There are two options for Self Publication.

First, you can go the route of Supported Self Publishing.  If I were going to give my recommendation, I would highly recommend this route.  Supported self publication makes it possible for just about anyone to see their book in print.  If you choose to head down this path, you will bypass much of the stress and rejection that I mentioned yesterday.  You don’t have to send out queries or proposals.  You don’t have to endure form letters and doubts about your ability to write.  You don’t have to wait months and months to see your book in print.  Nope – you can skip over that hassle and get your completed book in your hands much quicker.

Self publishing has benefits and drawbacks, however, and you should be aware of them before you jump in head first.  First, supported self publication gives you more control over your book, particularly the marketing of your work.  When you are not tied to the standards of a particular publishing house, you have more freedom in your writing, in the layout and design and in the overall finished product.

While I would list those things as a benefit, I would, however, remind you that this requires more work on your part.  (This also requires a financial investment with you having the freedom to choose how much you want to invest).  You will largely be responsible for how many people see your book.  The benefit of using a support system is that you’re not entirely alone.  Websites like iuniverse and Lulu give you a lot of control over your book while also offering you options like editing services to ensure your book is print worthy, awards that garner your book more recognition, posting on online websites such as amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com, the registration of your ISBN#, your own website where you can promote your book and so on.

With different packages available, you can choose how much you want to invest in your book and from there begin stratigizing exactly how you want to market and sell it. 

If you choose to travel the path of supported self publishing, I would pass on a few recommendations:

• Hire an editor (or choose a package that offers editorial services).  Just because you get your book published doesn’t mean people will want to read it.  You need to be sure that it’s marketable and readable before you invest time, money and energy into publishing it.
• Research the different supported self publishing sites and make sure you choose one that fits your style of writing and your personality..  While I personally think that iuniverse is one of the best self publishing sites out there, there are many more that offer similar package options.  Lulu, while similar in nature to iuniverse, has more options for those seeking to publish children’s books and for those looking into publishing e-books. In short, know what you want and find a place that fits your needs. 
• Don’t assume that just because your book is printed means that it will sell.  You will have to do a lot of work to promote your book yourself.  That is the drawback to not being published in a traditional publishing house.  Develop a marketing strategy and be ready to work to make sure your book is seen and noticed.
• Be aggressive and confident.  Write well and promote heartily.
• Have ideas and concepts of how you want your book to look in its finished stage, but be open to suggestion and willing to change your mind.  The reason you choose a support systen is because you are willing to accept their support.  Trust the advice of those who are working with you.

Just because you choose to self publish doesn’t mean that you can’t pursue traditional publication.  If your book is successful and salable, you may choose to approach a traditional publishing house or an agent with proof of marketability and perhaps score a deal at a later date.

The second option you have is true and Traditional Self Publication.

I, admittedly, know very little about this process, except the fact that it takes a lot of work.  The benefit is that you have complete control.  You get to design, layout, print and produce your book.  You choose where and how to market and sell it and you make 100% of the profits.

However, there will be costs in printing and producing your book, so you will have those to recoup before you are making a true profit.  You will, in essence, be setting up your own publishing house, which will incur overhead costs.  This process will take a bit of research and a lot of gumption, but, for some, is the most appealing and attractive.

The bottom line to book publication is this: If you love to write, believe in the words, message, characters and theme of your book and desire badly enough to see it in print, you can and will do so.  There are so many options for writers these days that there is no reason why we all shouldn’t be able to see our words in the hands of others.  Just remember that a story well told is the greatest marketing tool you have.  Write with passion, pursue your dream with confidence and be willing to face a bit of hardships along the way and you, too, could call yourself a published author.

Good luck!

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at kellistuart00(at) hotmail (dot) com.

These days, however, there are so many options for publication that make it easier than ever to see your words printed and your name on the cover of a book.  I will share a few of those options here.

While seeking out a traditional publisher is still the hope and dream of every writer, there are other options for getting your book into print.  In fact, there are three different ways to publish a book.  You can go through a traditional publisher, utilize supported self-publishing, or go through the process of traditional self-publishing.  So, what does that all mean?  Well, I am so glad you asked because today and tomorrow, I’m going to tell you!

Option #1: Traditional Publication

As I’ve already mentioned, traditional publication is what every writer dreams of.  We long to have our book plucked up by a starry eyed editor who immediately sends it through the publication process catapulting us onto the New York Times bestseller list, followed by a book tour and a movie deal where Hollywood’s most beautiful are suddenly bringing our characters to life.  Ah yes…I know the dream well.

