It’s important to take steps to protect yourself and your loved ones from stalking and harassment. There have been documented cases of stalkers who have showed up on writers’ doorsteps, called them at work, and even physically assaulted them.
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 …
There are two types of people in this world: Those who can edit and those who can’t…
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…
If I reference a book and/or the authors of that book, do I have to get written permission from them? Is it enough just to list them in my reference section?
Biographies are invaluable to a writer. A strong bio makes a strong impression and is a powerful tool to advertise and sell the writer’s writing skills. A good bio can lead to repeat business with editors whose attention is captured, a loyal readership whose interest is retained and new clientele whose imagination is piqued, which is great for your business and credentials. And writing a good bio should be a piece of cake for a wordsmith. Yet writers often stumble at this important task.
Ernest Hemingway said that it is in the editing process that most writers break down. Hemingway was ruthless in editing his own work. One biographer I read said Hemingway edited everything he wrote up to thirty times. I have taught freshman composition for many years. I tell my students that good writing is rewriting, refining, and finding those little demon typos and errors that can damage the quality of what is written. Don’t be discouraged or surprised if your POD publisher encourages you to hire an editor.
We have all heard that there is a potential book within each one of us, just waiting to be written. But, what about the book that you have ALREADY written? That book could be hiding in your hard drive, ready to be copied and pasted into a folder of its own.
Every writer has certain tools they rely on daily, from reference books to cached webpages, to stacks of notes, to file templates. When those tools are unavailable, productivity can plummet, and with it, a writer’s income, unless you take careful steps for the time you must spend away from your office. Whether you are traveling for business or pleasure, for just a few days, or a longer trip, it is possible to keep working no matter how far away your office is…
Having just completed another very successful “book signing” in a large venue setting, I would like to offer some pointers for authors that have had limited or no success in selling their books at the various library or local artist sponsored book signing events.
