Publishing and the Power of Endorsements

The holidays passed in an incredibly hectic blur. I am thrilled that they are behind me. On a positive note, all the food, goodies and gatherings at my home were successful, and my latest bottling of White Cranberry Pinot Grigio received rave reviews from 90% of the recipients and imbibers! The next wine adventure will be a pomegranate zinfandel!

So what has been happening since the holidays other than work, snow and cold?

Part of the process the agent and author go through in “shopping” a book to publishers is putting together a terrific submission package. The more persuasive information you put into that package, the more likely you are to find a publisher willing to buy. Including endorsements from other authors, experts, and celebrities can often be the “tipping” point in that decision.

I have already received one fabulous endorsement from Dr. John L. Turner, a neurosurgeon and author, who read the entire manuscript because it was “so interesting.”

Needless to say, I was thrilled. As a result, I have spent the last several weeks on a mission to garner more endorsements. I’ve been spending all my time pulling together appropriate information, formatting said information into electronic packets, researching the people I wanted to receive the packages, writing personalized letters, then physically printing, packaging, addressing, and shipping those packages to the intended recipients.

Fifty-four of those packages have been sent to a wide variety of medical specialists, cancer center heads, hospice experts, influential religious leaders, government officials in the area of health, and news persons and celebrities who have supported related causes for personal reasons.

Now the hard part is not stopping to check my post office box morning and night!

The endorsement package process was time-consuming and costly; but worth every minute and every penny if the effort results in having a few really high-profile endorsements to throw into the mix! I’m posting Dr. Turner’s endorsement below and welcome all comments. And if you just happen to think of anyone who might be a good person to endorse the book, feel free to let me know!

Healing does not always equate to curing. Healing may be spiritual and emotional. There is a way to provide such healing and when done anonymously, the act has great power. M. E. (Betsy) McMillan’s great book, Postcard Rx: Giving Comfort when the Diagnosis is Terminal, will teach you how a simple postcard a day - mailed to a friend, family member or total stranger suffering from a terminal illness – can, with messages of hope and encouragement, ease their transition in a most significant and meaningful way. When one is ill and becomes a patient, the secret in caring for the patient, is caring about the patient. Betsy’s stories are fascinating and describe her twenty-plus years of caring and compassion for those in need. I highly recommend this book.

John L. Turner, M.D.
Author of Medicine, Miracles and Manifestations: A Doctor’s Journey Through the Worlds of Divine Intervention, Near-Death Experiences, and Universal Energy

It's that NaNo time of year!

Yes folks, it's that time of year when the wanna-be novelists put their fingies to the keyboards and click-clack away! And once again, I am acting as municipal liaison for Lake County Ohio...an emissary for the deviants who created National Novel Writing Month back in 1999. What started as your basic lunatic idea, attempting to write a 50,000-word novel in one month, has become an annual international phenomenon.

When I wrote my first novel, it was an exercise. I wanted to see if I could actually write a complete book. It took an entire year of voicing my thoughts into a hand-held recorder while driving or waiting for kids, then typing it up during my lunch breaks at work until it was all in one cohesive document. I was determined to prove to myself that I could do it. And I did.

Most people out there who just "know" they have a book in them don't have the drive to get it down on paper or computer. The task seems overwhelming.

They begin to create, and by the time they've massaged the same chapter a hundred times, they give up. The point of NaNoWriMo is to get it on paper. Just write with abandon: no editing, no rewriting. As NaNo's are fond of telling people "Editing is for the OTHER 11 months of the year." (You have to do something while you're waiting for the next year's event, right?)

I will be the first to admit, this is probably not the most "normal" way to write a book, but is there really an acceptable way to create? I know someone who was so desperate to get her book written that she would write on a notepad in the bathroom while sitting atop the throne. It was the only place in the house that she could get away from the kids and the husband and have a few minutes to herself. She wrote that entire book in her bathroom.

A novel written in a month can't be very good, you say? Amazing as it may seem, there have been several NaNo's who have cleaned up their NaNo manuscripts (taking advantage of the OTHER 11 months of the year) and managed to get book deals and publication.

So if writing that elusive novel has always been your dream, but you lack the motivation to attack the daunting task, join your fellow lunatic writers at http://www.nanowrimo.org/ and get that book written this month!