oprah take down

Oprah ambused Frey on her program and caused a 'shudder through the publishing' world. OK. I am getting bored with this.

Frey

I see the controversy with Frey keeps popping up. Now it seems, the folks that run drug treatment centres accuse him of exaggerating his experiences while in the center. They say that if he purports it to be true, families will be less likely to 'send their loved ones'. One of thing he cites is being refused anesthetic when he has a tooth removed, for according to the dentist, he is prohibited to use any kind of drug while at the center.

Getting Published 101 . . . . fiction or non fiction

To Propose or not to Propose.

We will talk about how to get the attention of agents, editors and publishers later but before you even think of contacting anyone about a book idea, you need to decide whether you are writing fiction or non fiction. The reason for this is that although your contact with key people in the publishing world will begin with a query letter/message you will need to have on hand either
1. A book proposal if you are writing Non Fiction
2. The full edited manuscript if you are writing Fiction.

More in the next post about how to write an smart, effective proposal that will impress an editor / agent.

memoirs

The controversy over James Frey and is alleged life story in A Million Little Pieces, seems to me to be a storm in a tea pot. It is over a week since his appearance on Larry King and Oprah's surprise call to the show and endorsement of his book (although it seemed qualified) but there continues to be copy in various newspapers around the world.

At the end of the day, he did nothing criminal. He did exercise poetic license, and probably made the mistake in live interviews to talk about the book as if it was his true life story.

Getting Published

I consider myself blessed to have had several books published. There are many writers more skilled than me have neither been published. But recieving a writing contract is not all luck. To be published one must do more than write well and/or dream of writing a bestseller. Over the next several posts I am going to attempt to write down what I have learned about 'getting a publishing contract.' I welcome your comments.

Challenge

I return to Cambodia Feb 1 - 12th to lead a group of cyclists from Canada, Australia and Japan (8 in total) on a sponsored ride. Each cyclist is committed to raising 5000 dollars for HOPE in addition to paying thier own costs. We will visit remote areas where HOPE is working alongside the neglected poor providing clean water.

Muchos Gracias to Pipe Dream Cycles who are sponsoring me by providing a custom built brand new 29er for me to ride. Check out www.hopeglobalchallenge.com to find out more about the challenge and if you want to check out the excellent bikes at Pipe Dreams click here

Celebrating in Cambodia

Well I got a bit of summer over Christmas as I was in Thailand and Cambodia with my family. My eldest son celebrated his 18th birthday scuba diving near Sihanoukville and Kande and I celebrated 25 years of marriage . . . . . and yes we did fulfill the expectations of tourists and went on an elephant trek.