Publishing

19 April, 2024

Everything About Audiobooks

By |2024-04-19T14:34:58-07:00April 19, 2024|Authors Academy, Publishing|Comments Off on Everything About Audiobooks

As audiobooks have grown in popularity, there’s never been a better time to consider creating an audiobook version of your book.

For next week’s Authors Academy presentation, we’ll dive into the world of audiobooks and how you can turn your written word into an audio story that anyone can listen to.

Please note the following time change, due to Daylight Savings! Join us next Wednesday at 11 AM in Arizona (11 AM PST, 2 PM EST) to learn more about:

  • Why you should consider making your book into an audiobook
  • What to look for in an audiobook narrator
  • How to make the most of selling your book in the audiobook format
  • and more!

Your host for the presentation is Wheatmark’s publishing consultant, Mark Dupaul, who has spent the last 15 years as an active Audible subscriber. As a dedicated listener of audiobooks, Mark has garnered a library of […]

24 March, 2023

Designing a Book Cover

By |2023-06-09T10:47:25-07:00March 24, 2023|Authors Academy, Design, Publishing|Comments Off on Designing a Book Cover

The first thing a potential reader sees when checking out a book is the cover. So, what goes into making a book cover that’ll attract the right audience?

For next week’s Authors Academy presentation, we’ll explore the importance of the book cover and what you should think about when it comes to designing (or redesigning) one!

Join us next Wednesday at 11 AM in Arizona (11 AM PST, 2 PM EST) to learn more about:

  • Eye-catching visuals and typography for book covers
  • Capturing the genre and tone of your book in an image
  • Adding pull quotes and badges from reviewers
  • and more!

Your host for the call is Wheatmark’s publishing consultant, Tia Lewis, who has worked in editorial both in the NYC publishing scene and self-publishing scene. In addition to her publishing experience, Tia has worked as a social media marketer and video editor.

Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity — just click […]

2 May, 2019

Behind the Scenes of NYC Publishing

By |2023-06-09T10:46:59-07:00May 2, 2019|Authors Academy, News, Publishing|Comments Off on Behind the Scenes of NYC Publishing

Ever wonder what goes on behind-the-scenes in the traditional publishing industry?

Join us next Wednesday as we peel back the curtain on this exclusive world with Anne Spieth, an experienced professional from the traditional publishing arena who recently joined Wheatmark, Inc. as Publishing Consultant, and who is also the newest Senior Faculty member of the Authors Academy!

For the past 10 years, Anne has been working at two of the Big Five New York publishers: in publicity at Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Press (Macmillan), then in marketing and design for Macmillan Audio, and finally in marketing for Simon & Schuster/Atria.

Anne rejoined Macmillan’s adult Library Marketing division in 2013, where she did online marketing, book title presentations, and exhibited at major industry conferences.

During her time in NY, Anne worked with many New York Times bestselling and acclaimed authors, including Jodi Picoult, Lisa Scottoline, Louise Penny, Jenny […]

3 December, 2018

You Only Need to Get It Right Once

By |2018-11-30T14:21:43-07:00December 3, 2018|News, Publishing, Writing|Comments Off on You Only Need to Get It Right Once

I’m right in the middle of listening to The Witch Elm by my favorite contemporary mystery novelist, Tana French. So far the book is as good as I would expect, having read all six of French’s previous novels. French’s masterful use of language and deft psychological characterizations make her novels qualify as both literary and genre fiction. That’s one of the reason that I (like so many of her readers) am addicted to her writing, and read each of her novels as soon as it is released.

Out of curiosity about the author, I recently spent some time rooting around the web looking for articles by and about her. One particularly interesting one I ran across was “5 Writing Tips from Tana French,” Publishers Weekly, 2012. (I highly recommend the article to all fiction writers) In it she says that […]

9 October, 2018

Make ‘Em Laugh! Humor Is for Everyone

By |2023-06-09T11:03:53-07:00October 9, 2018|Publishing, Resources, Writing|Comments Off on Make ‘Em Laugh! Humor Is for Everyone

Guest post by Tom Cordell, author of The Bard of Withering Heights

Live, Love, Laugh! That sage advice speaks to the universal appeal of humor writing. People love to laugh, and they admire those who make them laugh. While some writers are naturally funnier than others, there are ways everyone can inject humor into their writing.

