Reviewing 101, right? First you read the book, then you review it. THE OTHER was a recent recipient of a ‘2' rating and a very critical review from someone who admitted he/she stopped reading after just a few pages. Fair enough. Stop reading if the book is not your cup of tea. But don’t review it. … Continue reading Should You Read a Book To Review It?
Author: Rich
It Ain’t Necessarily So
In the absence of knowledge, we assume. Such assumptions can be erroneous and lead to fallacious thinking which can create problems for us. This is particularly so in publishing a book.Once the author has completed a work and committed it to the public, nothing remains but to await the court of public opinion. Yet often … Continue reading It Ain’t Necessarily So
Why Their Success Story is not Your Success Story
Recently, while reading an encouraging piece about someone’s ten steps to successful book marketing, it dawned on me that there might possibly be more authors of how-to-succeed books than people who are actually successful authors. Let’s face it, how-to-succeed books are a tremendous market. We are drawn to them like bears to honey. In a … Continue reading Why Their Success Story is not Your Success Story
The Reader’s Voice
The reader’s voice has increasing impact on a book’s fate. Agents and editors admit they keep a watchful eye on reader reviews at Amazon and Goodreads, looking for that surge in popularity that suggests a potential winner, and hoping they can acquire that property in time to develop, package, and sell it. This growing influence … Continue reading The Reader’s Voice
My Five Goals for a Conference
Two days after the convention is the minimum time I need to evaluate the experience, to let it soak in. There is an overload of information that needs to settle, like rainwater on dry soil, to begin the growth process. I need the time to separate my emotional high from the true value gained, the grain … Continue reading My Five Goals for a Conference
How I Write
If you write books, sooner or later you will be asked how you came to write them, in essence why have you written what you have written the way you have written it? I have been asked such questions. I have even been asked, “Do you use a formula or something?” Well, yes. The genesis of … Continue reading How I Write
To Series, or Not to Series (It’s a Serious Question)
Up to this moment in time, I have thought that I am writing a series. I have written two novels linked by common characters - my Zack Tolliver and Eagle Feather adventure mysteries. I am 220 pages along on the third novel with the same protagonists. But when is a series not a series? This question … Continue reading To Series, or Not to Series (It’s a Serious Question)
A New Partnership of Self Published and Traditionally Published Books: Five Ways We Will Benefit
Recently I viewed a documentary on the history of Western movies. I was struck by the challenge these movies faced with the advent of television. The Western B movie almost died then and there. But it didn’t, and isolated salvage efforts resulted in another surge in popularity that continues even today. It turns out there was a … Continue reading A New Partnership of Self Published and Traditionally Published Books: Five Ways We Will Benefit
Books That Kickstart Writers
Recently I read an interview with James Patterson. The interviewer asked him if there was a particular book that influenced him in his writing career. This is an interesting question, because where you might expect most authors to respond that many books influenced them, most can identify a particular one, a book that was the genesis of … Continue reading Books That Kickstart Writers
Which Fiction Sells?
On a shelf next to me as I write are fiction books by authors I read, authors I should read (I’m told), and authors to whom I refer for hints on style and technique. I’m currently reading Iain Pear’s “An Instance of the Fingerpost”. It is long, 685 pages, and it is long, as in slow … Continue reading Which Fiction Sells?
R Lawson Gamble 