Welcome to the weekly The Smart Set, where I share three smart pieces worth reading about the publishing and media industry. I also point to issues and questions raised, and welcome you to respond or ask your own questions in the comments. “To seek: to embrace the questions, be wary of answers.” —Terry Tempest Williams Journalism Is Doing Just Fine, Thanks by Matthew […]
Welcome to the weekly The Smart Set, where I share three smart pieces worth reading about the publishing and media industry. I also point to issues and questions raised, and welcome you to respond or ask your own questions in the comments. “To seek: to embrace the questions, be wary of answers.” —Terry Tempest Williams Publishing’s Future: When Editors Eat Robots by Porter […]
Welcome to the weekly The Smart Set, where I share three smart pieces worth reading about the publishing and media industry. I also point to issues and questions raised, and welcome you to respond or ask your own questions in the comments. “To seek: to embrace the questions, be wary of answers.” —Terry Tempest Williams More Fights About Terms by Brian O’Leary Publishing […]
Welcome to the weekly The Smart Set, where I share three smart pieces worth reading about the publishing and media industry. I also point to issues and questions raised, and welcome you to respond or ask your own questions in the comments. “To seek: to embrace the questions, be wary of answers.” —Terry Tempest Williams For the Authors Guild [a wish list] by […]
Welcome to the weekly The Smart Set, where I share three smart pieces worth reading about the publishing and media industry. I also point to issues and questions raised, and welcome you to respond or ask your own questions in the comments. “To seek: to embrace the questions, be wary of answers.” —Terry Tempest Williams Publishers Need to Rethink Their Marketing Deployments […]
Welcome to the weekly The Smart Set, where I share three smart pieces worth reading about the publishing and media industry. I also point to issues and questions raised, and welcome you to respond or ask your own questions in the comments. “To seek: to embrace the questions, be wary of answers.” —Terry Tempest Williams Kindle Unlimited: The Key Questions by David Gaughran […]
Over the holiday weekend, C.J. Lyons, a bestselling hybrid author, launched a new initiative called Digital Book Day, partly in response to the discontinuation of World Book Night USA. For those unfamiliar with World Book Night, it was a joint marketing effort to spread the love of reading by giving away thousands of books in a single […]
Welcome to the weekly The Smart Set, where I share three smart pieces worth reading about the publishing and media industry. I also point to issues and questions raised, and welcome you to respond or ask your own questions in the comments. “To seek: to embrace the questions, be wary of answers.” —Terry Tempest Williams 5 Myths About the New Era of […]
Welcome to the weekly The Smart Set, where I curate new smart reads about the publishing and media industry. I also point to issues and questions raised, and welcome you to respond or ask your own questions in the comments. “To seek: to embrace the questions, be wary of answers.” —Terry Tempest Williams Scared Money Never Wins by Chris McVeigh […]
Welcome to the weekly The Smart Set, where I curate new smart reads about the publishing and media industry. I also point to issues and questions raised, and welcome you to respond or ask your own questions in the comments. Bridging the Gap: Why Publishing’s Future Is at Risk by Baldur Bjarnason This blog post at Publishing Perspectives is adapted […]
For 10 years, I’ve been analyzing website traffic—for my own site, for Writer’s Digest (when I worked for them from 2001–2010), and now for the Virginia Quarterly Review. Every site has different traffic patterns, but what I’ve learned is that the homepage is rarely the first page that visitors see. They often end up on a story page from […]
Welcome to the weekly The Smart Set, where I curate new smart reads about the publishing and media industry. I also point to issues and questions raised, and welcome you to respond or ask your own questions in the comments. “To seek: to embrace the questions, be wary of answers.” —Terry Tempest Williams When an Author Should Self-Publish and How That […]
The backlash against Literary Citizenship is underway, and perhaps it was inevitable. For those unaware of term, it’s widely used in the literary, bookish community to refer to activities that support and further reading, writing, and publishing, and the growth of your professional network. In some ways, it’s a more palatable (or friendly) way to […]
Welcome to the weekly The Smart Set, where I curate new smart reads about the publishing and media industry. I also point to issues and questions raised, and welcome you to respond or ask your own questions in the comments. “To seek: to embrace the questions, be wary of answers.” —Terry Tempest Williams Must a Writer Go Hybrid for Higher […]
Note from Jane: The following post by Joshua Graham (@J0shuaGraham) is the third in a series sponsored by Nook Press, offering tips and advice from authors on writing and publishing. Read earlier sponsored posts from Nook: How to Build a Writing Group in Your Community by Nathaniel Kressen The Importance of Your Book Cover: Finding the Right Fit by Colleen Gleason […]
Every writer can benefit from belonging to a community writing group. If there’s not one in your area, here’s how to start one successfully.
Your productivity and growth are a direct result of forming a business plan (and sticking to it); here are 7 steps—plus a template—for creating your own.
Note from Jane: The following post is the first in a series that will offer tips and advice from successful authors about self-publishing, specifically those who use Barnes & Noble’s Nook Press as part of their overall sales, marketing, and distribution strategy. This series is sponsored by Nook Press, which means they have paid for […]
It is possible, if not desirable, for an author to launch an effective book-marketing campaign without a publisher’s support or assistance. Mainly, it requires time and energy. Here’s a comprehensive rundown of the main strategies in use today.
It’s not unusual for authors to be told by their publishers that author websites aren’t necessary or effective. Should their insight be trusted?
Five things to consider as you begin planning book events to spread the word about your book.
Best Business Advice for Writers is a monthly link round-up where I share the best online articles focused on the business of writing and publishing.
