Wheatmark Author Betty Jo Tucker Offers Advice to Writers

Author and movie critic Betty Jo Tucker has met more film stars than most people have even heard of. Yet when it came time for her to publish two of her most recent manuscripts, she chose Wheatmark over a traditional publisher.

“At my age, you just can’t wait around for the traditional publishing schedule,” said Tucker, a retired college dean. “I wanted to find a way to get my books out quickly so that the movies I was writing about would still be fresh in peoples’ minds. I started to look into how to do this faster and that’s when I found your wonderful company. You were able to put both of my books on the fast track, and yet gave me such a nice product.”

Tucker has published two books with Wheatmark: Confessions of a Movie Addict and Susan Sarandon: A True Maverick. In both cases, a traditional publisher initially requested that she write the books. However, this same publisher could not deliver the fast turn-around time Betty Jo wanted.

“Traditional publishing just takes too long,” Betty Jo said. “If I were younger, I may have decided to go that route. But at my age, I just feel as though I don’t have the time.”

Tucker’s first book with Wheatmark, Confessions of a Movie Addict, was actually her second published work. Her first book, It Had To Be Us, was the inaugural offering from a new traditional publisher who became interested in her book after reading portions of it on a website that featured novellas and short stories. It Had To Be Us is a romantic memoir written by Tucker and her husband Larry (using the pseudonyms of Harry and Elizabeth Lawrence), telling the story from both their viewpoints about their marriage of twenty-six years, their divorce, and the reignited spark of romance that caused them to remarry after twenty years of separation.

“The publisher liked the book so well they asked us to write another one,” Tucker explained. “Well, needless to say, Larry declined. So I decided to write about my experiences with movies and about the many movie actors and directors I’ve met.”

The result was Confessions of a Movie Addict, what Tucker describes as, “pure fun to write from cover to cover.”

“It just flowed and pretty much wrote itself,” she said. “People have told me that they have laughed out loud while reading the book.”

In Confessions, Tucker starts with her first movie experience and takes her readers through her after-retirement career working as a movie critic for several newspapers and for two reputable online sites: ReelTalkReviews.com and News First Online. Being a bona fide film critic, she tells her readers about her experiences at free screenings and about her many interviews with movie stars, directors, and screenwriters. Her book includes some of her encounters with famous people such as Angelina Jolie, Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce, film director M. Night Shyamalan, Charlton Heston, Mickey Rooney, Emilio Estevez, and Matthew Broderick.

Tucker has received great acclaim for Confessions, including a quote from James Colt Harrison, editor of National PreVue Film Magazine, that is often used to promote her book: “If Oscars were given for the funniest book of the year, Confessions of a Movie Addict would win hands down.”

Although Tucker elected to publish with Wheatmark instead of the traditional publisher who originally asked her to write the book, she was again asked by this same publisher to write another book—this time about a famous movie star. Tucker said she chose to write about Susan Sarandon due to Sarandon’s long, successful career, her dedication in promoting certain causes, and the fact that she had interviewed Sarandon in the past and had already written a few articles about her.

“Writing Susan Sarandon: A True Maverick was a lot of hard work,” Tucker admitted. “I think I lived in cyberspace and on the phone for about nine months, making sure that I read everything I possibly could about her. It was much harder than the other two books I wrote.”

Although Maverick started at the request of a traditional publisher, Tucker again chose instead to publish with Wheatmark, citing the wonderful experience she had with Confessions of a Movie Addict. According to Tucker, Wheatmark not only gave her an exceptional product in a timely manner, but also provided her with marketing tools that helped her to successfully promote both of her books.

“Promoting your book is definitely the hardest part of the publishing process,” Tucker said. “Although I don’t like to promote my own work, I realize that I have to if I want to sell books. I can’t thank Wheatmark enough for nominating my book for the Colorado Book Awards. Even if I don’t win, just being nominated has helped to promote my book.

“Wheatmark helped me to develop a marking plan, which was very helpful and is something I really appreciate,” Tucker continued. “I also loved the postcards that you developed for me. I sent them to everyone I knew and to everyone I mentioned in the book. I really appreciated the way your company helped me with my press releases and the information you gave me for radio interviews. You even made it easy to order books for book signings.”

Through her book promotion experience, Tucker has successfully branched into more focused marketing techniques. For example, instead of limiting her book signings to bookstores, she has taken her book straight to her audience—moviegoers—by having book signings at the Cinemark Tinseltown movie complex near her home in Pueblo, Colorado. Because of her reputation as a published movie critic, she continues to be a guest on several radio programs, and is also promoting her books on several movie related websites, including the unofficial Susan Sarandon site. Perhaps one of her most important and heartfelt marketing strategies was to donate her author’s royalties for Maverick to The Myelin Project, one of Sarandon’s favorite causes.

Tucker’s advice to aspiring writers?

“Don’t give up. If you’ve written a book, don’t give up if your book gets turned down by a traditional publisher. Don’t be afraid to publish it with a publisher like Wheatmark so that you can get your writing out there for others to read. With Internet access and print on demand publishing, there is no reason why authors can’t see their books published.

“I certainly have loved working with you people at Wheatmark,” she added. “You are all so courteous, friendly, and very professional.”

Photo courtesy of The Pueblo Chieftain