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So You Think You Want to Write a Book?

If you are a celebrity or an expert in a particular field, a published book can help you advance in your career. A book adds to your credibility and helps spread your message or story beyond your immediate professional or social circle.

However, writing a book is a significant undertaking requiring specialized skill and knowledge. Very few celebrities, or those with celebrity aspirations, write their own books by themselves. They simply don’t have the time to write a book, let alone figure out how it should be done. Those in challenging professions, or who are undergoing dramatic life circumstances, are in the same position. They have the story, but they need help getting it out there.

Typically, these people hire professional writers to help make the book of their dreams happen. That’s where I come in. Whether you are a celebrity with a platform, a teacher or healer with a message to spread, a chef who wants to share some amazing recipes, or just someone with an amazing story to tell, I can help you make your book happen.

However, before you contact me, read this first. Many people email or call me to ask the same questions, so to save us both valuable time, here are some answers. If you are still interested after reading this, send me an email and I will send you further information regarding my services and fees. After that, we can arrange a call to discuss your project and vision.

How It Works

Most of my clients want to publish a book with a major publisher. That requires two very important things: A literary agent and a book proposal.

An agent takes your book proposal to a publisher. Most mainstream publishers will not even look at a book proposal submitted by the author (that’s you). They will only look at proposals submitted by literary agents, so you need one. I’ll tell you how to get one in a minute.

A book proposal is a document that contains information about your project, about you, and about why your book will sell. It also contains sample chapters, so the publisher can see that you really know how to write (or that you are working with someone who does). The chapters must be competent and engaging, and the proposal must be organized and professional. Remember, mainstream publishers buy books they believe they can sell. A proposal is your advertisement for your book -- your big chance to convince a publisher that your book will be profitable. Send a mediocre proposal, or worse, a poor proposal, or (worse yet) expect a publisher to just love your idea without a proposal, and you will burn bridges. A good proposal is important if you are serious about getting a publisher to publish your book.

A good book proposal can also help you to secure a literary agent, if you don’t already have one. Agents look for authors with great ideas, but they don’t want to hear about your vague concepts or dreams for a book. They don’t want to hear that you have “lots of different ideas.” They want specifics. Agents are busy, and a proposal proves that you are already invested in your own great idea and have given it enough thought to develop the concept into something tangible. Sending out a great proposal to a number of agents is the best way to get a good one who believes in you and your book and can market it to publishers with confidence.

Perhaps you are wondering how you can create this miraculous and powerful proposal. I can help you. I have written many proposals for potential authors and I can work with you to help shape your book idea. Using your content, I can create a professional proposal that will look great and accurately reflect your concept in the best possible light.

If your proposal sells and you want to continue our relationship, I can work with you to write the whole book. I can also help you write a book, personal history, or company history even if you don’t have a publishing deal. You may not want one if you plan to self-publish or just want a book for your own purposes. I can also help you edit or fix your book or book proposal, or help you write promotional material including magazine articles, once your book is out there and selling.

Of course, writing a book or a book proposal yourself won’t cost you anything other than your time, and a few people do have the knowledge and skill to do it themselves. If you want to get out there and research how to do it, and you think you’ve got the writing chops to pull it off, go for it. If you really don’t think you can spare the time and publishing a book is important to you, consider whether you are willing to invest in making that happen. If you are, email me for services and fees, and if you still believe we would make a great team, then let’s talk.

Whether we ever speak in person or not, I wish you the best of luck with your project and future success. Publishing can be tough, but there are always new and incredible success stories out there. May you be one of them.

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