Tag Archives: Publishing

Author Feature

Author Feature: JC Colarusso Shares Her Self-Publishing Path

From time to time, Archway Publishing turns over its blog to its authors, giving them the opportunity to share stories and perspectives about their individual self-publishing journeys. The following are the words of JC Colarusso, author of “Short Tales of a Long Doggie.” Check out our free publishing guide for more information on Archway’s supported self-publishing services.

My advice:9781480816435_COVER.indd

Follow your passion!  If there is one formula I would recommend for writing, or in life, it would be that. I have always wanted to write a book.  I
have written about personal experiences, I have tried to write total fiction, but when it came right down to completing a writing project from start to finish, it was when I followed my passion.

About Passion:

I have always loved animals.  I grew up in rural Saskatchewan, where most of our animals were sadly considered as part of our next meal. I like to think that I was always able to recognize the beauty and the awareness of these animals, whether it was a chicken, or a cow or a deer.   It wasn’t until I moved to the city and saw the waste of these little, perfect spirits due to neglect or abuse, that I realized I needed to do something to help them.  But rescue work is very difficult, and the outcome often heartbreaking.  I found that the most productive thing I could do, and hopefully do well, was to write to young minds and help them understand this concept of mutual respect.   Buddy, my wonderful little dog was going to help me do that!

Buddy the dachshund was my “once in a lifetime” dog.   Determined, funny and independent, as dachshunds are bred to be, he spent his 13 years teaching me a myriad of life lessons.

Colarusso's advice to aspiring authors: "Follow your passion! If there is one formula I would recommend for writing, or in life, it would be that."

Colarusso’s advice to aspiring authors: “Follow your passion! If there is one formula I would recommend for writing, or in life, it would be that.”

My Target Audience:

Children respond to dachshunds because they are short in stature and comical in nature- truly endearing. Today children are pushed to be active, and are kept very busy from the time they are very young.  I like to think that reading develops their mind in a whole different way than playing computer games.  Reading with your child, interacting and talking about the book is important and necessary.  Computers are great but there is a lack of human interaction that concerns me.

The other issue is that we have become a disposable society.  And pets have become increasingly disposable.  I wonder when families get rid of a pet for whatever reason, it sends a sad and fearsome message to a child who wonders if they could be disposable as well.

My Team:

Although I felt I had good instinct, if I wanted this book to become a reality I needed help. As a full time working person, the amount of time I could dedicate to this project was limited.  That was when I found Archway Publishing.  They helped me fill in the gaps with what I needed to know in order to produce a quality product.  They had experts who guided me along the way, and encouraged me every time I was ready to give up.

The Result:

Everything about this book is upbeat.  The character is always happy, and always ready for each new adventure.  He loves his life and where he lives and everything around him.  The graphics are bright and cheerful, and the location is a sunny, happy place called Florida. This is a truly endearing book, written with love.  How could it not be successful?

– AWP –

Archway Publishing is always looking for content for its blog. If you’re an Archway Publishing author and would like to share an idea for a guest blog post, please tweet us @ArchwayPub or send us a message through our Facebook page – www.facebook.com/ArchwayPublishing

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Publishing Expert Tips

Keith Ogorek: Tips for Working with a Ghostwriter

Let’s say you have an idea for the next great American novel. Or your life story would make a compelling read that the American public shouldn’t be deprived of any longer.

Let’s also say you can’t write a lick. Your participles perilously dangle. Your subject-verb agreement makes Congress look harmonious. And your grammar…well, it ain’t got nothing to brag about neither.dark typewriter

Does that mean that your story should remain in your head, away from adoring readers? Not necessarily. Employing a ghostwriter might be your best move. Ghostwriters help countless storytellers make their books reality every year. The only caveat, the services of these talented scribes don’t come cheap.

If you’ve decided to make the investment in a ghostwriter, it goes without saying that gaining an understanding of the best approach for working with one would be prudent. Keith Ogorek of the Indie Book Writers blog interviewed a professional ghostwriter recently and shared some pointers for making the most of these literary alliances. Below is a link to Ogorek’s May 2 post on this topic.

