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It is closing in on three in the morning and sleep is the furthest thing from my mind. The night is electric as the relentless call of drums stretches out into the air under the African stars. In front of me dances an old African man Thembitongo - his back is bent, his eyes half closed as his feet tap out an ancient rhythm. He is old and in pain. It is hard and painful to watch him as he creeps along in a shuffle-dance. As he falls to his knees the drums stop their call.
By Sarah Bullen
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The difficult thing about planning a book is working out how to break down the information; often it feels as if there is just this great mass of data swirling around in your head. Perhaps it is your story, or your decades of work experience.
The gap between having an idea (or a dream) and becoming a published author is a BIG one. I want to help you NOT to get stuck in this gap.
The really exciting thing is that there are really SO MANY options and ways to get published in this day and age. The two most common ways are traditional publishing and self-publishing so I want to unpack how both of these work - as this is one of the most common questions I geat asked.
What do you want to write about? Well my life of course (writers say). And I nod because of course that is right. But it has to be about something more and bigger than just your life.
The hard thing about writing about yourself / life / job / expertise/ trauma / journey is that you have to step away from writing to please or express yourself. You have to shift into writing for a reader. Do you have a burning desire to publish a book? Cape Town-based writing coach and literary agent Sarah Bullen offers simple and practical steps to getting those words onto paper
So many of us have this deep heart desire to write, but don’t know how to act on it. So you want to write – but you don’t do it. And all the time a quiet voice whispers in your head... you have a story to tell.
Self-publishing allows you to get your material printed and out into the world and spread your message. But before you launch yourself off into the world, take a note of the costs. There are production costs and printing costs.
I am going to give you the costs of some of the books I worked on recently. A year ago I had a full and busy life. I was the group editor of a publishing company, mom to two young kids (eight and ten) and busy training for a 10km run. My husband of 10 years was also dying of brain cancer. I was emotionally exhausted and I simply had no reserves. On Wednesday I went for a 5km run during my lunch hour. That is the last thing I remember for over a month.
* This article was published in Women's Health SA under the title A Year On Got a manuscript that you are sitting on? Here is an updated list of all the publishing houses actively looking for books. Romance! Children's books! Recovery and addiction! There is a publishing house for every flavour. Ready? This is a long list so digest it. Check your genre. If submissions are closed but it's your genre then start a list of publishers to target.
The first draft of your book is not something you are going to want to show anyone. Sorry! As much as you have sweated and toiled over it… it is most likely a crude assembly of scenes with a bit of a mishmash plot at best. Totally normal. The good news is you have done most of the legwork.
You absolutely have to put your entire story through a rewrite to get to a 'vaguely passable first draft'. This requires you to step out of writer mode and think like an editor. You need to find structure, pace and plot. Out of the trenches and start to see your book as a construction. Now how do you make it better..... Writing coach Sarah Bullen and her children were on the verge of returning home to South Africa to start another exciting chapter in their life after a wonderful two-year sojourn on a Greek island. Then she felt a lump in her left breast. This is her story…
Why isn't it selling? Who should be making it sell? Why isn't the publisher doing more? Why are there only three copies at the bookshop and no front of house display?
Very few publishing houses are going to constantly promote you and your book. But the good news is, this is where you can make the critical difference. That means that you have to build an audience for your book. This word 'expert' comes up a lot when working with memoir or non-fiction books.
It comes from the question - am I actually qualified to tell people how to do this? It could be how to make money, control diabetes, train a dog, lose weight, make money, cope with grief. But am I qualified? Good question. Do you actually have to be an expert to write a book? 'Write your Book' the post read. 'Join us on a writing retreat on the beautiful Greek Island of Lesvos’.
I had in fact written a book, which had been percolating in the bottom drawer of my night table for a few years. Here was the opportunity to expose it to the light, not any light, but the warm sun of Lesvos with beautiful beaches and the gin-clear waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Top lawyer Nicholas Lambrianos is the author of It Shouldn’t Happen to a Lawyer. He joined us on a writing retreat in Greece and decided to join the women-only swim to The Rock. This is his story Where will your book sit? Remember your first step in non-fiction writing is to be clear on your genre. Find your main genre and subgenre from the list below.  There are some lines from romance novels that really make you shiver. Here are some of my favourites, share yours below in the comments!
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