I have asked questions on here dealing with writing a book before and have been helped a great deal. I have written my book, like many have advised. My book is a memoir about my personal weight loss. I have battled forty of my fifty-one years with weight problems. I have yo-yo dieted three other times before this most recent time and put all the weight back on and more. (Losing over 100 pounds all three times.) This time, at fifty-one years of age, I have lost 165 pounds. People have been telling me how remarkable that is and to write a book about it. So I did. The question is…what now? Do I submit a book proposal or should I just send my manuscript in to someone? I have never done anything like this before. I have no formal training in writing and never went to college at all. I have been told that I have a gift though, just no skills. I have allowed certain people to read it and they love it. Not just friends either. I have allowed English teachers at the school I work at proofread it for me. They love it and say I have excellent writing talent. I allowed an acquaintance who majored in journalism to read it and she loved it as well. She made some very positive criticism about it though, which I greatly appreciated. I really believe I can help people with this book so I know I would have an audience. I have heard that book proposals can be turned off like they were nothing and that concerns me because of my lack of experience and no name recognition. What should I do my friends? Thank you
Tags: Book, Cv...and, Proposal, Putting, Should, Something, That, Together, What, When
a CV stands for “Curriculum Vitae” and is generally a more academic/professional version of a resume – not only does it include all the jobs you’ve held, it also lists all of your existing publications (books, journal articles, etc.) Since it sounds like you are just starting out in the field, my advice is to get a book on “how to get published” from your library, or use other similar resources that help would-be authors get their stories into print. Many publishers shy away from unsolicited manuscripts, so probably I wouldn’t send the manuscript to them first – perhaps send a solicitation – a letter explaining your book, and a short sample from it. Again, there are many books and other resources that can be used to help you get published, so go check them out. Find a publisher that has published similar books – either self-help or regular biographical pieces and contact them.