Name:

Hometown: Dexter, NY

Book Title: Written in the Stars

Genre: Fictional Romance

Dorrance Publishing (DP): Describe your book in 10 words or less.

Lorie O’Brien (LO): A story about love and loss.

DP: What made you want to write your book?

LO: I have always dreamed of being a writer. As I got older, I would come up with characters and ideas and write things in a journal. In September 2018, a dear friend of mine passed away unexpectedly at the age of 47. His passing made me realize how short life was and that I needed to make my dream come true.

DP: How long did it take you to write your book?

LO: It took about six months to write the book. If I had been able to write full-time I would’ve been able to finish it sooner.

DP: How do you choose the names of your characters?

LO: A few of the names of the characters in Written in the Stars are actually the names of several people I went to high school with.

DP: What do you do when you have writer’s block?

LO: I am an avid runner. I love it because it helps me to leave everything behind and clear my mind. It’s great for writer’s block. I’ve gotten some of my best ideas worked out while running.

DP: What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

I think my favorite part was Part 2 with some of the twists that were thrown into the story. The ending was fun to write as well.

DP: If you were stuck on an island and had to have one person from each category with you, who would they be and why:

a. One character from your book:

LO: I would definitely pick Mac. Although he wasn’t one of the main characters from the book, to me he was the sweetest and most caring of them all.

b. One fictional character:

LO: Honestly, probably Marley from Marley and Me because I love dogs more than people!

c. One famous person (living or dead):

LO: I would probably want to spend my time on an island with Matthew McConaughey because I love the sound of his voice and his accent.

DP: Besides writing, what are your other interests?

LO: I’m an avid runner, and I just ran my first half marathon in September 2019.

DP: Do you keep a journal?

LO: Sometimes I do, but mostly I’m so busy on the road with my job that I just send myself voice emails throughout the day when I have things I need to remember.

DP: How did you celebrate the publishing of your book?

LO: My husband and I went out to dinner with our two daughters.

DP: If your book was made into a movie, who would play the main characters?

Mac… Adam Gregory
Lindsey… Analeigh Tipton
Dylan… Luke Benward
Michael… James Maslow
Melissa… Eleanor Tomlinson

DP: What did you enjoy most about working with Dorrance Publishing?

LO: Dorrance gave me the freedom to pretty much make the book what I wanted it to be without much tweaking on their end.

DP: Five favorite books of all time?

1. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Piccoult
2. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
3. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
4. Every Fifteen Minutes by Lisa Scottoline
5. The Pact by Jodi Piccoult

DP: One sentence of advice for other writers:

The best advice I could give is to be patient and let the story come at its own pace, don’t force it.

Are you ready to publish your book? Contact us today!

The post Author Spotlight: Lorie O’Brien appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Hometown: Reno, Nevada

Book Title: The Disney Apprentice: Transferable Lessons Learned

Genre: Non-Fiction

Dorrance Publishing (DP): Describe your book in 10 words or less.

Chuck Shields (CS): Stories in Disney culture, leadership, and transferable best practices.

DP: What made you want to write your book?

CS: My wife and daughter, who work with me in my consulting practice, urged me to take time out to share my Disney stories and experiences. I wanted organizations to understand how many of the best practices and cultural interventions designed at Disney can be successfully integrated into other organizations. My challenge at ManorCare/Choice Hotels Intl. was to see if we could use several of the best practices in an entirely different industry. It worked and we set new standards for the healthcare industry for Talent Management.

DP: How long did it take you to write your book?

CS: Eight months. Included fun stories, best practices, lessons learned, and Disney trivia.

DP: How do you choose the names of your characters?

CS: Used actual people and experiences.

DP: What do you do when you have writer’s block?

CS: I avoided writer’s block for the most part by spending considerable time upfront in developing a sequential outline. Occasionally had to stop and review where I was on the outline and create bullet points on the issues I wished to address.

DP: What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

CS: A toss-up between discussing my time leading the Disney University, which was described to me by the President of our Theme Parks worldwide as the “Keeper of the Keys of our culture” and my years at Imagineering helping recruit the creative design staff, the engineering team, project management team and prototype manufacturing group that designed, engineered, and built EPCOT Center and our first overseas version of Disneyland in Tokyo, Japan.

DP: If you were stuck on an island and had to have one person from each category with you, who would they be and why:

a. One character from your book:

CS: Van France, the first Manager of the Disney University. He and I developed a wonderful relationship during my Disney Days.

b. One fictional character:

CS: None.

c. One famous person (living or dead):

CS: George Bush Sr.

DP: Besides writing, what are your other interests?

CS: Still consulting with some very interesting organizations. Golf and my 7 grandchildren.

DP: Do you keep a journal?

CS: No, but I should.

