self-publishing

Are Writers without Business Sense Doomed?

October 11, 2011 Writing Stuff
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The comments of my last post led to a great conversation about how not having a business mindset will likely hurt authors.  However, I didn’t say writers absolutely, positively must be business-minded.  I don’t think writers without an entrepreneurial spirit or business sense are doomed. The truth is that we can’t be good at everything.  We all have weaknesses, whether that be craft [...]

Tagged as: advice for writers, agents, contracts, Jami Gold, paranormal author, self-publishing, traditional publishing

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Are Writers Entrepreneurs?

October 6, 2011 Writing Stuff
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Have you ever visited a restaurant where the food was fantastic, but the service was atrocious?  I’ve known several places like that.  People who love to cook might dream for years about opening their own place—and then once they do, the restaurant fails. Why?  Because the skill of being a good cook is different from [...]

Tagged as: advice for writers, agents, blogging, branding, Jami Gold, paranormal author, self-publishing, traditional publishing, website

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How To Avoid the Publishing Kool-Aid

October 4, 2011 Writing Stuff
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This isn’t going to be one of those “let’s bash traditional publishing/self-publishing” posts.  There are still too many of those opinions on both sides, and I don’t want any part of that. Two people I respect blogged recently about publishing and kool-aid.  Agent Janet Reid posted about the ten things authors should be doing right now. [...]

Tagged as: advice for writers, agents, dreams, ebooks, happiness, Jami Gold, Jami's rants, paranormal author, self-publishing, traditional publishing

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Are All Writers Delusional?

September 29, 2011 Writing Stuff
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My first sarcastic impulse is to answer that question with “Duh.”  Writers have to be somewhat delusional to pursue a career that has such a minuscule chance of financial success.  (Not to mention that fiction writers exist in a constant state of make-believe.)  But there are different styles of delusion. There’s the unconsciously incompetent phase we go through [...]

Tagged as: advice for writers, Ask Jami, Jami Gold, Kristen Lamb, paranormal author, self-doubt, self-publishing, social media, Twitter

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Should Books Have a Rating System?

July 28, 2011 Random Musings
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This must be the week for me stepping into controversial topics.  It’s a good thing I’m still wearing my flameproof jacket from my last post on plot vs. character.  *smile* It’s been a while since Meghan Cox Gurdon’s article at the Wall Street Journal and her contention that young adult (YA) books are too dark.  I’m [...]

Tagged as: book ratings, censorship, genre, Jami Gold, Jami's rants, listening to characters, muse, paranormal author, self-publishing, traditional publishing, YA

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Happy Blogiversary to Me: Contest Winners!

July 12, 2011 News
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*whew*  I officially made it to the one-year mark for this blog.  I thought reaching this point would be a lot harder than it was. Life is often that way.  We put off something we dread, and then when we finally buckle down to do it, we wonder why we feared it so much.  (Note [...]

Tagged as: blogging, character flaws, happiness, Jami Gold, Kindle, muse, paranormal author, perfectionism, self-publishing, traditional publishing, Twitter, writers are insane

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Interview with a…Muse – Guest: J.A. Paul

May 10, 2011 Random Musings
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“Hey, Jami, now that you have a bazillion things to do and no time to get it all done, what are you going to do?” “I’m going to Disneyland!” That’s right.  I threw up my hands and decided everything could wait a week while I head to Disneyland with the family.  Everything could wait but [...]

Tagged as: authors, genre, guest blogs, Interview with a Muse, J.A. Paul, Jami Gold, muse, paranormal author, self-publishing, story seed, Twitter, writers are insane

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When Shouldn’t You Self Publish?

April 12, 2011 Writing Stuff
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Many articles have been written about traditional vs. self publishing (this blog is no exception, as my articles here and here prove), and agent Rachelle Gardner’s recent post added an intriguing twist to the conversation.  She asked her readers who are sticking with traditional publishing to explain their reasons why. Good question.  And I don’t [...]

Tagged as: agents, beta reader, feedback, Jami Gold, Jami's rants, paranormal author, professionalism, queries, self-publishing, traditional publishing, writing contests

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Would You Ever Turn Down a Contract?

March 31, 2011 Writing Stuff
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The comments for my last post were fantastic—thank you!  The range of opinions really got me to think deeper about the traditional vs. self publishing issue. Many people wrote in with circumstances for when self publishing works (and possibly works “better”).  Others noted situations where traditional publishing is the only way to go, one being [...]

Tagged as: agents, authors, contracts, deadlines, emotional heart, genre, happiness, Jami Gold, paranormal author, risk, sacrifices, self-publishing, traditional publishing

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Traditional vs. Self Publishing: How Much Does the Debate Matter?

March 29, 2011 Writing Stuff
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How many times in the past week have we heard “Traditional NY publishing is dead.  Barry Eisler has proved it.”  Or “NY publishing isn’t dead.  Amanda Hocking has proved it.” So which is it?  Or does it not matter? If you haven’t heard about the debate, the gist of it is that Barry Eisler turned [...]

Tagged as: Amanda Hocking, ebooks, Jami Gold, Jami's rants, paranormal author, professionalism, self-publishing, Susan Bischoff, traditional publishing

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