WHERE DOES HUMOR COME FROM?

In thinking about what makes people laugh, we can distinguish between humor and comedy. Comedy is anything that makes people laugh quickly – a joke or a pie in the face. Humor is more subtle. It may elicit anything from a smile to a belly laugh, but unlike comedy humor contains an element of truth about human nature. Humor springs from the foibles and eccentricities of everyday people, and it often reveals some quirk or uncomfortable truth that people hate to admit. For example:

“Hardly anybody […]

20 September, 2018

Is It Brain Surgery?

By |2023-06-09T11:04:03-07:00September 20, 2018|Publishing, Resources, Writing|Comments Off on Is It Brain Surgery?

There’s an anecdote which I’ve heard attributed to a few different famous authors, including Margaret Atwood, though I read somewhere that she says it didn’t originate with her. It goes like this:

A famous writer is at a party. She’s chatting with a brain surgeon. The brain surgeon, upon hearing who she is, gets excited, and says that when he retires he’s going become a writer. The writer quips snidely, “Oh really? When I retire, I’m going to become a brain surgeon.” The author, here, implies that writing should be left to professionals.

Here’s where I think she gets it wrong. Of course there are activities we wouldn’t ever do without years of formal training and professional licensing, like brain surgery, nuclear-reactor design, and fighter jet piloting, because lives depend on our performance. But there are also activities that many of us do as […]

21 August, 2018

Make Your Writing Easier to Follow

By |2023-06-09T11:04:14-07:00August 21, 2018|Publishing, Resources, Writing|Comments Off on Make Your Writing Easier to Follow

Guest post by Barbara McNichol, a nonfiction book editor and creator of WordTrippers Tips, a fun resource for better writing skills. www.BarbaraMcNichol.com & www.WordTrippers.com

 

Whether it’s an email, a marketing message, or a chapter in a book, are you sometimes challenged to make your writing easier for your readers to follow? How can you create a smooth flow that guides them with ease and doesn’t leave the impression it’s tedious to read?

Give these five techniques a try:

Use subheads: When you use subheads throughout your piece, readers can skim your content and quickly discern what’s intended to follow. Even more, subheads indicate a change of subject has occurred. In turn, that subhead allows readers to find the related topic quickly. Your guide: new subject, new subhead.

Convey one idea per paragraph: If you pack a paragraph with more than […]

20 August, 2018

Tell Me a Story, Friend

By |2023-06-09T10:50:13-07:00August 20, 2018|News, Publishing, Writing|Comments Off on Tell Me a Story, Friend

This Summer I had the pleasure of seeing three people, who in various ways I connect with through book publishing, tell stories from the stage at storytelling events. For years I’ve been a big fan of The Moth storytelling radio hour and similar podcasts, so it was a real delight to hear people I actually know tell stories from the stage.

The first two storytellers I saw at one of the amazing monthly shows put on by Odyssey Storytelling of Tucson. The theme for the show was Different. Terry Filipowicz, my cohort on the Book and Movie Biz Genre of the Book and Author Committee for the Tucson Festival of Books (wow, that’s a mouthful), Vice President at Great Potential Press, and Instructor at Pima Community College, and Ethel Lee-Miller (etheleemiller.com), Wheatmark author, writing editor and coach, public speaking coach, […]

23 July, 2018

Think About Book Marketing: What is Your Annual Book Buying Budget?

By |2023-06-09T11:04:35-07:00July 23, 2018|Marketing, Publishing, Resources|Comments Off on Think About Book Marketing: What is Your Annual Book Buying Budget?

Writers . . . you know yourselves, and you know the work and play of creating a manuscript. You know your characters, topics, arcs, themes, word counts, and gerunds. You are the ones wondering who your readers will be, and what you want to know is: who will be the buyers of your book?
Here’s a list of potential customers for your book-as-creative-product:

• Libraries
• Corporations that buy in bulk to distribute to employees or clients
• Parents, on behalf of their children
• People who love to read and have space in their homes for a printed book collection
• People who love donating and/or reselling their printed books
• People in the general population, one-by-one
• Friends and family
• Activists who appreciate going to lectures and meeting authors

Now, here are questions to you from the other side of your desk:

What is your annual book budget?

What do you […]

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