From Our Blog
Artificial intelligence (AI) dominates today’s headlines, often swinging between hyperbolic promises and existential fear. Depending on what you read, AI is either poised to solve humanity’s greatest problems or destroy creative industries altogether.
The reality is more nuanced.
For authors, AI is neither wholly good nor wholly bad. It is a powerful toolset that introduces both creative opport…
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…
Giving a Good Panel
I led my first writer/reader panel nearly 30 years ago. In many ways, Giving a Good Panel is even trickier than Giving a Good Session. The latter is solely dependent upon your skills and knowledge, but the former requires a degree of cooperation, a balancing of knowledge and time, and a seriously good moderator.
Over the years, I’ve seen both brilliant and disastrous panels. This can be easily …
A Guide to Rock-Star Customer Service for Authors Selling Direct
Let’s face it—happy readers come back for more. While the digital age has transformed how we connect with our audience, one truth remains: creating lifelong fans beats making one-time sales. The best part? Readers don’t expect perfection. They just want to know you’ve got their back when issues pop up.
The common support scenarios
Tech troubles. What button do I push?
Most SOS calls are about e…
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…
How to Avoid LGBTQ+ Stereotypes
It would be impossible to sit down and list every LGBTQ+ stereotype that might pop up in a work of fiction. For one thing, stereotypes change as society changes, and they can be hard to pin down, it’s more a feeling you get while reading than a specific image.
A stereotype might only be noticeable to someone from the group being depicted, which means that authors writing outside their own exper…