8 Tips for Formatting Your Manuscripts So Editors Will Love (Not Hate) You



© Jinyoung Lee | Dreamstime Stock Photos


I recently took some submissions for a special project. I was looking for submissions that would be accepted for publication. I have to admit that I had to really wrestle with some of the submissions. I could tell the writers who sent me these were not professional writers. Most of them were "Newbies" -- never published. I could tell because the professionals who submitted didn't make these mistakes.

Now, I'm all for helping newbies. That's why I write this blog and offer info here for free every month.

I love helping new writers.

And  I seem to be a person most people feel comfortable approaching--which is what I want to be. For decades now I've been a writer whom new or wannabe writers come to for help and guidance, and I don't mind that a bit. I love helping new writers get started and I love teaching about and sharing what I've learned. But I have to admit I was losing my patience with some of the submissions I received.

Why? Because I had to wrestle so hard to accept some of these submissions for publication! The writers made it REALLY, REALLY hard!

Did you get that? I WANTED to accept their writing, use their stuff, accept their submission, PUBLISH THEIR WRITING! But some of them made it nearly impossible. A few actually did make it impossible--and their writing was therefore not accepted or published. (Find out why it was impossible to publish them in #1 below.) They could have been published, but they shot themselves in the foot.

[Editor's Note: I realize I shouldn't use "Reallys" let alone all caps and italics. I'm just that FRUSTRATED! ]

Don't shoot yourself in the foot.

I don't want you to shoot yourself in the foot. That's why I'm sharing these "8 Tips for Formatting Your Manuscripts So Editors Will Love (Not Hate) You." I'm not sharing these items to embarrass anybody (which is why I'm not stating which project these submissions were for), but to help you so you don't make the same mistakes. (I've already worked with these writers and helped them see what they did that was wrong and how to do it right.)

If you've made some of these mistakes, don't worry. It's okay. All is forgiven. Just learn, and do it better next time. And if you know of any new writers, or are networking with some, you might share the link to these 8 Tips to help them find success with their manuscripts.

The endless patience of editors...

Every year at writer's conferences I hear editors patiently repeat endlessly the same things they continue to encounter in manuscripts they receive. I understand that every year there's a new crop of writers who don't know any better, and that's why they have to keep teaching these things.

I believe most of these items are different from the list of "dos and don'ts" you might usually hear. If you're a professional writer or an editor who reviews submissions, I'd be interested in hearing what pet peeves you've run into so all of us can avoid doing what drives you nuts, too. Leave it in a comment below.

Here are my "8 Tips for Formatting Your Manuscripts So Editors Will Love (Not Hate) You":

1.) Be certain you put your contact information on your manuscript and your name on every page!

Yep, some submissions had no name on them, no address, no phone number...not even an e-mail address. "Well why didn't you just hit reply to their e-mail and get back to the writer that way?" you asked. I did. I received no reply. I had no other way of contacting this writer, and he or she never responded to my repeated e-mails.

I can't help but imagine this anonymous writer going through life frustrated that they can get published. Here I am wanting to publishing them, and they won't let me! There was a payment for this project, not to mention permissions needed. So I couldn't publish what they wrote without being able to contact them.

It's really basic: Put your contact information on your submission. Name, snail-mail address, phone, e-mail address. Don't put it only in your e-mail. You can, but we need it on your submission.

Do I feel bad for this writer? No. Honestly, if a person isn't intelligent enough to put their name on their submission, they probably don't deserve to be published. Isn't that snarky of me?

2.) Do not TYPE your name and contact info on the first line of ever page. (Use a header.)

Yes, we need your name on every page of your manuscript. Without this, you're in the same boat as #1 above. How do we know which pages go with your cover page if you don't put your name on every page?

On the other hand, I also had writers type their name at the top of every page. I mean, whenever their word program started a new page, this writer stopped -- right in mid-sentence -- and typed their name again. The problem with this is that when we copy and paste the manuscript, every so often we have this interrupting line that is your name! Don't do that.

Put your story's title (or a shortened form), your name (at least your last name), and the page number on every page by using a header. Like this:

"8 Tips for Formatting Your Manuscripts"              Butts - Page 2

3.) Do not put your contact info in the header!

I had more than one writer put their entire name, address, phone number, and e-mail in the header on every page. We don't need all that on every page -- only on the first page.

