I would meet with a career counselor. Check with your state employment agency/workforce center if this needs to be free, otherwise Google for "career counselor" or "career coach" or "outplacment" in your area.
I work as a career consultant for an outplacement company and work with private clients. It seems like you've "tried" all the right things. With the employment rate the way it is now, it is not unusual for a job search to take a year or even two. Persistence is very important.
Create a one page "self-marketing plan" for yourself that details your abilities and experience and the roles you would be best in. Then include the criteria of the companies that would be a fit for you and a list of companies that you are targeting. If you haven't used tools like www.manta.com and LinkedIn.com to find new companies to target, I would suggest doing that. I would also suggest broadening the list of companies to include those related to book publishing, if you can indentify these.
Put together a weekly search plan that includes research time, networking time, job search group meetings time, submitting application time, etc with goals for each. Track all of your activities and all of your successes. Revamp your plan each week based on new information.
Join LinkedIn.com if you haven't already and use it! If you don't know how to use it in your search, there are tutorials and free classes available.
Revamp your 30-second commercial/elevator speech and try it out on people for feedback. It should clearly state your strengths and abilities, the work you are looking for, and the specific benefit you will bring to the organization that hires you. Ask to see others' resumes and when you find one that actually states RESULTS not just tasks and job responsibilities, ask them who wrote it for them and hire that person.
Good luck to you! PM me if you have more questions.
S.