Advice for aspiring book writers from Ohioana!

The Ohioana Library, a unique library in Columbus devoted exclusively to the creative output of Ohio writers and songwriters, has a delightful festival each May to celebrate Ohio books and writers.

Local editor and author’s collaborator Carol Cartaino of Seaman headed up a panel at this year’s festival on May 12 at Fort Hayes titled Publishing 101 — Everything You Need to Know About Getting Published.

Other panel members included the editors of Kent State and Ohio University Presses, editors Jack Heffron and Mark Garvey of Cincinnati, and author and writing teacher Karen Patterson of Chillicothe. Writer Jim Moore of Jackson Township also attended. A reception at the Governor’s Mansion in Columbus followed.

The latest pieces of advice for aspiring writers — hot from the offices of longtime book editors and literary agents — included the following:

• Make your book manuscript or description of a book idea as good as you can before submitting it anywhere. This will give you a better chance of getting a foot in the door. It will also help compensate for the fact that many of today’s editors are so pressed they have little time to help you make it better after the contract is signed. So make sure it is good before it goes into the mail or onto your email—get a pro to help assure this if necessary.

• Try to develop a “platform” to help interest a book publisher.

This means a presence (online or in print) as an authority on your subject matter. A blog or a column, if you can’t swing a radio or TV show. The idea is that this promises expertise that goodly numbers of consumers will pay to obtain in print and e-print. This is especially true of nonfiction, but even applies to fiction. It used to be that the wonderful novel by the unknown writer would be blurbed and reviewed, thus creating buzz and sales. Now, the buzz must be buzzing somehow even before the book is under contract, with the author participating in a community of readers that publishers expect to tap into.

• Self-publishing is a more practical and respectable option now.

In earlier times, self-publishing (through one of the companies that charged big bucks to help you with this) was looked down upon. With advances in book production that have brought the cost down, and ebook publication an option, too, about three times as many people self-publish today as go through conventional publishers. And even publishers respect it, seeing it as a way for writers to test-market their product and prove it has appeal. So self-publishing can also lead to being published by a traditional publisher. Besides, it’s fun and very satisfying — especially if you know the market for your proposed book better than the publishers do!

• Write about what you know and are truly interested in.

Writing a book and getting it published is a long, hard job, more work than most people realize, and you will enjoy it more every step of the way if you truly like what you are writing about, and researching. Publishers are also looking for depth of experience in a topic. Besides, if you pick some trendy topic just because you think it might sell, by the time the book is sold and produced the trend will have passed — book publishing is a slow process.

Carol Cartaino is the owner of White Oak Editions, an editorial and design company, located near Seaman, Ohio.