Best Business Advice for Writers is a monthly link round-up where I share the best online articles focused on the business of writing and publishing. Share any best reads you’ve found lately in the comments.
Self-publishing is not for every writer—you must have specific traits. Ask yourself the following 15 questions before you decide to go it alone.
Best Business Advice for Writers is a monthly link round-up where I share the best online articles focused on the business of writing and publishing. Share any best reads you’ve found lately in the comments. Discover Your Author’s Brand by Philip Martin If you’re turned off by conversations of author branding, this post is for you. Martin […]
On Tuesday, March 5, I found (via Twitter) the following piece by freelance journalist Nate Thayer: A Day in the Life of a Freelance Journalist—2013 The post consists of an e-mail exchange between Thayer and an Atlantic editor, where Thayer is asked if he would repurpose a previously published piece for the Atlantic’s website. He […]
Today’s guest post is by author Bruce Holland Rogers, whom I recently met while teaching at the Whidbey MFA program. Since 2002, I’ve been selling my flash fiction by e-mail to paying subscribers. The venture has been the core activity of my writing career for more than a decade, but it began with what may […]
Yesterday, news broke that Pearson (parent company of Penguin) had acquired Author Solutions for $116 million. Read the basics here. Just to make sure we’re all up to speed: Pearson is one of the Big Six publishers. Author Solutions (ASI) is the world’s leading provider of self-publishing services, primarily dealing in print-on-demand (POD) publishing and […]
This week I’ll be in Chicago for the Association of Writers & Writing Programs annual conference. I’m a panelist on “The Tech-Empowered Writer” on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. This post serves as a handy resource for anyone who attends the panel, plus all of you who will miss it. Think beyond the [analog] book Traditional authorship […]
This weekend, I’ll be speaking at the Writer’s Digest Conference about e-publishing. I’m in the process of updating my slides and information about e-book sales—which can be a confusing and murky issue since the reporting of such sales is not as standardized as print book sales (yet). Meaning: You can not only find various data […]
Once again, I’ll be speaking at the annual Writer’s Digest Conference in New York City this coming weekend. They have an incredible line-up of keynote speakers (plus the infamous pitch slam), but when it comes to breakout sessions, I’d like to share my picks for writers trying to get traditionally published. Pitch Perfect (Friday, 6 […]
Last week I shared 12 Must-Read Articles From 2011. Now I’m going to share a list of the best advice I gave in 2011 as a handy reference. My Absolute Favorites You Hate Your Writing? That’s a Good Sign! This was one of the most tweeted articles I wrote in 2011. The Persistent and Damaging Myth […]
Today’s guest post is by author and business person Joanne Tombrakos. What ultimately spurred my decision to self-publish was a quality that had served me well during the 25 years I spent selling commercials on radio and television stations. Impatience. Simply put, I got tired of waiting for someone else to publish me. Good salespeople […]
Today’s guest post is by Brad King, a professor at Ball State with a brilliant mind for emerging media and tech. He will be a regular guest here for a while, writing a series on how people read (in general) and how people read within the tablet/eReader environment. It’s a great honor and privilege for me to […]
Today’s guest post is from author Kristen Lamb. The digital age author has more opportunities than any writer in the history of the written word. But with more opportunities comes more competition, and with more competition comes more work. Mega-agent Donald Maass will tell you there are only two ways to sell books—a good book and […]
I started my first publishing job in 1998, and I immediately started reviewing nonfiction book proposals as part of an editorial team. By 2010, what constituted a strong book proposal had dramatically transformed. You can probably guess why. The Internet has forever changed how we discover, access, and distribute information and entertainment. For a nonfiction […]
Today’s guest post is by Roz Morris. Last month I released my literary novel as four episodes on Kindle: 100,000 words, in chunks of 25,000 words, at 99 cents a time. Why? Like many writers who enjoy blogging, my platform is a writing advice blog, Nail Your Novel. That was perfect when I was releasing […]
Today, Michael Hyatt is featuring a 12-minute interview with me on his blog. We talk about the following: How important is an author’s “platform” to their success in the publishing world? Do you think there is still a role for traditional publishers in the future? What are the best practices of really successful writers? What […]
Don’t you wish someone could tell you if you’re wasting your time trying to be a writer? Or if you’re at all close to getting traditionally published—assuming that’s your goal? In a recent issue of Writer’s Digest, I have a feature article, “Revising Your Path to Publication,” that attempts to address these (rather) unanswerable questions. […]
Amy Stolls is the author of The Ninth Wife, a novel just released from HarperCollins as a paperback original. The premise: What sane woman would consider becoming any man’s ninth wife? I had the pleasure of meeting Amy in late 2010, before her novel’s release, while serving on a panel for the National Endowment for […]
I watch Twitter, so you don’t have to. Visit each Sunday for the week’s best tweets. If I missed a great Tweet, leave it in the comments. Never miss a round-up: Subscribe to this site via RSS, e-mail, or however else you prefer. Best of the Best The vague test and your first line @Kid_Lit Should […]
If you’re overwhelmed by this list, you can purchase a compilation of my best advice for first-time authors, Publishing 101: A First-Time Author’s Guide to Getting Published, Marketing and Promoting Your Book, and Building a Successful Career. It is a full-length book (more than 80,000 words) that includes edited and updated versions of the most important blog posts listed below. Getting Started The […]
Updated August 2020 None of these freelancers or services have paid to be listed, nor do I receive a commission for referring you. These are all people I’ve either met and worked with directly, or people who have long-standing and respectable reputations in the writing and publishing community. The Best of My Advice For free: […]