An excerpt from William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech

Hope you are all having a great week. We think this quote is an encouraging message for anyone who sits down to write something important and new. Enjoy!

‎(A writer) must teach himself that the basest of all things is to be afraid; and, teaching himself that, forget it forever, leaving no room in his workshop for anything but the old verities and truths of the heart, the old universal truths lacking which any story is ephemeral and doomed – love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice. Until he does so, he labors under a curse. He writes not of love but of lust, of defeats in which nobody loses anything of value, of victories without hope and, worst of all, without pity or compassion. His griefs grieve on no universal bones, leaving no scars. He writes not of the heart but of the glands.
— from William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech, December 10, 1950

Q&A with “Breakthrough Boys” author Jaime Aron

By Matthew Schulz

 

In 20 years with The Associated Press, Jaime Aron has covered the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup finals, Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics, and the World Cup.

He’s also a prolific author of non-fiction books, all of which focused on Dallas-area sports teams. His fifth and latest, called “Breakthrough Boys”, is the tale of the tumultuous season of the 1971 Dallas Cowboys — the first Cowboys team to with the Super Bowl.

I asked Jaime — who I’ve known for more than two decades, dating back to college at the University of Texas — for his insights on what it takes to be a successful non-fiction author. Here’s what he had to say:

Once you decide on a book topic, what happens next? Do you outline first, or do the interviews come first?
This was my first “real” book, meaning one big story about one subject. I didn’t really know what to do, so I studied other books I admired. I came up with the game plan of, essentially, “research, interview, write.” Then, I emailed [a friend who is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author] for his thoughts. His response was so great that I printed it up and taped it to my computer monitor:

“… The more you know, the better your interviews with the key characters will go. The more detail you get, with a purpose in mind, the more you will be able to bring the events alive to your readers. The more you bring it alive to your readers, the more you can teach them something at the same time, subtly and easily. There’s a point, which is hard to define, when you know you know enough to start writing. But even as you start to write, keep reporting until the day you are done with the project.”

The reality is that I could’ve spent three years researching everything and interviewing everyone about everything. At a certain point, I realized I was getting bogged down, so I put together an outline of the overall arc of the story and a detailed outline of each chapter. I needed this to narrow my focus. The 1971 football season gave me a natural timeline, which helped, but then I needed to pick my main
characters.

How many people do you speak with for a typical book?
There’s no one-size-fits all answer. But this much is always true: conduct as many interviews as possible. The subject and – especially – the deadline will determine how many are needed, and how many are realistic.

As for how many interviews make it into the book, that depends on what they say, who they are, how much insight they offer. Ultimately, something everyone says will wind up in the book one way or another – not necessarily as a quote, but something that steered your thinking, or even a phrase you borrow, consciously or not.

What’s an example of a mistake you made or a trap you fell into when writing the earlier books that you’ve been sure to avoid when writing later ones?
Hours and hours of wasted interviews. There were guys who were captivating speakers or fun to talk to, but who didn’t enhance the narrative, either because they veered too far off the subject or their ‘facts’ were so far off.

What’s the key to writing great, compelling non-fiction?
Readers will know what happened (won the Super Bowl, became President, ruined Enron) from reading the dust jacket. You want to explain why, how and – most of all – who were the people behind these events. You start by selling the reader on the people through details and anecdotes. Then, you have to find the most germane ones and string them together.

A writing coach once described this as collecting gold coins in the research/interview phase, then tossing them out during the writing phase – not too many all at once, just a steady stream that keeps the reader hunting for more.

Matthew Schulz is writing his second novel, working toward fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming a published author of fiction. He has written for the Houston Chronicle, Associated Press and other major publications, but his current day job has him working as a Managing Editor at Bankrate, Inc., where he helps lead an award-winning news team. He has even helped coordinate a video town hall with the White House. You can follow him on Twitter @matthewschulz and learn more about him at MattSchulz.com.

November Third Thursday Wrap-Up: 5 Keys to a Successful Book Launch

By Lexie Smith

We wrapped up the Build Your Book series with the final Third Thursday of 2011. The topic “The Book Launch and Beyond” focused on presenting your book to the public through a book launch event.  Our panelists were author John Pipkin,the Book People children’s’ events coordinator and marketing director Mandy Brooks and literary publicist Stephanie Barko.

The evening’s conversation has been distilled into five keys to a successful book launch.

Planning

What can you do now, even if you have a book that is nowhere near finished?  Start working on the infrastructure of your social network, especially online.  Due to the publishing industry’slong lead times (up to two years for a book), you have the opportunity, before your book comes out, to build potential readership through a variety of online resources.  Facebook, Twitter, your blog, Goodreads, LinkedIn, Library Thing andAmazon.com are some options.

You don’t have to do them all. Pick a few and work on them. Start growing your presence on these sites before you publish your book, the idea being similar to compound interest on your savings account – the longer your assets are in there, the more interest is earned.

Once you are close to a publication date for your project, start planning for your book launch at least three to six months before your launch date, especially if you are a local or new author.

Publicity

You are responsible for publicizing your book. At some pointyou may hire someone to help you.  In the meantime, start planning how you will get the word out about your book.Utilize your social network, online and off. Contact different groups that are related to your book.  Look for magazines, newspapers, or blogs to publish articles about your topic. The author’s efforts to advertise the book event is the most effective way to make the event successful.

Persistence

Mandy compared the book launch to a race. Training and preparation are important before you compete, but you keep doing what you do after the big day, whether it’s running or marketing.  The book event is the seed from which other interests grow. She also mentioned being persistent when trying to schedule an event.  Don’t keep doing the same thing, though. Vary your pitch when you approach an event coordinator or group leader.

Pliability

Book launches take different forms.  Some are soft launches,where the book’s Amazon button simply goes from pre-order toorder. Others are more party-like, either in a book store or another location. Think about different options, tailored to your book and readers, for your book launch.

You also need to be flexible when it comes to what you do before the event.  Do more than tend your contact list. For example, eight months before his book was released, John published a related feature article in the Boston Globe. Use your creativity when thinking of ways to promote your book and its launch.

People

Standing next to a plate of cookies, waiting for someone – anyone – to show up at your book launch is not fun. Stephanie stated and restated the importance of creating and maintaining your contact list with email addresses and snail mail addresses (if possible), sortable by zip code.  Local matters when it comes to event attendance.

The people on your list are actual people, not just names. Leverage social media to interact with them. Make your publicity personal.

Since the act of writing is individual but the business of writing is a team sport, be aware of others who can help you with your book launch: readers, event coordinators, literary agents andpublicists may have something to do with your book launch in one way or another.

Put It All Together

As you may have noticed, these five aspects of book marketing are quite enmeshed with each other.  Be patient with yourself as you learn to work with them at different times, considering the ebb and flow of your professional and personal life. And don’t forget to let us know about your book launch!

Lexie is a WLT member who enjoys connecting people with information through LexicalLight.com, BloggingForWriters.com and 64mascots.com. A University of Texas graduate, she taught middle school English and, until recently, homeschooled her children. She lives in Round Rock with her husband, five kids and two rescued Boxers.