A how-to book for the beginning writer, written as fiction. Follow Rhonda as she enters the writing community and learn what she learns.
Set up as fiction with summary bullet points at the end of each chapter, it’s a breezy, easy read that anyone will enjoy. It’s a100-page spoon full of sugar that makes the writing lessons go down, and yes, in a most delightful way.
It’s perfect for someone who has always wanted to write and doesn’t know where to begin. The book walks them through everything from query letters and point of view to self publishing and marketing.
Once they read this book, they will be ready to take the next step. That’s what makes it a perfect gift, whether for themselves or someone they want to encourage.
The story follows Rhonda Gray, a middle-aged woman who dreams of writing, but has always been a little afraid to put her work out there. One day she shows up at a critique group for writers and her life changes dramatically. She begins to learn more about her craft as well as the business side of writing. Everything from query letters and point of view to self publishing and marketing are covered.
At the end of the book, there is a Glossary of Terms and many resources for writers.
Excerpt
Rhonda Gray pulled her car up to the Blue Dot Café and parked as close to the front door as the spaces allowed. She wanted to be sure of a fast exit if this meeting didn’t go at all well.
Rhonda lives in Covington, a small town of twenty thousand, the suburb of a larger city called Crestwood. Although Covington can’t yet boast of having a movie theater, it does have a read and critique group for writers which Rhonda discovered one day in the newspaper under Things to Do around Town. She phoned the contact person, Judy, and now she was ready to go in and see what this group was all about.
To Rhonda, sitting at a computer playing with words is far more fun than playing video games. Writing is her passion. At least it was until she submitted a story to a magazine a few years back and received a very impersonal rejection letter. The short form letter opened with, “We are sorry to inform you that your submission does not meet our needs at this time.” So she began to question herself. Maybe I can’t write after all. Maybe that book floating around in my head will never stand the world on its ears. Why even try if I’m going to get rejected? I’m thirty-five and married and quite competent as a corporate accountant, so why am I now feeling like a five-year-old at my first day of kindergarten?
She looked in the rearview mirror, fidgeted with her brown shoulder-length hair, checked to make sure there was no lipstick on her slightly crooked teeth, grabbed her purse and stepped out of her car. For the tenth time, she opened her purse and checked to make sure she had a pad and a pen and what she laughingly called her manuscript. She walked to the front door of the café. She could smell the wonderful aroma of fresh coffee brewing.
A waitress, whose name tag read “Penny,” greeted her at the door. Rhonda said, “I’m here for the Covington Writers’ Guild.”
Penny motioned with her hand. “It’s in a room right down here, Sweetie. Just follow me.”
Rhonda followed Penny past diners engaged in various stages of eating and talking, to a private room at the back of the restaurant and walked in to find three women and a man seated at a table, papers, pens, and coffee cups in front of them. The older woman rose. “You must be Rhonda. I’m Judy, president of this group. We talked on the phone. I’m so happy you could make it. While Penny is here, she’ll take your order for coffee if you’d like.”
One by one, the others introduced themselves--Bill, middle aged with glasses and grey hair at the temples; Sharon, in her thirties, dimples galore; and Beverly, her corn rows accentuating her smiling milk chocolate face.
The door opened and two more women came in and quickly sat down so as not to disrupt the meeting. Judy introduced Rhonda to Donna and Darlene, twins in their mid-twenties.
Rhonda relaxed, a little, realizing that these were people just like her, not Pulitzer Prize winners.
Professional Reviews
Bryan Hutchinson, Author
“If you want to stop procrastinating and get back to writing, Stop Procrastinating - Get Published! is a great place to start.”
Brian Tracy, Author
“This book gives you both the confidence and the competence you need to overcome every obstacle on your way to becoming a published author.”
Know a New Writer? Give Them This Book.
How many times have you heard someone say, “I have an idea for a book” yet they have no idea where to start? So they don’t.
If they do take the extra step, there are plenty of writing books out there to recommend to a new writer, yet many of them are technical and, quite frankly, desert-parched dry. That kind of acrid experience is not going to entice someone to take time away from an already busy schedule to try something new and often scary.
A perfect way to ease someone into the idea of writing is Linda Loegel’s “Stop Procrastinating - Get Published!” Unlike the hundreds of beginning writing tomes on the market, Loegel’s book has a distinct difference: It reads like a novel.
The story follows Rhonda Gray, a middle-aged woman who dreams of writing, but has always been a little afraid to put her work out there. One day she shows up at a critique group for writers and her life changes dramatically. She begins to learn more about her craft as well as the business side of writing. Everything from query letters and point of view to self publishing and marketing are covered.
At the end of each chapter, Loegel puts together the summary points for what Rhonda has learned. Plus, at the very end of the book, there is a Glossary of Terms and many resources for writers.
If there’s one quibble it’s that the last pages with so much information are a little too easy to skim over. They lack the readability of the previous 90 pages.
The power of the book is that it’s slim and breezy — anyone can fit it into an hour or two. It’s a painless read and at times entertaining. It’s easy to forget that you’re reading a how-to book. The pages are imbedded with optimism and a can-do attitude.
And that’s what makes it perfect for someone who thinks, “someday, I’m going to write a book.”
With the new and exciting world of Kindles and Print-on-Demand (POD), Independent Publishing is becoming an enticing choice and a viable alternative to traditional publishing.
This book is about Poetry. Many different kinds of fables, short stories about life experiences, laughter, drama, children, humor, love, inspiration and some urban styles of poetry.
With the new and exciting world of Kindles and Print-on-Demand (POD), Independent Publishing is becoming an enticing choice and a viable alternative to traditional publishing.
