My new book “Happy Every Day” (coming soon) was designed by the wonderful, easy to work with Ana at books-design.com. I love the final product, but to get it I had to pay more than the original quote.

Next time I won’t make the same mistakes and I will hire Ana again…

Designed by Ana @ books-design.com

Book cover design makes a difference

A professionally designed book cover makes a difference, and according to Amazon it makes a big difference. When I uploaded my last book on Amazon there was a “warning” that book covers are important because readers do judge a book by its cover.

So if you’re not a designer and are thinking of doing it yourself or somehow getting one for free or very cheap, you might want to reconsider.

A professional designer’s expertise can mean the difference between selling lots of books and not selling very many.

Save up if you have to!

It can be expensive, but with research and a little scrutiny, you can get an affordable, professional book cover that stands out and makes a statement.

Who to hire?

This is one of the most difficult decisions to make and everyone has different factors that play a role in their choice. Here are three to consider:

1) Hire someone who has a proven track record. This could mean: a) Visiting several different designers and comparing their portfolios or b) Hiring a designer who created a cover that impressed you (maybe you saw it on Amazon or it was a cover of a fellow writer’s book).

2) Testimonials. I recommend sending inquiries to authors who had book covers designed by the designer you are considering. Visit the designer’s portfolio, get a couple author names, visit their websites and send inquiries. Who doesn’t want to talk about their book? You’ll want to know if the designer is easy to work with, open to ideas, reliable (responsive and meets deadlines) and are the authors happy with the services rendered and final product?

3) Is the designer’s website professionally designed? If the website doesn’t look professional then how can you trust that the book covers will?

The website should detail in an easy to read manner what all is included in the design, what factors could increase costs during the project and what type of files you will receive at completion. (.PSD, .EPS, .PDF, .JPG. etc.) Is a 3d cover included for display on your website? Also available on the site should be a portfolio of completed projects. It always makes me cautious when there is only one or two book covers in the portfolio.

Have an idea

I know what you are thinking: If you wrote the book then of course you have an idea.

The reality is it is difficult to come up with a simple idea for a book cover that conveys the meaning of your book as a whole.

Most of us want too much information on the cover and as a result the cover turns out too busy and confusing. You might “get it” but readers could be turned off by the complexity. Trust me, I know, so…

Keep. It. Simple.

Many book cover designers charge by the “concept” – meaning if you don’t have an idea and simply ask the designer to send you concepts, you’re going to pay for each one (or however many are included in your package) and it is possible that none of them will meet your needs.

That means you’ll pay for more concepts, significantly increasing the price of your cover. I learned this lesson the hard and costly way.

Remember, time is money and a designer’s time, like yours, is valuable. So with that in mind, here are some tips:

a) Ask people you trust to read your book, and then brainstorm with them on ideas for what would make a compelling cover.

b) Search bookstores for similar type books and find out what type of colors and images are typically used for your genre. Keep in mind that although you want to avoid cliché, most people expect certain types of books to look a certain way. So if you make your book cover look out of its genre readers just browsing might pass it over.

c) Write down the most important points that you want your cover to convey. Cross out the ones that are vague, then the ones that aren’t critical to conveying the book’s message and eventually get the list down to one or two.

d) Make a list of what text will go on your cover. Keep this to a minimum because more text means the smaller the font sizes and the harder it will be to read as a small image.

This is what is on “Happy Every Day”:

• Bryan Hutchinson 
• Foreword by Jeff Goins 
• Happy Every Day
• Simple, Effective Ways to Better Days

All of the text is legible at small sizes (see image).

e) Finally, sketch your idea out on paper and scan it, or cut and paste pictures into a program like Power Point to give your idea an image to send to the designer. Don’t worry about copyrights in your concept design, the designer will be able to get licensed images, but make sure this is part of the deal because some designers require you to purchase your own stock images from a site like dreamstime.com.

By having a visual idea ready you can save time and money by sending the designer your makeshift concept. Don’t worry; good designers can turn even the most haphazard looking design ideas into works of art!

Your job is to have the idea and her job is to make it a book cover.

