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The day after finishing my book I sat in a chair and reread the entire menuscript. Yikes., I mispelled several words. I mixed up the names of two brothers critical to the plot. I repeated the same scene twice in the story. Some of my characters were not developed enough. I started to ramble about things not important to the story line. My book was in trouble. I had to correct these problems. I realized a complete rewrite was needed before I could approach a publisher. The joy of completing years of writing was jaded by the thought of doing a thourough editing of my manuscript. It was like diving into a pool of ice water. I fixed every error I could find. I read the book so many times I could recite it by memory. It was now perfect. I gave it to a friend and asked him to look for errors. He took the book in his hands glanced at a few pages and immediately found two spelling errors. I fainted. It took me another month to get the manuscript perfect. I was ready to find a publisher. What have we learned in this second step of writing a book? We learned that editing is probably the most important step in the process. A professionally done book should have no spelling errors. Sentance construction is important. If you are not good at these tasks, hire a professional. I was ready to get my novel published. (next post.Finding a publisher.)

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Well, what have we learned on this trip through Literature Land? Let’s sit under the question mark tree and reflect. First a shot of engine house coffee from my thermos to rev me up. The beginning of the expedition started as a lark. Like most of you I wanted to write a book about what has happened in my life. Starting with a rough outline I decided to make my project a fictionalized novel. My instincts told me it would be a better way to show the true heart and spirit of the people I worked with for most of my life. Relying on a limited knowledge of the writing game I started by doing a few pages every day. I sat before my computer typing my thoughts into that big square lighted window that sat in front of me like the jaws of a yawning hippo.The realization that I was not an expert in sentance construction, punctuation, or spelling was soon apparent. I struggled for three years. Many times I let my yawning hippo computer go hungry. There were no words to throw into his mouth. I knew what I wanted to say but making it interesting was challenging. For three years I paged through my dictionary, asked my super smart kids how to use quotation marks,and grappled with the sentance construction monster. All of a sudden the day came when I jumped to my feet and let out a howl that shook the building. I leaped into the air and spiked that last period into my computer to finish my book. To summerize step one in the long journey in Literature Land. Get started and do a little every day. The english classes you had in school must be recalled. Have a good dictionary handy. The computer can be your friend. Learn how to milk this knowledge cow. When your book is finished you are just starting the trip. The easy part is behind you. Open the door to step two. (next post)

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Let’s pause in our travels through Literature Land. It is time to see where we are and where we are going. I find myself on the good ship Endeavor. We are once again sailing the Promotion Ocean. I realize that once a person writes a book he is going to be on this ship forever. The process of selling ones book is more complicated than it seems. Promotion is a 24 hour a day job. Experts from Infinity Publishing give advice and assistance but the hard work remains for the author of the book. I started this journey to talk about my life as a Firefighter. It was fun to reminice about the adventures I experienced during my working years. The next step was to find a publisher. Once published the book needed a distributor, a publicist, and an advocate. I found those were all jobs that I had to do myself. I started this series of articles to help those who were new to the writing game. My next post will identify what I have learned.

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I am enjoying writing in the new Author Nation P&C Blog so much that I decided to add it to my Trail of the Firewriter Chronicles. If you check out the P&C site you will find John Harnish and LinDee Rochelle helping us by stimulating discussion on what to do and how to do it. The talk was of new years resolutions. My entry was the following. …………………..Man do I enjoy running with this author herd. John and the Irish steer are leading us into a new year. I can feel the momentum of the herd increase as new goals are set. I am still at the rear trying to catch up. I hear the thunder of hoof beats as we pick up speed. The bellowing and mooing of our leaders is loud in my ears. I am running at the back of the pack. There is a lot of dust and confusion back here but the calls from the front of the herd are guiding me to a fun place where writers graze the meadows of success. I have acquired some smarts along the trail. I have found my genre to be fertile ground for my writing. There are not too many Firefighters who write novels about fire fighting but there are a lot of Firefighters who read novels about fire fighting. In the short time I have been in the writing business I have found fulfillment by chewing my cud (bringing up old memories and writing about them). I hope to fatten up on the grasses of the book selling market. I enjoy being on a cattle drive with my fellow authors. My goals for the new year are to move closer to the front of the herd. To bellow louder so my readers can hear me. To not follow the stalking cows that can lead you down pathways to destruction. To improve my writing skills so I can produce more milk. With this said let’s get the herd moving. Thanks to all of you who are traveling this trail and mooing your reassuring calls and comments to the rest of us doggies.

