Your Writing has Style - So Use a Style Sheet!

If you are a computer programmer, you have probably used style sheets in your day-to-day work. If you are an editor, no doubt you use style sheets on a daily basis (if you don’t prepare these for your clients, you should). However, as a writer, you may not have even heard of a style sheet until an editor or publisher has made you use one. It’s a good thing to know before you start your book – it will save you many headaches later.

A style sheet is your list of style standards and practices for your book, article or even your entire vision of your own image. It is composed of your grammar and punctuation rules, your protocol for capitalization, numbers, italics, proper names and nicknames, character sketches and profiles, details of the settings you use, timelines. Most book publishers use Chicago Manual of Style, so look things up if you are accustomed to writing with another stylebook (MLA for medical articles, AP for newspapers, ALA for college for example).

In addition to your own style sheets, you may be asked to adhere to a publisher’s own rules and recommendations, so make sure you inquire early on. The Chicago Manual of Style may have special rules for specific things that go against what you or your publisher may want  – most of the time, there are good reasons, but sometimes there are just “taste” things that the author wants to convey, or cultural things that add to the flavor of the book. DO NOT allow yourself to misspell things or to use incorrect grammar for cultural reasons except in those instances where it adds flavor to dialog or verse.

The purpose of a style sheet is to keep the writer on track throughout the writing process, and to inform the editor about spelling, punctuation, numerical practices and other items so a manuscript can be consistent throughout. This is particularly important for a writer who takes breaks between writing sessions – or for one who is writing several items at once.

If you are a novelist, you should have a detailed spreadsheet listing out scenes, plot lines, and timelines—and one for character traits (physical descriptions, language habits, and their history). I also suggest producing these same detailed spreadsheets if you are writing non-fiction—particularly a memoir or family history. Take the time to do this and you will have an easier time ensuring consistency and you will reduce your chance for error.

Use a style sheet as your rule book

• List names: first, last and nicknames used. Verify those names to make sure you are spelling them correctly in the manuscript, because your style sheet is the rule of law!
• List your punctuation rules, including serial comma or no serial comma, em dash or en dash, other rules special to your manuscript.
• List your rules for using numerals and words for numbers. Are you following Chicago Manual of Style for your number handling or does it make sense for you to have rules specific to your manuscript? Don’t decide this arbitrarily—ask your editor what might be the best way to handle them, and always treat them consistently.
• List abbreviations and their extended meanings. Also note why they are abbreviated and when they should be spelled out.
• List words that are always capped, and those that have unconventional capitalization specific to your manuscript.
• List words that you make up, along with their meanings, capitalization rules, and spellings.
• Note anything unusual that the writer or copy editor should know about. For example, any oddities that would not appear in standard language. Keep in mind that the reader may not have previous knowledge of certain phrases—and your job as writer is to guide the reader through your journey or story.
• If you have author notes or footnotes, spell out your rules for those ahead of time so you know when you should be using them.
• Last, but not least, make a comprehensive spreadsheet of characters, including the spelling of their full names, descriptions, timelines and special characteristics in mannerisms, gait, language, etc.  If you have people in your book, you should always use this, no matter if it is fiction or non-fiction.

You don’t have to start your style sheet as you put the first word on paper, but it will help you in the long run if you do. If you have already written your first draft, sit down now and prepare a style sheet as you reread your manuscript.

What you need to know before you start your publishing/speaking business

I love owning my own business, and I love helping my clients create their own publishing companies from the ground up. While it's rare that one of our micropublishers turns into a full blown publishing operation where they take on the business on their own, it does happen and there are many things to learn as they grow into an entrepreneurial role.

I always caution my clients:

 You have a creative side and an analytical/logical side -- make sure they aren't crossing over
and letting the creative side make business decisions and the business side make creative decisions.

I recently contributed to a well known entrepreneurial blog, where the question was "What do you wish you'd known when you first started your business?"  Here is the introduction to the blog and a link to the 100 things recommended by her entrepreneur network. 



Reprinted with permission from Carol Roth's Blog:
100+ Things You Need to Know Before You Start Your Business

As many of you know, I often talk about “Business Beer Goggling“- the phenomena of being so intoxicated with your new business idea/venture that your view of reality is completely distorted. So, to help you take off those beer goggles and sober up, I have asked the CarolRoth.com contributor network of entrepreneurs and experts to use their 20/20 hindsight and provide the one main thing that they wish they knew before they started their businesses. Their answers are presented below in no particular order.


You may notice some similar insights, but I kept the concepts separate, as something in the way one is framed may resonate differently with you.

1. FOCUS!!!

I wish I would have realized that the more focused and specific our company's niche, the more easily understood and referred our services would have been.