Be aware of revisions

Once you have a concept graphic created by the designer, you’ll be allowed revisions. Some designers allow unlimited revisions, but others only allow a certain number before charging you for any additional.

Read the fine print. Don’t gloss over it like I did. You may end up paying for this oversight. Again, designers need to eat, too.

Critical for Kindle covers

If your book will only be available on Kindle or in digital format you want a cover designed specifically for that purpose.

Many books designed for hardback or paperback have unreadable text at small sizes when displayed online. In my experience many designers still design digital only covers as they would a print edition, so be sure to test any concepts at small sizes to make sure all text remains readable.

Last, but not least, make sure when your cover is finally displayed on your website that it is not distorted (blurry or grainy etc). When reducing the size of an image it can become pixelated, and you can avoid this by asking the designer to send you specific sizes for your needs.

The bottom line

1. Have an idea.
2. Hire a designer you believe will do the best job and has a proven record.
3. Carefully read what the designer offers in his or her packages. Hopefully you’ll make your decisions accordingly, avoid extra charges and save money.

The tips I shared with you in this post are lessons I learned that I believe will save you money, but there’s a lot more that goes into cover design and my advice is to educate yourself as much as possible before hiring someone.

I am very happy with with my new cover. Let me know if you like it, too. Special thanks to Ana, she did a fabulous job (once I figured out what I wanted)!

Have you hired a book cover designer? Share your tips and lessons learned in the comments.

If you have any questions about hiring a book cover designer, post them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer or I’ll ask someone who can.

I’m sure all writers have had days where they don’t feel like writing.

Or reading. Or doing anything creative at all. I’ve had days like that. Thankfully not too many, though.

In this post I share with you some tips I’ve used to motivate myself even when I don’t feel like it.

Provided by Dreamstime.com

When I have days that I feel uninspired and lazy, the restlessness usually follows.

I’ll grab a book only to read a few sentences and set it back down again. I’ll check my e-mail, my Google Reader, and comment on a few posts.

Sometimes I’ll go to my blog and start writing a new blog post only to realize that I have no idea what it’s about.

In between all this I keep opening up my current work-in-progress just to stare at it, with no idea of what to write next.

The worst part about all of this is that I really do want to write.

Here are some tricks that I’ve used to help me motivate myself:

1) Get Excited

If you want to feel like writing, first you have to get excited about writing. (Tweet it!)

But how are you supposed to get excited when you don’t feel like getting excited?

Well, first think of some things that excite you, get you really fired up, and make you feel like talking.

My list would look something like this:

1. Harry Potter

2. Taylor Swift

3. Chocolate and peanut butter

4. My friends, family, and dog

Of course, there are a lot of other things, but those are just a few examples. If I want to get excited, I’ll pick one of those things and do something with it.

For example, I could read a Harry Potter book, or listen to one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs. Not only will it get me excited to write, but I’ll probably have some ideas inspired by those activities, too!

2) Write

This one’s fairly simple.

If you don’t feel like writing, write anyway. (Tweet it!)

It might be slow going at first, but if you write long enough, you might actually get excited about what you’re writing.

Some of my favorite warm-up exercises are free writing and writing poetry.

3) Take a Walk

Get outside, go for a bike ride, or just spend a little time with nature. Try to do this alone, so you can really observe everything around you. This is one of the best ways to recharge and get your creative juices flowing.

Writing again

After I’ve tried one of these–or all of these–motivational tips, I realize that I can finally write again.

The feeling is almost as good as the one that you get after finishing a novel or another writing project.

Almost.

What are some of your favorite ways to get motivated when you don’t feel like writing? Share in the comments.

However, are you a professional?

Perhaps the question would be better phrased: Do you consider yourself a professional? Your answer matters.

Provided by Dreamstime

If the Sun and Moon should ever doubt, they’d immediately go out.

~William Blake

Artists – be it writers, painters, designers or whatever type of art you do – are notorious for their self-doubt.

Too many artists wear doubt on their chest like a badge of honor without ever realizing it.

Let’s be honest with each other - you know how doubt about yourself and your abilities tears you apart.

I know. And you know why I know. I wasted too many years living with overwhelming doubt.

