ANDREW LAWRENCE INTERVIEW ON PUBLISHINGGURUS.COM

Andrew Lawrence was Wicked Sunny’s first Book Formatting Client and has completed 6 books with him.

Andrew Lawrence

Q. Andrew, please tell us something about yourself – for example, your age, education, where you live, and so on.

I am a baby boomer in my early 60’s. During the Vietnam War era I graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in business administration and, after that, I began a career on Wall Street. I spent four decades in New York and then, having had enough of cold winters, I relocated to warm and sunny Los Angeles, where I have resided since 1989. Yes, the weather here is great, there’s no snow and no humidity. You can go swimming on New Year’s Day!  In Los Angeles, I live in an area called the Hollywood Hills and I am midway between Universal Studios and Warner Bros. In fact, I can see Universal Studios from my terrace.

Personally, I have always been an avid reader, since I was ten years old. I like to read mostly fiction, though as an author I write only non-fiction. I write books that help people, books that help people improve their lives. I write books that help make you smarter, richer, and happier. My books are always short, always easy to understand, and are always uplifting and inspirational.

Professionally, I have a business background; but most of my books derive from my life experience, which also includes a highly-developed spiritual side. I have had an extraordinary life and want to share my personal and professional insights and knowledge with others. Maybe it will help them. Writing books is a good way for me to help others.

Q. What exactly do you do for a living?

I semi-retired some years ago, though I was fairly young at the time. I do not have a full-time job or work full time. I am a partner in an online international business, based in Los Angeles, which retails high-end designer fashions. I do all the fashion photography, and also created and currently maintain the web site. It keeps me busy, but not TOO busy. And, of course, I also write books.

Q. When did you first decide to write books?

I wrote my first book, Stories of a Lifetime, in 2000. It was published in paperback and is currently available at amazon.com. It’s an inspirational and motivational book based on extraordinary events in my life. I’ve had a lot of those!

Q. How many books have you written? Tell us about them.

I have written six books so far. Lately, I’ve been writing two books a year, assuming I can come up with the right subject matter. My latest book, How to Thrive after 65, is a book on retirement. It’s not your typical retirement book: this book reveals the secrets of how to have a HAPPY retirement. I also wrote Glimmers of Hope: the Future of America and You, from Now to 2020. I wrote The Happiness Transformation: How to Be Happy NOW and For the Rest of Your Life. In addition, my other books include MONEY – The Basics, an easy-to-understand book for anyone who wants to be more savvy about money; and Discover Your Life Purpose in 30 Minutes, an interactive book that reveals your unique and special purpose in life. And I wrote Stories of a Lifetime, an inspirational book of amazing and true stories.

Q. What are some of your favorite books by other authors? How have they influenced your own work?

When I was ten or eleven years old I read a lot of mysteries. My favorite was The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle. I loved all the Sherlock Holmes stories; I loved the unique mysteries, and the use of logic and clarity to solve them. I like logic and clarity. I am also very fond of The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway. In fact, reading Hemingway taught me how to write. Hemingway had a sparse style of writing. He only used enough words to tell the story, and no more. That’s exactly how I write; and that’s why my books are short, clear, and to the point.

Q. Do you have any hobbies, things about which you’re really passionate? Other than writing, that is?

I like photography, and, for the past ten years, have been specializing in fashion photography. I’m guessing that I have shot over 15,000 fashion photos. I like the challenge of capturing beauty on film.  And I’m a big reader. Reading has been a lifelong hobby. I enjoy adventure, mysteries and thrillers – I read a lot of fiction – and usually read a book a week.  I’ve been doing that practically my entire life, starting at age ten, and I’ve probably read over 3,000 books. And, of course, I also write books.