What made this especially frustrating was that -- and I have no idea why this was so, but it was -- I was not able to access the headers to erase all that! I couldn't get rid of it not matter what I tried. Even when I tried to copy the manuscript to a new document, the header came with it! So frustrating.

I had to contact this writer and ask her to remove her headers so I could use her manuscript. I seriously doubt any other editor on the planet would have gone through all that. Don't do this.

4.) Do not change the margins.

I don't understand why some writers think they need to change the margins around their document. I had some submissions come in where the margins were way wacky. They made the left margin wider, the bottom margin larger. Why? There's no reason for this. Then, when I tried to copy and paste their manuscript into a new document with the correct margins, their wacky margins copied over too. ARG!

I also had some submissions come in where the font had been made larger -- to 14 or 16 point. This means I had to change it back to 12 point.

Listen to me. There are reasons why all margins are the same and why we want 12 point type. It has to do with word counts per page and stuff like that. But now I know it also has to do with being able to manipulate your manuscript into my project. Without having yours totally mess up mine! If I can't copy it in, I can't use it. (Don't for one second think I'm going to retype your entire manuscript just so I can use it. That's ridiculous.)

Don't do this. Simply open your Word program (or whatever you're using) and start typing. Don't mess with anything. Anything you do I have to un-do. The margins should already be set and the font should already be at a common font, like Times New Roman, at 12 point. Don't mess with it!

If you need larger type so you can see it, then use the function on your screen that makes everything larger. If you absolutely must make your font larger, then change it back to 12 point throughout your manuscript before you turn it in.

5.) One space after periods.

I know some of us have been around long enough that this has changed. But unlike in the "old days" when we used typewriters and put two spaces after a period, now only put ONE space after a period. This has to do with computers that now have fonts that do not give the same space to every letter. No need for two spaces after a period any more. Don't do this.

The one exception: If you're writing screenplays, you still put two spaces after a period. (You also use a font that does give every letter the same amount of space, like Courier. Don't mess that up.) This is very important in screenwriting since each page equals approximately one minute on the screen. Don't mess with fonts or spaces -- that can change that time/page ratio and your script will be rejected (because if you don't know that basic thing you're obviously not a professional).

6.) Block manuscripts, not indents. - Submissions for online publications.

If your submission is going to be published online, use a block format, which means do not indent paragraphs and do put an extra line between paragraphs (hit "enter" twice). Take a look at this blog (or any other). This is block format.

This is how you format your manuscript if it is going to be used online.

7.) Tab, not spaces. - Submissions for print publications.

 If your submission is going to be published in a print magazine or book, set your document to not put an extra line before or after paragraphs. Also, indent your paragraphs using the Tab key (never spaces).

This is how you format your manuscript if it is going to be used in print.

Again, if you do this wrong, I (the editor) has to fix it. Most editors won't -- they'll just reject your manuscript and move on to someone else who does it right.

8.) Double space means...

Double space means use the line spacing in your document and set it to "2." Do not press the enter key twice to put a blank line between every line of your manuscript. That means I have to go through your manuscript and take them all out. Again, there's not an editor on the planet who is going to do all this for you. We don't have the time or the energy.

A possible exception to this is if you are submitting for an online publication, you are using the block formatting, and instead of setting your document to insert a line after each paragraph you press "enter" to create a blank line between paragraphs.


There you have it. These are the things I saw repeated in manuscripts that drove me nuts. And you're not going to do these anymore (if you ever did), are you? You're going to follow my 8 Tips for formating your manuscripts so editors will love (not hate) you, aren't you? Good. <SMOOCH!>

What have you seen in manuscript formatting that drives you nuts?

Or what questions do you have about manuscript formatting?

Please VOTE for Grandparenting Through Obstacles!

Great news! The book I co-authored with Renee Gray-Wilburn has been nominated for "Book of the Year" at Christian Small Publishers Association! We need your vote if our book is to win!

Voting is open only through March 31, 2013. Would you please click through right now and cast your vote for Grandparenting Through Obstacles here?  http://www.christianpublishers.net/13votes/ 

It's in the "Family / Relationships" category which is the second category down. The book is on the right (third row of books down) with the blue cover.

If you want to check out the book further, read the reviews on Amazon or check out some pages on Amazon's "Look Inside the Book" feature.

After you vote you can snag a print or an e-copy of the book from Amazon for Kindle or BarnesandNoble.com for Nook.

You're allowed to vote for one book in each category. A Familiar Shore  in the fiction category is published by the same publisher and I know the author, Jennifer, would appreciate your vote for her book too.

