... and then i found $5: My Life(time Movie)

Over the past few months, my life has been like a made-for-TV-movie with events "based on a true story." I have uttered almost daily, "I can't believe this is my life." Don't get my wrong, I still have mundane, ordinary moments. And, honestly, I revel in them. Doing the laundry never felt so good.

I'm not trying to sound egotistical, as a matter of fact, I don't want to talk about all the happenings in my life. But as I have been confiding in close friends and family, I have found that sharing my thoughts and feelings has been somewhat theraputic.

I have actually considered?penning a non-fiction book. But where do I begin? With Google, of course:

"How to write a book"
"How to write a non-fiction book"
"How to get a publisher"
"How to find a literary agent"
"How to write a book proposal"

Yep. Ha! Those were my searches. What did we do before Google? Before the Internet? ::Cringe::

Apparently, you need not actually have a book written before you find an agent and publisher. What you need is a proposal for the book. I guess in their minds, why waste your time writing a book if it's not of interest. (These are rules for non-fiction books. Novels may?have different standards.)

Here are two "How Tos" I found.

The 8 Essential Elements of a Nonfiction Book Proposal
by Brian A. Klems, Writer's Digest

1. Hook
Start by simply giving a brief description of your book, including its title.
2. Market Overview
Address the ?So what?? and ?Who cares?? questions. Never claim that anyone or everyone can benefit from your book. Instead, identify the specific demographic your book primarily targets?e.g., married women over 40 who want to feel younger and more energetic. Then, demonstrate the evidence of need for your book within that target market.
3. Author Bio & Platform
Answer the ?Who are you?? question. There are two critical aspects to this: expertise and platform.
Expertise is related to your credentials and experience. Are you considered authoritative or trusted on the topic? Why are you qualified to write this book?
In addition to having some expertise, you also need a platform. Platform is your visibility and reach to your intended audience or market. Platform includes your online efforts, your online content strategy, and how you?re visible offline, and can involve speaking engagements, publication credits, websites/blogs, social media presence and media mentions. It encompasses relationships, networks and influence you have in the field of your topic.
Don?t expect to succeed by being the ?outsider? or ?everyday? person who?s going to break the mold. Nonfiction publishers today want recognized writers who already reach readers, especially online.
4. Competitive Analysis
List the key resources (in print and online) that already target your specific market. Be sure the analysis supports and strengthens the evidence of need for your book that you?ve established in your market overview.
5. Marketing Plan
Your marketing plan is one of the most essential components of your proposal. Do not write this plan in a tentative fashion, describing things you are ?willing? to do, or how you will ?try? to contact people for publicity. Eliminate all wishful thinking. Ground it on what you can accomplish today. Make it concrete and realistic, and include as many numbers as you can.
Weak: I plan to register a domain and start a blog for my book.
Better: Within three months of launch, my blog on [book topic] already attracts 5,000 unique visits per month.
Weak: I plan to contact bloggers for guest blogging opportunities.
Better: I have been a guest blogger at [list great blogs], which on average brings my site 10,000 new visitors each month. I have invitations to return again, plus I?ve made contact with 10 other bloggers for future guest posts.
Weak: I plan to contact conferences and speak on [book topic].
Better: I am in contact with organizers at XYZ conferences, and have spoken at three events within the past year, reaching 5,000 people in my target audience.
Your plan should be executable without the help of a publisher. You should also mention if you?ll be investing a portion of your advance (or a particular dollar amount) on marketing or a publicist.
6. Outline
Include a short description of every chapter you plan to include in your book.
7. Sample Chapter
This is your chance to demonstrate to publishers that you can successfully execute what you are proposing. Include a complete, well-written and well-researched chapter that will leave them hungry to read more.
8. Putting It All Together
This all is a very cursory overview of a complex topic. For more information on how to craft a full book proposal, consult a resource such as How to Write a Book Proposal: 4th Edition by literary agent Michael Larsen.

Non-Fiction Book Proposals
by Rachelle Gardner, literary agent

Title page: Title, authors? names, phone numbers, email addresses.
One sentence summary: It captures your book. It should be more hook than description.
Brief overview: This should read similar to back-cover copy. It should be exciting, informative, and make someone want to read your book. It tells the publisher in a succinct form what the book is about and who the market is. Three to four paragraphs.
Felt need: What needs will your book fulfill that your audience is already aware of? What questions are they asking that your book will answer? What do they want that you can give them?
About the authors: Half page to a full page on each author. Why are you qualified to write this book? List any previously published books or articles along with sales figures. Make a good case for YOU as the best possible author for a book on this topic. Include a small photo of yourself ? it doesn?t have to be professional, but it should be friendly and you should be smiling (unless, perhaps, you?re a horror writer, in which case you can have a spooky look like Stephen King often does).
The market: Whom do you see as the audience for the book? Why would somebody buy this book? How is this audience reached? Do you have any special relationships to the market? What books and magazines does this audience already read? What radio and TV programs do they tune into? Demonstrate an understanding of exactly who will buy your book and why.
Author marketing: This is where you?ll talk about your platform. How are YOU able to reach your target audience to market your book? This is NOT the place for expressing your ?willingness? to participate in marketing, or your ?great ideas? for marketing. This is the place to tell what you?ve already done, what contacts you already have, and what plans you?ve already made to help market your book. A list of speaking engagements already booked is great; radio or television programs you?re scheduled to appear on or have in the past; a newsletter you?re already sending out regularly; a blog that gets an impressive number of daily hits. Include specific blog stats (monthly unique visitors, monthly pageviews), number of Twitter followers and number of Facebook fans/friends.
The competition: What other books are in print on the same subject? How is your book different and better? (There is always competition.) First, give a general discussion of the state of the marketplace as regards books of this topic. Then do a list of 4 to 8 books that could be considered most comparable to yours. List the title, author, year of publication. (Only books in the last five years are relevant, unless they?re still bestsellers.) Then write a couple of sentences explaining what that book is about, and how yours is different, better, and/or a good complement to it.
Details: How many words will your book be? (Words, not pages.) How long after the signing of a contract will it take you to complete the book? (This is usually 2 to 6 months.)
Chapter outline: This is where it becomes crucial that your book is well organized and completely thought-through. You will need chapter titles, and a couple of sentences capturing each chapter?s theme.
Sample chapters: This is usually the Introduction, plus one or two chapters. Make sure they?re polished and perfect!

Who knows. Upon reading this, I'm not sure 1) I have what it takes and?2) I have a good enough story that people will actually want to read it. I also don't even know if I want to share my experiences. Sure, talking it out with friends is helpful, but telling the "world" is overwhelming.

My worry is two-fold, as time advances and I get back to my normalcy, things won't be as fresh in my head, which is fantastic for healing, but not so helpful if I want to record my story. If I journal now, I might be holding on to my emotions instead of letting go and forgiving.

I've always thought I would write a novel, a chicklit, an empowering, fictional, easy-reading story. This non-fiction book would not be that. But maybe by the end of the book, and as I come to the end of writing it, I would have a chapter on moving on. I would hope. That seems like a long way off.

Like I said, who knows. Not you. Not me.

Maybe someday, I will be announcing where you can purchase my book. Until then, you should probably keep reading my blog, so you can say, "I knew her when she blogged about laundry."

?

Source: http://andthenifound5dollars.blogspot.com/2013/02/my-lifetime-movie.html

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