Now is the Time.

The publishing industry and booksellers are not immune from the credit crunch, but it is also being reflected in the different types of books being published.

Waterstone’s has seen a 200% increase in the sales of titles about keeping chickens. Growing your own vegetables and other thrifty how-to guides are also on the rise. Christmas books are expected to include everything from cooking frugal food to making your own presents.

US publishers are reporting an upsurge in book proposals about the crisis on Wall Street, whilst in the UK both financial journalists and some City bankers (with a little more time on their hands), are also pitching book ideas.

On the flip side, people need a little escapism. During the recession of the 80s thrillers, romance and even stories about the seriously rich and royalty did particularly well.

The fact is that even during tough times, most people still have enough money to buy books. Compared to other products they are affordable and not so much luxuries, but necessities. I consider them to be as fundamental as oxygen!

For anyone running their own business, it makes great commercial sense to have a book to sell.

A book provides potential clients with an opportunity to sample your expertise (most people can easily justify buying a book) and encourages them to explore other services you may be offering such as coaching, courses or consultancy. You can even add value to your service offering, by including a book as part of the package.

In the short and longer term a book can:

Distinguish you from your competitors

Help to market and promote your business

Generate passive income

Raise your profile and give you credibility

Increase your self-esteem

If you are writing a book, it is also highly likely that you are passionate about your subject matter. Whether your book is designed to inspire, motivate, educate or simply to make people laugh, then it is more relevant now than ever. You have a responsibility to get it out there for the greater good.

And talking of inspiring books, check out the following. You may have seen the heart-warming YouTube clip featuring two men reunited with their pet lion after they had left him in Africa with George Adamson of Born Free fame. It has been viewed by over 44 million people. Now Transworld has published an e-book entitled ‘A Lion Called Christian’ by John Rendall and Ace Bourke. A print edition will follow next year. Enjoy!

Are You Talking to Me?

Sometimes, when I ask a client who their book is aimed at, they say “It’s for everybody” or cite several groups of people. Now whilst this can sometimes be due to altruism, you do need to be crystal clear about who your book is for, otherwise it will appeal to no-one in particular and more importantly will alienate your target reader.

Non-fiction is one of the genres where it is easier to map your readership and here are some ways to do it.

First of all think about why you want to write the book. It is likely that you are a providing a solution to a particular problem or want to raise awareness of an issue about which you feel passionate. Perhaps your clients have even been urging you to write a book.

You then need to describe your target reader in as much detail as you can (mind mapping is one way to do this). Here are just some of the questions you should ask yourself:

Are they male or female?
How old are they?
What is their nationality?
What do they look like?
Where do they live?
What is their background?
What is their profession?
What do they do in their free time?
What are they struggling with?
What are their desires?
What are their values?

Building up a clear picture of your reader in your head will help you to stay focused and relevant in terms of style and subject matter.

Writing is a partnership between you and your reader. It is about maintaining your integrity as an author and what you have to say, whilst acknowledging and respecting your reader and what they are looking for.

If you are guiding your reader through a process that you have experienced, such as learning to meditate, remind yourself that you were a beginner once. This will help to ensure that you don’t take things for granted and include all necessary information however trivial it may seem. Adopting an understanding tone will also help to keep the reader engaged. They need to feel as though you are addressing them personally and that they are not alone.

Tis the good reader who makes the good book; a good head cannot read amiss: in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakably meant for his ear.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Yaay!

On a recent trip to San Francisco, I was delighted to find so many thriving independent bookstores. Naturally I considered it my duty to contribute to their upkeep (to the subsequent detriment of my baggage allowance!).

Here is just one that I visited, not far from Golden Gate Park.

Are You All Booked Up?

Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore.
Henry Ward Beecher

I can never resist going into a bookstore and buy books the way some people buy shoes. Naturally I have to buy books, given what I do. For research purposes…well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

I have to admit that I find bookstores very therapeutic places. If I’m ever in a strange town or feeling a bit out of sorts, I’ll go into one and the feeling of calm that washes over me is immediate. But, like anything in life, things are always changing and bookselling is no exception.

The demise of independent booksellers, as they struggle to compete against the chains and deal with high rents is an ongoing issue. In France a group of booksellers has even fled the high rents of Paris' literary quarter, Saint-Germain-des-Pres, to La Charite-sur-Loire just two hours away, which is now known as the city of books.

Earlier this year Borders in the USA gave us a glimpse of the future, when it unveiled its new concept store in Michigan. In the newly-created in-store digital centre, customers can download music and audiobooks onto MP3 players, create digital photo albums, learn how to self-publish and research their ancestry. Another 14 are planned.

There has even been much debate recently about whether books, as we know them, will even exist in the future given the arrival of ebook readers (Amazon’s Kindle and Sony Reader).

