By the time this gets posted, I’ll be on a trip to attend two speculative fiction conventions, Au Contraire in New Zealand and AussieCon 4 in Melbourne. I have a busy schedule at both, appearing on panels, giving a workshop and fronting up for the Sir Julius Vogel Awards, for which my novel Heart’s Blood [...]

Please welcome guest Meryl Evans to WU. Meryl was one of our quarter-finalists in our search for an unpublished contributor. When we asked Meryl what she could bring to WU that would be uniquely her, she wrote: A writer who happens to be missing a major sense (hearing) has made a successful career out of [...]

Therese here. Today’s guest is Jane Porter, author of SHE’S GONE COUNTRY. Jane has been in the enviable position of having several of her books adapted for various mediums. She’s with us today to tell us a little about that, and how she manages her writing when these other opportunities wait in the wings. Enjoy! [...]

Facebook is now used by more than 500 million people, and the fastest growing demographic is in the 35+ range—which also happens to be a book-buying demographic. (Keep up-to-date on Facebook stats here.) People, whether they realize it or not, use Facebook as a personalized news stream. That means rather than searching out the news, [...]

Today’s guest post is by one of our semi-finalists for WU’s unpublished writer position, Christy Hayes. Christy wrote: I’ve been at this for awhile and have seen my writing improve, made small and encouraging steps toward my ultimate goal of publication, and have come to rely upon the invaluable support of fellow writers. I don’t [...]

I was thirteen when I learned I’d switched the voices of the ABBA women by giving the blonde’s lyrics to the redhead’s, and vice versa. It shouldn’t have mattered. Frida and Agnetha continued to harmonize; their melodies remained the background music as my sister and I washed the nightly dishes. In truth, though, it took a [...]

In Part I of WU’s interview with MacAllister Stone, owner and CEO of Absolute Write, we spoke of minions, the challenges involved in herding 25,000 writers towards publication, and threats such as lawsuits.  In an abrupt and unforeseen twist, this concluding post will cover more optimistic territory. Jan for Writer Unboxed: Is there a special meaning to the avatar you use on AW and Twitter? (top [...]

Confession: I was shoulder-deep into the manuscript revision of my fourth book, which has a deadline of, oh, one week from now, when I realized I had to write this blog post. And for the life of me, I could NOT come up with something to discuss. That tends to happen when I fully immerse [...]

In 2000, just as I was starting to get serious about pursuing a career in fiction, I attended my first writer’s conference.  Out of all the seminars and talks I went to, the one that was the most lightly attended was the one on e-publishing.  The editors for Ellora’s Cave, St. Martin’s e-press (which folded a [...]

I’ve made no secret about my gratitude for certain literary communities — among them, Absolute Write . Its forums are a sprawling network where one can as easily receive critique on erotica as greeting cards; speak to industry people, such as agents or small press publishers; or joke around with other, writerly loons. (Guess where you’ll [...]

Ten years ago, a movie called PAY IT FORWARD hit the theaters. The plot was based on the notion of repaying a favor not with payback, but with new good deeds done to three new people, and so forth and so on until the world was revolutionized by peace, love, and happiness. I got to [...]

Please welcome Sharon Bially to Writer Unboxed. Sharon was one of our FINALISTS during our search for an unpublished contributor for the blog, which means you’ll see here her a few times annually from now on. After she announced her love of dark chocolate on her application (which earned her bonus points with us), she [...]

The paperback version of The Last Will of Moira Leahy–recently named a TARGET Breakout Book, w00t!–releases in just one week with a lovely new cover and a recession-friendly price tag. My promotional efforts this time around are pretty low-key in comparison to the hard cover, though I am running a wonderful contest on my Facebook [...]

You can sabotage your writing career if you frequently engage in these two behaviors: Pitching yourself to strangers in a vague or long-winded way Asking questions of such a broad nature that you nearly disrespect the person called upon to answer Let’s tackle the pitching scenario first. Important: While I will specifically reference editors and [...]

Kath here.  In our quest to keep you informed of the latest tips and trends in publishing, we’ve invited guest poster Pam Veley to blog about one of the hottest trends in book promotion: book trailers.  If you are considering using a book trailer to promote your novel, read on! Pam has worked in book publishing [...]