A Productive Rant About Building An Author Platform
How do writers in general, but particularly late-life writers, establish an author platform? By “late life” I mean writers over sixty. By “author platform” I mean a soapbox that is slightly elevated above the crowd and that allows authors to shout to passersby that our books exist. That doesn’t mean the crowd will necessarily buy […]
Metadata Mysteries | 7 Things I Wish I’d Known Earlier
Metadata means the basic information that helps publishers, distributors, libraries and bookstores keep track of your book. It’s like the data on your book’s dashboard: the mpg, rpms, temperature gauge, etc. A few years back, when I first stuck my toe in the publishing pond, I was totally daunted by the term “metadata.” I had […]
Copyright Law | Little Known Facts For New Authors
Copyright law changed forever when Samuel Clemens, also known as Mark Twain, broke with convention by wearing a white suit to the 1906 Congressional hearings on American copyright law. In Twain’s day, copyright law didn’t protect authors from piracy. However, Twain, sympathetic to the financial needs of his fellow authors and aware of the need […]
Why You Should Look Beyond Your First Book
Think beyond your first book. What does this mean and why am I suggesting it? I mean think about where you want your writing to take you. How many books do you want to publish? Or, if stories, how many published stories would bring you the satisfaction you’re looking for? I’m suggesting that you think […]
The Challenges of Writing Historical Fiction
Writing historical fiction is tough. You have to do the research on the historical facts, and then you have to “make it real.” (A few months ago I wrote a blog post about some of the craft challenges in writing historical fiction. You can read it here.) But, even after succeeding in writing a readable […]
Meet Matthew Peters | Thriller Author Shares Words of Wisdom
Matthew Peters writes page-turning fiction, and he’s the author of a new novel, The Brothers’ Keepers. Early reviewers have compared The Brothers’ Keepers to Dan Brown’s De Vinci Code, but Matthew Peters’s novel is actually better written. It’s the kind of novel that a few years back, might have been snapped up by an agent and found wide distribution in […]
Web Tools | A New Author’s Guide To 3 Simple Book-Launch Apps
Web tools are a huge help to new authors, especially those who are late-life writers. We seniors didn’t grow up with the internet and social media, and frankly, it can all be a bit daunting. You say you’d rather be writing than dealing with marketing issues? Well, me, too! But, you can’t expect readers to […]
Pitching to Agent Michael Carr
Pitching a novel to agent Michael Carr couldn’t be easier, especially if you know what to avoid. “The Number 1 thing is don’t brag and say ‘I can make you millions,’” said Carr, an agent with Veritas Literary Agency. Carr doesn’t care if you’re a rookie. Can you tell a story? “If I can’t put […]
Ten Honest Review Sites for New Authors
Books flood into review sites, and the sheer numbers overwhelm book review editors. They must make choices: the big New York publishers or the little guys? Publicists are Tweeting the editors and importuning them with e-mails. “Well, are you going to review my guy or gal or not?” Probably not. There’s just not time. And […]
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