Book Value

Seth Godin offers some hard-headed advice for wannabe book authors in this list of 19 do's and don'ts. I've plowed this field myself as author, ghostwriter, and editor, and I'm frequently approached by authors seeking help, so I offer a fervent "amen" to Seth's tips. Especially useful are #3 ("Pay for an eidtor editor. Not just to fix the typos, but to actually make your ramblings into something that people will choose to read"), #5 ("Don't try to sell your book to everyone... Far better to obsess about a little subset of the market--that subset that you have permission to talk with, that subset where you have credibility, and most important, that subset where people just can't live without your book), and #6 ("Resist with all your might the temptation to hire a publicist to get you on Oprah"--can't tell you how many clients I've had who think the Big O is the sole arbiter of success.)

I do wish Seth had followed his own advice and paid for an editor, or perhaps just a good dictionary, to fix this common homonym error in tip #4: "...you shouldn't horde the idea! The more you give away, the better you will do." A horde is a throng. Seth meant hoard: to amass; to keep hidden.

By the way, if you're serious about writing a book and getting it published, here are two very helpful resources: Susan Page's The Shortest Distance Between You and a Published Book and Mary Reynolds Thompson's and Stephanie Lovinger's Write the Damn Book, a workshop and teleclasses that get you into gear.

Or you can just hire me to write the damn book for you.

Comments

[Michael Wagner]

Thank you for the helpful resources. I'm getting the bug to write a book.

Of course, if I sit down long enough it might go away.

Grin.

Keep creating, Mike

[Nancy Beckus]

From the book value list:
"The happiest authors are the ones that don't expect much." Shouldn't it be "...authors...who don't expect much."
Aren't authors human?

Always enjoy your column!

Nancy Beckus

[King Creole]

I just posted on my own blog a call for insight, and would very much appreciate your contribution. I'm looking for a word to describe:

That embarrassed feeling one has when uncertain if they have just spoken a thought out loud, usually while deep in thought in a public space.

Here's the link:
http://intimationsofubiquity.blogspot.com/2007/03/language-did-i-just-say-that-out-loud.html

Hope you can help.

matt elmore