Comments on: So You Want to Be an Author Who Sells Books? Step Two: Write A Remarkable Book

By: christinakatz

christinakatz — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 04:44:49 +0000

Thanks for coming by and chiming in, Kathleen. Glad to be helpful.

By: christinakatz

christinakatz — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 04:44:03 +0000

Welcome!

By: rosedeniz

rosedeniz — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:02:53 +0000

Most writers and artists seem to shy away from taking numbers and figures, so Jotham, I admire your thinking in terms of value 'per page.' Placing value either seems to raise the stakes or lower one's (perception of their) worth, depending on the amount. What I like is that you chose a number suited to you, and not someone else's standard.

Christina, I've come back to the post several times in the last couple days, so thank you for bringing up a subject that is imperative.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:40:32 +0000

Hi Christina,

After rekindling my passion for writing (after 8 kids and homeschooling the last 3), and taking an online "Writing for Children" course, I was overwhelmed to say the least with the wealth of links to resources. It slowed me down because I didn't know where to start. Somehow, I locked into you and am currently reading your book "Get Known Before the Book Deal". So, I am following your lead and learning all I can.

I am excited to one day see the fulfillment of my current dream...to complete 2 picture books.

Thank-you for your help!

Kathy

By: christinakatz

christinakatz — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:09:37 +0000

I confess, Lydia. I'm rereading my own book because I speak so much and write so much I was having trouble remembering what was in the book and what I said later. So prepare for more quotes. (P.S. I was surprised that I thought the book was pretty good and quite helpful.)

By: christinakatz

christinakatz — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:06:34 +0000

A very helpful tip, Jotham. Wow. Such a great way to aim for the highest quality possible.

By: LydiaSharp

LydiaSharp — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:32:57 +0000

I love that ending quote! Simple logic.

By: Jotham Kingston

Jotham Kingston — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:01:57 +0000

I agree totally! After reading and digesting "Get Known" (which was a fantastic resource, BTW) I had some photos taken and did some free gigs and started working on my platform, but then I got stuck...If I was writing about earthenware pizza ovens, I could cultivate a relationship with pizza oven makers, sellers, cooks etc. But I'm writing FICTION, and the basis of my relationship with my readers is my STORY. So I sat down and wrote and wrote...

My tip was this: I picked an arbitrary number of $100,000 as an advance for my manuscript. How much is that per page? Divide by 300 pages, and you get $333 dollars.

Was my writing worth $333 dollars a page? Well, actually it wasn't. It was worth around $50. So I sharpened up my... er... keyboard and wrote like fury, to the theme of $333 a page.

I'm happy to say my next draft was SIGNIFICANTLY better than the one before, so the trick worked really really well!

Hope it works for someone else too.