There are true positives to seeking out traditional publication.  You don’t have to shell out hundreds of dollars to publish the book yourself.  A publishing house will automatically get your book some recognition.  Your book will be edited and packaged to sell.  You will have a marketing strategy in place by people who market new books for a living.  And so on and so on.  Having your book published by a traditional publishing house truly is the Mecca that most writers seek.

But it’s not an easy process to gain publication.  The competition is fierce and editors, agents and publishers alike are inundated daily with  writer’s who all possess the same dream.  Seeking out publication or representation from an agent can be discouraging.  You will send out multiple query letters only to receive cold form letters of rejection in return.  And you won’t do this once or twice…oh no.  Be prepared to receive no less than 30-50 rejection letters.

Ouch.  Trust me, I know.

But, every once in awhile, amidst the impersonal form letters, you will receive one with a hand written note at the bottom.  It may say something like this, While I really like this idea and think you have a marketable book, we just don’t have room in our schedule right now.  Or, This is a great idea but I don’t think it’s ready for publication.  You need to add a bit more to it and clean it up before you can expect to be considered.

Those short notes of constructive criticism are likas addictive as any drug.  They are the words that will give you the drive to keep pursuing, keep pushing forward, until you finally get that letter in the mail that says, We would like to add you to our list of authors this year.

Sweet Victory!

In order to receive that one, all important letter in the mail, however, you need to do a few things.  First, you need to write well.  No matter how persistent you are in knocking on publisher’s doors, if your book is poorly written, you’ll never be invited in.  I recommend to anyone who is planning on submitting their book for consideration to hire a professional editor who will be able to not only clean up any major thematic issues at hand, but will also make sure that you aren’t suffering from grammatical suicide.

The next thing you need to do is research which publishing houses would accept and publish the type of book you’ve written.  There are thousands of publishing houses out there, and each one has a different focus and different expectations for potential authors.  It would not be wise, for example, to send your Fantasy novel to a publisher that only accepts Romance novels.  You need to know who you’re writing to, what they are looking for and you need to be able to prove to them that you deserve to be on their list.

There is an excellent book on the market that makes this research easy and effective.  It’s called the Writer’s Guide to Book Editors, Publishers and Literary Agents: Who They Are! What They Want! And How to Win Them Over! by Jeff Herman.  Jeff Herman is a top literary agent and founder of The Jeff Herman Literary Agency.  Each year, Mr. Herman updates and revises his top-selling book so that he can make your job as a writer easier.  Inside Jeff Herman’s guide you will find listed hundreds of publishing houses, what they are looking for, whether or not they accept unsolicted requests, whether or not they accept first time authors, who their editors are and so much more. 

You will also find helpful articles on how to write the perfect query letter, how to put together a great non-fiction book proposal, and so on.  Jeff Herman’s book is the Bible for writers who are serious about finding the perfect publisher for their books.

Once you’ve made sure your book is in top shape and you’ve researched which publishing houses and agents you plan to submit your queries to, you must sit down and write your Query letter.  The query letter is  your golden ticket into a publisher’s heart.  A well written query has the potential to get you a second look (and possibly a deal).  A poorly written query will end up on the trash pile without a second thought.  So, with that in mind, I have a few suggestions for writing the perfect query.

• First -Be respectful.  Understand that editors receive hundreds of these a day.  Don’t assume to know what they need and don’t present yourself as high and mighty.
• Be concise: Don’t try to impress them with your mastery of the English language.  You don’t need to look up the perfect synonym for every third word to ensure that you sound educated and fancy.
• Keep it Short: A query letter should generally only be one page long.  In that space, you have to advertise your work in a way that’s exciting and fresh. 
• Include a SASE: The self-addressed stamped envelope will ensure you receive a response, either positive or negative, from the publisher.  Even if they think you are the next Cormac McCarthy, they aren’t likely to track you down if you haven’t left them a means to do so.
• Hook them in the first sentence.  It may feel like a college essay where you have to capture your point in one single, kick butt sentence, but you need you remember that they read a lot of these letters so you have to engage them from the beginning.

If you are writing a non-fiction book, you will likely want to also write up a book proposal.  Jeff Herman has a great, step-by-step guide to the perfect book proposal as well.  It’s aptly titled, Write the Perfect Book Proposal – 10 That Sold and Why!

A book proposal will give a potential publisher an idea of how much you know about your subject, why you have an authority to write on the subject, how you plan to help push your product, how you stand out from the competition and how much research you’ve done on your topic.  While a manuscript for a fiction novel is usually sufficient for a publisher, a non-fiction book proposal could be key in your acceptance.

