Your Turn: What Prosperity Means To Four Writers

February 6, 2010

And now back to our originally scheduled programming…
I asked the readers of The Prosperous Writer e-zine some questions and here are some of their answers rounded up.
I originally thought I would handle these Q&As like guest posts but once I started seeing them roll in, I knew that they would be more thought-provoking as collections [...]

Read the full article →

Publishers: Why Are You Creating Huge Followings For Those Who Might Soon Be Putting You Out of Business?

February 5, 2010

Well, I wasn’t going to publish this because it feels fairly controversial. But then I read Mike Shatzkin’s post on Why are you for killing bookstores? And at the end he said:
The book business has always been one with very low financial barriers to entry. Ebook publishing makes getting into the game even cheaper. It [...]

Read the full article →

Publishers: Online Tools Every Author Can & Should Master

February 2, 2010

These are the basic tools authors today need to be able to acquire and use to succeed in today’s marketplace. Please note: I am indicating that the author should foot the bill for these minor expenses, as the author should always maintain 100% ownership of his or her platform without interference or pressure from a [...]

Read the full article →

Publishers: Seven Types of Outreach To Cement The Publisher-Author Bond & Boost the Sales of Every Single Book

February 1, 2010

I’m just back from Digital Book World and rather than offer a play by play on Twitter (I didn’t), a long blog post synopsis (I am sure others will do it), or a bunch of cheeky comments about how nobody in publishing knows anything (after all TOC is coming—oops, that was cheeky!), I’m going to offer [...]

Read the full article →

#Platformchat R.I.P.: Why I Pulled The Plug

January 29, 2010

I let go of #platformchat on Twitter for good at the very end of 2009 after taking a couple of months hiatus. I’ve had some time to think about why I made that decision. Here’s the short version:
As a teacher, I’m really all about the doing, not the talking about doing. Therefore, #platformchat wasn’t accomplishing [...]

Read the full article →

Even Writers Get Sophomore Slump: What To Do About It

January 28, 2010

This post goes out to my advanced writing students who are challenged to keep moving their careers forward by pitching themselves again and again and again…

Let’s say, you’ve been published. Perhaps you’ve even been published quite a bit. Maybe you have up to twenty clips, when at one time you had none.
Hey, this is great! [...]

Read the full article →

So You Want to Be an Author Who Sells Books? Step Three: Do The Hustle

January 27, 2010

Your writing career isn’t just about landing one book deal and then scrambling like crazy so folks will hear about your book, and then scrambling to get a second book deal, and so on. No. There is a more strategic and steady way to lay the groundwork so you can avoid scrambling altogether.  ~ From [...]

Read the full article →

So You Want to Be an Author Who Sells Books? Step Two: Write A Remarkable Book

January 26, 2010

And yes, only a remarkable book will do.
I do not agree with anyone who thinks the quality of a book no longer matters. I think quality matters more than ever.
Word of mouth has never been so powerful in making or breaking book sales. So you’d better write a damn darn good book. Because you are [...]

Read the full article →

So You Want to Be An Author Who Sells Books? Step One is Platform Prep

January 25, 2010

Platform development is an inside job. Despite what you may read online about how you can slap together one lickety-split, resist the temptation to do just that. The same goes for the latest online trends everyone is rushing to get in on. You’ll get to them. But first comes platform planning. ~ From Get Known [...]

Read the full article →

The Remedy For Author Overload (Hint: It’s a Very Short Word)

January 22, 2010

This post goes out to my students who now, after many years of hard work, are having books published.

You have become an author, congratulations!
You’ve launched your book into the world and oh my goodness, the response is overwhelming.
I repeat: OVERWHELMING.
Propositions are coming at you, seemingly from every direction.
Not that you are complaining about your success. [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →