Aspiring Writers and Authors

I'm pretty sure that independentlypublishedbooks aren't considered for Nobel Prizes . They're not considered for many prizes. They're not accepted for reviews by most large, mainstream reviewers such as the NY Times or Kirkus. So how the heck does an Indie get noticed? I get asked this by a lot of indies, so I've composed a list of some of the moresuccessful& interesting ways I've tried to get attention. 1. Internet Post-It Notes, aka: Cheezburgers Otherwise known as socialnetworking. You know, blogs. This is probably the best way to spread Word of Mouth Marketing (which happens to be my favoriteacronym: WOMM). I ping blog ... Read Full Story

This is the fourth post on the blog tour that I set up to begin on December 1st to give me the opportunity to reach new readers and to talk about this wonderful book. If you are following the tour, thank you for your support! If you missed the start of the book tour, please check out the three blogs for December1st-3rd listed at the end of this post. Forever Friends is now available to buy on all the major online bookstores. See the links below to amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. If you order a copy for yourself or for your friends and family, I ... Read Full Story

Bonanza was our favorite television show in the early 1960s, and my sister and I decided to write a letter to the local TV station to ask for a photo of the Cartwrights–Ben, Hoss, Adam, and Little Joe. I don’t remember whether Kayo (age 10) or I (age 12) came up with the idea, but I do remember that I wrote the letter and requested in it that the price be about fifty cents, which was all we could afford. We were thrilled to receive the following letter on National Broadcasting Company letterhead stationery: Dear Diane: Your letter addressed to Station KSOO-TV has reached ... Read Full Story

Many first-time authors, who feel their work doesn't receive the attention it deserves, often take rejection badly. Rejection is a big part of publishing, simply because so many submissions do not meet the guidelines laid down by different publishers. Although it may take time, it is worth finding out each individual publisher's requirements for correct manuscript format.  There is a wealth of information on the Internet to help aspiring writers and authors. Elizabeth Lucas-Taylor has written an informative and helpful blog explaining why manuscripts are rejected: http://blog.myspace.com/in dex.cfm?fuseaction=blog.vi ew&friendID=177022867&blog ID=279735682 . Read Full Story

While I’m on the topic of the cartoons of Ruben Bolling, which I usually enjoy, here’s one where he misses by a mile. For the Village Voice he recently did this strip, which purports to be “Toy Story 3,” but written by Cormac McCarthy. While Bolling does get McCarthy right a couple of times, as with Woody’s line “I aim to,” for the most part he’s clueless about what distinguishes McCarthy. The abundant presence of commas is an immediate tipoff. McCarthy largely ellides them. Because he doesn’t use them he must find other ways to write sentences for clarity and it is this which ... Read Full Story