MILWAUKEE, WI – (October 14, 2011) -- Write-A-Thon: Write Your Book in 26 Days (And Live to Tell About It) is the 10th book authored by Rochelle Melander, a certified professional coach, accomplished editor and writer. As the Write Now! Coach, Melander teaches professionals and novices how to write fast, get published, establish credibility, and navigate the new world of social media. According to a study conducted by the Jenkins Group, 80% of the U.S. population, want to publish a book.
Write-A-Thon: Write Your Book in 26 Days is a compendium of writing tools, performance techniques, problem-solving exercises, encouragement and life skills for nonfiction and fiction writers. Detailed dos and don’ts for the writer about query letters, agents, publishers, writer’s platform, marketing, and reading lists round out the complete training system for writing a book in 26 days.
Release of the book coincides with the build-up to National Novel Writing Month (nanowrimo.org). This annual challenge draws 200,000 people who write a 50,000-word novel or work of nonfiction in 30 days. In 2009 Melander, who has always written on tight deadlines, completed Write-A-Thon during Nanowrimo and joins the list of participants who not only finished the race but published afterward.
Melander’s goal is to teach readers how to make writing a priority in their lives. She says, “Until people, can make writing a life priority, it will never happen.” Writing a book is much like running a marathon. First one has to train, prepare, plan, and then run. After passing the finish line the runner/writer may then take a deep breath, congratulate themselves for making it all the way through and review the strategy, or in the case of writing a book, revise and edit.
Experts who have achieved much in their fields are drawn to writing a book as a marketing tool but face time constraints and inexperience in the publishing world. Each chapter of Write-A-Thon assists the reader through written exploration to find their voice, select a genre, develop real lists of experiences, passion, and purpose to inform the writing and edit and revise. Melander teaches writers to define their ideal reader, create an author’s platform, and work well with agents, publishers, and editors. Developing “what if” statements propel the writer in lieu of hackneyed affirmations.
“Write-A-Thon is designed to support professionals who want to write a book but do not have the time, background, or knowledge to write a book fast. Write-A-Thon provides the magic formula that makes writing a book in 26 days an achievable goal for anyone with a book idea,” says Melander.
Many “how to write books” come across as lectures placing the author high above the reader. Melander takes readers along the journey granting permission to take or leave suggestions and to keep writing despite distractions, so-called writers block and daily life. English classes teach readers how to diagram a sentence. Rochelle Melander through her new book and coaching practice, guides writers who read how to uncover the structure and mechanics of what they read to understand what works, what does not work and why.
General advice to writers is to write what you know which works but Melander urges her audience to go beyond, to invent their story, to learn about it through research and interviewing others who have had the experience. Through a series of exercises – not boring writing prompts – readers are counseled to get out of the box and not limit themselves to what they know but open them up to what they can know. The author writes that it is okay with her to, “write nothing but garbage just get it down on paper.”
The book defines each genre, nonfiction, fiction, fantasy, and so forth, presenting published examples to clarify the descriptions. Melander makes no assumptions about the reader’s knowledge and gracefully educates the writers in training.
Today people strive for financial security, a loving relationship, and above all happiness. Melander cites studies that show that writing makes one healthy, happier, and better able to achieve goals. (Details of studies available upon request).
Melander is the founder of The Dream Keepers Creative Writing Workshop, uniting parents, teachers, and professional writers - to mentor youths to make sense of their lives through writing. As founder of WriteNow! Coach, Melander provides one-on-one programs, group classes and makes the most out of social media through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Goodreads.
Author Bio:
Rochelle Melander is the CEO of Write Now! Coach, a writing, editing, and coaching practice that she founded in 2001. Her 10th book, Write-A-Thon: Write Your Book in 26 Days (and Live to Tell About It) will be released in October 2011.
As the Write Now! Coach, Melander coaches professionals, executives, writers, business owners, and aspiring authors. Write Now! Coach Rochelle Melander values the power of writing to change the lives of writers and readers. She teaches aspiring authors how to make time to write, shape their ideas into a book or product, sell their work, and navigate social media.
Write Now! Coach evolved from Ms. Melander’s related careers as an author, feature writer, copywriter, editor and coach. Rochelle writes a popular Ezine, Write Now! Weekly Writing Tips, blogs regularly, and hosts the Write Now! Mastermind Class.
In 2006, Rochelle founded Dream Keepers Creative Writing Workshop, a program that teaches at-risk teens how to use writing to express dreams, set goals, and connect with readers.
Rochelle Melander earned two Masters degrees and is a certified graduate of Coach-U. She is a graduate of the National Writing Project Summer Writing Institute and in 2006 was awarded a writing fellowship by the Louisville Institute, part of the Lilly
Foundation. Melander is a member of the International Coach Federation and the American Society for Journalists and Authors.
She lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her husband, the writer Harold Eppley, and their two children.
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