Day 2:
Thursday, July 10

Presenter:
Michelle Goodman


You’ve got a fantastic idea for a non-fiction book and have been fantasizing about seeing your name on bookstore shelves. So what do you do next? How do you make the leap from an expert with an outline (even if it’s all in your head) to a first-time author with a book deal?

This discussion will cover the questions I’m most frequently asked about breaking into book publishing, such as:

• How much of the book do you need to write in order to land a publisher?


• Exactly what goes into a non-fiction book proposal?


• How does an unknown writer go about finding an agent?


• Better yet, what you can do to get an agent to come to you?


• Do you even need an agent?


• What are the pros and cons of self-publishing?


• How can an independent editor or ghostwriter help you?


• What local and national publishing resources should every newbie author know about?


• What type of promotional campaign can you expect your publisher to pony up?


• How long does the publishing process take, how many books can you expect to sell, and how much money can you expect to make?

You bring the questions, I’ll bring the handouts listing invaluable resources, and together we’ll crack the code on the book publishing safe once and for all.

More about Michelle

Michelle Goodman is a freelance writer, author, and writing instructor. Her books — My So Called Freelance Life (Seal Press, October 2008) and The Anti 9-to-5 Guide: Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube (Seal Press, 2007) — offer an irreverent take on the traditional career guide. She writes a weekly career column for ABCNews.com and blogs about work/life balance for the Seattle Times at Nine to Thrive. Her articles and essays about alternative careers, cultural trends, and human mating rituals have been published by CNN.com, Salon.com, BUST magazine, the Seattle Times, Yahoo! HotJobs, AOL.com, and many more. She’s worked in book publishing one way or another — as a staff publicist, a freelance editor, freelance copywriter, a writing instructor, an anthology contributor, and now an author — since 1990. For more dirt on her so-called freelance life, visit her popular self-employment blog at www.anti9to5guide.com.