Q. Whose services have you used for editing and designing your books?

For me, the easiest part of being an author is writing the book. The hardest part for me is editing and formatting the book for publication. On my first book, I tried to format it myself and quickly gave up in complete frustration and failure. That’s when I found Wicked Sunny, who is now running PublishingGurus.com. Not only is he lightning-fast, he does a great job! And he’s 5,000 miles away in India, which has never been a problem. I email my final text to him from Los Angeles, then he formats the covers and the text and emails me the final pdf in the trim size I specified. Then, all I have to do is upload those final pdf files to my publisher. That saves me a lot of time and a lot of headaches, because I simply can’t do it myself. It takes a bit of highly-technical design skill and I don’t have that kind of skill. So I am happy to pay Wicked Sunny … because without him I could not get my books published. I am also thinking about hiring someone in the future to copy-edit the final text on my books. Though I edit each book many times, I always miss a few things, and that can cause my published book to be less than perfect. Because I have high standards, I want my books to be error-free.

Q. What’s your target audience? Do you only write for an American audience, or are you also interested in writing books for Asia and Europe?

I mainly target U.S. readers. That is because I am an American and I write like an American. So, it may be a little more difficult for foreign readers to benefit fully from my books, though The Happiness Transformation and Discover Your Life Purpose in 30 Minutes are universal. Both are excellent for readers in Europe, Asia, and around the world.

Q. How do you market your books?

I market my books via Amazon.com. I promote my books through my blog, Andrew-Lawrence.blogspot.com, and I create a simple web site for each of my books. I also write an article for each book and submit the article to article banks, where web site owners can get the article and reprint it for free.

Q. If a traditional publisher or bookstore approached you about publishing your work, would you accept the offer, or would you wish to remain your own boss?

Though it may be more prestigious to have a traditional publisher publish your book, today that is becoming more and more difficult — unless you are famous. Traditional publishers have to invest a lot of money in publishing an author and, as a result, they want to publish authors who will sell a lot of books based on their name and their fame. If you are an author who is not well-known, traditional publishers are not inclined to provide the costly and extensive publicity and promotion necessary to sell a lot of books. Publishing unknown authors is just too risky, as opposed to publishing a book by someone famous or well-known.

As for traditional bookstores, one of the things I like best about being an author is that my books are available at amazon.com. I don’t have to sell my own books or ship them to traditional bookstores. At this stage of my life, I am not interested in doing invoicing, accounting, or shipping to individual brick-and-mortar stores or book chains. If I were younger, I would probably do all that; but now I just want to concentrate on writing books, not the wholesale selling and shipping of books.

I just want to be an author, not a publisher or a book wholesaler or a shipper. But that’s just me.

Q. Tell us something about your upcoming books.

I am now finishing my latest book. It’s a book about retirement titled, How to Thrive after 65:  Secrets of a Happy Retirement. There are 77 million baby boomers who will be approaching retirement age over the next ten years. That’s a huge potential market for my book. And, of course, Wicked Sunny will be formatting my covers and text!

Here’s a New Author You Should Know!

Q. What advice do you have for new writers?

My advice for new writers is to write. And rewrite. And rewrite again. And keep rewriting until your work is good enough to publish – and good enough for readers to read. Do that first, that’s the most important thing. After you do that, then you can start worrying about all the rest of the publishing process. First, be a writer. Be the best writer you can be.

Bob Beeks Interview on PublishingGurus.com

Here’s a New Author You Should Know!

Bob Beeks was the first client of Publishing Gurus – the first writer to work with both Sunny and Betsy. We’re happy to introduce Bob to you.

ROBeeks (Bob) ROBEEKS.COM

Q:   Hi, Bob!  Please tell us something about yourself – for example, your age, education, where you live, and so on.

I was born on 11-02-1948. That makes me 61 years young this year.

I lived my young life (before the Navy) in Bettendorf, Iowa. My wife Barb and I have recently moved from Nevada to Colorado.

I hunted and/or fished almost every weekend with my father and/or grandfather. They shared with me hundreds of stories of their lives and our ancestors, spanning back four generations. Story telling soon became a part of my life. Like math or playing my guitar: the more I practiced, the better I became. People listened, and I really enjoyed that. I love to share my stories. I was and still am a story teller.

It was easy for me to pass classes in school. So, I sought to learn new things beyond school. I was more interested in working on new types of flying vehicles or indoor hydroponic gardening. I loved my study time, because I could see an enormous world of knowledge out there that I could possess and share.

