Thanks for the tip, Jeff.

I’ve taken all the advice in this thread and decided that I’m not giving away the whole thing; just selected chapters as I write them.

I think this is a great idea. I’ve also been toying around for a while with the idea of writing a book, sort of a “Wine For Newbies Guide to Wine,” a written version of my podcast in a way.

I have to agree with others, though–don’t be hesitant to charge people for your book. If you give it away for free, it suggests that you don’t think your efforts have any value. Doing a free podcast is one thing, but writing a book takes a lot more effort.

Now that Jeff has pointed out his wife is in the publishing business, and he’s given the tip about the TOC, I may have to sit down and start working on the book I’d like to write.

Bill

My wife is in publishing for a consumer publisher of reference books, as I’ve alluded to on my site a couple of times.

The magic in writing a book is in putting significant effort into your Table of Contents. If you have a good table of contents, the book will write itself, figuratively speaking.

I like your angle!

A really good book that you may want to check out as a baseline is: Wine Style: Using Your Senses To Explore And Enjoy Wine by Mary Lewis-Mulligan.

All the best,

Jeff
http://www.goodgrape.com

Thanks for the good wishes, Joe, Russ, Humble Drinker and el jefe (BTW, some of your Petite Sirah would really help the creative process

Jeff and Pam: I really appreciate your feedback as my plan was to use the digital book as another way to create traffic for the blog, but perhaps just a PDF preview edition is in order? I’ll give it some thought and will think about pitching this to some agents after I get the first 3-4 chapters written.

Cheers!

Write a solid book proposal, with a few kickass sample chapters, then write a query to agents that have a track record of selling this stuff, and there are many. Are you familiar with Orangette’s blog? She got a book deal. When you do the proposal, you basically lay out who the book’s target audience is, and do a little research where you show what books exist, so you demonstrate there is a market, but then show how your book is different and will meet a need that isn’t being met.

I used to be an agent, dabbled in it for a year or so before going back to headhunting. But, I have hooked up many friends with agents, so if you want any more suggestions on who to query etc., drop me a line. I think your book idea sounds great!

Good luck,
Pam

I am a book and e-book coach who has worked with hundreds of different self-published authors, speakers, trainers, etc…

Oh yes, and I’m also a big fan of wine, although I have to admit I fall into the category of the Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Grigio crowd with some specailized knowledge of French wines having spent some time in Paris over the last few years.

It is my information publishing coaching side that compelled me to write though wondering why you wouldn’t place a higher value on the book you are intending to write.

Posting parts of your book on your blog is a great idea - some of my students have taken this approach, but I would strongly suggest that you place a higher value on the finished product than giving it away…

You have identified a gap in the marketplace for information and people are typically willing to pay a fair price for quality information.

Just hope you don’t underprice your knowledge.

Cheers…

Jeff

I think your title should be along the lines of “Extreme Wine” or “Wine On The Edge” or something like that, only less mundane

And you have actually given me an idea, believe it or not! We’ll see where that goes too. Let me know what I can do to help with your project!

I look forward to reading and hearing all about it. What a great goal for he new year.