How I Got My Book Deal…

Presented byDenise R. Jacobs

The Miami Empowered Woman Success SummitJune 2010

It’s All About People…

…but it’s not only about

people either, you also

have to trust in…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelastminute/3114650732/

Beautiful Serendipity!

The term serendipity was coined by Horace Walpole, from the Persian fairy tale "The Three Princes of Serendip," whose heroes "were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of.“

- Dictionary.com

The goal

Before…After!

1999 2008

>>

Original plan…

+ +

Oops!

cssdetectiveguide.com

Oops! (I did it again)

interactwithwebstandards.com

What the…?

≠

Serendipity happens

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Before 15 October 2008

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carbonnyc/3268320322/ http://www.flickr.com

On and after 15 October 2008

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February 2009

Oh well… My she-ro My book..?

March 2009

>>

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allaboutgeorge/3368035427/

The. Best. Conference. Ever.

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It was just a standard SXSW party…

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The evening’s progression…

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The goal

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But, en route…Robert

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Wendy

Our conversation…

Let me tell you what I want to do: I want to write and present more.

So, Denise, what do you do?

I have a self-help book that I want to write.

What do you want to write about?

…went like this

I taught web design for 5 years and wrote a guide on troubleshooting HTML for my students. Doing that for CSS would be fun!

I can’t you help there, we publish tech books. I am looking for someone to write a book on troubleshooting CSS code.

Great! Let’s touch base and discuss it after the conference!

This conversation yielded…Book proposal Book Contract Book

Published!

Next stop

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattmay/3359269358/http://www.flickr.com/photos/msjen/3369454918/

This conversation yielded:

An invitation An opportunity A book chapter

People or Serendipity?

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Both!

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One party+two conversations=

+

cssdetectiveguide.com interactwithwebstandards.com

6 Important points:

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Be CLEAR

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( 1 )

Be OPEN

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( 2 )

Be ATTENTIVE

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( 3 )

Be FLEXIBLE

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( 4 )

Be AGGRESSIVE ( 5 )

Be READY

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( 6 )

Post-publishing Awesomeness!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/partsnpieces/493156057/

Creativity, Self-Esteem, and Opportunities

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Client work

Additional writing

Speaking at conferences!

Definitely! Potentially…

Remember:

1) Be CLEAR

2) Be OPEN

3) Be ATTENTIVE

4) Be FLEXIBLE

5) Be AGGRESSIVE

6) Be READY

http://www.flickr.com/photos/figliodiorfeo/2393269886/

Manifest your book deal!

Thank You!

denisejacobs.comdenise@denisejacobs.com

twitter.com/denisejacobs

slideshare.net/denisejacobs

http://www.billwisserphotos.com