#111 jawjaw: Boundaries? You betcha!
Words are wonderful things, and those spoken publicly can never be taken back. So I constantly strive for random acts of humor, gentleness and diplomacy, while never stooping to a lie. About profanity: I've always believed it was a poor substitute for a clear statement. Sometimes a four-letter word is needed in dialogue, to keep the dialogue realistic, but there's never a need to overdo it (unless the character speaking is illiterate and has a poor command of the language.) Words are too much fun to limit your use of them to those four-letter words.

This was posted by Kelly.

Hi Patrika,

Thanks for taking the time to be with us. I am wondering if you could provide some advice regarding doing a market analysis of your book's potential reader/buyer for the purposes of selling the idea to a publisher or agent. I always read that one should "know your market", things like demographics, what those people are buying and reading, what are similar books and how well did they do, etc, but how the heck does one find all that information? Any words of help are appreciated.

Best regards,
Kelly

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Kelly L. Adams Stone
www.kellylstone.com

#111 Interesting questions, jawjaw.
I have so many favs it's hard to answer.I love to write fiction and I also love to write about how to write it(and nonfiction too.)I read voraciously, always with a blue pencil in my hand because I'm analyzing what makes a particular piece work, regardless of its genre.
As for boundaries, I'm a firm believer in the Golden Rule. Even when honesty requires criticism, I try to do it gently and to stick to the facts. And why would I want to offend anyone's ears with profanity when other words are usually more precise?

Kelly:
Analyzing a book's market potentila isn't that hard to do. You can start with informal research such as asking your librarian and favorite book seller what's selling in your genre. Amazon.com is another good place to find out what's out there. Search engines such as Google.com will also give you a lot of information.
The point of knowing about similar books is so that you can tell a potential publisher and/or agent what they are and how they're selling (this helps them determine the size of the potential market for yours.)the most important thing you need to know and share with a potential agent or publisher is WHAT'S UNIQUE ABOUT YOUR BOOK. Compare it to the competition. Sum up by saying something like, "While all current books in this category cover _____, mine is the only one that takes the next step and includes ______."

Hope that helps, Kelly.If you need more, see my online class, "Stalking the Markets" at www.acappela.com

Patrika,

Thanks for answering all of my questions and I couldn't agree more on the profanity issue. Of course using foul language was only one aspect of the boundary question...I suppose things like politics, religion, etc., would be others; however, I think you probably feel the same way that most of us do, TABOO! Why write about these things, OR, use profanity when there are so many other options? As I said, I couldn't agree more.

JJ

#232 TVC15 Do I have any tips for a new writer? DO I! About a million of them, spread out through my books, audiobooks CDs and online classes.
For starters, TRUST YOURSELF. Don't let your fears of failure give you writer's block. You have truths and views inside you that are unique to you, and only you can share them with the world. Trust that, and write. Make a contract with yourself to write for a given amount of time each day. Be realistic. If you can only consistently spend 15 minutes a day at it, commit to 15 minutes a day. Then do it. Ask your family and friends to leave you undisturbed during that time...after all, if you don't take your writing seriously, why should they?
Hope that helps.
Patrika
Your Author's Advocate
A Cappela Publishing
www.acappela.com
acappub@aol.com

#111 jawjaw: In my live classes I have two rules about critiquing:
1) the author may not speak until everyone in the room has given their critique
2) critiquers may critique only the writing, not the issues dealt with. In other words, if the work is an article or short story in favor of abortion and the critiquer is staunchly against abortion, this may not be argued in my writing class. Writing classes are about the craft of writing, not a platform for arguing political or religious views.
Patrika
Your Author's Advocate
A Cappela Publishing
www.acappela.com
acappub@aol.com

TVC15 #232 You know, I was sure I'd answered this but since I don't see it anywhere on the forum, I'll answer again:
You can get an autographed copy of my book or audiobook or CD set, simply by ordering it at www.acappela.com/books.htm. In the "Comments" section at the bottom of the credit card ordering form, just mention that you want it autographed and give the name of the person the book should be dedicated to. (If it's a gift, be sure to let us know the adress of the recipient.)

Thank you Patrika!

Haven't heard from anyone in a few days, so thought I would post a question of my own:

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE YOUR MAIN CHARACTER/PROTAGONIST, AND HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS CHARACTER BEFORE YO BEGIN WRITING?