If you have old books, keep them—don’t throw them away Language is constantly evolving. Words that were in common use years ago are forbidden now. Words that were insults years ago are acceptable now. And definitions are changing. For example, when I was growing up, calling someone “queer” was a slur. It was a [...]
If you want to write a book, start with a plan. Not just a plan for the book itself (what it’s about, its structure, your writing schedule, etc.) but a more comprehensive plan that treats your project like a small business with a single product. Write a business plan for your book. The idea of [...]
I just read another blog by someone who said she was embarrassed to tell people she was a writer because she hadn’t published a book. That’s absolute nonsense. Plenty of outstanding writers never write books. I had been writing professionally for about five years when I got my first book contract—and I wasn’t looking for [...]
Self-publishing is an increasingly popular and accepted way to get your book on the market, but it takes a lot of knowledge and work to do it well. In our consulting business, we work primarily with businesspeople who want to write and publish a book that will help them boost their reputations and grow their [...]
Can Publishing on Medium Help Grow Your Business? Take this quiz and find out Would you like to put the content that’s currently on your website in front of 100 million readers? Do you have old content on your website that you’d like to update and share with a larger audience? Are you looking [...]
How to Get Book Reviews & Endorsements Linda Stirling The Publishing Circle One of the most important and challenging parts of book marketing is getting book reviews and endorsements. It’s so important and so challenging that Linda Stirling wrote an entire book about it. How to Get Book Reviews & Endorsements is a valuable tool [...]
“Luann” is one of my favorite comics. Recently, Luann decided that writing was an easy way to get rich. The strip (8/27/22) shows Luann talking to her father, saying that writing might be her new career. When he cautioned her that writing “is a hard career to earn money at” (and that’s true), she showed [...]
Those one- and two-star reviews tell you what not to do Reading reviews of your own books can make you feel euphoric (if they’re good) or send you into the pits of despair (if they’re bad). Reading reviews of other writers’ books can give you a priceless education about what to do and not do [...]
How to Market a Book: The Hilariously Comprehensive Guide to Book Marketing and Promotion Lori Culwell The real work begins after you’ve finished writing your book Lori Culwell clearly had a lot of fun writing How to Market a Book, the latest in her Funny You Should Ask! series. As an author and publishing (but [...]
On Afternoons with Mike on the Shepherd Radio, Jacquelyn Lynn and Mike Gilland talk about writing and publishing. There are a lot of good reasons to write and publish a book. Everyone has a story worth writing and preserving, even if you don't care about sharing it with the masses—and especially if you do. Jacquelyn [...]