My father was a master electrician and a novice mathematician. Even at a young age, he would present math problems to me and I was challenged to solve them. We treated this as a as a game. My grandfather was a pipefitter. He also was a master wood carver. He made everything from gun stocks to duck decoys. I spent many hours watching him turn raw pieces of wood into objects of great beauty and function.

My mother and I are very close. SHE IS A REMARKABLE LADY. Her life during and after the Great Depression was not as nice as my father’s. It was a daily struggle for her and her family just to eat. My mother was a beautiful woman, and my father’s heart jumped when he met her. He loved her all his life and it was very obvious. I grew up in a household surrounded by love.

I tell you about these people because they shaped my life. I am very much an accumulation of their legacies to me. I know who I am and how that identity was formed. I look at myself and see my father, grandfather, my mother, and of course me.

Q:   What exactly do you do for a living?

Before retirement, I was a Quality Engineering Manager. I negotiated solutions to problems.  I spent my life writing procedures and establishing systems to assure quality of operations.

Q:   When did you decide to write books?

I was nine years old. I not only decided to write a book – I wrote one! I printed it in dark blue pencil. I had just finished reading THE THREE MUSKETEERS , and was totally inspired. I remember that it wasn’t very long, but it was a story. Since then I have filled many notebooks with stories and story notes.

Q:   How many books have you written? Tell us about them.

In 2003 and 2004, I co-authored two screenplays, Dark Frost and Heroes of the Home. I have finished one novel, HIM. It’s about a nurse, Sarah, and her young son, who escaped two years ago to a small town in Northern Minnesota – to hide from the man who killed her husband. She knows this man only as HIM. She and her son are now a part of this little community. They feel safe surrounded by their new friends. But her tranquil feeling of security suddenly fades as her nightmares of HIM return, and a young woman just down the road is killed. Sarah becomes convinced that she and her son will be targeted by HIM. Has HE found them? Sarah and the town’s cranky old sheriff are left to solve this mystery.

Q:   What are some of your favorite books by other authors? How have they influenced your own work?

No doubt that the most influential author was my first favorite, Edgar Rice Burroughs. With his fanciful outside-the-box writing style and high-quality descriptions, I could escape into other worlds totally unknown to me before, and become – for a short time – other people. His influence stays with me even today.

There are hundreds of other authors who have influenced my writing, too many to list them all. But let me mention two of them: Jean Marie Auel, who authored a series of historical novels set in prehistoric Europe. She explored interactions of Cro-Magnon people with Neanderthals.  I read every book in the series many times over. Her descriptions and information on daily life of the people during that time period inspired me to use words to paint the complete picture.

The other author was Tom Clancy. He is best known for his technically–detailed espionage and military science storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold

War.  Once I start reading one of his books, I simply can’t put it down. I feel like I am right there, doing the action of the storyline and living the plot. They are great books.

Q:   Do you have any hobbies, things about which you’re really passionate? Other than writing, that is?

I love fishing and designing. I have a passion for physics and mechanical/electrical devices. I spend a great amount of time researching new concepts of designs.

Q:   Whose services have you used for designing and editing your books?

Publishing Gurus         Editor àBetsy Gordon   Designer à Sunny Kapoor

Q:   What’s your target audience? Do you only write for an American audience, or are you also interested in writing for Asia and Europe?

It would be easier to describe people who shouldn’t read my books. Those people who don’t like hear a good story shouldn’t purchase my books. All other people are my target audience. Fortunately for me, the majority of our human population loves a good story. Actually, it’s been bred into us the since the beginning.

Q:   How do you market your books?

I started with friends and family. In my case, that was a lot of people. Then I built a web site where people can purchase my books – ROBEEKS.COM – I advertise the web site to as many people as I can.  I always carry a copy of the book with me and hand out cards to my web site.  It works. There are a lot of readers out there. My first book is also available on amazon.com.

Q:   If a traditional publisher or bookstore approached you about publishing your work, would you accept the offer, or would you wish to remain your own boss?

WOW, WHAT A QUESTION! Well, it would depend on the offer. And since I have many more books outlined, ready to write, I would still be my own boss.

