all times, 24/7, whether in the work place, at home, giving a seminar, socializing…

When you believe in yourself and value yourself as your greatest asset, you know you have no other choice than to “go for the gold.” No holds barred. And that’s why you need to write a book—because you have a wealth of material to share with others.

Writing Your Book - Who, What, Where, When & Why....

5/23/2016

The 5 W’s, Starting with Who

Today’s marketplace is flooded with books: old ones, new ones, out-of-print ones and newly reissued ones; fiction, non-fiction, poetry; books on every subject for every age group. There are even books written by dogs to be read to their owners. (I happen to know about this particular subject because I was asked to edit and publish one.) I’m sure other species in the animal kingdom have also authored books.

You: If so many books on every subject imaginable are already out there, why should I or anyone else write another one? Haven’t we reached the saturation point?

Me: Difficult questions deserve easy answers. Simply because a book you write will be yours. Your book that will be the “Hi-5 W + 1 H” that is you: the Who-What-Where-When-Why & How of the person who answers to your name, physical description, birth date and place, etc., etc.

You: You mean The Who That I Am is so incredibly different from other people’s “who’s” that’s it’s actually worthy of a book?

Me: You bet it is! Don’t sell yourself short. And incidentally, speaking of selling, that’s what this is all about. As a business owner, entrepreneur or professional who offers products and services, by now you’ve learned that business—and life—are all about networking or sharing: informing, inspiring, enlightening, entertaining, and telling stories. Your business is your story. And so is a book that bears your byline. Both tell the world who you are and what you’re all about.

Your book is also about success

You probably know by now that the key to success is doing what you love, loving what you do, and finding a way to support yourself in the process. A person who loves nature—hiking and camping, for example, may decide to become a forest ranger. If they also love animals, they may start an exotic animal farm. A person who loves to play the violin may decide to become a concert violinist, violin teacher or orchestral player.

You: Okay, so I do love what I do. You’re right about that. And I do it well. I’m an auto mechanic and I have a repair shop in the medium-size town where I live. Now let’s get back to the book idea. Why do I need to write a book?

Me: You don’t. You don’t have to do anything in this world that you don’t want to! You really don’t have to share your passion for fixing vehicles—I happen to know that you’re also a collector. You have some vintage cars that you’re mighty proud of! (Your eyes start to sparkle.)

I wonder if you have some tips you’d like to share with other folks who love cars as much as you do. How did you get started? Did you have to go to school to earn a degree or did you learn by figuring things out for yourself? I bet you’ve got some interesting stories about those first years working for other mechanics, and then making the decision to open your own shop.

You: Well… I did have some pretty crazy things happen. For a while there one time, during the recession I was wondering how I was going to survive. But I learned some pretty neat tricks about helping folks out and making it a win/win for everyone. You know, I’ve got this incredible ’59 Cadillac Convertible 62-S…

Me: I think you’re catching on! Believe me, every business owner, every entrepreneur and every professional, has a story.

Several years ago, a 59-year-old world champion martial artist who specialized in tai kwan do, contacted me. “I’ve got a great rejuvenation program,” he told me. “Imagine at my age, I’m a world champion. I’m still as strong and agile as I was thirty years ago!”

“I want to share my health and fitness program with the world,” he said excitedly. “I want everyone to know how I stay fit. It’s a mind-body thing. Most people don’t know that.”

I was listening carefully. The all-important “who” was a man who had made a name for himself; he was known the world over for his martial arts achievements at an age when people are supposed to be physically on the decline.

The “what” was a rejuvenation program: this man’s personal fitness regime that he felt he could duplicate and restructure or customize to work for people of all ages and backgrounds, athletic or not.

The “where” was anywhere he could find a listening or reading public, and the “when” was now. Get the book written now. The “why” was obvious. This man was inspired and he wanted to motivate others. He was passionate about helping people live longer and better and showing them how to make the most of every minute of their lives.

He had only one problem. His education had stopped after eighth grade. So he’d come to me, asking me if I would write his book for him.

What an honor! Because this high achiever was determined to make it happen, he’d found an investor to pay for having me ghostwrite his book, and also for setting up a rejuvenation company. He would be the manager and spokesperson for the company, I would direct the publishing division, and we would hire a marketing and promotion director.

Ultimately, the book became his entrance to the local and regional fitness world where he conducted seminars and demonstrations. His target market covered a large demographic group. In addition to the health and fitness crowd ranging from teens to seniors, his program and book attracted martial artists as well as the retired “snowbird” group in the Florida area where he lived. They especially loved the tai chi classes he installed in the various seniors’ communities up and down the Florida coast. He sold books everywhere and even started to do a series of rejuvenation cruise seminars.

