Writer Unboxed

The proverb says, Don’t judge a book by its cover, but whoever dreamed that one up can’t have been working in the publishing industry. It might be an indictment of human shallowness, but you can’t help first impressions. You will not judge a book by its cover once you’ve read it, of course; but first [...]

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It seems like as soon as we tackle one hot “it” tool and capture ways to use it for publicity (first Facebook, then Twitter), something new and even cooler comes along and grabs everyone’s attention. Right now that “it” tool is Pinterest and I’ll admit – I’m hooked. If you’re not familiar, Pinterest is like an online [...]

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Bookmarks, fridge magnets, pens – if you can’t wait to order objects that display your cover art or announce your authorial name, you aren’t alone. “Swag,” as these tangibles are known, signals to oneself and others that an author has “arrived.” It serves several other time-honored purposes within the publishing world: Can be used to [...]

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Therese and Kath here to introduce the newest member of the WU team. You’ve seen independent editor Victoria Mixon here before. We love her for her ability to plumb the depths of craft knowledge, her commitment to making hard-to-understand concepts understandable, and her personality. So when she offered to provide a column to us for [...]

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As a frequent speaker, one question I can count on, in every setting—no matter the topic, event, or audience skill level—is: How do you find the time to do all this? “All this” refers to writing, blogging, marketing, promoting, social media, website building, blogging, traveling, speaking, plus my day job of university professor. The question [...]

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GIVEAWAY: It’s holiday giveaway time! And that means TWO giveaways for this post. I am (again) excited to give away a free copy of the new 2012 Guide to Literary Agents to a random commenter, and I will also give away a copy of my humor book, How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack, to [...]

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Today’s guest is back for an encore. Author Kim Wright was with us back in October to talk about ways not to behave with your agent. Today she’s back for more commonsense advice for writers. Kim has been writing about travel, food, and wine for more than 25 years and is a two-time recipient of the [...]

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Not so long ago, “being a writer” might have cost us our sanity, consumed countless hours each day and caused us to opt out of paying jobs, but it didn’t actually require spending money. Those days are over. A veritable writing industry has emerged in the wake of the digital revolution, complete with webinars, seminars, [...]

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Update: Congratulations to Mari Passananti, winner of Christina’s book! Therese here. Today’s guest is the original Writer Mama, Christina Katz, author of three books for writers, including The Writer’s Workout: 366 Tips, Tasks & Techniques, out in print as of this past Tuesday. The Writer’s Workout joins Get Known Before the Book Deal and Writer Mama [...]

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When we talk about writing, we talk about paper. We talk about facing a blank page, or putting pen to paper; we talk about compelling books as page-turners; and we talk, of course, about judging a book by its cover. But we all know by now that writing and publishing have changed so much in [...]

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I wish they taught this skill to students in high school or college. Creative writing students especially need to spend a semester on it, but never do. You’d think publishers would deliver a 101 guide on it for their authors, though I’m not sure the publishers themselves always know anything about it. The skill is [...]

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from Barbara O’Neal:  I am delighted to have had the chance to interview my friend Barbara Freethy, who has experienced a truly astonishing trajectory as an Indie publisher this year. A traditionally published author for two decades, Barbara started experimenting with indie publishing late last year. Listen in as she talks about her journey, her [...]

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