While seeking out traditional publication is indeed daunting and can be a lot of hard work, it is also exciting and energizing.  As Stephen King writes in his brilliant book, On Writing, (another book that should be on the shelf of any serious writer) “I [write] for the buzz.  I did it for the pure joy of the thing.  And if you can do it for joy, you can do it forever.”

Writing is an extension of who we are.  It is painting with words – life in a sentence.  And we all want our words to have an impact.  So, if you’re serious about ensuring that the words and characters in your head are forever immortilized on paper, you’ll be persistent in your attempts to make that dream come true.  And while traditional publication is the standard that most of us attain to, tomorrow I will discuss other ways to see your book in print through two other worthy options: supported self-publishing and traditional self-publishing. 

If you have any questions that you would like to ask me personally about publication, you can email me at kellistuart00(at)hotmail(dot)com.

Aside from the daunting task of writing a book, finding a publisher who is willing to pick up and sell a manuscript is intimidating and not at all an easy road to travel.  There are query letters to send out, proposals to write, edits to make and endless rejection letters to sift through.  It can be entirely overwhelming.

Join the St. Louis Bloggers Guild on Saturday, Feburary 13, as we discuss ways to begin the journey towards publication.  Whether you’ve already got a completed manuscript, or you just have an idea, please feel free to join us as we discuss the ins and outs of acquiring a publisher, from query’s to proposal’s.

I will be leading the discussion and sharing the experience I’ve gleaned over the years as I’ve sought publication for my own works, as well as serving as a consultant for others who are looking to publish. It will be an open discussion, as I would like to hear from others who have also had success in the area of publication.  The hope is that you will all walk away feeling encouraged and driven to keep fighting for your story until you ultimately have a hard copy of it in your hands.

Details and time will be announced early next week so check back for more information.

*Update* The Lunch and Learn will be held on Saturday, Feburary 13 from 11:00-12:00 at The Stone Spiral Cafe in Maplewood.  Can’t wait to see you all there.

Join us on Saturday January 16th at 11AM at Stone Spiral Coffee in Maplewood for our 2nd Lunch & Learn.

We will be covering a variety of topics from using your own media to enhance your blog posts, how to optimize your photos for Google Image Search (and why), how to use video and photography to make your posts more interesting and engaging, where to find “free” images and how to use them, the various tools to use for adding media to your Tweets and social network content and lots in between.

If you haven’t been to Stone Spiral Coffee yet, it’s a little gem in Maplewood with great coffee and food  and a perfect atmosphere for talking social media.

Gregg Mueller of One Dad’s Life  (check out his photos!) and Marianne Richmond who writes the Resonance Partnership Blog  will be leading the session.

If you have any questions you want answered or want to suggest a topic to include please leave a comment here or for Gregg @onedadslife or Marianne @marianne. Hope to see you there!

There will be more exciting opportunities to be involved in the St. Louis blogging community in the year 2010.  We will offer more Lunch and Learn sessions, more networking opportunities and, of course, the annual Interactive Festival.  We love being a part of this online community and are grateful for the opportunity to meet so many wonderful bloggers. 

We at the St. Louis Bloggers Guild would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  May your 2010 be filled with blessings, joy and lots of blogging!

With the holiday season upon us, you should really check out local artist Courtney Chesley– especially when you’re trying to buy for those on your “nice” list. I drool over her bracelets every time I get on her site. How cool that she uses recycled/upcycled/pre-loved/found materials. And if you’ve got a little time this weekend, you might want to check out this art show!

The holidays can be the perfect time to network. Lots of new people to meet, lots of parties. Pamela Raymond has written a guide to help you navigate through the social networking waters via Girls Guide to the Galaxy.

And have you check out Horton Hollow lately? That new web design is looking great! Rob claims it was easy and talks more about it here…

A blogger I really enjoyed reading is calling it quits. Bri, the mind behind Under the Arch is moving.  Good luck in Chicago. We will miss you!

I’d never checked out Tammy Tutterow’s site before today. And that is my loss. Because I spent quite a bit of time “oohhh”ing and “ahhh”ing. Oh to have that kind of artistic talent! You can  find her etsy store here.

Last but not least, Ron at R2 posted an interesting question recently. Do you make choices based on fear or hate?  Read his post and think about it…

A commenter posted a response that was deleted. Twice. Kurt passed along the IP address to the school who owned the address. A man was found, confronted and resigned.

And ever since, the internet has been immersed in a lively debate over just who the “victim” is in this case.

 Bottom line? Most bloggers, at some point or another, receive comments that are inappropriate or mean-spirited. Whether moderating comments,  blocking IP addresses or confronting the commentor, bloggers do have options in how they respond.

Some bloggers treat disparaging comments with a sense of humor.

“I celebrated it!” jokes Patrick who posted the comment as well as his retort.

