10 Questions with Author Nina Amir (@NinaAmir)
This Author Spotlight
features
Nina Amir
author of
The Author Training Manual
1.How
did you get into writing and why do you write?
I’ve
been writing since I was in middle school or so. I used to write stories about
horses when I was young, and in high school I thought I might become a
novelist. My mom told me that “only good writers make a living as novelists,”
so I figured maybe I should find another way to make a living as a writer! I
took a journalism course, began writing for the school newspaper and local
papers, and went on to get a degree in magazine journalism. I graduated from
college and began working as an editor and writer.
One
day a friend asked me to edit a nonfiction book. I figured I could probably do
the job since my college professor told me I could write a book if I could
write an article; he said a nonfiction book was just a series of articles on
one topic strung together. I knew how to edit. I edited his book. And then the
next two books I edited went on to be great successes. One was picked up by
Simon & Schuster and has sold well over 300,000 copies and is still in
print. The other was self-published and sold more than 150,000 before the
author sold it to Sounds True many years later.
While
supporting other people in their efforts to write books, I realized I also
wanted to write some of my own. I write to help and inspire others. I like to
help creative people combine their passion and purpose so they move from idea
to inspired action and become able to positively and meaningfully impact in the
world as writers, bloggers, authorpreneurs, and blogpreneurs. I enjoy inspiring
others to become their best selves and to fulfill their potential and their
purpose.
2.What
do you like best (or least) about writing?
I
like that I get to express myself, to share my knowledge and experiences and,
in the process, to impact others in a positive and meaningful way.
3.What
is your writing process? IE do you outline? Do you stick to a daily word or
page count, write 7 days a week, etc?
I
write something almost every day, because I have so many blogs. If I am writing
a blog post, I have a minimum word count—400 words—to meet. If I’m writing a
book, I may have a word count or simply a deadline to complete a chapter a day
or a week.
I
brainstorm my book projects with a mind map. This becomes a detailed chapter
outline.
Articles
and blog posts might start with just a title or a title and a few bullet points
(subheads). I don’t necessarily outline them.
4.Who
are some other writers you read and admire, regardless of whether they are
commercially “successful?”
Diana
Gabaldon
Malcom
Gladwell
Wayne
Dyer
Deepak
Chopra
5.Should
the question mark in the above question be inside or outside the quotes?
Outside.
6.What’s
your stance on the Oxford Comma?
Because
I am trained as a journalist, and I have used the AP Stylebook in much of my
work, I prefer to only use the serial comma in a series of more than three.
However, because I have edited many books, and book style uses Chicago Manual,
I also know how to use the “Oxford Comma” and do so in my book manuscripts.
7.What
is your newest book about and how did it come to fruition?
I
have 14 books at this time, some self-published and some traditionally
published. Some are available only on my websites and some at Amazon or other
major booksellers (online or off).
Let
me mention my traditionally published books. I am the author of How to Blog
a Book. I decided to write a book. I needed a platform. So, I started
blogging, one blog, two, three, four—five at one time. I got involved with the
San Francisco Writers Conference, first as an attendee, then as a volunteer,
then as a panelist. The panel was about blogging—and something to do with
blogging books, but no one was an expert on this. I decided blogging a book was
a good idea and that I could apply the idea I had for a different book on how
to write marketable books to this idea. I started a blog called How to Blog a Book a
month before the conference and become the expert on how to blog a book. How? I
was now blogging a book on the topic. I blogged the book in five months. My
agent sold it to Writer’s Digest Books. It immediately became an Amazon
bestseller and has stayed that way for more than two years.
Writer’s
Digest Books then published the first book idea, which I had actually test
marketed as a self-published workbook. This book was released in May of 2014 as
The Author Training Manual. It also became a bestseller fairly
quickly.
.jpg)
Since then, I have also published three bestselling ebooks: Authorpreneur, The Nonfiction Book Proposal Demystified, and the Write Nonfiction NOW! Guide to Writing a Book in 30 Days.
8.What’s your current writing project?
Well, I don’t have just one project…I have numerous projects.
I’m working on an e-book on blogging basics and on a proposal for a follow-up to The Author Training Manual.
And I just finished the revision of How to Blog a Book. The second edition will release in June 2015.
.jpg)
9.What
book(s) are you currently reading?
Just
like my writing, I read a lot of different books at a time. I’m reading Launch
by Jeff Walker, Crush It by Gary Vanerchuck, The Charge by
Brendon Bouchard, and The Real Name of God by Rabbi Wayne Dosick.
10.Who
or what inspires your writing?
Passion,
purpose and success inspire me and my writing. I’m passionate about personal
development, practical spirituality, metaphysics, and anything that helps me
and others achieve our human potential. When I see or hear about people who are
passionate and on purpose and who achieve great success—especially success that
creates a positive and meaningful impact on others or the world—I get inspired.
I want to learn how they did this, apply it and share what I have learned.
Finally,
is there anything you’d care to add? Please also include where people can read
your published stories, buy your book, etc.
I
believe when you combine your passion with your purpose you get inspired.
That’s often the moment at which ideas are born and creativity is at its
height. That’s when you take inspired action, which leads to success in any
area of life.
Comments
Post a Comment