That Path to Publication Takes a Turn...

...And Inspiration Rises From Passion

In my previous post I started the story of my path to publication, which, through all the trials and errors, I hadn’t yet managed to find.

But as much as persistence is a major player in the story, so is inspiration that comes from a source deep inside.

After years of trying to write picture books (that’s what I wanted to write, like so many of you) I managed to write something publishable. But not for a book; for a magazine.

These were the times when people still read printed matter, and Highlights for Children and magazines like Spider were popular (BTW, Highlights is very much still available). After hearing at an SCBWI conference that selling to a magazine was a way to get into the business, I sold what I thought would be a picture book to Spider, and a nonfiction piece to Highlights, and at last I was a published author.

Yes! Published at last!

But It Wasn’t Yet a Published Book, Until…

But as satisfying as that was, it didn’t fulfill my dream. I wanted to hold a book in my hands.

All this time our son was struggling with his dyslexia, which came, as it often does, with a diagnosis of ADD. I spent hours and days and weeks and months researching these learning differences to try and help him. School was difficult, and no one seemed to understand his issues. I was passionate about finding solutions, passionate as an advocate for him.

Mark that word, passionate.

One night – I remember it as clearly as if it was last night – I woke up with a profoundly inspired idea. I needed to write a self-help book for kids like my son.

I had just attended a class on writing a book proposal (something I never knew existed) and bought a friend’s how-to book on that topic. It took me about a week to write the proposal, and I knew just where to send my query – to a non-fiction publisher whose self-help books for kids I admired and read. (If you are interested in learning more about book proposals, contact me.)

Three months later I signed my first book contract.

No, it wasn’t for a picture book, nor was it for a novel, or even a novella. It was for a small book that deals with study skills, Get Organized Without Losing It (Free Spirit Publishing). That little puppy is still in print, in 7 languages, with over 100k copies in print worldwide.

It came from passion. It came from connecting deeply with readers and with a subject dear to my heart.

And it opened doors. I still wanted to write fiction for kids, but now I had street cred and a knowledge about publishing, and it quieted the little monster of doubt (for a while anyhow).

So, I started with persistence.

I threw in passion – about a subject, an idea, a feeling, a thing that needed saying.

Next, I added a little secret sauce, which I’ll talk about next week.

I will be increasing the cost of my intro course on July 1, so if you are interested don’t wait. Check it out here:

Resource Time!

Several colleagues have initiated courses of their own:

Amy Goldmacher is a published author and nonfiction book and proposal coach who breaks down the intimidating goal of writing a book into manageable steps so you can finally get started — and keep going — on your book! She’s offering the same process that she teaches in her 1:1 coaching for a fraction of the cost at $97 so you can do the same work but at your own pace and on your own time with the Book Starter Kit.

Get started for free with the 3-Day Novel Premise Challenge by book coach and editor Gina Kammer. In this email course, you will learn how to check if you have a viable story idea to sustain a novel (AND make readers care!). Follow the guided action steps to craft your premise for a more focused drafting or revision experience moving forward.  Even more, you'll know what to say when someone inevitably asks you what your story is about!

As always, I love to hear your questions.