words from the wise

    Attending the Authors Pavilion at the Minesing Library recently, I was chatting with some writers who were asking me about getting published. It brought to mind the comments of my friend Douglas Gibson, former President and Publisher at McClelland & Stewart “the Canadian publishers”. While interviewing Doug on my former TV show “Be My Guest”, he offered a great piece of advice for perspective authors:
    “Put your time and energy into writing the best book you can. Everyone seems focused on ‘How do I find a publisher?’ or ‘How do I find an agent?’ or ‘Should I self-publish?’… all good questions, to be sure. But those are premature issues when you haven't first put your efforts into producing the best writing you can. I understand that getting published is your eventual goal, and I know how challenging that can be, but your first duty to yourself is to refine the creativity in your writing and turn that into the most compelling manuscript you can. Once that’s achieved, and you’ve gone over and over and over it to make it the best it can be… then, and only then, should you start worrying about finding the right enablers to turn your writing into a book.”
     Good advice. Thanks Doug.