A great benefit to membership in Sisters In Crime is their newsletter. Within it are links to newsworthy blogs, columns, and other great sources. Usually, the selected articles are of great interest to writers, perhaps less so to indie publishers. Not this time. Several pieces in the April newsletter discussed self-publishing. In one particular article, Daniel … Continue reading Ten Truths About Publishing
Thoughts on Writing
The Sky Is Falling
Several respected bloggers have begun to back away from self publishing books. They have crunched numbers, which most recently suggest an increase in the percentage of traditionally published books along with a decrease in self published Ebooks this past year. There is a rise in hybrid publishers (authors who do both) and an increase in … Continue reading The Sky Is Falling
Salomon Pico’s Monterey
(Every couple of months or so I will write excerpts of interest from my history research.The following piece is one such.) The times shape the man (or woman). It is in part why research for a story, history or novel is so fascinating. Why do people react to similar environmental circumstances in vastly different ways? … Continue reading Salomon Pico’s Monterey
Are You Reading The Author You Expected?
It came to me after reading Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code first, his preceding novel Angels and Demons second––this awareness of author growth. I found both books enormously entertaining, yet the greater sophistication of the former in contrast to the latter was clear. I suppose I had not previously thought in terms of author … Continue reading Are You Reading The Author You Expected?
Why An Audio Book?
The hot topic in my writing circles lately is audio books. I sense a fascination among my fellow authors. Several have made them, many want to make them. And why not? Audio books are enjoying an enormous surge in popularity, having more than doubled sales in the last several years. For the author, it's never … Continue reading Why An Audio Book?
But What About Us Readers?
Graffiti on a junior school bathroom wall: "I love grils" "You mean, you love girls" "But what about us grils?" Messages like this one make teaching worthwhile. Most people will admit the demise of physical books was exaggerated. It appears eBooks and traditional books can live side by side after all. Now some are predicting, … Continue reading But What About Us Readers?
Free Choice for Readers
Life in the digital age is user-friendly, full of choices. The choices we make determine the choices available. The path not taken tends to disappear. This is certainly true in the world of books, for readers as well as writers. These creators and consumers maintain a symbiotic relationship, the writer dependent upon the choices made … Continue reading Free Choice for Readers
Writing and…Exercise?
I was fortunate to spend this past week in Palm Desert, CA. To say Palm Desert of course means Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, La Quinta...even the Salton Sea, for we spent time in all of them. Don't turn away. This article is not "How I Spent My Summer Vacation". It is about an … Continue reading Writing and…Exercise?
Take Control Of Your Event
It's been a full summer of book launches, signings and sales for this author culminating in a long weekend of talks and vending. It was exhausting, yet profitable, a reminder that even something as pleasurable as writing can succeed only with the application of hard work––well directed hard work, which brings me to my thoughts. … Continue reading Take Control Of Your Event
THE POWER OF READERS REVISITED
This article is for readers and, of course, writers who are readers, as all writers must be. So perhaps this article is for everyone, other than those who disdain either reading or writing (poor souls). This piece is a compilation of several posts I have previously published on this site, as far back as June … Continue reading THE POWER OF READERS REVISITED
