Published on May 27, 2015
legal

I am currently starting a third novel, and was wondering if legally if I could mention (fictional) characters from other works by name. Would I be able to mention (a very famous cartoon character) that my main character idolizes or would I need written permission from the companies that own those characters?
Published on May 27, 2015
worst book proposals and query letters
Angela,
Never apologize for publishing your “More World’s Worst Book Proposals And Query Letters!” only six weeks apart. I absolutely love them. They invariably evoke a few laugh-out-loud chuckles.
Jacquie McTaggart
Published on May 27, 2015
writing tips

You tell yourself, “Someday, I’m going to write my memoirs” but “Someday” never comes. Perhaps this short narrative telling you how I have cluttered my children’s homes with hundreds of pages of my memoirs will help you get started…
Published on May 27, 2015

The freelance road is an exciting, albeit rocky one. To achieve the goal of publication, you have to be dogged, polite, tough skinned and tenacious. I always wanted to write, but was an environmental scientist in my day-to-day career. So, how did a biologist end up with several freelance writing gigs, enough to keep me busy during my retirement days?
Published on May 20, 2015
On Friday, Richard’s dad is driving in from Texas for the Rush concert this weekend in Tampa. The tickets were a birthday present we got him. On Saturday, our librarian friend, Scott, and his wife, Kelly, are arriving as well. Scott will be attending the concert with the guys (along with our neighbor, Tim). Kelly and I will NOT…because I’m not a big fan of tinnitus…
Published on May 20, 2015
worst book proposals and query letters

It’s only been about six weeks since the last one but we’ve been getting lots of queries and book proposals lately. So, today I’m going to share another installment of our popular column, World’s Worst Book Proposals and Query Letters. Featured are real quotes from query letters and book proposals submitted to us over the past few weeks.
Published on May 20, 2015
I just saw your great article on the Author Solutions lawsuit. Because of your newsletter, I’ve long known Author Solutions is far from the best company in the world for self-publishers. But, I did not know Balboa Press was one of their associated companies…
Published on May 20, 2015
book marketing

Is it sensible for me to promote my latest book by giving away some free ebooks on the Kindle? How can I avoid pitfalls about poorly-formatted MOBI formatted ebooks (I’ve heard horror stories), and what costs should I expect for publishing my ebook, and for promoting it?
Published on May 20, 2015
book marketing

I was a bit skeptical of the idea of selling books at art fairs even though the idea was mine. But, I have been willing to step out of the box in order to sell my novel, Out of the Shadows. As it turned out having a little booth at art fairs has been profitable, and I sell more books than I have at book signings at Barnes and Nobles or independent bookstores.
Published on May 13, 2015
Last week, I wrote about Richard needing “more than a few dollars” for a surprise for me. Well, he and the kids bought me 9 hours of kite surfing lessons for Mother’s Day! I am so excited!! It’s in Clearwater so we’re going to take a short vacation up there in the next few weeks. Richard and the boys can have fun on the beach while I’m taking my lessons (3 lessons at 3 hours each). We took a trip to a beach resort last summer with the kids and had a blast so I’m looking forward to doing that again.
THIS WEEK’S MASONISM
“If something is not positive, it should not exist.”
Hugs to all!
Angela
P.S. I want to “follow” you!
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