That’s a quote from one of the attendees of the Book Writing Intensive I held at my home in Mountain View, CA, yesterday. She told me the Intensive gave her what she needs to complete the 2 books she’s working on. I had promised the attendees that, regardless of where they were in their book projects, by the end of the day, they’d be fully equipped to complete their books following whatever timetable they chose. The group assured me before they left that I had kept my promise.

The group had some fascinating people, including a forensic psychiatrist, an MD who is also an African shaman, a documentary filmmaker, and a psychotherapist. The resultant group dynamics were wonderful–energetic, engaging, encouraging, and uplifting.

We had a buffet lunch in place, so we were together for about 7.5 hours, continuously. By the end of the day, everyone was inspired–and ready for a nap…:-)

The next one will be toward the end of August. Watch for an announcement.

There’s no better way to get your book under way than to come and spend the day with me at my home. On Sunday, 6/28/09, we’ll be gathering in my living room for a day of book-writing intensity. The participants will come away with everything they need to write their books quickly and well.

Interested? Click here for more details.

WEbook is a bit hard to describe. It’s a community of writing-oriented folks; an environment that makes it easy to collaborate on writing projects; and an evolving publishing environment.

You post stuff you write, and invite others to comment on it. You might invite people to collaborate more closely with you.

When your work–non-fiction, fiction, poetry–seems complete to you, you can submit it to the periodic judging process. If the community likes it, WEbook may offer you a publishing contract with reasonably good terms (50% of profit, but defining what constitutes “profit” is always challenging; read their Terms of Use).

When the site first came out, the Terms of Use suffered from excessive complexity, and were widely criticized. The good intentions of the founders did not manifest clearlly in them. WEbook took it all very seriously and modified them.

You don’t give up any rights to your stuff by posting it in WEbook. If you get offered a publishing contract, you don’t have to accept it; your writing belongs to you, and you can take it elsewhere.

All in all, it sounds to me like a good deal for different kinds of writers–novices; people wanting general feedback; people wanting specific help with particular issues; writers wanting to engage with a community.

The writing I found in a quick review of the site was not sophisticated in tone or content. But that’s not a criticism, just an observation.

I like the tools the site offers; I think any writer can put them to good use. Check out the site.

CBC: “The U.S. publishing industry passed a key marker last year, with the publication of more “on-demand” or short-run titles than traditional books, a U.S. company that keeps publishing statistics says.” More