Readers and writers really like to talk about the importance of book reviews, but many of these discussions revolve around Amazon and Goodreads. In places like that, reviews are fairly democratic; anyone, assuming they meet a few basic criteria, can write about a book. But how do reviews end up in more discriminating locations? How does a… Continue reading How Books Get Reviews in the New York Times
I hate advertising, but I love gimmicks. Not all of them of course – I’m not a huge fan of book giveaways (though those may not be gimmicks precisely) – but every once in a while a book marketing campaign will resonate with me. One such promotion just hit that sweet spot. In honor of her upcoming… Continue reading Book Marketing That is Grand, Extraterrestrial, and Bloody
Book cover design is often grand, but sometimes publishers don’t get it quite right. Take for example the case of Nnedi Okorafor. Nnedi Okorafor is an extraordinary science fiction writer, and she has the Nebula Award to prove it. Before she was quite so lauded, however, she had a strange and terrible interaction with her… Continue reading When Book Covers Get Characters Wrong
Some time after receiving the first round of edits, a writer may wonder whether or not her editor hates her. Surely, the theory goes, if her editor liked her, the suggested changes wouldn’t be so terrible. The good news is that receiving extensive edits from an editor does not mean that an editor hates a… Continue reading 5 Tips to Ensure Your Editor Doesn’t Hate You
Readers and writers are living in a crowdfunded world. Where once publishers oversaw which books came into print now writers just need to convince potential readers to support them. Writers suddenly have more opportunities, but they are restricted by the market as well. Kickstarter is one of the largest venues for crowdfunding publishing projects. In… Continue reading Finding Funding: Writing in a Kickstarter World
Originally posted on University of Glasgow Library Blog:
Both of these early printed books could have been printed on the same size sheets of paper When you look at an old printed book you’re not really looking at a single book but a series of smaller ‘booklets’ joined together. Books weren’t printed one page at a time…
In a perfect world, agents and publishing houses would judge authors based solely on syntax, characterization, plot, and other aspects of writing. But our world is far from a perfect one, and an author’s race, gender, and sexuality can still play a role in who is published. In particular, some of the recent discussions about gender… Continue reading Finding an Agent: When Gender Matters for a Writer
As we come to the end of 2016, what big stories happened in the publishing industry over the last year? Quite a few interesting things occurred, so I’ve chosen to highlight the few that tickled my fancy. Bookstore Sales Rose – For the past several years, sales from bookstores have been rising. Other than a brief blip… Continue reading Annual Publishing News Round-Up: 2016
As I hinted several weeks ago, I am beginning an interview series with editors, marketing folks, designers, writers, and other people in the books industry. It is with great excitement that I present the inaugural post in this series with the brilliant Alison Hennessey, Editorial Director of Bloomsbury’s Raven Books. She provides some great insight… Continue reading Thrillers, Suspense, and International Publishing: An Interview with Editorial Director Alison Hennessey
(I’m reposting this today just to make sure that anyone who missed the announcement last Sunday will still have a chance to sign up.) — — — Unless a writer is self-publishing, an editor will play a powerful role in shaping his or her book, but most of us aren’t entirely… Continue reading Free Online Webinar and Editor Q&A Session
Kristen Twardowski 