Dear Writer…..
Over the years we have discovered that many of our readers have stories to tell, stories with realisations, rich experiences related to health, adventures, research and miracles — often untold. Since we have created this new website with a Sharing Resources section we have opened up our pages to your stories.
Our previous world as publishers taught us some things relative to what works and what doesn't and we offer these simple 'Guidelines for Writers' to help you maximise your effort. Many of you will have great stories to share that can bring hope, wisdom and clarity to others — why not give it a go?
It was Bill William's article 'On Angel's Wings' which you will find in Recommended Reading in Sharing Resources that really opened my eyes. What an amazing story — none of us would have had any idea of the life this man leads in US State Prison or the depth of beauty that is revealed through his story.
If you are going to send articles here are a few things that will help.
Firstly, save time: By providing your photo, your address, your contact details and a simple message on your motivation for writing, ie: a two line sentence encapsulating what it is important for the reader to know.
Minimise the work to prepare your article.
- Text — Send your article as a Word doc attachment and don’t use brackets.
- Pictures — It’s really good if you can attach a .jpeg, head and shoulders colour photo of you. Head and shoulders on, looking at the reader, without shadows and 'red eye' removed.
- Your Bio — Nice to have a short bio at the end of the article to help people get a sense of you.
- Length — You may be surprised if you take the time to pre edit your story how much better it is if you cut out any excess. before sending your article and check spelling and grammar. Ask yourself the 'So what?' question as you read the finished article.
- Content — Allow yourself to develop your own writing style — how you lay the article out, structure and main points you want the reader to see and remember. The golden rule is no self aggrandisement and no advertising your product, project or business unless the story specifically relates an experience around these things and then it must be handled in a sensitive way. If you are writing anything about someone else be sure to check that they agree to the article being published.
Readers do not like being taught or talked down to, they do like to read other people's real experiences. Someone once complained that I told the truth too much and was too vulnerable — how exiting to be able to create disturbance through being honest! Just be upfront, tell it like it is, without flowers or preaching.
Does the article give the reader something practical to relate to? Can they try it out? Is it going to be really helpful? There is a lot of spiritual growth available for 'would-be' writers.
- Becoming an author — You may become so prolific at writing short articles that down the track you start to compile them as individual as chapters for YOUR book. You see, invariably your 'style' will have a theme and one article of expressed realisation will lead to the next — a work in progress.
Publishing Your Book — Today anyone can be a published author. A few years back to get a book published required a minimum of $7,000+ and a big storage area in the back of the garage which in truth never got emptied. Now you can self-publish, electronically through what is called 'On-demand' publishing. If you would like more information about it, just contact us.
Have a great time with this — we do hope that you are inspired and that we will receive your first article one day soon.
Blessings to you all,
Suzanne and Raj