In January we asked you to write nine ridiculous writing resolutions for 2009.

Shannon Toussaint sent this winning entry:

My Ridiculous Writing Resolutions for 2009

1. In 2009, I plan to write ten (yes, 10) words for every breath I take. If I happen to get behind in writing those words, I will hold my breath until I catch up.

2. I resolve to type every work on a typewriter, then personally count all words, keeping a running total in my head. If I lose count, I will start over from page one and try again until I finally finish. Then I will go through and count all the words again just to make sure I didn't miss any. I will pause for no reason. I will not eat or relieve myself and will throw paperclips at all people that try to interfere with my work.

3. I will write in one new character for every person I see. Therefore, if I am in a crowded place, I will count every person there and create that many new characters.

4. I resolve to talk in only the dialogue I have written for my characters that day. Thus, if I have not written any dialogue that day, I will cease from talking for a whole twenty-four hour period-much to the relief of the people around me. I will also speak in a different voice for each character, so that all may know who is talking.

5. They say (I've never been sure who exactly THEY are, but THEY say) a picture is worth a thousand words. Therefore, I resolve to write exactly 1000 words about every picture I see, not 999 or 1001, exactly 1000 words. And in regards to resolution number one, these words do not count.

6. I resolve to throw a fit in a public place for every bad critique I receive this year. I will lie on the ground crying, screaming, and pounding the floor until I am thrown out of said public place.

7. I resolve to write a novel completely backwards this year. In this novel, the sentence you just read would read: .sdrawkcab yletelpmoc levon a etirw ot evloser I

8. I will learn to type in my sleep . . . for if I do not, I will not be able to accomplish resolution number one. They have a commercial of someone texting in their sleep, why not learn to type in my sleep? And hey, if I could learn to control my fingers with my subconscious, maybe I could finally remember all the dreams I have.

9. And last of all, I have decided that everyone will stop calling me by my given name and will be known as simply "The Writer." I will fill out all paperwork with first name: The; last name: Writer. Any person that calls me by any other name will be completely ignored and have chocolate pudding poured over their head, whether friend, enemy, family, or stranger.

Shannon Toussaint became interested in writing after her first semester in college. She's now in the process of editing her novel before sending it out. She lives in West Virginia.

There are so many books about writing, but this is the first one I've read that talks about building an author platform - before you even sell a book! I never really gave this much thought, but after reading Get Known Before the Book Deal, I now realize just how important this is to your success.

So what is an author platform? Christina best describes it as "all the ways you are visible and appealing to your future, potential, or actual readership." Making yourself visible can include classes you teach, articles you've published, your web site and any other means you have to make yourself known to a future readership - and more importantly to editors and agents.

In Get Known Before the Book Deal, Christina guides you step-by-step in an easy to read and easy to understand format. She teaches you how to find, cultivate and grow your platform. Whether you're outgoing or a bit shy, this book offers ways you can overcome fear and market yourself in a way that best fits your personality.

The book has 36 chapters that are broken down into three parts. Although I'm only going to name a few chapters from each part, you'll be able to see how much information this book truly contains.

Part One: Platform Ready includes the following chapters - Becoming Visible, Crafting Your Niche (for fiction writers), Meeting Your Readership, Ditch Your Resistance and Act From Passion.

Part Two: Platform Set includes chapters - Join In, Connect With Others, Teach To Learn, Step Outside Your Comfort Zone and Get Articles In Print.

Part Three: Platform Grow includes chapters - Name Game, Build A Bio, Be Camera Friendly, Broadcast Your Blog and One-Page It All.

As I said before, the above is not a complete list of chapters - there are many more! There are also exercises, questions and suggestions to get you started.

I highly recommend this book to both unpublished and published writers. In fact, I'm sending a copy to my multi-published friend. However, this isn't a book on how to promote your book - it's about promoting yourself, gaining confidence, building your platform and finding places to showcase that platform in order to gain sales both before the book is sold and after the book is on the shelves. And even if you don't have experience and/or you don't have a lot of money to spend on self-promotion, this book will help you in those areas as well.

I want to end by saying I love the way Christina formats her books. They're easy to follow and truly give you step-by-step instructions. Christina is also warm, honest and inspiring. She knows what she's talking about and shares it in a way that your best friend would because she believes in you and wants to see you succeed.

Get Known Before the Book Deal; Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform, is published by Writer's Digest Books and is available everywhere books are sold.

You can also learn more by visiting Christina Katz at: www.christinakatz.com

After discussing publishing terms with a friend the other day, I decided to put together a quick list. I only did 10, but they're important ones.

Writing is a business as well as a creative venture and although your fabulous agent will handle the contracts and royalties, you should still learn and understand the terms :)

Advance: An advance is the money paid to an author prior to publication. Normally, a percentage is paid in installments: when the book is sold, upon delivery of the full manuscript and then upon publication. Publishing Houses vary and advances are based upon their contracts.

