Patricia L. Fry’s revised edition of her popular informative book, The RIGHT WAY TO WRITE, PUBLISH AND SELL YOUR BOOK Your Complete Guide to Successful Authorship (Matilija Press, 2006) along with its companion guide, “The Author’s Workbook”, combine the essence of authorship along with the practicalities of penmanship. The concept of being true to yourself as well as being true to your trade is spelled out clearly in Ms. Fry’s brass tacks approach for passionate but hesitant new authors or the mid-career professional first-time author who already has contacts and a clear “platform” in place for a marketing windfall. Because of her broad experience as an author, marketer, and publisher, Ms. Fry provides invaluable expertise and insightful examples, thus converting the perceived obstacles of successful authorship into manageable tasks. While using “The Author’s Workbook”, an author can fuel his writing passion while staying on track with the bread and butter side of his writing; publishing and marketing. Ms. Fry packs her book with her own real life book proposals, queries, and marketing strategies. If you are able to get through the first 75 pages, you will be able to author and market your completed work. It is a daunting task, but with Ms. Fry’s tips and recommendations she provides both reassurance and backup references for guidance. Her marketing suggestions are enlightening, her creative platform- and audience –generating ideas are not only manageable but also applicable to both fiction and nonfiction writers. There are numerous ways to market an author’s work, and Ms. Fry gives the author her best recommendations and ideas straight from the hip. This book is not for the lackadaisical writer. Ms. Fry first discourages you from writing the book until you are sure you have a complete understanding that, like everything, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and the publishing business is just that, a business. Ms. Fry points out that a writer must be able to hook an agent with a rehearsed, professional 30 second verbal synopsis of the planned book. Alternatively, she discusses a written approach via submission guidelines, with a well formatted book proposal, query letter, table of contents, or manuscript. She details how to organize parts of your book, hiring professionals along the way, and the pros and cons of self-publishing. Patricia Fry’s “THE RIGHT WAY TO WRITE, PUBLISH AND SELL YOUR BOOK” will encourage writers to do their best, incorporating her guidelines along the way. Used in conjunction with the activity book, “The Authors Workbook” writers will be well on their way to accomplishing their goals, seeking new horizons, becoming experts at “shameless” self-promotion, yet satisfying their passion for the written word. I don’t know how Ms. Fry will be able to top this revised edition with its activity book, “The Author’s Workbook” that can be used in conjunction with either the text of the 2006 or the 2007 edition of THE RIGHT WAY WRITE PUBLISH AND SELL YOUR BOOK. I would recommend both for writers who dare make their dream into reality. Jennifer Cummins is a freelance author and owner of Omnibus Writing. She copyedits and provides content for several publications. She can be contacted at www. OmnibusWriting.com |
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| Your Complete Guide to Successful Revised Edition (2007) Review by Jennifer Cummins |
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