It’s a painful struggle that we all endure and must overcome. You do not become a true professional until you have slain the beast.

It’s a rite of passage.

An internal conflict, really, because most artists are ashamed of their uncertainty and skepticism.

So instead of slaying the beast they call themselves “starving artists” which has become an “acceptable” substitute for the fact they are not being recognized, or, as recognized as they think they should be.

The idea is if you are recognized then you will feel validated.

And therein is the true conundrum:

Recognition.

Want-to-be-professional artists want to be recognized as professionals and too often believe they need to achieve some kind of milestone to be able to officially call themselves a professional.

The milestone can be selling their work, being tagged by a recognized professional in their field, or writing their first book, or completing their first commissioned painting.

But there’s a problem with milestones, and you already know this problem well. No matter how many milestones you reach it will never be enough.

Professional artists do not need milestones.

Professionals are professionals because they have overcome their internal doubt and are doing work that matters every day. At least, they get up every day, put pen to paper and write.

Doubt still exists within the professional, but it does not rule.

A professional does the work, creates the art, and goes to bed knowing he or she will get up the next morning and continue the work.

A professional does not need to tell herself that she is a professional, because she knows that being a professional is the action of working and shipping. It’s a result, and results matter.

The more she works, the more she ships and as a result she is hired for more work. When her work is rejected (all artists have work that is rejected) she gets back to work and does what needs to be done to improve it.

If you strive every day to do work that matters and submit it for publication or for display, regardless if it is accepted or rejected, then you are a professional.

It’s not overcomplicated, so don’t over complicate it.

Consider a professional in your field. Anyone will do. Now let me ask you, does that person need to tell you he or she is a professional?

Then why do you need to tell yourself that you are a professional?

Do the work. Ship. Improve. Repeat. (Tweet This)

If you do the work (all of what work entails), create your art and ship, then you’re a professional.

Once you accept this simple truth your name will become synonymous with professionalism and you’ll never need to tell yourself or anyone else you are a professional again.

You. Are. A. Professional.

When I was a child my mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general. If you become a monk, you’ll be the pope.’ Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.

~Pablo Picasso

Isn’t it interesting how Picasso didn’t say he wound up a professional painter?

Have you struggled with considering yourself a professional? Share your story in the comments.

With that in mind, I asked fellow bloggers for their favorite quotes, and, oh boy, what a response!

Below you’ll find some of the best quotes about writing ever.

22 of the Best Quotes on Writing Ever

Below each quote is the name and blog link to the blogger who provided the quote. Special thanks to everyone who provided a quote. I added click-to-tweet to most quotes, but some were too long to be tweetable.

Get your facts first then you may distort them as you please. (Tweet Quote)

~Mark Twain

- Provided by Devani Anjali @ DevaniAnjali.com

The first draft of anything is shit. (Tweet Quote)

~Ernest Hemingway

- Provided by Vincent Nguyen @ selfstairway.com

Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears. (Tweet Quote)

~Les Brown

- Provided by Pamela Fernuik Hodges @ ipaintiwrite.com

No man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.

~CS Lewis.

- Provided by Kathleen Caron @ kathleencaron.com

Writing a book is like telling a joke and having to wait 2 years to know whether or not it was funny. (Tweet Quote)

~Alain de Botton

- Provided by Mike Loomis @ MikeLoomis.co

Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.

~Orson Scott

- Provided by Joan Hall @ joanhallwrites.com

If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that. (Tweet Quote)

~Stephen King

- Provided by Stacy Claflin @ stacyclaflin.com

You don’t have to say everything to say something. (Tweet Quote)

~Beth Moore

- Provided by Tamara Peters @ tamarapeters.ca

We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master. (Tweet Quote)

~Ernest Hemingway

- Provided by Chris Morris @ chrismorriswrites.com

If the writing is honest it cannot be separated from the man who wrote it. (Tweet Quote)

~Tennessee Williams

- Provided by Christa Sterken @ christasterken.com

Anyone who imagines that all fruits ripen at the same time as the strawberries knows nothing about grapes. (Tweet Quote)

~Paracelsus

- Provided by Renee Baude @ reneebaude.com

Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do…Try to be better than yourself. (Tweet Quote)

~John Steinbeck

- Provided by Kath Unsworth @ kathunsworth.com

I am like a little pencil in God’s hand. He does the writing. The pencil has nothing to do with it.

