This is my first book. I was intimidated when I started writing it, because I’d never written a book before. I thought it was this mystical process.
The reason I started to write it is to help people who like to write, or research, or throw parties, or all three, learn how to change the world through fundraising.
I started writing this book in 2007, and let it go for awhile because I had crazy jobs and I moved three times and love life mishaps and was in a band and and and… let’s just say I kept finding excuses NOT to finish my book.
Well, I think it was Portland, or maybe just my attitude while I was there, because I moved to Austin, TX, and within 6 months the book was done. I also QUIT FACEBOOK which really freed up my time. I encourage anyone who is serious about writing a book to quit facebook, and only use Twitter for marketing purposes.
My book is really interactive, has 185 pages, 17 chapters, over 15 illustrations, a kickass wet plate collodion cover, a blog, http://wildwomanfundraising.com, and an ebook page, http://thefundraisingebook.com. I formatted it for the Espresso book machine, because I think it’s incredible that you can give them a pdf file, and they will give you a softcover book in 4 minutes. I’m so excited to see it come together! Next week I’m going to print the first run.
Since I wrote it I realized that one size doesn’t fit all, so I’m going to print different versions, for Development Directors, for Executive Directors, for New Grads, for Board members, for Volunteers/Donors, and for Consultants.
Next I’m going to get websites set up at http://volunteerfundraising.net, http://executivedirectorfundraising.com and http://developmentdirectorfundraising.com to sell different versions of the book.
What really helped:
Last year I went to the Willamette Writers Conference, and it was important for me to do, because I got to format my book as a proposal, and take it to 2 different agents, and speak with them face to face about my book. Both agents said, “You need to build up a platform before we will consider you.” So I looked up how to do this, and for the last year, that’s what I’ve been doing.
Now I’ve got 7,000 readers every month, over 25,000 visits per month, and 50,000 pageviews per month. How did I do it? I made a FREE ebook about how I built up my community for my book, and how you can do it too, and you can get it right here.
http://wildwomanfundraising.com/free-stuff.
I also read two books, called “Making a Living Without a Job” and “How to become a famous author before you’re dead.” Both are worth picking up in the bookstore.
Hope this was helpful! It’s a long journey, but if you have good people around you, cheering you all of the way, then you can succeed!
Love,
Mazarine
