Sample Non-Fiction Book Proposal

Hi, I'm Jo Lynne Nugent. 

I came to the OVWriters Group meeting for the first time on Monday, June 21, 2010, had a great time, learned a lot and shared some tidbits I picked up from my attendance at the WVWriters Conference held in at Cedar Lakes, Ripley, WV,  June 11 - 13, 2010.  Literary Agent Kelly Mortimer from Aguanga, California,  appeared at the WVWriters Conference on June 12 and took 5-minute pitches all afternoon. She shared the web address where you can find her sample non-fiction book proposal:  http://www.perilsofpublishing.com/.  Once you get there, scroll down a bit and look under Genres for Non-Fiction.  I think you click there and then look for Proposal.  It is a humorous and educational read.  If you want to print it out, be advised: the proposal proper is 15 single-spaced pages followed by the 1st two chapters of the proposed book which appear to be another 60 some pages (because they're at least double spaced), but I don't know for sure, because I stopped the printer after 15 pages.

Kelly also shared her webpage address kmortimer@mortimerliterary.com . 

Also my blog, the Travelog & Dog Blog, is http://jolesq.typepad.com/blog . I just started writing and blogging in February so be charitable! (Oops! There go those pesky exclamation marks that are discouraged by E.B.White in the Elements of Style! One day I'll learn to avoid them!)

Thanks for making me feel so welcome.  I look forward to atttending again next month.

Re: Digital Book Publishing

Hi Writers,

It's Jason in Salt Lake City. Here is a link to an article that explains why digital book publishing is good for indie authors. It appeared in the Wall Street Journal online and is titled "'Vanity' Press Goes Digital." I hope someone finds it helpful.

Also, I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts or advice about organizing — and more importantly — incorporating the vast amount of ideas and material that one compiles in the process of writing one's masterpiece. You see, my mom and I have both encountered this problem. We tend to jot down a lot of good stuff during the months of planning, literally more than 100 pages, and then have trouble reining it all in to funnel it back into the pages of our writing. So far, our best approach has been to build and perpetually revise a "master outline" in a simple Word document. But any advice or thoughts on how you've handled this challenge would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

One-sentence update on me: I'm still writing (of course), and I'm starting my own film podcast later this month; so I'll share my link once it's up and running, in case anyone is interested in checking it out.

Take care, friends. Ah, I loved summers in the Ohio Valley...

Sincerely,
Jason Pyles

Yesterday's Meeting

It was nice to see everyone again. 

Six die-hard members showed up.  Our newest member, Sara, brought the first of many pages of her grandparent's memories that she has written down.  It is a good start for her. 

We talked about the different approaches that Fred could take in his book.  There are three or four different ways to get the readers hooked. 

I took a photo of Jomana and Joanie to use in the Wheeling News-Register  Writers  Digest article that Rich submitted.  Should be in the paper sometime this next week.

Fred is supposed to bring a synopsis of his book to our next meeting.  We had a discussion of just how long a synopsis should be.  According to one article in a writer's magazine, it can be from 2 to 10 pages.

Rich is on the radio tonight at 7:00 pm on WKKX 1600 on a program called "Whispers".  It can also be found streamed live on the internet at http://www.wkkx.com/.

I'm writing this from the basement of the library watching Andy set up for his talk at "Lunch with Books" today.

Bill

E-mail Addresses

From Bill:

I've added the e-mail addresses of the members who were at the last meeting like we talked about.  One cannot click the address to send an e-mail.  You have to cut and paste the address into an e-mail.

Let me know if anybody starts getting wierd messages from people you don't know.  One party just started to get them this week and I deleted her e-mail address.  I think it was coincendental, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Thanks.

Last Week's Lunch with Books at Wheeling Library

From Bill:

Last Tuesday at the LWB, Stan Cohen, who has published many books on WV history and was to speak on the Civil War in WV, instead spent 40 minutes talking about his exploits as a publisher of said 'History' books and only about 10 minutes talking about some Civil War events in WV.  He took some questions from the audience and it was obvious that practically everyone knew more local Civil War history than he did.

94 people showed up expecting to hear a talk on the Civil War.  Sean Duffy who heads the LWB program apologized to everyone about how the talk was off the subject that was advertised in his weekly e-mail to his patrons.

The moral of this story is:  When each of us has a chance to talk about our latest book, make sure that's what we do for the allotted time.

Meeting of April 19th

We had a good turnout of 9 expect-to-be authors last night, including two new people. Welcome, Sara and Janice. Make sure you mark off the 3rd Monday of each month for our meetings.


Carla and I showed our handiwork in the photography field.

Rich passed around some info on the WV writers organization. The link is on this blog.

We discussed being able to upload PDF files on our blog. It seems like we can upload videos and images, but we can't upload PDF files. We can always add a link to a site that stores them on the WEB. I'll work on getting us some free space where we can store our stories.

For those of you who do not know how to create PDF documents, here are the directions to follow:

It is very easy to convert your word documents or anything else to a pdf file. Go to this WEB site:

http://www.primopdf.com/index.aspx and download the free software on the left side of the screen.

This will give you another option on your PRINT function. When you have a file you want to convert to PDF, just go to the Print file and click on PrimoPDF. Everything is done automatically.

A PDF file is a good way to attach a document to an e-mail because there are so many different formats that you can write the document in and, if your respondent doesn't have the same SW package, they may not be able to open it.

There was a post made this morning outlining a scenario for a short story to work on before the next meeting. It looks like it could be an interesting exercise.

Bill

May Writer's Prompt

Your Story #26: Bloody Knife in Your Hand

You wake up to find a dead body on the floor -- and a bloody knife in your hands. You can't remember what happened so you piece together the clues.

The online contest deadline is May 10. Have fun and good luck if you enter!

http://www.writersdigest.com/yourstory