So you've proofed your project and you are now pursuing agent representation. At this point, your 64 million dollar question is probably "How do I find an Agent and get published?" Before you blindly walk into an agent's office let us look at a few of the finer things you should know to avoid hearing "You've got something here, I'm just not quite sure what it is." In other words, "No."

There are many things you should consider before calling up an agent and conducting an interview. In fact, if you cold call an agent you've already taken a step back and could very well be running in reverse. Many agents don't accept phone calls, let alone emails. Rise above the rest and educate yourself about various agents to make your very best first impression.

Know your genre.
If you've done your homework by reading targeting your audience, you have already identified your customers and genre. This is an important key to finding an agent with integrity and qualified connections. For example, the world between nonfiction agents and fiction agents is vast and chances are your children's book agent is not going to have much to offer in finding you a publisher in the nonfiction market. If you have identified your genre then you have already saved yourself countless hours in prospecting the wrong market and have a much better chance in making the right contacts.

Evaluate your options.
I intentionally say "evaluate" as there are many agents who make a profitable living off your ignorance. This is bad business conduct and you do not want to be associated with these type of agents and their moral and ethical pitfalls. To avoid being scammed, simply type in the phrase "writers beware" into your search engine and educate yourself on what to avoid. This will help you survey the land so you can navigate and direct yourself to agents and firms of quality and integrity.

Researching 'Legit' Agents.
After you have educated yourself on what type of agents to avoid, you are now ready begin your agent search. There are a number of resources on the web that can help you find a reputable agent and/or firm. Try typing in "agent query" in your search engine or "[your genre] agents" and make a list of names to further research. Also, "The Association of Authors' Representatives" (aka AAR) offers resources on how to find legit agents as well as gives helpful suggestions for submitting your material.

All of these resources can help bring your project to the marketplace, but first make sure you have something to manage. If you don't have a winning script, an "offer" or any credentials, the ability of your manuscript finding itself in major retail chains are slim. If your name or product does not have demand, publishers will most likely go on to something that does. Be in the know and learn how to market yourself to have a solid platform to speak from.

Also, it is my belief that there is no substitute for networking yourself and having conversations IN person. Meeting literary agents, going to publishing conferences and getting referrals are for more valuable then writing any query letter or email. Above all, exude confidence in your work and your great idea and passion will help sell itself.

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Feel free to contact me with any questions about this process. Additionally, I am in the process of sorting through some of the most common questions and will post these on the FAQ section of my website and I will answer them appropriately. I look forward to hearing from you!

Say you were a vegetarian and you recently purchased a book on friendly vegetarian recipes. When you get home, you crack open the book for the first time and a handful of postcards and marketing material fall out of the pages advertising meat packer associations and where to find the best steak. Although good for your iron intake, these kind of pictures and campaigns would be poorly received by the reader, potentially damaging the loyalty the reader has to that particular author and/or publisher.

This is an extreme example, however you would be surprised to find out how much time many authors and publishers spend on considering the right artwork for their publications. Let's take a look at understanding matching concept with content.

Most of the time, the artwork chosen for a particular project is left to the designer and he or she is given a brief outline of the content of the book. The designer can then utilize their resources to choose or create their own artwork that matches the particular content. However, what the designer sees as "fresh" and "edgy" may not be effective for a book that is targeting a more traditional and conservative audience. When choosing artwork for your book or publication it is important to keep in mind the ideas discussed in the Targeting Your Audience post. Zero in on the culture that you plan to target and learn to see past your opinions on what kind of pictures can most effectively reach your audience.

Walt Disney once said, "Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language." Often, ideas can be communicated in one picture that words struggle to describe in an entire paragraph. It is vital to choose artwork that digs into your ideas that wraps itself around the essentials of what you are trying to communicate. The better your artwork describes your thoughts, the better impact you can have on your readers (and the more memorable your project becomes).

