By Jennifer S. Wilkov, host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio
www.yourbookisyourhook.com

As authors and writers, we’re always learning about resources and industry tools that we can use to improve our book project performance and the enjoyment of our writing and marketing experiences. Today let’s talk about the reality show for books as an idea whose time has come.

If we were to go back in time, one could argue that books have been around for centuries. From the biblical stories and books from the different religions to the logs of Christopher Columbus and Ponce De Leon, we as a human race have been writing and reading for years.

In the 1900’s, modern book publishing took a huge jump after being around for several centuries. Books as we know them today as bound books with hardcovers or paperbacks became more common.

In 1939, television was first introduced and became popular around 1948.

In the late 1940’s, Allen Funt brought television to life, real life, with his Candid Camera and the advent of the reality show about real people was born.

From game shows in the 1950s like Beat the Clock and Truth or Consequences to the 1970s productions of Chuck Barris including The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game and The Gong Show, participants have sacrificed some of their privacy and dignity in a televised competition.

In the 1980s and 1990s, MTV hit the airwaves with The Real World and America’s Funniest Home Videos became a long-running hit show that continues to entertain television viewers today.

Fast forward to the year 2000 when reality TV shows started to explode in global popularity with the advent of Big Brother and the introduction of Survivor.

During the last decade, even the Emmy Awards have recognized reality shows as their own categories and these days offer 3 different awards in this genre.

There are shows now for chefs, entrepreneurs, clothing designers, models, adventurers and even dog grooming and the food trucks on the sidewalks in New York City. From losing weight on The Biggest Loser to Changing Rooms and Trading Spaces, and from Dancing With The Stars to singing your heart out on American Idol, there is quite a smattering of shows to choose from.

There are still shows about dating in terms of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. There are also comedy shows like Last Comic Standing and Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Among the vast landscape of reality shows that have come and gone over the years, none of them were ever about books.

Does the viewing public, who years ago used to read books because there was no television, really know what it takes for an author to present and pitch their book? Do they realize the challenges and innocent mistakes often exuberant people make when approaching the industry decision makers who will determine whether their carefully crafted novel, non-fiction or children’s book will make it to the proverbial big time?

Nope. There is no show that demonstrates the advent of the author and their book. And there never has been… until now.

The television pilot for the reality show for books has been conceived and you as an author who wants to get published, wants to see your book go to Hollywood film or television and who wants to be interviewed on your favorite morning talk show have the opportunity of a lifetime to be a part of the making of it.

Isn’t it time we came out from behind the private pitching sessions in the industry and showed authors everywhere the nuances of a good book – presentation, that is. The issue is that these pitches are often done behind closed doors in private sessions. There is no opportunity for an author to learn how to professionally pitch their book.

But now… in 2010, a television pilot is coming to pass and a shot at really learning to become The Next BestsellerTM is at hand. To grab your spot for this groundbreaking opportunity, go to www.TheNextBestsellerTV.com. There you’ll immediately begin to get the training you’ve been seeking to properly and professionally prepare your pitch to the industry experts who could opt to agent your book to the big houses. Beyond that, you’ll find the chance of a lifetime to at last be trained by the industry experts themselves to pitch your book right and right into the right hands of the book publishing industry, Hollywood and the media.

It’s time books had their chance in the spotlight. It’s time for the convergence of book pitching and reality TV. If people can watch and learn how to dance, sing, cook, shop, make a dress out of something they never imagined, rearrange and makeover their image and house, and exercise and lose weight, and even fall in love, then surely the 81% of Americans alone who feel they should write a book can learn to properly present their projects to the ever changing book industry and Hollywood whose agents are always on the lookout for a good book.

After all, we read books for entertainment before television came on the screen. Isn’t it time for books to come back to the forefront of our entertainment consciousness?

The reality show for books. It’s an idea whose time has come.

For more information on this Education Corner topic and others, please refer to www.YourBookIsYourHook.com/blog for more articles and resources to help you with your books.