But there are times, a blogger can’t easily “laugh off” a  comment. Like when the commentor’s attack involves the writer’s children. St. Louis Bloggers Guild member Michelle recounts her story: “I had a situation on my old personal blog about a year ago when a man was attacking me and my daughter (I use comment moderation, so the comments weren’t posted). When I checked his IP address, it lead back to the Defense Mapping Agency and then I knew who the man was. He has a serious security clearance at work. But he’s using his work computer at a DOD agency to leave obnoxious comments on my blog.”

What did she do?

“Instead of contacting his employer (which I didn’t do because I didn’t want him to lose his job), I wrote this post. He shut up immediately.” (The post can be found here.)

Guild Editor Kelli also ultimately tracked down a commentor due to an unsettling incident a couple of months ago where she was verbally attacked repeatedly by an angry commenter. 

“I discussed a political issue and had a crazy person leave close to 30 comments calling me everything from a lunatic to a communist (nice).  At first I deleted his comments, but he began to dig himself into such a hole that I just let it play out as other commentors were pretty much taking him down,” she says. “But when he suggested he found my blog while out looking for something rather disgusting, I decided I had enough.”

Kelli had a friend who was able to track the man down.

“All it took was the threat of calling his employer to get him to change his game and suddenly decide he actually agreed with my political stance.  Once his anonymity was gone, he had no more fight.”

Guild Founder Dana has had to deal with these sorts of comments on a regular basis, being that she’s in the public eye. But when she felt the safety of her family may be compromised? She did take action.

“I had a woman send me an email threatening my kids (I published it online) saying that she hopes “something bad happens to them.” It wasn’t really different from other threats I’d been receiving at the time.”

The difference, according to Dana, was that the woman’s email address was listed as coming from a school district in Texas.

“She used her work email and even her work email’s signature. I forwarded it to both the authorities. The school board then followed up with the principal, who conducted an internal investigation. The woman works/ed in a school and was threatening a stranger’s kids? Her bad.”

The incident has been since been “put to bed.” Dana is confident in how she handled the situation.

“Was I wrong for going to her employers? No. She made a credible threat and she was stupid enough to have done it on her boss’s dime.”

Have you had inappropriate or hateful comments? How have you responded?

On November 13, Kurt Greenbaum, the Director of Social Media for the St. Louis Post Dispatch, posed a question on STLToday’s Talk of the Day blog asking readers to describe the “craziest thing” they’ve ever eaten.  As comments came in, a lively and fun discussion started within the confines of the blog.  Until one person took the conversation in an unfortunate direction leaving a comment that used a vulgar description for the female anatomy.

When the comment was first noticed, Kurt Greenbaum deleted it, but within a short amount of time, the comment was apparently left a second time.  From here, steps were taken that are now being criticized and questioned.

Upon tracing the IP address from the user, Greenbaum noticed that the computer used belonged to an area school.  And he made the decision to contact the school and make them aware of the situation.  From there, the school tracked down exactly which computer was used and what time and confronted the employee who was using the computer at that time.  The employee resigned on the spot.

Did Kurt Greenbaum make the right decision?

The Internet is fired up asking the same questions.  And Kurt Greenbaum addressed the issue himself.  On November 16, he issued this statement on Talk of the Day.  Some (many) felt that this post only made the situation worse.  They accused him of gloating about costing someone their job.  As he stated here, it was never his intention to do so.  Perhaps that claim can be debated, but it is clear that he was on the defense.  

When I first heard about the Greenbaum incident, my immediate reaction was to wonder why he felt the need to go after this person.  After all, while the comment was vulgar and inappropriate, the commentor wasn’t attacking or threatening anyone.  He was clearly using poor judgement, but couldn’t his comments simply have been blocked?

But upon learning that the commentor was an employee of a school, Greenbaum made a judgement call.  Having time to reflect, he states the following: 

“Did I overreact? Maybe I did. I am constantly frustrated by the difficulty of dealing with this kind of language. And in this case, I was motivated by three things.

First, this came from a school. I didn’t know if it came from an employee, a guest or a student. But I viewed it as a “teachable moment” and a chance, perhaps, to nip something in the bud, to engage the community to help me. I didn’t anticipate that the reader would resign.”

The fact that this type of comment came from a school emplyee changes the situation for me personally.  I am the mother of a daughter.  And I am accutely aware of the fact that little girls need protection from creeps – especially in this day and age.  If I knew that there was an employee at my daughter’s school who was making vulgar comments on the internet while he was on school property in the same proximity as my child, I would want that person removed from her sphere of influence.  While I agree and understand that the statement made by the poster was obviously tongue in cheek, I also think he possessed an obvious lack in judgement.  And that is what got him in trouble.   

