Category: For the Writers
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An Awesome Tool for Authors to Build Email Lists, Readers to Get Free Books!
Happy Saturday fellow readers and indie authors! I recently found an awesome new (affordable) tool to help build my email list as an author. It’s also fantastic for readers who want to get free books from new authors in exchange for reviews. And no — it’s not NetGalley. The name of the tool is Voracious…
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Yes, You Have to Price Your Books Low if You Want People to Buy Them
You dedicated two years to working on your first novel (here’s mine!). Spent several hundred dollars (or even a couple thousand) on editors and designers. And now that you’re ready to publish, you’re being told to price your book LOW? Screw that, right? I’m Here to Tell You that Low Prices = Higher Readership I…
Shari Lopatin
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Why Indie Authors Have to Stick Together
I’ve heard self-publishing “experts” say time and time again that no big difference exists between an author going the traditional route or the indie route. Ahem — I beg to differ. Therefore, here are the reasons why us indie authors have to stick together: 1) We have to pay for EVERYTHING. Editors, designers, copyright filing,…
Shari Lopatin
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What it’s Like to Be 2 Millennia Old?
The following is a guest post from a mysterious writer. You must read until the end to discover the secretive recluse … Everyone has their secrets. Mine is more complicated than most. Sure, I look like a perky twenty-four-year-old with resting bitchy face, but you’d be wrong. At least about the twenty-four-year-old part. I’m actually…
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The Great Goodreads Confession of 2018 (from a Goodreads Author, Nonetheless)
Let me make a confession: technically, I’ve been a Goodreads member since 2008 or 2009. But I lost my username, password, and old email address. And I couldn’t get back in (can we say “BUMMER?”). I know, I know. For someone who wrote a science fiction dystopia about the future repercussions of a society that’s…
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From Journalist to Horror, Author John Coon Gets Real on His Journey
I am so excited to have new author and veteran journalist, John Coon, on my blog today! John agreed to an interview about his debut horror novel, Pandora Reborn (which frankly, looks crazy scary, so you should check it out). So, without further ado … SHARI: You’re a fellow journalist! I always love connecting with other…
Shari Lopatin
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How to Deal with Criticism After Publishing Your Book
No matter how you slice it, reading criticism of your beloved book is hard. Especially when it’s your first book, and a critique can feel like a personal assault on your child. I get it. As I prepared to read the first public reviews of my debut novel, The Apollo Illusion, I mentally put up…
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Up to 40 Rejections, and Counting
I’m officially baptized into the world of creative writing. I’ve been rejected by 40 literary agents … and the number keeps climbing. Is it frustrating? Yes. Is it angering. Definitely. Am I giving up? HELL NO. Why? Because I’m a writer, dammit. And writers get rejected over and over and over and over and over…
Shari Lopatin
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Do You Need a Proofreader or Copyeditor?
What’s the difference between a proofreader and copyeditor? You’ve heard the terms, but which do you need? I’ll admit, it can be quite confusing. And depending on your project, you may need both (gasp!). The Proofreaders These are the guys with the eagle eyes. The ones who will catch the missed periods or the typos…
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3 Lessons from My Year Without Blogging
I’ve been back to blogging for a few months now, but before that, I stepped away from the blogging world for a year to finish my novel. When I re-launched Rogue Writer, one of my longtime blogging buddies, Nina Badzin, commented, “I would love to see a post on how it felt to step away and…