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Publishers Want To Know Who You Are

6/25/2015

 
Do you know who you are?

As a publisher, that is one of the first questions I ask my authors when they submit a manuscript. If you go to the Dandelion Books website, www.dandelion-books.com you will see a page that is devoted to manuscript submission. Each question is important:


        ? What is this book about?

        ? Why did you write it?
 
        ? What does this book mean to you?

        ? What do you think it would mean to your readers?

        ? Who are your readers; who is your target market?

        ? How would you help to promote the book?

        ? Please write a brief synopsis or overview of the book (2-5
           pages).

        ? Please send a brief outline of each chapter.

        ? Please send two sample chapters.

        ? Please send your bio or resume.


By the time our staff finishes reading the answers to these questions, we have an excellent profile of the author. We also know a great deal about the manuscript we will be reviewing.


A person with a clearly identified life purpose and well-defined goals is well on the road to becoming a good communicator. Like building your home, you want your life to rest on a solid foundation. Our purpose or mission in life, and our goals, are the foundations upon which we build our wishes, hopes and dreams.

Ultimately our goal is to be a “conscious” human being who knows at all times and in every instance, what they are doing and why they are doing it.


Your attitudes and outlooks as well as your feelings, behaviors and actions are the plants that spring up from this fertile soil of intentionally-directed consciousness. These are the seeds that bear the fruits of your labor as a writer. You have something to say and you are eager to say it. Therefore, you will know why you wrote the book that you submitted for publication.

Like a website structure that has a “home” or “landing” page, your home page is your life purpose. In “the website of your mind,” your written work will link back to this landing page, with the intention of communicating to your readers who you are and what you value.


Make Your Writing  Sizzle 

6/11/2015

 
Passion is the alchemy for making your writing sizzle. Your fiction works have to move and be moving—physically, mentally and emotionally—at all times. Never let up on this hi-octane energy.


Your non-fiction articles and essays must be riveting; chock full of information and details (well-supported, of course)—and compelling enough to keep your reader from yawning and heading for the fridge.


Personality - Your writing also has to have personality and pzazz…  and it has to be authentically YOU. Even articles that require objectivity without a trace of opinion or personal commentary must deliver your style. The more you write, the more you will be recognized for your voice or special signature.


Structure & Organization - Good writing has to tease or tantalize at the beginning, and it has to keep building. At the end, the reader will be fully satisfied, yet hungry for more (maybe not now but in a few hours after this “full-course writing meal” has been digested). What is the pulse? Where is the heart of this story? What is the word, phrase or piece of information that almost “writes” the rest of the story?

Authenticity - Your writing also has to be authentic. This means that you are not posturing or trying to develop the material in order to please a writing teacher or follow the rules in the writing manual of the day. Nor are you using your writing skills as a way of telling people how much you know or how brilliant you are.


Scheherazade may have been fair to look upon and sexy in bed, but so are hundreds—thousands—of other women. Anyone can learn the tricks of the trade if they want to… right?!


A hungry reader desperate for a genuine experience will not be easily “tricked.” Also, anyone who is looking for the real thing will be greatly disappointed to discover a manikin instead of flesh and bone. Plastic surgery and a fake smile don’t go very far. Scheherazade was a brilliant young woman who knew how to weave her stories with human insight, compassion and love…  love for humanity and for herself.


Without conceit yet fully self-assured that she had the ability to please the king with her stories, Scheherazade took the ultimate risk and was ready to pay the consequences if necessary.


Focus - You know what you want to say and how you want to say it. This requires a quiet state of relaxed, controlled concentration. You are fully present during the entire delivery process. When you meet someone and shake their hand or look into their eyes, you can sense if they are sincere.

Likewise, your readers will know from the first lines of your story or article if you are sincerely dedicated to doing your very best to deliver new information and/or give them a unique and unforgettable reading experience.


Value - The story of Scheherazade delivers another key point: your writing has to have value. If you have ever read The Thousand and One Nights, you know each of these stories has human interest or delivers a kernel of wisdom. They are portraits of Scheherazade’s inner soul, and it is this beauty, transmitted to the king at the soul level, that caused him to fall passionately in love with her.


Sustainability – Your readers are your most important commodity, your “King Shahryar”—although without the agenda to murder you if you don’t deliver a page-turner! You want to nurture these Royal Readers and cultivate a relationship with them so they’ll keep coming back for more.

===============================================================================

New Poem - From The Abominable Snowman, by Carol Adler

ULTIMATE DISASTER

 

Nevermore will the Minister of Protocol wax and truss
mortal sins and stuff their innards with dollar store wings


 

serve sawdust currency to an Abominable Paperweight,

sign gold-backed certificates for pre-medicated dementia

 

ordered to lift off from Trivia Incorporated, wide-eyed and waiting

for the next injection. Checker Players to the left, Stamp Collectors

 

to the moratorium. This 3-D hallucination will no longer replicate;

beware of a bad hair day and if you’re auditioning for Superman,

 

your only hope is desperation. Brace yourself. The reality booth

is locked and the last plane to the North Pole has already taken off. 


Copyright, by Carol Adler, 2015 - All Worldwide Rights Reserved


 



    Author

    I am a ghostwriter, book doctor, editor and publisher. I am also a published poet, novelist and author of two books on writing tips & techniques. Websites:

    Dandelion Books 
    Carol Adler's Writing & Editing Services
    Carol Adler's Writings
    Carol Adler's Blog
    

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