----+---TL----+-T--2----T----3--T-+----4T---+---T5----+-T--6----T----R--T-+--r BOOKS FLOW OUT OF MY COMPUTER By Chris H. Stevenson First and foremost, I owe a dept of thanks to Ed Simpson for confirming the fact that a computer can make you extra dollars, part, or full time. He is a staunch advocate of computer literacy, an entrepreneur in his own right, and understands completely the significance that can be gleaned from a modest computer setup and a determined mind. I never set out to be a writer. I was always in awe of my father who sold three best-selling non-fiction books to McGraw Hill Publishing Co. The limelight that surrounds a successful author is often white hot and very contagious. I was too young to appreciate how difficult the road to publishing was. I have since then earned my hard knocks. Writing non-fiction or fiction is not for the faint of heart. When I was 35 years old, I had the audacity (with only a H.S. diploma), to start sending out short stories in the hopes that some magazine would pick up on my talent immediately. After the 42nd rejection I did sell to one of the smaller markets. But then lightening struck, I sold the next 23 stories in a row, three to major magazines which earned me a place as a voting member in the Science Fiction Writers of America. So lets go novel, I thought. I promptly wrote two novels and sent them out to a total of 68 publishers. I was rejected 68 times in a row with form rejection slips. The postage that I had expended for this little foray into no-man's land was very expensive and quite embarrassing. Until. . . A very wise and successful author told me that the best way to break into print with a full length book project was to write "How to" books. Sell information. He said that I should write about what I know and to make sure that I was trying to save money for people, or to impress upon them how to make it. Well, the only thing that I knew really well to do was to hold and sponsor massive garage sales. I went to the library and found that everything written on garage sales and swap meets consisted of 60 page pamphlets. No one had written a full length book on the subject allowing it the dignity it deserved. So, with that ammunition, plus a brother-law who dared me to do it, I wrote GARAGE SALE MANIA in two months flat while working a full-time job. The second, third, and fifth publisher to read that book made me offers which included Allen Publishing, Betterway Publishing, and Prentice Hall. I went with Betterway and the rest is history. In just one year I've sold 10,000 copies, and at 50 cents a book profit, that's not bad for a 60 day part-time project. The book is still going strong. Next, I asked my friend what I should do for an encore. He said "write another one like that, simply, and for the people." He further stated that I should write about what I know. I told him that I had been an auto mechanic and manager for 14 years. He said why don't I reveal to the public all the nasty trick and games that goes on behind the scenes in the auto repair trade. (How the public is cheated). I admitted that I knew the dirty tricks but did not fleece the public. He said, "all the better." As a result of his advice I wrote AUTO REPAIR SHAMS AND SCAMS, the dirtiest laundry that has ever been hung out to dry by a mechanic. Ralph Nader did the introduction and immediately demanded 400 free copies from my publisher, Price Stern and Sloan. It is presently being tagged as the "consumer warning book of 1990" and will be out in print this summer. The first print run is embarrassingly large. (As a result of this second acceptance I quit my full time job). Next my friend warmly told me that since I had "bread and butter" money, I now had the time to burn Stephen King's door down. Why? Because I had already become a known quantity with non-fiction information books. Fiction was my dream, anyway. Low and behold lightening struck for a third time. The Richard Curtis Agency (the second largest in the world) asked me to send in everything I had. I sent them three novels, four non-fiction book proposals, and a screenplay. (I'm very aggressive, I do things in mass quantity). I'm presently waiting to hear from them. But you know what? I know I have it in the bag. I'm 38 years old now. My computer is three years old. Together we have sold two non-fiction books, 23 short stories, eight poems, two radio plays, and 175 newspaper articles. I have been hired by a large newspaper publisher as an editor -- and I grin because my computer does my spelling checks for me. I've been ingested into the Authors Guild, The Science Fiction Writers of America, The Horror Writers of America, The August Derelith Society, and a few more. I've never been to college. I've never had a writing course in my life or visited writing clubs or seminars. I simply checked out all the "how to" books from the library on how to write, studied them and resigned myself to the fact that I wanted fame, friends, and eight by tens more than anyone else. Take writing promotion by the short hairs yourself. Never trust the largest publisher in the world to acquire all that needed publicity. In my case, I worked out a deal. I was allowed to send out my own personal flyers to all the U.S. magazines and inform them that they could have a free review copy of my latest book. And all it would cost them was a phone call to my publisher. The first book, my publisher garnered two national reviews. For $70.00 in stamps, I acquired 17 national reviews including The Enquirer. Did my publisher make a success out of my book? Hardly. I did it. My advice to those who want to write books and see their name in print? #1. Don't write anything that you are not absolutely delirious about. #2. Non-fiction information books outsell fiction books by a ratio of 8-1. The new author stands the best chance of breaking into print with "how to" books since they are less risky to a publisher from a financial standpoint. #3. Self discipline in writing is the key to success. If you don't hammer the keys religiously everyday, every week, for months on end forget it. Success comes to those who manage their time regardless. Procrastination has no part of a writers life. And success comes to those who hustle wisely. Never give up, never say die -- whatever you intend to write. Those who fall by the wayside will leave a wide open chasm for your talents. Don't let yourself down. Want and desire = success. If you want it badly enough, watch out, you'll probably get it. How did I manage success so quickly? I did most of it. But with the facility of the computer, inhouse editing, sending electronic books (disks), and the ease at which I could rewrite anything on the screen via request, I literally wrote circles around people who were pounding typewriters. that was the necessary edge that paid off in the short run. Why do I feel that speed is necessary? It's called production, folks. Simply, Yes, I want to get rich fast because life is too short to get rich slow. Oh yeah...that friend of mine with the good advice? It was Isaac Asimov. THE FAST EASY WAY TO WRITE AND PUBLISH AN OPPORTUNITY BOOK by Ed Simpson $19 from Home Business News, 12221 Beaver Pike, Jackson OH 45640 C