As he continued to compete, he won yet another world championship during the year the book was published. Eventually he added more products, including an excellent line of tai chi DVDs. In addition to his martial arts career, he launched two other businesses through the publishing of his book.

Do I Really Need to Write a Book?

4/28/2016

Sooner or later, someone—your business coach, marketing director, mentor, significant other, mother, mother-in-law, astrologer, etc.—is going to tell you that you need to write a book.

“But I’m not a writer,” you protest. “I don’t even know where to begin!”

Or: “I’d love to find time to write a book. I’d also like to find time to go to my son’s Little League games, take in the new show at the Art Museum, learn how to tango, and—”

Or you might come back with a simple: “Why? Why do I need to write a book?”

Meaning, I’ve got enough headaches. Why should I add yet another one?

The message is clear. I get it, and I can see it: Mr. or Ms. Entrepreneur dashing out to the car port, one jacket sleeve dangling, hair brush in teeth, cell phone ringing… writing a book is simply out of the question.

Your time is budgeted down to the nth minute. In addition to managing your staff, overseeing business operations and making executive decisions, you really want to take a more active part in the community; family life suffers more than you care to admit… and you never seem to get caught up either at home or at the office.

Some highly successful business people have yet another reason for not writing a book. They’ll candidly admit that if not for their Dream Team of administrative assistants, they could never compose even the simplest staff memo. It is a fact that often highly successful business people are terrible spellers, know next to nothing about grammar and freak out every time they’re asked to write a simple letter. Some have never even graduated from high school.

Another challenge may be lack of computer skills. A book may seem out of the question except possibly through dictation or interviews captured on a recording machine and transcribed.

And yet… if you ask any professional on the career track, they’ll be quick to tell you that having a published book is essential. If you give workshops and seminars, in addition to providing a product for back of the room sales, a book serves as a glorified business card. It is part of your Professional Package, your Promotional Tool Kit.

Ghostwriters and book doctors to the rescue

In many businesses and professions, ghostwriters, book doctors and editors have become an integral part of the company’s staff. And now with the arrival of blogging, social networking, article posting and other online forms of communication, good writers and editors are in even greater demand.

Sometimes gifts arrive when least expected. I had just electronically delivered a package of edited documents to Perry Mardon http://www.mardoninternational.com who is a highly successful business man—the kind of professional with clearly defined goals and determination to deliver the best of himself at all times (my kind of person!). In Perry’s email confirming that he’d received the documents, he wrote that he’d like to promote one of my products. Did I have a book that would fit into his product line?

That was all the encouragement I needed to start developing a new work that would complement Perry’s business coaching enterprise.

This is my third book about writing and publishing,* but it is the first time I have chosen to develop a work specifically for entrepreneurs and other professionals.

By the time you finish reading this book, I hope you will agree that a published book bearing your byline is a necessity, as important to your business as recruiting and training a competent staff, tracking sales leads, analyzing campaign successes and failures, and maintaining an excellent customer relations department.

In the long run, writing a book or having it written for you is a small investment in time, energy and money compared to both the tangible and intangible returns. In addition to new business leads and enhanced branding, you will experience the rewards of recognition from people who thought they knew who you were and what you stood for, but who now view you with even greater understanding, respect and admiration.

Another built-in bonus that by itself is more than enough reason for you to write a book: ultimately you will discover that by sharing yourself with others you’ll end up getting to know yourself even better. That self-knowledge, to paraphrase Perry Mardon’s words, is exactly what is required to transform you from a “just okay” business leader and manager to a great one.

Pointers from the Celestine Prophecy

3/28/2016

However great a man's natural talent may be, the art of writing cannot be learned all at once.
—Jean Jacques Rousseau

For my second “mini- dissection” or fiction analysis, I’ve chosen The Celestine Prophecy, An Adventure, by James Redfield, not only because—to everyone’s surprise—it became a best-seller, but also because the first edition was self-published.

It is a well-known story that Redfield traveled around the country peddling his books from the back of his trunk. Probably the author was as shocked as everyone else when people started asking for the book in stores. News about the contents of the book spread like wildfire.

Then, finally “the dream” came true when a major publisher paid Redfield for the publishing rights.

What was the key to Redfield’s success? Part of it was timing and had little to do with the book itself.

