Marsha’s Comments (group member since Feb 09, 2008)

Marsha’s comments from the The Reasons Why you wrote your book or books group.

Anyone who tells someone who enjoys writing to give it up and do something else is not very intelligent. People should be encouraged to read and write, as despite the numerous books that come out each year, there are still millions of people who do not enjoy writing or reading. So people need to be encouraged, not discouraged from reading or writing. Additionally, if your writing was so awful as she suggested, why did it "ruin her day?" The fact that she was affected by your writing, would mean to me that, you actually are a good writer. If I read a book and the story gives me some type of emotional reaction - whether happy or sad - this would mean that the book's appeal is in the emotion reaction it gave me. This woman should give you some constructive criticism, and not tell you to give up writing if she really wanted to help you. If you wish to reply, you might ask the publisher in fact, "if I ruined your reader's day, I would like to know in what way did the content of my writing upset her, so I can build more on that strength?" Good luck to you; don't let anyone discourage you.

Excellent, Larry. Glad to hear that you are enjoying some ebooks. I still prefer paper to electronic, but it does seem to be the way of the future.

I am noticing more and more people with e-readers. I now have my memoir, "The Accidental Secretary" available to be purchased as an ebook on sites such as Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. It is also available in conventional paperback and hard back. I wrote my book to memorialize some of my experiences working for attorneys in private companies. I now work for attorneys in a state job and like it better. I find books about people's jobs interesting and have read many that I could recommend. I was wondering what people think about e-readers? I do not yet have one myself as I am "old fashion" and like paper. However I think that e-readers provide for yet another way to obtain books, and usually inexpensively. Anything that gets people to read is great!

Steve, I just checked Amazon and it says: "Limited Availability: Out of Print." How does a reader obtain a copy of your book?

I will look forward to reading your novel when it comes out as I did find your two memories very interesting. Good luck.

Phyllis, I just started reading your book this morning. I picked it up as a "remainder" book at Borders. I lived in N'awlins in the early 1990s for 13 months. I left only because I could not find a job because of the poverty, and I did get robbed twice. But, despite that, I have good memories. N'awlins was a special place to me. I haven't visited since Katrina happened, so I do not know how it changed, but when I was living there, what I fell in love with were the people. Maybe it was because of the poverty, but people had the time to sit down and talk to me for hours just about anything really. I'm living in Austin, TX now and people here do not give me the time of day. I'm looking for work here now, but the economy is crap everywhere so I do not know where to go anymore. I picked up your book because of what happened to N'awlins: the floodings, the broken levees and the change to people's lives, effected me greatly even though I was miles away in Caifornia at the time. I will let you know what I think of your book. Thanks for writing it. Marsha

I never heard of Publish America, but Author House is a print on demand company, so the writer has control over their own cover. Yes, that was my point, where you said that you "do not see how a marketing department could have made (a) blunder unless they had never read the work." This is my whole point that many times publishers do not read the book. In any case, I think a cover and title are very important, just as important as you pointed out is the writing in the book. I do agree that the blurb on the back of the book is important too. The entire package is important. Just like in dating, if you meet someone and you are not attracted to them, or find them interesting, then you are not going to go out with them again. If I see a book and it doesn't look interesting to me, I'm not going to spend my time or money to read it.

Thanks for your comments, Shane. No, I did not use a vanity press. I self-published using a print-on-demand company. I have all rights, so I am the publisher and the writer. I did also the editing and paid editors as well to read my book and check for mistakes, clarity, etc. I agree that it would not be a good idea to go with a vanity press. They are very expensive and they do not do any marketing for a writer and you cannot hold the rights. For definitions, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Print_on... and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanity_p....

I just think that it is important not to think that a publisher necessarily knows everything that is right for the writer. If you do not like the title that they give your book or the cover design or even the typeset used in your book, you should be allowed to have input.

I have met many writers who have been very disappointed in publishers who thought that they knew best for a writer. For instance, at my local writers’ group, South Bay Writers Club, a black woman spoke about a book she wrote about her experience with tennis. Since it is mostly an all-white sport, her publisher put a white woman playing tennis on the cover of her book since she thought it would sell better. Maybe it did, maybe it didn’t, but the writer told us she was upset since it was misleading. The whole point of her book was her experience as a black woman playing tennis.

