Rochelle Weber – CLICK HERE for an interview and book review and links to learn more about Rochelle
“Off the top of my head, please encourage new authors to check Preditors & Editors before they sign with anyone for anything. They keep a list of publishers, editorial services and agents and while some may slip through the cracks, they list any complaints they get about them. Their list rates pubs, editors and agents. They hold an annual readers’ poll. My own publisher, MuseItUp Publishing, Inc. came in either first or second this year. My publisher, Lea Shizas, holds the Muse Online Writers Workshop every October and I highly recommend that, as well.
Marketing for Romance Writers is a marvelous resource, and it’s not just for romance writers. We have a Yahoo Group where we share our experience and tips with each other. Promotion is not allowed. We have two blogs, one of which is for promotion. We also have a monthly newsletter that showcases new releases each month. I’m the editor of that. You must be a member of MFRW in order to submit your books to the Newsletter. We also have a Featured Author every month.
You might want to compile a list of review sites. Most publishers have someone in charge of sending ARCs out for review and they keep a list of sites. If that’s the case, they’ll tell their authors not to send to those sites. However, indy authors, especially new ones may not know about them. MFRW has a list of review sites, too.”
“And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.”
– William Shakespeare (from A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
“If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor” – Edgar Rice Burroughs
“Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it.” – Truman Capote
“I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose.” – Stephen King
“Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” – E. L. Doctorow
“Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good.” – William Faulkner
Charles Ameringer – CLICK HERE for a book review and links to learn more about Charles.
“Seeking an agent to carry your water is largely a waste of time. I know all the writers guides tell you that you need an agent to get a publisher to look at your manuscript, but I went that route and sent out tons of queries with zero results. I had better luck contacting small publishers directly; then I learned a critical lesson. No matter how confident you are in your work, you need an editor. The editorial process that I went through with Solstice Publishing improved my work tremendously. It wasn’t much–a tuck here and a suggestion there–but when I compare my original manuscript with the finished product, I/m so thankful that my original never saw the light of day. Despite the opportunity and temptation for self-publishing, I would tell authors not to do it without first working with an editor.”
“Almost anyone can be an author; the business is to collect money and fame from this state of being.” – A. A. Milne
“A wounded deer leaps the highest.” – Emily Dickinson
“There’s no such thing as writer’s block. That was invented by people in California who couldn’t write.” – Terry Pratchett
“You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can’t, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world… The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way … people look at reality, then you can change it.” – James Arthur Baldwin
“It is perfectly okay to write garbage—as long as you edit brilliantly.” – C. J. Cherryh
“People on the outside think there’s something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story, but it isn’t like that. You sit in back of the typewriter and you work, and that’s all there is to it.” – Harlan Ellison
“People do not deserve to have good writing, they are so pleased with bad.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Joe Prentis – Comment about book review experiences…so many of us can relate!
that the reviews were mostly on Library Thing. I was familiar with one of the reviewers who was on Goodreads. Just out of curiosity, I checked the young woman’s blog and discovered that she was a sophomore in high school. When someone questioned her many one-star reviews, she said this:“I do not like any book that does not have a unicorn or vampire in the story.”
This was obviously her basis for giving thumbs down on various books. Another incident occurred when another Internet friend published his series of hard-boiled detective novels as eBooks. Within less than a month he had one hundred reviews, but many of them were one and two star reviews. One reviewer threatened to sue him because he had ‘wasted’ two hours reading a free book. He said that he earned $24.00 per hour on the job, and he wanted $50.00 to compensate him for the time spent in downloading, reading, and writing his review. As a result, I have tried to shy away from some people who seem too emotionally attached to the books they review. You might say that I have learned this the hard way.”
~~~~~~~~~~~ Joe Prentis
Website: http://www.joeprentiswebsite.com
Blog: http://www.prentisatpickwick.blogspot.com
Author’s Den: http://www.authorsden.com/joeprentis
Review and Interview: Book Review Link and Author Interview Link
“If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter a damn how you write.” – Somerset Maugham
“To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.”- Herman Melville
” I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged.” – Erica Jong
“Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.” – Barbara Kingsolver
“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” – Ray Bradbury
Musings from Simon Okill – http://www.amazon.com/Simon-Okill/e/B00BFGGCUK/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
“Hello Debra and Roger, Phantom Bigfoot has definitely learned everything the hard way. It was not until I was published by a small indie publisher that I realized just how much more work I had to do. I didn’t have a website, Facebook profile, not even twitter. Sad to say, I needed all three well before being published, but had no one to tell me that. Every author must start sending feelers out for their book at least 6 months in advance of publication. Now that’s okay for self publish but how the hell do you know when a publisher will take on your work? That was my dilemma. I had to start from scratch after published. I had no platform, no twitter or Facebook friends to be eager for my book’s release. So to all virgin authors out there, kick the ball rolling at least 6 months prior to release. Oh, and do make sure your book has been properly edited, and not by a friend no matter how qualified they are.” ~Simon
Steve Spina – http://www.facebook.com/steve.spina.313?fref=ts
“I don’t know if anyone else made this mistake or will make this mistake, but I did. I got so excited when a publisher replied with, “We decided to publish your book!” They told me to proof read it and to make any changes on the final write. I got so excited and rushed through and sent them my final submission. I wish I would have gone through and wrote parts of it different. I still enjoy the story line, just would have made it longer. My advice, don’t get in a rush. let your story flow. Thank you!”
“Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shade just as painting does, or music. If you are born knowing them, fine. If not, learn them. Then rearrange the rules to suit yourself.” -Truman Capote
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” – Anton Chekhov
“The more closely the author thinks of why he wrote, the more he comes to regard his imagination as a kind of self-generating cement which glued his facts together, and his emotions as a kind of dark and obscure designer of those facts. Reluctantly, he comes to the conclusion that to account for his book is to account for his life.” – Richard Wright
“Tell the readers a story! Because without a story, you are merely using words to prove you can string them together in logical sentences.”- – Anne McCaffrey
Penny Estelle – CLICK HERE for an author interview and book review and more links to learn more about Penny Estelle
“What an awesome thing you are doing …. This should go like wildfire! Let me see – when my first story was published I thought, Fabulous, I can hardly wait for the money to come rolling in – HA! The marketing part of publishing is a tough road to hoe! Blogs (what the heck was a blog and what do I do with it?) It took me quite awhile to get that in gear. You have to be loud and promote yourself and I am STILL working on that issue! Good Luck to you Debra and Roger….not to mention all you authors out there!”
“If science fiction is the mythology of modern technology, then its myth is tragic.” – Ursula K. Le Guin
“I am irritated by my own writing. I am like a violinist whose ear is true, but whose fingers refuse to reproduce precisely the sound he hears within.” – Gustave Flaubert
“The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.” – Ursula K. Le Guin
” Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.” – Robert A. Heinlein
” All the information you need can be given in dialogue.” – Elmore Leonard
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A note from the co-founders, Dear reader:
As we share with you these wonderful comments and shares from authors that follow and/or contribute to this site, mixed between some quotes for inspiration also, we wanted to share links for you to go see more about those authors. Coupling content provided by authors with credit lines and links that provide a promotional opportunity for them is standard practice…we also work hard to promote the site and by doing so, those links and credit lines are viewed by many new people everyday. This is a basic in our site’s mission…authors helping authors is about providing tools, tips, resources and articles that educate, inspire and encourage while also providing additional promotion for everyone that contributes. We hope you will consider contributing articles so you can help the community and increase your own marketing exposure while you’re at it! – Debra and Roger aha4real@gmail.com
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