Writer Unboxed

Over the past year, there’s been a self-publishing experiment taking place in the Calgary branch of the Romance Writers of America. (CARWA, members of which are known under the apt moniker “Carwackians.”) I’ve been an interested observer. Now that the Bandit Creek Series has matured, and can provide lessons and data, CaRWA’s third-time president joins [...]

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So it should start becoming more and more obvious that I’m going through a writer-identity crisis as things get closer to the release of my book. And lucky you — you get to be a witness to my crisis. In this episode of my crisis, we walk through my attempt at networking even though I’m [...]

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Kath here. We’re thrilled that novelist Liz Michalski is back to guest with us! Liz’s last guest post with us was just terrific, and we’re so pleased she agreed to return and discuss a quite unusual way of marketing your book. Her haunting debut novel Evenfall has received praise and buzz. Booklist says, ”EVENFALL is a [...]

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Like most writers, whether new or established, I have folders—physical and electronic—filled with stories that either never quite got to publication but that your instinct tells you are still worth something; or else were published long ago and whose details might be a bit dated, yet whose core is still strong. These aren’t dead stories, [...]

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You may have noticed something new recently at Writer Unboxed: advertisements at the top of the left-hand column. (We just finished running an ad for Chris Abouzeid, author of Anatopsis.) With the help of our assistant, we’ve created informational kits for both authors and businesses who might be interested in advertising with us. Bonus: They [...]

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Therese here. Please welcome today’s guest, Shari Stauch. Shari is the CEO of Shark Marketing Co. and has been involved in publishing, marketing and PR for 33 years. As president of Charleston’s Center for Women, she moderates the Women Writers Forum, and conducts seminars on website marketing and image branding. Under her leadership the Center for Women [...]

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Craft! Platform! Craft!! Platform!! It’s a debate that might span eternity: how much time should you devote to writing versus platform building? I don’t know if there was ever a real beginning to this debate, but if so, it was when editors and agents started telling nonfiction authors that their book was only viable if [...]

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Kimberly Reid is author of the Langdon Prep series of YA novels about a girl detective named Chanti Evans whose mom is an undercover cop. Chanti lives in the hood but goes to a private school in a swanky neighborhood. The 2nd in the series, Creeping With the Enemy, pubs today! A little of what [...]

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Therese here. It’s the second Thursday of the month, which means it’s #IndieThursday–a day dedicated to independent bookstores here and at Beyond the Margins, an esteemed blog we hope you’ll add to your daily visits. I’m honored to introduce a post written by Bob Proehl, Director of Operations at an independent bookstore in Ithaca, NY, [...]

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As a writer, you may think you have the market cornered on this. This is one job where you can plug away for twenty years without positive reinforcement from the industry. Then one day, everything changes. Instead of an endless string of no-thank-yous, you get a yes, please. That sale or signing with your agent [...]

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No matter what you write – whether it’s romance, literary fiction, fantasy, or the increasingly popular genre of historical vampire chick-lit zombie western mystery – at some point each of you will be called upon to write about the same thing: yourself. There’s no avoiding it. If you’re writing with the goal of publication, it’s [...]

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GIVEAWAY: I am (again) excited to give away a free copy of the 2012 Guide to Literary Agents to a random commenter. Comment within one week; winners must live in Canada/US to receive the book by mail. Good luck to all! (Update: Mari won.) When I’m teaching at a writers’ conference, occasionally someone will raise [...]

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