Classic story structures and what they can teach us about novel plotting. Infographic: The key book publishing paths. How writer's workshops can be hostile, by Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen. From Chuck Wendig, a "hot steaming sack of business advice" for writers. John Scalzi explains the concept of the "brain eater," a danger lurking … Continue reading For all the writers out there… Links!
Jane Friedman gives really great advice on whether to self-publish or go the traditional route. Here's a key point: I see some writers self-publish mainly because they lack patience with the querying and submissions process of traditional publishing. Or they want the instant gratification of getting their work on the market. But again, this is one of the worst … Continue reading Should You Self-Publish or Traditionally Publish? | Jane Friedman
This is really such a great post by Chuck Wendig that every aspiring writer should read: 25 More Hard Truths About Writing And Publishing. Pursuing writing as a career is so full of contradictions. It's an art, it's a craft, it's sales and marketing. You're venerated, you're reviled. You probably make crapola, even if you're … Continue reading Hard truths about writing…
I've been reading a lot of self-published books lately for a freelance gig reviewing independently published books. I am not opposed to self-publishing. I think it's terrific that technology is allowing more writers to get their work out there and have the opportunity to be read. BUT... (you knew that was coming, right?) A lot … Continue reading For writers who want to self-publish…
Here's just an excerpt from Le Guin's speech at the National Book Awards, but you should really go read the whole thing--it's short and completely inspiring: "I think hard times are coming when we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now and can see through our … Continue reading Wow, Ursula K. Le Guin gave a great speech at the National Book Awards…
This week, I got the opportunity to attend an author reading at my local bookstore, Flyleaf Books. The book is a children's picture book, The Cat's Pajamas, written and illustrated by Daniel Wallace, who wrote Big Fish and is a local-to-me author. What I did not know is that Wallace's picture book is the first book to be published by … Continue reading Crowd-sourced publishing is The Cat’s Pajamas…
I'm thinking about joining Amazon Prime. I usually have to think about things for a long time before I do them, especially if any amount of money is involved. I got a Kindle for Christmas, and I think it would be nice to have access to their lending library. I also want to check out … Continue reading One of us, one of us…
Laura Miller has a great article called Spamazon at Salon.com, which explains how e-book spam is clogging the Kindle. I was toying with the idea of getting an e-book reader, maybe for Christmas, but this new development is enough to put me right off of it. It seems that these e-book spam operators are repurchasing cheap … Continue reading Are e-books the new content farms?
So, this article over on Salon.com, prompted some thoughts: Better yet, DONT write that novel. The rant is a response to the annual write-a-thon, National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWrMo, as it's known around the Interwebs, encourages writers and would-be writers to bang out a first draft in a month in an effort to just get it … Continue reading Write that novel or not, but treat readers right
I have been following all of the conversations about the future of publishing, particularly with regard to e-books, going on over the past few months with interest. I thought I'd share some of the more interesting conversations I've found, as well as some of my still-nascent thoughts on the whole kerfuffle. I have a bit … Continue reading Thoughts on publishing & the digital age…