It would help us a lot if you'd ask your friends to vote also. You can send them to http://www.christianpublishers.net/13votes/ .

Thank you again for voting for one of my books. As you know, winning "Book of the Year" is great publicity and would help get the word out about Grandparenting Through Obstacles: Overcoming Family Challenges to Reach Your Grandchildren for Christ so people who need it will hear about it.

Building Your Landing Page

Cover Story:

If you're selling a product, whether a book, an e- book, a workshop, a CD or DVD, or other product, you need a Landing Page. As usual, the topic of this month's newsletter is something I'm working on learning and implementing myself. But also, as usual, I want to share with you what I'm learning so you can put it to use yourself and so we can progress together along this writing journey. So here is what I know so far about building a Landing Page.

What is a Landing Page?

I'm sure you've seen them. When you read a piece of advertisement online and it's something you're actually interested in and it says "for more information click here," and you click, and you land on a page with all the information about the item, that's the landing page.

I'm sure marketing people get paid and lot of money and companies spend a fortune to have some expert build their landing page. But as poor, starving writers who can't spend a fortune and therefore want to build our own landing pages, what can we learn from observing the landing pages of others?

A Landing Page is many things. It is advertisement, and it is persuasive. Even if you don't think you want the product, by the time you read the Landing Page to the end you might well be convince you need or want that product after all! A Landing Page also tells you what your options are to get the product and makes it easy for you to act. A Landing Page's purpose is to sell your product.

Examples of Landing Pages:

I suggest that you find one or two landing pages and use them as your template. Here is one example from Terry Whalin's product Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams.

Another place we can find examples that I believe we can follow is not online at all but in our regular snail mail. The next time you get one of those big, colorful envelopes with an advertisement in the mail, instead of tossing it in the trash unopened, open it up and take a look. A few days ago I got an envelope from a popular general-market women's magazine. If I renew my subscription by a certain date, I'll get the opportunity for a "FREE PREVIEW" and "FREE GIFT" of their new cookbook! This envelope had several pieces of paper in it, including these:

1. a letter to "Dear Reader" with some peel off stickers, 
2. a colorful letter on slick paper to "Dear Smart Cook,"
3. a beautifully designed half-sheet flyer called "Kitchen-Tested & Tasted,"
4. a couple of free recipes,
5. a response card with instructions to paste the peel-off stickers from the letter on it and mail it, 
6. and a colorful piece of paper that unfolds to a large page with lots of beautiful pictures of their wonderful food along with a photo of a page of their cookbook with arrows pointing to the different parts of the page, including these: 

• Cooking times!
• Time-saving tips!
• Prep times!
• Low-fat recipes!
• Full-color photos!
• 8 1/4 x 11-inch hardcover
• Helpful hints & historical tidbits!
• Nutrition facts!
• Meal-planning menus!

I didn't add those exclamation marks; I just typed it as I see it.

This envelope full of advertising is basically the same as a Landing Page.

Parts of a Landing Page:

So from my observation, a landing page or advertisement comes in several parts and we can mimic those and build our own landing pages.

I've observed that online Landing Pages have multiple "breaks" as you scroll down, often between different parts. Take a look at Terry Whalin's Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams page. Every so often there is a break where you can order either the paperback book or the e-book and a "Buy it Now" button. The breaks between sections are often opportunities to buy the product. That way, if you're already convinced you want the product, you have opportunities to act immediately without having to scroll to the bottom or trying to figure out how to get it.

Building Your Landing Page

So now that we have some basic information, let's begin building our own Landing Pages. Build a Landing Page for each of your books or products.

Where and how to start? The other day I took a piece of paper and did some brainstorming on what the different sections could be of my Landing Page for my book Deliver Me. Some of my ideas were inspired by the cookbook advertising. Here are a dozen ideas to inspire you:

1. The cookbook advertising letter to "Dear Reader" started with this: "When I walked into Susan's kitchen, the counter was piled high with magazines. 'Where is it?' she wailed. 'Where's that...recipe we love? And the Best-Ever Chocolate Cake recipe John told m never to forget about ... company's coming and I CAN'T FIND THEM!' "  That opening inspired me to think about the person my Deliver Me book is written for and how they feel panicked about their unplanned pregnancy or the hopeless feeling some have about the decisions they made in their past. Who is your book for and what are they thinking that you can voice for them and then show them how your book is their answer?
2. What are the Features of your book? If you didn't recognize it for what it is, the list above of the different parts of the cookbook is that book's "Features." Features are tangible. My Deliver Me book has lists of interesting statistics and helpful resources. My Prophecies Fulfilled books have Bible readings and application questions. What "Features" does your book have?
3. What are the Benefits of your book for the person who reads it? What will it gain them to have read your book? What will it help them with?
4. Who can use this book? And how? Is it for individual readers? For book groups? For Bible study groups?
5. Give something free. Offer a download of a free excerpt, perhaps a chapter or a portion that is helpful to the person reading your Landing Page.
6. Give some compelling quotations from your book.
7. Colorful photos, such as your book's cover. You can also use photos of you at a book signing or speaking engagement with your book.
8. Special offer: Are you running a special on Kindle? A special price for bulk orders? Can your book be a "Value Added" opportunity for an organization? For example, can an organization buy a bulk order of your books and give one to each person who comes to their conference? Tell them about any special offers or create a link to another page with that information.
9. Give some testimonials. Take a few quotes from your Amazon reviews, reader's comments, or endorsements from inside your book. Notice Terry Whalin has testimonials running down the left side of his page.
10. Links to author interviews you've done or guest blog posts you've written on the topic of your book. Make sure your links open in a new window so no one leaves your site. An alternative may be to include quotes or snippets from these other sites.
11. A video or your book trailer. Don't have one? Make your own 30-second book trailer free using Animoto.
12. Thank your reader for visiting or, if appropriate to your product, offer a money-back guarantee like Terry Whalin does for his product at the very bottom.

Now, write each section. Keep it short -- probably no more than 100 to 200 words. Then insert your divider with a link to where readers can buy it in between each section.

Where to put your Landing Page

This is kind of a problem for me. I use Expression Web to build my websites and it is ridiculously difficult to add a page. I finally learned how add a page but have yet to figure out how to add new pages to my menus. It's possible I might make my Landing Pages (one for each of my books) in Word, save it as a PDF, and then load that document to my web site and link to it. That's a round-about way to do it, but the advantage to me is that I know how to do all that.

An alternative, or more likely in addition to, that option is to put my Landing Pages as pages on my blogs. Drawbacks here are that I'd end up with so many pages and tabs on the menu bar that it might be too much and too confusing. (I now have four books out with a fifth coming next month.) Maybe I should make my one "Dianne's Books" page (see the tab at the top of this blog) simpler and just have a link for each book to the aforementioned PDF Landing Pages, which would be loaded on my web site. I'm still trying to figure out what to do here. If you have ideas or suggestions, please leave a comment below.

No Hype Needed

I have a low tolerance for hype. I suppose we each have different tolerance levels for hype or high-pressure selling. I also supposed it is used by the experts because it works. However you feel about this, build your Landing Page accordingly. In my opinion, nobody has to use a lot of hype or high-pressure selling to sell their products. Just be honest, tell people why they need your book or product. Give them the benefits they will gain by reading your book. Tell them the features you included and how they will interest or help them. Give them good, solid information that is interesting. Add some testimonials.... In other words, just tell them about your book and let those truths do the selling.

How to Use Your Landing Page

Once you have your Landing Page written and posted on the internet, use the link to that page not only on your sites but also in your Twitter and Facebook posts. (See 3 Parts to a Great Tweet in the July newsletter.) Any time you have the need or the opportunity to tell someone where they can find more information about your book, send them to your Landing Page.

Your Writing and Publishing Career: Where Do You Want To Get To From Here?

I have some great news to share at the bottom of this post. I'm often asked how to "get there" - writers want to know how to be successful in their writing.

Okay, let's see what we can glean about how I "got there" (if I have) and how you can "get there" too. Here are some thoughts that I hope will benefit you:

Just Do It  One of the biggest factors, I truly believe, whether we're talking about writing, screenwriting, or any other kind of business, is the factor of "just doing it."At the risk of sounding like a shoe commercial, it really does come down to that: Just do it!

I cannot tell you how many people ask me how to become a writer and get published or how to write a book or how to write a magazine article. Some of these people have already written books and they have them sitting there on their desk or in their computer and they want to know what to do next. So I talk with them and tell them what they can do, what needs to be done, and what to do next. Then I tell them to contact me and I will help them. And I never, ever hear from them again.