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It has been quite a trip so far. My transiition from old retired Firefighter to published author must rival Clark Kent going into a phone booth and coming out as Superman. I feel invigorated, newborn, and ready for anything. The changes in my routine have been a shot in the arm. I now rise early and get to work. The learning curve is getting smaller. The big pile of marketing books has added to my knowledge. I am avoiding costly mistakes. Creating a website has crowded my computer room with teeming masses of old friends, new friends, and people who want to help. Being a member of Author Nation has been the best part. I am able to fill cyber space with my ramblings everyday. I can talk to my readers everyday and many of them have been extremely helpful. The tour through Literature Land is one of the best experiences of my life. By the way, checkout my new entry about Dumb Bells at the Fire Talk tab on www.rjhaig.com

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I keep wracking my brain on how to get media coverage for my book Fire Horses. I will solve this delemma eventually. This is only a pause in my travels through this strange environment I call Literature Land. I have been invited to a book signing at a motorcycle gang’s club house. I am sure the experience will surpass the encounters I had with the hound dog and crows at the radio station. I am preparing a presentation and taking my police officer son with me to act as a body guard. I have been away from the big city for 16 years. Things have changed and I want to be prepared for whatever awaits me. I am sure it will be OK because the motorcycle club is made up of active Detroit Firefighters. They call themselves the Axemen.

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I entered the trailer that housed the local radio broadcast network. Inside it was as modern as a NASA rocket launching facility. A bright looking young man greeted me and turned down the hillbilly music so we could talk. I told him I was new to the promotion game. I was seeking an interview so I could talk about my book. He explained the process which involved going through many channels before an interview could be set up. It sounded complicated. There were many gate keepers to seek approval from. I thanked him for his time and left him a copy of Fire Horses. He said he would get back to me. That last statment had a hollow sound to it. I figured it was back to the drawing board. Time to find out who to know and who to avoid. It looked like a political game. I had opened another door in Literature Land and it was dark and foggy inside. As I left the building the hound dog didn’t open his eye this time but he did give me two more thumps on the ground with his tail. I was determined to get media coverage. How to do it was the question. When I drove out of the parking lot the crows were cawing and cackling like they were laughing. I hoped it wasn’t an omen.

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Living in a small town like Cheboygan, Michigan is full of surprises. The local radio station produces interesting programing. The Saturday feature is a morning broadcast where you can sell a cow or your used truck. It is amazing the things you can trade on this program. Weather, news, and music characterizes most of the programing but there are some political segments and a time set aside for interesting interviews. My objective was to get an interview discussing my book “Fire Horses”. I looked up the address of the radio station, put on my best suit, grabbed my book and moved through another door in Literature Land. My vision of a radio station was shattered when I arrived at the broadcasting facility. It was miles from nowhere in the bush country south of Cheboygan. There were four tall impressive transmitting aerials reaching a 100 feet into the air. That’s where impressive stopped. There was no building. There was a large dilapitated house trailer with peeling paint. A wooden sign stood near a muddy driveway proclaiming this to be the voice of up north Michigan. Four large crows sat on the sign and eyeballed me as I turned into the parking area. I got out of my car and dodged several puddles approaching the door. A group of goats and an old cow standing in the field near the station mooed and bleeted a greeting as I moved by them. To my surprise there was an old hound dog sleeping near the door. He opened one eye as I passed by and gave two thumps with his tail as a greeting. Was I in the twilight zone or had I seen this dog before? He looked strangely like the dog who spent his day laying by the book store doorway in Cheboygan. I could hear banjos playing inside. I had arrived at the height of the hillbilly music hour. I knocked and entered. I was on my way to another level of book promotion.

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Literature Land is a mysterious place. I had crossed rivers and deserts in my journy. I faced threats of the shark agents in the Promotion Ocean. The post office alligator came close to shutting me down. The foggy maze of cyberspace blurred my vision many times. The constsnt reading of instructional material nearly turned my brain into alphabet soup. It was three years since I started writing my book Fire Horses. I was starting to feel like a horse with a swayed back from carrying a heavy load. On the horizon I saw a bright light. My computer started to bring me good news. People were  buying my book. Glowing reports from people I respected appeared in my e-mail. My swayed back began to straighten out. I kicked up my heels, whinnied at the world, and started to gallop toward the light. My next task was expanding my search for people to contact. It was time to cross into the Land of Airwaves. Radio and Television were my next stop.

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I remembered everything I learned from the young man in the wheel chair on the Right Choice Island. He had set up my website. I was getting accustomed to the trials and tribulations of mining the web for customers. It started to pay off. Suddenly the ghosts of years gone by started to appear on my computer screen. My initial E-mail, directing people to my website, started to bring results. Several old running mates ordered my Fire Horses book. One of them had a website that was number one on Google. That site is www.detroitfirefighters.com . He added me as a link. Another site is www.detroitfiremensfund.com and they too added a link. I reciprocated with a link. Like a giant spider web my cyber world expanded. The orders for Fire Horses started rolling in. It had been quite a journey so far but I still had a lot to learn. I opened a new door.Packing, shipping, and posting was the next bog I had to wade through. I found it took cash to master this part of the trip. The post office alligator was the one who could gobble up money almost as fast as the sharks and agents who swam in the Promotion Ocean. I took my time. I soon found the right path.