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Author: Jessica Hadari Creativity Coach & Publishing Maven, Beth Barany has been helping authors get their books written and edited, published and marketed into the hands of their readers for over 10 years. Beth is the author of The Writer’s Adventure Guide: 12 Stages to Writing Your Book, and the bestseller Overcome Writer’s Block, and runs an active online community for authors www.BethBarany.com Here is just a slice of what I took away from Beth Barany’s presentation at the February 2012 FEM Talks (very much paraphrased and sprinkled with my own thoughts) Enjoy! Your book project will require you get really honest and present to four main areas: Passion – If you are going to commit to and finish your book project it really must be written about something you are passionate about. Writing a book solely as a marketing strategy or in a “should” paradigm may not only be dissatisfying or frustrating but may not be the success you want it to be because it is not a true reflection of your deepest gifts and passions. The audience will feel that. What are you passionate about? That seems like such a cliche question…but worthy of your attention.
Audience – We hear about getting clear on your niche which may or may not be important in your business. But knowing your book audience’s demographic (age, career. lifestyle) psychographic (religion, political views, philosophies) and also their Needs Desires/Wants Fears Good to know. Journal and be in inquiry about all of these areas before getting to the meat of your book. Capability & Resources – I mixed these last two together, though Beth expounded on each. What tools, support and skill do you have or need to get your book done. Margaret Thatcher worked with a voice coach. Obama and Clinton have speech writers. CEOs have consultants and Non-Profit have boards of directors. What and who do you need to call upon to get you book done. Could you join a writers mastermind or support group? Do you need to research other authors of your genre? Some other great book structure tips that she gave to us:
Clarity Does the message come through? Beth also talked extensively about how to self publish and publish immediately to Kindle and Nook formats on Amazon, etc. Here are some websites she recommended. She talked about each in depth but I am simply listing them for easy reference. Kindle / Amazon = KDP.com Your work will need to be converted to a moby file Nook – pubit.com Requires epub file iBook / Sony Reader = smashwords.com Free. Can upload as word doc. You can also get your ISBN # here. Print books – Beth recommends creatspace.com and also lightningsource.com Beth’s thoughts about writers block and procrastination: Writing begets writing. Write about your writers block. It can be your teacher. What is going on there? Procrastination is when you know what to say but are somehow afraid of just doing it. Before trying to skip over your block to write your book sit there for a while and see what wants to come through in your writing as you talk to the writers block itself. Write for 20 minutes per day, even if you are not writing toward your book. Just write – like meditation, it is a practice. Beth Barany has been helping authors get their books written and edited, published and marketed into the hands of their readers for over 10 years. Four of her clients’ books have been bestsellers, including Writing Romance, When I Was There, Honest Medicine, and The Torah Codes. Beth has been a columnist and editor at The National Networker, and a contributing author to several anthologies, including Creativity Coaching Success Stories. She also writes fantasy and paranormal novels. Her newly published novel is the award-winning young adult fantasy, Henrietta The Dragon Slayer. Beth Barany currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, author Ezra Barany, and their two cats. On her off hours, she loves to do kick boxing, gardening and watch lots of movies. Her favorite city is Paris, France, where she visits as often as she can.
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