This free course will teach you how to:
This is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It's simply a way -- the right way -- to make the transition from wannabe to successful author. It may never be sufficient reason for you to quit your regular job, but it should be lots of fun. It was for me.
You may freely give this book to anyone you like, put it on your website, etc., so long as you don't alter it in any way.
If you deleted the ZIP file before you read this part, it's at Mad About Books.
For individual articles, to share or reprint or simply read, send a blank email to michaellarocca@sendfree.com to receive a list of what's available.
INTRODUCTION
SECTION ONE: IMPROVING YOUR WRITING
Mad About Books will keep you up-to-date on how to improve your writing, how and where to publish it, and how to promote it after the sale.
You'll notice as you read through the various chapters that they're all loaded with active links. A common feature in ebooks.
Did you ever read a book, say "Wow!" and click away to find that most links are busted? I hate it when that happens.
The Internet is always changing. What works today could be gone in six months. And, most ebooks don't include dates.
This one was accurate as of July 1, 2002.
Every chapter has a link at the top telling you the corresponding web page. This is because I keep updating those pages, deleting and adding. I constantly update because I use those pages.
So if the chapters just aren't working for you, swing by the corresponding web page and you'll have better luck.
Whenever I update this book, it'll be at http://freereads.topcities.com/fictionwritingtips.html. If I ever leave THAT site, I'll leave a forwarding address.
If Topcities vanishes or tosses me out, write to laroccamichael@hotmail.com and ask for an updated copy of the ebook or an updated URL.
If Topcities and Hotmail both vanish, visit any search engine. Look for "Michael LaRocca." You'll find me. I'll always be there somewhere.
Last time I checked, there were two Michael LaRoccas. One's my cousin, the Las Vegas entertainer. The other is me, the crazy American redneck author in Asia who plasters the Internet with free stuff.
If you're subscribing to Mad About Books, you'll always know where I am. If you're not subscribing, why not? :-)
"Michael LaRocca has been researching the publishing field for over ten years."
This quote, from an ezine (newsletter) called Authors Wordsmith, was a kind way of saying I've received a lot of rejections. Also, the number should be twenty.
But in my "breakout" year (2000), I finished writing four books and scheduled them all for publication in 2001.
After my first book was published, both my publishers closed. Two weeks and three publishers later, I'm back on track. All four books are being published again, and I'm writing another one while I wait.
See how much faster it was the second time around? That's because I learned a lot.
Also, I've found other editing jobs. That's what I do when I'm not writing. But the thing is, if I'd become an editor before learning how to write, I'd have stunk.
How'd I learn to write? The answers are right here in this course. That's how I know it works. I learned it all the hard way.
In this course, I'll share all I know with you. Free. This information is all out there if you know where to look, but who has the time? I did, I collected all this for my own use, and now it's yours. It costs me nothing to share it. It costs you nothing to read it except some time.
You don't even have to believe all of it. That's the same thing I say in my first installment, "Free Online Creative Writing Workshops." Don't believe everything you read. Not even if it comes from me. Just weigh the evidence and go your own way.
As you begin any new course, you should probably ask yourself "What does this geeberhead know about it?" If the long rambling tirade above doesn't answer that question, Who Am I? (and why should you care?) will tell you more about me than you ever wanted to know.
This seems obvious to me. Probably it seems obvious to you too. But in case our obviousnesses don't agree, here I go. (Is that a word?)
Sometimes a story idea just comes to me out of nowhere and refuses to leave me alone until I write it. So, I do.
And, whenever I read a book that really fires me up, I find myself thinking, "I wish I could write like that." So, I just keep trying. I'll never write the best, but I'll always write my best. And get better every time. That's the "secret" of the writing "business," same as any other business. Always deliver the goods.
I read voraciously, a habit I recommend to any author who doesn't already have it. You'll subconsciously pick up on what does and doesn't work. Characterization, dialogue, pacing, plot, setting, description, etc. But more importantly, someone who doesn't enjoy reading will never write something that someone else will enjoy reading.
I don't write "for the market." I know I can't, so I just write for me and then try to find readers who like what I like. I'm not trying to whip up the next bestseller and get rich. Not that I'd complain. Nope, I have to write what's in my heart, then go find a market later. It makes marketing a challenge at times, but I wouldn't have it any other way.