I’m still not convinced that eBooks are as successful literary devices as print books are, or even that they have as great potential. (They have other potential – speed and info abundance and portability – but they fall short, I believe, in pure storytelling impact.) Compare how differently each stimulates the use of brain, especially… [Read more…]
February 19, 2012
I got a copy of this book recently, and I immediately found myself in the next several days recommending it to several authors who were considering self-publishing. The book is The Fine Print of Self-Publishing by Mark Levine. The brilliant thing about this practical volume (4th edition): it looks in considerable detail at key differences… [Read more…]
January 21, 2012
I like to use this blog to share good examples of things that book authors (and/or their publishers) can do to market their books. I recently ran across this online list of book-club discussion questions, a reader’s guide for a mystery book by Dee Garretson, author of The Gargoyle in the Seine. What did I… [Read more…]
August 19, 2011
Given the availability of easy-to-use and inexpensive technologies, here are two great ways to present your work personally to far-flung audiences. 1. Skype Barbara Techel is the author of Class Act: Sell More Books Through School and Library Author Appearances. You can order this great book on doing school and library presentations for under $10… [Read more…]
April 20, 2011
Q: Should I do an author website or a blog? A: Blog! I could equivocate and say, sure, you can do a website if (a) you know how to do them yourself, or (b) you’re willing to throw some money at someone else to develop and maintain a traditional website. Yes, a good website can… [Read more…]
November 20, 2010
A reader of this blog asked the following excellent question: Hi, I’m invited to a book launch party this evening. I believe my friend self-published. I was wondering what the protocol was for such an event? It is being held in her home. Do I purchase the book there? Do I bring a gift? I… [Read more…]
September 16, 2010
I loved this insight into the writer’s mind. It’s by Dennis Palumbo, essayist, novelist, TV screenwriter, and a psychotherapist specializing in creative issues. (I included one of his pieces, “The Three Cosmic Rules of Writing,” in the first New Writer’s Handbook.) Dennis has counseled many other writers, as he says in this great blog post,… [Read more…]
June 26, 2010
Here”s a bit of advice from Robert Louis Stevenson, in writing about the genesis of Treasure Island (from his 1905 short work Essays in the Art of Writing). He speaks to the imaginative power of starting by making a map! The story begins in 1881 in the Scottish Highlands, during a rainy spell spent confined… [Read more…]
June 8, 2010
Here is a guest post with more good tips for a great book launch, by author Hilda Demuth-Lutze. Hilda shares details of a successful event (in Valparaiso, Indiana) earlier this spring to launch her historical novel Kingdom of the Birds. Subtitled: Seppel and the Secret of the Wartburg Castle, the book is published by Kirk… [Read more…]
June 1, 2010
Some might disparage the memoir as unverifiable history – perhaps inflated or poorly remembered facts from the past. Memory may indeed be seen by historians or journalists as somewhat inferior, flawed, imperfect history. But as a folklorist and a book editor (currently editing several memoirs), I want to encourage you to consider what memoirs do… [Read more…]
The Writer's Handbook
February 27, 2012
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