Her Magazine

February/March 2013

Her Magazine is New Zealand’s only women’s business lifestyle magazine! Her Magazine highlights the achievements of successful and rising New Zealand businesswomen. Her Magazine encourages a healthy work/life balance.

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From to BEST IDEA BEST-SELLER There are no shortcuts in writing a great book IT ALL STARTS WITH a germ. Seriously. One little germ of an idea, that catches hold like a virus and takes over your entire body, until all you can do is take to your desk and give in to it. So here's how, in the 21st century, you go from the best idea to the best-seller list. Firstly, make sure it is your very best idea. As creatives, we probably give birth to more ideas than we can actually ever process. You're reaching for the one that has legs; that keeps you up in the night, and won't – will NOT – be prevented from emerging. Next: write it. Then hone it. Re-write it. Take that thing that's been living inside you and has to get out and give it an education, a great upbringing. Send it to school (or in this case, an editor) and put it through its paces. Make it the best in class. That's just the beginning. And it can really take as long as putting a kid through school. However, once you've got the best version of your best idea, it's time to send it off to uni. These days, you can decide whether you want to give it a traditional education in a mainstream centre of learning by way of the trade publisher, or you can do it in the Gen Y way of social media, online presence, and e-commerce through ebooks and digital on-demand publishing. The choice is yours. It may not always remain your choice: if you don't get picked up by a mainstream publisher, you may be urged down the other route. What brings me great joy, as an author, editor, agent and publisher, but especially as an author, is that we now have that opportunity. We have options. The power is returning to the originator of that best idea. That's not an excuse for short-cuts, though. Editing, shaping, good design, great advice – these are all things which you overlook or ignore at your peril. Do these, and get your best idea out there. And then, once it's out in the world, here's your next task. You need the next best idea there is … Jill Marshall www.jillmarshall.co "It all starts with a germ. Seriously. One little germ of an idea, that catches hold like a virus and takes over your entire body, until all you can do is take to your desk and give in to it." www.h e rmagaz in e .co.n z | 41

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