Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
What is publishing’s next iteration? Every once in awhile I like to take a look to the future to see where publishing might be headed. As I “guess ahead,” I see several trends that I believe …
Readers
Writing Obsessions
Janet Kobobel Grant
What stimulates you to write a story or to compose a manuscript about a certain topic?
Writing Hints
I find it instructive to listen to interviews with highly successful authors. They often are asked–and love to talk …
What Does a Book Sales Rep Really Do?
Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
Most publishers maintain a sales team (or hire a team other publishers are using as well), with each member responsible for calling on his or her accounts. “Calling on” can mean making phone calls or physically …
Trends…and Counter-Trends
Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
I saw an author at a writers conference who was walking around in a daze as she thought about all the demands on writers to successfully publish today–both self-pub and traditional pub.
Here’s what her mind …
What Do Readers Want?
Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
Recently I watched a TV interview with Ann Patchett and Daniel Pink on their favorite books of 2017. You can read the interview or watch it here.
I enjoyed the entire book-review approach to the …
Handling Stress
Blogger: Rachel Kent
Last night I was reading with my daughter and she picked the book When Sophie Gets Angry–Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang. It’s a Caldecott Honor Book about a little girl, Sophie, whose sister takes her toy …
Help a Good Cause and Your Author Platform
Blogger: Mary Keeley
Last week a client received a request to do an advertisement to help promote a good cause. She wondered if it would be wise because it didn’t appear to relate to the books she writes. She was …
Author, Check Your Online Presence
Blogger: Mary Keeley
When your book proposal interests agents and editors, the first thing they’ll do is investigate your website, blog, and social media activity. That’s why it’s so important that each area of your online presence compliments the others …
How to Get the Most from Your Beta Readers
Blogger: Mary Keeley
I highly recommend participating in a critique group. You can improve your own craft as you critique your partners’ work often as much as you can by receiving their feedback on your work. But this can’t replace …
Secondary Characters: Their Purpose for Being
Blogger: Mary Keeley
Are you using your story’s secondary characters to their full purpose? They can make your book stand out from the crowd of other books in your genre. Practically as many ways to use these characters exist as …