It is interesting to note that the first chapter is titled “A Critical Mass.” In a way, the book was prophesying its own success. A critical mass is the number of people required in order to make a shift in consciousness. This book was published in 1993, six years after the occurrence of a “critical mass” spiritual event known as Harmonic Convergence:

On August l6-l7, l987, the world observed its first Harmonic Convergence, a global event wherein Humanity focused on helping the Human Race through the power of thought, meditation, and prayer.

In 1987 thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of individuals throughout the planet experienced an energy change or shift that motivated them to take a careful look at their lives. Many people discovered their life purpose; others felt compelled to make lifestyle changes.

Most of these people couldn’t explain why they felt differently. They only knew deep inside at the soul level that they must “take action” or move forward on their path of self-discovery. Some people refer to this type of urgency a “calling” or spiritual awakening. It was as if their Higher Self was encouraging them to “follow their passion,” or their “bliss.”

In the years that ensued, a critical mass started to build toward understanding that we humans are spiritual beings in physical bodies.

Consider in greater detail the history of that era. While Redfield was writing The Celestine Prophecy, the public was starting to learn about and embrace a larger reality. This reality, older than the one that serves as the structure for modern or Western belief systems, perceives the human being as a physical/mental/emotional/spiritual energetic system. All four energy forms are interconnected and linked to a unified field.

In other words, “we are all One.” From a holographic perspective, this means that each of us is linked to the One Creator or Source. We were also given another “insight”: each of us creates our own reality. This means we also create our own future. Free will and destiny take on different meanings when we view our reality from this perspective.

These spiritual insights radically conflict with organized religion and other traditionally held views of the universe upon which Western medical and scientific belief systems are constructed. Therefore, it is no surprise that the book became a best-seller. Forbidden fruits are hot items, especially if banned by religious groups.

Imagine the chaos—consider the consequences—if everyone in the world suddenly realized and became committed to the belief that we do indeed create our own reality and therefore are responsible for every one of our actions!

Redfield opened the door for the next awakening that occurred approximately 20 years later when the film, What the Bleep? and the DVD, The Secret, were released. The second spiritual wave was even more powerful than the first, and both have continued to move us toward critical mass understanding of who we are and why we are here.

Recently the film Avatar was released. This extraordinary work delivers a message that had its first major impact in the Sixties: “Make Love, Not War.” In 2010 even more people have come to realize that one does not “fight wars” in order to “create peace.”

Knowledge is power. The Celestine Prophecy divulges spiritual teachings—the natural laws of the universe—that had been hidden from humanity for centuries. Redfield delivers these spiritual teachings in such an engaging manner, readers are immediately captivated. People like to read mystery stories and they also like secrets and unsolved riddles that lead people on a series of adventures.

Spiritual teachers, healers and therapists recognized the advantage of using a well-plotted story and strong characters liberally seasoned with plenty of mystique (*hidden artifacts* and *forbidden information*) for a textbook. Celestine Prophecy study and discussion groups sprouted up throughout the world.

It is a marketer’s dream for a book to be used as a teaching manual. The other bonus was the fact that seminar participants were so excited about the book’s contents, eagerly they spread the word and gathered more aficionados . The book was soon published in every major language. It became a global sensation.

REDFIELD’S TECHNIQUES

Following is the excerpt from The Celestine Prophecy that I have chosen to discuss:

I drove up to the restaurant and parked, then leaned back in my seat to think for a moment. Charlene, I knew would already be inside, waiting to talk with me. But why? I hadn’t heard a word from her in six years. Why would she have shown up now, just when I had sequestered myself in the woods for a week?

I stepped out of the truck and walked toward the restaurant. Behind me, the last glow of a sunset sank in the west had cast highlights of golden amber across the wet parking lot. Everything had been drenched an hour earlier by a brief thunderstorm, and now the summer evening felt cool and renewed, and because of the fading light, almost surreal. A half moon hung overhead.

As I walked, old images of Charlene filled my mind. Was she still beautiful, intense? How would time have changed her? And what was I to think of this manuscript she had mentioned—the ancient artifact found in South America that she couldn’t wait to tell me about?

“I have a two-hour layover at the airport,” she had said on the telephone. “Can you meet me for dinner? You’re going to love what this manuscript says—it’s just your kind of mystery.”

My kind of mystery? What did she mean by that?

Inside, the restaurant was crowded. Several couples waited for tables. When I found the hostess, she told me Charlene had already been seated and directed me toward a terraced area above the main dining room.

