What’s your message?
What IS a message (AKA proposition) for your book? And how the heck do you come up with one? I like the way industry guru Jane Friedman...
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Sally Collings
- Sep 20, 2021
Get in touch with your readers.
In my last post, I talked about defining your target reader—who they are, what you know about their interests, their age, and other...
Sally Collings
- Sep 13, 2021
Who are you writing for?
You might be wondering why you need to be so specific about your target readers. Narrowing down your focus to a specific group will allow...
Sally Collings
- Sep 6, 2021
Defining your goals for your book
Writing a book is like any other large endeavor. Having goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. It helps you organize...
Sally Collings
- Aug 30, 2021
Achieve your why for your book.
Over the next few weeks I'll be blogging tips and ideas from my new online course, How to Write a Successful Nonfiction Book. Along with...
Sally Collings
- Jul 22, 2021
More sell, less tell.
Nine times out of ten, I see authors making one catastrophic error in their book proposals. After your cover page and list of contents,...
Sally Collings
- Jun 16, 2021
Stop Dreaming About Getting Your Memoir Published.
Just imagine it. You get to step away from your day-to-day grind—the tedious meetings, the ache in your lower back, your cousin's...
Sally Collings
- Jun 14, 2021
How do you write a successful nonfiction book?
Wouldn’t it be great to feel confident in your ideas and your ability to reach your reader when you sit down to write? Wouldn’t you love...
Sally Collings
- Jun 7, 2021
A Micro-Retreat for Memoir Writers
If you want to land a publishing deal for your memoir, there is one thing you need: a standout book proposal to submit to literary agents...
Sally Collings
- Apr 1, 2021
An editor tells: these are the kinds of authors I want.
It’s not often the writing community gets to hear from a senior editor in one of the major New York publishing houses. We make a lot of...
Sally Collings
- Mar 26, 2021
Some authors are landing big deals.
The talk soon leads to doom and gloom when authors discuss how hard it is to land a deal with a major publisher. Much of the doom talk is...
Sally Collings
- Mar 17, 2021
Is self-publishing your fallback plan?
There’s an excellent guest post by novelist and editor Kim Catanzarite on Jane Friedman’s blog this month, titled 11 Signs You’re Ready...
Sally Collings
- Mar 12, 2021
Should self-publishing be your Option A?
Dreaming of a book deal with Penguin Random House, Macmillan, or HarperCollins? You’re not alone. SO not alone. Before you join that long...
Sally Collings
- Mar 5, 2021
Panic time. Who’s going to publish your book?
The word on the street is that in these pandemic times, literary agents have more time to consider new projects, so now is a great time...
Sally Collings
- Feb 25, 2021
Check out the competition.
Elite athletes know all about their competition. They are acutely aware of the 800-meter runner who took out the last world championship...
Sally Collings
- Feb 17, 2021
Let’s get real about dragons.
“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.” —JRR Tolkien, The Hobbit Honestly? I’m not even...
Sally Collings
- Feb 10, 2021
Publishers hate manuscripts.
As a rule, if there’s one thing most publishers and literary agents really hate to see, it’s a manuscript. You’re probably surprised by...
Sally Collings
- Dec 20, 2020
I have the best clients.
I've been honored to work with some remarkable clients over the years: smart, driven, funny, passionate. I can't wait to work with more...
Sally Collings
- Oct 5, 2020
Book proposals are simple to write. But never, ever easy.
I’m not really a step-by-step kinda person. I’m suspicious of any book, course, guru, or product that promises me any of the following:...
Sally Collings
- Sep 16, 2020
Interview tip #7: Give people a magic wand
The last in a series of seven blog posts on #interviewing techniques for #nonfiction authors. Toward the end of every interview, I love...
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