When I ucem retiro online I didn’t know anything about publishing. Thank goodness or my book probably would never have eventually made it to publication with McGraw-Hill.
Recently, I was on a panel presenting ideas on all forms of publishing from traditional to Print-On-Demand, and independent publishing. Over seventy-five people questioned the panel on all forms of writing, book marketing, and publishing.
While my cohorts on the panel answered questions, I studied the audience members, many of which seemed to grow more and more concerned about whether they were following the proper method / guidelines / rules for writing and successfully writing and publishing a book.
Now, I pride myself on keeping on the cutting edge of information in the publishing industry by attending seminars, reading books, and buying seminar recordings on writing and publishing topics. But, and I know this will sound cliché, I realized the more I learned the less I knew about educating and motivating new authors.
The single largest key to success in publishing, in my opinion, is simply placing your butt in a chair and writing from the heart every day.
My suggestion is to let your passion for any subject, feeling, or need prompt your fingers to fly across the keyboard and chisel your words in electrons – not for publication but simply to release hidden thoughts, ideas, and intentions that are seeking some form of expression.
That’s what I did when I wrote my first book, Gymnastics: A Guide for Parents and Athletes. I didn’t have to do any research because I had been a gymnastics coach for thirty years and the topics addressed in the books were subjects I felt strongly about. By accessing my passion for the topic, I was easily able to write the book.
I have written several books since then (1992) many of which were a struggle to wrestle past my fingertips into electronic posterity. They were good books but they did not fulfill my passion for writing.
Recently, I wrote another book titled, Writing Books for Fun, Fame, & Fortune!, and once again, nearly thirty-years later, I simply sat down and wrote the book from a burning passion to share my ideas rather than from a series of notes and an excess of research.
Don’t get me wrong, sometimes researching a topic and creating an outline are necessary, but at this publishing seminar while sitting on the panel, I had an epiphany – ignorance is bliss and it is the true starting point for all writers and authors.
