Wednesday was one of those days. I had a comprehensive copyedit of a 120,000-plus-word novel due by 8:00 p.m. With evening prayer meeting scheduled, I knew I had even less time than usual. By 3:00 p.m., I was doing a reread of the last fifty pages on my Kindle, just double-checking my work. By suppertime at 5:15, I was still at it—and feeling pressured and getting hot and bothered. Ask my family. I literally devoured my wife’s wonderful salmon pie, flew upstairs to get dressed for church, and dashed back to my basement office to wrap up the last few details and e-mail the file . . . just ten minutes before we had to leave for church. And on top of that, I was in charge of leading worship. Gasp! Quality Suffers Yes, I met my deadline. Barely. But by cutting it so close, I wasn’t a happy camper. Why?…
Read moreIs It Time to Self-Publish?
Keep in mind that I’m simply asking the question. This is no overt message to my readers or anyone else that I’m leaving traditional publishing. However, lately I’m seeing more and more signals that traditional publishing is becoming even narrower and less author friendly than it ever was before. Why do I say this? Literary agent Steve Laube recently posted about massive changes at B&H Publishing, home of Brandilyn Collins, Alton Gansky, Robin Carroll, and other fine Christian suspense novelists. What are the changes? One listed item made my stomach drop: Novels scheduled for release through March/April 2014 will continue as planned. But all novels contracted thereafter have been cancelled. Authors may keep advance monies prepaid and rights to those books will revert, but all future contracted advances will not be paid. (http://stevelaube.com/changes-at-bh-fiction/) Oh, that’s bad, my friends. Can you imagine slaving away for several years and finally getting a…
Read moreKindle: A Writer’s Secret Weapon
Oops. I guess it’s not so secret anymore, is it? But I couldn’t help writing a piece about a whole new way of novel writing/editing. An out-of-the-box approach, if you will. And it all started when I purchased my Kindle Touch in the fall of 2011. (Note: Everything I share here will work with the newer Paperwhite and Kindle Fire—really, any of the models that feature a touch screen.) Anybody who knows me well knows that I love my Kindle. At first, of course, I loved it only for reading books, mostly novels. But soon I realized it’s features were especially helpful in other realms. Some may not know that my day job is book editing. Some days I literally sit at my desk for eight to ten hours. Literally. Yes, I do take standing breaks, but I can’t always avoid the occasional back or neck ache. Well, one day I got a…
Read moreWhat Novelists Can Learn from a Coffeemaker
About a month ago, our wonderful, faithful Gevalia coffeepot died. What a shame! Since my wife and I have become rather . . . um, dependent on our daily intake of the coffee bean (hey, it is in the vegetable or fruit family), I zipped out to Walmart for another coffeepot. I figured Mr. Coffee was a decent brand, and the model I grabbed was the right price. What a mistake! Two weeks later, I turned it on one morning between pages of a hectic edits—and nada. There wasn’t a sign of life other than a taunting green light that smirked at me as if some wise guy were playing a joke. Thankfully, Walmart took the coffeepot back, and I decided not to waste a nickel on another Mr. Coffee that might just croak again in two weeks. So this time we’re trying a Black & Decker for the same…
Read more