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…]
February 23, 2010
During the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, while watching each evening (hey, I’m a big sucker for all the emotional challenges, amazing feats, and sheer pageantry) . . . I had a few thoughts about what we writers can learn from these competitors. One of the problems with writing is that we often can’t imagine practical… [Read more…]
December 9, 2009
Quick Blogging Tips Do you have a blog? If the answer is no, why not? A blog is a free website. You can go to Blogger or WordPress (my favorite, it has options for multiple pages and tabs that make it look website-like). If nothing else, why not create a blog as an online business… [Read more…]
November 4, 2009
[This is Part 4 in a 4-part series, based on an article of mine in The New Writer's Handbook 2007.] To this point, I’ve discussed pros and cons in getting published with a small press. Now . . . how to find the right match. GENERAL ADVICE Set realistic goals. Know why you want to… [Read more…]
October 18, 2009
[This is Part 3 in a 4-part series, based on an article of mine in The New Writer's Handbook 2007.] Let’s look at things that can be real problems in getting a book published with a small independent presses. Minimal Advances Small often means just that when it comes to advances. The up-front money handed… [Read more…]
October 16, 2009
[This is Part 2 in a 4-part series, based on an article of mine in The New Writer's Handbook 2007.] Let’s look at things that good-quality, small independent presses do well for writers. Risk-Taking They often take risks on new or unconventional writers. They look for work with literary or social value, or useful to… [Read more…]
October 15, 2009
[This is Part 1 in a 4-part series, based on an article of mine in The New Writer's Handbook 2007.] Small presses offer opportunities for new or different authors. As we said in the ’60s: small is beautiful. Literary, adventurous, or tightly focused, small presses routinely take chances on new authors who have some thing… [Read more…]
April 18, 2009
Is self-publishing a short-cut to fame . . . or a short-circuit? Here’s a bit of tough love for novelists. I’ll give you four good reasons not to self-publish your novel. Instead, stick it in a drawer! Better things might happen to you if you do. First, I’m not a big fan of self-publishing as… [Read more…]
November 26, 2008
We’re approaching The Curve. That’s how I think of the end of the calendar year (just a few weeks away!). Is New Year’s Eve really the start of something as new as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes? In my mind, it’s a continuation. We round the curve and see a new landscape. But it’s… [Read more…]
September 14, 2008
News flash! My latest project, The New Writer’s Handbook, Vol. 2, is just hitting the streets. (By “streets,” I mean the polished hardwood shelves of your favorite indie bookstore just around the corner . . . or the mocha-loving halls of big chain booksellers (Barnes & Noble or Borders, for instance) . . . or… [Read more…]
The Writer's Handbook
June 8, 2010
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