by Anne R. Allen Publishing insider Alan Rinzler said in a blogpost last summer that traditional book marketing is no longer working. “That $50K space ad in the New York Times?” he said. “Forget it. It’s only for the author’s mother…not even an appearance on the Today Show can guarantee more than a brief spike in sales. The old ways […]
Whispers From Some Awesome Independent Women
Today we have a special mid-week guest post from the fabulous Cheryl Shireman, author of the bestselling ebook LIFE IS BUT A DREAM I feel very honored that she invited me to join her and the twenty-three other fascinating “Indie Chicks” to put together this anthology to benefit breast cancer research. Here is her story […]
Bad Critique Groups—8 Things That Can Push a Group Over to the Dark Side
by Anne R. Allen Good critique groups are the easiest (and cheapest) way for new writers to learn the nuts and bolts of the craft and keep those cringe-making first drafts from gumming up agents’ and publishers’ desks (or becoming part of Konrath’s tsunami of crap.) Group feedback can help skilled writers as well. A lot […]
6 Prescriptions to Cure the Heartbreak of Being Published
This is a post for every author who’s been in rejection hell—hoping, praying, and bribing assorted deities—living for that day when you finally land the book contract that will make all your dreams come true. You know who you are: you’ve spent forever learning to craft a perfect query, sent it off to carefully […]
When Landing an Agent Lands You Nowhere: Rick Daley’s Story
While I’m immersed in revision hell with two books and hopping around the Interwebz trying to promote two others that just came out—in case anybody wonders, this isn’t something I’d recommend—we’ve got a fascinating guest post. Meet Rick Daley, the man behind the Public Query Slushpile, and author of the Middle Grade fantasy, THE […]
Dueling Agent Advice on Blogging. Who Do You Believe?
by Anne R. Allen You’ve probably been reading a lot of conflicting advice recently on the subject of writers and blogs. Some experts are telling us blogging is dead. Agent Wendy Lawton wrote a post on September 15th called “What’s Not Working” and asserted that blogging—and most social networking—is a waste of time for debut authors, […]
The Real Hollywood Mystery Behind the Gatsby Game
by Anne R. Allen My life continues to zoom along at warp speed. Mark Williams just told me that THE GATSBY GAME is up at Amazon this morning–a week ahead of schedule. It’s a book I had to write–one that’s been sitting in my head for decades. It’s based on the mysterious death of […]
The $79 Kindle and the Most Interesting Publisher in the World
by Anne R. Allen I can finally say it: I have three brand new novels coming out this fall! Within a couple of weeks, THE GATSBY GAME will debut as an e-book. It’s a stand-alone mystery set in the Mad Men era that proposes a fictional solution to one of Hollywood’s most scandalous mysteries. (It’s […]
Fighting Those “This-Manuscript-Sucks” Demons: Advice from Two Bestselling Novelists: Ruth Harris and Michael Brandman.
Today Ruth brings us a great pep talk from screenwriter and mystery novelist Michael Brandman, who this year was asked to take over the Jesse Stone novels of the legendary mystery writer, the late Robert B. Parker. How would you feel if you were suddenly asked to be the “continuator” of a book series written […]
Why Chasing a Big Six Contract is Like Crushing on a Bad Boyfriend
While I’m teaching at the Central Coast Writers Conference this weekend, we have a guest post from the awesome Michelle Davidson Argyle, Literary Labster and author of the thriller, Monarch, which debuts this week from Rhemalda Publishing. Michelle did an in-depth study on her blog last year on small presses. That study helped me make my decision to go with a small […]
14 Do’s and Don’ts for Introducing Your Protagonist
by Anne R. Allen Introducing your protagonist to your reader may be the single trickiest job for a novelist. You have to let readers get to know your character in a very short time–then entice us go on a journey with this person into a brand new world. If you tell us too much, […]
13 Ways Not to Start a Novel
by Anne R. Allen Starting the first chapter of a new novel is usually pretty easy for me. My muse has uploaded a shiny new story into my head and I’m all revved and ready to go, so I get those words down as fast as I can. (Then I usually bog down around […]
Where Do You Get Your Ideas? There’s an App for That! How to Create Your Personal Idea Goldmine.
by Ruth Harris Today we have our first regular monthly post from Ruth Harris. Ruth is in NYC, so she very well may be without power today, so if we don’t hear from her, we can blame Irene. All of you East-Coasters, hang in there: you’re in our thoughts. I think the most common […]
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