Calling All Authors - How to Publish with Your Eyes Wide Open
BY: Valerie Connelly
PUBLISHED BY: Nightengale Press
PUBLISHED IN: 2007
ISBN: 978-1-933449-43-2
Pages: 291
Reviewed by Billy Burgess

    Have you ever wanted to be a published writer?  “Calling All Authors - How to Publish with Your Eyes Wide Open” tells what traps and mistakes to avoid during publishing. Should you use a traditional publishing company or should you publish the book yourself? Will you need a publicist? An editor? Or a proofreader?  These are just some of the questions that author Valerie Connelly, founder of Nightengale Press, answers in this book.

    There are many myths and tales about the publishing world. “Calling all Authors,” explains these myths and brings them into reality for writers. A lot of new writers think their books will be an instant bestseller. You’ll learn that books don’t become bestsellers overnight.

    As a writer myself, I enjoyed reading “Calling All Authors.” I learned that even in traditional publishing you’ll have to do some marketing of your own. You can’t just sit back and expect the book to just sell itself. Learn how to promote your book by using the internet.  Learn how to benefit from good and bad book reviews.

    I recommend “Calling All Authors” to all upcoming writers of any genre.  This book will help you with those difficult decisions you will come across while publishing your novel.

Reviewed on 09/29/2009 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Billy Burgess

Calling All Authors is of incredible value to anyone that is wanting to pursue a career in writing and how to become a successful published author.  This book is filled with numerous nuggets of knowledge that most people don't even consider as they sit down to begin their own chapter one. 

Author Valerie Connelly approaches the topic of what comes after the writing is complete, how to find your target audience and more importantly how to promote your published novel.  There is much to consider when attempting to publish novel and the variety of publishers to approach and the many myths that plague new writers.

This is a must read for anyone wanting to better inform themselves on the steps to becoming a succesfully published author.  Connelly covers virtually every aspect of publishing and offers websites to find even more useful information.  As someone that is working on publishing some of my work, this book is a valuable tool to achieving this goal. 

Reviewed on 08/30/2009 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Jennifer Whipple

Are you planning to write a book? If you are, this book is just what you need as you embark on your new project. For those of you who don’t think writing a book is that big of a project, this book will certainly dispel some of the myths about writing, publishing and marketing a book, making me wish I had a copy of this book before I published my first novel.

Calling All Authors is a must-have reference jam-packed with information the writer needs to know before, during and after publishing a book—both for authors wishing to self-publish or go the traditional route. The book’s front cover statement claims: Revealing publishing myths, misconceptions and realties for published authors and writers who dream of becoming authors. This book delivers what it promises.

From the onset, I liked the author’s voice. She is a publisher sincerely interested in helping authors get off to the right start and succeed throughout their book-publishing journey. As an author, I know how important that is. All writers have questions regarding self-publishing versus traditional publishing, what these two options imply, about agents and publicists, editors and proofreaders, and the best way to market their book. If you heed Connelly’s advice—along with the advice of other publishers, authors, and experts in the fields of publicity, writing, editing, graphic design and the Internet included in this book— you will get the answers and be ahead of the game.

Each chapter ends with a summary in the form of worksheets that the reader can fill in, making this a practical, hands-on book—one that the reader can use as a guide. The chapters I paid keen attention to were Chapters 7 through 12, which focused extensively on publishing, selling, and marketing a book. Chapters 9 and 10 in particular are real eye-openers regarding the confusing world of publishing, clarifying what writers need to know to make a conscientious decision. Because I am writing my second novel, the information in Chapters 1-6 is just what I need at the moment. The book’s layout makes it easy to read except that the narrow tall font used for the subtitles contrasted with the rest of the text font, and I found this distracting.

So much information is available in this book that it may be overwhelming to the new writer. But like any 7-course meal, this book must be savoured over a period of time for a good digestion and full absorption of the delicious banquet any writer will appreciate.

I highly recommend this resourceful book to anyone planning to write a book. Because if you are, you need this book.

Reviewed on 08/26/2009 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Laura Fabiani

I was delighted when "Calling All Authors - How to Publish with Your Eyes Wide Open" arrived in the mail. I am an amateur writer and this book made my day.

It was filled with helpful ideas, lists, quizzes, and links.

The myriad of questions I had about the publishing and promotion worlds of book promotion were answered here with clear and concise writing. The writing style was very easy to understand.

"Calling All Authors - How to Publish with Your Eyes Wide Open" has easy to find sections on editing that I found particularly helpful. Many popular and well-known books are used as examples, which makes it so easy to understand what the author is trying to convey.

When I finish writing my book I am positive "Calling All Authors - How to Publish with Your Eyes Wide Open" will be a significant help in getting my book out there, in the right places to be seen and read. I found so many things inside that I would never have thought of in promotion, cover design and where to get a good review.

The advice on how to format a manuscript was useful in helping me to have my, yet unfinished, manuscript looking professional and polished.

I am sure I will refer back to this fantastic book many times in the future. I love to write and have only had a couple of poems published. I am confident that "Calling All Authors - How to Publish with Your Eyes Wide Open" will help me in so many ways.

Reviewed on 08/21/2009 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Tina Evans

I've always wanted to be a writer and after reading Valerie Connelly's Calling All Authors - How to Publish with Your Eyes Wide Open, it seems fairly possible. Even as I write this review, I'm thinking of her first pointer: Who is your reader? It seems like such an obvious question but it's one that I never think about, yet it's probably one of the most important things to think about as a writer.

Another fact she points out is that it's not that simple.  One of the most valuable chapters to me was Chapter 4: Why You Must Write, Edit, Re-write and Re-edit. In this chapter, Connelly outlines the kind of work and dedication it takes to become a successful writer. It is a skill that must be used every day in order to be developed properly. After this section, she gives a checklist of the kind of information and skill you should be learning from this practice. Something also helpful are the many exercises she includes in the book to help progress.

Overall, the book gives great pointers in honing the art of writing, tips on getting the book marketed, printed and published. Connelly states several misconceptions and truths in each chapter, giving examples and disputing textbook responses. I think it's a great read for anyone interested in writing and getting published.

Reviewed on 08/03/2009 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Kenita Hood