(ARA) – It's often said that everyone has a book in them. Ask people around you if this is true and you will probably find that most people's unhesitating response is that their story would make a great book. (The rare exception, the self-effacing man or woman who says, “My life is boring, nobody would be interested in reading about my life” is probably the most interesting one of all!).
Today, the audience for true stories, or fictional accounts of interesting and inspirational lives or experiences, has increased, as media outlets of every kind abound — from print to TV to cable to Internet — all of them hungry for content. Now would seem to be the best time ever for those with a good story to write it down and get it before their targeted audiences. So what's preventing most people — or you, for that matter — from writing your life as a book?
For most people the answer is simple: “I will write it someday. Right now I'm too busy making a living / raising a family / tired at the end of the day to fit in writing time.” A few honest souls will “'fess” up to what is perhaps the primary reason: They just don't have the writing skills.
For public relations and writing partners Judy Katz and Karen St. Pierre, the hunger that most people have to tell their stories, and the paradoxical inertia of all those would-be authors to get started presented a unique and irresistible opportunity. Seeking to set up two home-based but linked satellite offices, Katz and St. Pierre formed a book collaboration company called Your Life as a Book (www.yourlifeasabook.com). Now celebrating their first six months in business, the writer-entrepreneurs say the response has been amazing, even surpassing their wildest dreams.
“Our first business model was that we would be paid to help people write their book and take them through the self-publishing process. Then we would use our public relations skills on their behalf to attract media coverage,” says St. Pierre. “We thought that most of our clients, at least initially, would be CEOs. We knew that for business owners and executives, authoring a quality self-published book can be most helpful to brand and grow their businesses, enhance their own reputations, or even to leave a legacy for their grandchildren.”
What they did not know, Katz interjects, is that “all kinds of people with great stories would come out of the woodwork. This allows us to choose the most interesting stories — the ones we believe have 'legs'.” The pair also could not have predicted that their very first book would be picked up by a major literary agency and auctioned for a six-figure advance. Katz notes: “We also did not realize that people would be willing to pay us handsomely to write fiction-that novel or screenplay that had lived in their heads for years. With projects piling up, we had to rethink our business model so that it would be a winning formula for everyone involved.”
Having worked out the best way to make their venture successful, the two writer-entrepreneurs now have a network of literary agents, publishers and television and film industry executives interested in working with them, and are actively seeking clients. So if you really have a good story to tell, and really want your 15 minutes (or more!) of fame and fortune, you just ran out of excuses!
For a free flyer from Your Life as a Book on the specifics of book collaboration, and the comparative merits of commercial publishing and self-publishing, or to let them know about the merits of your story, write to highqjudy@aol.com or highqkaren@aol.com.
Courtesy of ARA Content, www.ARAcontent.com,
e-mail: info@ARAcontent.com
