jennienash.com The No Excuses Map! How to Get From Inspiration to Publication

1 GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME Who’s your perfect reader? Make a chapter template Commit It’s not enough to know who she is in general. Know What will each chapter look like? What elements People new to writing, or to the creative life, may what keeps her up at night. Know where she is will it contain? It can help to draw a visual map recognize the insistent idea, the idea that's ripe for hurting. Know what could help her become the best of the way it will look. choosing, but they may not be comfortable committing version of herself. This knowledge is the start of your to it. How do you know it's the right idea? What marketing plan. The next step in that process is to 4 VOICE AND POINT OF VIEW happens if it's the wrong idea? And what about the other ask yourself, “How can I engage her so that when my book is ready she is already a true fan?” In a perfect ideas you are ignoring in favor of this one? The truth is Maintain a consistent tone that you will get no assurance. There will be no world, you would already be engaging her now. guarantee. You must commit and move forward. Someone speaking as a tell-it-like-it-is mentor is going to sound different from someone speaking Establish good habits as a pal. Choose your tone of voice and stick to it. Creativity is often the result of good habits. Make sure you have a space of your own and then establish a Know where you stand in time writing routine that feels sustainable. You may have to The stands in one place in time when sacrifice something in order to finish your book — a they address the reader. For most nonfiction clean house? Lunches out with friends? Sleep? Know , they are standing in real time, looking what it is and make the choice willingly. Invest in the back as they talk about what they have seen, tools you need to do good work, including a solid known, or experienced. backup system for your computer.

Set an attainable goal 5 BEGIN WRITING Choose a date by which you will complete a rough What books are already out there? draft. Determine the number of pages you need to Just do it An author is an entrepreneur, and an entrepreneur write per week to meet that goal. always has an eye on the marketplace. Know what The goal when you first start a project is to get books are out there that your reader already loves something down on paper so you can step back, look at it, and make it better. As Anne Lamott 2 KNOW YOUR POINT and do your best to add to the conversation. Say something new. Show us a different angle. says, “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped What’s your point? and insane your whole life, and it is the main Although the point of your book may change, 3 DESIGN A STRUCTURE TO HOLD YOUR IDEA obstacle between you and a shitty first draft.” morph, and get refined, you still have to start out knowing what you want to say and why. Try writing Organize your material "Close the door. Write with no one looking over the book jacket copy for your book first. In 250 What will be the shape of your book? Will you your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other words or less, explain what it is and what the proceed chronologically? Through what period of people want to hear from you; figure out what you takeaway might be. Entice us. Convince us. And time? Will you organize your material by topic? speak with authority. We expect book writers to have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to Study the Table of Contents of successful books. have done the hard work of thinking deeply about offer.” —Barbara Kingsolver You want to find a structure to help you make their subject. Prove to us you have. your point. 1 jennienash.com “The hardest part of art making is living your life in such a way that your work gets done, over and over – and that means, among other things, finding a host of practices that are just plain useful. A piece of art is the surface expression of a life lived within productive patterns.” ― David Bayles, Art & Fear