I walked up the steps and became aware of a crowd of people surrounding one of the tables. The crowd included two policemen. Suddenly, the policemen turned and rushed past me and down the steps. As the rest of the people dispersed, I could see past them to the person who seemed to have been the center of attention—a woman, still seated at the table… Charlene!

I quickly walked up to her. “Charlene, what’s going on? Is anything wrong?”

She tossed her head back in mock exasperation and stood up, flashing her famous smile. I noticed that her hair was perhaps different, but her face was exactly as I remembered: small delicate features, wide mouth, huge blue eyes.

“You wouldn’t believe it,” she said, pulling me into a friendly hug. “I went to the rest room a few minutes ago and while I was gone, someone stole my briefcase.”

                                --The Celestine Prophecy, by James Redfield, ©1993, Satori Publishing

The first sentence of the first chapter gives us the who (I, or the first person narrator), what (driving in a car), and where (parked somewhere that could be anywhere, but it was near a restaurant, we learn in the second paragraph). We are given a lead concept or plant: “to think for a moment.”

In the second sentence, we are given plot development. The protagonist was meeting someone named Charlene, who would be “inside” (somewhere… we don’t know it’s a restaurant until we read the second paragraph. Then we get the why that is delivered as a question relating to the fact that Charlene would be waiting to talk with him.)

Are you hooked yet? If not, the next sentence helps: “I hadn’t heard a word from her in six years.” Ahhh… A mystery here. Six weeks of silence and now suddenly we learn that Charlene has contacted the narrator or protagonist, stating that she needs to meet him to “tell him something.” “Waiting to talk with me” indirectly delivers that information.

We have the male-female issue at once. Who is Charlene, and what is the connection here between Charlene and the narrator? What is their story? Then we have another question reinforcing the why and the mystery, still in the first paragraph only:

“I hadn’t heard a word from her in six years.” (Do your math… 1987 subtracted from 1993 equals 6.) “Why would she have shown up now, just when I had sequestered myself in the woods for a week?”

The reader is curious about that last sentence. Why was he hiding out in the woods? What was going on in his life?

In the second paragraph, we’re given the where--the restaurant. We also learn more about the narrator. He owns a truck. He is not driving a car or vehicle such as a van, but a truck. Who drives small trucks? People in businesses that require transport of work materials, tools, animals, etc., or who might live in a rural area.

The author also pauses to give us a few details about the setting (where), which is part of the developing story line. It had just rained, “a brief thunderstorm.” Now in the early evening, the sun was setting. Ahhh... what romantic perfection! Sunset, the aftermath of a rainstorm... and summer time (Does that bring to mind “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess?) Here is another detail that answers the question when. Note that Redfield also adds another atmospheric touch: “because of the fading light, (the setting was) almost surreal.”

Do you think the narrator had been romantically involved and they’d had a spat or a “storm”? Now that “day was over.” The sun was setting. Peace in the land… and apprehension. What will happen “tomorrow”?

As anticipated, paragraph three delivers a description of Charlene as she would be pictured by someone who knew her well, possibly intimately. “Was she still beautiful, intense?”

What kind of male (or female) would not be jarred by those two words: “beautiful” and “intense”? Are you hooked yet?!!

Now we get the rest of the what delivered through questions and statements in the third paragraph: “How would time have changed her? And what was I to think of this manuscript (italics mine) she had mentioned—this ancient artifact found in South America that she couldn’t wait to tell me about?

Something is brewing. “Charlene” knows the narrator is interested in manuscripts and artifacts. South America is an archaeologist’s paradise. Some of the most treasured artifacts and information about ancient wisdom and advanced learning have emerged from research of the Mayans, Incans and other ancient cultures and civilizations that trace their roots to this area of the world.

We also have another notable plant delivered in the next paragraph through a flashback in dialogue: “I have a two-hour layover at the airport,” she had said on the telephone. “Can you meet me for dinner? You’re going to love what this manuscript says—it’s your kind of mystery.”

Wow! All printed on the first page of the book!

Let me pause here for a moment and talk about the technique of creating flashbacks.

Whenever you need to deliver information while narrating in the present tense, feel free to dip into the past by using a flashback. Often you can develop a whole chapter as a flashback or an entire section of a book.

The exciting and wonderful part about fiction is that it’s virtual; you the author are steering the reader’s imagination. You can shift gears as much as you wish, as long as you take your reader with you. Don’t leave them stranded somewhere, lost in details they were never given—or whipped in so many directions, they can’t get their bearings. Be clear and spell out to the reader everything they need to know in order to keep them on track.

