Writing and Publishing News

Do you find it intimidating or overwhelming when asked to write a brief bio and/or a description of your book or a presentation you plan? Join the club, as they say. For some reason, this is a real problem for many writers and authors. We can speak (or write) volumes, but ask us to put [...]

There’s an old statistic that I first saw probably in the 1980s, stating that 81 percent of the population believed they have a book in them. At that time, only a handful of those people actually wrote their books. Today, I’d say that most of them have written a book or two. And the publishing [...]

Do you recognize yourself in any of the following scenarios? “I have an idea and I’m going to write a book. I’ve never written anything before. But I think my idea is valid and I want to share it with the world. The best way to get my idea out there is to put it [...]

Someone emailed me after my presentation Tuesday night to tell me that he’d heard me speak before and that he got more out of my talk this time than he did the last time. He figured it was either that I had more to share now or that he was at a place where he [...]

The latest issue of the IBPA Independent features my article, “How to Entice People to Your Presentations.” If you’re a member of IBPA, it’s on page forty. Here’s an overview of that article: • Make sure you have a hook. • Find out how the program chair plans to publicize your event. • Make sure [...]

What does it take to successfully promote a book? Money or effort? Does it take a bankroll or time and energy? Do you get results from pursuing costly marketing programs or by using a little elbow grease? I suggest spending your money to educate yourself about the huge process of publishing and marketing books. This [...]

There are opportunities and then there are opportunities. If you are an author or plan to become one and you are seeking ways to promote and sell your book, you must read this revealing post. There was high drama around the SPAWN booth at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. A short distance from [...]

I’m still catching up with my contacts made from the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. I had to manually make a few credit card charges. My new Intuit card reader quit working and the backup I brought with me would not work, either. Bummer. I have had a merchant account system connected to my [...]

This is what we suggest when we talk to prospective members of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network). Joining isn’t enough—ever. You must also get involved. Sure the prestige of belonging can be important in some instances. For example, you can put the organization logo on your website. You can tell publishers that you [...]

I am constantly learning something about my way of handling things. Maybe I am constantly changing the way I handle things. I keep pretty busy with running SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network), writing, editing for other authors, promoting my books in a variety of ways and so forth. I also have a life [...]