My first published novel, The Renaissance Club, was released in December 2018. It was the culmination of a complicated journey to publication as my first novel. At the time, I had no idea it would become the first book in a series. It was the end of a long, tortured odyssey from first draft to printed novel selling to the public.Hurrah for me! I’ve never told the full story of how this book was published,…
Finding Your Path in Publishing The young writer of fiction today faces a very different publishing landscape than even a decade ago. You can take a far different path in publishing a novel than when I started out, decades ago. Choice! A new writer has so many more choices than existed in the past — which consisted mainly of submitting manuscripts directly to a publisher, if you had connections, or to an agent.
Creating Your Author Business Plan Plan out yours steps for launching and advertising your new book. Phase it on a calendar of events for launch week and month, post-launch month, sustaining sales, discounts and giveaways. If you plan specific promotional efforts, you can calculate cost and project returns on your investment. Include a budget for each phase and each advertising platform you intend to use (Facebook, BookBub, Amazon, Pinterest, etc.). Budget for education: books, courses,…
Self-publishing is a vast subject, but I’ve narrowed down my thoughts to self-publishing for writers of women’s fiction. That’s what I know, and there isn’t a lot written about it. This is Part 2 of my blog series “Self-Publishing for Heroines”
Writing will keep you alive, but publishing will break your heart. Let me tell you why you have to learn to endure, as any good heroine must. How to self-publish like a heroine.
About a year ago, I made a momentous decision. I decided on going indie as an author of women’s fiction. It was a choice born of necessity, but it grew to be a good thing for me. I didn’t intend to do it, but I haven’t regretted it, as I’ll explain. My first self-published book, The Renaissance Club, came out in late 2018. It’s done so well under my imprint, Time Fold Books, that a…
The Invisibles on Amazon “A timeless and poignant story of sisterhood, with all its joys and challenges, and also a reminder that we can dearly love and care for those who are not exactly like us.” — A reader. Several writers’ groups and blogs I follow are hosting big discussions about publishing and changes in the industry. Is it a good time to self-publish a novel? Everyone agrees that it’s harder to get an agent…
Are you in the querying trenches — querying agents with a fiction manuscript? That’s probably one of the hardest phases of the writing life. Being on submission is hard too (when your agent is sending out your manuscript to editors) but somehow querying agents feels to me harder. Here are some survival strategies.
I’m delighted to have a new interview up at Authors18 — a group of this year’s debut authors, of which I’m a proud member. Among the questions asked: “If you could spend a day with anyone in history, who would it be?” See my answer in today’s interview (hint: I’d travel to Renaissance Italy). Here’s a link to the interview.
You’ve written a novel that’s been published — traditional, small press, or indie — HOORAY! And you launched. Now you’re watching the sales numbers and offering to do blog tours and readings. What else? How to build buzz for your debut novel? You look at author websites and see pitches for freebies and long lists of books. You see bestseller list mentions, excruciatingly gorgeous blurbs from famous authors, and you might feel a little perplexed…