Archive for the ‘The SFWA Blog’ Category

Guest Post: Advice on Writing Mentors

One of the things that sometimes comes up when talking to new writers is the question, “How do I acquire mentor?” There’s a glazed and desperate look in the eyes of each querier, and sometimes a bit of professional jealousy, because occasionally we see people in positions where we’re not convinced they really should be…

Fake Jared And His Friends: Author Solutions’ Misleading PR Strategies

In my recent blog post on Pearson’s acquisition of self-publishing giant Author Solutions Inc., I posed several questions that I hope Pearson will consider as it integrates ASI with Penguin Group. One of these was whether ASI will start being more transparent in its advertising and PR. I’d like to go a little bit more into detail on what I mean.

Vanity, Vanity: Turning The Label Around

A prominent literary agent recently told me that unless an author receives a hefty advance of $100,000 or more most publishers will do virtually no promotion, leaving it to authors to create and exploit their own platforms via social media and networking connections, workshops and webcasts.

In Memoriam: Josepha Sherman

Author Josepha Sherman (b.1946) died on August 23 following a year of deteriorating health. Sherman began publishing in 1986 with a “Find Your Fate” adventure book and the novel Golden Girl and the Crystal of Doom.

Spec-Fic and Podcasting: Earbuds vs. Books, Part 1

The emergence of the iPod has revolutionized the way our culture consumes media; music, videos, apps, and even literature, specifically in the form of audio fiction. Both long and short form audio fiction have thousands of avid listeners who take advantage of commutes, gym sessions, walks, etc., to catch up on their ‘reading.’