~Mother Teresa

- Provided by Joy Lenton @ wordsofjoy75.co.uk

Write something that’s worth fighting over. Because that’s how you change things. That’s how you create art. (Tweet Quote)

~Jeff Goins

- Provided by James Prescott @ jamesprescott.co.uk

Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!

~Job 19

- Provided by Anastacia Maness @ rocksolidfamily.com

The great work must inevitably be obscure, except to the very few, to those who like the author himself are initiated into the mysteries. Communication then is secondary: it is perpetuation which is important. For this only one good reader is necessary.

~Henry Miller

- Provided by Stacey ‘Buesing’ Covell @ staceycovell.com

The writer is an explorer. Every step is an advance into a new land. (Tweet Quote)

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

- Provided by Shelley Dupont @ shelleydupont.com

Art is not about thinking something up. It is the opposite — getting something down. (Tweet Quote)

~Julia Cameron

- Provided by Eileen Muldowney @ eileenknowles.com

All writing comes by the grace of God. (Tweet Quote)

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

- Provided by Maria Morgan @ mariaimorgan.com

Know that the Creator lives and moves and breathes within you. So those dreams? Risk them. Those words? Write them. Those hopes? Believe them.

~Elora Nicole Ramirez

- Provided by Julie-Anne Mauno @ julieannemauno.com

Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us get up and go to work. (Tweet Quote)

~Stephen King

- Provided by Peter DeHaan @ http://peterdehaan.com

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. (Tweet Quote)

