Whether you are a reader, aspiring author, or working on your next book, there are things YOU can do which make an enormous difference in the life of an author. The reason authors write a book is to connect with readers and the best rewards come from readers who let an author know their book had an impact. Most readers don’t know how important their… [Read More]
When you are writing for print, ideas and stories are communicated in a visual-linear mode which engages logic and thought. The kind of writing you do for a listener is quite different than when writing for readers. Writing for print addresses the intellect: the intent is to communicate an idea or present the facts and let the reader infer the meaning and significance of the… [Read More]
Will Schwalbe, author of End-of-Your-Life Book Club, recently spoke at the Fox Cities Book Festival. He read several excerpts from this wonderful new title Books for Living, a memoir of a reader. In 26 chapters, Schwalbe writes about the books which shaped his own life story. He did not intend the specific books which are chapter titles to be a reading list of either the… [Read More]
What should be in your digital toolkit for the business of being an author? Google Suite for your email. Do you wonder why your emails don’t get a reply? It may be they were never delivered. If your account is with AOL, Hotmail, or Yahoo, there is a strong likelihood if you send someone you don’t already have a connection with they will never receive… [Read More]
Kent State University Press released Death of an Assassin: The True Story of the German Murderer Who Died Defending Robert E. Lee on September 1 and author Ann Marie Ackermann arrives from Germany for her U.S. book tour this week. With a dozen events scheduled in Tennessee, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, Ackermann will spend the month of October meeting and greeting readers. I’m… [Read More]
As an editor I see one four letter word overused and abused more than any other. T. H. A. T. That. Many times it serves no grammatical purpose whatsoever. It is a filler word. You use it in conversation to signal to others a pause, like a verbal comma, to give the impression to a listener you haven’t finished speaking. In writing, however, it is… [Read More]
Connecting writers and readers for ten years, the Fox Cities Book Festival celebrates books, ideas, stories, and community in the Fox River Valley this October. In January 2017 I joined the board and have been excited about this year’s new developments. This is the first year the festival will be held in the fall instead of the spring. The Fox Cities Reads program—one book one… [Read More]
Linda J. Spielman’s A Field Guide to Tracking Mammals in the Northeast is a wonderful reference tool for the backyard enthusiast or the back-to-the-woods survivalist. Countryman Press published her book on July 4 and her distributor W.W. Norton sent a copy I donated to a Little Free Library here in Appleton, Wisconsin. Little Free Libraries began in Wisconsin and grew into a global movement based… [Read More]
Kent State University Press will publish Death of an Assassin: The True Story of the German Murderer Who Died Defending Robert E. Lee in its True Crime History series on September 1, 2017. Congratulations to Ann Marie Ackermann who kicks off her book launch with several events in Germany and then brings her book tour to the U.S. for the month of October. She’ll be… [Read More]
Who are your readers? They are not your family and friends. And don’t expect them to buy the book when it comes out. Unless they are in it. And that might not always be a good thing. Who are the people who don’t know you and will be pulled to your book enough to take money out of their pocket to buy it so they… [Read More]
