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December 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I’m holding another inexpensive book workshop

I have heard from all too many colleagues how stressed they are due to the economy. So I’m doing something about it: I’ve taken my $500 workshop and chopped the price to under $200! This one-day workshop  teaches you how to write and publish your book — quickly and inexpensively. You will find out how it is that writing a book not only establishes you as an expert in your field–it is actually less expensive than most forms of advertising or marketing!

If you are a consultant, a coach, an attorney, a health and wellness professional, one of the most effective things you can do to increase your business is write a book. Come to my workshop and find out how easy it is!

My home will only accommodate 10 people, so don’t delay. The registration fee includes a copy of my book; snacks, coffee/tea, and lunch; and a 30-minute post-workshop call with me!

Check out the invitation:

I hope to see you on 1/15/12 at my house!

Warmly,
Joel


Filed Under: book writing
December 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

What’s the question?

Your audience–the people you want to reach with your book–has a question. Yes, I know they have more than one. But for many of them, there is one big question they share. It occupies them. It represents a pain, a hole in their lives, that is demanding comfort, that must have an answer.

Do you know what your audience’s question is?

If you do, great. The title of your book should address that question. And the answer found in your book should be powerful. Actionable.

If you don’t know what the audience’s burning question is–find out. Ask. Call. Interview. Read market research reports. In fact, if you don’t know, don’t publish a book until you do–that is, if you want anyone to read your book.

 

Filed Under: book love, book writing, marketing, planning, steps to write a book, write a book Tagged With: , ,
November 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Flavorwire: Advice from 10 prolific writers

JoelTrainsAuthors is mostly about non-fiction. But this advice (which came via Copyblogger, whom I thank) is useful to all writers.

Robert Louis Stevenson: Build a web

He wrote Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in six days, but he wasn’t in too big a hurry to mind the web of “sound patterns” essential to the delicate art of constructing sentences, which he elucidates in the first chapter of his 1919 essay collection, The Art of Writing:

Music and literature, the two temporal arts, contrive their pattern of sounds in time; or, in other words, of sounds and pauses. Communication may be made in broken words, the business of life be carried on with substantives alone; but that is not what we call literature; and the true business of the literary artist is to plait or weave his meaning, involving it around itself; so that each sentence, by successive phrases, shall first come into a kind of knot, and then, after a moment of suspended meaning, solve and clear itself. In every properly constructed sentence there should be observed this knot or hitch; so that (however delicately) we are led to foresee, to expect, and then to welcome the successive phrases. The pleasure may be heightened by an element of surprise, as, very grossly, in the common figure of the antithesis, or, with much greater subtlety, where an antithesis is first suggested and then deftly evaded. Each phrase, besides, is to be comely in itself; and between the implication and the evolution of the sentence there should be a satisfying equipoise of sound; for nothing more often disappoints the ear than a sentence solemnly and sonorously prepared, and hastily and weakly finished. Nor should the balance be too striking and exact, for the one rule is to be infinitely various; to interest, to disappoint, to surprise, and yet still to gratify; to be ever changing, as it were, the stitch, and yet still to give the effect of an ingenious neatness.

More

 

Filed Under: book love, book writing, fiction, people & ideas, reading Tagged With: , , , , ,
November 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Come to my house for a full-day workshop–for less than $200

I have heard from all too many colleagues how stressed they are due to the economy. So I’m doing something about it: I’m offering a one-day workshop that teaches you how to write and publish your book — quickly and inexpensively — for under $200! I’ll cover the same material that I’ve shared in workshops in the past for which attendees gladly paid $500.
My home will only accommodate 10 people, so don’t delay. The registration fee includes a copy of my book; snacks, coffee/tea, and lunch; and a 30-minute post-workshop call with me!
Check out the invitation:

http://joelorrbookworkshop.eventbrite.com

I hope to see you on 11/20/11 at my house!

