The Renegade Writer Blog

RW Makeover #3 has begun! I’m all set to head out today with my $5,000 and start my new wardrobe! I’m not sure what happened to Stacey and Clinton….oh, no, wait. Wrong makeover show.

Yes, I am a huge fan of What Not to Wear, both the BBC and the TLC version. And I’m also a huge fan of Linda and Diana and Katey Coffing, Ph.D., my makeover expert. Katey and I had a great half-hour phone call on Thursday, and I have much to do. Katey is an experienced writer and book-writing coach and she really helped me start to focus in on what I’m doing with my book, which is a memoir about the stillbirth of my son Ben three years ago. As I said to Katey, I’m going to write this book whether anyone ever reads it or not, but I really believe people will want to read it – I’m writing the book I wanted to read three years ago and feel strongly that there is a market for it.

Katey initially asked me where I want this book to go, and if am I interested in a traditional New York publisher or self-publishing. I am definitely not interested in self-publishing – it just doesn’t appeal to me, though I may change my mind later on. I know who my audience is, so my next step is to decide if I am going to finish writing the book and then try to market it, or if I am going to focus on marketing for now, and either pause the writing or keep writing on the side. So I will be heading out to the bookstore this weekend to check out some books on proposal writing that Katey recommended. The prospect of writing a proposal feels a bit daunting, but it’s also exciting because it’s so real – I’m really going to try to sell this book! It’s a pretty wonderful feeling just thinking that this little book of mine might find a home in the big world, and it’s so encouraging to have a real professional on my side to offer tips and make it feel more do-able. Not to mention, I’m not related to Katey, nor is she my husband, which is good for the procrastinator in me!

Katey encouraged me to think about the theme of my book - to distill into two or three sentences what my book is about, which will not only help me to finish writing it, but will also be part of my proposal package when marketing it to agents and publishers. This is great advice, as though I have been writing bits and pieces and have a basic idea of how I want to structure the book, I haven’t been thinking about it this concretely.

We will be meeting again via phone in two weeks, and I will have decided on my way forward: write the proposal now and send it out, or finish writing the book. I’m pumped up and ready to get cracking! [Ginny Williams]

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