Breaking News for Aspiring Authors...

You CAN Become a Traditionally Published Author Despite the Misery of Repeated Rejection.

You have tried and tried and tried again to achieve published author status but each time you try to have a proposal for publication accepted, commissioning authors relentlessly respond with a terse, painful, “NO!”.

http://published-author-xl.com/

Stop beating yourself up over rejection – you are not to blame for the fact that you have yet to become a traditionally published author - and you are not alone.

Out of every 1000 proposals submitted to traditional publishing houses only ONE has a chance of acceptance.

Visit this newly launched website to discover how YOU could be that one in a thousand...

http://published-author-xl.com/

Some Thoughts on Crafting Fiction

Like any idea you conceive in life, fiction starts and ends in the mind; first in the conscious, then the subconscious, and finally digging deeper into the labyrinth of ageless wisdom; the subconscious, the ever-lasting fountain of imagination and inspiration.

I will not attempt here to teach you how to write fiction because quite frankly I do not believe it can be done with modular instruction. Crafting invented stories and converting them into novels and novellas is a highly personalized art form which writers approach in a myriad of disparate ways.

What I will do on the other hand is provide you with some personal thoughts on crafting fiction; thoughts derived from my own experience.

WHY I WRITE FICTION

While I have a preference for non-fiction I also write fiction with a modest but nonetheless marked degree of success.

Some writers take one route, some the other; I take both - but only after I managed to master the first: non-fiction.

Why should this be so?

I discovered early on in my writing career that coming to terms with the disciplines of crafting non-fiction dramatically improved my ability to create fiction and to attract proposals for publication of my increasing output.

So why do I write fiction?

Quite simply, to amuse myself, to stretch my reach, to challenge my imagination - and when my offerings are published and other people tell me they like what I create, so much the better.

Having proposals for works of fiction accepted for publication is never easy but with contracts in my pocket for all ten outpourings to date, I am not complaining…

HOW I WRITE FICTION

Drawing on the disciplines of one genre I apply them to the other - and so - my golden rule on crafting fiction is to operate solely within the confines of what I know. That is why before tackling a fictional project I visit my subconscious to establish levels of interest, knowledge, and above all expertise.

Functioning in scenarios where I feel comfortable, relaxed, confident, and at ease makes writing fiction a joyous occasion and provides me with a sense of fulfilment.

http://how-to-write-cutting-edge-fiction.com

Hitting the High Spots Without the Support of a Mainstream Publisher

Traditional publishing houses don't always get it right when it comes to spotting potential winners.

Nowadays they operate under considerable pressure with profit margins cut to the bone as major retailers, online and offline act more and more like supermarkets in their demands.

As a result, mainstream publishers tend only to accept proposals on what they reckon will sell in big numbers.

I was a victim of this policy myself.

Despite acquiring bestseller status with my first 2 books on the topic of retirement ('Your Retirement Masterplan' and 'Earn Money in Retirement') I came unstuck with the third entry.
'Maximising Mindpower to Enrich Your Retirement' (ISBN: 1933817364 EAN: 9781933817361) was turned down flat on the basis that it did not fit in with the publisher's profile (whatever that means...).

As I was of the opinion that this was the best book I'd ever written, I decided to have it published privately which I did in August 2007.

Amazingly, just three months late and with no promotion on my part, it would appear to be attracting inordinate attention online and is currently featuring prominently on 1000s of websites including Amazon, Google Books, The Reading Warehouse, and a miscellany of major and minor online booksellers.

Despite the fact the book is not stocked by offline booksellers, sales are starting to flood in - and I do mean 'flood'...

The moral of this delightful situation: if you have written a book of any description which you are convinced other people will want to read but haven't yet found a publisher who agrees - do it yourself. With the ever-growing incidence of POD (print on demand) the costs are negligible.

After all, DIY did John Grisham no harm; the sole vehicle of distribution for his first book was the boot of a car.

Why Residual Earnings Are What Every Creative Writer Aspires To...