Shift as much as you like or need to, in order to give the reader need-to-know information . You can even do it in the same paragraph when you’re in the present tense, as Redfield did here. He needed to deliver information about a phone conversation that happened prior to that evening.

The next page provides an excellent example of forward plot movement. In a few paragraphs, the narrator enters the restaurant, sees a huge crowd of people, including police officers surrounding a table in the area where the restaurant hostess said Charlene was already seated. We learn in the next sentence that the commotion is centered around Charlene; she had left her briefcase at the table while she went to the rest room, and the police had confiscated it.

Aha! Major mystery. The only question I would have at this point is, WHO would leave a briefcase unattended while going to the rest room? Maybe at one time people did that, but even in the era this novel was written (before 911), instinctively I know I would have taken all of my personal belongings to the restroom with me.

I would have placed a blank notepad and (cheap) ballpoint pen on the table at the place where I was sitting, and written “OCCUPIED” on the pad. Surely I’d leave the napkin unfolded and an opened menu in front of my chair to indicate that someone was sitting at that table.

For a moment—and for the sake of the story—we have to suspend our logic and let the author get away with this slip-up. As a book doctor who is often confronted with details that must be logically planted, I would have suggested several other ways to have the briefcase snatched.

The briefcase snatching, you’ve probably already guessed, is a “plotted plant” that delivers the message that Charlene is involved in “something important.” It appears that she has information that “someone” doesn’t want her to have. Did she steal it? Was it given to her for safekeeping? Many unanswered questions here!

As the story moves forward, the author continues to deliver more information. When the two embrace, it becomes clear that they have a strong attraction for each other. Romance is one of the best “plot hooks” there is: boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy re-unites with girl after great caution, fear, indecision, etc., or boy separates forever from girl, painfully or with great resignation. It could be the opposite also: girl meets boy, girl gets boy, etc.

On the next page (not quoted above), we learn that the government is trying to suppress information that Charlene, a researcher, has discovered while on assignment at the University of Lima in Peru.

She learns about an ancient manuscript that contains information about a prophecy. A “massive transformation in human society” will start to take place during the last decades of the twentieth century.

At this point, the reader is compelled to read on.

Is all of this contrived? Of course it is! It has to be, in order to compel the reader to stay with the story line and keep going. Like any good marketing campaign, you’re trying to sell your plot. Every second counts; compression of details raises the level of tension.

To strengthen your own fiction writing techniques, I suggest that you practice the same exercise with The Celestine Prophecy that you used for analysis of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

After reading the book carefully:

     1. Make a plot outline of the book.

     2. In 2-5 sentences, describe each character.

     3. Find 5 places where the author describes each character.

     How does he do it: through narrative, dialogue, body language, gestures, or all of these? Copy down    each of these descriptions and note how they are folded into the story line.

     4. Find 5 places where the dialogue moves the plot forward.

     5. Find 5 places where the reader becomes frightened, or where the tension builds. What makes that tension build? What is the time limit before something “terrible” or “uncertain” may happen? Will there be a chase? Will they be found out? Is there a fear of death? A fear of being captured or killed?

    6. Find 5 humorous places. Why do you find them humorous?

    7. Find 5 places where the first person narrator is delivered as a character with whom almost every reader can identify. Tell how and why this identification occurs.

Details make stories human, and the more human a story can be, the better. The first draft of anything is sh*t.
—Ernest Hemingway

Anyone Can Do the Harry Potter Thing

3/11/2016

What is J.K. Rawlings’ secret formula? How did she become one of the world’s most celebrated authors?

Besides passion, perseverance and patience, what are the other tools a fiction writer needs in order to soar to the top of the best seller lists and stay there for months, sometimes years? What is the magic elixir that motivates readers to turn the page and read all the way through to the end of a book, often non-stop?

As you’ve probably already guessed, the art, craft and business of writing are an integral part of the Harry Potter success story. Let’s take a look at the opening pages of the first volume, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, to probe behind the scenes and answer some of those Burning Que$tion$.

The title of Chapter One is already a hook: “The Boy Who Lived.”

So… what boy (or girl), or person for that matter, doesn’t live? Why would that be a chapter title? It must be more than a WYSWYG (what you see is what you get). Have you already entered Curiosity City?

After such a perplexing chapter title, the first paragraph proceeds to deliver a huge part of the “who, what, where, when, why and how” that are critically important to set the stage for the rest of the book:

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, [a privet is a hedge that delivers a metaphor of blocking off consciousness and ‘Drive’ implies ‘suburbia’ (yawn)…] were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.”

