Category: Guest Posts

5 Creative Ways to Sell Books

elle-marie-authorGuest Post
by Elle Marie

As authors, we’re often focusing on how to sell books. What about where? For seven years I’ve been trying various ways to sell my books with mostly underwhelming results. In fact, I’ve dubbed myself the Queen of Fails. However, when I thought to focus on WHERE instead of HOW, I started to see some success.

You never know where you might make a sale. Sure, there are your usual bookstore signings and online retailers. But it’s a good idea to keep a stash of hard-copy books ready in case an unexpected opportunity arises. Like these: Continue reading “5 Creative Ways to Sell Books”

10 Important Things Writers Often Omit from Their Scenes

author and editor CS LakinIn my work as a professional freelance copyeditor and critiquer for publishers, literary agents, and authors in six continents, I wade through something like two hundred manuscripts a year. It probably won’t surprise you to hear that I come across certain flaws repeatedly in many — if not most — of the manuscripts I examine. These issues are especially endemic to first novels, and when pointed out to the authors, they seem so obvious. They say, “Why didn’t I notice these problems?”

Because of lack of adequate writing experience, helpful critical feedback, and sufficient skill development and training, writers don’t realize they aren’t showing enough — and especially in a scene’s opening paragraphs — to help readers picture where a character is and when the scene is taking place in the story.

The challenge for writers is in determining how and how much to convey to readers what the writer is seeing in her own mind. Continue reading “10 Important Things Writers Often Omit from Their Scenes”

How we almost got hooked…line and sinker… by Publish America

#PublishingFoul Logo Indies UnlimitedGuest Post
by Jacqueline Hopkins

Back in 2010, I was living in Alaska, and editing my niece’s book. Shana Gentry told me she had a publisher and they were waiting for her to finish it. I asked her who it was. Proudly, she said, “Why it’s Publish America, of course.” I had never heard of them. Back when I’d tried to get my novel published, I’d gone the traditional route – and Publish America wasn’t one of them. After all the rejections I received, I got discouraged and quit writing, shelving over a dozen books I had started.

In any case, I asked Shana about PA and she said she’d found them online and had already signed a contract with them. When she first contacted them, their response and interest in her book was immediate and very over the top, telling her she had a bestseller and that they would make her a famous author. PA was very prompt in their responses; however, their contract spoke of many charges to come out of her pocket. In fact, she wouldn’t see a profit from sales until they recouped their costs. Only then would get any royalties. Shana also told me she was to pay them around $200 for startup fees and contact placement in the company, and for a front cover and back panel of the book. They also told her an editor would call her and keep in touch with her as she wrote, and that she didn’t need to seek the copyrights as they handled that as well. She told me she had her doubts right away and stopped correspondence with them after about two weeks of back and forth emails and harassing phones calls, pushing her to send the manuscript. Continue reading “How we almost got hooked…line and sinker… by Publish America”

A Small Press Publishing Ponzi Scheme

#PublishingFoul Logo Indies UnlimitedGuest Post
by Anonymous

I can’t reveal who I am or the name of the publisher with whom I’m in a dispute, but I will say this: if there is anything on the internet that warns you about a publisher, steer clear of them. Don’t sign with a publisher who says you don’t need an agent. Don’t sign with a publisher who tells you that you don’t need membership in your genre’s professional writers’ organization. And don’t sign with a publisher if you see them acting less than professionally on any public forum, anywhere, at any time in the past or present.

I wish I had paid attention to these red flags. My publisher displayed all of them, but fellow writers told me this publisher took good care of its authors, so I ignored the red flags and signed a multiple-book contract.

It didn’t take long to regret it. Continue reading “A Small Press Publishing Ponzi Scheme”