Everyone's heard the saying, "A jack of all trades is a master of none," but many people, when starting a business, don't take this to heart. Focus on what you do best and partner with others who can help you succeed!
Thanks to: Rocky Walls of 12 Stars Media.

As you read on......I'm #21
21. Integrity Isn't Reciprocal



My first year in business was easy. I did what I promised and people paid their bills. Of course, many of my first clients were writers I already knew. A couple of years into my venture, new clients found me through our website. When I first started doing books for those I didn't know, I continued using email and verbal okays. I did what I promised, but they didn't always. Once Bitten, Twice Shy, as they say. Have a formal contract with legal oversight and clearly share expectations. Document everything.
Thanks to: Lisa Pelto of Concierge Marketing & Publishing.

Here's the link to the rest of the article:  100 things you need to know

Moral of all this to any new author, publisher, or small business -- make sure you know who you are doing business with, focus your business, check out your customers and vendors, have faith in yourself, accept that you will now be a salesperson first and a writer second, and then GO FOR IT.

Nebraska Writers Guild Fall Conference - October 14-15, 2011

October 15, 2011, in Ainsworth, Nebraska, Lisa Pelto will be presenting the following workshops at the Nebraska Writers Guild Fall Conference.  Please join us! *

MORNING SESSION:
"Legitimately Published"- Self Publish, Print-on-Demand, or Getting an Agent and Sending a Query - What's Right for YOU?

In this session, you'll learn how to determine what is best for your book, your budget and your brain. Publishing options have changed and so have the models for selling books. Don't sign anything until you attend this session!

AFTERNOON SESSION:
Developing the SuperBook - How Product Development, Innovation, Marketing and Keeping the Consumer in Mind Help Make a Better Book

The old publishing model took editorial and creative control from the author's hands and gave it to the publisher. Then the Print on Demand model blasted its way into the marketplace and gave editorial and creative control back to the author who had no idea how to harness the power of the intellectual property they had developed. The person who was missing from these two models?  The consumer! Now, in this new era of publishing, the consumer has gained the power of demanding high quality books of depth and substance that are edited, produced well and readily available, in the formats they want to read them, at a reasonable price. You'll get the scoop on the new Hybrid Publishing model that is sweeping the industry, and you'll work through how you can make a better book for your reader.
 
*The Nebraska Writers Guild doesn't have information up yet, but their contact info is on this link.

Treat Every Criticism Like Gold

Not knowing why someone doesn't like you doesn't make you better.
Most customers don't tell you why they aren't doing business with you -- they just quietly disappear.  Since it is so rare that someone will tell you, be sure to mine any criticisms or negative comments you are lucky enough to hear about your book or yourself until you get to the heart of the problem. Then try to fix it.

Understanding the Nature of Your Customer Relationships Helps You Utilize Criticism
In helping authors self publish, I understand that my work involves handling someone's baby – a book he may have dreamt of his entire life. With that in mind, my own opinions may need to be carefully weighed before I push them too hard. 

Most clients are ecstatic because we are so good at what we do. However, there is a rare frown or unpleasant long pause. I understand that an author must love their book, so if I sense any unhappiness, I sit down with them and all but beg for them to tell me any criticisms they have about me, my company, the product we created, how they have been treated -- you name it, I want to know. I assure them that I want to know what they are thinking and that they may indeed hurt my feelings, but I would be more hurt if we didn't create something they absolutely love.

Criticism is a Gold Mine of Business Intelligence
I treasure any and all criticism and/or negative comments as nuggets of gold -- little bits of wisdom I can mine both to make our company better at serving our clients, and to make products and services that our clients are proud to affix their name (in 1 inch letters on the front cover!).

Coming Up For Air Can Net You the Biggest Fish

As a book marketer and packager of many different genres, I know how distracting the various markets can be and how hard it is to catch every little fish in the pond -- let alone the big fish.  I know how bad it feels to just miss an opportunity that should have been mine, or one of my client's.  "The One That Got Away" always feels awful for a long time.

I'm sure you have experienced it, too. Everyone misses opportunities because we are drowning in information. To make it worse, the news always bubbles to the surface only one measly day too late -- you hear about an event that would have been perfect for featuring your book, or you see an article in the paper where you would have been the perfect expert to interview, or a conference brochure arrives in the mail with another author delivering your topic, or someone tells you the most horrible news of all: Oprah just did a show on just your topic.

How can you be sure you are reeling in the best opportunities when there are so many places to fish?  Realistically, you can't. You are probably forehead deep in your topic already and can barely find time to come up for air as it is.  But you need to if you are going to thrive as an author. Using tools that are available can certainly help.
 
