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Traditional publishers offer the whole gamut of getting a book to market. Certain titles can receive attention from everything from editorial crews to marketing departments to teams devoted to online and digital sales. There could even be the boost of imprint-wide campaigns as well as outreach to influencers. The author, however, drives few, if any, of these decisions. On the flip side, publish…

It is a truth universally acknowledged that stories have a beginning, middle, and an end. For some authors, the beginning of the story gives them trouble as they grapple with whether to start a book in medias res (“in the midst of things”), when the reader and character are plunged into a crucial situation, or by conveying the protagonist’s everyday world so the reader bonds with that character…

This is it. You’ve made it. You’ve gotten a call from an agent, or you’ve received a contract from a publisher, or you’re taking that step to put your books up for sale as an indie author. This is your moment to shine and take on the world! But wait … let’s hit pause for a moment. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in this business, it’s that creative individuals allow our emotions to rule us so…

As writers we always hear, “Write what you know.” In light of that truth, it is important that any person writing about Native Americans know the people and the culture they are writing about. It is important to know the current situation of the Native American people one is choosing to write about. It is also important to recognize that some things cannot, or should not, be written about given…

As I turned to face the thousands of options lining my library’s shelves, I asked my librarian, “How do you pick which books to read?” I hoped that she might tip me off to a trade journal or confirm the importance of word-of-mouth recommendations. Her neck blushed pink before she paused and leaned toward me. “To be honest? I read books based on their covers.” A nervous laugh seemed to indicate …

In the early days of my publishing career, I worked as an editor for a publisher based in Ireland. While it started as primarily a digital-first romance house, it quickly grew into a multi-genre powerhouse. During that time, two of my titles were accepted by the publisher. The first was a little military thriller called Stray Ally, a story about a not-so-great guy who meets a dog in the wildern…