Q: Why did you decide to
write Rut-Busting Book for Authors?
A: After I wrote and
published Rut-Busting
Book for Writers in 2017, and began doing book-related events, a lot of
people would ask me if it provided advice on how to write a book.
And while it does have a lot
of great advice on various aspects of writing, both the business and the
creative aspects, along with rut-busting tips for those who are stuck in a
writing rut, it didn’t focus specifically on how to write a book.
So, working on the principle
that if people are asking for something, you should provide it, I decided to
write Rut-Busting
Book for Authors. And to be totally honest, I knew that, even after several
books, there were still gaps in my author knowledge.
How better to educate myself
and other would-be writers than to reach out to people who are experts in all
the areas involved in becoming an author, distill it down into manageable bites
and turn it all into a book!
In Rut-Busting Book for
Authors, I focused on three stages:
The Process—what it takes to
turn your book idea into a publishable manuscript.
The Publication—what
publishing methods are available.
The Promotion—what strategies
will work best for you to create a “book buzz.”
And I was very fortunate that
so many industry experts and authors shared their expertise for the book! I
couldn’t have done it without them!
Q: What do you see as some of
the major factors that get writers into a rut in the first place?
A: Fear is one factor: fear
they can’t start a project or finish it, or, once it’s done, deal with the
responses. Their lack of confidence gradually erodes their desire to write. So
they procrastinate or say they’ll do it “later” or come up with other excuses
for not diving in and writing.
Then there is the lack of
knowledge, especially when it comes to writing a book. A book is such a major
undertaking: How do you keep all the material and research organized? What
publishing path should you choose? How do you promote the book?
Every time you turn around,
there’s one more thing you should know about, or should have done, or should
have done differently. So you either spend all your time trying to learn
everything (which isn’t ever really possible!) or you back-burner it until you
think you’re totally ready. But writing a book is like having a baby: you’re
never really ready!
The only effective antidote
to the fear rut and the lack of knowledge rut and any other rut that keeps you
from moving forward is to put one foot in front of the other (figuratively
speaking) and move forward. Baby steps, maybe, but even baby steps can result
in progress!
When I wrote both Rut-Busting
Book for Writers and Rut-Busting Book for Authors, that was what I wanted to
get across to readers: that everyone deals with ruts and the people who are
successful are those who figure out how to climb out of them!
Q: Can you say more about what
you hope readers take away from the book?
A: The most important message
is that it is possible to write a book. Yes, it will take time, knowledge,
willingness to accept feedback and, of course, a fair bit of money, regardless
of what publishing path you choose. But it is a viable option.
And it is also enormously
satisfying. Even if your book sales wouldn’t buy a month’s worth of groceries,
producing a book that educates or entertains or enlightens people is a gift
that can have far-reaching impact. You never know how the power of your words
or your creative output can inspire another person.
Rut-Busting Book for Authors
is, in a sense, a roadmap—or to use an analogy that fits with the title, a
ladder that will help you climb out of whatever rut is keeping you from writing
that book you always dreamed of.
Q: What are you working on
now?
A: As always, I am knee-deep
in marketing, planning events for this book and for the release of the second
edition of Traveling
Left of Center and Other Stories—new cover and edits to the original
stories—as well as for next May’s release of Peripheral Visions and Other Stories.
I also have several novels in
various stages that I keep going back to. My next goal is to publish a novel,
so I guess I’d better get one of these manuscripts finished!
Q: Anything else we should
know?
A: That, as hard as it can
be, don’t judge yourself or compare yourself against other writers. Someone
else will always sell more books than you, get an award that you really thought
you’d win, earn bigger royalty checks or become better known than you.
None of that matters.
What matters is that you do
your best: you write the best book or article or story or poem or essay that
you can, because you are the only person who can write it.
Each person has a unique way
of expressing his or her thoughts or ideas. Our responsibility is to use that
gift and produce something that will, like a pebble thrown into a pond, send
ripples far and away. We may never know what the result is, but that doesn’t mean
there wasn’t one, or that lives weren’t touched by what we wrote and shared.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Nancy Christie.
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