It's Amazing What A Plan Can Do! Review: The Author Training Manual

Since arriving in England seven months ago, I have been floundering. In my defense, moving countries is not for sissies, but still, for months now I've been treading water. (I wrote an evocative post entitled Living in the Twilight Zone about this, which you can find here)

I'm now pleased to announce officially that all that has changed. No, I haven't left Thurlby, and yes, every day still brings things that overwhelm me, but I am a new person, armed with a plan to kickstart my life. And by that I don't just mean my writing and blogging. Every part of me that matters - my family, my reading, my weight, (gained too much thanks to comfort eating) and my church callings - have come under the spotlight and I'm finally ready to move forward. So what happened to bring this metamorphosis about?

Like most wonderful things, my plan came in the form of a book, this one with the improbable title of: The Author Training Manual: Develop Marketable Ideas, Craft Books That Sell, Become the Author Publishers Want, and Self-Publish Effectively. (Goodreads) Phew, that's quite a mouthful, but it pretty much sums up everything the book is about.

The author, Nina Amir, covers everything from building a winning attitude, to evaluating your book and its market so you can publish successfully. Truthfully, a lot of the motivational stuff was very familiar, but it certainly didn't harm to hear it again - especially since my life has been petty grim, focused more on survival than success. 

What I really liked about the book, though, is that it comes with worksheets. Now I'm not a great 'worksheeter', lacking the necessary patience to make them sing for me. This time I have been meticulous, and guess what? Surprise, surprise, I got TONS from the process. 

So, deadlined-up in every aspect of my life that matters, I can now safely declare that 2014 will not only see me lose about half my body weight, (Just kidding. Sort off) it will also deliver three books ready for publication. 

Yes, three books. Not half bad for the OCD book editor! (see post here) By November 2014, I will have three books completed and ready for publishing, namely:

1. Pledged, the re-edit of my young adult fantasy, 
2. Sacrificed, the sequel to Pledged, 
3. Torn Trousers, a totally unrelated memoir about escaping life in the fast lane. This one is set on a desert island in the Okavango Delta in Botswana 

You will be hearing more about these books in the coming months. 

Excited and motivated here, I'm rearing to go. I honestly feel motivated for the first time in months. That has got to be good. 

Cheers

Gwynn

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