~Anaïs Nin

- Provided by Anne Gollias Peterson @ annepeterson.com

~~~~~

Thanks again to all the bloggers who provided quotes for this post.

Share your favorite quotes about the craft in the comments.

It’s time for some tough-love my friends, if you want to know the secret.

Creative Commons by Christian Holmér

Maybe you will be famous one day, but for now you need to do something that matters today.

Famous people are famous for a reason and unless you are incredibly talented and ready to win the latest hit talent show on TV, then you need to know the reason they are famous and use it to your advantage.

No. I’m not going to tell you that becoming famous is work, because that should be obvious and I am not going to tell you that it is persistence because that should be just as obvious.

If you’re not ready or willing to do those two things (work and persevere), then you are not ready for the secret.

It’s about passion.

You need to find your passion, live it and stick with it through thick and thin.

Everyone can tell when someone is doing something just for the sake of doing it. But it’s just as clear, if not more so, when someone is doing something because they LOVE TO DO IT.

You need to love your work and breathe it every day.

It’s not about statistics.

Following statistics is most obvious with new bloggers because stats for blogging are easy to come by. They follow their comments, shares, page views and subscriptions daily, even hourly.

But instead of lifting their spirits and driving them to write more, statistics usually only serve to demoralize, and most bloggers eventually give up because it seems too difficult to gain attention.

If you are a victim of checking statistics or consistently reading reviews about your work, then you need to remember why you started:

For the LOVE of what you are doing.

If you don’t love your work then statistics, reviews and other ways to measure your work can destroy your enthusiasm, and your desire to continue will stall.

Suffice it to say, even if you get the statistics or reviews you are looking for they will not sustain you.

It’s time for a reality check.

I discovered the secret to success and becoming famous in an art museum. It was while reading a caption to one of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings that I realized the reality of fame.

The caption read something like this: “Vincent van Gogh was not well known until the end of his life and his paintings did not become celebrated until after his death.”

Did you know that many of the most famous artists who have passed away were not famous until after their death?

It’s true. Great artists such as Edgar Alan Poe, Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson and Vincent van Gogh were not as well know while they were alive.

What if those great artists had believed they needed to become famous for their work to matter and be appreciated? They were driven by their passion to create, to write what they wanted to write and to paint what they wanted to paint.

And since none of them became very famous during their lifetimes, what if they had not continued their work?

They didn’t stop or give up, and neither should you.

Here’s the secret you need to know.

Becoming famous is irrelevant.

Some people will become famous overnight and others will not become famous until after they have left this world, and a great many more will never become famous no matter how meaningful their work is.

Every now and then we all need a reality check and get our head’s out of the clouds. Becoming famous is only a byproduct of great work.

Focus on your art and don’t worry about becoming famous. (Tweet This)

First it was TV and now it’s the Internet that has everyone believing they need to become world famous to create work that matters. But no, that’s backwards.

You need to create work that matters first and it needs to matter to you more than anyone else, then maybe others will care about it too. But maybe they won’t.

So if they don’t notice it or seem to care, will you create anyway?

If you answered yes, then congratulations, you’re an artist and your work matters.

Only when you are ready to answer yes will you have the opportunity to become famous. It means being famous (or not) is not as important to you as creating something that matters. That’s a true artist, my friend, and it’s the reason most famous people become famous.

You’re awesome –never doubt it. Your work is not reliant on being famous or the approval of others.

Are you creating work that matters to you?

Share in the comments and if your work is online, go ahead, provide a link to it. I’d love to see what you’re creating.

But sometimes inspiration can be just as hard to come by as words are to write.

I’ve got good news for you, thanks to Dana Sitar it doesn’t have to be that way.

A Writer’s Bucket List

Dana has written an exceptional, down to earth, helpful book “A Writer’s Bucket List” for all writers who could use some inspiration, motivation and encouragement to do what they love to do, which is: write.

Whenever you need a little go-go juice, open Dana’s book and you’ll find 99 things to do for inspiration, education, and experience before your writing kicks the bucket.

The great thing about Dana’s book is that you don’t have to read it straight through. Nope. Open it up to any page and begin your writing journey. It’s a great book for new writers, but also helpful to those who are experienced and still get stuck from time to time (don’t we all).

A Writer’s Bucket List is intended to give you ideas and ignite your passion to sit down and write. It does that in spades with words of wisdom, fantastic illustrations and exciting exercises.

I’m still having fun referring to “A Writer’s Bucket List” and I can’t thank Dana enough for writing and sharing it with me.

Get your copy of “A Writer’s Bucket List” on Amazon.

Have you read “A Writer’s Bucket List”? What did you like most about it? If you haven’t read it yet, are you ready to be inspired by it? 

Share in the comments.

