Recently, literary fiction author Ted Heller wrote an article for Salon called “The future is no fun: Self-publishing is the worst.“ In it, he describes his misadventures in self-publishing his latest novel, specifically the difficulty he’s had promoting it. I am not going to go into detail about all the points I disagree with. (For…
Category Archives: Business
Sell books (without being an asshat.)
I read two interesting blogs recently. First, “Are Writers Badgering Readers?” over at Huff Post Books. That post was a response to Book Riot’s “Readers Don’t Owe Authors Sh*t.” The two seemed to encapsulate the writer’s dilemma. Nobody wants to badger readers — but “if we want to sell books, what else can we do?” …
Is Your Writing a Business, or a Dream?
My son, a.k.a The Boy, does not always want to finish his meals. I don’t force him to clean his plate. That said, there’s one rule: no veggies, no dessert. If you’re not hungry enough to eat your veggies, you don’t get sweets. He will occasionally plead his case, using everything short of a Powerpoint…
The Promotion Experiment
Last year, I wrote a post about wanting a saner, more effective approach to promotion. I wrote about taking more of a Slow Writing approach: lowering the goals, widening the time frame, tightening the focus, and tracking the results. Now, I think I’ve now got a framework for the test. CASE STUDY: TEMPING IS HELL…
2013: The Year of Confluence
Whew. Just like being back from any vacation, I’ve been getting my bearings back from an entire Year of Cruise. I learned a ton of things. I did a ton of things — most of them unexpectedly. I essentially “pantsed” an entire year, and now live to tell the tale. The biggest takeaways: 1. Assume…
Promotion & Permaculture
A while ago, I mentioned in a post about target audiences and using myself and my December novel as a guinea pig. It’s August… which in publishing terms means December is more than right around the corner, it’s breathing down my neck. So that means promo gets in gear. “Do all the things!” The problem…
How Genre Fiction is like Top Chef.
I got my start writing category romance. I have also done ghostwriting, and I’m looking at doing some work-for-hire. There are a number of reasons for that, not the least of which being my son enjoys things like food, and a roof over his head. That said, I think that people who pan the “formulaic”…
How to Set Goals as a Fiction Writer
*Note: this is a reprint from January, before the blog imploded with technical difficulties. It’s still January, and I’ve found a lot of great articles about goal setting. Two of my favorites have been on The Happy Writer, about how to set goals without being miserable, and when good goals go bad. It’s resolution month,…
Why Genre Blends “Don’t Sell”
I’ve been reading a lot about “genre-blending” lately. Agents & editors have often shied away from things that can’t be cleanly categorized, simply because it’s “hard to sell.” Many authors say they don’t want to be pigeon-holed. Their work is complex, layered, and incorporates elements from lots of different genres. In a world where you…
Case Study: 10 Simple Steps to Promote a Novel, Part 2
I was grateful to be able to use Linda Cassidy Lewis as a case study on how to profile a Right Reader. Since she’s a glutton for punishment, she’s graciously allowing me to use her again… this time to illustrate what I’d suggest be her next 10 steps for promoting her self-published novel, The Brevity…
