Start with a Dream

A book is far more than putting words on the page. Before you begin, you should have a realistic view of what lies ahead. The path to publication must be planned and tailored to the book you envision.
Gail Woodard of Dudley Court Press specializes in the long range view. Her half-day Strategy Session meets the challenge of fitting your publishing dreams into an overall career or life plan, whether you write fiction or nonfiction, for personal or commercial purposes.
Email: gailw@dudleycourtpress.com for details.

Why would one publisher give links to another publisher? Because we're all in this together. We all want to give readers the best reading experience we can. Just as not every book suits every reader, not every publisher suits ever author. We all contribute something unique to the world, and need to join hands as we travel.

It’s a long way from Once upon a time to happily ever after. The path is not smooth or straight. Plot, character, voice, point of view, research, genre, dialogue…there’s so much to learn. That’s where our expertise comes into play. Short & Helpful Online Writer Workshops will be with you for an entire year, tackling one element of writing at a time. Our experienced authors will help you through it, one step at a time.

Typing “The End” is just the beginning.
Let the manuscript rest a few days, or weeks, and start through it again. Before your manuscript is ready to meet the world, it must be polished. It starts with self-editing, but it doesn’t stop there. Self-editing is a learned skill, like many others.

Then your baby can peek out the door.
Time to get beta readers, not your friends and relatives, but other writers who will give you honest criticism. You want your book to put its best foot forward as it goes to a professional editor. We have found a few who do good work and charge reasonable prices.

Time to publish, but we got that—or not.
The path branches here. Most paths lead to a respectable collection of rejection letters, so get used to the idea early. The aim is to get an agent, look for a small publisher (maybe even S & H Publishing,Inc), join an author cooperative, or go it alone and self-publish.

Still more work lies ahead—the dreaded M word—Marketing!
More on that later