You've probably heard the old adage: "90% of it is just showing up." Same with publishing. Show up. Show up for work. Do something. It doesn't matter a great deal if you put in full days at your writing desk or only an hour or two one day a week or a couple days a week. If you're systematically doing something, you're making progress and you'll get there. Be the hare. Or be the tortoise. It doesn't matter. Just get in the race.

Need some help getting in the race? Try these:

Join a Challenge

I'm a big advocate of National Novel Writing Month (write 50,000 words in November), but right now November is a long ways off. You don't need to wait to join the challenge. Do it on your own.

If you're up for the challenge of screenwriting, join ScriptFrenzy and write 100 pages of script in 30 days. If you're not into screenwriting, pretend it's November and write your 50,000-word novel in April. If you're not into novels, write 50,000 words of your nonfiction book in April. If you not into writing books, write 50 1,000-word articles, or short stories, or newspaper columns, or whatever it is you want to write.

Both NaNoWriMo and ScriptFrenzy are free to join. You don't have to make any preparations at all, but I find I do better when I'm prepared with a story idea, well thought out, and an outline to work from. Now is the time to start working on that so you'll be ready when April 1 rolls around. It's coming quickly! No joke.

There are also other challenges, such as book-in-a-month. Go find yourself a challenge or make up your own and just do it.

Join a Contest

I joined the Kairos Prize competition simply as a challenge. I was challenging myself to get a feature-length screenplay written by a certain date. I barley made it, but I did. Yes, I was expecting to write a screenplay that was good enough to not be embarrassing to enter it in a contest. That was part of my challenge. When I entered my screenplay last November I didn't really think I'd be on the semi-finalist list. I was just completing a project I had challenged myself to take on in order to push me forward in my writing. Now look what's happened! I'm on the semi-finalist's list and have a chance to be on the finalist's list!

I never expected that, but magic can happen when you just do it.

Do you need a contest to join? Contests abound. Some are free; some cost. Some are prestigious, some are worthless. Be picky. Find a contest that is well-known and valuable, at the very least valuable in moving you toward your writing goals, and take part in it.

Are you a book writer? Or do you want to be? My publisher, Pix-N-Pens/Write Integrity Press recently announced its 2013 book contests. This is the same contest I joined last year where I won the "Books of Hope - Nonfiction." This year their word is "Joy." They are looking for Christian books -- both fiction and nonfiction, both series of 3 books and single, stand-alone books. Click on the "Writing Opportunities" tab at the top of this page for more details. Or visit Write Integrity Press's "Books of Hope Contest" (or see the January 8, 2013, post at http://www.writeintegrity.com/) for all the details.

I never used to enter contests and I rarely do now. It's more about, "Will this contest get me closer to where I want to go" than "Can I win?" Winning or making a semi-finalist list is great, but entering something that stretches you toward your own goal and helps you complete a project is worthwhile in itself.

Make a Deadline...and Keep It!

I know so many writers who never make a deadline for themselves and never complete a project. But I know many more writers who do make a deadline for themselves and never keep it. The term deadline came about in the old newspaper days when you had to have your news copy in by a certain time or "drop dead." It's too late. Deadline means deadline. Make a deadline to complete a project, then keep it! (That's what Challenges and Contests like those mentioned above do for you.)


Remember the old adage I shared above, "90% of it is just showing up"?  I can tell you that so many people "never get around to it." Many people want to write or pursue something they've dreamed of, but few actually do it. By my guess-timation, if you do it, you'll be ahead of 90% of everyone else who never gets around to it. So don't be like them. Just do it.

Really Big, Majorly Distracting, Good News:

Semi-finalist in Kairos Prize for Spiritually Uplifting Screenplays

That's right. My screenplay is a semi-finalist in the Kairos Prize for Spiritually Uplifting Screenplays! You can see the Semi-Finalist List here.

The finalists will be announced the first part of February, so I guess that means any day now. Which is why I'm so distracted. I'm waiting for that news.

Winners will be awarded at the 21st Annual MOVIEGUIDE® Awards and Report to the Entertainment Industry on February 15th, 2013, in Los Angeles.

If you're interested you can find a bit more information on my Deliver Me blog.

Special Announcement! Grandparenting Through Obstacles just named Nonfiction Book of the Year!

Wow! What a way to start the new year! My book with Renee Gray-Wilburn, Grandparenting Through Obstacles, has just been named Nonfiction "Book of the Year" at The Book Club Network!

I asked many of you to vote and you really came through. I cannot thank you enough.