Now all of this may seem abstract and lofty, but the good news is that you already have access to the people that can handle this for you. "Sure..." you say, "for a fee!" Not necessarily. That is one option and below I have included some links of some very well established and trusted designers and firms that have proven their success within the publishing marketplace. However, you can also utilize royalty-free image galleries such as iStockPhoto.com or GettyImages.com among others. Here you will find a myriad of illustrations, images and photographs of practically any idea you have to communicate. (Tip: if you find yourself searching hours on end to find the "perfect" photograph, consider using more specific search terminology. For example, to find a photo of a beach, be more specific and use terms like "white sand," "footprints," or "coastal sunset" to hone in on your idea.)

For the more technical user, many professional designers use desktop publishing software such as InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop as their creative platform. These programs are not cheap and have a steep learning curve, however they are incredibly useful in creating high-end customized artwork.

While we have discussed artwork that is found within the body of your book, pay special attention to any artwork you choose for the cover. There is a concept among book publishers that states the 3 points of sale. #1 The customer first sees the title and cover. #2 If the customer grabs the book they turn it over to read the back, and #3 they look at the price. By this reasoning you have 3 chances to engage the potential reader and the FIRST chance you get is by the cover title and artwork so be sure to make a great impression.

Lastly, I highly recommend doing your homework and being thoughtful about the ways you consider matching your concept with your content because in the end, you can either choose a steak on a vegetarian cookbook or a mouth-watering french dish in front of the Eiffel Tower. Although you may not receive any free tickets to France, you will end up with a much better chance of laying the foundation for a truly engaged and loyal audience.

Recommended Professional Designers:

Mike Deitsch - The Vine Collective
Linda Bourdeaux - The Design Desk
Susanna Parrish - Texasus Design
Chase Carter - Revelation Interactive


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As the famous French writer and Nobel Prize winner, Anatole France once said, "To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe." Writing a book is by no means an easy task, but with your dedication and belief in your ideas, you can accomplish not only good things, but great things.

Believe it or not, some of your biggest obstacles in actually writing, or drafting, your book is yourself. You have probably heard the expression, "A relationship is only as strong as the weakest person in it." This can also be true with your creativity. Your book and ideas can take on their own identity and you enter into a relationship with your creativity. This "relationship" can have it's ups and downs and its important to identify this so that (1) you can learn to adjust to these times and (2) help ease your frustration levels along the way.

Julia Cameron, author of The Artists Way, is an expert on the foundations of creativity and explores some common beliefs about how we have been conditioned to allow ourselves the freedom to be creative. She states that many of the greatest artists are looked upon as having no self doubt. She goes deeper and says that we need to learn to move through self doubt, not avoid it. The Artists Way has a great way of explaining the concept of self doubt and provides excellent resources to improve your overall creative freedom. If you haven't read the book already, stop reading this blog post and go out and get it!

Another common frustration creative individuals experience is the weight of their vision. You probably have many great ideas but you may feel so overwhelmed with the weight of the process that you have a hard time getting started. This is very common and you should remind yourself that great things have never been accomplished overnight. There are a couple of ways to get around "writer's block." One way is to refuel your creative muscle. Julia Cameron calls this "taking yourself on an Artist Date." This will help refill your bucket of creativity and encourage you to be more productive. Another way is to schedule your writing time in your weekly calendar. You could schedule 15min in the morning or 1 hour, 3 times a week. It's up to you. The point is that if you plan your creative time, it is more likely you will stay focused, and you will feel more accomplished then if you just "wait" for your creativity to strike.

Lastly, be careful of getting into the habit of constantly editing your work before it needs to be edited. Many creative individuals are perfectionists and while perfectionism can assist your dedication, it can also inhibit your creative flow and keep you stuck in the process. Learn to resist the urge to "edit" your work at the beginning stages to allow your ideas to breath and capture the entire world around them. If you can turn off your "internal editor" at the beginning, you will begin to experience the freedom your creativity needs to better communicate your ideas later.

I hope this helps you during your creative process and remember, "In order to live an extraordinary life, one must be able to overcome extra-ordinary challenges." So when you find yourself getting stuck while writing your book, just say to yourself, "I'm just living to be extraordinary," and allow yourself the freedom to refill your creativity and pick up your pencil and start again.

