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ROSE'S BOOK REVIEWS PUBLISHING ABOUT PUBLISHING Yesterday Cate Blanchett said something that amazed me. The superb actress was being interviewed on “Fresh Air” over Public Radio. Terry Gross asked about her experience with psychics. The actress explained that she’d never been to a psychic, not until she interviewed several to research a film role. The gist of what Blanchett discovered is that, to her surprise, she found many good, genuine psychics who never advertise their abilities. The implication was that the good ones wouldn’t dream of charging for their services, which is how it should be. This lofty view of free labor came from an actress who’s so hot she can now be seen in movie theaters in three different major films (including The Fellowship of the Ring). What do you want to bet, Cate Blanchett doesn’t volunteer. In fact, her income from any of her films, at conservative estimate, is triple the monthly income of every psychic who reads Pathways—every psychic plus every healer plus every spiritual teacher combined. Many people feel that holistic practitioners or spiritual people, in general, would be sullied by payment. Isn’t that strange? Especially since we cheerfully pay actors big bucks to do work that is, fundamentally, intuitive. Yes, actors and holistic practitioners have so much in common: We work from a spiritual basis (what someone like Blanchett would call “going deeply into a role”); we work in service (whether it’s for a personal reading or a theater audience); we carry out our work with non-judgment (one of many impressive things I heard Blanchett say in this interview related to non-judgment; when asked if she could believe in a particular character, she insisted that an actor must always accept each character on her own terms); finally, we must passionately believe in what we’re doing to be any good at it. Considering all we have in common, isn’t it odd that most Americans feel that actors can’t be paid too much or spiritual practitioners too little. Maybe it’s time for more of us to be published. According to my dictionary, publishing means “To bring to public attention.” What do you have to present to the world? If it’s something genuinely new, and you can write, consider publication. The books in this column could help. Get Published! An Author’s Guide to the On-Line Publishing Revolution Penny C. Sansevieri 165 pages, $15.54 1stBooks Library 800-839-8640 Or, Order this book from Amazon There’s a new kid on the publishing guru’s block. She’s spunky, energetic, encouraging and an especially appealing mentor for young writers. Her book shows you how, thanks to today’s latest print-on-demand technology (P.O.D.), you could publish a book with a company like Trafford Publishing for $500. And you might even make money. Of course, Cate Blanchett could earn $500 just by blowing her nose on
camera. And even for ordinary mortals living in America at this time, that sum
isn’t astronomical. Sansevieri’s reader-friendly how-to shows you how to comparison shop for having your book printed in very small batches (that’s what P.O.D. makes possible), how to start approaching the media, and other practical details it would be good to know. She practices what she preaches, too—does an excellent job marketing her own work. Bottom line: Self-publishing can be intimidating. This book isn’t. The Writer’s Friend Linda Davis Kyle, Joseph Gregg, and Nancy McAlary 188 pages, $14.95, shipping per copy is $3.95 WritingNow.com Publishing P.O. Box 270070 Austin, TX 78727 www.writingnow.com, or Order this book from Amazon If $500 still sounds like a lot of money for bargain
basement self-publishing, consider how much it costs to send out the query
letters to land writing contracts so you can be published by others. Over the
past 31 years, I’ve easily spent three times that much—you know, the amount
that Cate Blanchett might earn, on camera, by waving hello. Over 99% of my
author’s queries have landed rejections, not contracts. Personally, I wish
I’d encountered The Writer’s Friend years ago. If you’ve ever dreamed of writing for magazines or
newspapers, this is a great book to buy. Sure, you’ll also need to consult a
current edition of Writer’s Market, but you can find that in your
library reference section. This little book brims with good advice, culled from
interviews with editors from all over the world. Alert reader, did you catch that phrase “all over the
world”? Assuming that you’ve taken the brave leap and learned how to work
the Internet (and this is probably a must for serious writers today), you can
e-mail your queries internationally. That’s a good thing, since many American
markets in our newish millennium paid
the same wages as a quarter century ago. That pitiful fact is common knowledge
among writers, though not played up in The Writer’s Friend. Books for America’s millions, yes millions, of aspiring writers are a huge industry. For the newest and best, check out "The Writing/Publishing Shelf" by clicking on www.midwestbookreview.com, then "Internet Bookwatch." (To receive The Shelf directly for free, send a request via e-mail to MWBOOKREVW@aol.com and request to be signed up). Chances are, however, that a freelancer will read far and wide before encountering a book more useful than The Writer’s Friend. Kids Rule the World Susan Todd 96 pages, $9.99 EFG Available in bookstores , or Order this book from AmazonKids rule the world? Not in my house, they don’t. But
even a strict parent wants to encourage her kid to write, and this book can
help. Definitely geared toward children without being patronizing, this book is
full of ideas to help children discover the fun in communicating through the
written word. Given that today’s children grow up in a digital age,
many a parent worries about declining interest in reading and writing. This book
offers incentive in the form of writing activities: things to do, write
about, and then publish in www.kidnews.com
or other places. Topics include sports, features, reviews, advice and opinions, and creative writing. The book even includes a CD with writing and reporting forms. (No sightings of Cate Blanchett, though. Pity.) Kids Rule the World would make a great gift for any child who likes to write—or any child whom you would like to like to write. The Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book Dan Poynter 13th edition, 430 pages, $19.95 Para Publishing 800-PARAPUB, or Order this book from Amazon The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing Tom and Marilyn Ross 4th edition, 521 pages, $19.99 Writer’s Digest Books 800-221-5831, or Order this book from Amazon When you’re ready to consider self-publishing, these
comprehensive reference books are your best resources. Poynter, the original self-publishing marketing guru, has
the enterprise down to a science. If you like fact-filled how-to’s, based on a
hugely successful real life person’s experience, his manual will quickly
become your bible. The latest edition has useful updates about e-books and
P.O.D., plus plenty of e-mail addresses for resources in the contact-rich
appendices. As always with Poynter, photos enliven the text, and you’ll find
encouraging paragraphs like this one: “Have you ever heard anyone say ‘Simon & Schuster,
I love their books, I buy everything they publish’? Of course not. People want
to know what this book is about. Is this something I need to know? Who is the
author? Is she a credible person? No one ever asks, ‘Who is the
publisher?’” The competing title by Ross & Ross is strong at
offering perceptive analyses of the publishing field. Penny Sansevieri, for
instance, might cry after reading their five-page section on P.O.D. They point
out serious flaws in Print on Demand that novices might never consider, which
makes their five pages on the subject more helpful than Sansevieri’s entire
book (to me, at least). I’ve bought Poynter and Ross & Ross and consult both
regularly. Still, if I had to choose just one, my favorite would be the latter.
Partly, it’s a matter of style. Ross & Ross offer encouragement at every
turn, always striving to serve the reader; the pitch perfect writing may be the
best you’ll find in any self-help book. By contrast, Poynter’s
approach is no-nonsense, with an emphasis on good business practice to earn a
profit. Cate Blanchett doesn’t need books like these, of course, but like other wildly successful actors or writers, she’s in the minority. For the rest of us, especially those who are both spiritual practitioners and writers, reading either Poynter or Ross & Ross is better than waiting for lightning to strike.
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