According to the announcement in Book Fun Magazine , our book received "28.67% of the votes. An overwhelming lead!" (Book Fun Magazine pages 66 - 67).

In an editorial page 4 by the manager Fred St. Laurent stated, "We actually had the largest voter turnout in our history! Interestingly more votes were cast for nonfiction books that for fiction books. As a result we plan on focusing on nonfiction books and authors more than we have in the past. Fiction will always be a part of what we do but nonfiction has our attention."

You did this. I (and we) asked you to go vote and you really responded. Thank you!

Pix-N-Pens recently published my newest nonfiction book, Prophecies Fulfilled in the Birth of Jesus. It was amazing to talk with readers at several book events I did in December who are hungry for this type of book. Fiction is great for entertaining and we definitely can teach through story, but there is a real hunger for solid nonfiction teaching, so I'm thrilled Fred at The Book Club Network is bringing attention to this.

Congratulations also to Jennifer Fromke with the second-place win in the Fiction "Book of the Year" with A Familiar Shore , published by Pix-N-Pens' sister publisher Write Integrity Press. I know many of you voted for Jennifer's book also, and we thank you so much for that. Turn back a page in the Book Fun Magazine to pages 64 - 65 to see the announcement for Jennifer's book.

Again, thank you so much for taking the time and effort to vote and help us gain this honor of The Book Club Network's Nonfiction "Book of the Year" award for Grandparenting Through Obstacles. You guys are awesome.

This month's "Butts About Writing" newsletter for January 2013 posted earlier today and so appears immediately below this post on the home page.

5 Ways to Get the Word Out About Your Author Event

Ready or not, here we are again at the beginning of another year. Amazing, isn't it?! We could talk New Year's resolutions or annual goals, but that's so... so... last year. So why don't we let everyone else talk about that stuff and we'll just ... not. Instead, I hope you're planning some great events this coming year whether it is finally getting that book written or releasing a new one, or maybe writing for a new magazine, more magazines, or simply breaking into publishing for the first time. Once you have something written, you'll soon discover (if you haven't already) writers face a constant problem: getting the word out about our writing.

Let's face it: most of us who write do so with the intention that someone else will read what we write. (If you write just for the pleasure of it, that's fine. But you're not intending to gain readers...or buyers. Professional writers must gain both readers and buyers or we won't stay in business long enough to write the next thing!) As writers, we can write all the projects we want, but if readers don't somehow know they exist, well...they can't read them. Or buy them. Or learn from them. Or enjoy them. Or be helped by them.

Like it or not, writers have to be marketers.

Now before you go off thinking we shouldn't market or promote our writings, let me assure you I've heard a lot over the years I've been in publishing about how we (especially Christians!) shouldn't promote ourselves. That's meadow muffins. Of course we need to promote ourselves, or at least our products. Every business person needs to promote her/his business or products. As stated above, how can anyone benefit from our work if they don't read it? And how can any read it if they don't know where to find it? How can they find it if they don't know where to look? And, most basically, how can they possibly know to look for it if they don't know it exists?

This is a basic mistake beginning writers make: They think they can write a book, stick it on Amazon, and the copies will begin to go out and the money will begin to come in. Uh...nope. There are more than 8,000,000 books on Amazon. Before you make a single sale on Amazon, somebody has to look for your book, find it, and then be willing to take the steps to get it.

The same goes for your book on BarnesandNoble.com, or even in a brick and mortar store. If your book is in a brick and mortar store, someone might happen to see it there on the shelf, pick it up, read the back cover, flip through it, and possibly even buy it. But in the real world you have two chances of that happening: slim and none. Most of the time you're going to have to do some work to let people know your book (or magazine article, blog, or guest post on someone else's blog) exists. Only then will some of them go find it. Then some of those will buy it.

There are lots of ways to let people know about your writings, but let's talk about Author Events this month.
If you follow my other blog at www.DeliverMe.blogspot.com, you already know I did several In-Store Author Events in December with my new Christmas book.

"Author Event" is what I now call what we used to call "book signings." If you tell someone you're having a book signing, in my experience the reaction you'll get is a yawn if you get any reaction at all. Book signings are so last century. Booooring.

An Author Event, on the other hand, gets a bit more attention. And often I'll call mine an "in-store author event." We could talk a lot about how to set one up ad what to do once you get there, but today let's keep it simple and talk about how to get the word out your Author Event that you've got all set up with the manager of a bookstore.

