Tag: self-publishing

Female Thriller Author Ditches Traditional Pub Track

Female Thriller Author Ditches Traditional Pub Track

In October, 2002, I stood across the street from the old HarperCollins Building at 10 East 53rd Street in midtown Manhattan and pointed it out to my traveling companions. “Someday,” I intoned tearfully, “Someday my novels will be published there.” “Great,” my husband said pointing at our cranky three-year-old in her stroller. “I think Layla […]

December 3, 2018 | By | Reply More
Can You Think Like A Publisher?

Can You Think Like A Publisher?

When you’re an author-publisher, or self-published author, you face nearly all the choices a traditional publisher faces, but in a much more intimate, more personally-invested, more personally-at-risk way. This is a wonderful in some ways, and not so good in others. For about seventeen years in my callow youth I worked in publishing as an […]

May 5, 2017 | By | Reply More
Learning The Ropes As A Hybrid Author

Learning The Ropes As A Hybrid Author

Smart people disagree on whether traditional publishing or self-publishing is the way to go, or whether it’s getting easier or harder for new writers to break into the business, but most people will agree on one thing: the game is changing. In the last few years, I hear more and more about authors who leave […]

July 29, 2016 | By | 2 Replies More
Why You Should Choose A Hybrid – An Insider’s Guide

Why You Should Choose A Hybrid – An Insider’s Guide

As I’m sure you’re well aware by now, there are several different types of publisher out there and ways to go about securing one. Much information already exists regarding traditional and self-publishing in blog or tweet form (that’s supposed to be a joke), so we won’t waste any time on those. Alternately, this Guide is […]

March 28, 2016 | By | 9 Replies More
Living The Dream – A Tantalising Taste of Being a Full-Time Author

Living The Dream – A Tantalising Taste of Being a Full-Time Author

For a short time a few years ago, I lived the dream of being a full-time author. Not in the traditional sense – there were no agents or publishers nipping at my heels expecting me to meet a deadline. But, nevertheless, living the dream it was. I was made redundant from my job in Dubai […]

February 16, 2016 | By | 2 Replies More
Card Shops and Inspiration

Card Shops and Inspiration

Like all authors of fiction, I’ve often been asked where I get my ideas and inspiration from. And, like so many others, I reply that I am never short of ideas from the worlds around and within me but there is never enough time for them all to come to fruition. The beauty of writing […]

February 1, 2016 | By | 7 Replies More
To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish

To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish

‘‘Are you sure you want to self publish again?” asked a colleague of mine who is traditionally published. We were discussing my plans to self publish my historical novel. I felt defensive because I knew what was coming next. I’d heard it before. “You will never land a traditional publisher if you do. Believe me, […]

October 21, 2015 | By | 11 Replies More
5 Stories about Publishing that are No Longer True (and maybe never were)

5 Stories about Publishing that are No Longer True (and maybe never were)

Maybe all professions like to scare young hopefuls — to weed the flock, so to speak — and the publishing industry, notorious for its gloom and doom predictions, is no exception. As a graduate student in a Creative Writing department, I heard all sorts of stories from teachers and other students that made it seem […]

September 21, 2015 | By | 9 Replies More
Truths and Lies about Self-Publishing

Truths and Lies about Self-Publishing

Some say self-publishing is the greatest invention since sliced bread. Others say it’s ruining the industry. A lot of people have weighed in on this hugely popular phenomenon. Now, it’s my turn. I’ll address a few commonly held ideas and say if they’re true, or false. Self-published books are low quality. False. However, there is […]

August 25, 2015 | By | 5 Replies More
Self-publishing – What I’ve Learned

Self-publishing – What I’ve Learned

Eighteen months ago I self-published my novel Dappled Light, based on the life of James Stewart, a medical missionary whose reputation was tarnished by a liaison with Mary Livingstone, wife of the explorer. Stewart subsequently married my great great aunt Mina, the daughter of a wealthy Scottish shipbuilder who was himself the subject of a […]

July 27, 2015 | By | Reply More