Residual earnings are what every creative writer sets out to achieve; passive income from traditionally published book sales, offline and online; royalties that increase year-on-year with multiple editions and reprints. Add to that PLR (public lending library rental fees) and your residuals burgeon with each new book you succeed in having published.

Do it once; repeat the formula, and you will profit forever after.

But there are other ways to galvanize your residuals...

1. Book clubs
2. Serialization rights
3. Licensing rights
4. Broadcasting rights
5. Merchandising
6. Contributing articles to magazines
7. Speaking engagements

None of these tasks are difficult even if you self publish; it's a matter of
APPLICATION - coupled with patience, persistence and perseverance.

And when you've accomplished all of that, you can turn your hand to converting your traditionally published output into virtual books (you own the author copyright after all) ; marketing them independently on gigantic virtual distribution sources such as Amazon.com and Google Book Search.

Promoting your e-books through Amazon will cost you but the Google Books Search facility is free and provides a raft of useful marketing services; linking to your own website, RSS feeds, and more...

Think about residual earnings this way; you toil and sweat to write your book; you work even harder to get it published, and it although it's fulfilling to see it in print, wouldn't you rather milk your work for all it's worth?

http://www.writing-residuals.com

All That Glisters is Not Gold

First time out of the traps as an embryo author I got three offers of publication.

The first two were from long established publishing giants and the third from a smallish comparative newcomer.

I chose the newcomer.

Now why did I do that when clearly the book must have something special going for it to interest mainstream publishers?

Here's why...

The owner of the small house persuaded me with reasoned argument that the text required substantial reworking if it was to become a page turner and then proceeded to instruct me on how to accomplish that.

What he effectively did was to teach me how to re-format my work so that it became injected with the mystery ingredient that leads to bestseller status.

As a result, that initial effort (out of 35 subsequently published titles) is still my front runner 15 years on with no obvious signs of slowing down.

I have never altered the structure, only updated it as required with the passage of time, and yet on each reprint and new edition it continues to sell more copies than before.

On my fourth or fifth offering (I cannot recall which) I was tempted by the lucre of a major house by way of a hefty advance but the experience was less than satisfactory; the book died on the shelves after less than two years due mainly to lack of aggressive promotion by the publisher.

The moral is: don't be star struck when choosing your first publisher.

Smaller houses are invariably hungrier; eager to snap up proposals with potential and they go out of their way to ensure success.

The mystery ingredient; what is that?

I'm not about to give that away in a blog post but I will give you a hint; it has to do with what bestsellers are all about: the durability factor.

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What's So Special About Traditional Publishing?

"Traditional" publishing relates to the long established practice whereby companies buy the rights to make selected works public.

A traditional publisher, whether small or large, will select the best work out of many submissions, draw up a contract with the author, take out a copyright in the author's name, and pay the author for various rights, including first publication rights.

The publisher makes the entire monetary investment, as well as taking all the monetary risk, and recoups that investment from book sales. The author may be paid an advance, which is in effect an advance against royalties. Once the advance is earned back, the author receives any additional royalties from further book sales.

But that is only the start of the multiple benefits accruing to those authors who opt for the traditional route.

Rapid developments in print-on-demand (POD) technology coupled with aggressive marketing from the major online publishing players are exerting considerable pressure on traditional houses but even so the concept still continues to offer considerable attraction.

Just One Published Book Is All It Takes...

Just One Traditionally Published Book Could Pull in Streams of Residual Income and Set You Up For Life

Consider this if you doubt the viability of traditional publishing...

My original work was first published way back in 1995.

It is now in its 5th edition and over the years has enjoyed multiple reprints. Save for updates the text has remained unchanged and yet the book continues to sell in ever-increasing numbers offline and online.

Add to that the incremental income from the many additional avenues of profit available to traditionally published authors.

Do it once and you will rapidly discover that you can do it over and over again; setting you up financially for life.

http://creativewritingmasterclasses.com/