Marc McCutcheon - Damn! Why Didnt I Write That?: How Ordinary People are Raking in $100,000.00 or More Writing Nonfiction Books & How You Can Too!

Praise for

Damn! Why Didn't I Write That?

"Demonstrating how lucrative the publishing industry can be for the right idea at the right time, McCutcheon describes the process from idea, research, query letters, and proposals to agents, contract negotiations and promotion. At each step, he offers insights from personal experience and shares the experiences of several wel -known best-sel ing authors. Both upbeat and practical."

-Library Journal

"This book has everything you need to turn your ideas into cash....Don't delay, because the next bestsel er you see on the shelf could have been yours."

[McCutcheon] real y does offer terrific advice."

-The Tampa Tribune

"McCutcheon shows you how to get in on the action by identifying lucrative publishing niches and fil ing them year after year."

---Quality Paperback Book Club

"...fil ed with the necessary details of not only writing a great nonfiction work, but also how to handle contract negotiations, why you need (or don't need) an agent, writing proposals, marketing and just about any other subject that the writer may need to know."

-Midwest Book Rcz'ieu'

"Practical ideas for any who would not only get published, but make a living in the writing world."

-The Bookzoatch

"Offers common sense advice for getting rich off writing a nonfiction book ...Here's McCutcheon's big idea: Write a nonfiction hook that doesn't already exist, one that wil become a resource, and it wil sel . It may sel slowly, but it wil sel ; and it wil continue to sel and the royalty checks wil continue to pour in."

-Samantha Puckett, St. Petersburg Times

"The title suggests how wonderful y simple ideas presented wil can make for highly successful hooks. The reader is led logical y through the process of finding, researching, and developing a market niche. [McCutcheon's] point is that nonfiction writers can score over and over again. This is a reference book for many writers' libraries. We give it five hearts."

- Bob Spear, The Book Barn

"This is a very different kind of writing book that is extraordinarily fun to read."

-Writers Write, The Internet Writing Journal

o al the kids on Hamilton Street who have drawn nre away from the confines of rnn/ office to play whifflebal , break up fights, shoot hoops, check out salamanders, ants, and Pokernon cards, supply drinks and ice pops, apply bandages, build snow forts, scrounge up wood and nails for tree houses, set up lemonade stands, watch "off-Broadway" productions, witness rubber gloves bloat into the world's goofiest and most explosive water bal oons, listen to gross jokes, marvel at marathon rounds of kick the can, and provide endless excuses not to work when I didn't want to anyway: Kara, Macky, Moira, Danny, Jake, Katie, Annie, Tom, Sam, Beth, James, Dominic, Derek, Matt, Coleman, Andrew, Adam, Alec, Kirsten, Jenny, Kelsey, Daniel J., Sam C., Tyler, and the Donahue girls.

o in Dad, too, whom I miss with al my heart and whose soul quictl y reposes among the squeals and shouts of so many happy children, in the brown-eyed Susans of my backyard garden.

Acknowledgments

For their kind contributions, my sincerest thanks to Skip Barker of the Wilson Devereaux Co.; Dan Bial, literary agent; Nancy Baggett (The International Cookie Book); Vicki Cobb (Science Experiments You Can Eat); Diane Dreher (The Tao of Womanhood); Priscil a Huff (101 Best Home-Based Businesses for Women); Sharon Levy (National Association of Science Writers); Michael Larsen and Elizabeth Pomada, authors and literary agents; Jerry McTigue (Life's Little Frustration Book); Jean Amour Pol y (The Internet Kids and Family Yel ow Pages); Marilyn Ross (Jump Start Your Book Sales); and Dianne Schwartz (Whose Face Is in the Mirror?).

Above al , a giant thanks to Stephen Blake Mettee for al of his critical help in making this the best book it could be.

Contents

The Don't Skip This Introduction Introduction ................................1

Sonic thoughts on the best home business anywhere...Hoze much can a modestly successful author make?... Fiction vs. Nonfiction... Do you have to be a high school dropout to do this?

Could You Have Written Any of These? ...................................... 11

A select representation of the hundreds of titles that earn thousands and even mil ions of dol ars for their authors every year Chapter Two

Nonfiction Success Stories .............................................................. 29

Make a suable income writing nonfiction books...A score or more best- sel iniz titles you could have written Chapter Three

What Kind of Nonfiction Book Should You Write? .................... 42

Nonfiction's top-sel ing topics ...A rundown of the basic nonfiction categories ...A critical ingredient for author success Chapter Four

How to Know if Your Book Idea Wil Fly .................................... 62

Avoid listening to family and friends... Testing your idea... The Great Book Idea checklist Chapter Five

Why You Don't Need a Col ege Degree ....................................... 78

Establishing credibility... Where to find expert information... Contacting experts ...Col aboratinti... "With a foreword by... "

Do You Need an Agent? .................................................................. 94

Fees... Duties and responsibilities ... Representing yourself... Sample agent/author contract... Choosing an agent Chapter Seven

Toughen Yourself to Rejection ..................................................... 113

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger

The Query Letter ............................................................................ 117

Be professional... Sample letters... What to include... What to omit... Anticipate rejections Chapter Nine

The Proposal ................................................................................... 135

The parts... Sample of a successful proposal... Proper format

Negotiating Your Book Contract ................................................. 154

Figuring advances & royalties ... Negotiating the advance... Handling subrig>hts...Sample contract Chapter Eleven

Promotion ...................................................................................... 178

Working With your publisher's publicist... Obtaining prepublication blurbs ...Promotion to-do checklist... Resources Chapter Twelve

Lean and Mean: The Secrets to Ful -Time Writing Success ..... 194

It's a business... 1, 000 Words a day... Focus... A writer's checklist for success Chapter Thirteen

A Grab Bag of Tips ......................................................................... 210

Beating the block... Entitling titles... Writing tips... Finding more time to Write The Author's Bundle of Rights ............................................................... 231

Standard Format for Book Proposals and Manuscripts ....................... 233