The Blueprint for Writing & Publishing

By Naleighna Kai and J. L. Woodson

The Blueprint is the one book most authors wished they had before they took a bite of the publishing apple.

USA Today bestselling author, publisher, and literary agent, Naleighna Kai, and award-winning, #1 bestselling author and graphic designer, J. L. Woodson, share their insight, wisdom, and publishing journeys—from self-publishing, to landing deals with a traditional publishing house, and achieving worldwide success.

The experiences Kai and Woodson share will help aspiring writers learn from the mistakes they made along the way. They will also know how to make informed decisions about the best path to take.

If this book does not inspire you to get off your butt and write … nothing will.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macro Publishing Group
• Release date: Jun 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9781952871436

Naleighna Kai

Her name is pronounced (Na-Lay-nah Ki) which means "the determined one is present." Naleighna is the author of Every Woman Needs a Wife, and co-author of How to Win the Publishing Game. Naleighna, a Chicago native who began writing in December of 1999, now pens fiction, romance, erotica, new age, and science fiction. She works for a major law firm in Chicago and incorporates that background into her characters, infusing them with humor and depth that rings with authenticity.

Book preview

The Blue Print for Writing & Publishing

THE BLUE PRINT FOR WRITING & PUBLISHING

NALEIGHNA KAI

J. L. WOODSON

THE MACRO PUBLISHING GROUP

CONTENTS

1. See, What Had Happened Was …

2. Decisions, Decisions

3. Steps to Take

4. Know Your Why

5. Never Forget That Your Voice is Important Too

6. Taking the Redline

7. Editing is a Humbling Experience

8. A Book is Judged by Its Cover

9. From the Inside Out

10. My Top 5 Marketing & Promotion Tips

11. Find Your Writing Tribe

The Write Stuff

The Marketing Stuff

Resources

Naleighna Kai

J. L. Woodson

Merry Hearts Series

Kings of the Castle Series

Knights of the Castle Series

Queens of The Castle Series

Grateful Hearts Series

This book is solely intended for the use of helping aspiring writers or published authors on the quest to become better writers or marketers or widening their visibility. The information shared is based on the authors' personal experience, and any advice therein should be weighed against current circumstances and what is currently available from other sources on a consumer level.

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The Macro Group, LLC

www.naleighnakai.com

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The Blueprint for Writing & Publishing © 2022 by The Macro Group, LLC

ISBN: 9781952871436

Some Excerpts are taken from Baring it All: The Ins and Outs of Publishing (which is out of print)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, or photocopying or stored in a retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages to be included in a review.

Cover designed by: J. L. Woodson www.naleighnakai.com

SEE, WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS …

Naleighna Kai’s Path to publishing:

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Originally self-published, then a contributing author to a New York Times bestselling anthology published by an imprint of Simon & Schuster, had a novel picked up by that same imprint, then back to being self-published and picked up by an independent publishing house; finally founded an author mastermind support group to co-publish special projects and to market and cross-promote each other. Created NK’s Tribe Called Success.

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Once upon a time, an aspiring writer had to (a) jump through hoops, (b) sleep with someone, or (c) petition the literary gods to get a book published. Okay, I might be exaggerating a bit (there is no literary casting couch!), but if you ask a few authors who received mainstream deals, I’m not too far off the mark.

Over the years, a path less traveled was made readily available: self-publishing. Self-publishing platforms have made it easy for authors to get a book into print and into the hands of avid readers.

Self-publishing affords the author the ability to familiarize themselves with the process of putting a book together from beginning to end, and it helps them gain a better appreciation for what mainstream publishers do on a larger scale. Equally, it allows the author to build a following which they can use as a negotiating point when attempting to go mainstream.

Several authors who started on the self-publishing path eventually made it onto The New York Times Bestseller list. Case-in-point, Louise L. Hay’s self-published book, You Can Heal Your Life, was on The New York Times Bestseller list for thirteen consecutive weeks. She went on to start her own house and publish other dynamos such as Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Suze Orman, Doreen Virtue, Sandra Brown, Tavis Smiley, and many others.

The self-published Romancing the Stone series, written by Catherine Lanigan under the pen name of Joan Wilder, was on The New York Times Bestseller list for several weeks and was eventually made into several movies. Robert T. Kiyosaki was turned down by several major houses before he published his own book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, then hit it big on The New York Times Bestseller list. That just goes to show that the major houses don’t always recognize which books will strike a chord among readers. Most people don’t even know that John Grisham’s A Time to Kill was rejected (that’s right, I said the R word) by several major houses before The Firm was picked up by a publisher who then published A Time to Kill (which, in my opinion, is his best work!). While he didn’t self-publish, he didn’t let the R word deter him either.

But let’s explore more of those authors who did what it took to get their stories out there.

Mary B. Morrison left a six-figure salary government job to write, publish, and promote her own book, landing a six-figure deal with a major house shortly thereafter.

The late, great E. Lynn Harris, famous for his pop the trunk sales technique where he went door-to-door to beauty salons and other local venues with his first self-published title, eventually landed a deal and had several books on The New York Times Bestseller list as well.

Kimberla Lawson Roby, too, enjoyed success as a self-published author before an agent landed her with a major house. After years of success, she eventually commanded a million-dollar deal.

Pat G-Orge-Walker told her story in a pamphlet and was picked up by a major publishing house. At the time of this writing, she’s a national bestselling author and has had a twenty-plus year career with that publisher.

See a trend here?