While your manuscript is being edited, it’s time for you to get busy preparing for your self-marketing campaign. You will need to have a professional photograph taken for your back cover and will need to write both a short (50 words or less) and long bio to use on your web site as well as other various forms while promoting your book.
Why is a Professional Photo So Important?
As you begin to build your marketing plan (I will talk about this in the next post), it is important to start creating the kind of image you wish to portray. A professional photographer can provide the kind of head shot that you will be proud to display on your book cover, inside flap, and in all your media packages you will be sending out. A blurry, poor quality photograph taken by an amateur or family member will not portray you in a professional light. It is true that readers, agents, and radio show hosts will often rely on a good photo to make a decision whether or not to buy your book, represent you, or have you guest on a show. It’s a fact that a crisp, high-resolution photo that truly illustrates your personality will help you sell books.
When you hire a photographer, you want to ask for a head shot, in color, and you will also need the photographer to provide you with a jpeg file of your photo that you can send out electronically.
Photo Do’s
Wear a solid color on top (such as blue or green). Don’t worry about what you are wearing on the bottom half of your body, as your shot will be taken from the upper-chest up only.
Men should wear collared-shirts.
Manicure your nails as they may be in the shot if the photographer wants you to rest your head on your hands.
Photo Don’t’s
Do not wear white or wild prints.
Keep the jewelry to a minimum.
Do not wear more make-up than you usually wear as you want to look natural and not overdone in the photo.
Practice smiling in the mirror – you want to seem approachable and relaxed in your photo, not too posed.
Bringing Out Your Best Accomplishments in Your Bio
There’s a fine line between writing a great bio that details your writing experience with a little personal information thrown in to help you build a relationship with your readers before they read your book, and writing a lengthy bio that doesn’t demonstrate your professional credibility or reflect your true personality.
Write your bio in third person. Your short bio should include your full name, your college degree, where you work, whether you have written any other books, and personal/regional information. An example of a concise bio might be:
Award-winning humor writer Vicky DeCoster has over 25 years of writing experience. She is the author of two books of humorous essays and her work has been published in over 60 magazines, books, and on several web sites. Vicky lives in Nebraska with her husband and two children. Visit her at www.wackywomanhood.com.
Generally, your shorter bio will be requested more often, but it is a good idea to have a longer piece ready to go when needed. A lengthier bio might feature why you love to write, a few of the magazines you’ve been published in, or detail your professional accomplishments. I use a longer bio in all my media packages. I insert my professional photo in the left corner along with all my contact information, and separate the bio into three to four shorter paragraphs, making it easier for the recipient to read.
As you continue to build your credibility as an author and expert on your particular subject, a professional photo and well-written bio are two stepping stones that will lead you down a path to success, respect, and admiration from not just your fans, but the media as well.
Read more about Vicky at www.wackywomanhood.com.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Part II – The Biggest Mistake Most First-time Authors Make
Why it is Important to Have Your Manuscript Professionally Proofed and Edited
Your manuscript is finished and you have chosen the perfect title. Now, you’re ready to send it off to the publisher … right? Not so fast. You’ve written a great book and you’ve read your manuscript over and over so many times, you practically have it memorized. You’ve poured your heart and soul into those pages and checked every page for mistakes many times, so the manuscript has to be free of errors … right? Wrong.
It’s time to have a second set of trusted, professional eyes read your book. The best writers hire not only proofreaders to check for grammatical errors and typos, but they also hire an editor who looks for ways that the text can be improved and researches terms and style rules to ensure the writer has been consistent and accurate throughout the manuscript.
Who Should I Hire to Proofread My Manuscript?
While writing both of my books, I emailed each initial essay draft to a former co-worker who is highly skilled in catching errors I never see. She would make her corrections via the tracking function in Word, email me back the essay, and I would implement the changes. When the book was completed in its entirety, I printed out a hard copy and delivered it to her. On this copy, she marked her changes in red and returned it to me. As someone who proofreads other writers’ work on occasion, I find that proofreading on screen works fine, but proofreading a printed copy will often catch even more errors. If you do not have a friend like I did who is truly capable of finding mistakes, then call your local college, find an English major who is interested in tackling the project, and pay them either per page or by the hour.
How Do I Find a Reputable Editor?
After your book has been proofread and all obvious typos and grammatical errors corrected, then it’s time to find a reputable editor who will ensure your manuscript is of the highest quality before you send it off to a publisher. I do not recommend using a friend or family member who has no professional training or editing experience to take on this important task for you. Always use a professional, reputable editor who is respected within the publishing community.