You need something to stimulate your thoughts or help you remember.

I have a solution that’s been working for me and it may help you, too. Truth is, we tend to make it harder than it needs to be.

Creative Commons by Rafael Soares

Thoughts and memories are tricky things. We can have a grand idea one moment and then a minute later we might not have a clue as to what it was.

This absolutely frustrated me for years.

The solution I found is to keep a journal.

Journaling is a great way to record your thoughts, especially when they are fresh. I keep a small, leather journal with me at all times and when an idea comes to me I immediately stop what I am doing and write it down.  If I am unable to write I’ll dictate the idea into my phone’s voice recorder.

Thanks to on the spot journaling I lose fewer ideas.

Often, when I am in a rush, I’ll only write keywords about my thoughts and then later when I am ready to flesh out the idea I am able to remember it thanks to those keywords.

On the spot journaling is only part of the solution.

I keep another journal on my nightstand and before I go to sleep I write in it for at least ten minutes (not a minute less). It’s my personal ten minute journaling rule, but I tend to write for much longer periods of time.

Typically I use my nightly journal to write out the ideas I notated during the day, but there’s something special about journaling that my mind thoroughly enjoys; therefore, I often end up writing several pages that I may otherwise never have written (this is how my book, One Boy’s Struggle came to be).

I think the reason journaling is so effective is that I know I will not share anything I write in it. Well, okay, that’s not completely true.

What I mean is that I will most likely not share it the way it is written in my journal, but if the idea is tantalizing enough I might blog about it or use it as the impetus for something else.

Journaling also helps me avoid one of the difficulties I have when writing a first draft.

I can’t help not editing at all while writing a first draft. I don’t know of anyone who edits their journal writings, but I know plenty of people like me who cannot help but edit while writing a first draft. Go head, admit it. It will be our little secret.

A journal is a wonderful resource for those moments when you are staring at a blank page or canvas and find yourself blocked or unable to remember something.

Open your journal and read a few pages because there’s bound to be valuable entries which will stimulate your thoughts and memories.

And, if you’re a writer, you may find that you’ve already written your first draft without realizing it. Don’t you love when that happens?

I love keeping a journal and there are many great reasons I maintain it every day. One of the reasons is the fact it helps me keep a log of my thoughts and ideas. It’s saved me from writer’s block more times than I can remember.

Have you found keeping a journal helpful? If you do not already keep a journal, will you start one? Share in the comments.

You followed a proven formula. So your creation should be attracting attention. But it’s not. It’s part of the collective.

It is time to become an individual, to stand out and be noticed.

Creative Commons by cGaleano

The Burbs

You’ve driven through suburbs where house after house look identical.  Each house may be different inside with unique individuals and families, but you wouldn’t know anything about them from just driving down the street.

But when you come across the one house that looks different, you notice it. It’s not extravagant or covered with flashing lights. It’s just, well, different, and in the suburbs that makes it stand out.

The different house got your attention and if you had to choose houses to visit it would likely be at the top of your list.

The same thing happens when we create art without following any specific formula.

Let’s say you’re a blogger writing, well, blog posts.

Your words may be unique and your message special, but to the casual reader who has read article after article in the same tired format they all start to blend together and it becomes hard to recognize one author from another.

Who?

The problem is too many bloggers have become trapped by the typical directions out there on how to write and present a blog post.

Use lists, use bullets and create magnetic headlines.

Everyone else is doing it, and that’s the problem.

They have been assimilated.

It’s no surprise so few bloggers actually set themselves apart.

Every now and then the content is so exceptional that an author will stand out. But that’s the exception, not the rule.

The collective

How many times have you picked up a magazine in a waiting room, read a few articles and then put it back on the table when your name was called without a second thought as to who wrote the articles?

Each article is part of the collective.

Magazines, newspapers and other publications have done this for decades and they do it on purpose.

It’s because they want the reader to focus on the publication.

The advent of Blogs helped writers break free, gave them a way to allow their creativity to flow uninhibited and they began to set themselves apart.

And yet, slowly but surely most are becoming assimilated into a new mold.

Great blog writers do not stand out only because of what they write.

They stand out because their presentation and overall style is special and unique.

Consider Seth Godin, who many say is the words greatest blogger. Clearly, his name is one of the most well known.

Which formula does he follow?

If you’re familiar with Seth you probably know the answer.

Seth writes his ideas and doesn’t appear to follow any specific formula. Most people would simply say he is concise.

His words are meaningful, but he has a seemingly total disregard for doing it the ‘proven’ way and that sets him far apart from the collective.

One day Seth will write a blog post 500 words long and the next day he might post one that is merely two sentences. He only uses bullets and lists when absolutely necessary for his content. His headlines are hardly considered social media bait and really, they don’t need to be.