 

Warmly,
Joel


Filed Under: book writing
October 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Rejection

Although this is a problem faced far more often by fiction writers than by us toilers in the vineyard of non-fiction, it is an emotional issue for all. Brian Doyle has a piece in the Kenyon Review, “No,” about rejection. It is delicious. A tiny excerpt:

One of the very best: a rejection note sent by the writer Stefan Merken to an editor who had rejected one of his short stories. “Please forgive me for not accepting your rejection letter,” wrote Merken. “At this time I cannot accept a rejection of my short story. I accept more than 99 percent of the rejections I receive. Many I don’t agree with, but I realize that accepting a piece of fiction for publication is a very subjective judgment call. My acceptance of your rejection letter is also a subjective process and therefore I am returning your letter to you. I did read your letter. I read every letter I receive. Your letter was well-written, but due to time constraints from my own writing schedule, I am unable to make editorial comments. I do make mistakes. Don’t you, as an editor, be disheartened by this role reversal. The road of publishing is long and tedious. You need successful publications and I need for successful publications to print my stories. I will expect to see my story in your next publication. Good luck in the future.”

Filed Under: book writing, editing, humor Tagged With: , , ,
October 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

What’s happening to punctuation?

Henry Hitchings’ article in the Wall Street Journal regarding the changes in punctuation over the ages is so interesting I am willing to send you away from this site to read it… :-)

Filed Under: book writing, write a book
October 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Misusing language

One of the quickest way to lose intelligent readers is to misuse English in your book. This is a site that is full of common examples. The entries are clear and concise; they won’t make you feel like an idiot if you’ve been guilty of any… :-) Here’s an example:

ACRONYMS AND APOSTROPHES

One unusual modern use of the apostrophe is in plural acronyms, like “ICBM’s” “NGO’s” and “CD’s”. Since this pattern violates the rule that apostrophes are not used before an S indicating a plural, many people object to it. It is also perfectly legitimate to write “CDs,” etc. See also “50’s.” But the use of apostrophes with initialisms like “learn your ABC’s and “mind your P’s and Q’s” is now so universal as to be acceptable in almost any context.

Note that “acronym” was used originally only to label pronounceable abbreviations like “NATO,” but is now generally applied to all sorts of initialisms. Be aware that some people consider this extended definition of “acronym” to be an error.

I wish it had more, like homing in/honing in. But it’s a great start.

Oh, and Professor Brians also has a site devoted to usages commonly thought to be wrong that are not. A fun and informative read!

Filed Under: book writing, editing, write a book
October 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Taking Stock: A Good Starting Point

Today is “Erev Yom Kipur,” the eve of the Jewish Day of Atonement. It is the holiest day of the year for Jews–the conclusion of ten days of spiritual “inventory-taking” that began on the Feast of Trumpets, now known as Rosh HaShana, the beginning of the lunar year.

All Jewish holidays–indeed, all days–begin at sundown and end at sundown. Every week, Shabat–our sabbath–begins at sundown on Friday, and ends at sundown on Saturday. (This is because Genesis reports of the days of Creation, “It was evening, and it was morning, the (first, second, etc.) day.”)

We examine ourselves during the ten days between Trumpets and Yom Kipur, and take action–asking forgiveness of those we’ve hurt, making restitution, finding a place of repentance. Then on the Day of Atonement we sum it all up, admit our faults to God, express our sorrow and our determination to do better, and seek forgiveness. Thus we are prepared to begin a new year, with a clean heart.

This narrative of taking stock, sorting things out, examining our feelings and attitudes, taking appropriate action, and beginning anew, is a recognizable human behavior pattern. It’s a journey people understand. So you can use it as a pattern for your book.

How might this work? Let’s say you’re a coach. You could arrange your initial outline like this:

  • My personal story
  • Things got bad
  • Things got worse
  • Finally, I realized…
  • I faced my situation, made restitution, asked for forgiveness
  • Started over
  • Became a coach
  • Have helped others
  • I can help you

For a consultant, it might be something like:

  • I worked in a company
  • Encountered problems
  • They got worse
  • Then I realized…
  • I took action and made things right
  • Decided to help others deal with similar issues
  • Worked with a client (repeat pattern)
  • Worked with another client (repeat pattern)
  • Now I help lots of clients, and can help you

Your turn.