It is important to note that there are different types of editors for different types of books. A non-fiction editor is trained in editing books such as self-help, how-to, or humor. A fiction editor is skilled in fine-tuning romance, mystery, and sci-fi novels.
I met my editor through a writer’s group that meets monthly in my city. She and I became professional acquaintances long before my second book was completed and I knew of her excellent reputation. She was upfront with me in telling me that she edited non-fiction books only. It was important for me to also know her on a personal level since my book was comprised of humorous essays and I felt it was vital that she had the opportunity to get to know and understand my personality and sense of humor before she edited my book. Before she began editing, she told me, “You own this book. I will be making suggestions only – what you do with them is up to you.” As a result, we got along fabulously and I ended up making 99% of her recommendations. In the end, when I sent my book to the publisher, I felt that I had a high-quality manuscript that was free of errors.
If you are unsure where to find an editor, ask another writer, pose a question on an on-line discussion board for writers, or reference Writer’s Market at your local library. Once you connect with an editor you like, ask the editor to do a sample edit of 3-5 pages of your manuscript. This will give you a chance to see the editor’s work and determine if you two will work well together.
Final Thoughts
If you think about all the time and effort you have put into your book up to this point and how mortifying it would be to publish a book that is not up to the same standards as all the other books on the shelf next to yours, then the time and effort you put forth to ensure that your manuscript is of the highest quality will be worth it.
Read more about Vicky at http://www.wackywomanhood.com/.
Your manuscript is finished and you have chosen the perfect title. Now, you’re ready to send it off to the publisher … right? Not so fast. You’ve written a great book and you’ve read your manuscript over and over so many times, you practically have it memorized. You’ve poured your heart and soul into those pages and checked every page for mistakes many times, so the manuscript has to be free of errors … right? Wrong.
It’s time to have a second set of trusted, professional eyes read your book. The best writers hire not only proofreaders to check for grammatical errors and typos, but they also hire an editor who looks for ways that the text can be improved and researches terms and style rules to ensure the writer has been consistent and accurate throughout the manuscript.
Who Should I Hire to Proofread My Manuscript?
While writing both of my books, I emailed each initial essay draft to a former co-worker who is highly skilled in catching errors I never see. She would make her corrections via the tracking function in Word, email me back the essay, and I would implement the changes. When the book was completed in its entirety, I printed out a hard copy and delivered it to her. On this copy, she marked her changes in red and returned it to me. As someone who proofreads other writers’ work on occasion, I find that proofreading on screen works fine, but proofreading a printed copy will often catch even more errors. If you do not have a friend like I did who is truly capable of finding mistakes, then call your local college, find an English major who is interested in tackling the project, and pay them either per page or by the hour.
How Do I Find a Reputable Editor?
After your book has been proofread and all obvious typos and grammatical errors corrected, then it’s time to find a reputable editor who will ensure your manuscript is of the highest quality before you send it off to a publisher. I do not recommend using a friend or family member who has no professional training or editing experience to take on this important task for you. Always use a professional, reputable editor who is respected within the publishing community.
It is important to note that there are different types of editors for different types of books. A non-fiction editor is trained in editing books such as self-help, how-to, or humor. A fiction editor is skilled in fine-tuning romance, mystery, and sci-fi novels.
I met my editor through a writer’s group that meets monthly in my city. She and I became professional acquaintances long before my second book was completed and I knew of her excellent reputation. She was upfront with me in telling me that she edited non-fiction books only. It was important for me to also know her on a personal level since my book was comprised of humorous essays and I felt it was vital that she had the opportunity to get to know and understand my personality and sense of humor before she edited my book. Before she began editing, she told me, “You own this book. I will be making suggestions only – what you do with them is up to you.” As a result, we got along fabulously and I ended up making 99% of her recommendations. In the end, when I sent my book to the publisher, I felt that I had a high-quality manuscript that was free of errors.
If you are unsure where to find an editor, ask another writer, pose a question on an on-line discussion board for writers, or reference Writer’s Market at your local library. Once you connect with an editor you like, ask the editor to do a sample edit of 3-5 pages of your manuscript. This will give you a chance to see the editor’s work and determine if you two will work well together.
Final Thoughts
If you think about all the time and effort you have put into your book up to this point and how mortifying it would be to publish a book that is not up to the same standards as all the other books on the shelf next to yours, then the time and effort you put forth to ensure that your manuscript is of the highest quality will be worth it.
Read more about Vicky at http://www.wackywomanhood.com/.
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