First, list for your event the who (that's you!), what (your event), when (date and times), where (name of the store or other location, address, city, state, zip, web site), why (why should anyone come? What's happening there?), and how (how to get there, how to get more information, etc.). Then let your friends, acquaintances, business associates, and the community know through these 5 ways to get the word out about your author event:

1.  Facebook On your Facebook, create an "Event." Go to your home page and click on "Update Info." Then click on "About." On the screen that comes up you'll seen another "About" drop down menu next to your name. Drop that menu down and you'll see "Events" on the list. Click on that and other events will show. In the upper right corner is a "Create an Event" box. There are other places on Facebook where you'll see "Create an Event" too. Click it and you can then enter the information for your Event. Once it's created you can send notices out and invite your friends. Your Friends can also share your Event.
2. Goodreads   After you've created your Facebook event, you should hop over to Goodreads and create an event there also. If you're not already a member of Goodreads, yes, you need to be. The advantages to being on Goodreads is enough for another month's discussion! When you log onto Goodreads, click the drop down menu called "Explore." At the bottom you'll see "Events." Click that and in the upper right side you'll have the option to "Add an Event." You can invite friends here, too, and Goodreads will send out a reminder before your event.
3. Blog it and of course add the location. After you've written your blog post about the who, what, when, why, and how of your event, add the "where" by finding your event's location on either the store's web site or on Mapquest.com. Grab the "embed" code. Paste that code into the HTML of your blog post. On Blogspot you do that by clicking the HTML box in the upper left next to "Compose." First, put your cursor where you want your map to appear, then click the HTML box and paste in the code right where your cursor was. Click back to "Compose" and your map should appear.
4. Tweet it. Now that you have it on your blog, be sure to Tweet your blog post regularly. I also set up regular Tweets to go out via Hootsuite.com. If you got my tweets in December that said "I'm here at Mardel signing my new book Prophecies Fulfilled in the Birth of Jesus http://delivermebook.blogspot.com/2012/12/in-store-author-event-mardel-in.html " then you can bet I wasn't at my computer (or phone) sending that out. Days earlier I scheduled that Tweet to go out via Hootsuite.com. I set up at least one Tweet to go out every hour I was at the signing...er, um, I mean in-store author event. (You can also schedule posts on Facebook, too.)
5. Newspapers and Radio.  Write one or two sentences with the who, what, when, where, why, and how  of event. Keep it brief. Then search out the web sites of all the newspapers and radio stations in the area of your event. Look for the "contact" page. Some will give e-mail addresses but most will have web forms. Paste your brief notice into an e-mail or their web form and send them the information. You never know when you might get a mention on radio or in newspapers. While you're at it, search for community calendars in your community. I did and got listed on the Colorado Springs' Gazette's events calendar. You can see my brief two sentences there and model yours after them. When you e-mail, always give your contact information so they can get in touch if they'd like more information or wish to interview you in print or on radio. Don't give your contact info on web forms or it might end up on the internet.

You've put a lot of work into your writing, but your work is not done. In order for your writing to accomplish the purpose for which you created it, for it to help the readers you wrote it for, they have to know it exists. So put a little effort into setting up some author events and then get the word out about where you'll be and when people can meet you. It's great fun. It gets you in touch with your readers. And you may even sell a few books.

What are some other ways you've gotten the word out about your Writer's or Author's Events?

What questions do you have about setting up or hosting an Author Event?

Help! How Do I Sell My Book?! - Helpful Tips

Exciting News!

My new book just launched! Prophecies Fulfilled in the Birth of Jesus is now available just in time for the Christmas season. You can order it from your favorite bookstore. Just request it by title and my name. Or you can order it from Amazon. It's making its way to Barnes and Noble.com, but it wasn't there yet last I check so I don't have a link. But it is available right now for Kindle and Nook.


Cover Story:

One thing I love about being a writer/author is that people come up to me all the time saying either that they, too, are a writer and/or author or they want to be. That happened again this past month. At a church potluck my Pastor couldn't wait to introduce me to his friend who has a children's book out. It was fun to meet her. She asked a question that is another thing I hear a lot: Now that I have my book out, how do I sell it?

This is a huge deal for authors. No matter how big of a company you've published with, you're going to have to do most of the selling. If you self-published, you're going to have to do all the selling. Even if you don't have a book out yet, you need to figure out how you're going to sell it when you do and actually figuring that out before you publish it is good and before you write it is even better. That's because if you'll start thinking about it before you write it, you may find you need to tweak it to make it easier to sell. That tweaking may also make it more attractive to a publisher.

