Mary Gielow boasts quite an impressive resume. In the interest of space, I’ll pair her incredible feats down to a few, starting with her founding Luminaries—the author escort company in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. Since 1989 Luminaries has proudly offered what is widely considered one of the most experienced, reliable, and professional authors escorting companies […]
Archive | Book Craft
Writer’s Corner: Why You May Need a Literary Lawyer
When you have experts in your corner, your confidence soars. Your decisions are rehearsed and vetted, and preliminary questions are answered. It puts your mind at ease when you’re aware and informed. In essence, you’ve done your due diligence and now you’re ready to act. So, start building your expert network today and be certain […]
Writer’s Corner: Making the Home Office Work
Thanks to the growing trends of telecommuting and entrepreneurship, more people are working from home. This is especially true if you’re a writer or author. Whether your gig is part-time or full-time, you need a space to clear your head and have instant access to your tools, technology, and tomes supporting the transformation of inspiration […]
How To Thoughtfully Manage Social Media Without Letting It Take Over Your Life
Your author’s journey, your personal and professional reputation, can easily be overshadowed by social media. Yes, it’s a necessary part of building your author’s story and brand, but if you let it take time from your career and your life (or it becomes a negative emotional environment), social media can quickly derail your life. Thoughtfully […]
Writer’s Corner: The “Manuscript” Clause
When signing a book deal, one of the points of contract will be “The Manuscript.” This section outlines the expectations of the author for creating the book that will eventually make its way to the hands of readers. This clause is the center point of any contract, but the obvious inclusion is often cause for ignoring […]
Advice From Pros: Olivia W. McCoy
Olivia W. McCoy (they/them) works as marketing manager and author consultant at Smith Publicity and is the host of their All Things Book Marketing podcast. Olivia’s professional background is in book marketing and independent publishing. Their in-depth knowledge of the publishing industry allows them to educate and consult with authors from all genres including business, […]
Finding Your Author’s Voice
Finding your voice is an answer to the question “Who is your reader?” Is this person looking for something serious, suspenseful, authoritative, humorous, spiritual, entertaining, dark, deep, light-hearted, or something else, that you may find parallels in a category on the booksellers’ shelves? Regardless of the central thread, your voice is uniquely you. It’s ironic how your […]
Building Your Street Team
The phrase street team was a new one for me when I first embarked on the publishing journey. I had to ask a couple of seasoned authors what it meant, and though I received varying definitions, I got the gist. A “street team” is the group of people who act as ambassadors for your book and […]
A Subsidiary Rights Kick-Start
This is a blog birthed from experience. I’ve been on both sides of a contract and have heard quite a few positive and negative experiences about this seemingly confusing section of a publishing agreement. Enough to encourage writers not to ignore the “small print.” All the same, subsidiary rights can be confusing, but the monetizing […]
Writing When You Don’t Want to Write
I laugh when I think about my history with schoolwork. Though I was a decent student, I was never keen on homework. Instead, I would write all sorts of fictional stories and journal entries (I still have many of them). Literally, I would avoid homework to write. But now I write full time for clients […]