By Jennifer S. Wilkov, host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio

www.yourbookisyourhook.com

As authors and writers, we’re always learning about resources and industry tools that we can use to improve our book project performance and the enjoyment of our writing and marketing experiences.  Today let’s talk about storytelling.

We as human beings have told stories for years. Philosophical stories, educational stories, stories of great accomplishments and stories that have kept the histories of nations, beliefs, religions and cultures alive.

By our very nature, we are born storytellers. Some of us feel more comfortable with this role than others. Some feel more confident as orators and speakers who tell stories live in person in the front of a room, on a stage or through television and film. Others feel more at ease writing their stories down in the form of an article, a blog or a book. And still others are most apt to tell their stories through video recordings or a film script. By and by, we have developed more ways to tell our stories throughout the centuries – and books are the hook for many of them.

Our stories reveal our strengths, fears, courage, cowardliness, faith, fortune and misfortune. We dash our hopes against the seas of despair only to find an unanticipated resurrection, resolution and reward for the variety of experiences we have endured throughout the journey.

As we write them down, our stories leave a legacy – beginning with the very next person who reads your book. I often like to say that “Your book is your HOOK!” because, simply put, just look at all the dead people you have lingering around on your bookshelf. Whether they are authors of scary stories, inspirational stories, historical stories, memoirs, children’s fables or films that have been adapted from a book written long ago or last year, we as human beings just love great stories. We read them again and again. When we like them, we pass them on because they’re just so darn good.

Secretly, we even read some of them more than once. I know people who have a favorite book they read once a year to remind them of something, encourage them and help them keep their perspective solid.

As authors and writers, we are the ones who give generously of our time, energy and effort – a significant contribution from our lives to humanity – to share our stories with the world. We touch the lives, hearts and imaginations of others with our books. That’s why your book IS your hook! You hook the souls and spirits of others with your book. Across the seas in so many languages, people read your story and get hooked into your imagination, inspiration and intellect.

Storytelling has been an integral part of our DNA since the human race began. Stories help us to better understand our world. They take our breath away. They make us smile. They startle us. They make us recognize what we believe in and they inspire us to stand up for what we stand for. Stories instill faith, optimism, hope and grace in others. They introduce conversations, conflicts and confrontations of our deepest beliefs and feelings.

Stories are powerful. They influence our lives and fan the flames of the Human Spirit.

When you are willing to tell your story in a book or whatever form you choose, you bless the entire human race with it – past, present and those who will come years after you are no longer here. You make a difference with it in the lives of so many, many whom you will never meet.

Tell your story and leave your legacy. And that’s why your book is your hook – for your story.

For more information on this Education Corner topic and others, please refer to www.YourBookIsYourHook.com/blog for more articles and resources to help you with your books.

By Jennifer S. Wilkov, host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio
www.yourbookisyourhook.com

This week on the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show, Barbara Barnett, a television and film editor for Blogcritics magazine and the writer of the regular feature, “Welcome to the End of the Thought Process: An Introspective Look at House MD” will talk with radio personality and host Jennifer S. Wilkov about how she went from an obsession with House, M.D. to blogging about it on Blogcritics magazine to hooking up with literary agent Katharine Sands for a big book deal for Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House M.D. Ms. Barnett will talk about the difference between writing a blog article and writing for a book and she shares her advice for writers who are wondering how to get to that next level.

Kathy Kinney and Cindy Ratzlaff also discuss their first book together, Queen of Your Own Life: The Grown-Up Woman’s Guide to Claiming Happiness and Getting the Life You Deserve with radio personality and host Jennifer S. Wilkov. Kinney and Ratzlaff will talk about how they wrote the book through iChat, Skype and emails from separate coasts of the United States and their approach to the project – that it had to be fun. They will reveal the personal circumstances they faced as women and the decisions they made about their own lives as well as how they got published and picked up by Harlequin non-fiction in an auction.

Listeners will also enjoy their description of the crowning ceremonies they’ve been doing for women during their 12-city tour and how they are using their book as their hook to transform the lives of women everywhere.

Click Here to listen to this show.

