Caregivers have been asking me for years how to write and get stories published. I tried to answer as best as I could but it’s a bit like asking a surgeon how to operate. The answer is complex and in most cases requires years of experience.
As a nine-book author and owner of a Los Angeles-based publishing company for twenty-two years (remember, this is pre-Amazon.com, pre-Google, pre-Facebook…heck, pre-Internet as we know it!) I’ve managed to navigate the ever-changing landscape of publishing.
So, I stepped up to the challenge and wrote a series of articles to help budding authors get started.
I share a slice of that learning with you knowing the terrain continues to shift with each new offering. Who would have guessed we’d have a multi-billion dollar company based on sending and receiving 140-character messages? Beyond Twitter, who would have guessed that LinkedIn would serve a valuable niche among professionals?
Who knows what’s next!
Click on this link if you want to get your caregiver story published. Read the three articles (titles below), before you spend your hard-earned dollars and write another line of your manuscript.
- How do I write a caregiving book?
- Your Caregiving Book – Write and Get Noticed
- Book TIPS – Getting your Caregiver Book Published
Several years ago, former caregiver, Charles Schoenfeld asked me, “How do I write a book for caregivers?”
An innocent question asked many times by well-intentioned caregiver-turned-writers, that demands a not-so-easy answer.
I responded to Schoenfeld and then forgot all about him. (Sorry, Chuck!)
Read what happened by clicking on the link Get your caregiver story published.
1. I am a dementia patient so my cognitive abilities and time are limited (see my last blog posting at http://www.truthfulkindness.com for more detail on that statement). As such, many of these suggestions are just not plausible for me. In the past two weeks I have started a blog and a few days ago on twitter … but since EVERY task consumes more time, now I have no more time for me or my husband or eating, etc. Do you have any suggestions for my unique challenges wishing to get my book published?
2. As a PWD I very much appreciate that your “Anti-Spam” … what-do-you-call-it is readable; so many current systems prevent persons with various disabilities for reading (& the audio voice is even worse). Thank you!
3. — yes my full legal name is Truthful Loving Kindness, 56yo dementia patient
Thank you for writing, TLK PWD 😉
You’ll notice these tips are more geared for caregivers than people living with dementia. Still, I appreciate that you are even considering this, TLK.
I visited your website and also read your “About Me” page.
Actually, what you describe about having no time is also the case with those of us who live withOUT a dementia diagnosis!
Getting a book into the marketplace requires these steps…unless of course, you are a celebrity and/or hire a ghost writer who can help you write your story and then pay someone to market the completed work.
Sadly, despite all the marketing claims to the contrary, there are no shortcuts…well, unless you pay for them.
Thank YOU for writing and continue blogging. Who knows, someone may read your posts and may want to include them in an anthology or ??
Brenda, no you left me with the right impression, I am not a writer.I have done Government proposals, Processes etc but they are nothing like writing a story of yours and your loved ones life. One would not believe how much your mind wonders while you are looking for words. I will finish it and may even lean on you to help me determine if it’s worth publishing. No, I thank you and Gary for all that you have helped me with.
PHEW! I do try to be encouraging…despite all it takes to bring a book to the marketplace. Thank YOU, Don for clarifying.
Yes, I tried to start a book on my Life in Hell with Lewy. But after two writers, Brenda and Gary, showed me the big mistakes in how I was writing, I gave up thinking about it being published. There were just too many grammer corrections. So, I quit at Chapter 23 which covered 48 years of our lives. I will someday continue writing it but won’t pursue having it published. I thank Brenda and Gary very much for giving me a lesson in writing but I realized I am no book writer. I have two more years to cover.
Awwwww, is that the impression I left with you, Don?
The optimist that I am, your remarks leave hope that, at least, you’ll complete your work.
Perhaps when Caregiving is less overwhelming another look at your work with new eyes may change your mind?
Brenda
(hoping)