Tag: author blogs

Publishers – Writer Beware

Valerie Douglas

“Publishers are just middlemen. That’s all. If artists could remember that more often, they’d save themselves a lot of aggravation. ” – Hugh Macleod, How To Be Creative

Ah, the lure of the publisher, the allure of the printed book sitting there in your hands, beckoning to you. Isn’t that the stuff of every author’s dreams? An e-book is great but don’t we all long to hold a book in our hands with our name below the title? I know I did. There’s also the sense of security and the idea that maybe we won’t have to work quite as hard, that they’ll pick up some of the load of marketing. Continue reading “Publishers – Writer Beware”

Amazon Puts the Screws To Indie Authors by Boyd Lemon

Author Boyd Lemon

Electronic readers, mainly Amazon’s Kindle, and the ebooks they spawned have been a boon to Indie authors who could make a little money while providing their readers with a bargain. An author can publish his book in electronic format on Kindle without any cost. For example, my book, Digging Deep: A Writer Uncovers His Marriages, has sold about eight times as many copies in the Kindle format as it has in the print version with about the same profit per copy on both. The ebook cost the reader one-third or less of the cost of the print version.

It occurred to me sometime ago that Amazon in all its corporate greed would figure out a way to eliminate this benefit to Indie authors and turn it into more profit for Amazon. Last week Amazon through Kindle Direct Publishing announced a scheme that does just that. Continue reading “Amazon Puts the Screws To Indie Authors by Boyd Lemon”

Writing a Memoir: Five Things to Consider by Barbara Morrison

Innocent: Confessions of a Welfare Mother
Innocent: Confessions of a Welfare Mother by Author Barbara Morrison

People—me included—love reading memoirs because they are true stories that give us insight into someone else’s experience. Memoirs differ from autobiographies in that they only cover a short period of time, not an entire life. Also, they are understood to be the author’s experience rather than an objective document. Here are five things to consider when writing a memoir:

1. What is the purpose of your memoir?

You can write a memoir as therapy, an effective way to understand and cope with a confusing or traumatic experience. As Abigail Thomas says, “Writing memoir is a way to figure out who you used to be and how you got to be who you are.”

Continue reading “Writing a Memoir: Five Things to Consider by Barbara Morrison”

Within and without by Rosanne Dingli

Author Rosanne Dingli

When an author decides to start writing a book, the different sides of the project – like the sides of a cube – present themselves. Just like a cube, the new project does not reveal all planes in one viewing. There is always a hidden side – or a difficult aspect for an author to address.

It is possible to give the six sides of the cube different facet names associated with writing a novel: story, plot, structure, characters, locations … and the all-important premise. They all present challenges to the author. The last more than the others. Hm – can an author afford to address the premise last? Turning the cube so that premise is always on the blind side might be possible when scribbling out a plot outline, or sketching out the various characters. Continue reading “Within and without by Rosanne Dingli”