By Guest Blogger, Barbara Barnett, Television & Film Editor at Blogcritics Magazine
www.BarbaraBarnett.com

Click Here to listen to Barbara’s interview any time after 9:00 am EST Tuesday July 6th, 2010 on the WomensRadio Network.

Here it is, two months until the launch of Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D. (ECW Press, September 2010).  It’s my first book and I feel a bit like Cinderella wondering when the carriage is going to turn into a pumpkin. I’m a middle-aged mom with a very full full-time job, but being an author has been a fantasy I’ve held since I was nine years old.

Like most writers, I suppose, I have those several unfinished novels rattling around in my computer, but writing a book was something long ago relegated to the “dream on” part of my brain.

No matter where my career has taken me, I’ve always managed to find the writing in it. An undergrad degree in microbiology led me to a gig as an associate editor with a trade magazine; a graduate degree in environmental policy brought me to a niche in public affairs; my current “day job,” which has nothing to do with writing, has produced two award-winning publications.

Then in 2007, my passion for writing bumped heads with my obsession over a television series—and it all seemed to click. After being encouraged to take my personal blog at Livejournal.com and move it to “the big leagues,” I applied to write for Blogcritics magazine, which is now owned by mega aggregator Technorati.

“Welcome to the End of the Thought Process” on Blogcritics became “must read” material for a whole segment of the House fandom. With several thousand readers a week, it has become one of its most popular features. Featuring weekly episode analysis, essays about the series themes and characters, my column has become a large and friendly town square. Each new article generates lengthy comment threads full of debate and discussion. No one is afraid to disagree with me, but everyone is respectful.

Developing a good relationship with the show, I’ve had the opportunity to interview most of the writers, executive producer Katie Jacobs, and several cast members. My readers especially enjoy these (usually lengthy) interviews for their added insight into the inner workings of the series.

After writing for BC for awhile I thought about writing a book about House, M.D. Not a typical companion guide, this would be a look between the lines and under the skin of this intricately written character study—something for the very intelligent fan base the series attracts, and something for my loyal readership that would play off of, but not duplicate, my weekly feature; but also something for newcomers to House’s universe.

One my readers happened to be literary agent Katharine Sands of Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency, and when she and I were introduced last spring it was a perfect match of writer and agent. Already a House uber-fan and a fan of my writing, she became an enthusiastic supporter of the project and is a fantastic advocate for Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D.

Click Here to listen to Barbara’s interview any time after 9:00 am EST Tuesday July 6th, 2010 on the WomensRadio Network.

By Jennifer S. Wilkov, host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio
www.yourbookisyourhook.com

As authors and writers, we’re always learning about resources and industry tools that we can use to improve our book project performance and the enjoyment of our writing and marketing experiences.  Today let’s talk about the difference between writing about what you love and just writing to get published.

No matter what you do, when you love what you are writing about – it shows!

Your passion, joy and care for the subject matter, how it’s presented and the reader’s experience with it are very apparent.

When you attempt to write in the latest genres that are being published instead of what you sincerely enjoy, what shows up on the page is beyond your control and many editors and agents can see right through it.

When an agent meets someone like Barbara Barnett who truly loves House, M.D., the agent can’t help but want to support her with getting published. Her heart and soul show up in her writing and her reason for writing it. Her insights are levels deeper than what could fit in a 1-hour show or in a 500-word blog post. Hence, her book: Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D.

Kathy Kinney and Cindy Ratzlaff write together about a topic and transformation in their thinking that they experienced personally and then decided that women everywhere could benefit from the same experience and insight. Together they lovingly and honestly share why they wrote their book, Queen of Your Own Life: The Grown-Up Woman’s Guide to Claiming Happiness and Getting the Life You Deserve. They talk about how the book came about as a result of real life situations they lived through together.

Instead of following the trends, tell your own tale – whether it’s a fiction piece, a non-fiction project or a children’s book. Open your heart and share your story with joy, passion and persistence. Allow others to plug into the electricity you bring to it and light them up with your sincere dedication to the subject matter and story.

This one distinction could make the difference between you getting published and you getting passed over.