Lean into your habits 6 REVISION: MACRO 7 WELCOME YOUR DOUBT Be gentle with yourself and find a writing practice that doesn’t make you crazy. Writing 1,000 words a Step back and think about your reader Don’t panic if you feel a sense of doubt day may work for some people, but if it doesn’t work Don’t expect your initial doubts about your work to for you, it’s a waste of time and energy. Find what Print out your pages, pick up a pen, and sit magically disappear. as you write. The doubt doesn’t works for you and lean into it. somewhere different from where you write. Think ever disappear. In fact, it often gets worse; the only about what the reader will experience when they difference is that the seasoned pro expects the Write 50 pages come to your pages and ask yourself the following doubt and doesn’t let it crush them. questions:! 50 is an arbitrary number, but not completely. 50 ! pages has a kind of weight to it that 25 or 40 lacks. At • Are the big ideas or characters on the REVISION: MICRO 50 pages, it’s clear that you are not writing an article page in a way a stranger can access? 8 or a short story. It feels like you are writing a book. It Remember that you know everything is, therefore, a great initial goal. ! Step back and make sure you’ve got a about the world of your book; your strong foundation ! reader doesn’t know anything. They need Don’t worry about commas and punctuation yet. Getting to 50 also just feels good. I believe that if you to be led by the hand.! Don’t worry about pretty sentences. You want to can write 50 good pages, you can write a good book.! Is there a logic to the way the material • make sure the foundational elements of your ! flows from section to section (non- writing are solid:! When you get to 50 pages, I suggest that you stop fiction)? Is there a cause-and-effect and assess. That’s what the next five steps are about.! trajectory (fiction)?! ! Is your tense consistent? ! If, however, you have a lot of momentum and feel Does your writing have authority? Is your • • What about your point of view? ! great about what you are writing, ignore the 50 page voice strong and clear?! • Is your dialogue natural and snappy? There rule and carry on. Some writers don’t stop until they Are you showing, not telling? Showing is not • • should be one speaker per line, clear have a complete draft. They then circle back to Step 6 a literal directive. It’s an emotional one, attribution (we know who is saying what), and proceed. and a temporal one. Show us how the and people should only say things they thoughts or story unfold. Show us the would naturally say to reach others (as process. Let us into the experience.! opposed to saying things the author needs Are you writing the book you set out to • them to say). write? If so, is the book you really want to write the one on the page or the one you REPEAT thought you were going to write? It’s 9 absolutely fine to change your mind and Repeat Steps 1 to 8 until you have a ! shift direction. Allow the process of writing to change your mind.! finished rough draft ! This is the work of a writer. Write, stop, assess, repeat. ! If you can’t answer yes to these questions, work Just do it. on strengthening these big elements before you do anything else. Get help if you need it.! “If you find yourself asking yourself (and your ! friends), "Am I really a writer? Am I really an If something isn’t working, get rid of it. Your job is artist?" chances are you are. The counterfeit to serve the story, not your ego. innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death. ― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art 2 jennienash.com "Books aren't written – they're rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn't quite done it.” ― Michael Crichton

CONTINUE EXECUTING YOUR MARKETING 10 PLAN 12 REVISION: MANUSCRIPT OVERHAUL Where can you meet your ideal reader? Decide what the fix is Where does she hang out online and in real life? Do you need to start at Chapter 4? Throw out the What does she allow in her inbox? What can you do middle three chapters? Yank the last 1/3 of the book to earn her trust? to the front? Slash out a bunch of repetition? Find an authentic way to engage with them Redesign the timeline? Consider every possibility, no matter how radical. There’s no point in holding back. It’s not about sell, sell, sell, and it’s not about Twitter/ Facebook/blogging without a purpose. It’s about Be brave. building a base of true fans so that when you have a This is revision, not rocket science. You can do this. book, you have people eager to buy it. Give them direction Start from scratch Don’t just hand over the work of your heart and take Make strategic alliances Seriously. If you work from your original, you will whatever feedback is given. Smart writers ask for the Who is working in your space and doing a great job? spend all your energy trying to salvage what you exact kind of feedback they need from their readers. How can you connect with them, and help them, so already wrote. You will not be thinking clearly. To Ask them where they got bored and stopped . that you can align yourself with them when your think clearly, start from scratch. Here’s how:! Ask them to tell you if the middle sags. Ask them if book comes out? • Make a copy of your original. Call it FIX.! your point comes across clearly all the way through. • Open a new blank document. Give it a snazzy What you want is clarification: are the things I am worried about truly worrisome things? Are there REVISION: MACRO background — make it blue or green — so 11 it’s easy to differentiate from your original. ! things I have not seen that I should worry about? Step back and consider the whole thing • Poach the good stuff from your FIX doc and move it to the new location in the new doc. ! Change the font, print out the entire document, sit Give them a deadline Only move what you want to keep. The rest somewhere different from where you write, and read • Three weeks is a reasonable amount of time. If they gets left behind.! it all the way through. can’t do it within this time period, ask another reader. • How does it sound? The best writing has a • Get help if you need it. certain musicality to it. Pay attention to your WHILE YOU WAIT, KEEP WORKING ON rhythm and pacing. Are there parts that are too 15 REPEAT STEP #11: FULL MANUSCRIPT EXECUTING YOUR MARKETING PLAN slow? Too fast? Is there repetition that stalls the 13 flow? Try to really HEAR it. One good way to READ THROUGH do this is to read it out loud. Make changes 16 ASSESS AND INCORPORATE FEEDBACK accordingly. OUTSIDE ASSESSMENT FROM LOVING ! Listen Do you LIKE it? Awesome! Skip to Step #14.! • 14 Is there a consensus that any part of the book is not Are you afraid that there’s something horribly FRIENDS • working? Take that very seriously and look for a way to wrong with it? Be honest. Most writers know strengthen the weakness. when their work has a weakness, and most Choose three people who love you writers can even identify it; the hard part is You want people who will A) actually read the Did you get caught red handed? facing it. Stay as calm as possible and move to book, B) say something constructive about it, and If the feedback strikes a chord with you — i.e. “Oh Step #12.! C) say it in a way that doesn’t feel like your insides crap they saw right through me!” — own it, and do the ! are being ripped out. hard work you probably tried to escape the first time.

