Besides PublishersLunch.com, which I have suggested before as an important tool to help you with your publishing strategy, another side, http://querytracker.net/index.php may also be helpful. Take a look at what the site offers free of charge, a way to track submitted query letters. Scads of literary agents are also listed as well as some publishers and I like the site’s warning, “Never give money to a literary agent.”

Hope this information is helpful. Now go write “one true sentence” as Mr. Hemingway used to say.

Many who visit this blog site are most kind with their comments but somehow do not realize that it is possible to download my book, How To Become a Published Author: Idea to Publication, free of charge. Free! Yes, free, that magic word we all love.

To do so, simply download the various chapters posted above this posting. By doing so, you will learn practical information designed to guide your process toward becoming published. And also learn about the evils of subsidy publishing, a dragon is there ever was one.

More information is also available at my website, www.markshawbooks.net. Don’t hesitate let me help you. I love helping aspiring authors.

reviews.cnet.com /self publishing

Good information all around, especially regarding all of the scams there are that trap unsuspecting writers into believing a subsidy publisher is their best friend. This is simply not true, as this article points out.

One example, my new Thomas Merton biography has become quite a testy book for some people, especially those who want to protect his squeaky-clean reputation and not expose the truth about his love affair with a student nurse half his age. Take a look at this article in Religion News Services (http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/rnstext/book_about_mertons_affair_stirs_up_controversy/) or check out www.markshawbooks.net for more information.

Mark Shaw’s latest captures a most controversial period of time in the life of a very enigmatic personality, Thomas Merton. Mr. Shaw doesn’t fail to envelop the reader in a fair, honest, provocatively enlightening, and highly entertaining read. Mr. Shaw treats his subject with dignity, sensitivity, and profound reverence. For followers of Merton, this is a must read. For those just now learning about Merton or those barely acquainted with the man and his work, “Beneath the Mask” cannot be more recommended.

That’s from Peter Mursak, a fellow monk of Merton’s. More at www.markshawbooks.net. Savings at amazon.com

If you want to read one man’s opinion about this state of affairs, I encourage all hemingwaywantabes to read The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder by former Mansion prosecutor and best selling author Vincent Bugliosi. Despite being ignored by the media, the book hit the NY Times bestseller list this week because Vince, as he always does, actually researches his topics and then tells the truth based on the facts. Amazing, huh, but Vince actually believes in this way of living. Bless this man, I say – what a refreshing change of pace from writers who merely make up the facts to fit their storyline.

I’m about a third of the way through this book and while I don’t agree with everything Vince says (I may call him Vince because we know each other with him having written a jacket cover endorsement for my biography of famed attorney Melvin Belli)), he speaks with straight tongue when it comes to describing Bush and his lack of real love for this country. The insights presented, if one keeps an open mind while reading, certainly help one understand why there is no question Bush is the worst president we have ever had, with the only shining light right now that the ego-driven, holier-than-thou pres will be gone in six months. Thank you Lord.

For my part, I feel very sorry for the pres and pray for him for he has no idea what chaos he has caused. But you don’t need my opinion – read Vince’s and then tell me what you think.

Hemingway’s honed his craft as a newspaper correspondent for the Toronto Star. Soon he had gained a reputation for vivid description and the ability to present characters as if they were standing right next to readers. When he began to write fiction, this trait aided his efforts and the result is many of the great books in history.

We may learn from Hemingway about rejection and never giving up. In Step 8 of “How to Become a Published Author: A to Z” that you may download or print out from this weblog, I talk about these subjects. And I do so from experience. When my first book, Down for the Count, chronicling the Mike Tyson rape trial, was published, the reviews nationwide were terrific. But my hometown newspaper critic hammered the book with the headline, “Shaw’s book on Tyson worthless.” After I yelled and screamed for a few minutes at the disappointment, i finally settled down and said, “I’ll show that critic. I’ll just write another book.” I did, and it did well, and fifteen years later, I have had nearly twenty books published with more on the way.

Hemingwaywantabes, never, ever let anyone tell you that you cannot do something. And don’t let rejection cause you grief. Learn from what you hear, but then keep going forward, using the rejection as inspiration like Hemingway did. This will help you when you are trying to find a literary agent or a publisher for your book, because as I tell writers at my seminars, it only takes one to say “yes.” Keep the faith, keep trying, and in the end, you will find the success you are looking for.

The length of a book isn’t even close to as important as the content. A compelling story of any length is publishable and there are many examples of such books. Look at Tuesday’s with Morrie, or Marley and Me in the non-fiction area, or even Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast, one of my favorites. All these books are not lengthy, but the stories are gripping, true page-turners because of the pacing, the tempo, and the refreshing voice of the writer shining through.

So, Hemingwaywantabes, when you are assessing the viability of your book, first check the story to see if there is a terrific beginning, middle and end. This must be true with every sentence, every paragraph, and every chapter. Then take a good look at your characters, are they exciting, unpredictable, and unusual? Are they realistic, and have you permitted them to move forward, to grow, with drama and surprise as the text moves along. Remember that no book worth publishing may be labeled with the dreaded “B” word – boring! Make your book pages leap out at readers, excite them as they read every word you have written.

These ideas and more are featured in the good writing section of “How to Become A Published Author: A to Z” book that you may download free of charge on this blogsite. Read it when you have time, and then please send along questions so that I may help you. Meanwhile, blessings for your writings and for inspiration’s sake, keep saying “I will be published.”