By Colleen Oakes It happened last night, in the middle of a long day of writing, editing and brain-storming. My writing buddy and I had hunkered down for a five hour session of hammering out the problems in our respective novels. Seriously, it’s such a perfect working relationship that it’s a little scary. This is…
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The Road to Accomplishing Your Goals
By J.A. (Julie) Kazimer Even if you are firmly entrenched in one path to publication like traditional publishing, you won’t find your journey is a straight line. Even those writers who sell their first book to the very first editor their agent approaches, often look back on the way they became an author and are…
Why was this scene cut?
By Janet Lane I saw a terrific movie yesterday, An American Sniper. The director, Clint Eastwood, made a surprising decision that triggered thoughts about, “Show, don’t tell.” It’s the mantra for story telling, and for good reason. Because we all write and read different genres, I’ll mention major movies. Imagine if the slaughtered horse head-in-a-bed…
Nailing Voice
By Robin D. Owens I watched that reality show, The Voice. I especially like the blind auditions and observing how the coaches work with people – because I like seeing professionals practice their craft in other disciplines, and I wonder if I can use this or that technique in mine. To be honest, though I…
Don’t “Gag” on your Publishing Contract
Today’s guest post relates to a topic I’m seeing more than I’d like to in the publishing lawyer side of my day: contracts containing a “nondisclosure” clause which prohibits the author from discussing the publisher–or the author’s relationship with the publisher–in public. Too many authors sign these contracts without an understanding of industry standards — or…