DP: How did you celebrate the publishing of your book?

CS: Sent copies to my family and close friends.

DP: If your book was made into a movie, who would play the main characters?

CS: Not sure it would work as a movie.

DP: What did you enjoy most about working with Dorrance Publishing?

CS: There interest in marketing the book.

DP: Five favorite books of all time?

CS: 1. The Host 2. Clive Cussler books 3. The Da Vinci Code 4. Jack Reacher

DP: One sentence of advice for other writers:

CS: It’s hard work, but a great feeling of accomplishment when completed.

Are you ready to publish your book? Contact us today!

The post Author Spotlight: Chuck Shields appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Adapt your book into a screenplay

One method of getting a book produced as a movie is to adapt it as a screenplay yourself. This way, instead of going through all the steps involved in getting it optioned and adapted, it’s ready to go and you can start sending it out cold to agents and studios. When you think about it, no one knows your characters and your story better than you so who better to write the adaptation? Though this method can work well, if you have no interest at all in screenwriting this probably isn’t the route for you. Even if you’re successful, you’ll likely be in a position to be hired on as a scriptwriter, which sounds awesome–unless you have no interest in this type of writing.

Get your book to rank in the top 1% of Amazon books

Another method that has worked for getting self-published books specifically made into movies is to get your book ranked in the top 1% of Amazon books. Though this is no easy feat, it has worked for other authors in the past. For example, self-published author Colleen Houck, who wrote Tiger’s Curse, had her book reach that percentile on Amazon and then started getting calls from agents and movie producers.

Shop around the concept before publishing

This is a more non-traditional method, but according to Jane Friedman, agents such as Lane Shefter Bishop of Vast Entertainment will often seek out book-to-movie deals based on partially completed and unpublished manuscripts. She stated in an interview, “I think there’s something to be said [for] getting to a book so early that the buyers can adjust it to what they want it to be. That’s the big plus to doing it the way I do it….It’s better that I get it early and the author can change the ending.”

Publishing Agents

The most traditional route of getting your book adapted into a movie is through your publishing agent. If your book is signed by a traditional publisher, you’ll have a publishing agent who will have book-to-film contacts with whom you can build relationships. But even if this is the case, don’t expect them to just come to you. Advocate for your work, get to know these agents, set up a meeting so they can get to know you. You’re much more likely to get your book optioned if they get to know you as a person rather than a faceless client.

Make friends with writers who have agents

Another option for authors who haven’t traditionally published is to make friends with people who have. We have often emphasized the importance of social media in terms of marketing and building relationships with members of the bookish community. Well, it’s also useful in terms of getting your work optioned into a film. Once you’ve established your presence, you’ll likely have made friends with some authors who are traditionally published- this means they’ll have contacts to film agents. Offer to send some of those people your book to read and, if they like it, ask them for an introduction with their film contacts. The worst they can do is say no and you should always be the biggest advocate for your own work if you have aspirations of seeing it on the big screen.

Come up with a movie pitch

Regardless of which route you choose, you should always have a movie pitch prepared in case you get a meeting or an email introduction with an agent. Formulate a clear idea on how you picture a movie version of your book and be able to describe it in a few sentences. Make sure the short pitch you choose clearly describes your main idea, has a hook, and makes your idea sound new and original. It may also be helpful to think of specific actors you see as certain characters or directors you think would work well with the project. Even if these don’t end up happening for you, it can help paint a clearer picture for agents.

Get Optioned

If you’re at the point where your book gets optioned to become a movie, this may feel like the time to celebrate- but it isn’t. Very few books that get optioned make it to the big screen, this simply means you have someone who will try to make your book into a movie. You will get a small fee when your book is originally optioned, but you shouldn’t be expecting a large sum upfront.

Priyanka Mattoo, who started a TV production company with Jack Black and previously worked as a comedy agent, wrote a piece for Vulture where she states, “Option fees are small. Unless you’re dealing with a competitive studio situation, we are talking a range of $500-5000, to a high end of $10,000 (although there are outliers in competitive situations). That is your money for a year. The “real” money is in the purchase price, which you get paid if the movie actually gets made – say this is around 2% of the movie’s budget, with a cap. So for an indie that has a $5 million budget, that’s $50k. for a studio movie in the $20 million range that can be upward of $400k, but is likely capped. TV deals are structured for pilots and then episodes, if a series is ordered (big if). This is a long-winded way to say – count on an option not to bring you money, but to build your reputation and to get more of your work optioned. Movies can take a year in development but could easily take 6-10 years, or just evaporate when your director is offered the next Marvel movie. Cautious and mildly distracted optimism is the best approach when your work has been optioned.”

