By Billie A Williams
Henry Ford was an extraordinary person and an astute businessman. You could call him a principled man. His rules were simple straight forward. “Do onto others as you would have done onto you.” His business, his company, his reputation were built on giving the best that he could give, at the fairest price, with the most value that he could reasonably deliver.
“As I read his autobiography where he talks about what he wanted his automobile to represent, I was struck by how similar his wants were to those of an author,” says Billie Williams, the author of A Writer’s Vehicle Henry Ford’s Way. Even more intriguing, Ford’s automobile, the author’s vehicle (or book) had many of the same characteristics, each are revealed in this book.
A WRITER’S VEHICLE
Book a Trip
Henry Ford created his first vehicle to be dependable and more here is a list of his vehicle’s characteristics:
~Stand up to everyday wear and tear
~Sufficient speed
~Admired by men, women and children
~Safety
~Convenience
~Reasonable price
~Good material
~Simplicity
~The engine strong, reliable
~Ignition
~Automatic oiling
~Control of transmission
~Workmanship
"How like a table of contents should read for a book on writing," the author thought. "Let’s take each point, add a subtitle, and make it a book on writing."
And here is the Contents that came from that:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I BOOK CONSTRUCTION:
Stand up to everyday wear & tear
Available when a buyer wants it
Wide audience to market to
Reasonably priced (Take a trip without the high cost of fuel)
Made of Good Material
Distribution/Stock of Parts – ( availability in quantity sufficient to meet readers demands
Suitable display advertising (find potential reader/store front of publisher)
PART II BOOK CONTENTS
Safety, no sharp edges or dangerous premises
Good Material (acquisition department scrutiny)
Simplicity (proper word choice for genre and/or age group)
The Engine (Strong plot, reliable format or design for the Genre)
Ignition (Hooks the reader quickly, immediate starting point)
Automatic Oiling (continual flow and proper mixture of action, and exposition, dialog and narrative.)
Control of Transmission (Guiding the reader to a logical and satisfying conclusion)
Workmanship (Editorial craft in polishing and shaping the finished book)
Trustworthy – (always ready anytime anywhere you want to read)
Built to Add to Your Reputation or Knowledge
Built for Business Or Pleasure (Learn/grow/useful knowledge)
Built for Your Good Health (relieve stress, relax rejuvenate, beach or barbeque, cabin porch or mansion patio)
Speed (“linger or speed through or lingeringly, through shady avenues or you can press down on the foot lever until all the scenery looks alike to you and you have to keep your eyes skinned to count the milestones as they pass.”
Strong and Well-built – last for generations
Up to Date Alive with Possibilities (a classic that will live forever)
Clean and dignified (error free/ attractive cover)
Salesmanship for Distribution (Editors/Agents who know genres)
Bookkeeping –(follow up sales system – track those buyers)
Promotional Budget
Absolute cleanliness of stock (no bent, cracked, bleeding, odd ball pages from the printer misfeeds)
Who Will Buy (Bookstores, outside the box thinking where else?)
Suitable display advertising (find potential reader/store front of publisher)
Bad Publicity (Even bad publicity and treacherous competition should not disrupt the quality, morals/values, and spirit of the writer – bad reviews are one person’s opinion nothing more.Ford Being Sued by George B Selden, a patent attorney accusing Ford of bad business practices, stealing someone else’s idea.
Word of mouth is the best advertising.
Re-gifting – pass on a good read. Write a review
CONCLUSION
RESOURCES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Billie Williams is the author of many works including the three act play. I've included widgets for some in this post. Search for her on Amazon and take a peek!
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.
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1 comment:
Wonderful review. I love biographies on individuals who succeed while keeping integrity.
And, clever use of the author using his business outline for his car into a writing outline.
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