Little did I know when I made the decision to turn my personal journal into a book to help others that it would take longer to edit, design and publish than to write. When I held Letting Go in my hand for the first time I felt a huge sense of pride and accomplishment. The time and money invested seemed well spent. Being a first-time author I was totally unprepared for what follows the birth of a book.

Now what? Once I went through my circle of influence - friends, family and clients - now how do I find the people who can most benefit from Letting Go? Talk about being unprepared. I’m a pharmacist turned animal communicator. I don’t have a promoter or sales type personality. It’s just not who I am.

Frustration and discouragement crept back into my life. I spent months online trying to follow suggestions of others with more experience. I joined a local writers group in search of people with more experience than I. They became a wonderful source of support and friendship.

While many of the presenters are focused on the craft of writing, we had a wonderful presentation on book promotion by Christy Tillery French. When I went up to thank Christy for all the wonderful information she shared, she offered to review Letting Go. I mailed her a copy immediately. Her lovely review was published on TheMidwestBookReview.com in February 09. 

I followed my publisher’s advice about starting a blog. After only a few posts I received a comment from Carol Upton from Vancouver. Carol has interests in animals and animal communication as well and is a publicist of authors, artists, etc. I followed the path the Universe was showing me and hired Carol as my publicist. What I’d spent months trying to accomplish, Carol did in hours with infinitely more success.

As a result of Carol’s expertise and contacts, I began receiving requests for radio interviews from hosts all over the US and Canada. As the interview requests kept arriving, Carol began to submit articles I’d written. Everyone she’s submitted has been published, some in print and online, some on multiple sites. The positive response from Carol’s efforts lessened my frustration and discouragement.

This summer I’ve had three features published in local magazines and newspapers. One was an article I submitted to “Western North Carolina Women” in July. The other two were from Carol’s efforts. What I didn’t know how to do in my own town Carol accomplished from Western Canada. This month I was featured in “All About Women” in my town. The third article is in “The News Herald,” which is a newspaper about an hour from my home. I believe this illustrates the importance of working with someone that is far more experienced at what you need than you are.

For me, promotion is without a doubt the most challenging part of being an author. I’ve learned that as with everything in life patience is a key element. Everything has its perfect timing. I trust that the Universe knows better than I how to help Letting Go find the people who need it the most, but nothing happens without effort. Once Carol sends me a positive response to her inquiry, it is up to me to pursue the lead. I am still following up with interviews that were offered three months ago. It’s always about timing.

Perseverance is crucial to help survive the ebb and flow of book marketing and sales. I surrender to the timing of the Universe and let it work its wonders. I truly believe the people who are ready to read Letting Go will find it, but it requires that I do all I can to help it find them.

Without pursuit, perseverance and patience, I would have given up on promoting Letting Go by now. Calling on each of these Ps at the appropriate time has allowed me to put the hours into promotion that it requires. Although the promotion of Letting Go has delayed the start of the first of my animal-communication books, I do believe that everything happens for a reason.

Recently I was given a metaphor for all the efforts I’ve put forth promoting Letting Go and my animal work. It’s like pushing a snowball up a mountainside. It’s extremely challenging requiring an enormous amount of effort. But, once you reach the pinnacle with a tap of your little finger it effortlessly rushes down the other side building its own momentum along the way. My friend encouraged me to “keep pushing.”

So, don’t give up when you’re feeling frustrated and discouraged. Muster all the pursuit, perseverance and patience you have and keep pushing until you reach your pinnacle, and then, TAP!

Nancy A. Kaiser lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina surrounded by her family of two Labs and a horse. She operates “Just Ask” Communications, a practice devoted to healing the human-animal bond through enhanced communication and understanding. Her abilities in telepathic animal communication and healing emerged while managing an equine veterinary hospital for 27 years. Nancy is the author of Letting Go: An Ordinary Woman’s Extraordinary Journey of Healing & Transformation and can be contacted via www.NancyKaiserAnimalCommunicator.com.

Within 24 hours of posting “Avoiding the (6) Common Grammatical Errors That Make Authors Look Du…Unprofessional,” the blog received 776 views and 93 comments. That’s evidence of how “hot” the topic of incorrect grammar can be!

The blog post started: in these days of txting, iming and all low caps, its easy to take shortcuts to writing However, even though we now use our keyboards as we once did our phones, what most people do not understand is how unprofessional the improper use of the English language can make an article, and its author, look. Look at the sentence above again. Does it look professionally written to you?
Now, I’m not saying you need to go back to 9th grade English class and try and figure out where your participles are dangling, but making sure you have a command of the basics is essential.

The post went on to list six common errors that make authors look unprofessional. Five of them are what I call Word Trippers—a pair of similar words with different meanings and spellings that can trip people up: loose/lose, affect/effect, it’s/its, their/there, than/then. (The sixth addressed misuse of semicolons, something that riled writer Jeff Rubin so much, he established September 24 as National Punctuation Day.)

Among the blog comments, the most philosophic came from a subscriber named Jenny who wrote, “I am always amazed at how many who consider themselves writers make these mistakes -- which are so easily avoided if one is paying attention. Personally, I think they just don't care. Thanks for a provocative post that is a very good starting point in dealing with a problem that is unfortunately much bigger than those six examples!”

Do They Care?

As an editor who deals with mistakes like these in articles and manuscripts, I endorse Jenny’s observation that the problem is bigger than six examples. But I challenge her statement, “I think they just don’t care.”

Rather, I see three factors at play here:

• People tend to write in a stream-of-consciousness manner, eager to get ideas down (that’s how I approach drafting of my ezine and the initial piece is downright sloppy). In this creative mode, fine tuning isn’t the first priority.
• “Instant messaging” is just that! People seem to be hurrying to move on to the next thing, feeling good about “getting that done” and prematurely declaring the piece complete. They don’t make sure what they’ve written comes across exactly the way they wanted to say it.
• Writers often lack the desire, discipline, or dedication to revisit their prose with a fresh eye, a clear mind, and breathing space to think it through.
  Half-Baked Prose

I call the result of this propensity to write fast, move on, and never look back “half-baked.” After all, you wouldn’t eat a loaf of bread that’s half-baked. Why would you send out a written piece that isn’t fully “cooked” either?

The solution? Take time to put your writing “back in the oven” and question the key elements: the validity of the thoughts, the logical thread of persuasion, and the correct use of each word.

Yes, gremlins such as incorrect grammar and punctuation still get through unintentionally. So do unclear transitions and inexact word choice. Because of these, reviewing your written piece only once simply isn’t enough.

Three Steps to Perfection

I suggest if you habitually add these simple steps, you can “bake” your piece close to perfection:

1. Print your piece and then go to another area to read it aloud as if a 10 year old needed to understand it. You’ll recognize unclear passages quickly that way.
   
   
2. Question each word for its meaning, spelling, and role in the sentence, then take time to look up what you suspect isn’t correct. Don’t rely on memory alone; it can be shaky. Instead, access easy-to-use resources that will make your writing life easier.
   
   
3. Revise, reread, revise, reread . . . until you’re satisfied.
   Above all, slow down and think about your readers, be they 10 years old or 100. No one wants to eat half-baked bread; nor do they want to read partly polished prose. Flavor your writing until it’s “cooked” just right!

Barbara McNichol edits the gremlins out of nonfiction articles and books, and helps authors avoid the pitfalls of half-baked prose. She created Word Trippers: The Ultimate Choice for Choosing the Right Word When It Really Matters as a resource that keeps writers on a professional path. Visit www.barbaramcnichol.com to sign up for her free Word Tripper of the Week ezine or contact her at 520-615-7910