Seth is clearly an individual. His name, who he is and what he is about matters more than any formula.

Resistance is not futile

If you want to break free and stand out as a unique creative person, sooner or later you’re going to need to allow your own style to develop and shine.

That’s the only way to create an instantly recognizable name for yourself.

Formulas are great as guidelines to get started, but don’t become reliant on them.

When you get the urge to present your work differently, do it. Put a ding in the universe.

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

-Steve Jobs (Tweet This Quote)

Bet on it.

Steve could have made Apple to be just like Microsoft, after all MS was setting the “standard” and he had tremendous pressure from those who “knew better” to do so.

So many companies followed Microsoft’s lead. But Apple didn’t and now you have iphones, ipods and ipads and more, and the memory of an innovator who will never be forgotten.

The bottom line is you will never set yourself apart if your doing what everyone else is doing, the way everyone else is doing it. 

Content matters

But whatever you do, don’t be fooled into thinking it is only about the content.

What you’ve got to say may be meaningful and brilliant (it is), but if you’re presenting it in the same way as everyone else, then you’re setting yourself up to be just another blog writer.

You know the writer I am talking about.

The one using great lists and bullets, with mind-blowing headlines such as:

How to Make a Boat out of Silk and 7 Ways to Fly a Kite Upside Down.

Yep. That one. You know who I am talking about… don’t you?

Perhaps not, because he or she could be anyone since so many are doing the exact same thing.

They are only filling in the blanks. They’ve become assimilated.

You’re better than that. You know it and I know it.

So stop blending.

Put true magic (your magic) into your creativity by being the remarkable, special and unique individual that you are.

Don’t just create something that matters, create it and present it in a way no one else would. The way you would.

How are you setting yourself apart? Share in the comments.

Yes, absolutely. You are a writer. (Declare it – tweet it.)

But that was the wrong question. The right question is: Do you want to be a writer who gets noticed? Then you need to join Tribe Writers.

Why do we write? Is it only for ourselves? Or…

It’s time to find your tribe.

Do we write to share our work?

We write blog posts, books and tell our stories so others can enjoy and/or learn from them.

You need an audience for your writing. (Tweet This)

I just feed off the energy of the audience.

-Larry David

Tribe Writers, is the best online course to help you find the audience your writing deserves. It’s a course that helps writers discover their voice and build a platform that gets them not only noticed, but published.

Tribe Writers teaches you how become the awesome writer you want to be.

I’ve been blogging online for 6 years, but I got stuck.

I was writing about the same thing week in and week out and I got too comfortable. Then last year I joined Tribe Writers and with what I learned there I started this new blog, Positive Writer.

I’m not sure why I got stuck and put off creating this blog for so long, but what I do know is that the lessons I learned and the awesome community I became a part of when I joined Tribe Writers motivated me to finally create it.

And let me be honest with you, it’s been an amazing friggn ride!

To get the truth, you want to get your own heart to pound while you write.

-Robert McKee (Tweet this quote)

Only a few months after starting Positive Writer I’ve attracted thousands of readers and Positive Writer was voted one of Write-to-Done’s top ten blogs for writers.

I would not have stepped out of my comfort zone if it had not been for Tribe Writers created by Jeff Goins.

The writers who have taken Jeff’s course are accomplishing things you just won’t believe until you see for yourself what they are doing.

You’ll become inspired and motivated. And you’ll become informed and able.

Tribe writers are not just dreaming, they are doing, taking action and accomplishing their writing goals.

It’s for every writer.

This course is not just for those who are new to writing and blogging, there are students from all stages of the writing, tribe building and publishing process.

The amount of content in the Tribe Writers course is staggering.

You will learn how to find your voice, gain a loyal following and how to publish your own work.

Jeff doesn’t stop there, he has tons of interviews and add-on tutorials beyond the main course content and he keeps adding! It’s crazy. He’s making other online courses up their game.

You can’t help but become an expert.

There is no agony like having an untold story inside you.

-Zora Neale Hurston (Tweet this quote)

I’ll take Zora’s quote a step further and add, there’s no agony like having written a meaningful story, but not have an audience to share it with.

There’s something else I love about Jeff’s Tribe Writers course that goes way beyond the lessons.

He has created a community of writers who help each other every day.

You see, Jeff offers the course over several weeks, but those who sign-up are lifelong members. We discuss what we’ve learned and how we are applying the information in the forums and in a closed group on facebook.

Indeed, the community is filled with brilliantly helpful people who truly care about each other. Jeff doesn’t even know how that happened, but it did.

We are waiting for you to join us.

We need more writers like you who are ready to make a difference.

Are you ready to create meaningful work that will get noticed?

Click here to read more about Tribe Writers from Jeff Goins himself.

If you have any questions about the course, feel free to ask in the comments. Or, if you are a fellow Tribe Writer, share your experience and what you’ve learned from taking the course.

Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about how to edit a book. “I have a 60,000 word manuscript,” people tell me, “but I don’t know how to know if it’s ready to publish.”

Some of these writers want to finish up the manuscripts they began during NaNoWriMo. Others are in the middle of their first draft and are enthusiastically thinking ahead to their next steps.

However, they’re all asking the same question: How do you know when your book is finished?

Creative Commons by Corey Holms

Writing Is Revision

Once you finish that last page, you will probably experience more pride than you ever have in your entire life, second only to giving birth. Go ahead and soak it up. Throw yourself a party. Take a few days off to celebrate.

Don’t read your draft though, because as soon as you do, the awful reality of just how bad your book is will almost certainly dampen your mood. I love this quote from Michael Crichton:

Books aren’t written—they’re rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it.

Your book isn’t finished until you revise it from beginning to end at least once (and almost always more than once). I could share a hundred quotes from celebrated writers that sound exactly like the one above, but instead, just trust me. When you finish your first draft, you have so much more work to do.

How the Editing Process Works

The editing process looks different for every writer, a few things seem to work well for everyone. The best book I’ve ever read about the revision process is Stephen Koch’s Writer’s Workshop. If you want to learn more about this subject, I highly recommend picking up a copy.

Here are four suggestions on how to edit your book:

1. Read Your Book

After you finish your first draft, read your manuscript once by yourself. Don’t edit. Don’t cross out anything. The purpose of this step is not to revise but to get a fresh perspective on the book and see what holes need filling.

While I wouldn’t suggest doing any heavy duty editing, you’re welcome to take notes or jot down any ideas you have for the next step.

2. Write 10 Scenarios

This trick is especially great for fiction writers.

In my college art class, our first assignment was to draw a quick sketch of a tea cup 100 times. Yes, I was very familiar with that tea cup by the end of the assignment. The hard part was that each drawing had to be different. After I drew the teacup from a few normal perspectives, I was forced to get creative. I started drawing levitating tea cups, tea cups that were sawn in half, cubist tea cups, and even tea cup wallpaper.

Scenarios function the same way. They’re quick summaries of your entire book in just a few thousand words.  By telling a summarized version of your story ten different ways, you get new ideas about your book’s core essentials, who the main important characters are, which ideas are most central, and how to structure your book in the most interesting way possible.

Scenarios shouldn’t take longer than a day to write, and can be as short as 2,000 to 3,000 words for a book and 300 to 500 words for a short story. The key is to have fun and be creative!

3. Three Drafts

While most professional writers write three drafts or more, there are quite a few single-drafters out there. However, single-drafters usually spend much longer on their first drafts than most writers, so that by the end, they probably rewrite more than multi-drafters.

After your first draft, your second draft is meant for major structural fixes. If you found any major holes in the reading stage, your second draft is a great time to write or rewrite chapters and scenes. After the discoveries you make in your scenarios, you may even decide to rewrite the whole book from the beginning.

I wouldn’t do much polishing until your third draft. That would be like sanding down the foundation of your house. Your final touches don’t come until your third draft. First drafts are for digging the book’s foundation, second drafts for framing the house, and third drafts for finish work.

4. Send it to Friends

How do you know when you’re book is finished? Leonard da Vinci once said, “Art is never finished, only abandoned.” However, there is a trick to knowing when to “abandon” your book and send it out into the world.

Whenever I finish any draft except for the first—which is for my eyes only—I send my manuscript to a group of up to 30 friends to give me feedback. Through these beta readers I’m able to get a sense of what my book really is, not what I think it is. When you edit your book, you get too close to the work to have any rational perspective. Beta readers bring fresh eyes, and by listening to them as they talk about your book, you’ll be able to see whether it’s ready for the world.

When to Hire an Editor

Self-published books have a bad rap for poor editing. However, this isn’t completely fair. If you buy a first printing of a traditionally published book, you will likely find two or three typos. By the time the publisher is in their second printing, these have all been fixed. Most people just don’t read first printings.

Typos happen. You can have a team of 20 people looking for errors in your book and still, when it’s finally published, your second cousin will call you to tell you there’s a typo on page 276.

That being said, if you want to self-publish, please hire a professional editor. Not only will you have a better book because of it, good editing is the best way to learn the writing craft.

If you can afford it, I recommend hiring an editor to critique your book after your second draft, giving a high level overview of your major problems. After your third draft, it’s essential that you hire a line editor or copy editor to go through your prose with a fine-tooth comb.

Give yourself the gift of the best book you could have written. The authors I work with are always so much happier after editing than before. You’ll be glad you invested in it.

What about you? How do you edit your book? Would you add any tips?