Keith Ogorek: “3 Helpful Tips on How to Work with a Ghostwriter” >>

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Publishing Expert Tips

A Pre-Publishing Checklist

You’ve finished your book – congratulations! You’ve likely focused most of your efforts on the book block itself paying careful aChecklistttention to the plot of your novel, or focus of your non-fiction work. You’ve edited, re-edited or enlisted the help of a professional editor to ensure that the text flow. But before you hit submit, it’s important that you review some of the less prominent, but equally important parts of your work.

Below is a checklist developed by the Archway Publishing team of those other aspects of your work that you should review before submitting for publication.  Some of these may not fit your book, but it’s still good to take a look.

FRONT MATTER- all material in a book that precedes the text proper, as the title page, copyright page, table of contents, dedication, and preface.

  • Half Title Page- a page carrying nothing but the title of a book— as opposed to the title page, which also lists subtitle, author, publisher and similar data.
  • Title Page– the page at the beginning of a volume that indicates the title, author’s or editor’s name, and the publication information, usually the publisher and the place and date of publication
  • Copyright Page- the page in a book containing information about the current edition, usually on the back of the title page. It often contains a copyright notice, legal notices, publication information, printing history, cataloguing information from a national library, and an ISBN that uniquely identifies the work.
  • Frontispiece- a page displaying an illustration at the front of the book.
  • Endorsements Page- these may also go on the cover
  • Dedication- an expression of friendly connection or thank by the author towards another person.
  • Epigraph- a phrase, quotation, or poem that may serve as a preface, as a summary, as a counter-example, or to link the work to a wider literary canon.
  • Table of Contents- a list of the parts of a book or document organized in the order in which the parts appear
  • List of illustrations or maps.
  • List of Tables.
  • Foreword- a short piece of writing typically written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between the writer of the foreword and the book’s primary author or the story the book tells.
  • Preface- an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work’s author.
  • Acknowledgments- an expression of gratitude for assistance in creating a literary or artistic work.

Another valuable resource to review before submitting your manuscript for publication is the Archway Publishing FAQ page. It contains tips and definitions to commonly-used publishing terms.

Best of luck as you begin one of the most fulfilling adventures of your life –your publishing journey!

-AWP-

 

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Publishing Expert Tips

Choosing a Book Title

WEDS. WISDOM FROM THE ARCHWAY PUBLISHING TEAM

Think of choosing a book title like creating an elevator speech. It’s a brief pitch to customers about the value of your book.

Sometimes choosing a book title is easy.  Some authors know the perfect title for their work before they even start writing their books.  Others spend years and years poring over their novel or documenting their carefully-compiled research only to reach the end have no idea what to name their literary offspring.  It may seem like choosing the perfect title is the easiest part of the writing and publishing process. Turns out that’s not always true.

As a team who’s collectively worked on thousands of self-published titles, we’ve seen all kinds of title for all types of books. There are those that the author has over thought. Those that don’t focus on their audience. Those that are just too indecisive.

If you’ve had an idea from the beginning of the work, use it!  Don’t over-think it!  Use the title was in your mind before you began the writing process, the title you’ve been thinking about has been a driving force throughout the entire process.  Or take the key topics from your book and transform it for a working title to the final title.  Make sure it is clear and concise.

Would “War and Peace” have reached the legendary literary status with the title “War, What Is It Good For?”

Seinfeld-driven levity aside, the title is the first piece of building your book’stypewriter platform.  Consider:

  • Does your title help increase the brand that you are trying to create with your book?
  • When people hear the title, does it stick with them?
  • What keywords would someone search for in order to find your book?
  • Is the title clear and concise or would it confuse potential readers?
  • Is the title too long and “clunky” or  is it catchy and relevant to your audience?
  • Is your title unique?

Still can’t decide on a title? Why not ask your potential readers?

Sometimes self-published authors take to social media posting their ideas on Twitter or Facebook, asking their audience for feedback.  We’ve seen this method work for a number of Archway Publishing authors, after all, who knows what your target audience wants to hear more?  It’s a quick easy way to do market research.

Need more guidance? Keith Ogorek offers up seven things authors need to consider when choosing a book title on the Indie Book Writers blog. Whatever path you take; do your book justice and give careful consideration to finalizing your book’s title. After all “War What is it Good For?” might have sunk Tolstoy’s career…

-AWP-

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Source: Lisa Genova Author Facebook page
Author Feature

“Still Alice”: From Self-Published to Silver Screen

“Still Alice” author Lisa Genova is living a dream. The night before the 87th Academy Awards, she posted a picture on her Facebook page all smiles, standing next to an ebullient Julianne Moore at a party hosted by Sony Entertainment. It’s an unusual setting for a Harvard-educated neuroscientist, to be sure, but perhaps an equally unlikely place to find a self-published author.

