Writing for Niche Markets by John Vonhof

John Vonhof from Manteca, California is a freelance writer who writes for the Christian and secular markets. He has taught at the Mt. Hermon, Florida, and Castro Valley writers’ conferences. John has self-published two booklets and four books, two of which were later picked-up by mainstream publishers. He has been published in many Christian and secular magazines, newsletters and Internet sites. His current projects include two books, three Kindle ebooks, several websites, and spin-offs from his books.

Welcome to Writers in Business. Please tell us about your books and a bit about their inspiration.

I have run marathons and ultramarathons, and fastpacked in the High Sierras. Licensed as a paramedic and orthopaedic technician, with 6+ years experience in an emergency room / trauma center, I know about the medical field. That has lead to the following publications:

- Fixing Your Feet: Prevention and Treatment for Athletes, 5th edition, 2011
- Happy Feet! - Foot Care Advice for Walkers and Travelers
- A Parent's Guide to the Emergency Room: Managing Your Child's Crisis Without Fear

Over the years, I have served in many roles with the church body - clerk, deacon, elder, chair of many committees, youth leader, Sunday School teacher, and representative to many denominational boards. After serving as the secretary of the search team at my church, I saw the need for a resource about the pastoral search process and wrote The Pastoral Search Journey: A Guide to Finding Your Next Pastor.

My other publications include You Can Write for Niche Markets and Selling Your Book: The No Nonsense Step-by-Step Marketing & Promotion Workbook

I understand you are also a publisher.

Yes, I’m the publisher of Footwork Publications, a niche market small press that was founded in 1996. The name Footwork Publications was chosen to represent our commitment to doing the footwork—the study, research, and development of high-quality and unique resources that fill a special publishing market need. We publish specific, well thought out resources that fill a need.

I admire your wide range of non-fiction topics. You also do a lot to give back to the writing community. Your WritersConferenceGuidelines.com website and blog help writers navigate the conference submission process.

Yes, on it you’ll learn what goes into writing different parts of your submission package and how to do it right. There's information on queries, cover letters, book proposals, article and manuscript formats, genre tips, meeting with faculty, making the most of your conference, conference links, resources, a glossary, and more. Plus samples of queries, proposals, and manuscript formats. Contributors include conference faculty, editors, publishers, agents, and experienced writers.

With your comprehensive background as an author and publisher, can you share a tip with us?

Authors of nonfiction books should always consider whether their books could be released in a new edition. I have seen many nonfiction titles whose sales drop off after a few years. Out of the hundreds of nonfiction books on my home shelves, I'd estimate that less than 5% have been updated in new editions. Many of these could benefit from a new edition.

Generally, a new edition should be 10% new information. Over time, new information, statistics, research and studies, new or changed products, and new technology can provide us with content for a new edition. When a book is released in a new edition, it's like starting over. With a good marketing plan, sales usually go up.

Two of my book are in multiple editions, one in a 2nd and another in its 5th edition. These extend the value of my title and show my readers I am serious about staying current and helping them with my writing.

Thank you John! You can visit John online at the following websites.

JohnVonhof.com
FootworkPub.com
FixingYourFeet.com
PastoralSearch.org
WritersConferenceGuidelines.com

Buried Deception by Gina Conroy

Today we welcome Gina Conroy to Writers in Business. She is president and founder of Writer...Interrupted where she mentors busy writers. Knowing how difficult it is to raise a family as well as a career, she also blogs at Defying Gravity where she chronicles her triumphs and trials hoping to encourage those on a similar path. She is here to announce her new release.

Welcome Gina. Tell us about your first novella.

My first novella is titled, Buried Deception and it is part of the Cherry Blossom Capers Collection. It will be released from Barbour Publishing in January 2012. This 352 page book includes three other novellas - State Secrets by Lynette Sowell, Dying for Love by Cara C. Putnam and Coffee, Tea and Danger by Frances Devine.

You must be very excited! Can you tell us about your story?

Mount Vernon archaeology intern and widow Samantha Steele wants to provide for her children without assistance from anyone. Security guard and ex-cop Nick Porter is haunted by his past and keeps his heart guarded. But when they discover an artifact at Mount Vernon is a fake, Nick and Samantha need to work together, set aside their stubbornness, and rely on each other or the results could be deadly. Will Samantha relinquish her control to a man she hardly knows? Can Nick learn to trust again? And will they both allow God to excavate their hearts so they can find new love?

How can readers order Buried Deception?

It can be preordered at Amazon.com Buried Deception.

Do you have an agent?

Yes, I’m represented by Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary

Can you share a writing tip based on your experience?

Yes, I've learned to write really bad. I used to have a problem with editing every little thing I wrote and taking forever to get to the end. Then a writer friend gave me permission to write bad and now I do! Then, of course, I go back and fix it!

I’ve run into the same roadblock in my writing and have learned it’s better for me to ignore the rules on the first draft and just let the words flow out of me. I spent some time visiting your blogs and web site. They are all very well designed and informative. I understand you offer a monthly newsletter with updates.

Yes, readers can subscribe to the Newsletter on my web site.

Gina, I wish you all the best with your new release. How can my readers learn more about your writing?

I love to connect with readers. There are Contact pages on my blogs, you can follow me at Twitter and friend me on Facebook. My new website GinaConroy.com will be live in January 2012.

Meet Carol & Bob Bridgestock - Crime Writers Extraordinaire!

