writer « Terisa Green

I Fought the Law

And the law won. And the law was gravity, writer friends. And when the law won, it was the biggest pain in the neck. [...]

How to Tell the Printing Number of a Book

Of course, the printers key has a more descriptive name and one that will actually help you locate it: the number line. So, if you flip open your book, you’ll see the back of the cover to the left and the title page to the right. Turn the title page over and you’ll then see the copyright page. [...]

Step 10. Working with the Publisher, Part 11 of 11

This is the last in my series of posts about how I got a non-fiction book published as a first-time author. If you haven’t seen the previous posts, here is where I stand in the timeline. [...]

Step 9. Creating My Online Platform, Part 10 of 11

As I awaited word from the editor at Simon & Schuster regarding my mighty tome, I decided to create what is today called an online platform, but at the time was just a web site, when blogs didn’t exist. It wasn’t something I was doing just for fun, although I did enjoy it. Creating a web site was one of things that I had said I would do in my proposal as part of my promotion and marketing plan. [...]

Step 8. Writing the Tattoo Encyclopedia, Part 9 of 11

Although I am not a political fan, I do something that Ronald Reagan used to do. When he ran for election, he “ran scared.” It was his way of saying that he wasn’t going to lose because he was overconfident. When I write, I put my finger on the panic button, and I don’t let up until I’m done. That’s not my way of saying anything. It’s also not advice. That’s just the way I write. [...]

Step 7. The Book Offer from Simon & Schuster, Part 8 of 11

The offer from Simon & Schuster was not what I was expecting – because the offer wasn’t for the book that I had written about in my proposal. Jane called me (that would be Jane Dystel, my stellar literary agent, in case you haven’t seen the other posts in this series) and she went over the details before I spoke with the editor, Lisa Considine. [...]

Step 6. Rewriting The Proposal, Part 7 of 11

After signing a contract with literary agent Jane Dystel, my first task was to rewrite my non-fiction book proposal for her. I received in the mail an example of what she was looking for and also some specific changes in the proposal that I had originally sent to her. It was a pretty extensive rewrite. [...]

Step 5. Responses To My Query Letter, Part 6 of 11

From the outset, my query letter met with some amount of success. I’ll take some credit for having written a solid query, but it was also the right topic at the right time. The popularity of tattoos was soaring, many of the books that had been published about tattoos were older, and the tattoo book glut had yet to begin in earnest. [...]

Step 2. Writing A Non-fiction Book Proposal, Part 3 of 11

Now that you have a fabulous idea for your non-fiction best seller, Step 2 is to write the proposal. It took me exactly nine weeks to write the first draft of my proposal and the reason I know that is because I took a class to do it. [...]

Step 1. A Fantabulous Idea for a Non-fiction Book, Part 2 of 11

Step 1 in getting a non-fiction book published is having an outstanding idea for a book. In fact, having many ideas is even better. I maintain a database where I file ideas, plans, and/or outlines as they occur. And while I think I’ve come up some good book ideas, they have not (yet) become books. [...]

Terisa Green