This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending ThrillerFest, a fantastic event from International Thriller Writers (ITW). Like last year, the theme that tied together my ThrillerFest experience can be summed in three words: “Expect the unexpected.” You might assume an event put on by thriller writers would have an icy vibe. You might… Read more »
Today it is such a pleasure to host a friend and mentor Dan Blank of WeGrowMedia.com. Some time ago I interviewed Dan about his take on social media and how he helps writers manage their social media without getting overwhelmed. This topic especially resonated with me because for a long time I had a love-hate… Read more »
Every year at Book Expo America (BEA) one of my primary jobs at the show is trend-spotting, especially now that DIY MFA has begun featuring more guest content on our site. Book Expo is the main place where I connect with authors, publishers and industry professionals that we will feature over the coming year. But… Read more »
Book Expo America is the biggest book conference in the country. It’s where agents, editors, publicists and authors all gather together with readers to talk about everyone’s favorite thing—books. It almost reads like a Dr. Suess poem – old books, new books, read books, blue books. Okay. There weren’t actually any blue books. Not that… Read more »
I’ve never been to BEA. As I approach it, I keep thinking of the children in Willy Wonka, standing just inside the chocolate factory. They don’t know what wonders await them. They only know that there are wonders ahead. That the place is huge. And they’re thrilled to be there. And Willy Wonka tells them:… Read more »
We’re writers. We write because we love it, not for the money. It’s a noble sentiment but deep down I think many of us harbor the same secret dream: we want to make money writing. There’s just one little problem: most writers don’t like to think (or talk) about money. And if we won’t talk… Read more »
I first met Victoria Noe in a writer’s mastermind group and was immediately struck by her vision and drive. Viki has a specific group of people she wants to reach: people who have experienced the death of a friend. While there might be many grief books on the market, few–if any–that talk about grief from… Read more »
When I first started learning the book industry, I thought all you had to do to publish was to write a phenomenal book. At the Writer’s Digest Conference East (WDCE), I first heard about a a new publishing survey conducted by Digital Book World earlier this year. There’s a report of the results if you… Read more »
I had the pleasure of meeting Eric DelaBarre at Writer’s Digest Conference East (WDCE), where he spoke on several panels about his experience in self-publishing his middle grade novel SALTWATER TAFFY. Today he joins us as the first author in our Self-Publishing Insights Q&A Series. What I thought was especially interesting about Eric’s self-publishing experience… Read more »
At the Writer’s Digest Conference, and other events I’ve attended lately, one thing has become very clear: self-publishing is no longer synonymous with vanity publishing. In fact, self-publishing can be a sound business model for writers with a more entrepreneurial bent. There’s even some fascinating research (a Digital Book World survey) suggesting that “hybrid” authors–who… Read more »