Q:   Tell us something about your upcoming books.

Currently, I’m finishing an action mystery book, THE GRIFFIN . After that I plan on writing HIM 2 .

Q:   What advice do you have for new writers?

Write every day.

Get a great editor and designer.

Enjoy yourself.

DON’T GIVE UP!

WRITING IS FUN!

Book Designing: Do it or get it done?

As creative writers, most of us face technical problems while writing a book. It is not necessary that every writer should be expert with the technical and printing part of book publishing as well.

As the self-publishing industry is booming throughout the world, more and more writers are finding it difficult to handle the technical part of book publishing. Today there are options of selecting many printers online. Each of them has different printing specifications for book interior, cover and graphics. It becomes almost impossible for a writer to handle all the different printer specifications, irrespective of how technically apt he himself may be. Yes, there are exceptions, but is it worth it?

A 300-page book takes many months to write. After publishing the book, a self-publisher also has to deal with its most important feature – marketing and promotion. Formatting and designing a book takes another two months for a newbie, including several iterations and proofs. Even for a professional designer, it’s a painful job. This is the reason major publishing houses charge thousands of dollars for just formatting and designing books and covers; and yes, they are good, if you have that amount of money in your pocket.

The majority of self-publishers cannot afford so much. Most of them try designing themselves: some succeed, but many give up, completely frustrated. Usually, the online printer rejects their files.

Then there are a few smart ones who look for help outside.

Where?

If your body is not functioning properly, where do you go?

To a Doctor.

When as a patient you visit a doctor, how do you determine that the doctor is the finest?

I remember when I was a kid, my family went to a friend’s family doctor, as my father was having pain near his stomach.

The doctor checked my father’s mouth, counted his pulse, poked and prodded his abdomen, and came back to his desk. He told us that my father had a kidney stone.

We were shocked and startled. How could he know that, just by reading my father’s pulse and touching his stomach?

After a few days, the various tests were done. They verified his assumptions – or should I say his confident conclusion.

This doctor was not very well-known. He didn’t believed in talking much, was always very busy, and never chit-chatted.

Irrespective of that, his clients used to come to him, repeatedly. That showed why he was considered one of the finest doctors. His experience and his techniques were beyond our imagination; but they helped to identify the problem in minutes, and he did it all in a very calm manner.

So if you are having a problem with your book, where will you go? Yes, to a Book Doctor, who deals with such cases every day. You want someone who is so experienced that just by listening to your woes, he will understand exactly where the problem lies.

You need someone who will format and design your book with a professional touch, without wasting his and your time. Time, at the end, is the most important thing in this world.

He will not make you go round and round till you are completely frustrated. He will guide you, help you, and soon your book will be ready for printing. By some unknown magic, this time, the printer will not reject your file.

…………………………………………………………………………..

No, I am not going to promote my site to you, I do not believe in blatant marketing. I am not going to ask you to come to me with your book problem. I believe in destiny: if you are meant to, you will come. I am not even going to give a link here. I am that confident of my services. If you are reading this blog, you are already frustrated with your book designing. Maybe your printer keeps rejecting your book. Perhaps you are going to publish your own book, and are right now just testing the waters.

The book is yours, the choice is yours, and you have to decide who is the finest, who can actually help you get your book published without delays.

My only suggestion is Be Smart.

…………………………………………………………………………………..

Sunny Kapoor (Wicked Sunny)
Owner & Senior Designer
www.publishinggurus.com
Personal Site : www.wickedsunny.com

Editing Your Book: Do You Really Need an Editor?

Creative writing – like old age – is not for the fainthearted. How long has it taken you to write your book? As a writer myself, I would guess at least several months, and possibly even several years. You’ve struggled to put your heart and soul into that manuscript. Maybe it’s a self-help book; maybe a memoir, or other non-fiction. You may have written poetry, or a cookbook. Perhaps you’ve ventured into the world of your imagination and produced a novel. Whatever it is, your book is an extension of YOU.

