AuthorPlanet

A sweet spot between traditional and self-publishing

Don’t Write for Free. Do Write for Free.

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Man, it’s a confusing time to be a writer.

Book marketing experts say: “Give away content for free! Blog, tweet, pin, comment, contribute, give away your whole ebook, draft white papers. Do this to get attention, create relationships, join communities, build platforms, gain credibility…”

Gatekeepers say free content is destroying the world. Free content is unedited and unscreened. Writers can’t earn a living if they’re competing against others offering similar work for free. Untrustworthy [Read more…]

Emailed Queries-Bad for Authors

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self addressed stamped envelopeJust read a marvelous essay on writer psychology and snail-mailed rejections by Nick Ripatrazone in The Millions. Here’s a snippet and link:

“Miss You, SASE: On Postal Submissions

By  posted at 6:00 am on February 25, 2014 1

Ripatrazone’s article focuses primarily on submissions to literary magazines, but it brought to mind a thought that’s been hovering around back there for years: emailed queries hurt everyone but the environment. (I wonder if there’s an offset between the paper saved and electricity wasted?)

What we lost when we lost snail mailed queries: [Read more…]

Quick Question*
Should I Hire an Editor Before I Submit to Agents?

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publishing questionsFive years ago I rarely encountered anyone who paid to get his work edited before submitting to agents and publishers. Now just about every writer I run into at conferences talks about “my writing coach” or “my editor.”

At the 2014 San Francisco Writers Conference last month I heard a very jarring question. The New York editors panel was asked: “Will traditional publishers insist on editing my book?” There’s so much wrong with that question, and this whole situation, it’s kind of hard to know where to start.

What bothers me is what’s behind these questions: a deep [Read more…]

What Is a Quick Question?

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At Author Planet®, we offer free answers to your straightforward publishing-related questions. Send us a question we can answer in around 50 words. (We often write more than 50 words, but it’s a place to start.) When you send us your question, you’re giving us permission to run it on our website and blog, and in other promotional materials if we feel the exchange may be of interest to others (we’ll remove your identifying information). Some examples of quick questions:

  • “Hi! What do you think of the first line of my query letter?”
  • “Two agents asked to see my manuscript on the SAME DAY! What should I do?”
  • “Do you know any great book cover designers personally?”
  • “Hi there! What’s the difference between ‘counsel’ and ‘council’?
  • “Dear Author Planet, should I submit to agents who aren’t in the AAR?”

Ask away!