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“Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely essential.”― Jessamyn West

17 OUTSIDE ASSESSMENT FROM HARSH ! Polish your draft to perfection CRITICS Enter all the changes into the computer, assessing Choose three people in a position to sniff out everything one last time as you work on each word. every last little weakness Consider people who know something about the 20 LET IT GO topic of your book, people who have published themselves, or people who are serious readers. There is an art to saying you are finished You could work for three, five, ten or twenty years Give them direction on a book and always find something else that can be Ask them to rip your book to shreds. Ask them to improved. At a certain point, you have to just decide be ruthless. You want to publish the best book you to be done. When is that point? No one but the can and this is how you get there. It won’t be fun, but writer knows. So trust your instincts. Do the hard it’s a necessary part of the process. work, and then let it go out into the world.

18 ASSESS AND INCORPORATE FEEDBACK Listen Is there a consensus that any part of the book is not working? Take that very seriously and look for a way to strengthen the weakness. Did you get caught red handed? If the feedback strikes a chord with you — i.e. “Oh crap they saw right through me!” — own it, and do the hard work you probably tried to escape the first time. 19 REVISION: MICRO Line edit Print out your pages, pick up a pen, and sit TRADITIONAL somewhere different from where you write. Go SELF-PUBLISHING through each page line by line, looking at the Follow this path if you want to publish Follow this path if you want to publish !following:! your book on your own. your book through a publishing house. • Punctuation and grammar! • Word choice/language! • Clarity of thought/clarity of character! • Continuity of time! • Rhythm and pacing! • Transitions between chapters of sections! • Action — show don’t tell! 4 jennienash.com Self-publishing Traditional publishing

