Way back in 2009, I managed to finish the novel that had taken me more than twenty years to write. I was proud, I was elated, and I was clueless as to how to get it published. So I paid for a membership with Writers’ Digest and looked on their website for possible publishers. That’s where I found Black Rose Writing. I sent them a query letter and a brief synopsis of my weighty military thriller. Then I crossed my fingers.
A few days later I received a reply stating they would love to publish my book. Holy cow! I was over the moon! My first query letter and I’d landed a publisher. How did I get so lucky? I’d read about numerous authors sending out thousands of query letters only to be rejected by every publisher under the sun. Was my book that good? Or did I have cause to be worried? Continue reading “Black Rose Writing — A Less-Than-Ideal First Experience”
Scammers have been targeting creative types for a long time – maybe even since the first time somebody drew a pictograph on a rock. For the past few decades at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s website, 
The Dude stepped out of the saloon’s swinging doors and stopped short. “Oh, Lord, here comes another one,” he muttered. Chewing on a stalk of hay, he watched with increasing disgust as a wide-eyed young woman stumbled in and out of the businesses that lined the street. She hugged a sheaf of papers, tied neatly with string, to her chest, and one fist clutched a stack of full-color brochures and business cards. The wad of advertising material increased in size with each stop, and her expression drooped at the same rate. 