See a photo of John, his bio, Part 1 of this Q&A, Part 2, and Part 3. Q&A with John Randall, Question 4 Q: Your forthcoming book is about your studies of narremes and narratology. Can you give readers a bit of a preview of the book? In a nutshell, … Continue reading
Author Archives: KatHansen
Q and A with a Story Guru: John Randall: Words are Like Precious Jewels
See a photo of John, his bio, Part 1 of this Q&A, and Part 2. Q&A with John Randall, Question 3 Q: You describe on your Web site the time in your life that you got into narratology, but what attracted you to this field? What has inspired you to … Continue reading
Q and A with a Story Guru: John Randall: Internet Narratologist is Writer, Paleontologist, Archaeologist, Explorer, Teacher Rolled into One
See a photo of John, his bio, and Part 1 of this Q&A. Q&A with John Randall, Question 2 Q: How did you initially become involved with story/storytelling/ narrative? What attracted you to this field? What do you love about it? A: My love of storytelling began with my mother … Continue reading
Welcome to the Digitoral Era: #story12 Jonah Sachs
Have we returned to the oral tradition of story? Jonah Sachs thinks so. In his new (June) book, Winning the Story Wars, and his session at Reinvention Summit 2, Jonah conveyed the belief that “the oral tradition which dominated human experience for all but the last few hundred years is … Continue reading
Q and A with a Story Guru: John Randall: Our Best Stories Generate the Light, Energy We Need to Accomplish Full Recovery of What is “Most Human” in Us
John Randall’s work caught my eye because it’s in an area that is completely unfamiliar to me — narremes. I’m looking forward to learning about this field through this Q&A and John’s upcoming manifesto, Narremes. I also have a soft spot for him because he shares two of his names … Continue reading
Jim Signorelli [ #story12 ] Tantalizes with Applying StoryBranding to People
Reinvention Summit 2 is history, but I’m continuing to recap, synthesize, and expand on its 20 excellent sessions. Because I’ve published some of author Jim Signorelli’s approaches in my Q&A and because even more is available in a meaty excerpt from his book, StoryBranding, I won’t go into great detail … Continue reading
Meet Some Rising Stars in the Story World #story12
Who might we hear as presenters at the next Reinvention Summit? Who are the future thought leaders who have visions of stories spinning in their heads and are newly charged up by Reinvention Summit 2? They just might be the group profiled below, who had the opportunity to describe their … Continue reading
OMG, My Book Is Available on Kindle
Just a tiny indicator of how the book market is changing, a couple of days ago, I got TWO queries in one day from folks wanting to know if books of mine were available as ebooks/Kindle editions. I didn’t think Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling to Get Jobs and Propel … Continue reading
Do Not Even Get Me Started on Book Publishing: #story12 Debbie Weil
But seriously, at least publishers are no longer in control….
Over a span of 19 years — from 1990 to 2009 — I authored eight books that were published by mainstream publishers. Most of my experiences with publishers were wonderful, but my final experience in 2009 was horrendous. My ordeal with the company I have come to refer to as Evil Publishing Company inspired my article on A Storied Career’s parent site, Quintessential Careers, Getting a Book Published — Is It Worth It? I was writing about the tail end of an era in which mainstream publishers were in control of what got published and how books got marketed.
In just the short time since then, the entire publishing scene has flipped. As Debbie Weil (pictured) noted in her #story12 Reinvention Summit presentation, within the last year, much of the stigma of self-publishing has fallen away, and ebooks have taken off, now outselling print books.
After Evil Publishing Company, I was not keen to write a new book anytime soon. I started to get the itch again last year. I had had a long streak of having every book proposal I ever submitted get accepted. And why not? My first book (on cover letters) sold well over 100,000 copies. But one of my previous publishers quickly rejected my latest book idea. As Debbie pointed out, it’s harder than ever to get a book contract and much of an advance in these troubled times for publishers.
So why would anyone want to become a published author these days? How is it a game-changer? Doing so won’t make you rich (probably), but, Debbie says, it will make you credible, give you authority, and make you an established expert.
As I seek to scratch my itch to publish again, I’m mindful of some of the great advice Debbie (see graphic for her company, Voxie Media above) shared in her session. Your book topic can’t just be what you’re passionate about; Debbie says; it has to solve a problem or fill a need for the reader. Even with all the options for self-publishing, Debbie says, it doesn’t matter how easy it is to publish if it’s not worth publishing. Would-be authors need to listen to what people ask.
Some of the approaches to topics that Debbie cited:
- Book of quotes about a topic
- 10 steps to _____.
- “The year I [did something remarkable].” Debbie cited The Happiness Project, but lots of other examples exist — the year I tried to live like Oprah, the year I lived biblically, the year I learned to be a memory champion, the year I cooked all the recipes in Julia Child’s cookbook, and so on. I would love to do one of these but haven’t come up with something remarkable enough yet.
- A business message in novel/novella form. Debbie cited Built to Sell. I’ve written about many others; see this post and this one.
Debbie also talked about short books, as short as 30 pages, for example. They may be tantamount to long magazine articles. She cited, for example, Kindle singles. After all, some books don’t need to be as long as they are. I’m currently reading a novel that could easily be a third as long as it is.
Read more of Debbie’s ideas and suggestions about self-publishing and my own experience with self-publishing in the extended entry. See below some of the resources for self-publishing Debbie cited.
Striking the Right Balance in Your Advocacy Story: #story12 John Capecci and Timothy Cage
Hey, remember the other day in my recap of Bo Eason’s #story12 session, in which I heartily agreed with his premise that “whoever is the best in the field gives the most of themselves” and “the more you give, the more you get paid and the more influence you have”? … Continue reading