On Publishing – Page 4

Archive by category "On Publishing" (Page 4)

Mondays In Publishing: A Glossary of Publishing Terms

Author, novelist, writer… What’s the difference? Spelling, for the most part. I’ve never found a satisfactory definition to differentiate, although I tend to think of writers as non-fiction news people (a bias left over from my newspaper days). The real difference is between an Author and a Published/Contracted Author. When…

Writer Craft Wednesday – Deadlines and What To Do With A Very Long Book

I often say I’m a slow writer. My editor disagrees. It’s not that I write slowly, it’s that I write long. Really, really, REALLY long. In romance it isn’t uncommon to see a novel that’s 40,000 – 60,000 words long, especially over on the indie ebook side. Romance readers are…

Mondays In Publishing – Genre

GENRE It’s a scary word for some people. I’ve met people who will argue genre until they are blue in the face. I have met people who think genre is a form of gate-keeping. I have met people who think genre is a waste of time. I have never met…

Writer Craft Wednesday – Finding A Story You Can’t Wait To Write

Finding an idea is both the easiest and hardest part of writing. You want to find something that you’ll love enough to write on the bad days. There’s not BUT there. No AND. When you’re coming up with an idea you don’t need to worry about marketability and trends. “But,…

Mondays In Publishing – Seasons In Publishing

Meteorological Winter begins December 1st for the northern hemisphere (as opposed to astronomical winter that begins with the winter solstice). Just like the sky and weather Publishing has its own seasons. Seasons of feast and famine. Seasons to query and seasons to edit. Seasons to publish and seasons to sit…

How To Write A Query Letter

QUERY(n) – the letter a hopeful author sends to an agent or editor with the express wish of getting the manuscript off their desk and onto someone else’s publication schedule. The query is an essential part of the publication process even for Indie Authors, it’s also one of the…

Painting Sunsets and Other Changes

Let’s pretend for a minute that I was a painter instead of an author, and that this painting of swirls and leaves was my first book. This is the painting I went into the world with. This is the painting I found an art dealer with. This is the…

Piracy, Ebooks, and The Raven King

After reading Maggie Stiefvater’s openly honest essay about the piracy of her Raven Cycle books I have some thoughts. First, GO READ HER EXPERIENCE. Second, for those wondering where book four of Heroes and Villains is or a new Sam Rose story, the answer is: there probably won’t be one…

What To Have Before You Query (a checklist)

Dear Authors – I want to read your book. Not just as a fellow author, or editor, or someone in publishing. I want to read your book because I’m a reader first and foremost and, by golly!, I need more books in my life! The good news is, I’m not the…

Write For Love – Publish For Money

Start here with Derek Murphy’s wise words: The number of times I’ve wanted to punch someone for implying that artists ought to starve to create, that our lives and time aren’t worth more than pennies, is a number higher than zero but not a number so high that you…