For your consideration…
Today I’m launching my new ebook, “Get Your Bad Self Published.”
What follows here is from the sales page. Click HERE (or on the cover image) to read more from that presentation.
It’s $14.95. If you’d like to skip the pitch and order now, click HERE.
Getting published is very much like getting rich or losing weight. Few topics have received as much focus – especially when it comes to online products and programs – as the latter two.
We know how hard those goals are to reach. How exciting it is to start, and then how easy it is to come up short, sometimes right out of the chute.
There are no magic pills, no shortcuts, no avoiding the hard truths. The road to riches and the path to lean health is one of knowledge, self-awareness and discipline, and success depends as much on how smart you work as how hard you work.
The same is true when it comes to publishing your writing.
And yet, because there is an element of art and talent involved, the conventional wisdom in the writing community seems to focus on quality over process. On dreams instead of reality.
As if quality and dreams are enough. They’re not.
Fact is, there are two realms of knowledge and truth involved in the publishing equation, and a writer seeking to get into print needs to wrap their head around both of them with equal clarity.
The first has to do with writing the right book, the right way, at the right time, for the right target market. Too many writers don’t get this, they just write their book their way, and because it’s good – hey, everybody says it is – they fully expect an agent or a publisher to agree and take it on.
It just doesn’t work that way.
Like I said above in big bold letters, good – even great – books get rejected as a matter of course. Why? Because, despite delivering a good story that’s well told, it’s the wrong book, written the wrong way, offered at the wrong time and in the wrong way to the wrong market.
The second realm of understanding has to do with the process of getting published. There’s nothing fair about it, at times it’s not even logical. And yet we’re stuck with the publishing machine, and if you don’t know how it works, what it expects, how to navigate it and make the most of an opportunity when it comes along – indeed, how to create that opportunity – your book won’t find a home.
Or, you could publish it yourself, or use a publish-on-demand service. That’s viable, but it’s not going to get your book onto the shelf at Borders.
None of this should be fresh news. That said, it’s hard to find clarity and insight into how one turns this awareness into a game plan that stands a chance.
That’s why I’ve written “Get Your Bad Self Published.”
I’ve been there. I’ve written novels that never landed a publisher. I’ve also published five critically-acclaimed novels, four by a major house, another by a wonderful print-on-demand small press. And I recently sold my first non-fiction book (on writing, of course; it comes out in February from Writers Digest Books). I know both sides of the publishing street, and I’ve been thrown under buses parked on either curb.
I also know the thrill, the complete and utter sense of satisfaction, that comes from seeing your book on a retail shelf. The goal of “Get Your Bad Self Published” is to take writers, like you, closer to experiencing that for yourself. And to do it through knowledge and strategic empowerment.
In “Get Your Bad Self Published” You’ll learn…
● How and where to land an agent.
● What publishers are really looking for today.
● Why most books, including really good ones, get rejected, and how to not go there.
● The Dirty Little Secret that will set your book apart from the crowd.
● How to adopt and leverage a publishing mindset.
● How to master the selling tools required to get your work published.
● How to know when your book is really ready.
● Why bestsellers are different.
● The Biggest Mistake new writers make, and how to avoid making it, too.
● How to craft a powerful pitch, a killer queryletter and a spectacular synopsis…
● … using real-life examples as a model.
● … and a whole lot more.
This is a book for serious writers with serious intentions. It’s not a listing of agents and publishers; there are plenty of those resources out there. Rather, this is a book about enlightenment. About working smart. About leveraging what published writers already know and the vast majority of new writers don’t.
It’s about what will really get you published.
Read a review by Kay Kenyon on her site, HERE.
Also, here’s the very first reader review, from Kelly Whitley:
“Get Your Bad Self Published” takes a hard look at the competitive world of commercial fiction.
Writing is hard, lonely work, and committing to it without knowing the road is like taking a job without knowing if you can meet the job requirements. Fortunately, the mechanics can be learned. Larry guides the reader through the down-and-dirty dissection of what a successful book needs to be, how to lay hands on the resources to write it, and then navigates the waters of successful pitch, query and synopsis to get the thing sold.
I’ve read all of Larry’s books, and this is a must-read for aspiring writers.
To read more about this ebook, click HERE.
To order it for $14.95, click HERE.
*****
5 Responses
That first line should read, “…I couldn’t wait” 🙂
I *wanted* “Get Your Bad Self Published” as soon as possible 😉
Dale
After reading your other ebooks on writing, I couldn’t want to purchase your latest book. I was not disappointed. “Get Your Bad Self Published” is the perfect follow-up to the other three, laying out what it takes to get a novel published this day.
The advice on coming up with a killer concept was worth the price on its own. Too many of us “settle” for just another idea when, as you put it, we need to come up with an idea worth spending our passion on. And your emphasis on story is well said. Writing voice is something we all work on, but story comes first (assuming one can write clean prose). And for us aspiring authors, our stories can’t be just another typical one. They have to be special. “Get Your Bad Self Publish” details just what that means.
Your advice on getting an agent, pitching and writing queries is also very helpful. My only sales so far have been in short fiction-and those to “semi-pro” markets. I have yet to pitch a novel. “Get Your Own Bad Self Published” will certainly help me prepare for that process when the time comes.
Thanks for writing this. It will keep me going until “Story Engineering” comes out in February 🙂
Best,
Dale
I watch people stagger around all the time trying to get a novel published. They reel from one mismanaged agent query to the next, watching the years pass and their story go stale. They seldom write a second book. If this describes you (or if you’re headed into those gloomy seas) please read Larry’s fantastic new book. I got an advance copy and read it in two days. It is the unvarnished truth and is also funny and heartening.
It’s about time.
See the link, above, to my review.
If you’ve tried to comment on this post and couldn’t… that’s fixed now, love to hear from you. Thanks! Larry