ARC: This stands for "Advance Review Copy." An ARC is a book that has been through the editing process, but may still contain typos and isn't ready for final print. An ARC is sent to booksellers and reviewers months in advance in order for them to complete a review by the book's release date. It should also be noted that ARC can also stand for "Advance Reading Copy."

Auction: When your book goes to auction, this means multiple publishers are interested. Your agent will handle the bidding and determine which of the bidders is offering the best combination of money and contract terms. However, the author makes the final decision and there's normally a vetting process involved prior to the start of the auction.

Backlist: A backlist pertains to an author's previous books. This can be good when a reader likes an author's current book and decides to buy older ones. Unfortunately, some backlist books are no longer in print.

Earn Out: When enough copies have been sold to repay the advance and produce royalties. Basically, if you start receiving royalties, you've earned-out. When this happens, it can be beneficial to both the publisher and author for the next book. For the publisher, it means they may take more risks with the author in the future as far as print runs. For the author, it means more sales, more royalties.

Galley: This is a typeset version of an author's book prior to publication. Editors and authors use this copy to make corrections before the book is sent to the printer.

Midlist: These titles will generally sell enough copies to cover an author's advance and other costs to the publisher, but they don't generate huge sales.

Pre-empt: When a publisher is eager to acquire a book during auction, they'll offer a very large amount of money to stop all bids and seal the deal immediately.

Returns: Copies that a bookseller didn't sell. Booksellers return these copies for credit from the publisher. In order for a bookseller to receive credit for paperbacks, the covers are stripped before they're returned. It must be noted that it's illegal to resell books with no covers. When you buy a stripped book at a garage sale, you're actually depriving the author of royalties.

Sell-Through: The amount of shipped books that are actually sold. This is how publishers get their sales figures. They take the amount of books shipped and subtract the number of books returned. So if 50,000 copies went out and 35,000 copies are sold, an author's sell-through would be 70%.

Lang Buchanan author of Micah's Child, is excited to announce the May 2009 release of The Fat Boy Chronicles.

The Fat Boy Chronicles delves into the issues of teenage obesity and its psychological impact on youth. Told through the voice of Jimmy Winterpock, an overweight teenager, the story paints an offbeat and often sardonic view of growing up in today's world.

Health classes across the country will be reading it to create dialogue about teasing, bullying, obesity and the golden rule.

Lang Buchanan is the writing team of Diane Lang and Michael Buchanan. You can visit them at: www.langbuchanan.com

Congratulations, Michael and Diane! I wish you much success!

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Boosting Your Baby's Brain Power, by Susan M. Heim and Holly Engel-Smothers, was recently awarded a Mom's Choice Award® and an iParenting Media Award for the "2009 Best Products"! This book offers practical and fun ways for parents to develop and nurture maximum brain power from the womb to baby's first birthday.

To learn more, please visit: www.susanheim.com

Congratulations, Susan and Holly!

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Highspot, Inc.

I found this blog recently and it has some interesting posts about publishing.

Check it out at: www.highspotinc.com/blog

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The Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group will be hosting their annual "The Write Stuff '09" conference on March 27th & 28th.

They'll have multi-genre workshops and you can pitch your book to agents and editors.

For more information, please visit: www.GLVWG.org

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Philadelphia Writers' Conference, Inc.

This is the 61st Anniversary of the Philadelphia Writers' Conference. It includes three days of workshops, agents and editors, contests, critiques and special features.

The conference will be held from June 12th thru June 14th. For more information on how to register, please visit: www.pwcwriters.org

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17th Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Awards

There are 10 categories and the Grand Prize Winner receives $3,000 in cash and promotion in Writer's Digest and Publishers Weekly and a lot more!

Deadline to enter is May 1, 2009.

For more information, please visit: www.WDSPA

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Last month I talked about the greatest job in the world in Australia, well I received this information about a writing contest to win a cottage in Hawaii. I can't personally verify this contest, so please proceed with caution if you wish to enter. There's also a $101.00 entry fee.

ESSAY 101 - CONTEST OF A LIFETIME

Please visit www.WinHawaiianHome.com for all the details.

Essay 101 is a contest of skill with a Grand Prize of a beautiful, never-before lived-in, custom-built home (affectionately called "The Sweetheart Cottage") on the Big Island of Hawaii.

My daughter went to Hawaii last summer and is now obsessed with going to college there and/or living there. Maybe I'll have her enter :)

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Bobbie Christmas is the "Book Doctor" and Author of Write In Style, a triple-award-winning textbook for writers of fiction and nonfiction, available wherever books are sold. Bobbie loves to receive questions from writers and offer her expert advice. If you have any questions you need answered, please e-mail her at: Bobbie@zebraeditor.com

For the latest Q&A with Bobbie, go to AskTheBookDoctor on the CS4W site.

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If you have an announcement you would like to share with us, please send it to: sandy@coolstuff4writers.com with "Announcement" in the subject line.

I love to hear from you!

Peace,

Sandy

email: sandy@coolstuff4writers.com

phone: 732-276-6573

web: http://www.coolstuff4writers.com