I recently read in the daily online newsletter Publishers Lunch about a cavalier cheat that landed UK thriller writer Mark Dawson on the Sunday Times bestseller list. The author not only admitted he bought hundreds of copies of his book …
Business of writing
A Virtual Writers Conference–Good or Bad?
A couple of weekends ago, Wendy Lawton, Cynthia Ruchti, and I served on the faculty of the Northwestern Christian Writers Conference, which was conducted virtually. Being on the faculty of a writers conference was nothing new, but a virtual …
How to Shape a Proposal
Most times my clients’ proposals are constructed not just by the author but also by me. I thought it would be helpful for you to see how that type of teamwork unfolds.
Consider the Challenges
This particular nonfiction project was …
Authors’ Magical Thinking
I’m sympathetic regarding what a pain it is to create a proposal. When I was writing books, I felt grumpy when I had to do a proposal. That’s when I dipped into what I call Authors’ Magical Thinking.
That’s when …
The 10-Novels Rule
In the past week I’ve read more than 650 pages of royalty statements for our clients from a variety of publishing houses. Such an activity gives me a bird’s eye view of how the industry is doing, as I’m looking …
When the Story Ends Too Soon
blogger: Cynthia Ruchti
“My story’s finished, but it’s way too short for its category. What do I do now?”
Some writers have never experienced that particular brand of panic. They might well know the tremors that come from needing to …
Are Agents Prima Donnas?
As I read agents’ blogs, tweets and Facebook comments, I’ve been wondering if we’re a bunch of prima donnas. You might have noticed that we’ll often utter such directions as:
Don’t call me, don’t write me, but here are the …
The Writing Food Truck Race
blogger: Cynthia Ruchti
You’re in a writing food truck race. Were you aware of that already? If you are, how’s it going? Sales good? Lines of customers waiting for your burgers? Media attention? Images of your food truck and burgers …
What’s Next?
As our governing officials turn their attention to how to reopen our nation after the coronavirus recedes, this is a good time for writers to ask themselves, What’s next? What kind of books will consumers want to buy?
A Snapshot
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How to be Productive When You Don’t Feel Up To It
I’m writing this blog post on Saturday, the day I planned to reorganize all my bathroom cabinets. I woke up this morning and decided I don’t feel up to it. Rather than beat myself up for a bad case of …