Making the Switch from Nonfiction to Fiction: Q&A with Kate White

Today’s Q&A is by journalist and romance writer Cathy Shouse (@cathyshouse).Kate White (@katemwhite) is the New York Times bestselling author of fourteen novels of suspense; six standalone psychological thrillers, including Have You Seen Me? (2020); and eight Bailey Weggins mysteries.For fourteen years she served as the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan...

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How Do Publishers Decide What Books to Bet On?

Today’s guest post is excerpted from So You Want to Publish a Book? by Anne Trubek (@atrubek), founder and publisher of Belt Publishing.Each book a publisher launches is its own miniature, stand-alone start-up. Every book is a gamble. Publishing could have a game table on the floor of a Vegas casino, nestled between blackjack and roulette. Bet on which...

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6 Tips to Create a Memorable Virtual Book Launch

Today’s guest post is by author, editor and Olympian Carol Newman Cronin (@cansail).Like so many authors publishing books in the time of COVID-19, I’d already scheduled an in-person book launch party when everything social suddenly moved online. I’d never hosted a virtual meeting for more than a few people, and I was instantly overwhelmed by the details...

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Books to Film: The Option Versus The Shopping Agreement

Photo credit: Carbon Arc on VisualHunt / CC BY-NC-SAToday’s guest post is by intellectual property lawyer and author Matt Knight (@MattKnightBooks).Most writers dream about their book becoming a movie. It’s exciting to think about seeing our creative endeavors on the big screen or television. Plus, who doesn’t like receiving more money?But adapting...

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Marathons, Sprints, and Pounces: 3-Tiered Approach to Book Launches

Today’s guest post is by author Barbara Linn Probst.Nearly three months after the launch of my debut novel, I’m reflecting on what I’ve learned. Clearly, some lessons will take more than a few months to work their way through all those layers of hope, frustration, weirdness, exhaustion, and joy. But other lessons have coalesced, and I’d like to share...

2w

You Win This Round Comma

Photo credit: Mattiii photo on Visualhunt / CC BY-NC-SAToday’s guest post is by author, editor and writing coach Mathina Calliope (@MathinaCalliope).Hardly anyone would argue that commas don’t matter, but plenty of people—including plenty of writers—give them too little thought. At some point in their lives they might have tried to understand all the...

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How I Hosted a Socially Distanced Book Event

Today’s guest post is by editor and author Ed Cyzewski (@edcyzewski).It’s not ideal to release a book during a global pandemic with quarantines, social distancing, and limits on group gatherings.It’s especially not ideal to release my current book about the many unintended and unforeseen consequences of smartphones and social media at a time when we...

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Writing, Pitching & Promoting in the Age of the Coronavirus

Today’s guest post is a Q&A by Sangeeta Mehta (@sangeeta_editor), a former acquiring editor of children’s books at Little, Brown and Simon & Schuster, who runs her own editorial services company.Like everyone in the book industry, writers have experienced considerable change over the last few months. Although they might be used to working from...

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Stop Staring at a Blank Page: 4 (Not So) Silly Writing Tips to Get Words on Paper

Photo credit: matthewebel on VisualHunt / CC BY-NC-SAToday’s post is by editor and book coach Sandra Wendel.Imagine the first writer’s block: perhaps a caveman with a rudimentary stick staring at a large, blank rock. Today’s equivalent of the blank rock may be a computer screen, and your process may seem like the pie chart below.When you sit down to...

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How to and (Especially) How Not to Write About Family

Today’s post is by Sharon Harrigan (@harrigan_sharon), whose novel Half is available now.Writing about the people you are closest to can be one of the most rewarding experiences a writer can have—but also the scariest. This is a big topic, so I will cover it in two parts. First: what to put on the page. And second: how to deal with your subjects’ reactions...

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