21 MAKE A BUDGET 24 HIRE AN EDITOR 21 MAKE A BUDGET 24 FIND AN AGENT Go to agentquery.com or Think like an entrepreneur and know Spend a chunk of your budget on hiring Think like an entrepreneur and know querytracker.com and find 25 agents what you can afford to spend and a developmental editor,who is trained to what you can afford to spend and who represent the kind of book you how many books you need to sell to look at every aspect of the work. Be how many books you need to sell to have written and who are accepting earn it back. prepared to do rounds of revisions until earn it back. unsolicited queries. Add in agents you get everything right.! you have met, heard about, or who CONTINUE WORKING ON ! 22 • JennieNashBookCoach ! CONTINUE WORKING ON represent books you admire. For YOUR MARKETING PLAN • Command + Z! 22 help, check out:! • The Book Doctors! YOUR MARKETING PLAN David Corbett ! Make a more detailed plan for when • Make a more detailed plan for when • Jeff Hermanson book! the book launches. How can you make • Michael Larsen book! the book launches. How can you make • Larsenpomada agency site a compelling offer to your true fans? a compelling offer to your true fans? How can you use your strategic 25 HIRE A PROOFREADER How can you use your strategic alliances? How can you attract reviews alliances? How can you attract reviews You can’t proof your own book, and QUERY and media attention? What do you and media attention? Learn more at:! 25 need on your website (and you DO neither can your editor. Hire a pro. ! Write a personalized query letter. to need a website.) Learn more at:! They’re worth their weight in gold For • WeGrowMedia WeGrowMedia! 5 agents. Send them off. After 5 ! help consider:! • AuthorMedia! rejections, see if there is any pattern • WeGrowMedia! ! A Small Nation! writer.ly! • to the feedback you are getting. See • AuthorMedia! • SocialMediaJustforWriters! • A Small Nation! • Writer’s Relief • if there is anything that can be • SocialMediaJustforWriters! improved or clarified in your title or pitch. Revise it and then send out the 23 WRITE A KILLER PROPOSAL book again. Repeat this 5 times. For SELECT A PUBLICATION 26 CREATE A GREAT COVER DESIGN 23 help on writing a great query, see:! PLATFORM Readers DO judge books by their covers, You’re writing a business plan for every day. Be prepared to spend a chunk your book so an agent and editor ! Choose whether or not you are • queryshark.com! of your budget here. can, at one glance, know exactly what 26going to produce an e-book, a print it is, who it’s for, how you’ll help it get book, or both. ! For help consider:! to readers, and why they should care. 26 HOW TO SAY YES ! ! Get help if you need it. A strategic Choose a platform you will use for CreativeIndieCovers! Never compromise your vision for • book coach can help with proposal, each type of book. Decide whether • 99Designs! the book. Don’t work with people agent search, query.This is a critical or not you will use the production who don’t share your vision. It will step. Include the following elements: services offered by the provider result in nothing but heartache. Wait WRITE KILLER COVER COPY (cover art designer, editor, proof- 27 Book overview! for an agent who gets what wrote, Cover copy is the first thing a reader will • reader, etc.) or whether you will hire Competitive titles! loves that you wrote, and who you read about your book. It’s the online • your own vendors.! • Audience analysis! will be proud to have represent you. ! that will pop up when they click on your • Author bio! Consider these platforms:! . Make sure it’s compelling and • Table of contents! ! that it tells them A) what the book is 27 SHOULD YOU GIVE UP? • CreateSpace! • Marketing plan • Smashwords! about, B) why they should care, and C) It depends on your belief in your • Vook! what the takeaway will be. For help For help consider:! book and your capacity for rejection. • BookBaby! consider:! 48HrBooks! ! Make a plan and stick to it. Perhaps • ! • JennieNashBookCoach! query 25 agents before you give up. • Lightning Source NoBlankPages online classes • The Essential Guide to Getting Your • Book Published! Perhaps query 50. • NoBlankPages online classes

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28 SET YOUR PRICE 28 PITCH TO EDITORS Look at what other similar books Your agent will send out a pitch are selling for. Consider doing a to editors at publishing houses. It special offer or even a free e-book could take an hour or three offer to generate reviews and months to hear back from them. If attention. multiple editors are interested in your book, your agent will arrange 29 INTERIOR LAYOUT an auction. The way a book is laid out on the page is an important part of the reading experience. There are ways 29 SIGN A DEAL to do this well for both e-book and Once you decide on a publisher, your print. Find someone who knows agent will negotiate the terms of the deal. how to do interior . Typically, an author is given 1/3 of their They’re often inexpensive to hire advance on signing, 1/3 on delivery of the and their work can make a huge manuscript, and 1/3 on publication. difference. ! Royalties kick in after you earn out your ! advance. • 52Novels ! • To DIY, check out the nifty book templates at 30 BE A TEAM PLAYER bookdesigntemplates.com ! • TotenCreative One of the joys of being published by a big publisher is that you become part of a creative team. Pros will be working on 30 LAUNCH! your cover design, your interior layout, the pricing of the book and your publicity Pick a launch date, set up some and marketing plan. You will have an promotions around it, and have a editor paying careful attention to every fabulous book signing party to line of your book, and a proofreader celebrate the big day! spotting ever inconsistency and error. It takes a long time to get a book ready for Put your book in reader’s hands. publication, because there are so many tasks that need to be done. Be patient 31 CAN A SELF-PUBLISHED WRITER and be a good team player. STILL GET A TRADITIONAL PUBLISHER? 31 LAUNCH! Sure! Agents are on the lookout for self publishing success stories. Some high You will work with your publisher profile self published writers have moved on launch day promotions. Have a over to traditional publishing., despite the fabulous book signing party to fact that they often give up money to do celebrate the big day! so. Why? The prestige, the ease of getting into bookstores, the pleasure and efficiency of having a creative team. Some self published writers do these deals and hang onto digital rights. Put your book in reader’s hands.

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