Angela’s Desk

What to Do When Your Book Event Organizer FAILS TO ORDER YOUR BOOKS! By Angela Hoy

Published on February 25, 2016

What to Do When Your Book Event Organizer FAILS TO ORDER YOUR BOOKS! By Angela Hoy

It happened again this week. And, unfortunately, it happens ALL the time. Conference organizers/coordinators and their employees (and even bookstores!) drop the ball. After hiring you (or charging you!) to appear at their event, and after promising to order dozens or even hundreds of your books for their attendees, they fail to do so. The author, after making plans to attend, to present, or just to sell, and perhaps even after buying a plane ticket, and reserving a rental car and hotel room, is stuck at a table (or in front of a podium) with no books for their eager, book-buying audience.…

Hey, Everybody! We Need Your Help!

Published on February 11, 2016

Hey, Everybody! We Need Your Help!

Send us a quick note, and GET A FREE ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION TO THE WRITE MARKETS REPORT for participating in our Self-publishing/Print on Demand Author Survey.…

Was Author Solutions Sold at a Loss? We Think So! By Angela Hoy, WritersWeekly.com, BookLocker.com, Abuzz Press and PubPreppers.com

Published on January 14, 2016

Was Author Solutions Sold at a Loss? We Think So! By Angela Hoy, WritersWeekly.com, BookLocker.com, Abuzz Press and PubPreppers.com

Ah, Author Solutions has been sold once again. It reminds me of a rickety boat. One guy buys it and realizes it has a hole or two so he doesn't want it anymore. So, he polishes it up and sells it to another guy, who does the same thing. Each owner may get more or less than they originally paid but, in the end, each subsequent owner is likely happy to be rid of it.…

Profitable New Year’s Resolution? A Daily Word-Count Writing Goal = More Money!! By Angela Hoy

Published on December 31, 2015

Profitable New Year’s Resolution? A Daily Word-Count Writing Goal = More Money!! By Angela Hoy

Years ago, I decided that New Year's resolutions dealing with productivity and, thus, increased future revenues, were far more fun than those of the weight loss variety. So, I switched to resolutions that would, quite simply, end up increasing my bottom line. The more books I write and release, the more money I make. It's that simple. The problem? Finding the time to be that productive!…

World’s Worst Query Letters and Book Proposals For December 2015!

Published on December 23, 2015

World’s Worst Query Letters and Book Proposals For December 2015!

Oh, yes! We know you're excited!! Today, I'm going to share another installment of our popular column, World's Worst Book Proposals and Query Letters. Featured below are real quotes from query letters and book proposals submitted to us over the past few weeks.…

The Ebook Trend is Definitely WANING! NOW WHAT?! By Angela Hoy

Published on December 4, 2015

The Ebook Trend is Definitely WANING! NOW WHAT?! By Angela Hoy

Way back in 1998, we predicted ebooks would become a successful revenue model for authors after I wrote and self-published one of the very first ebooks, before "ebook" was even a known term, and before Stephen King made the term famous. But, even while we promoted and sold ebooks for authors, we also said that print books would never become obsolete.…

More World’s Worst Book Proposals and Query Letters! by Angela Hoy

Published on September 30, 2015

More World’s Worst Book Proposals and Query Letters! by Angela Hoy

Oh, yes! We know you’re excited!! Today, I’m going to share another installment of our popular column, World’s Worst Book Proposals and Query Letters. Featured below are real quotes from query letters and book proposals submitted to us over the past few weeks. Yes, we can learn from others’ mistakes ...…

PART IV – The Romantic History of WritersWeekly and BookLocker by Angela Hoy

Published on September 23, 2015

PART IV – The Romantic History of WritersWeekly and BookLocker by Angela Hoy

Most recently, we had to have the entire back wall of the house demolished and rebuilt because of old termite damage. The old owner had looked me right in the eye, and said they'd never had termites. Orkin came along later, and showed us the tiny, patched holes from previous termite treatments ...…

PART I – The Romantic History of WritersWeekly and BookLocker by Angela Hoy

Published on September 2, 2015

PART I – The Romantic History of WritersWeekly and BookLocker by Angela Hoy

A long, long time ago, I was an aspiring freelance writer and a mother of three. I was also in a very unhappy marriage (which is described in my book, The Emergency Divorce Handbook for Women). And, at that time, I was working full-time in the aerospace industry as an accountant. I'd work all day, come home to care for the children, help them with their homework, feed them, play with them, bathe them, put them to bed, read to them, tuck them in, and, then, stay up until the wee hours of the morning, trying to make a better life for my babies. I typed research papers for college students. I did accounting and other office work for two entrepreneurs in town ...…

WritersWeekly Needs Creative, FRESH Articles NOW!

Published on August 25, 2015

WritersWeekly Needs Creative, FRESH Articles NOW!

This week, for the first time in a long time, I revised our writer's guidelines. For some reason, we've been getting an increasing number of queries that aren't in any way whatsoever related to writing or publishing. Over just the past weekend alone, I received queries about pets, retirement living, home building, and stocks. Now, I do realize that some publications have titles that may be subtle or even confusing to potential readers and writers ...…

Topic, Common Themes, and Winners of the WritersWeekly.com Spring, 2015 24-Hour Short Story Contest! By Angela Hoy

Published on June 17, 2015

For the past six weeks, we've spent every spare moment judging the hundreds of entries submitted for the WritersWeekly Spring, 2015 24-Hour Short Story Contest. In case you're not familiar with our quarterly contest, this is how it works. On the date of the contest, at start-time, we send out the topic for that specific contest to all registered entrants, while also posting it on WritersWeekly.com. Entrants must be registered before the contest begins and there is a limit of 500 participants per contest. Entrants then have 24 hours to write and submit their stories via email. The stories "must deal with the topic in some way to qualify" and they must not exceed the pre-assigned word count, which is announced with the topic. After reading the entries for each contest, we can see how difficult it is to come up with a unique plot when working with an assigned topic. But, inevitably, a few writers do manage to successfully break away from the pack... …

More World’s Worst Book Proposals And Query Letters! By Angela Hoy

Published on May 20, 2015

More World’s Worst Book Proposals And Query Letters! By Angela Hoy

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. …

Disturbing Allegations In The New Author Solutions Lawsuit! By Angela Hoy

Published on May 13, 2015

Disturbing Allegations In The New Author Solutions Lawsuit! By Angela Hoy

As most of you know, yet another lawsuit has been filed against Author Solutions, which owns AuthorHouse, Xlibris, iUniverse, Trafford, Wordclay, and others. The lawyers are seeking class-action status, of course. I have provided a break-down of the highlights from the lawsuit HERE. Today, I'm gonna rant... …

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