By Hallee Bridgeman Typically speaking – and every publishing house is different and contracts can vary – these are the royalties for an author with a major publisher: Hardbacks: 10%-15% Paperbacks: 8%-10% eBooks: 25% The majority of the earnings for any book goes to the publisher. Why? Because that publisher has paid for working people to acquire the manuscript, edit …
Quirky Sources to Add to Your Characterization
By DiAnn Mills I live and breathe story–most writers do. And we’re always looking for ways to ensure our characters and their predicaments are exciting and unique. Some of the places we look can be a bit . . . different. But the exploration is worth it. Here are a few areas that I’ve delved into to add idiosyncrasies to …
Why Every Author Needs a Detective
by Amber Schamel Every author needs a detective. It’s elementary, my dear Watson. Not sure you believe me? Very well, I will explain. Wednesday afternoon, a quarter past one. I was at lunch with my brother. We were casually talking while dishing out homemade spaghetti. My brother was sharing about his work and the various construction projects he was selling, …
ACFW 2016: Social Advice from an Autistic Author
by Patricia Beal Conference is thirty days away! Can you believe it? I get fired up about our yearly gathering. This will be my third ACFW conference, and I can’t wait because the seeds we plant during ACFW grow for years. Lives change. How can we not get excited about it? My first ACFW conference was in St. Louis in …
Tips to Help on Your Journey toward Publication
By Amy Clipston People often ask me what the secret is to getting published. I don’t believe there is a secret to getting published, but I do have a list of things that will help writers on their journey to publication. 1. Join a Writers’ Group I accidentally found the website for a local writers’ group while in search for …
Dress for Success and Corrie Ten Boom
By Carol Hamilton Today’s authors should be speakers, also. To become more comfortable before an audience and to allow your audience to be more at ease with you, learn to dress for success. When you stand on a stage, the crowd sees more of your feet than they may want. Women, be sure heels aren’t too spiked. They could get …
When Things Aren’t as they Seem
By Deborah Raney A few years ago, I was speaking at a MOPS group (Mothers of Preschoolers) in a small Midwestern town. As I learned to do from the wonderful speaker and writer Liz Curtis Higgs, I had picked out my “balcony people” in each quadrant of the room–those women who were nodding and smiling and giving positive feedback with …
My #1 Rule of Writing
By Tosca Lee Late one night while I was writing my second novel, Havah, I dragged myself home from a business trip–tired, bloated, grouchy, stinky… and on deadline. I had two solid days at home before my next work trip and 5,000 words to write. Why then, the next day, did I want to do nothing but pick my cuticles, …
How to WRITE About When Everything Goes WRONG
by Allie Pleiter Write What You Know, Right? Writing about the difficulties in your life sounds like a sure-fire path to emotionally compelling work, right? You know exactly how it feels, you know the gut-wrenching progression of events, and it would feel so cathartic to get it out on the page. It could be like re-writing your life at a …
Tell Me Lies: A Character Building Tip
By Hannah Conway When it comes to writing, making characters isn’t my strong suit. Sigh. The plot comes natural to me. My mind wields a storyline that I can only hope to portray with words. Yet, in order to become a better writer, to deepen and sharpen my craft, I need developed characters. Not any characters, but characters that reach …