Many writers think that all they need to do is put their book on Amazon and it will sell. That is so not true. There are over 8 million books on Amazon. When someone goes there, how will they know to look for your book? If they walk into a bookstore, how will they know to look for your book? Or more likely, your book won't be on the shelves so they'll have to order it. How will they even know to ask for it? The answer is they won't if you don't get the word out and let people know your book exists. So how do you do that?

Here's a short list for you to begin thinking about and working through to help you sell your book:

1. Who is your audience? Who is your reader and/or book buyer? This is the first question you need to answer, and you'd do well to answer it before you write your next book.

2. Where is your audience, reader, or book buyer? Where do they hang out? Where can you go and find them? Especially, where are they online? Do they frequent blogs or forums? For example, if you've written a nonfiction book for Moms, they are probably hanging out at blogs for Moms and organizations for Moms, don't you think? If you've written fiction for suspense readers, where are they hanging out? My Deliver Me book has stories of unplanned pregnancy, giving a child for adoption, and more. People interested might be reading blogs about pregnancy or adoption. My new book about Christmas prophecies would interest Christians, people who like to study the Bible, people looking for a Christian devotional book to read with their family this holiday season, people curious about Christianity who wonder what we believe and why we believe it, and possibly book clubs.

3. Go there and join in the conversation. Read the blog. Leave a comment. Join the conversation in  a forum. But do not try to sell those folks your book! Instead, here's what you do:

• Offer them something of value. Maybe it's an encouraging word. Maybe it's a piece of advice.
• Offer a free give-away of tips from your book that they can print from your web site.
• Listen to what they're saying.
• Care about them. Don't just care about selling to them.

Once they know you care, and when they know you have something of value to offer them that will help them in their lives, then they'll be interested in what you have to sell.

I offer this ezine/blog because I truly want to help you meet your publishing goals and dreams. I also hope that you will like me and will buy my book, but I don't come here and write nothing other than BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK! If I did that, you wouldn't come back. Here I hope to offer you something of value, something that helps you in your life. If I can do that, I'm happy. Then if you buy a book from me, well, that's all gravy.

We've talked about it before in this e-zine (before it became a blog): Be a servant. Remember to always serve your reader. Give them what they need, what will help them. Don't always be asking for something from them. The people who are your readers/book buyers are more important than selling books. Keep the right perspective and the selling will take care of itself.

While you're doing the above, here are some more ideas that can keep you busy marketing your book:

1. Write up five guest blog posts based on your book. Make them from 150 to 500 words. Add a brief bio at the end telling you are the author of your book and give the title, add links to your web sites and buy links to purchase your book. I've done this already with my new book and have had two appear this week so far with two more coming! Want to see some examples? Here is my guest post on Kathi Macias' Easy Writer blog. Here is my guest post on Christian EBooks Today.
2. Go looking for blogs that use the kind of information in your guest posts. Contact the blog owner and ask if they'd like a guest post from you. You won't get paid for your writings; your payment is letting their entire audience know about your book. Do this enough times and your book will start selling.
3. Write down what are the "features and benefits" of your book. Features are special things that you put in your book. For example some features in my new book Prophecies Fulfilled in the Birth of Jesus are: a Christmas story reading in the Bible, where the prophecy was originally given and how it was fulfilled, where to go to read more on the topic, a prayer, and application questions. These are included in every chapter. Features give your reader a reason to buy your book. What features are in your book? If fiction, did you include recipes? In your nonfiction, is there an index? Statistics? Resources? Book club discussion questions work for both nonfiction and fiction. If you haven't written your book yet and you don't have any features, what features can you add?
4. What are the "benefits" of your reading your book? What will it do for the reader? How will it help them? How will it improve their lives? Will it save them money? Make them healthier? Make life more enjoyable? Help them with a problem? Inform them of something important? Will your fiction make them think or teach them about a time in history? The benefits of reading your book will give your readers another reason to buy it.

Here's a homework assignment for you. Keep some paper and a pen next to the chair you watch TV from. Don't watch TV? Then get some magazines or a newspaper. Or save some pieces of sales literature that come in the mail. Now study the ads. What are they doing? They are first telling you what their product is, then what it's features are, then what the benefits are and what those benefits can do for you, then finally a "call to action" or what to do to get it: "Click here." "Call now." "Find it in the dairy section."

Now you take your book, which is your product, and go and do likewise.