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One of the best columns by Kristine Kathryn Rusch ever, and that’s saying a lot, since most of her…

I've lost count of the number of times that I've been asked to write or draw something for free but reassured that my work would get great exposure.

As the video above points out, exposure doesn't pay the bills.

Thanks to Hazel Mitchell for the link.

I’m loving this series from ex-lawyer Passive Guy, talking about how to read and understand publishing contracts.

Read his latest installment, then do yourself a favor and catch up on all the previous ones! Excellent education.

Technorati Tags: Advice for Writers, Business of Writing, Publishing, publishing contracts, understanding publishing contracts, Writing, Writing Advice, Writing Business

So many writers are out there analyzing the various business ramifications of this New World of Publishing. I highly recommend you bookmark the blogs of Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and Passive Guy.

This latest post from Kristine Rusch answers a question on a lot of writers’ minds: What if I don’t want to go indie? What if I want to stick with (or try to get a new contract with) a traditional publisher?

Every writer’s needs are different, and what I love about this post is it gives the sticking-with-tradition people some ideas about what to look for in their current and future contracts. Read and learn!

Technorati Tags: Advice for Writers, Business of Writing, ebooks, ewriting, publishers, Publishing, Writers, Writing, Writing Advice

Last weekend I, like many of you, saturated myself with all things Harry Potter.  Even after seeing the amazing, wonderful,…

I've just written a long and somewhat rambling post about self-publishing and my Will Write For Chocolate book project over on MiGwriters today.

One of my favourite talks at the SCBWI conference was Wendy Loggia’s keynote speech, “I Wanted to Love This: Seven Reasons Why Your Manuscript Gets Declined.” Her talk focused on reasons she rejected manuscripts that were almost accepted but not quite ready.

Wendy is executive editor of Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s books. She edited the Sister Of The Traveling Pants series by Ann Brashares as well as the Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray. In preparation for the talk, Wendy went through her binder of rejection letters and found that pretty much all the rejection reasons boiled down to seven points:

(Before embedding, see my cartoon licensing info.)

1. Nice writing but no story. The characters are at the same emotional place at the end of the book as they were in the beginning. Wendy found that this was a common problem with authors’ first books. She says that having a good plot is essential. Ask yourself, “Why would a bookstore customer choose and buy this book?”

2. The mss is too similar to other novels that the editor has worked on. Wendy warns authors against submitting books that very similar to others on the editor’s list; you may be setting yourself up for a negative comparison, especially if the other book is very good. Even worse if the other book didn’t sell well.

3. Your readership isn’t clear. Who will want to read your book? Your book is too “quiet” or doesn’t have enough commercial appeal.

4. The writer seems like a difficult person to work with. Wendy always Googles an author’s name before offering a contract. She says she may be prompted to change her mind about signing up an author if they share too much information in their blog, if they tend to blog a lot about how hard writing is, if they blog about being rejected many times, if they publicly bash a book she’s worked on, or if they bash a colleague in the business who is her friend.

5. The editor can’t connect to your voice. You may be doing too much telling instead of showing. Your writing may be too predictable.

6. You’ve submitted your work too early, before it’s fully polished. Especially in this economic climate, always take the time to present yourself in the best light possible. Make sure your work is ready before you submit it.

7. Your project won’t stand out on a publishing house’s list. Wendy said this is happening more and more. A book may be rejected to avoid in-house competition.

Hope this helps writers out there!

Ruth Ann Nordin has offered advice on how authors can increase their book sales, based on her own experience in selling her self-published book. As she points out, her sales are still modest, but her post is a good source of ideas on how to build an author platform in a year. Thanks for sharing, Ruth Ann!

I hope that you, my fellow published and aspiring writers, really do see your writing life as a business. You are the president, the CEO, the principal player, the monarch (in some of your cases)–call yourself what you will. You could choose to just let things happen. To not take yourselves seriously. To [...]

A while back I mentioned I loved Pam Bachorz’s CANDOR (Egmont USA). I was inspired to post a comic about it. Not only was the site entertaining, but it’s a brilliant book promo.

Pam also created a clever website about the fictional Candor, Florida as if it was a real place. I asked about her inspiration, and here’s what she replied:

I was inspired to create candorfl.com, first and foremost, because it was FUN. I spent countless hours of real towns’ real estate sites, back when we were house-shopping in Florida, and I thought it would be very cool to give Candor, Florida a “real” web presence. And of course I figured this would be both a way to intrigue new readers and to extend the “experience” of CANDOR for people who had already read the book. I’ve gotten a lot of funny e-mails from people who visit the site–asking me for CDs to “help’ their teens or for CDs to “persuade” their parents to do something. Some of the site’s visitors, frighteningly, seem to take it as proof that the town really exists. I’ve gotten some very earnest queries for help from people who seem to think Candor, Florida will fix their family’s problems and I can’t decide if I’m being punked or if people are just really confused. I love when people comment on the bulletin board posts, on the site, offering to bring treats to the SAT study party!

