Three Steps To Launching Your Writing Career

Step one: Make sacrifices to get the book written

Charles Bock, author of Beautiful Children, has said,

"Truth is I worked on this novel for 10 years. Not ten years of watching Seinfeld at 11 PM. Ten years of a high priority in my life. When I was dating the woman who is now my wife, I would only go out with her two nights a week because I couldn't give more time to that.
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/authors/oh_for_the_love_of_bock_76019.asp

Step Two: Make your opinions known to your publisher

James Bernard Frost wasn't happy with the cover St. Martin's Press came up with for his debut novel, World Leader Pretend. This was after he'd already asked for a redesign of his first cover. So he created his own, stick-on cover that he slapped on his books after they hit the shelves.
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/book_jackets/debut_novelist_revolts_against_book_cover_53252.asp

Step Three: Make sure you only receive positive reviews

Author Deborah MacGillivray made an interesting choice when faced with an unfavorable review. According to dearauthor.com, the author and her critical Amazon reviewer exchanged a series of heated emails over the posting of a 3 star review. Ms. MacGillivray is credited with making said review disappear by encouraging her fan base to "vote down" the bad review.

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/authors/authors_behaving_badly_82556.asp

Who knows what's in store for these writers in years to come. But their techniques, if nothing else, have made them widely known throughout the blogosphere – which either makes them shrewd marketers or cautionary tales. Only time will tell.


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Karen
"What did Jane do and why?"
www.karenharringtonbooks.com