Clik here to view.
Exploring the Rule of Seven
Our guest today is Lisa Alber, a Hibernophile whose first novel, Kilmoon, was nominated for the Rosebud Award for best first novel. She is the recipient of an Elizabeth George Foundation writing grant...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Secrets of Trying For A Bestseller List: Interview With Greenleaf’s...
“What can I do to get my book onto a bestseller list?” If I had a dime for each time an author has asked me this question, I wouldn’t need to be a bestseller myself to be rich. Until recently though,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to Build an Audience for Your Novel
Our guest today is Fauzia Burke, the founder and president of FSB Associates, an online publicity and marketing firm specializing in creating awareness for books and authors. She’s the author of Online...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Authors Should Use Instagram
Please welcome back guests Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke who have been best friends for over twenty-five years and survived high school and college together. Together they have written The Year We...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Boost Your Writing Career by Faking Your Own Death
Warning: Hacks for Hacks tips may have harmful side effects on your writing career, and should not be used by minors, adults, writers, poets, scribes, scriveners, journalists, or anybody. You’ve tried...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Authors Out of Carolina (or Anywhere Else, for That Matter)
Photo by Nancy Anne L. Merolle via Flickr Creative Commons Please welcome Kim Wright as our guest today. Kim is the author of Last Ride to Graceland, The Canterbury Sisters, The Unexpected Waltz (all...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Are Libraries the New Bookstores?
NYC Public Library photo by Andrew E. Larsen Please welcome return guest Martha Conway! Martha’s first novel was nominated for an Edgar Award, and her novel Thieving Forest won the North American Book...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Book PR Can Have The Most Impact BEFORE You Land An Agent
The question of how important book promotion is to sales and an author’s career is the subject of continual, heated debate. On one hand, many agents these days urge their clients to hire an outside...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Free Books and What to Do With Them
image by Jerry Paffendorf The free book is a delightful and welcome creature. Even more delightful is the Advance Review Copy or ARC, also called a galley. These are, as the name suggests, advance...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why You Should Query Agents For 6 + Months Before Promoting Your...
When approached by self-published authors for help with book promotion, I used to ask a single question: “Do you have blurbs from at least two established authors?” If the answer was no, I’d suggest...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to Panel like a Pro
Warning: Hacks for Hacks tips may have harmful side effects on your writing career, and should not be used by minors, adults, writers, poets, scribes, scriveners, journalists, or anybody. Being on a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Planning Great Book Events
Happy authors, happy audience: at an Eagle Books launch earlier this year As co-director of a small press publisher, Christmas Press, and its associated imprints, Eagle Books and Second Look, November...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Creating Your Book Talk
PHOTOCREO: Michal Bednarek With my third book, The Fifth Petal, coming out tomorrow, I’ve finally put the finishing touches on my elevator pitch. I come from a marketing background, so you’d think it...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Got Galleys? What They Are and Why You Need Them
At the risk of making everybody’s eyes glaze over, today I’d like to talk a bit about one of those hands-on, practical issues that’s key to any book’s life cycle but totally unsexy: Galleys. No, this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to Sign Books Like a Big-shot Author
Let’s talk about your authorial autograph. You’re gonna sign a lot of books on your way to the bestseller list. But you can’t just sign your name like you do on personal checks and contracts, unless...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Repeat After Me: “Goodreads Is My Friend”
Please welcome guest Sonja Yoerg to Writer Unboxed today! Sonja grew up in Stowe, Vermont, where she financed her college education by waitressing at the Trapp Family Lodge. She earned her Ph.D. in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Learning to Outsource and Then Let Go
In a few weeks I’ll be leading a session with independent editor Nicola Kraus at Grub Street’s annual Muse and the Marketplace writers conference, on “Outsourcing for Writers.” When we first pitched...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Community of Debut Authors Unite to Help Each Other
by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Please welcome Kate Brandes as our guest today! An environmental scientist with over 20 years of experience, Kate is also a watercolor painter and a writer of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Should You Have More Than One Bio? YES. Here’s Why…
Sometimes the shortest things can unexpectedly be the hardest to write. And that’s the case with author biographies, or bios for short. Bios aren’t like CVs. They’re not as formal. They are more like...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to Prepare for a TED-style Author Talk in Less Than 10 days
Photo by Tormod Ulsberg, Flickr’s CC Please welcome Deanna Cabinian as our guest today. Deanna is a marketing director who lives in the Midwest, but dreams of living by the ocean. When she isn’t...
View Article