Filed Under: book writing, inspiration Tagged With: , , ,
October 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

MindManager 9 for the Mac: A worthwhile update

I’ve used MindManager on both the Mac and the PC from its earliest versions. (The story of how it was developed by Mike and Bettina Jetter while Mike was undergoing leukemia treatments is amazing; read the book.) It is the most popular mindmapping software on the market today.

Mindmapping in Wikipedia: “A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea.”

This is not a complete generic review of MindManager; I am not interested in its extensive task- and project-management capabilities, for example, or in its ability to generate a slideshow. My interest in mindmapping stems from my use of clustering. (Here’s a short video on how to cluster.) Clustering is a way–perhaps the best way–to get stuff out of your head and onto paper, in front of you. It’s how to find out what you know–and what you don’t know–about a subject.

Mindmapping is typically used for presentation, or for gradual and deliberate planning. Clustering is much more streamlined. It is a mining tool, to let you get at the riches you have stored in your mind. Gabriele Rico devotes an entire book to it:Writing the Natural Way.

How do you cluster? Here’s a description from the blog of writer Dustin Wax.

Here’s the basic idea:
1.    Write a word in the middle of a sheet of paper.
2.    Circle it.
3.    Write down the first word or phrase that comes to mind and circle it.
4.    Draw a line connecting the second circle to the first.
5.    Repeat. As you write and circle new words and phrases, draw lines back to the last word, the central word, or other words that seem connected. Don’t worry about how they’re connected — the goal is to let your right-brain do its thing, which is to see patterns; later, the left-brain will take over and put the nature of those relationships into words.
6.    When you’ve filled the page, or just feel like you’ve done enough (a sign of what Rico calls a “felt-shift”), go back through what you’ve written down. Cross out words and phrases that seem irrelevant, and begin to impose some order by numbering individual bubbles or clusters. Here is where your right-brain is working in tandem with your left-brain, producing what is essentially an outline. At this point, you can either transfer your numbered clusters to a proper outline or simply begin writing in the order you’ve numbered the clusters.

I am a geek. I love using computers for anything–and often have difficulty admitting when I’d probably be better served by pen and paper. But years ago, when I first started to cluster, and I tried to do it on early versions of MindManager, it just didn’t work. I couldn’t get access to the stuff in my head that just came pouring out when I used pen and paper.

I think I know why. At the time, mindmapping on the computer was very much a left-brain activity. Even though the results were graphical, the process of producing a mind map involved lots of keyboarding and menuing. So I couldn’t cluster productively with a computer.

But over time, computers became more powerful; graphics became higher in resolution, and far smoother; and MindManager grew up.

Today, I cluster on my Mac, using MindManager 9. The process of creating a new “topic” or “subtopic” is so simple that I don’t have to stop to think about it. I can quickly create a cluster without planning or cogitation; it just flows out from my fingers, little engaging my left brain. So my right brain can “dump” its contents onto the screen.

By using MM9, I don’t have to worry about running out of room. MM9 unobtrusively reconfigures the layout of the cluster or mind map according to preferences I can set.

So my most favorite aspect of MM9 for the Mac is that it is unobtrusive enough for me to cluster with. For me–and I believe, for any author–that is a biggie.

But there is a lot more to this highly polished product. It integrates well with both Microsoft Office and Apple software, interoperating with word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation documents. It links to URLs on the Web, as well as to other mind maps. It comes with a large list of templates, giving you a starting place for any mindmapping project you might have in mind. Here’s a full list of MM9′s features.

Although it is not quite as rich as some dedicated outliners, MM9′s outlining facility is respectable. You can switch back and forth between map and outline view very easily.

As an update, MM9 for Mac is a big step ahead of MM8. Its user interface has been simplified; its esthetics have been refined; its presentation, printing, importing, and exporting capabilities have been improved; and it works under Lion. (For a full list of upgraded features, click here.) All the improvements make it an incredibly useful tool for the aspiring author.

 

Filed Under: book love, book writing, tech, write a book
June 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Reviews that illuminate the subjects of their books

In this Financial Times piece, I find a wonderful and thoughtful positioning of “The Elements of Style” in the general rules of engagement for writers. If you are serious about your writing, you deserve to read and understand it. (Thanks to Anu Garg, and the irreplaceable A.Word.A.Day, for the link.)

Filed Under: book writing
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