We are told at the outset that these are boring adults because they are normal and want to be normal—self-righteously so. (What pre-teen and teenager wants to be “normal,” or resemble their parents or parents’ lifestyle in any way, shape or form?) The Dursleys also don’t want to be disturbed by anything different from their own brand of unconsciousness. Note how much information the author delivers in these few opening sentences.

The second paragraph proceeds to describe the Dursleys, delivering a specific “who” and “what,” while folding in humor and information:

“Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.” (Yuk! Does this remind you of the dentist, or what?)

“He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache.” (Can you picture this caricature of a man?)

“Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors.” (A ‘rubberneck’ know-it-all gossip is what the reader gets from this description… someone who doesn’t have enough going on in her own life, so she busies herself meddling in everyone else’s affairs.)

“The Dursleys had a small son named Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.” (Of course Dudley would be the best of the best! The Dursleys are the kind of people who always have to be right. They are convinced that their beliefs and opinions and whatever belongs to them are better than anyone else’s.)

The stage is set. Clearly, the author wants the reader to be turned off by these ugly, boring, self-centered people. Dudley, their spoiled brat son is also introduced here.

Amazing how easy it is for most people to identify with the Dursleys! For many, it could be their Aunt Minnie or their next-door neighbor.

Paragraph three delivers the plot:

“The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret.” Note that the word “secret” is deliberately used here. More mystery, more curiosity-building. The reader will want to know right away what the Dursleys’ *secret* is! Then the sentence goes on to say, “...and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it.”

Can you see how magical that sentence is? It sets the stage for suspense and also lets the reader know that someone is going to discover the Dursleys’ secret. That discovery with its repercussions is The Big Unknown that moves the story forward.

What will happen when the Dursleys’ secret is discovered? The reader is already hooked by excitement, curiosity and fear of the consequences of the Dursleys’ “being found out.” Bring on the adventure!

All of this text is on the first page of the novel that also includes an illustration of a baby wrapped in a blanket. Hmmm. Who is that baby? What is this story really about?

On page 2, we learn more about the Dursleys. The author starts to build on the already planted emotion of fear by introducing Mrs. Dursley’s sister, “Mrs. Potter.”

Now we learn what the Dursleys are afraid of: what would the neighbors say if they found out about Mrs. Dursley’s weird sister?

Subconsciously, you the reader already know that the Dursleys’ secret has something to do with Mrs. Dursley’s sister, who is considered weird, and you also know that someone is going to discover what the Dursleys are trying to hide.

The story actually begins in the middle of page 2 with the statement straight-out: “When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday, our story starts.”

The preceding paragraphs serve as the preface or “teaser” before the curtain rises. And now, the play or story begins with the sentence: It was an ordinary “dull, gray Tuesday.”

Why make it a DULL Tuesday? To contrast it sharply, of course, with “something that is about to happen.” You, the reader, can feel it in your bones!

As Mr. Dursley heads for work, “the first sign of something peculiar” is delivered at the bottom of page 2. A cat is reading a map! Next, he notices “strangely dressed people were about.”

All of these plants from the author continue to add spice to the story: mystery, weirdness, suspense, humor… A dull, ordinary person would obviously be somewhat taken aback at seeing a cat reading a map!

Proper names are important. In fact, every detail is important. Note that “Dursley” and “Dudley” both start with the same letter and they have a cartoon or caricature-like sound, especially when spoken together: “Dudley Dursley.”

Using Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Book 1) as your success model, here are a few exercises in analysis that will help you strengthen your writing craft and technique:

After you have read the book:

1. Make a plot outline.

2. In 2-5 sentences, describe each character.

3. Find 5 places where the author describes each character. How does she do it? Through narrative, dialogue, body language, gestures, or all of these? Copy down each of these descriptions and note how they are folded into the story line.

4. Find 5 places where the dialogue moves the plot forward.

5. Find 5 places where the reader becomes frightened, or where the tension builds. What makes that tension build? Are the characters racing against time? Is there something they need to accomplish before a “terrible” or “uncertain” event is destined to happen? (Before being captured? Killed? Found out?) What will happen if the “time is up” before they are able to successfully complete their mission?

6. Find 5 humorous places. Why do you find them humorous?

7. Find 5 places where Harry Potter is delivered as a character with whom almost every reader can identify. Tell how and why this identification occurs.

*Excerpt quoted from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling, ©1997 by J.K. Rowling, Scholastic, Inc.

<<Previous