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Goal setting is a powerful tool that, when used effectively, becomes an extraordinary way to increase your self confidence and help turn your ideas into reality. Setting realistic goals gives you a sense of accomplishment of which, in turn, motivates you to achieve more goals. Carelessly creating unrealistic goals is like saying, "My goal is to travel to the moon for dinner tonight." Although a beautiful thought, it may serve you well to set a goal to first, research which airline has flights departing to the moon. Tip: make sure you have an extra $25 to pay for your checked baggage!

Let's look at a few key things to get you started.

"Realistic" Goal Setting
It is good to be ambitious, but keep your goals realistic. Being realistic means to find a way to practically measure your progress. Think of something you would like to accomplish. Then apply a practical way or unit of measure to gauge your success. Ex: "Complete the Targeting Your Audience exercise by this Friday." Now you have an actual DAY to keep yourself accountable to. Including these practical elements are an effective way to not only see your progress but also lower your frustration levels along the way.

Learn to Love Revision
I know "change" might be a scary word, but in this context, changing or revising your goals can be an asset and work to your own advantage. Talk to any hit songwriter and they'll say, "You have to learn to love to rewrite." That is because when you initially start down the path of achieving a goal, you may find other things you may need to do before you can check it off. Additionally, if you think your goals are set in stone, they are not. Just because you wrote them down once doesn't mean you have to stick to your initial way of achieving them. Keep the long term goal in mind and don't worry about how you initially thought you would get there. Be patient with yourself and keep on revising until you hit your goal. Your sense of accomplishment will be well worth your time!

The next two things I will discuss are the hidden secrets behind creating powerful goals.

Accountability
Accountability simply means being willing to accept the responsibility for your actions. In regard to goal setting, you could tell a trusted friend about your goals and ask them to hold you accountable to accomplish them. They in turn could call or email you about how your progress is coming along. This does two things: (1) having a friend keep you accountable informs them of your idea/direction and demonstrates your commitment to them and (2) promotes the motivation within you to achieve more goals. There is a reason why health/fitness personal training is a multi-million dollar industry. People want to be held accountable to help keep themselves on target.

WRITE OUT YOUR GOALS
Did you get that...in all CAPITAL letters? If you don't get anything else from this posting, get this...WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS. It may seem silly at first, but once you start seeing your progress you will soon realize the hidden gems within this exercise. Write down your goals anywhere, on a notepad, a napkin, a post-it note and...here's the second piece of this powerful technique...place it somewhere you will look everyday (preferably multiple times a day). Places you could post these notes are on your bathroom mirror, on the refrigerator door, on the dash of your car, or my favorite-type your goals into your computer's screensaver. By doing this, you will be subliminally saying to your brain "accomplish this task" and it will start directing your thoughts and your actions towards accomplishing your goals. This is a powerful technique and I guarantee you will see results.

Keep the goal setting process in mind throughout your entire project. Again, goals are not set in stone and if you should start out too ambitious, don't worry, learn to love to revise and adjust accordingly. Soon you will experience the joy of accomplishing your goals and you will have a created a strong foundation for your book to become a reality!

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So you have decided to tell the world your story but don't know where to begin. This weekly series of blog posts will explore the "real-world" information you need to get your story or information in print today.

As with most creative endeavors, it starts with a vision. You have a dream and a 60,000 ft. view of what your vision entails, but where do you start? In the words of T.S. Eliot, "What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." Let's take a look at what you will have accomplished by breaking the process down to begin with the end in mind.

You will have accomplished:

• Targeting Your Audience
• Setting Realistic Goals
• Conceptualizing the Layout
• Writing the Book
• Creating the Artwork
• Choosing Media Components
• Proofing the Project
• Deciding upon Agents
• Marketing and Promotion
• Printing the Book
• Distributing Your Work

Seem overwhelming? You're right. The process can be very overwhelming...if you attack the process alone. Walt Disney has stated, "It takes people to make the dream a reality." That is why you need to be confident about your vision so you can mobilize the people you need to produce it.

Remember, creativity rides with patience and patience can be an asset or a stumbling block. So be sensitive to your creative process but maintain the determination required to accomplish your goals. The best thing you can do is believe in your idea and start doing it, instead of talking about it.

Feel free to contact me with any questions about these articles. I truly hope you find this "How To Make A Book Series" helpful and I look forward to hearing about your success!

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