This is the story about what happened after that Writers Conference in 1996 at which I became friends with the brilliant novelists Lucia Orth and Sasha Troyan. Actually, a lot of things happened, one of them being that I went home and completely rewrote my current novel yet once again…. Read more“6 Steps to Tangling with the Publishing Windmill”
Category: Publishing
107 Things You Should Know About Being Published
We’re jumping in the Way-Back Machine today. This was the very first of my numbered-list posts—from January, 2010—and the comments are still some of my favorites! You’re not going to get rich. You’re probably not even going to be able to pay your bills. In fact, money is going to… Read more“107 Things You Should Know About Being Published”
Selling rights in a cloud
Have you guys been following what’s going on with the London Book Fair? A volcano that erupted in Iceland has whited-out British airspace, making it almost impossible for folks to get to the Book Fair from elsewhere in the world. Not only that. But it’s also making it impossible for… Read more“Selling rights in a cloud”
Analyzing the PW best sellers list
Publishers Weekly (PW) has released its list of 2009 best sellers compiled from information submitted to them by publishers. It would behoove you to check it out. In particular, take a good, hard look at the author names in the top thirty hardback fiction sellers: Dan Brown. John Grisham. Kathryn… Read more“Analyzing the PW best sellers list”
Browsing the ereader aisle with the Motley Fool
My husband follows the maverick financial advisors Motley Fool (two brothers whose parents taught them about the stock market when they were teens), so I was interested this morning when they cropped up on Publisher’s Martplace‘s Publisher’s Lunch writing about the Kindle. I looked them up and found an article… Read more“Browsing the ereader aisle with the Motley Fool”
Being abused by Amazon
Some people want to abuse you. Some people want to be abused. —Annie Lennox And now Colin Robinson of OR Books reveals a little something more about Amazon’s relationships to publishers in yesterday’s Huffington Post. You’ll see a parallel here between Robinson’s approach to the Amazon monopoly and the growing… Read more“Being abused by Amazon”
Following the publishing industry online
Jason Pinter’s talking today over on the Huffington Post about publishing and social media. He’s saying that’s where the industry is going on now: on Twitter, especially, where agents, acquisitions editors, and publishers can talk either one-on-one or en masse to readers and authors, bringing the audience down out of… Read more“Following the publishing industry online”
Swinging between Amazon and Apple with the ebook publishers
You’ve got to give Jeff Bezos credit for cojones, if not business savvy. The guy still hasn’t learned to stay off the trapeze without a net. Motoko Rich of the NY Times and Christina Warren of Mashable both report this week that Amazon is back to swinging wildly from the… Read more“Swinging between Amazon and Apple with the ebook publishers”
Pricing ebooks for the reader, the writer, or the publisher?
Kathryn sent in this NPR piece by Lynn Neary on ebook pricing, which references this even more detailed and in-depth NY Times piece by Jason Epstein. I’ve been looking into ebook pricing. Kindle, of course, is racking up “best sellers” that turn out to sell for $.99 or even go… Read more“Pricing ebooks for the reader, the writer, or the publisher?”
Digitizing books, expanding your mind?
I should have asked you guys your opinions a long time ago. You have been really amazing about the whole book cover issue. I’m sorry—I’m a slow learner. I promise to do better in the future. So today I’m going to ask your opinions on a subject discussed intelligently and… Read more“Digitizing books, expanding your mind?”