Hi again,

I'm sorry, I forgot to post these two things with the post above this one.

First, if you missed my interview with Gail Cohn on Book Talk Wednesday, you can hear it via their archives at this link:
http://www.radiosandysprings.com/booktalk.php

Click on the 4/23 show.

Also, I was invited by bestselling author Brenda Novak to participate in an auction to benefit juvenile diabetes. My paternal grandmother was insulin dependent diabetic all her life, so I was glad to participate in this worthy event.

There are some really awesome items up for bid-- I'm offering a free copy of Time to Write plus a review of a fiction or nonfiction manuscript (1st 3 chapters). The bidding starts May 1st. Here's the link:

http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/B...101EE954813274E

Best wishes,
Kelly

You know Kelly, not only do I need time to write, I need time to read, but that's another story,...or another book?
Haha That would be cool Time To Read...you open it up and nothing is in it.

Your newsletter is easy and fast to read. By the way the colours are fun. I liked your comment on "...the only person preventing you is you."...You hit the nail on the head there..

And what a good idea about auctioning off your services! Got to read more. Just want to say I'm enjoying the thread.
Edelweiss

Thanks Edelweiss!

Reading is something that I do at night for 15-60 minutes before bed. I plan for it. The times I don't do that and I don't get to read, I really miss it. Granted I don't read as many books as I'd like to in a year, but I do try to carve out time each day to read. I try to alternate an inspirational, self help book with a book of fiction. I will often re-read books from my "keeper" shelf, too. There are a few books that I have read as many as 4 times.

JJ was asking earlier about products for writers, and it occurs to me now that books similar to the types you want to write are tools of the aspiring writer. Reading is important as both an aspiring and a working writer I think.

Thanks for reading my newsletter. And have fun with the auction. I'll be bidding on some items myself.

Kelly

Maybe you could a series? Time to Read....Time to Publish...etc? Just a thought.

Hi JJ!

Hmmmm.....not sure what would go into a book about making time to read. I guess you can just reverse all the advice in Time to Write and substitute "read" everywhere there's a "write". :-)

I do have a sequel of sorts to Time to Write coming out early 09. I will make an announcement soon about it.

Best, Kelly

That JJ is always thinking. Love that idea of a series.

Congrats on getting such a great publisher.

DO you want to share how that happened?

Hi Dotsie,

Sure. I got an agent first who then marketed the book proposal for me. This second proposal was submitted to the same publisher. People on this thread probably know that with nonfiction, you write a 30-60 word proposal first and the book is sold on that. With fiction, you write the book and then try to sell it. The nice thing with nonfiction is that if the proposal doesn't sell, you haven't put all that time into the manuscript and can move on to something else.

Kelly

Kelly, you make it sound so very easy. I know your time is up and I thank you, but do you mind sharing for others how you got your agent?

Hi Dotsie, sure. (I think I am supposed to be on until May 15th so I've got a couple more weeks.)

I basically queried agents that represented the type of work I was doing in batches of 12 at a time. Whenever I got a rejection letter, I'd mail another query out the next day to the next person on my list. I used Jeff Herman's guide to literary agents to get the names.
http://www.amazon.com/Hermans-Publishers...9699&sr=8-1

He updates the book every year and it's well worth the money.

Kelly

You are right Kelly. You're here until the 15th. Don't mind me. I have several deadlines fo the 1st.

I know the book you speak of and have used it. It's excellent and well worth it if someone is serious about pitching.