As reported today in the Wall Street Journal, Thomas Nelson, a major independent Christian publisher, is adding a self-publishing line to its business.

Sharon Lee and Steve Miller have sold the entire backlisted Liaden Universe(R) novels — ten in all — to Toni Weisskopf at Baen Books.  The deal was made by their agent, Jennifer Jackson, of the Donald A. Maass Literary Agency.  The ten titles will be released as four omnibus editions, starting in June 2010, to […]

As I close in on the end of my current writing project, the issue of self-promotion is much on my mind. I don’t mind admitting that it’s a prospect I contemplate with dread. I’m one of those I-just-want-to-sit-in-my-room-with-my-laptop writers who really is not constitutionally suited for a world in which the definition of “author” also includes “huckster” (or, if you want to be a bit more diplomatic about it, “entrepreneur”).

Agent Janet Reid has a list of questions to ask a prospective agent. SFWA’s newest Active member, Marie-Claude Bourque. Cory Doctorow Talks About the Future of the Novel. Fiction by SFWA member Kij Johnson. Happy Book Release day to Gail Carriger. Alethea Kontis sold a short story to Shroud Publishing. Laura Anne Gilman sold audio rights to Flesh and Fire to Tantor Audiobooks. Blog Talk Radio interviewed Brandon Sanderson….

Imagine you’re a new writer. You’ve just completed your first manuscript, and are on fire to get it published. You don’t know a lot about the publishing world, or how to identify a good publisher for your book–but that’s okay. You have the Internet. So you open a search engine–Google, let’s say–and type “publishers” into […]

How do I make a nomination for the Nebulas? SFWA Active and Associate Members may nominate eligible works for the Nebula Awards. Full Nebula Award rules can be found here. The official nomination period will remain open for at least six weeks, beginning no later than December 15th and extending though at least January 31st of the following year. The […]

You’ve probably heard about the importance of developing a writer’s platform. Before you start thinking about your writer’s platform, consider what your overall online reputation is first.

Barbara Bova, literary agent and wife of Dr. Ben Bova, passed away Wednesday in Naples FL. Mrs. Bova had been fighting cancer.

We’ve punctured a number of writers’ myths on this blog, including the notion that commercially-published writers must give back their advances if their books don’t earn out, the fear that agents and editors will blacklist writers who displease them, the conviction that “just getting it out there” (via self-publishing, for instance) is enough to jump-start […]

Do you need to have you own website? It depends on what you want to use the website for. Having an online presence may or may not translate to your desired action, in part because your presence really is about “you” as a person rather than “you” the author. With today’s technology, the two are not mutually exclusive.