Michael Reisig Says You Must Be Ready to Stretch Your Own Celebrity #WriteTip #AmWriting

The road to successful writing is long and hard for 90 percent of us. (The other 10 percent being unfairly talented, and or lucky). There are lots of things I wish I would have known in the beginning, such as:

1) There are thieves and fools along the way who will take your time, your money, and eventually your will, if you’re not well informed and prepared.

2) A poorly written query letter to a publisher or an agency is the equivalent of a bag of dog $#@& — they can’t get it to the trashcan quickly enough.

3) You must Craft Your Own Celebrity – no one in the beginning is going to do it for you. Be prepared to stretch the truth until it screams. You must make yourself a viable product long before you are. I created an alter ego (Johnson Ford) who became my publicist – who often answered my phone and sent out my letters to agencies, motion picture companies, and publishers. (I miss Johnson, now that I’m a success – he was a good guy.)

4) When 95 percent of us finish a book we think it’s just about the best thing that’s ever happened to the literary world. Ninety-four percent of us are wrong.

5) Before you sign any contract, make sure you have someone read it who actually knows what they’re doing.

6) So many of us wish for that glorious moment when a publisher takes our book. What we need to remember is, the moment a publisher (big or small) takes your book, most of your control over that book evaporates. (Think Indie publishing)

7) Price your book reasonably. Remember you’re not trying to get rich on your first book, you’re trying to get as many people as possible to read it and tell their friends about you. That’s how you become a success. The greatest promotional tool you have is the book itself. Be prepared to give away hundreds.

8) Be sure to get your new book registered with R.R. Bowker. They control “Books in Print” a comprehensive compilation of all books published in the U.S. If your book doesn’t show up in R.R. Bowker you’re dead in the water.

9) Do as many talk show interviews as possible, have an “excellent” website, and force yourself to do as many book signings as possible.

10) This writing thing is a long road, but when you finally succeed, the highs of that success will easily pale all the lows you have suffered along the way. Remember you become the person that makes people laugh or cry, you frighten them, you comfort them – with just words. You touch their hearts and you open their minds to new concepts, you give them faith and hope, you provide them dreams – with just words. And they pay you for it.

One could hardly want a more satisfying or prestigious position…

The Road to Key West is an adventurous/humorous sojourn that cavorts its way through the 1970s Caribbean, from Key West and the Bahamas, to Cuba and Central America.

In August of 1971, Kansas Stamps and Will Bell set out to become nothing more than commercial divers in the Florida Keys, but adventure, or misadventure, seems to dog them at every turn. They encounter a parade of bizarre characters, from part-time pirates and heartless larcenists, to Voodoo bokors, a wacky Jamaican soothsayer, and a handful of drug smugglers. Adding even more flavor to this Caribbean brew is a complicated romance, a lost Spanish treasure, and a pre antediluvian artifact created by a distant congregation who truly understood the term, “pyramid power.”
Pour yourself a margarita, sit back, and slide into the ‘70s for a while as you follow Kansas and Will through this cocktail of madcap adventures – on The Road To Key West.

IF YOU ENJOY THIS NOVEL BE SURE TO READ THE SEQUEL, “BACK ON THE ROAD TO KEY WEST” (To be released in late August or early September, 2013)

“Jimmy Buffett should set this tropical tale to music! The best Key West stories can only be written by those who have lived here, and Reisig expertly captures the steamy, seedy, beautiful allure of the islands. “The Road to Key West” takes readers on a hysterical journey through the humidity and humanity that only exists in the lower latitudes. And much like the Keys in the 1970s, it’s a hell of a trip.
—Mandy Bolen, The Key West Citizen

“The Road to Key West” combines the dry cleverness of Lewis Grizzard, the wit of Dave Barry, and Reisig’s impeccable sense of timing. It’s an action-packed, romantic, charming, hilarious take on the ‘70s and its generation. A must-read!
—John Archibald, Ouachita Life Magazine

Buy Now @ Amazon

From the best-selling author of “The Road To Key West” comes a sequel guaranteed to take the reader even higher – another rollicking, hilarious Caribbean adventure that will have you ripping at the pages and laughing out loud.

