In order for a new book to get traction on Amazon.com there needs to be a record of activity with the book. The activities that matter most are : how often the book title gets clicked on (e.g. the book appears in a search results list and a person clicks on it to go to … Continue reading How to leave a review on Amazon.com
For the past nine months I have been using a working title for the book: Distance Caregiving Simplified: How to manage your parent’s care from across town or across the country While the beta readers were combing through the manuscript, I turned my attention to the title. It is one of three critical components required … Continue reading Selecting a Title
In June I hired Matthew Gilbert to edit the manuscript. We worked at a quick pace over a two-week period and completed a full edit of the entire book. It was intense and I am proud of the end result! With the editing complete, part of me wanted to rush through the final steps of … Continue reading Beta Readers
I finished writing the first draft of the book on April 18. Over the next 6 weeks I edited the draft manuscript twice, my husband read it and gave feedback, and I prepared the manuscript to hand off to a professional editor. I am happy to report that I found a terrific editor who lives … Continue reading Hiring an Editor
I have been editing the first draft for about one week. Here are a few lessons learned and a before/after view of the table of contents to give you a sense of the changes.
Writing chapters is easy for me. My challenge is pulling all of the chapters together into a coherent whole that is easy for people to read and use. I will hire an editor to help me polish this book for publication but I want to take a first pass at it myself to be sure the message I want to convey is clear and makes sense. Here is the 6-question checklist I am using to guide the first edit.
Even a non-fiction book is selling something - an idea, a method, a change one should make in one's life. Such books are persuasive communications so why not use a copywriting approach? Here's one that worked for me - PASTOR.
Now that I am in a writing habit, how quickly will I need to write to reach my 90-day goal? Here's how I planned and tracked my writing using a daily log and Microsoft Excel.
My goal is to get a decent draft of the entire book done in 90 days and then work with an editor to get it refined and ready for publication. Here's how I got started.
I realize there are many resources available to people who are just getting into an active caregiving role with their aging parents. What makes this book different is its practical advice on organizing finances, health care, insurance, etc. into a Distance Caregiving System that can be managed from anywhere.
Distance Elder Care Book Project 