How to Start Blogging for Authors
How authors can blog successfully for long-term platform and book marketing efforts, with tips for online writing, strong headlines, and ...
3 Unique Research Methods for Identifying Small Publishers
Small presses are their own ecosystem. To understand the landscape, study the review sites, awards, and distributors catering specifically to ...
Coffee cup and business strategy sketches on white background
You’ve got something that corporate brands don’t—yourself. Nurture a relationship with your readers, and they’ll do the marketing for you ...
/ Guest Post, Marketing & Promotion
Image: stone figures, arm around other's shoulder
Unless you’re a celebrity, your expertise in a field may not be enough to interest publishers. A partner can increase ...
/ Book Proposals, Guest Post
Image: Jim McCarthy, Paula Munier
In this Q&A, literary agents Jim McCarthy and Paula Munier discuss the priorities and responsibilities—to yourself and to others—of being ...
Image: Bob Eckstein
In this interview, Bob Eckstein discusses art vs. commerce, newspaper/magazine cartoons vs. TV as communication delivery systems, the influence of ...
Image: microphone at front of conference room
Skip the book signing; there's greater reward in identifying and connecting with the audience that already shares a passion for ...
/ Guest Post, Marketing & Promotion
Image: golden eggs in a basket
Ensure that your work continues to generate earnings for you and your heirs by staying on top of contracts, royalties, ...
/ Guest Post, Legal Issues
Sarah LaPolla Kim Lionetti Establishing Long Term Writing Career
For some authors, a single book deal is validation enough. For others, it's the beginning of a lifelong journey through ...
From Romance Novelist to Literary Novelist: Anna Schmidt
In this Q&A, Anna Schmidt discusses how she became a romance novelist, the nearly accidental way she acquired her current ...
Public Libraries: How Authors Can Increase Both Discoverability and Earnings
Libraries represent a valuable opportunity for a book discoverability and sales, but librarians may not know your book exists without ...
book cover design
Sharing your in-progress book cover on social media to solicit meaningful direction is like throwing a bomb into the creative ...
/ Marketing & Promotion
Bill Wolfe
Is it still necessary today to encourage men to read women, or to shine a targeted light on female writers? ...
A Primer on Estate Planning as a Writer
Whether you start writing as a child or in your golden years, it's never too early to learn about estate ...
/ Guest Post, Legal Issues
platform unpublished
When I finished my biography, I studied how to get it published. Websites advised: platform, platform, platform. But I had ...
/ Getting Published, Guest Post
book marketing swag
Meaningful swag offers the reader something connected to the book and something that’s memorable—but you need something that doesn't break ...
/ Marketing & Promotion
Marketing Advice Roundup: Best of the Last Year
I regularly read and report on marketing trends that affect traditionally published and self-published writers. Today I'm sharing the most ...
/ Marketing & Promotion
Russell Rowland
Author Russell Rowland discusses the big mistake he made with HarperCollins, whether the journey of writing is truly its own ...
nonfiction niche
No matter how many books have been written about a topic, there is probably some important facet that has not ...
/ Guest Post, Marketing & Promotion
bookstore distribution
A trade distributor is a partner company who takes over the tasks and responsibilities of selling your books to trade ...
/ Guest Post, Self-Publishing
yin yang writing
To some degree, we get to pick and choose our publishing and publicity tasks. Sometimes we forget this and freak ...
/ Creativity, Guest Post
What It Really Takes to Break Through with Your First Book Deal
In many ways, it’s never been harder to get a traditional book deal. At the same time, there have never ...
How to Become a Bestseller with Money, Luck, or Work (Mostly Work)
“If you build it, they will come” is the biggest crock of sh*t ever foisted. The second biggest is my ...
What I Earned (and How) During My First Year of Full-Time Freelancing
In 2014, I made the leap from conventional employment to a full-time freelance career. Here's how I did it—and what ...
/ Freelancing
5 On: Julie Smith
Author, publisher, and book marketer Julie Smith shares what she loves to write—and read—in a mystery, how her writing obsession ...
how to get book reviews
New authors have no symbolic capital. They are not (yet) known for producing quality books that seduce readers. Is it ...
MWW 2017 photo by Gail Werner
I have been speaking at the Midwest Writers Workshop in Muncie, Indiana, continuously since 2003. Here's why I keep returning, ...
/ Conferences & Events
Find a Literary Agent
A step-by-step guide to finding literary agents, plus how to select the right agent for you and your work ...
Mary C Moore and DongWon Song
What should writers do if they feel that an agent isn’t honoring their obligations, contractual or otherwise? What's the best ...
/ Guest Post, Literary Agents
crowdfunding by the numbers
Any author can successfully launch their book through crowdfunding if they are willing to put in the effort. However, it ...
/ Getting Published, Guest Post
social media for authors
I believe a successful social media strategy is driven by one’s personality and strengths, as well as the qualities of ...
/ Social Media
Eric Smith and Saba Sulaiman
How do agents—generally considered the gatekeepers to publishing companies—approach the issue of diversity in the publishing industry? ...
/ Guest Post, Literary Agents
Book Proposal 10 Step Action
Sorry, but this class is no longer available. See what else Jane is offering. This is a comprehensive, step-by-step, self-study ...
toxic feedback
If you recognize the following characteristics in the critiques of your work, it may not just be inept—it may, in ...
Friedman Amazon Author Central
Every author, regardless of when or what they’ve published, has an Author Central page. But many authors have not claimed ...
second act novelist
If fiction writing is something you’d like to pursue in your retirement years, follow these steps to help you prepare ...
/ Creativity, Guest Post
Debra Eckerling
Debra Eckerling (@WriteOnOnline), founder of the writers' support group Write On!, discusses common writer challenges, the value of blogs, what ...
statistics about Amazon
Did you know Amazon’s print book sales grew by 15% in 2016—and the gain was primarily driven by Amazon's own ...
agents or editors
Is it better to look for a literary agent first, or to approach editors and publishers? Much depends on the ...
author platform building
If you're preparing to pitch your nonfiction work to agents or publishers, you may have heard about the necessity of ...
princess saves herself
How a self-publishing poet achieved visibility for her book—and landed a book deal with traditional publisher Andrews McMeel ...
Hot air balloons being filled and prepped for launch
Social media and marketing expert Andrea Dunlop lists five questions you should ask yourself when starting to plan your book ...
a sunflower with two bumblebees in its center
Author Daniel Parsons offers five tips for improving your Twitter interactions as a creative professional ...
A blank checklist with a single checkmark
Author and freelance editor Maya Rock offers six pointers for vetting a freelance editor ...
writing classroom
Most writers want an MFA for one of three reasons: They want to teach writing, they want to get published, ...
A pen resting on a blank journal page.
Stuart Horwitz explains how you can complete your book in three drafts: the messy draft, the method draft, and the ...
Starting an Email Newsletter: Why to Do It and Which Service to Use
Author Kirsten Oliphant explains how to get started forming a list of email subscribers, including how to choose an email ...
A woman working at a computer.
Author and publicist Fauzia Burke offers tips and resources for doing your own internet book publicity ...
Chang Kim of Tapas Media
Chang Kim, Tapas Media For years, serialization has been discussed as a significant area of opportunity for reading and publishing ...
How to write a book proposal
How to Write a Book Proposal, 5th Edition If you’re writing a nonfiction book (not a novel), this guide is ...