You’ve certainly read over every single page at least a hundred times, and you’ve revised and revised the text, over and over. Probably you’ve had a friend or family member read your final draft, to pick up any misspellings or grammatical errors. And now, you’re ready to go – time to have your book formatted and published!

Hang on, just a minute.

Have you ever bought a book with a very attractive cover and an interesting blurb on the back, only to find it disappointingly hard going when you began to read? Did you have trouble following the points the author was making? Did you have difficulty “seeing” the characters, getting a feel for who they were and why they acted as they did? Did you even finish the book – or did you put it aside, meaning to get back to it, but somehow never motivated to do so? 

It’s a pretty good bet that book was not professionally edited.  It may have been published by one of the smaller publishing houses, or even self-published.

Books coming out of the major publishing houses have the benefit of professional editing, as part of the contract between the author and the publisher.  (Most authors who work with major publishing houses have agents, who negotiate these contracts. An agent’s fee, of course, adds considerably to the cost of producing a book.)

Now that the Internet makes it so easy to self-publish, more and more writers are turning to this much less expensive and less time-consuming way of getting their books into print and out to their potential readers. And many of them are looking at professional editing as an unnecessary expense in the production of their books. “Hey, I can edit this myself,” they think. “I read a lot, and I talk a lot; I can certainly put a sentence together. And I’ll save quite a few bucks by just giving this one more careful reading, and then I’m good to go!”

Professional writers agree that their editors are critical to the success of their books. It’s almost impossible to be objective about one’s own writing.  You’re too close to it, too involved with it: you need an objective eye to help you make your book the best it can be. New York Times best-selling author Diana Gabaldon (whose wonderful Outlander series has countless fans worldwide) put it beautifully. In one of her books, she thanked her editor for “ever-necessary vigilance against those hordes of errors that breed in the gutters of books, hatching out into the light of day when the covers are opened” (The Outlandish Companion, 1999).

One of my clients told me recently that he believed his book never would have been finished if he hadn’t had the services of a professional editor. “When I’m on a writing roll,” he said, “I just want to keep going, moving ahead, getting my story told. If I have to stop and worry about fixing it up, putting in the commas, trying to vary the vocabulary, I lose my train of thought. I lose my story’s momentum. I just want to get the story down, and then turn it over to you to polish it up for me. I’m a storyteller, not a critical editor. I’ve been thinking about this story for ages, but when I actually started to write it, I realized I needed someone who knows what they’re doing to make it perfect.”

Well, then, what does a professional editor do that’s so special? There are five main services a top-quality editor should provide:

1. Basic Proofreading. Your editor should make sure that spelling is flawless, and that punctuation, grammar, word usage, and paragraph indentation are all correct.
2. Copy Editing.  Of enormous importance is that your editor should make certain that your own unique “voice” is maintained, despite any editorial changes. These may include line rewriting, vocabulary variation, and limited reorganization where necessary, to ensure that the text flows smoothly and consistently. The final version should read the way you want it to read.
3. Editorial Comments and Suggestions for Clarification of Text. Your editor should make suggestions about improving the clarity of your narrative. Finer points of style may be addressed as well.
4. Final Proofreading of Formatted Book. Look for an editor that includes this service in an editing fee. Many editors don’t provide this service at all, and many others charge a separate fee for proofreading after the book is formatted.
5. Frequent Communication with You, as the Work Progresses. Your editor should keep in touch with you, probably by e-mail, throughout the progress of the editing work. The two of you should be working as a team to perfect your manuscript. When edited work is submitted for your approval, your editor should be willing to make any changes you request, at no additional cost to you.

Look around the Internet at some of the websites offering editorial services. You’ll find quite a variety of quality out there. Some editors charge by the page; others charge by the word. The latter is probably better, since pages submitted can vary in the number of words they contain. Make sure you would be getting the services you need, and that you can communicate well with any editor you may be considering.

Then, once you have all the necessary information, you make the decision: will you edit your book yourself, or have it professionally edited? It’s up to you. You are The Author!

Good luck to you in producing your new book, and may it be as perfect as possible in every way!

Betsy Gordon
Site Partner and Senior Editor
http://www.PublishingGurus.com