Question for Bill Quimby!

[Snapshot]

Hey Bill,

 

Do you remember a writer named "Ben East"? I came across a book that belonged to my Dad. It is titled, "Survival -23 true sportsman adventures" Circa 1967. I recall reading other stories of his years ago? I just can't remember what?

 

 

I still need to get my butt in gear and finish my book one of these days. It will probably never be good enough to get published, but I will feel better if I finish it.

[billrquimby]

Hey Bill,

 

Do you remember a writer named "Ben East"? I came across a book that belonged to my Dad. It is titled, "Survival -23 true sportsman adventures" Circa 1967. I recall reading other stories of his years ago? I just can't remember what?

 

 

I still need to get my butt in gear and finish my book one of these days. It will probably never be good enough to get published, but I will feel better if I finish it.

 

Yes, I remember the byline but I never got to meet Ben East. I seem to remember that a lot of his material included "as told to" stories of other people who had experienced close encounters with dangerous game. He was a regular contributor to one of the "Big Three" outdoor magazines (Outdoor Life, Field and Stream, and Sports Afield), but I've forgotten which.

 

You may want to search the internet for tips about getting your book published. Most sites probably will tell you that you should wait until after you've sold your concept to a publisher before you actually sit down to write the complete manuscript.

 

To sell that concept, you will need to write a query letter that explains what you plan to do and includes reasons why such a book will sell, why you are the person to write it, and how you will help sell it, along with a detailed outline of the book's content and a sample chapter or two.

 

Each publisher will have his own requirements. The larger houses will not even look at a proposal that does not come through a literary agent.

 

You also may want to consider self-publishing your book. The risks are greater, but so is the financial reward if it sells even reasonably well.

 

Bill Quimby

 

 

 

[Snapshot]

Thanks Bill!

 

A few years back I bought a large book on Publishing. It is informative on everything from self publishing,to dealing with the mega publishing houses, and everywhere in between.

 

 

[Jimmer Negamanee]

I still need to get my butt in gear and finish my book one of these days. It will probably never be good enough to get published, but I will feel better if I finish it.

The bright side about getting it out on paper is that that you'll be able to stop it from rattling around the ol' cabeza, at least for a while. And don't let the "not good enough" hobgoblin slow you down. The first draft is to get the idea out. You'll fine tune it and add finishing touches (or make major revisions) once you start going over it again. As they say: "Writers don't write. They rewrite."

 

Well, that's my unsolicited $.02. Good luck and keep writing!

 

 

[Kilimanjaro]

I want to sit down when I'm older and jot all my memories and experiences onto paper and bind them up too, Brent...

 

I think it'll be great to be able to put all that down onto paper instead of just having it float around in my head, just as Jimmer said.

[Snapshot]

Thanks for the words of encouragement!

 

I just have to motivate myself to get it done.

 

As I am one of the millions of misplaced workers in an industry that may take years to recover, and also, I am quite burned out on my proffession anyway. I have decided to possibly go back to college,and finish what I started many years ago.

This will give me the opportunity to polish my writing and editing skills.

[CouesWhitetail]

One of the nice things about a site like this is that if you write up your hunts and post them to share with people here, it's easy to print them out and then you have them in case you want to remember the hunt years from now (or to publish in a book).

 

Amanda

 

[EBB]

I want to sit down when I'm older and jot all my memories and experiences onto paper and bind them up too, Brent...

 

I think it'll be great to be able to put all that down onto paper instead of just having it float around in my head, just as Jimmer said.

Just a friendly word of advice. Outline them now. I have people say to me frequently, "remember when you"

and I DON"T! I'm only 55.

EBB

[tjhunt2]

I want to sit down when I'm older and jot all my memories and experiences onto paper and bind them up too, Brent...

 

I think it'll be great to be able to put all that down onto paper instead of just having it float around in my head, just as Jimmer said.

Just a friendly word of advice. Outline them now. I have people say to me frequently, "remember when you"

and I DON"T! I'm only 55.

EBB

 

Scottyboy.....if you sit down when you're older to jot down your memories it will be to late. As nasture has a way of stripping away some of our memory. When your young you don't see it but believe me and others, like EBB, it will happen. Take the time, at the end of the day, to write it down. You will grow old and the CRS will take over before you know it.

 

TJ

 

[billrquimby]

I want to sit down when I'm older and jot all my memories and experiences onto paper and bind them up too, Brent...

 

I think it'll be great to be able to put all that down onto paper instead of just having it float around in my head, just as Jimmer said.

Just a friendly word of advice. Outline them now. I have people say to me frequently, "remember when you"

and I DON"T! I'm only 55.

EBB

 

Scottyboy.....if you sit down when you're older to jot down your memories it will be to late. As nasture has a way of stripping away some of our memory. When your young you don't see it but believe me and others, like EBB, it will happen. Take the time, at the end of the day, to write it down. You will grow old and the CRS will take over before you know it.

 

TJ

 

Good advice from everyone. Of the thirteen books I've had published since I retired in 1999, ten were the memoirs of Weatherby Award winners who had taken 200 to 300 different TYPES of big game animals in more than two dozen countries on six continents. All of them had journals/diaries and hundreds of photos of their hunts. Using these, along with 75-100 hours of face-to-face interviews, I was able to write their books.

 

So my suggestion is, do more than outlines now. Details add color and you will forget those details if you don't write them down and preserve them. You don't have to write in article form, just record the details.

 

My own book was written after a client's business went south, leaving me six months without a project. For some of the chapters I had access to newspaper and magazine articles I'd written many years earlier, but most of the others were dragged out of my memory banks. It was tough to do, and those chapters suffered.

 

Incidentally, it is amazing to me what a great resource the internet is. There literally are dozens of sites out there that are of great value to anyone who is thinking about writing articles and books.

 

Bill Quimby