I'm leaving this post up for one more day, to be sure everyone sees it. Labor Day is probably not the best time for a major announcement.  No, what you see above is NOT a giant petri dish containing a biology experiment gone wrong. If you look closely, you'll see that it is actually a "mind map" of the sections I plan to include in an up-coming publication about how to write and self-publish a historical novel. Long-time readers of this blog will recognize sections taken from these pages. Newer readers will find here a chance to catch up on what you've missed. I'm in the process of putting the book together and filling in the gaps, but it's far enough along that I can feel confident about being able to pull this off by the end of the year. The tentative title is "The Second Mouse Gets the Cheese: Cracker Crumb Trails through the Thickets of Self-Publishing". The theme of the book is an illustration of that old saying, "The Early Bird Gets the Worm (but the Second Mouse Gets the Cheese." Today anyone can slap a book together and get it listed on Amazon (that's the worm!), but it takes a whole lot of hard work and tough experience to produce a book that actually sells well, gets good reviews, and wins faithful readers (that's the cheese!) This guide will give you some ideas on how to do just that. I'm open to suggestions about what you'd like to have me include. This is the time to ask your questions and actually get them answered. So take the time to leave your comments and suggestions below. You'll be helping me, as well as all those other aspiring authors out there. No questions, so far, so here are some points I'm wondering about. Do you want more grammar tips? ("Commas" were surprisingly popular when I posted about them.) Or punctuation? What about software reviews? More discussion of historical thinking and how to do research? More emphasis on the stuff of fiction -- plot, scene, characterization, and point of view? Tips on marketing? More defense of self-publication and electronic editions? You are my best potential readers. I want to give you a handbook you can use. So how can I help? |
