Writing Tips | Self-Publishing Review

eBook Author: Rendering your eBooks

Rendered eBooks
The eBook Author has the opportunity to add to the reading experience. The eBook conversion process must be much more than converting a paper book to a digital format. It must take advantage of the power of the electronic reader.

The eBook author is defined as an author who is writing directly to the eBook platform. You can read more about this concept in my blog: eBook Author: New Breed of Author.

As an author, you must think about the reader and what he can do with the added features the eBook allows him to use. You […]

James Moushon2011-10-08T16:34:59+02:00January 7th, 2011|Categories: Resources|Tags: Amazon News and Tips, Writing Tips|

Get the Write Focus

Every day I’m reminding someone in my life to focus. If it’s not my children or my students, then it’s my husband.

When it comes to writing, we have to find a way to focus on the writing we want to produce. But in reality, “focus” can be challenging, especially when your days and nights are full. The distractions are real and unavoidable, but so is your desire and passion for writing.

As I reflect on my journey in completing “The Second First Lady,” I somehow found my focus. So here are some tips that I hope will […]

Vanessa W. Snyder2011-10-08T16:37:16+02:00January 7th, 2011|Categories: Member Blog|Tags: Writing Tips|

What do Bad Sports Teams, the U.S. Govt, and Self-Publishing Have in Common?

It’s not easy to make the transition from a misanthropic and socially anxious writer to a self-promoting suckup, and the biggest reason I published this first book on my own was because I’ve been losing my mind trying to get agents to even agree to peek at the manuscript for my novel, which is a whole other story.

Trying to get them to read and approve of a collection of drug-fueled, anti-establishment essays about how frustrating it is to spend my time rooting for losers like the U.S. government and my favorite sports teams was something I just couldn’t imagine.[…]

Sean Michael Hogan2020-02-21T06:46:27+02:00September 8th, 2010|Categories: Member Blog|Tags: Book Editing Tips, Writing Tips|

Eugene Wells Tries Decaf

Eugene Wells is the author of The Decaf Diet: Is Caffeine Making You Fat? in which he examines the role of caffeine in the obesity epidemic. In his book, Wells concludes that caffeine drives overeating in a number of ways and proposes two strategies for dealing with this effect.

How did you come to self-publish? Did you try to get published
traditionally?

I decided to self-publish after reading some horror stories about authors who go through traditional publishing houses, give up the rights to their works, and receive no support from the publisher post-publication. Self-publishing appealed to me because I […]

Eugene Wells2020-02-21T03:58:56+02:00September 3rd, 2010|Categories: Interviews, Member Blog|Tags: Writing Tips|

Jane Friedman, Long-Time Publisher of Writer’s Digest, Talks with Self-Publishing Review

Image from Jane Friedmans "there are no rules" blog

I first met Jane Friedman sometime around June, 2001, when she called to tell me that my novel Acts of the Apostles had won the Writer’s Digest National Self-Published Book Award for that year (in the “genre” category: a juried competition with 324 entrants, ahem; I digress).

That call took place pretty early in Jane’s 12 year career at F+W Media (and pretty early in my self-publishing career, now that you mention it.) Her talent was obvious and she rose quickly. In 2008 she was named the publisher of Writer’s Digest, the No. 1 resource for working writers. In her […]

John Sundman2017-03-24T09:26:42+02:00August 25th, 2010|Categories: Lead Story|Tags: Writing Tips|

Attention

What kind of attention do you want, as a writer?

Your first instinct, if you’re someone I hang around with, is to say you’d like any and all attention, just to get your writing some visibility. You are so confident in your work (hopefully) that you are anxious, eager, and bursting at the seams to get more eyeballs on your work.

You are willing to throw it all in for that attention. You’ve blogged exhaustively. You’ve been nice to people you don’t know and don’t so much care about all over the internet. Your Twitter life is overtaking your own, […]

Lenox Parker2011-10-08T18:23:52+02:00June 22nd, 2010|Categories: Features|Tags: Writing Tips|

The Bad Old Days: A Rebuttal to Keillor

A response to Garrison Keillor’s take on self-publishing.

I grew up not much different than any other author, whether traditionally published or indie published. I spent a lot of time with my nose in the books too. I loved The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, and Charlotte’s Web. I excelled in English classes in school–straight A’s & B’s in all my courses in fact.

Guess what, “I N3V3R WR0T3 LYK D1Z.”

In college I studied dance, but enjoyed writing too…

Mr. Keillor, you can act like you and your ilk are the only ones who have received approval and […]

klcrumley2011-10-08T18:11:03+02:00June 3rd, 2010|Categories: Features|Tags: Writing Tips|

Comic Relief! “Writing, Time Management, and You”

Life is short, and the business of self-publishing, while completely joyful, can also make you want to stab yourself in the throat – but in the end, what’s most important is to remember why we write.