Getting a book into the world is its own craft, separate from writing it. These articles cover how publishing really works: what traditional publishers look for, how book deals get made, what a proposal has to prove, and when self publishing or a sponsorship model serves the author better. Written from real experience placing books and guiding authors through the decision.
Amazon & KDPAmazon renamed Kindle Unlimited to Kindle+ and added audiobooks, with AI-narrated Virtual Voice titles in automatically. Listening is paid by the page from the same fund as reading.
AIThe UK's Society of Authors helped write a charter asking for consent, licensing, payment and transparency in AI use. After member backlash, its leadership said no use of generative AI can ever be ethical and pulled out eight days later.
AIPublishers can now pay to stamp a human-written mark on their books. Readers want a good read, the writers and artists who care are the ones paying, and a label that ends up on everything will mean as little as…
Copyright InfringementCopyright is automatic the moment you write your book, but in the United States you can't sue a thief until the Copyright Office registers it. When to register, how to file, and why the WGA Registry, the poor man's copyright…
PublishingMemoirs from writers who aren't famous rarely sell to traditional publishers right now. Self-publishing gives you complete freedom and hands you every job in the process. Here's how to weigh it, hire help without getting scammed, and decide whether you…
DecemberEmily Dickinson wrote nearly 1,800 poems and let ten of them into print, most without her name. Her first editors smoothed out the dashes and capitals to make her sell, and it took until 1955 for readers to see the…
Children's BooksHarry Potter and J.K. Rowling share a July 31 birthday. The first book was turned down by publisher after publisher, launched with 500 hardbacks, and went on to sell more than 600 million copies. The story behind it is a…
Ghostwriter EthicsInternational Translation Day falls on September 30, the feast of St. Jerome. Translators write every sentence a foreign reader sees and rarely get their names on the cover, which makes them the closest cousins a ghostwriter has.
Fiction WritingHilary Layne of The Second Story argues that explicit sex is dragging fiction down. Part of the case holds up: sex is optional, motion-by-motion scenes rarely earn their length, and a market that sells on heat lets the story slide.
Amazon & KDPAmazon is fighting bots that scrape its reviews, and real shoppers are getting caught: a handful of reviews, no one-star sort, and a days-long wait for access. Here's what that means for authors and their ARC readers.
Book DesignA short book isn't a sad book. A novella of about 21,000 words prints to roughly 80 to 100 pages, and a paperback earns its keep at signings, in local shops and as a gift. Here's how to format, size…
LegalA publisher offers a modest advance for worldwide, lifetime rights to books you already self-published. The advance is probably all you'll ever see, and getting the rights back can take 35 years. Here's when it makes sense, and what to…
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