After all the serious posts lately, I need a break for something fun. And oh look, the calendar is playing along. It’s getting close to one of my favorite times of the year: Halloween. As a kid, I loved dressing up (in one of those semi-lame-made-from-stuff-in-mom-and-dad’s-closet costumes), going out trick-or-treating, […]
Read More
Confession: I broke one of the unwritten rules of the Writer Code. I ranted. In public. On an agent’s blog. And yet I’m still here to tell to the tale. In fact, the agent responded to my comment and then—in a show of fantastic grace—emailed me to make sure I […]
Pin It
Read More
(Read below for updates.) Recently, a thief broke into my brother’s house. They weren’t home, so no one was physically hurt. However, the shock of the crime still caused emotional pain. The thief didn’t take too much, mostly just small things he could carry, but now they wonder if the […]
Pin It
Read More
Subtitle: Über Blogging, True Fans, or ??? In case you haven’t heard, recent statements by agents have started a kerfuffle over whether blogging is a waste of time for most writers. The first I heard of it was through agent Wendy Lawton’s post, What’s Not Working, where she says: “I wouldn’t recommend a […]
Pin It
Read More
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 […]
Pin It
Read More
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 […]
Pin It
Read More
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 […]
Pin It
Read More
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 […]
Pin It
Read More
Last week turned into an interesting demonstration on the benefits of guest posts. We’ve heard the typical reasons for allowing guests or agreeing to guest post: * increased traffic * networking * and marketing. We bring in guests and hope their readers will stay at our blog for a while, […]
Read More
I’m excited to share today’s guest post with you because in addition to being a lovely person, Jody Hedlund runs a fantastic blog for writers. As if that wasn’t enough, she’s also graciously arranged for a book giveaway of her latest release, The Doctor’s Lady (see bottom of post for details). Jody writes historical […]
Read More