The craft of writing can be a solitary one, but it doesn’t have to be. The Internet provides a means to always be connected to friends, family and colleagues. It can also be an enormous time-sink but that is a conversation for another time. I want to talk about the availability of community, both writing and otherwise through the Internet and daily life. Is community really important? I know of writers who prefer to be alone and separated from their writing peers at work and in everyday life and I respect that. I also think those people are missing out on something; the ability to talk the craft and exchange ideas. “What kind of ideas?” you may ask. Well, speaking […]
Read moreCategory: Promoting Your Book
Don’t be Afraid to Help
Anyone who has ever tried to get his/her work in print knows how tough (virtually impossible?) it is to do. Publishers and agents are inundated with dozens/hundreds of submissions every month; how can they possibly separate the wheat from the chaff? I’ve heard many times that a manuscript must be truly exceptional to be considered. That raises the question for me, how many first books fit that description? Often the reason an author’s second book is better than the first is because the author has had the chance to go through the editing process. Without the first book you as an author may never get the second book chance. Granted, you can always hire an editor to work through the book with […]
Read morePromoting Your Book
I’ve been giving a lot of thought to how I will promote my books when they get into print. I have been fortunate enough to have seen the efforts of several masters of self-promotion. I’ve also seen several wannabes who fall short. Let’s start with what won’t work, shall we? First, never expect the publisher to handle all the promotion. As it turns out, unless you are already a multi-million selling author, chances are the publisher won’t have much in the way of promotional budget. That means you, the author, must handle the heavy lifting in the promotional area. Don’t get me wrong, the publisher can help you with this, just don’t expect them to do it all. More about […]
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