The post Page to Screen: How Books Become Movies appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

1) Why it’s important

This may be fairly obvious, but social media has become one of the best forms of self-promotion. As we’ve said before, even traditional publishing companies have become less willing to invest a big advertising budget into every single book they work with. Therefore, an author who already has a large following is a really big draw for a publisher or literary agent. This way, they already have the assurance that you’ll likely sell a decent number of book copies if they take you on as a client.

2) What platforms should I use?

If you have the time to do so, using as many different social media platforms as possible is best. They each have their own merits and will help draw in specific crowds of varying age groups. If you only have time to keep up with one type of account, however, likely the best way to connect and bond with potential fans and readers is through Instagram. Instagram users who enjoy reading (authors, readers, reviewers, literary agents, etc.) all work within a community called ‘bookstagram’ (#bookstagram). The participants in the movement are quick to help one another, give out tips, make friends with one another, and lift each other up. If you participate properly in this community, you’ll likely gain a decent following. For a breakdown of the social media platforms and their benefits for authors, check out the video below:

3) Share content and news from other authors

Once you’ve decided what social media platforms to focus on, you’ll need to come up with content ideas. One form of content common across the board for authors on social media is sharing news and content from other authors (or even bookstagram users). Share a cover reveal that excited you or a book box from a startup company that could use the support. Not only will this draw in followers who want to keep up with book-related news, but if you share content from people who are also building a following they’ll likely reciprocate.

4) Like, comment, interact, and make friends

Possibly the most important aspect of building a social media following (regardless of the platform) is interaction. You should try to post as frequently as possible (try for once a day) and update your stories with what you’re doing. When people comment on your photos or posts, try to comment back quickly and attempt to get a conversation going. This will push you up higher in other people’s feeds. In addition, spend some time each day following book-related accounts and commenting on their posts. You likely want to reach the same audience so you might pick up a few followers from the comments alone and commenting frequently and supporting other authors is how you’ll end up forming relationships/partnerships that you could use later to do a giveaway or host a Q&A together.

5) Share the books you’re reading & what you think of them

Another form of content that readers will be interested in is your current read. Keep your followers up-to-date on what you’re reading and what you think. You likely read similar content to what your book consists of, so by posting this content, you’ll attract readers who will be specifically interested in your book. Plus it’s a great way to get some good interactions going in the comments–there’s nothing readers love more than gushing about their favorite books.

6) Share sources of inspiration from your book & writing tips

Since you’re an author specifically and not your average bookstagrammer or book lover, you can provide some unique insight into the writing process as part of the content you produce. Show your readers your writing space, things that inspired certain parts of your book, and tips on writing like what you do when you have writer’s block. This sort of content will more directly relate to your book and it will both intrigue readers about your material as well as provide helpful tips that they’ll appreciate.

7) Take pretty photos of books using props

This one is more specifically geared toward bookstagram users, but could be content used across several platforms (because who doesn’t like pretty pictures of books, right?). The majority of the content across the board on bookstagram is book photography where users will set up a favorite book with a few props or book-related merchandise and take a photo. As an author, this may seem outside of your comfort zone, but luckily with advanced phone camera technology, you won’t even have to go out and buy a nice camera to make this work. Other bookstagrammers are kind enough to share tips and tricks of how they edit their photos and looking at theirs for examples will help you start to figure out what style you’d like to do on your own page(s).

The post Social Media for Authors appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

1) Erasers (Delete Key)

Oh, erasers. Thank you for saving us from our typos and all of the embarrassingly bad prose we’ve immediately regretted. Thanks to you, we don’t have to toss out the whole draft everytime we use the wrong form of ‘their’ when we haven’t had enough coffee yet. Speaking of which…

2) Coffee (or Tea)

Sweet sweet (and not so sweet) Coffee, thank you for giving us life. For helping us stay awake long past our bedtimes to finish the sections of our book we just had to get down before they slip away. Thank you, also, for helping us the next day when we need to work our day jobs without falling asleep at our desks. You give us strength when our frail human bodies have none left. You keep our eyes open in times of need. Bless you.

3) Spellcheck

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you, spellcheck. Though we have been blessed with creative minds, we sadly have not been blessed with perfect spelling and grammar (much as we may wish otherwise). Thank you for poking us with that red squiggly line and keeping us from embarrassing ourselves time and time again.

Thank you to our dear editors. This thank you is especially necessary because half of the time we can’t stand you guys (sorry). You take your editor axes and chop up our book babies and we have to sit there and watch it happen. Does this not sound grateful enough? All jokes aside, we know we fight you tooth and nail on every cut, but our book wouldn’t be nearly as good as it is without your hard work. Thank you for seeing what we miss and being tougher than we can ever be.