Long before Hollywood parties, celebrity meet and greets or a seat at the Academy Awards; Genova queried publishing’s gatekeepers, seeking a publisher for her novel, “Still Alice.” Agents and publishers alike told the unknown author the audience for a book about Alzheimer’s disease was too small. One agent even cautioned Genova that self-publishing her story would “kill her career.”

Despite that warning, Genova took the plunge and the book in 2007.

Fueled by her dedication to researching dementia and other neurological disorders, Genova tirelessly spread the word about her newly self-published work. Her diligence, and a little bit of luck, resulted in hitting the jackpot: a review in one of America’s top newspapers – The Boston Globe.

Beverley Beckham’s expectations for “Still Alice” were meager, but Alice’s story captured her: “It had arrived in the mail a week before; I’d promised to take a look and that’s all I was doing – just looking–but I couldn’t put it down,” Beckham wrote in her May 16, 2008 review for the Globe. Beckham led her piece with a ringing endorsement: “After I read ‘Still Alice’ I wanted to stand up and tell a train full of strangers, ‘You have to get this book.’

Fast forward to early 2009 – shortly after Beckham’s piece – a literary agent took another look and agreed to shop the novel and several publishers expressed interest. Simon & Schuster, owner of Archway Publishing, came to terms with Genova to acquire “Still Alice,” and to rerelease it through its Pocket Books imprint. Upon its 2009 rerelease, the book debuted high on the New York Times Bestseller List, where it would stay for more than 40 weeks.

In the ensuing years, Genova’s released two more bestsellers: “Left Neglected” and “Love Anthony,” becoming to novels about neurological disorders what John Grisham’s become to legal thrillers. The rise of Lisa Genova and “Still Alice” from self-publishing to silver screen feature film is not typical. Luck was part of the winning equation, but Genova did so much more to advance her book.

  • She wrote about a specific topic about which she had vast knowledge and a deep personal passion.
  • Despite warnings that her book’s appeal was too narrow, she developed and filled previously unrealized niche.
  • She believed in her work, ignored negativity, and took the self-publishing plunge rather than letting her manuscript gather dust on the shelf.
  • She was relentless. She networked, she spread the word. She convinced a reviewer from a prestigious outlet to glance at her book.

First and foremost though, Genova wrote an exceptional book; a book that is bringing attention and changing perceptions about a devastating condition.

And anyone who reads it will never, ever forget Alice.

– AWP –

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Publishing

The Resale of eBooks

By Kevin A. Gray
Archway Publishing

Should the purchase of a used paperback at a garage sale be a crime? Are libraries breaking the law by allowing patrons to borrow movies on DVD? When you lend a CD to your neighbor, should you face arrest?

Of course not – these are preposterous questions.

But, is there a difference between the lending and resale of tangible items like print books, DVDs and albums; and the resale of eBooks and other digital content? This is a question that is drawing a lot of attention across publishing and should be of keen interest to self-published authors, who unlike traditionally-published authors, depend exclusively on royalties from sales of their works.

In a recent Bloomberg News article, reporter Joshua Bruestein addresses the murkiness of this issue. Bruestein reports that the courts are currently looking at the question and that Congress may take on the issue of whether or not to expand the law that allows for the sales of used print books, videos and albums.

From Bruestein’s article: “The question centers on a part of copyright law known as the first-sale doctrine, an early 20th century provision that prevents rights holders from seeking to stop the sale, trade, or lending of legally acquired property. You can thank first sale for making it legal to run a used record store, found a public library, or lend a DVD to a friend.”

Currently, libraries lend eBooks to patrons for a set period of time. When the borrowing period expires, the digital book disappears from the borrower’s device – the digital equivalent to returning a print book to the library.

One argument made in favor of expanding the first sale doctrine to cover digital content is that sellers will likely use the proceeds earned from selling unwanted content to purchase new original digital content. However, as Bruestein’s piece points out, digital content has an infinite lifespan as it does not physically deteriorate like a book or video might through repeated use.

What are your thoughts on legalizing the secondhand sales of eBooks and digital content?

-AWP-

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