W. Terry Whalin
Aspiring writers need to:
1. learn all they can about the details of how publishing works. You want to learn from experienced writers--not people who have published one or two books but people who have published many books. Read how-to books such as Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams (http://JumpstartDreams.com). Also read blogs like The Writing Life (http://TheWritingLife.ws) and take free teleseminars like (http://AskAboutProposals.com).
2. Actively work at being published in print magazines. So many people want to publish books which is fine but thousands or even millions of people will read your magazine articles. Writing for magazines will establish your credibility with book editors and literary agents because you have a track record of being published. Magazine articles are shorter than books and you learn a great deal about how to reach a target audience, how to tell a good story, how to have a beginning, middle and end and much more. You can see my perspective on how to get started (based on the fact that I've written for more than 50 magazines) at: http://www.right-writing.com/basics.html
3. Get to a writers conference. The sooner you can attend one of these events, the better--whether local or national. You can learn more at: http://www.right-writing.com/conferen...
4. Keep growing and persist in following your publishing dreams. Too many authors try once or twice, get rejected and give up. It's a shame. You have to be persistent in this business.
5. If I can help you, don't hesitate to reach out to me. My email is in my twitter profile and many other places online.
1. learn all they can about the details of how publishing works. You want to learn from experienced writers--not people who have published one or two books but people who have published many books. Read how-to books such as Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams (http://JumpstartDreams.com). Also read blogs like The Writing Life (http://TheWritingLife.ws) and take free teleseminars like (http://AskAboutProposals.com).
2. Actively work at being published in print magazines. So many people want to publish books which is fine but thousands or even millions of people will read your magazine articles. Writing for magazines will establish your credibility with book editors and literary agents because you have a track record of being published. Magazine articles are shorter than books and you learn a great deal about how to reach a target audience, how to tell a good story, how to have a beginning, middle and end and much more. You can see my perspective on how to get started (based on the fact that I've written for more than 50 magazines) at: http://www.right-writing.com/basics.html
3. Get to a writers conference. The sooner you can attend one of these events, the better--whether local or national. You can learn more at: http://www.right-writing.com/conferen...
4. Keep growing and persist in following your publishing dreams. Too many authors try once or twice, get rejected and give up. It's a shame. You have to be persistent in this business.
5. If I can help you, don't hesitate to reach out to me. My email is in my twitter profile and many other places online.
More Answered Questions
Katarzyna Bartoszynska
asked
W. Terry Whalin:
Hi Terry, what's your advice for aspiring translators? I've got a handful of published translations (a few articles and one book). I've been working on a translation of a novel on my own time and would like to try to get it published. I've identified some presses that I think it would be a good fit for, but what next? Should I try to find an agent? Should I send some presses a few sample chapters with a book proposal?
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