5) Google

This is a big one- THANK YOU GOOGLE. Because of you, we don’t need to spend hours in the library just to resolve one solitary plot point like the writers of old. The ease with which we can now look up old cold cases or political happenings or the science behind space travel has changed the writing game. Researching is such an important part of writing but, thanks to you, it takes a heck of a lot less time. Thank you for your service.

6) Our friends/family

To our friends and family, we are also truly grateful. Thank you for putting up with us. Thank you for understanding when we cancel plans last minute for an urgent writing night. Thank you for knowing we still love you when we don’t text you back for weeks because we’re so deep into our fantasy novel that we forgot the outside world still exists. Thank you for encouraging us in a career path that everyone else says will leave us living in a cardboard box. Thank you for forcing us out of the house when we have a nasty case of writer’s block (or we just haven’t seen sunlight in weeks). Thank you for listening to us talk about imaginary people for hours on end and pretending you care. We know we’re not the easiest people to deal with at times, but thank you for loving us all the same.

7) Our characters

To our characters AKA our real friends- thank you. Thank you for presenting yourselves to us and for allowing us the privilege of witnessing your lives. We feel honored to have witnessed your elation, struggles, desires, adventures, triumphs, losses, and so much more. We’ve grown to love you so much and can only hope we’ve done justice to what we’ve seen by jotting it all down. No matter how hard we try to the contrary, we’ll always know you much better than our readers ever will. Thank you for being a part of us and allowing us to be a part of you.

8) Strangers

Darling strangers, thank you so much. Thank you for allowing us to spy on you for hours on end with little to no repercussions. Thank you for your mannerisms, your quirks, your style, your gestures, and your words- because we stole all of them. Thank you for being so specifically weird that you vastly improve the quality of our writing. Without you, our writing wouldn’t be nearly as realistic and interesting. Thank you for allowing us to witness your bizarre majesty and for being oblivious enough not to notice us staring and hanging on your every word.

9) Our enemies

This is a weird one, but hear us out. Yes, you are all terrible. But, thanks to you, our books have some really great villains. We’ll go to our graves denying it, but our villains are definitely based (at least in part) on you guys. Without you ruining our lives with your horribleness, our villains wouldn’t be nearly as specific and awful as they are. Our readers love to hate our villains, all thanks to you. So are we happy you exist? No. Did you finally do something good though? Sort of. So we sort of thank you for it.

10) Our notebooks/phones

We thank you both so very much. Without you guys, we would never remember half of the stuff our fickle brains come up with. Our ideas are so fleeting and brief, but you guys are always right there with us so we can jot them down before they slip away. Thank you for holding all of our crazy ideas, keeping them safe from harm, and for having them ready just when we need them most. We know we don’t always treat you the best. We drop you, we tear out your pages, we scribble and get so disorganized that you lose all sense of purpose. But, if we ever lost you, it would be like losing a part of ourselves.

11) Books

We may tear up a bit on this one, but thank you, books. You were and will always be the first and greatest love of our lives. You are the reason we fell in love with writing. You are also the reason we got good at writing and you still improve both our writing and our lives to this day. You’ve taught us about life, love, family, culture, history, imagination, and what it means to be human. Ironic as it is, there are no words to express our gratitude toward you.

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The post 11 Things Writers Are Grateful For appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

1) Always write in third person.

Though you’ll be the one writing it, your bio shouldn’t be written in first person. It should always read, “John has experience with…” as opposed to, “I have experience with…” Readers need to feel like this biography is being presented to them in an unbiased and factual manner…and that can’t come from you directly.

The main goal of your author bio is to build your credibility. This involves listing factual statements regarding your credentials- especially in regard to the subject matter of your book. So if you wrote a health and fitness book, listing off any certificates, degrees, or training in that area will help readers know that you’re someone that knows what they’re talking about. If you don’t have credentials specific to your book genre (if you wrote a fantasy book, an autobiography, etc.), focus on building up your credentials as a writer. List any degrees, job experience, positive reviews, etc., that would prove to readers that you’re experienced.

3) Mention your website and any books you’ve previously published.

Make sure you always list off your website and any books you’ve previously published. If you have a previous book that was successful in any capacity, list its achievements as well. If it made it onto a bestsellers list or was reviewed by any author or outlet of importance, mention this as well. Don’t be afraid to namedrop a little, if a source that a reader trusts liked your book then the reader is more likely to buy it. Just make sure you don’t go overboard with the name dropping, that will clutter your bio and seem braggy. Also, make sure you include your author website (if you have one) so readers who like your book can follow you in your future endeavors.

4) Keep it short.

Make sure you always keep an author bio short and sweet. This isn’t the time or place to show off your writing prowess or creativity- that was what both your book and your back ad were for. This should solely consist of short factual statements regarding your credentials and accomplishments. Think of your Author Bio like your resume for being an author- lose the flowery language and stick to the facts.

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