From Our Blog
Jump Genres—but Not Into the Fire
Have you ever considered changing genres? Or did you try but it turned into an utter non-starter? As I head into my next major genre leap, I asked some fellow jumpers five basic questions about their ideas, successes, and fu—, uh, hard lessons learned.
The jumps Some say that writers’ brains are wild, entropy-driven vortices. Based on the jumps these folks have done, that is an accura…
Oh, how the industry loves a shiny new debut author! And wasn’t instant success the dream for most of us? And longevity! Don’t we all want to be that author whose readers wait with breathless anticipation for our latest and greatest? But while publishers may fall all over themselves for the fresh face or the perennial bestseller, the fact of the matter is, publishers can’t round out their catal…
Over the last year or so, I have encountered a ton of writing and publishing professionals, including editors, journalists, and authors, who are feeling, well, a bit stuck. And I felt stagnated myself despite having made several big changes in my life.
Things change all the time, and the future of publishing and authorship is full of uncertainty. It ebbs and flows with market changes, industry …
Authors are always on the lookout for ways to garner more publicity for their books. One way that’s been around for quite a while is to enter a contest. But there are many contests out there, and some of them charge high fees to enter, or require that you mail printed books to judges at your cost.
The first thing to consider is what you want from the contest or award. Is there a cash prize, whi…
Finding Your Sweet Spot as a Hybrid Author
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…
Planning for 2024
Tis the season . . . for planning!
There’s very little that I love more than a shiny new year, all empty and ready to fill with wonderful plans. December is the perfect month to take some thoughtful time to identify our goals for the next 12 months and then ponder how to best reach them.
That’s never truer than when it comes to selling our books—plotting our marketing for the next year is essen…