Risk Rules
by,
April 4, 2011

Pick Hall 213. No nameplate on the wooden door along the dark concrete hallway. I knocked. And waited. I could hear low level conversation going on behind the door and the rustling of papers. I knocked again. I could hear footsteps approach the door. “Can I help you?” asked the head of a graduate student peering out the door opened only a crack. “I’m looking… [Read More]

First time author?
by,
March 16, 2011

Are you a first time author who can’t get a foot in the door of publishers? If you’ve published books previously, it’s much easier to get your book concept under editorial consideration than if you are a first time author. It’s a catch-22; or is it? How can you jump the high hurdle of being a first-time author? Build a publication record. Just because you… [Read More]

Cleaning Nabokov’s House
by,
March 8, 2011

Leslie Daniels is a great writer whose background as a literary agent serves her well in her craft. Romance, baseball, a dog, small town upstate culture, crime, memoir/creative nonfiction, writing and authors and agents: women’s fiction has a fresh new voice. Daniels mixes it all up so there’s something for everyone. Plus humor, sardonic and ironic. Walking away from a marriage because you don’t know… [Read More]

Mars is Far
by,
March 4, 2011

For many writers, getting a book contract from a trade publisher is further away than Mars. I tell it like it is. With my broken right wrist, it feels far beyond the stars for my manuscript in the drawer. I’ll be lucky to knock out this quick post and publish it here today. If you want to watch a rising star with a bestselling book… [Read More]

How Authors Can Overcome the 10 Mistakes Big Publishers Make
by,
February 18, 2011

So you want to get your book published, but your chances of securing a contract with a big publisher continue to diminish and they bleed financially. Amazon undercuts the publishers’ price; making it increasingly difficult to recover production costs. Borders files for bankruptcy this week while the small and independent bookstores of Main Street continue to close up shop. J.E. Fishman of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania,… [Read More]

So if I have to blog, where do I start?
by,
February 12, 2011

Authors are expected to have their own blogs today. Not just after the book comes out, but before. Publishers look at the visitor statistics to your blog as the potential market for your book. So before you send in that brilliant book proposal, build a platform for your publication. If you have never done any blogging before, the place to start is with reading and… [Read More]

Writer’s Rejoice!
by,
February 8, 2011

News that AOL is buying the Huffington Post for $315 million is an indication that internet content actually matters. With 25 million users monthly, The Huffington Post is the brainchild of Arianna Huffington. She pulled readers to the Post with her branded content. It’s a new model for news and publishing. This business buyout follows the successful appointment of Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and the New Yorker,… [Read More]

Getting Your Book Published
by,
February 5, 2011

In my last blog post I recommended Writer’s Digest 2011 Guide to Literary Agents. You may not be ready to get an agent if you haven’t already studied The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published: How to Write It, Sell It, and Market It…Successfully! (Workman Publishing, 2010). Writers Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry previously published much of this how-to guidebook as Putting Your… [Read More]

2011 Guide to Literary Agents
by,
February 2, 2011

The 2oth anniversity edition of this Writer’s Digest Book seems a bit leaner than in previous years; despite new articles, hundreds of listings for writers’ conferences, and fresh material on this rapidly changing business. Nearly a third of the book is dedicated to how-to and background information for authors on finding the right agent for your work. The second third of the reference guide offers 550… [Read More]

Sticky wickets on book sales
by,
January 29, 2011

Barnes & Noble,  Borders, and thousands of small and independent book stores are struggling to pay their bills, including bills to publishers. Big commercial publishers are still in sticker shock that the old profit margins and traditional ways of doing business are gone. But everyone loves books.   Even GE.  Their extension of credit to Barnes & Noble to keep things alive a few more months in this… [Read More]