“Back On The Road To Key West” reintroduces the somewhat reluctant adventurers Kansas Stamps and Will Bell, casting them into one bizarre situation after another while capturing the true flavor and feel of Key West and the Caribbean in the early 1980s.

An ancient map and a lost pirate treasure, a larcenous Bahamian scoundrel and his gang of cutthroats, a wild and crazy journey into South America in search of a magical antediluvian device, and perilous/hilarious encounters with outlandish villains and zany friends will keep you locked to your seat and giggling maniacally. (Not to mention headhunters, smugglers, and beautiful women with poisonous pet spiders.) You’ll also welcome back Rufus, the wacky, mystical Jamaican Rastaman, and be captivated by another “complicated romance” as Kansas and Will struggle with finding and keeping “the girls of their dreams.”

So pour yourself a margarita, and get comfortable. You’re in for another rousing medley of madcap adventures in paradise, with “Back On The Road To Key West.”
IF YOU ENJOY THIS BOOK BE SURE TO GET THE THIRD IN MICHAEL’S SERIES; “ALONG THE ROAD TO KEY WEST”!
______________________________________________________

EDITORIAL REVIEWS

Michael Reisig takes us back once again to the Key West I wish I had known – and that others wish they remembered more clearly. Kansas and Will are back in “Back on the Road to Key West,” with their trademark penchant for sultry sarcasm and sun-drenched excitement. Once again Reisig captures the character of the Keys in a way that proves he’s been here – and perhaps done that. No one wraps us in humidity and surrounds us with saltwater like this guy, whose tales of the tropics draw us constantly back to their welcoming, yet provocative shores. — Mandy Miles, The Key West Citizen

Having lived in Key West in the late ’70′s and early ’80′s, at a time when Mel Fisher still hunted the Atocha, shrimp boats filled the harbors, and ‘square grouper’ were still an abundant species, Michael Reisig’s Back on the Road to Key West, transports me back in time. Will Bell and Kansas Stamps face an assortment of ruthless antagonists and chase adventure with the abandon of the era, and whether you lived it or not, don’t miss the chance to now. Vivid imagery, strong prose and an exciting plot make this trip with the boys worth taking. Enjoy the ride!”
– John H. Cunningham, author of the Buck Reilly Adventure Series

Stumbling their way in and out of trouble and fortune, Kansas Stamps and Will Bell continue to be the idols of what every true Parrot Head imagines real life in The Keys would be — full of spontaneous adventure. What a great read!
– Bryan Crews, former president, Tampa Parrot Head Club

Buy @ Amazon

WHAT IF YOU DISCOVERED A DEVICE THAT MADE PEOPLE TELL THE TRUTH?
Fast-paced humor-adventure with wacky pilots, quirky con men, bold women, mad villains, and a gadget to die for…

In the third book of Michael Reisig’s captivating series, Florida Keys adventurers Kansas Stamps and
Will Bell find their lives turned upside down when they discover a truth device hidden in the temple of an ancient civilization. Enthralled by the virtue (and entertainment value) of personally dispensing truth and justice with this unique tool, they take it all a step too far and discover that everyone wants what they have.

Seasoned with outrageous humor and sultry romances, Along The Road To Key West carries you through one wild adventure after another. This time, Kansas and Will are forced to wrest veracity and lies from con artists, divine hustlers, and political power brokers while trying to stay one step ahead of a persistent assembly of very bad guys with guns.
In the process, from Key West, into the Caribbean, and back to America’s heartland, our inadvertent heroes gather a bizarre collage of friends and enemies – from a whacked-out, one-eyed pilot, and a mystical Rastaman, to a ruthless problem-solver for a prominent religious sect, a zany flimflamming sociopath, and a Cuban intelligence agent. In the end, it all comes down to a frantic gamble – to save far more than the truth. So pour yourself a margarita and settle back. You’re in for a high intensity Caribbean carnival ride!

NOTE: Much of this book was originally published as a novel of mine called, “The Truthmaker.” But with the growing popularity of my “Road To Key West” series, I decided to rewrite it and publish it as “Along The Road To Key West.” – Michael Reisig

Buy @ Amazon