Personally I shudder to imagine a world without diverse bookstores, let alone printed books and with that I would like to share some of my favourite bookshops with you:

In Blackwells in Oxford lies the Norrington Room which has books on over three miles of shelving (sigh!). It gained a place in the Guinness Book of Records for having the largest display of books for sale in one room anywhere in the world.

Just two minutes from Blackwells was QI (sob!). This bookshop was located within a circular room and the books were grouped thematically under categories such as ‘Power’ or ‘Sensational Beginnings’ so that you had a mixture of genres all sharing a shelf. Too cool for words!

Barnes & Noble on Union Square in New York is a veritable Aladdin’s cave with a café and strategically placed comfy chairs. It has a great stationery department too. One could literally go to ground for days, were it not for the weekly farmers market, where I first discovered the delights of maple syrup candy!

On the Left Bank near Notre Dame in Paris, is Shakespeare & Co. Rather rambling, with a gloriously higgledy-piggledy feel to it, there is usually a sweet black cat asleep in the window. In such an atmosphere serendipity surely beckons.

I’ve spent many a lunch hour in Nomad on London’s Fulham Road. Inspired by the independent bookstores on the West Coast of America, it has wooden floors, a delightful little coffee shop, an alcove with a sofa and a downstairs travel section.

Play On!

Our sense of playfulness can decline as we grow older, but it is essential to our overall wellbeing and creativity. In fact the most spiritual people have a light-hearted, joyful and childlike quality about them and are truly open to the wonder of life.

When you are playful in what you do, everything flows. This also applies to your writing. Playfulness opens up your creativity, makes you more spontaneous, helps banish your inner critic and often takes you down an unknown road, which is full of possibilities. It allows you to tell your real, authentic story, rather than the one you think you ought to be writing.

Here are some ways to rekindle that in your writing:

A great way to have some fun with words is with Mad Libs (a play on ad lib, from Latin ad libitum - as you wish) a word game where one player asks another for a list of words (nouns, adjectives, verbs etc) to substitute for blanks in a story. When the story is then read aloud it is usually a funny one. An American friend of mine introduced me to these many years ago at 3am during a sleepover party. I thought they were so cool and still do! Have a go and if you get hooked you can buy them on Amazon.

If you are struggling to start your book or to begin a new chapter, ask a close friend to write the first line or paragraph. The chances are that you’ll disagree with it or simply have a different idea; either way you’ll be up and running!

If you like a challenge when it comes to word games, then this Oxford Dictionary website has a veritable smorgasbord for you to try.

Words can educate, inspire and comfort, but very importantly they can also make us laugh. Check out Dr Seuss, Edward Lear or any other book that has really made you laugh out loud.

If you’re not in the mood for words, then how about pictures? I came across this delightful website some time ago on one of Dan Millman’s blog posts. It allows you to become a creative painter in the vein of Jackson Pollock. With each mouse click you’ll paint a different colour. Simply let go, have fun and see what you create. Enjoy!

Via Roma

The Via Roma on the Amalfi Coast that goes from Minori up to Ravello - the journey really is the destination!

Write Away!

It may not feel like it after the recent Bank Holiday weather, but the summer is approaching (so I’ve heard!) and if it has been difficult finding time to write, then you may want to consider booking a trip for that express purpose.

Here are some suggestions of how to make the most of a writing break:

Switch off
That means no Blackberry, no phone calls to clients and no wi-fi (which means no email or internet to distract you). In fact, the less outside stimulation you have the better. I once read an interview with film director Francis Ford Coppola, who said that if he wanted to come up with a new creative project he would have to give up TV for a year!

Go West
Maybe you have a favourite place that you find very inspiring; the author Wayne Dyer regularly writes on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Or, you could go somewhere new to engage your sense of wonder. Someone I know recently treated herself to ten days in the Hamptons in New York so she could get started on a long-standing idea for a book.

Nature and Nurture
It can be very replenishing to spend time in nature either in the mountains or by the sea. This can really feed your soul and the outer stillness helps to quiet the inner dialogue. As the mind calms down, you get a new perspective on things and the ideas start to flow.

Follow in Their Footsteps
Visit places where other writers have lived such as Concord, Massachusetts for Henry David Thoreau or go somewhere that has featured in an inspiring book such as the pyramids in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist.

Get Out of Your Head
Moving your body is a great way to clear your mind. It allows you to empty yourself and surrender completely to a higher consciousness. Someone once told me that this is why the Sufis whirl and spin for hours on end.

Like Minds
Spending time in a writers and artists community, such as The MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire, USA can be a great way to get down to some serious writing. You can spend up to five weeks there (room and board are free) and at least 61 Pulitzer Prizes have been received by the 5,000 artists who have been in residence over the years!

Home Sweet Home
If you can’t go away, then you can have a writing day at home. Tell people you will be unavailable, turn off the TV, don’t answer the phone, send your partner or kids out for the day, keep the curtains drawn (if you like!) and get going.