Podcast: Three Paths to Publishing a Book with Melanie Dale
There are a lot of Exhale members looking to write and publish a book some day, so we wanted to do a bit of a deep dive with an author who has been there, done that several times and in a couple of different ways. On this episode, we’re going to chat with C+C writer Melanie Dale all about taking a book from idea to finished product. She’s published two books traditionally with Zondervan, a Christian publishing house, self-published one book by tapping into her computer-geek husband’s tech genius, and is currently in the process of releasing her latest book through mainstream publisher Simon & Schuster. We’re going to discuss the ins and outs, pros and cons, and hopefully demystify the publishing process in this episode.
We’ve had Melanie on the podcast before back in episode 17 where we chatted about writing funny stuff. Mel is the author of four books, It’s Not Fair: Learning to Love the Life You Didn’t Choose, Women Are Scary: The Totally Awkward Adventure of Finding Mom Friends, Infreakinfertility: How to Survive When Getting Pregnant Gets Hard, and her newest book, Calm the H*ck Down, is a parenting book releasing in late 2020. Her essays are included in The Magic of Motherhood and she’s a monthly contributor for Coffee+Crumbs. In addition to writing, Melanie speaks at events and conferences around the country and hosts a podcast called Lighten Up with Melanie Dale. She lives in the Atlanta area with her husband, Alex, and three kids from three different continents. You can internet stalk her on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
OUTLINE:
Melanie’s essay called “Dating for Moms” made us snort-laugh.
In early 2020, Melanie did a webinar on book proposals and one on how to write a book -- you can find both of these and more in our creative marketplace.
Interested in self-publishing? Melanie and her husband, Alex, have some info for you here.
Mel recommends hiring a professional editor for any self-published work. She works with freelance editor Kendall Ashley.
Melanie has been doing something cool to mark the days while in quarantine -- sharing a GRACE each day on Instagram: Gratitude, Read, Adapt, Create, Engage.
Melanie’s doing a pre-order giveaway of some bonus chapters on “Pandemic Parenting” to hold us over until the actual book launches in December.
Our prompt for you:
Take some time to write out your own GRACE on Instagram -- Gratitude, Read, Adapt, Create, Engage -- and tag Melanie (@melanierdale). She’ll be sharing them on her Instagram stories!
A quote we shared with you:
“I still encourage anyone who feels at all compelled to write to do so. I just try to warn people who hope to get published that publication is not all it is cracked up to be. But writing is. Writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surprises. That thing you had to force yourself to do---the actual act of writing---turns out to be the best part. It's like discovering that while you thought you needed the tea ceremony for the caffeine, what you really needed was the tea ceremony. The act of writing turns out to be its own reward.” ― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
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