And as promised, DRM-free. iBooks isn’t working as expected, so you’ll only be able to find the first two lessons there right now. The other three have been loaded just as long, but have not gone live yet. The print versions aren’t yet available because I haven’t had time to put them together.
HTTS LESSON 1:
HTTS LESSON 2
HTTS LESSON 3
HTTS LESSON 4
HTTS LESSON 5
I’m proofing the next batch of lessons today. š
Right now, even.
Hi Holly, I have completed my Children’s Novel and have got together a short list of Literary Agents who publish this genre.
Should I keep going on this track or look at self-publishing.
I self-published a collection of short stories in Australia in 2009.
It was hard work and I’m not looking for the easy way out but a comment from you would be appreciated.
Regards Colin
After publishing all my work commercially since 1992, I’ve walked away from commercial publishing to self-publish.
Your mileage may vary—and the fact that I’ve done 30+ novels through commercial publishing DOES offer me an instant legitimacy for my self-pubbed work that someone with no such credits is going to have to work hard to match.
But there are plenty of writers who have only self-pubbed who are building amazing careers.
You have to look at your reasons for considering each path, and choose the one that’s right for you. Either way, it’s a big decision, and one no one else can make for you.
I bought the five books as soon as they dropped, and so far I’ve worked through the first lesson (and peeked, in a naughty manner, at the other four). The course seems unlike anything I’ve seen before–in a good way. I’m SO excited to see the next ones come out, Holly. Thank you so much for making this available to us.
The course is “How I did (and do) it.” How I got published in the first place, how I come up with exactly the ideas I need when I need them, how I’ve successfully switched genres, how I finish projects, how I hit deadlines, how I worked with commercial publishers, how I now self-publish, how I managed to work full-time as a mid-lister for seventeen years in an industry that kills most midlist careers by Book 3.
All translated into step-by-step “How you can do it, too.”
Think Sideways isn’t going to be like anything else out there, simply because this is the system I invented to keep food on our table while working one of the strangest (and traditionally most unreliable) jobs on the planet.
I’m delighted you’re already finding it useful.
Hi Holly,
I was a student with this course but had to pull out for financial reasons and got to lesson 12 I believe. Are you going to release the whole course over time as I think it is one of the best writing courses I have ever embarked on?
Cheers
BobW
I meant add: Love your book covers š
And thank you. I did the basic design, and my husband critted the daylights out of it while I made changes until I got it right.
Iām pretty happy with the final look.
Yes. All 29 lessons are going up. It’s just taking me freaking forever to make the time to do the copyedits and get everything back to my formatter.
And thank you. I’m delighted you found the course useful.
I’m hoping the stripped-down new format will let a lot of new writers take the course in spite of the current economy. And an upgrade with a lot of the goodies Legacy contained is still available for those with deeper pockets.
I had a wonderful writing career going in the late ’60’s and into early ’90’s then dropped out due to a devastating family illness. In 2004 I re invented myself by attempting to jumpstart my career, this time focusing on writing novels. This is a calling I have felt for a long time. However, the publishing climate is very diff now from when I was riding high. Editors and publishers with whom I had very good contacts are no longer working in the business. The arena of publishing is so different today and I often feel like chucking the whole thing. I am now a “mature” writer with many stories inside of me but trying to find an agent who will sign me has become frustrating. Yet I continue to persevere as I feel the characters I am creating are crying out for release…..in book form. There are about a dozen of these some just begun, others in various stages of completion in my office files. Should I just keep plugging? Is there a shortcut to finding someone who will appreciate what my writing offers or ? The most difficult aspect is the fact that agents want to read only completed manuscripts. In my flourishing past I never had to do this. I just presented an idea or outline and met a deadline. I seem to have a stumbling block that keeps me from just writing to completion without the knowledge that there is interest at the end. I am rambling so will close. You are an inspiration Holly. Thanks.
I COMPLETELY understand where you’re coming from.
Commercial publishing changed in the 17 years I was doing it full-time, and not for the better.
I’ve left commercial publishing to move my work to self-publishing.
It pays better, it pays on time, you keep your work in print, you own and control your rights, and NO ONE will ever tell you that you must dumb down your work because readers aren’t smart enough to get it.
I told an editor that mine were, and had it explained to me that MY readers weren’t the readers I was trying to reach.
Except MY readers are exactly who I’m trying to reach. By self-publishing, I get to write for them, and not for this mysterious publishing El Dorado of readers who buy books but are too stupid to understand them.
Oh. And self-publishing isn’t a shortcut. Not if you’re doing it right. Done right, it’s more work than dealing with a publisher.
You do, however, get to guarantee that every book you write WILL be published.
And you never have to write a spec outline and three sample chapters again.