“How NOT to get published!” Karen Porter of Bold Vision Books put together this hilarious video of the wrong way to pitch your book at a writers conference.
As she says, every incident is based on real events. I can attest to that truth!
Enjoy!
Confusing Industry News in Bookselling
Last week the Hastings, a chain of 126 retail stores, declared bankruptcy. Approximately half of their sales are from books (the other half are movies, music, games, etc). They claim “a decline in the market for physical media properties like music, movies, books, games and media rentals.” They had losses of $16 million on sales of $400 million. Among their largest unsecured creditors …
Fun Fridays – June 17, 2016
Ever been in a meeting like this? It never happens in book publishing. Ever. However, publishing does like its fiction…
What is a Book’s Trim Size?
Trim size is one of those terms we use frequently when talking about the dimensions of your printed book. The term comes from the fact that during the printing process the pages of the book first printed on large sheets which are folded, glued, and later “trimmed” to a specific size. (This linked video shows the entire book printing process.) Go to your shelf and pull down a few titles and measure …
Fun Fridays – June 10, 2016
Watch the entire nine minute segment from last week’s “America’s Got Talent” audition. Amazing. Now, as a writer, think of this from the judge’s perspective (or the agent or editor’s perspective). There are talented people who perform well and deserve praise. And then comes something special that stands out. Those of us on this side of the desk have experienced …
Reaching a New Generation of Readers
Last Friday I posted a fun song about Millennials. Earlier this year a number of articles told of a Pew Research report that declared there are more Millennials in America than Baby Boomers. There are now over 75 million people ages 18-34. Boomers (ages 51-69) are no longer the largest demographic. (And there are more 22-years-olds today than any other age group.) This was inevitable, of course, …
Fun Fridays – June 3, 2016
Gotta love Millennials. This song will help you spell it correctly every time…and has a fun message too!
The Blue Ridge Writers Conference 2016
Last week was spent in beautiful mountains of North Carolina at the Blue Ridge Christian Writers Conference at Ridgecrest. Since I wrote in my last blog about why I go to a conference I thought it might be interesting to run those four points against last week’s experience. Teaching This was answered with a resounding yes! I taught three elective classes (on what an agent does, on contracts, and …
Fun Fridays – May 27, 2016
All writers and teachers of writing should get a kick out of this one. Wait for it…
Why Do You Go to Conferences?
A great question was sent the other day and thought it would help explain the other side of the table, so to speak. Steve? Why do you go to conferences? You have big agency with a lot of clients already. That is an excellent question and one that I get asked rather often, at conferences! (…Why are you here?) 1) Teaching I enjoy teaching and the opportunity to train writers in how this …