While everyone is up in arms over Kurt Greenbaum’s supposed mishandling of the situation, the fact remains, an employee of a school made a very poor decision on school property and that decision cost him his job.  Did he deserve it?  Maybe not.  In the grand scheme of things, this comment was not harming anyone and seems pretty mild.  But, when you work in an environment where children are present, certain precautions have to be taken. Unfortunately we live in a day and age where we can’t assume someone is just joking around.  This commentor may have been a very nice man who was just playing around.  But he was in the wrong environment to make such a foolish comment.

There is no anonymity on the internet.  Anyone can be tracked down.  We all need to be wise about how our words may be perceived when read by others.  Perhaps this employee thought he was being funny.  I’m not sure what his intentions were when posting his comments.  But the fact remains, he was on his employers property and he abused his privilege within those confines.  And he is suffering the consequences.

Do I think Kurt Greenbaum overreacted?  Perhaps.  He could have taken a few more steps before heading down the path of contacting the school.  But again, because this foolish commentor posted from a school computer, Greenbaum had to make a judgement call.  Yes, there are some steps that could have been taken before contacting the school, but a decision had to be made quickly and, in the moment, Kurt Greenbaum made what he felt was the right call. 

Let’s just look at the facts.  Kurt Greenbaum did not get anyone fired.  He contacted the school in question with an IP address.  He didn’t know who posted the comments.  The school administrators took the information they were given and they chose to track down exactly which computer was used and who used it.  The school adimistrators chose to confront the employee in question and the employee chose to resign.  Those are the facts.

Another fact:  Kurt Greenbaum has the authority to decide what kind of comments are tolerated on Talk of the Day.  It’s his job to make those decisions.  While I understand that with that authority comes the responsibility to control and maintain the direction of the comments, the fact is, Kurt Greenbaum gets to make the call.  How many blogs have a detailed list of guidelines on what can or can’t be posted?  To say that STLtoday is at fault for not making their policies on commenting known is unfair.  They have every right to decide what will or will not be tolerated.  Yes, they have the responsibility to keep inappropriate content off their website but it’s also the responsibility of readers to use common sense and know what’s appropriate and what isn’t.  And when a vulgar comment is reposted after being deleted once, then by all means let them know it’s unacceptable.

I know I won’t be popular for that opinion.

Does this set a standard for STLtoday?  I hope so!  Why shouldn’t we have standards on the internet?  What’s wrong with expecting those who choose to comment to do so respectfully and to observe a little simple common sense?  If you don’t like it, then don’t read it.  It’s that easy.

This is one of those grey areas in blogging.  The internet provides the freedom for people to share without restraint.  But there have to be standards.  And people have to have the right to enforce those standards without being slaughtered for them. 

Clearly all have learned from this unfortunate incident.  I am not defending Kurt Greenbaum’s actions.  But I also don’t believe that this issue is cut and dry.  I believe Kurt Greenbaum and STLtoday learned to be more clear in their expectations of readers and their policies on how to handle inapproprate content.  And I hope that all of us have realized once again that we are ultimately responsible for our actions.

Then the St. Louis Bloggers Guild has an event for you!  Join Gregg Mueller of “One Dad’s Life” and Raquita Henderson of “Pinxit Photography” fame for a casual “lunch and learn” session to help you get more out of your camera and photographs!

Gregg and Raquita will share some of their favorite photography tips, as well as answer your questions about your particular camera this coming Saturday at the Stone Spiral Coffeehouse in Maplewood from 11:00 AM – noon or ???

So bring your camera, your manual (if you know where it is!), your questions, and even your kids and take your photography to the next level.  Grab some lunch or something to drink from the Stone Spiral Coffeehouse and participate in our discussion.  See you there!

What:  Basic Photography Lunch and Learn

When: Saturday, November 21st, 11:00 AM – noon or ???

Where: Stone Spiral Coffeehouse, 2500 Sutton Blvd., Maplewood, MO 63143.

Collinsville Applebee’s Fundraiser for Jessica and Kelli Uhl

Jessica and Kelli Uhl were killed on November 23^rd, 2007 when an Illinois State Trooper hit their vehicle head on.

 When: November 22^nd, 2009

Where:  Applebee’s Restaurant

              610 North Bluff Road, Collinsville, IL

Time: 5:00pm to 9:00pm

20% of your total bill will benefit the Jessica Uhl Scholarship fund- SIU- Edwardsville and the Kelli Uhl Scholarship fund.

   Applies to dine in and carry out only.

   Does not apply to alcohol and gratuity.