Today we welcome authors Carol and Bob Bridgestock who work as co-authors under the name R C Bridgestock. They come to us from the Isle of Wight in England. These crime writers have a combined staggering 47 years of employment with the Police. Carol as a member of the Civilian Support staff and Bob as a Police Officer. Their first hand experience adds to the breadth and depth of their writing.

I understand your books have been republished recently.

Yes, our first book was ‘Deadly Focus’. This was first self-published in 2008 and received some fantastic reviews even from the best selling UK newspaper book reviewer. Having sold over 1500 we thought that we would try and get our second book published by a publisher without any cost to us and this would also give us some help with the marketing. I'm not sorry we did it this way first as it did give me a good insight into how hard marketing is and there is nothing like 'doing it yourself' to appreciate how hard those guys work!

The sequel, ‘Consequences’, was finished in November 2008 and so I sent it to an agent in London. She liked our work and we met for talks. She advised changes which we made and in spring 2010 she decided that the changes she advised didn't work and told us to send it to another agent or a publisher to see what feedback we got. As they say the rest is history.

The first publisher I sent it to was Caffeine Nights Publishing. They publish mainly crime fiction. It is a small company but the CEO is a crime writer himself. We were very privileged to be given a contract by him for ‘Consequences’. Since this was the sequel to ‘Deadly Focus’ (as well as a standalone book), he also asked if he could republish ‘Deadly Focus’ with some input from his team. We agreed. So in July 2010 we signed two contracts with them.

In May 2011 ‘Deadly Focus' was re published by Caffeine Nights with the full intention of 'Consequences' following soon after - to be honest we didn't know how much mileage there was left in Deadly Focus ... ! However, it went off like a rocket and WH Smiths Travel bought in which meant that as of July 2011 it was in 30 International Airports, Train stations and euro star in the UK. Our publishers thought it was best to hold back on 'Consequences' to let it run its course.

Now we are waiting for a hard copy of 'Consequences' which will be with us by early December and then it will go out to reviewers. It has already had one pre-publication review in August see TracyRiva.com.

Caffeine Nights has contracted the RC Bridgestock series featuring DI Jack Dylan and his partner, Jen.

Very exciting! Where can we find your books?

'Deadly Focus' is available through Amazon.co.uk and .com Amazon.co.uk and it is in ebook form, too. 'Consequences' has already been issued its ISBN numbers and covers. It will be available soon.

What advice do you have for other writers?

For book signings be prepared to become the market trader and sell. A lot of authors sit on the seat provided for them behind a desk, but you don't have to use it. Interact with the customers instead! Also, why not create your own display boards? An A5 sized board can be bought quite cheaply from stationary store. Cover the board with press cuttings, photos and advertisements of your book – even the price. These advertisement boards about you and your novel will build up in time and are well worth investing the effort as they ‘draw in’ the customer and is a good talking point.

Thank you Carol & Bob. To learn more about their writing you can visit them online at RCBridgestock.com.

New Release- Children's book, Marvin Monster's Monsterific Adventures by Tabatha Jean D´Agata

Author Tabatha Jean D´Agata was a redheaded, freckled-faced kid born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. As a child, she aspired to be as heroic and skillful as Nancy Drew, a super-sleuth, but was more like Pippi Longstocking.

Tabatha's respect for characters and their creators enveloped her throughout her childhood and she realized her creative skills thrived within her own writing. Over the years, she has moved past horribly rhymed poetry to carefully plotted stories.

She continued her desire for writing by freelancing and authoring several books for children including Silent Sam, Ick The Stick, Storm Tunes and Pampered Pals. She is also a regularly featured columnist in Parent Express Newspaper.

Today, Tabatha resides in the charming town of Hooksett, NH with her family, and their two dogs. When she isn't writing, she shares her enthusiasm for inventing stories and characters with kids of all ages by visiting schools and libraries!

She is here today to announce her new release, Marvin Monster's Monsterific Adventures, and a contest. The prize is a Marvin Monster Monsterific Character Hat.

Tabatha, tell us about your new book.

Marvin Monster's Monsterific Adventures is part of a Fearless Reader Flip Book Series. It's an 82 page book recommended for children 6-9 years of age. We explore
what happens when a monster doesn't keep his word and when Marvin Monster confronts what might be the most horrific thing to ever happen to Grim Castle Elementary.
Readers join Marvin Monster and his classmates for two fearless adventures in one monster-sized edition! Read BIG DATE and then flip the book over to read TEACHER JITTERS in reverse, it's monsterific!

I admire your creativity. As a successful published author, can you share a writing tip with fellow writers?

What if? I ask myself that question whenever I'm writing a new story, especially fiction. Whether you're a new or seasoned writer, when you utilize 'what if' when building plots, characters or points-of-view the possibilities are limitless.

I also believe problems we encounter in our own daily lives are story opportunities when combined with the hypothesis 'what if'. Ask yourself: What if she had answered the door and it wasn't the mailman? What if his boss had something other than money in the safe? What if the pond in the backyard surfaced human remains? Yes, the possibilities are limitless!

I'm excited to announce the new contest you are offering to readers of my blog. How can we enter?

This contest is called Name That Movie! Here's a quote from one of my favorite movies:

"She taught me everything. About life, hope and the long journey ahead. I'll always miss her. But our love is like the wind. I can't see it, but I can feel it."

If you know which movie this is from, email the title to me for a chance to win a Marvin Monster Monsterific Character Hat. All correct answers will be entered in the drawing on December 4th and the winner will be notified on December 5th.

Thank you Tabatha! To learn more about Tabatha's writing, please visit her web site MarvinMonster.com and her Author Page on Amazon.com.