Posts

Showing posts from February, 2016

10 Steps to Stay Positive in the Brutal Publishing World

Image
For the month of February, I've invited various authors with current releases to share something about their writing. This week, I'd like you to meet  Bryan E. Robinson .  His book , Limestone Gumption: A Brad Pope and Sisterfriends Mystery , won the Beverly Hills Book Award for Best Mystery, the Silver IPPY Award for outstanding mystery of the year, and the Bronze Award for best mystery from Foreword Reviews’ INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards.  As in the past two posts, I met Bryan at the same mystery writers panel sponsored by my local indie bookstore.   One cruel fact of becoming a published author is that it often feels like an uphill battle because the mind’s negativity has a longer shelf life than positivity. I’ll bet you remember where you were on 9/11 but not the following week. Scientists say the brain is like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones to keep us out of harm’s way. It takes three positive thoughts to offset one negati

7 Tips to Pay It Forward As an Author

Image
For the month of February, I've invited various authors with current releases to share something about their writing. This week, I'd like you to meet Wendy Tyson , author of the Allison Campbell series and her new release, A Muddied Murder , available on March 29. I met Wendy when she appeared on a mystery writers' panel at my local indie bookstore.  Her books are awesome, and she's offered to share some tips for authors that will gain you lots of personal satisfaction and visibility. Authors are a giving bunch.   It never ceases to amaze me just how warm and welcoming suspense authors—folks seemingly preoccupied with crime—can be. I hear a lot of talk about paying it forward, and I have certainly been on the receiving end of established authors’ good will.   An author never forgets that successful writer who agrees to write a blurb for an unknown debut, or that author who offers her or his own social media platform to promote a lesser-known author’s work. I

My Books Might Just Be In Your Library

Image
For the month of February, I've invited various authors with current releases to share something about their writing. This week, I'd like you to meet David Burnsworth .  I met David in my writing critique group and love his writing!  His second book, Burning Heat, is now available and definitely worth your time.  My name is David Burnsworth. I write the Brack Pelton mystery series set in Charleston, South Carolina. And chances are, if I introduced myself to you outside of a book store but within thirty miles of my home near Spartanburg, I let you know my books were in the library. Some have asked why I mention the library along with Amazon or Barnes & Noble or the local indie bookstore.   “How does that benefit you?” they ask. “You don’t make any money that way.” And if I considered the person I was speaking to strictly as a potential “sale,” I would have to agree. I’m not against selling books. In fact, I’d like to sell a million of them. But I don’t think i