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Above: “Signing in the Waldenbooks by Parnell Hall,” which I discovered via Moonrat at Editorial Ass. Moonrat also offers some great advice about How To Throw An Awesome Book Launch.

The creation of Darcy Pattison, Random Acts Of Publicity Week is a week where everyone is encouraged to post a review of a friend's book on Amazon, Goodreads, Library Thing, or elsewhere online. WONDERFUL idea!

To those of you who aren't on Facebook, I've posted what Darcy said at the end of this post.

If you DO participate and post a review of a book somewhere during the week, feel free to use this badge of honor I created this morning specifically for the event:

I've also created a bit.ly shortcut, http://bit.ly/RAPweek, which points to Darcy's Facebook page about the event.

From Darcy Pattison:

September 7-10, 2010
2nd Annual RANDOM ACTS OF PUBLICITY WEEK

WHAT? I always promise myself that today I’ll write a review of my friends’ books and actually post them on Amazon or Library Thing or GoodReads or somewhere. But do I? No. That’s about to change! We're going to help publicize our friends' books during the Random Acts of Publicity Week.

...Why? I know how wonderful it is to see new reviews on Amazon of one of my books. I know that it’s better to give than to receive. During the Random Acts of Publicity Week, I vow to put these two things together and give friends some support for their books.

Why this week? We all know that the holiday shopping season is when people buy things, including books. Especially books! We want our Amazon pages and other publicity in place before that season starts. So, September is a great month to help others by reviewing their books and doing other Random Acts of Publicity.

How? See darcypattison.com each day of this week for tips on helping publicize your friends' books.

Who? Anyone and everyone can join in this week of paying-it-forward.

Hey! Yes, I’m here! Working on a big hairy deadline at the moment, but this new blog post by Kristine Kathryn Rusch is so important, I’m taking a break to give it to you.

No matter where you are in your writing career–hoping for it, working on it, already have it–it always pays to keep yourself educated about the business side. Writing is your business, whether or not you’re making any money at it yet. Take yourself seriously and treat yourself like the business owner you are.

So read Kris’s current post, then take the time to read some of her earlier posts in this series–knowledge is power!

Okay, back to the book. Bye!

Technorati Tags: Advice for Authors, Advice for Writers, Authors, Business of Writing, Kris Rusch, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Kristine Rusch, Publishing, Writers, Writing

From best-selling writers turning down traditional publishing deals and going indie, to best-selling indie writers going traditional, to copyright rulings and other business issues that affect all us writers–

Here’s a great recap from best-selling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch of what’s been going on, and what it might all mean. Read and learn and enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Advice for Writers, Business of Writing, Copyright, Indie Publishing, Kris Rusch, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Kristine Rusch, Publishing, Self-Publishing, Writing, Writing Advice

Learning the business of writing can be overwhelming. I've found a wonderful site that offers help with writing for children, freelance writing and building a business out of writing. The creator of this site is Suzanne Lieurance.

Suzanne is a fulltime children’s author, freelance writer, and The Working Writer’s Coach. She teaches children’s writing for the Institute of Children’s Literature based in West Redding, Connecticut, and is the founder and director of the National Writing for Children Center. Lieurance is the author of 20 published books and has written articles for a variety of magazines, newsletters, and ezines like Family-Fun, Kansas City Weddings, Instructor Magazine, New Moon for Girls, Children’s Writer, and many others. She hosts a talk show about children’s books, called Book Bites for Kids, every weekday afternoon on blogtalkradio.com. Lieurance offers a variety of coaching programs via private phone calls, teleclasses, listserv, and private email for writers who want to turn their love of writing (for children and/or adults)into a part-time or full-time career.

I am a member of Suzanne's Children's Writers Coaching Club. For a miniscule amount per month as a member you get monthly assignments geared to get your work published and critiques of those assignments, teleclasses explaining the how to write for children, and monthly critiques of your works in progress. This club also offers information on the business of writing such as making yourself visible through online ezines and blogs.

Suzanne has a knack for motivating and encouraging her members. I highly recommend this site and club.

A couple of Suzanne's other clubs/groups are Build Your Business Write, Writers on Call, and Working Writers Coach.

Make your day and check it out at: National Writing for Children Center

See you in blog world,
Karen

Another excellent post from multiple award-winning novelist and short story author Kristine Kathryn Rusch about the business side of writing. This week’s installment, how to get paid. And if you haven’t read the previous installments yet, take the time to catch up on the whole collection. For those of you who want to making [...]

Hi! You thought I was in the wilderness, didn’t you? I’m in between wildernesses at the moment–we’re hiking and driving our way northward so it’s not just endless days in the car. But we’ve finally passed into Wyoming, where bigger wilderness awaits. Anyway. Wanted to take a moment to give you all [...]