These days publishing houses expect their authors to put up the money for most of the publicity and public relations necessary to make any book a success. That can be an expensive proposition for any author, especially since writers can’t rely on advances big enough to cover these costs. It seems the more money and effort we are expected to…
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Write What You Know or Know About What You Write
I want today to give nonfiction writers a pat on the back for taking what they know and putting it down on paper. I spend a lot of time editing books written by authors who have come up with a great idea of their own, fleshed it out and put it down on paper. They may have done a lot…
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Articles are Nonfiction, Too
I focus so much of my time on editing my client’s nonfiction books and on writing and promoting my own nonfiction book projects that I sometimes forget that I’m trained as a magazine journalist. I still love writing articles, though, and I often use my skills as a journalist. I love to query magazines with ideas and to get assignments….
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My New Attitude About Self-publishing
Today’s blog will have to be short. It’s actually already tomorrow, so I’ve officially missed today’s (yesterday’s) blog. Whatever. It’s 12:40 a.m., and I’m ready for bed. I never wanted to self-publish my work. As I’ve waited for query after query to be answered by agents and publishers, and years have gone by with my projects unwritten and unpublished, friends…
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A Nonfiction Writer’s Identity Crisis
I promised to tell you about my writer’s identity crisis. I’m not sure that fiction writers suffer from this affliction, but I’m fairly sure that many nonfiction writers suffer along with me. All indicators point to me being a writer, but some days I’m not sure that is who I am. I have a literary agent – two actually, since…
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Why I like Nonfiction Writing
As you know, I had dreams of being a fiction writer. My most recent foray into fiction during the 2005 NaNoWriMo event was loads of fun, and I was so excited to have agents interested in that novel. I remember running around at the San Francisco Writers Conference mumbling to myself, “I’m going to sell a novel. I’m going to…
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Why and How I Became a Nonfiction Writer
I thought I’d start out on this third day of November by telling anyone reading this blog why and how I became a nonfiction writer – in case you are interested. I’ve been a nonfiction writer since I was about 16 years old, and (I hate to admit it) I’m now 47. Actually, I had dreams of being a novelist…
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