Write Now Coach! Blog by Rochelle Melander

Yesterday morning, I returned home from the Y and found this note from my husband on the kitchen counter. Don’t forget, dear reader, yesterday was Valentine’s Day. “Fresh stool?” I wondered, “What does that have to do with celebrating Valentine’s Day?” I could not make the connection. Then, since the... Read More

14 Feb 2012

Publishing

Define Your Book’s Market

In the past ten years, I have consulted with many authors on their book proposals and book ideas. I have also written and successfully sold several book proposals of my own. In every single case—mine included—the writers needed to improve their marketing section before they could sell their book. Here... Read More

08 Feb 2012

Wednesday Writing Prompt

I still remember the moment. My husband and I were in the checkout line at the grocery store. I was reading the headlines on the magazines when I saw this one, “Constipation Killed the Dinosaurs.” Until then, I don’t think I realized how amazingly creative tabloid writers need to be.... Read More

07 Feb 2012

Book Proposals

Does Your Idea Work?

Ideas are cheap and abundant; what is of value is the effective placement of those ideas into situations that develop into action. –Peter F. Drucker Author and management consultant Peter F. Drucker reminds us that ideas are cheap. As writers, our ideas mean little until we put them in writing.... Read More

31 Jan 2012

Book Reviews, Nonfiction Books, Uncategorized

The Project Book

In 2002, when Julie Powell began her Julie and Julia blog project, cooking 524 of Julia Child’s recipes in a single year, the project book was a fairly new idea. The Julie and Julia book was published in 2005, and Sony pictures made it into a movie in 2009. Today, the... Read More

24 Jan 2012

Reading

Writers Read

If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that. —Stephen King On Saturday, I stopped at our local library with a big bag. I spent time reviewing the shelves of new books, paying attention to the book titles... Read More

19 Jan 2012

The Fashionable Writer

The Well-Shod Writer

Between saying and doing, many a pair of shoes is worn out. —Iris Murdoch I’d planned to begin a new series on nonfiction book formats today. My first post on The Project Book is nearly done but not quite ready to publish. So instead I am writing about one of... Read More