When I got a two-book contract after having written only a single book in my romantic suspense series, I found myself presented with several problems. First: a deadline. After all, I’d taken forever to write the first book, and I couldn’t do that with the second. And second, I had to remember everything from the first book so that I […]
We all know that in a mystery the most obvious suspect, the first “person of interest,” isn’t always the culprit. The same is true of pretty much every aspect of publishing. There’s a lot—and I mean a lot—of debate, acrimony, and bad information out there about what you can or should expect, or what you’ll be doing as an author
If you’re not checking your chapter website regularly, then you’re not MWAing the right way. But you’re here now, so that’s good. If you’re not also following your chapter on Facebook and Twitter and Yahoo, then you’re not MWAing the right way. If you’re not taking advantage of as many organization benefits as possible (see this list here), then you’re
You probably figured it out in grade school: Hey, waitaminute, Ms. Prisco only works ’til three in the afternoon. And then she’s got summers off. Ain’t that swell! Teachers sure got it easy. Then when you attended college, this idea was magnified: Say, wouldn’t it be peachy just to teach for an hour or two a day — you’d have
I’m sure all the writers out there have been asked some variation of this question: Why did you become a writer? And I’m sure we’ve all given thoughtful answers. I know I’ve given my share of what I believed were honest answers and hoped were interesting ones, too. But when I really think about this question, the most honest answer
Recently, and for no particular reason, I tried to remember the first crime or mystery book I ever read. Since I am a woman of a certain age, it was, of course, a Nancy Drew book. I couldn’t recall which book, but I did remember my childhood thrill at being on a dark and stormy adventure with the girl sleuth.
Beatdown: 1.) an emphatic or overwhelming defeat 2.) a violent physical beating Last week the Internet surged with stories of a young adult book that mysteriously hit the Number One spot on the sacrosanct New York Times YA best-seller list. After an investigation pursued by young adult authors and bloggers, the New York Times book review staff removed the suspect
True confession time: I recently read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith, for the first time. That’s kind of embarrassing for a writer whose whole series takes place in Brooklyn neighborhoods and has an underlying theme of “What changes in Brooklyn and what doesn’t.” I don’t know how I missed it in my bookworm youth and I’m not
You can’t sell Lord Peter Wimsey to a classroom full of millennials. I’m sorry. You. Just. Cannot. Even A.C. Doyle’s “Silver Blaze,” with which I begin my survey course on mystery fiction, is met with cries of “What’s in it for me?” and “It’s just not relatable” (the latter a neologism I cordially despise). Or as Edmund Wilson would have
For most of us, it’s hard enough to squeeze in writing time. Participating in a writing workshop may seem like an extravagance that distracts from our writing output, but the occasional workshop can yield interesting insights.
“But you’ve written and published five books,” my husband said. “Do you really need to go to another writers’ conference?” It was a fair question. I’ve been writing for years. I have a shelf full of how-to books covering every possible subject from poisons to punctuation. There are endless online sources and courses. Did I really need to hear “Show,
Even now, with four books published and a fifth, hopefully, on the way, I worry that the IRS will look at my earnings and will decide that writing is really just a hobby. At which point, I will show them my publishing contracts, and after we’ve all had a really good laugh, I’ll explain that just because writing is a
People who get through childbirth, jury duty, or self-publishing often want to tell you about it. Me, too. After self-publishing two mystery novels, one novelette, and one short story, with a third novel coming out in July, I’ll be — according to my Google search — No. 13,600,001, to write on the topic. I could go on and on. But,
The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;— Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
This is the third in Valerie Peterson’s series on author marketing. You may want to check out her previous articles, “7 Common Mistakes of an Author Website” and “How to Create a ‘Selling’ Author Bio.” “Book discovery” is a much-used buzz-phrase of the publishing industry. In the increasingly competitive and very digital book marketplace with shrinking readerships and revenues, authors,