I agree that marketing is important, but I know I wouldn’t want someone ruining the cover or title of my book, because they thought it was best.

Dianne. I self-published my book so that is why I needed to come up with my own title. However, I don't know if I agree that "publishers know the market better than (you) do." I think sometimes publishers may not even know what your book is even about, since ironically many publishers do not read books. They hire editors to read the book. So, keep in mind that if you do not like a title given to you by your publisher to be sure to put in your input. If you like the title, then that's fine, but never think that publishers necessarily know what is best for you, your story, and what is marketable. Call me a cynical, but I firmly believe that.

The title of my book, "The Accidental Secretary" took a while before that became the final title. I had several "working titles" first. My first couple of titles I was told were too long. My book almost became "Legal Secretary's Survival Guide." But then I was told that some people might exactly think it is a "guide" and not the memoir that it is. Then one night before going to sleep, which is usually when my brain comes up with ideas instead of letting me sleep, I thought of "The Accidental Secretary," and that became my title. My memoir centers on my life as a legal secretary through numerous jobs and places that I lived. I never planned to work for attorneys, and just fell into it by accident, really. So, thus, my title. On that note, I do believe that when you are writing a book, an article, a short story, it is okay to start off with a "working title" and feel free to change your title later on if something more appropriate comes up.

Steve, I'm glad to hear that you are finishing up your latest revision of your novel. I do agree that "fresh eyes" sometimes makes writing better. I have a novella that I wrote about 15 years ago when I lived in New Orleans, that I only looked at again about a year ago. I haven't done anything more with, but I am sure that I will sometime. I think sometimes you just need the right timing and the right motivation. Marsha

That's why I decided the heck with it, and self-published my book, "The Accidental Secretary." I still worked just as hard and went through many redrafts and had some people also help me edit my book. But in self-publishing I did have full control. I did not have to listen to an agent tell me what to do and I designed my own cover and what I wanted to be on the cover of my book. The only bad part of self-publishing is that one has to lay out their own money. It would have been nice to have an agent or publisher give me a royalty payment in advance, of my laying out thousands of dollars. However, the marketing is the same. Publishers expect you to do pretty much of your own marketing. I do some here and there when I have time in between working (to pay my rent).

Anyway, I just read Steve's first book and it was very good. I do plan to read his second book soon. Both are memoirs. I bought both of them on barnesandnoble.com Steve, good luck with the novel. If you don't find a publisher, don't feel shy about thinking of self-publishing your book.

Marsha

I just bought a copy of Steve Preece's book "Amongst the Marines" and do plan to read it soon. I'm in the middle of another book now. There is always so much to read and never ever enough time! I like how Steve is proactive in bring attention to his book. Good for him. I look forward to reading it. I wrote my book "The Accidental Secretary" about my experiences of working for attorneys. Right now I am temping for a law firm as I was laid off from my last job in February due to this economy. I find that there are a lot of never-ending tales to tell about law firms, actually office work in general. I wrote my book to memorialize some of my experiences before I get too old to remember! Plus, I am hoping that others who work in offices might want to read my book and perhaps can relate to some of the oddities. I am writing in other avenues now, taking a break from book writing. I do love to write and read and hope to continue to do so forever. My book is self-published through a print-on-demand company. I think it is great that there are so many ways to get published today and to get our ideas out there.

I wrote my book "The Accidental Secretary" because I have been working for attorneys for about 25 years now. The legal cases can be interesting, but what is really unique is the favor of each office. I really wanted to memorialize and share these tales.

I love to write and I thought that I had so many tales to tell that I just had to get it down in a book. I took my writing quite seriously and spent 3-1/2 years on my book. The first draft took 8 months to write (mostly on weekends in between working full time) and then the book went through many revisions. I had some people read parts of it for feedback, so I could constantly work on improving it.

Finally the book went through numerous edits, on my part and I had some people help me. I am proud of my accomplishment.

Please check out my web site when you have a chance, which is www.accidentalsecretary.com