On Writing & Promoting

On Writing:
Have you considered that you write everyday even though it might not be for publication? How many emails do you send in a day? How many notes do you hand write to children, husband or whomever?

Word 2007 helps automatically with grammar, capitalization and sentence structure. I admit it sometimes makes a mistake!  However, it keeps you on your toes. In Word, if you start a new sentence and forget to capitalize the first word, it does it for you. I wish email message pages had the same help. Have you received those emails that never capitalize a word? They are hard to read.

No matter in which writing exercise you participate, make it the best writing possible. Use proper grammar, capitalization, sentence structure, active verbs, etc. It serves as good writing practice.

With that I got out of my system, how about writing those email queries? Do you concentrate on getting the point across with all the above and devote the time you spend on a snail mail query? Your query email message needs to express the same professionalism as your standard query.

On Promotion:.
I mentioned before my meeting with the Small Business Development Center for help in promoting my upcoming book-HOW THE WEST WAS DRAWN: COWBOY CHARLIE'S ART. By the way, it is listed on amazon.com for pre-orders. At this point, it has some incorrect information that will be addressed shortly. The age is 7-12 years not 4-8 years. The might relate to grade levels but that is not how it is stated.

Back to the SBDC. I learned a lot. She zeroed her focus to my audience - in this order: teachers, museums, libraries, schools, parents and children. Then we discussed how to reach that audience through organizations, school districts, the Internet, libraries, and museums. She reminded me to include Wyoming since it is relatively close - especially Cheyenne and Laramie. We talked about teacher training classes in a college setting.

She suggested I start lining up presentations now, three months in advance. Charging is a difficult process for most of us. I researched the charges by some authors and discovered a wide range. I decided to eliminate charges until I earn a reputation. She suggested I approach with this comment, "I'll be in Cheyenne the week of (fill in the blank). I'd like to offer you this new release (fill in the amount) value for free while I'm getting established. Which date do you prefer?" Then after about 6 months, I can start charging. But let them know they are getting a bargain.  She suggested I try to hit a bookstore, classroom, library or as many entities as possible in one day or week in a particular area.

The next post will include some of her other suggestions as well as those of my critique group's discussion last night on the same topic.