Don’t Be a Lazy Author: A Rant Blysster Press If you want to be an author, BE one. Don’t expect anyone else to finish your book for you. Your test readers and your editors are NOT there to tell you what to do next. Your mother and various family members are not there to hold your hand and finish your book for you. This article comes to you from a place of frustration in, and great disappointment over, a recent trend in the writing community. LAZY WRITERS! Lazy Writing Makes You a Hack There have always been lazy writers–we call them hacks. But recently, this has gone beyond the norm. As an author, I’m disappointed in those who exhibit laziness–it makes us all look bad. As an editor, I’m disgusted by lazy writers, and I refuse to work with them. As a publisher, I won’t even give them the time …
How NOT to Entertain Readers: Toothpaste Syndrome – Drone on and on and on
How NOT to Entertain Readers: Toothpaste Syndrome – Drone on and on and on By Charity Becker There is a story-killer running rampant through fiction, and YOU can help stop it. I call it “Toothpaste Syndrome”, and it kills readers by boring them to death. When I was a teen, I read a very popular horror novel. I was enjoying it until I came to the middle of the book where I found a handful of PAGES describing a tube of toothpaste. The author in question spent so much time on this toothpaste that I fully expected it to come back later in the book and kill someone. Was it poisoned? Possessed? Magical toothpaste from an underworld ruled by cavity goblins? Nope. It was just a regular tube of toothpaste. By the end of the book, I realized I’d been duped by this author and I was suddenly angry. I’d …
Book Published? Your Job is Not Over!
Book Finally Published? Your Job is Not Over! By Charity Becker Whether you’ve been traditionally published, truly self-published, or vanity press published (Createspace, LuLu, etc.), your job is not over once your book is out. Even if you have a PR person or a dedicated marketing team, after publication you shouldn’t just sit back and kick up your feet. As an author, it is important that you continue to engage your readers. Show your fans you’re really there. You must talk to readers, news agencies, book stores, and event coordinators. Schedule signings, readings, and plan to attend at least one event every year—more is better! You need to stay on top of your fan mail from current readers and do things or offer goodies to continue to attract new readers, too. Being an author is more than just writing a neat book and sticking it on a shelf or on …