I recently had the opportunity to interview Ms. Vanessa Lynn. Ms. V is what I call her and the V stands for virtuous, vivacious, and victorious all wrapped up in one. She has over 20 years of experience in the play industry as a writer, director, and producer. Recently, she decided to write a book and in the second part of our interview, I was able to speak with her about that process. I asked her about her book and she explained that the name of the book is,
"Beyond the Chitlin' Circuit, The Ultimate
Urban Playwrights Guide". The book is a compete guide for anyone who is currently or
aspires to produce scripts independently. It takes you from creating and
writing the script, to casting, to production, to teamwork, marketing,
budgeting, and crisis management, all the way to DVD production. She stated
that she also shares her personal success and failures in the book. It's a
complete guide she states. I then asked her if she had any other publications that she was currently working on. She
said, “Yes, I'm working on "Dating For Grown Folks, A His and Hears Guide
for Dating Over 35". She stated that it's a dating guidebook for singles that
find themselves confused in this internet infused dating world. It's a far cry
from passing a paper asking for a number. It's practical tips from a man and
woman's point of view.
As we got deeper into the conversation, I was able to ask her about being a published author and she was able to explain to me what her process was for writing your book and then how she got it published and out to the public. She stated that it took about a year to actually write the script, and re-write and re-write again. She also got critique from friends in the industry that she trusted. Once that was done, she got it professionally edited. She made mention how incredibly important this step is and how this step should never be missed. She then had to have it typeset for the size and print of the book, and lastly the graphic work was done. She self-published her book through Amazon and also made it available on her website.
As we got deeper into the conversation, I was able to ask her about being a published author and she was able to explain to me what her process was for writing your book and then how she got it published and out to the public. She stated that it took about a year to actually write the script, and re-write and re-write again. She also got critique from friends in the industry that she trusted. Once that was done, she got it professionally edited. She made mention how incredibly important this step is and how this step should never be missed. She then had to have it typeset for the size and print of the book, and lastly the graphic work was done. She self-published her book through Amazon and also made it available on her website.
Lastly, I asked her what her take was on finding a publisher vs. self-publishing. She stated that it is very rare that an author will get a publishing deal. It's just as rare as a singer getting a major record label deal. She believes that the best thing to do is self-publish a high quality project, promote yourself, get your name out there and establish yourself and after that then connect with an agent. She said, “Never wait on an agent to get your
work out!”
This was some very vital
information that Ms. V shared about her publishing process that lead to the success of her
first book. I hope that reading about and following her journey might also
assist you in yours. Please keep up with Ms. V by going to her website at www.vanessalynn.info. You may also be interested in joining her playwright organization or learning more about her annual conference. You can find out more information at
