What is an Extreme Book Makeover?

I remember the first time I got feedback on a story I’d written.

“Overwriting.” “Flat characters.” “Unbelievable plot.” “Doesn’t draw me in.”

I stared at the rejection letter, baffled. (While wiping my tears). I hadn’t a clue how to decipher the words on the page – let alone fix my story.

But, if I wanted to be published, I had to figure it out. So, I “unpacked the criticism” as my friend literary agent Chip MacGregor would say and learned how to give my writing – and my books – an extreme book makeover.

I love Extreme Home Makeover. I know it’s off the air now, but I used to be glued to it, curious how these professionals would tear down and rebuild a home to suit a family’s needs. They assessed each problem, got a vision for the project and worked in their skill area to create an Aha! Effect.

This is the task facing every aspiring (and published!) author. We must learn to step back from our stories, look at them with a critical eye, figure out what a good manuscript looks like, and then use our unique voice to make that happen.

But how does an author look at their book objectively and give it a makeover?

This year on the Monday MBT blog, we’ll be covering the 5-Step process of an Extreme Book Makeover.

Getting Past Stuck

Ever seen one of those mouse traps with the sticky stuff on it? Rather than a spring-loaded steel bar that whacks the rodent in the head, it glues them to the trap. They smell the cheese, walk onto the trap and are instantly attached to it.

Don’t you feel like that sometimes? I mean, you’re tempted by the luster of being a published author. You inch closer, perhaps a bit cautiously at first. Ahhhh, but the lure of the cheese propels you forward.

Finally, when your prize gets within an arm’s length, you suddenly become trapped. Try as you may, you can’t budge from where you are. And, wouldn’t you know, where you landed in the trap places you just out of reach of the cheese. It’s so close you can smell it but you just can’t partake of it.

The writing journey is like that sometimes. It doesn’t matter where you are on your journey, you’ll eventually end up in the trap. And, regardless of the degree of success you’ve already achieved, stuck is stuck.

The book I wish I had ten years ago.

Every once in a while you find a book that you wish you had ten years ago.

This is that book.

When I first met Sharon Jenkins, via a talk show/interview, I knew she was special. Energy and enthusiasm for writers simply bubbled out of her, and I immediately saw her heart to help aspiring writers create profitable businesses.

So, when she mentioned her book, Authorpreneurship: Build a successful business as an Author, I knew it was something we wanted for our MBT Marketplace as a resource for our amazing writers.

She worked long and hard to get it to our MBT specifications – something that could serve traditionally published as well as self-published novelists and non-fiction authors.

This is the book I wish I had when I started my writing journey, and I’m proud to announce the launch of this amazing resource!

Watch my fun interview with Sharon!

Celebrating Success … and Failure

In his e-book, Imagination @ Work, my writing friend, author Alton Gansky, posed this question: What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

Fun question, that.

It makes you exhale all the tension – the why nots and can’ts – and breathe in all the possibilities. The tantalizng aroma of dreams.

Linking Your Social Media Accounts and Other Major Blogging and Social Media No-Nos

Successful social media is something of an art form—with lots of gray areas. Building a successful online presence takes a good amount of flexibility and a little bit of experimentation. But even though I encourage people to find their sweet spots, there are a few things you want to avoid. Today I’d to weigh in on linking your social media accounts and other major blogging and social media no-nos.

No-no Number One

Do not link your blog with social media. What I mean by that is you don’t want your blog o send a notification of your newest blog post to Facebook or Twitter or any other social network. On the surface it seems that would be a great shortcut for those (almost all of us) who find ourselves in a constant time crush. But it’s not.

Here’s why:

You run the risk of spamming your friends and followers. Computers make mistakes, and especially if you have Facebook and Twitter linked, you can get repeat messages. This is unintentional spamming.
People today are smart, savvy and cynical. We can tell when something posted on social media is computer generated and we won’t bite. So you’re not getting any traffic this way.
Finally, you need to control the way your social media updates go out and how they’re worded. Different platforms may need slightly different wording. You also want the opportunity to add relevant hashtags and mentions.