Here are three of my best fishing holes for automating a constant flow of useful information. Yes, I know any angler will tell you never to reveal where the fish are biting, but these will help you be more on top of things.  
 
1.  Google Alerts with daily notifications:

• Your name (and all its misspellings)
• Your book title (ditto on the misspellings)
• Your company name (ditto)
• Your competitors' names (ditto)
• Your competitors' book titles (ditto)
• Your topic areas -- in as many ways as you can think of saying them (ditto)
• Celebs, VIPs, experts in your topic area (ditto)
• Associations, organizations, groups important to your topic (ditto)

2.  Conference Programming Committees often put out a notice that they are looking for experts. They will post a "Call for Presentations", "Call for Speakers", "Call for Presenters", "Call for Papers", etc.  I put this phrase in my Google Alerts with my topic areas, too -- HOWEVER, doing a weekly search and deliberately looking for opportunities will net better results.  Google the phrases in quotes, with your topic areas outside the quotes.  For example, if your topic is Caregiving, your Google searches would be
"Call for Presentations" caregiving
"Call for Presenters" caregiving
"Call for Speakers" caregiving ..... and so on. 

The results will come up with various Calls and you will be asked to prepare proposals for your presentations -- some are very short and concise with their requirements, and some are extensive proposals.  Knowing they are available is 3/4 of the battle!

3.  Subscribe to HARO.com (Help a Reporter Out) and PitchRate.  Every day, you will receive an email (sometimes more than once a day). That email contains a list of articles for which reporters and bloggers are currently looking for experts to interview.  Casting your line into the water is simple, and you'll be surprised at how you can easily and quickly build your reputation for being a helpful expert. 

Come up for air, use the tools that are free and readily available, and start catching those opportunities!

Weigh Your Options -- And Your Book

If you are expecting book sales that will require mailing single copies, have your printer make a mock up of your book with the actual papers and page count prior to printing, and then weigh it. Then add an envelope and a mailing label -- and any other collateral items you are considering including in your orders. This is operations, my friends. And operations can make or break a publishing company (or any other type of company for that matter).  Does it really matter?

Challenge:  We completed a project wherein 75% of the books were sent out to individuals one at a time.  The book weighed 15.2 ounces, but with the envelope, bookmark and label, the final weight was 16.1 ounces. That meant that rather than paying $2.41, he was paying $2.82 per piece. (see Media Mail pricing sheet). With a margin barely at $4 per book when he arrived, that was a pretty significant difference. Prior to working with us, my client had paid for the whole second pound on each package because of one stinking 10th of an ounce. In this case, he was already using the lightest weight envelope and a regular mailing label, and my client liked the papers used in his book, so we didn't want to change that.  Did we have an option?

Solution:  On the next printing, we cut off 1/8th inch off the height of the book -- and that did the trick. There are creative solutions to nearly every problem, and this was a great fix for a potential profit hog. In our case, the buyers didn't even realize anything was different, and my client's profit margin rose over 10% per sale.

Moral of the story:  Consider how you will be selling and fulfilling your books, and make the shipping operation part of your initial planning process. Make sure your shipping costs reflect the actual weight of the book, and that you have thoughtfully considered whether or not your buyer values that extra fraction of an ounce over saving a little on shipping. It could be the difference between making a profit and losing money on books sold, depending on the buyer's terms. 

What Makes a "Good Contact"?

I was talking to a few people upon my return from BookExpo, and found myself saying "I met a couple great leads and a few good ones." But now, I'm thinking "What makes them a good lead?" Are they saying "I made a great contact" after meeting me at the show?

It's not just the connection at the show that makes a "Good Contact," it's the relationship that buds at the show, and then blossoms with care and nurturing after the show.

Just like any other type of relationship, a "Good Contact" requires give and take, too. It requires trust on both parts and integrity on both parts. And you need to plan how to handle your new relationships from the early stages so they are able to grow. At CMI, we plan what we are doing with contacts before we go to a show or networking event. Sometimes you are the one getting the contact; sometimes you are the contact. You have to decide if the relationship is something you need and want in your professional life. Here are the questions that you should ask yourself:

• Is this going to be a one-way relationship, or are there reciprocal benefits?
• Do we have something legitimate to offer each other in our businesses or is it not really a perfect match?
• Do the benefits of this relationship outweigh the costs of nurturing and maintaining it?
• Am I willing to share my network with this person?

Set your own list of non-negotiables in the contacts you make -- and be aware that others are also doing the same (you hope). The most difficult part in the networking relationship is looking at yourself in the mirror and asking "Am I a good contact?"

For more great information on networking, read Jeff Beals' book Self Marketing Power.