The Realms of a Fantastical Mind

We need our computer, some paper and pens, or some nifty software so that we can organize the craziness of our books. With all these things, our greatest tools may be overlooked. What are they you ask... go ahead ask. I'll tell you what they are (IMHO) Critique partners, Beta readers, and Editors. Yes, your greatest tools as a writer are those people who take time out of their lives to hack and slash your baby into little red filled pages of suffering.  They are the reason we writers need to have thicker skin than a killer whale. They are also the reason why the successful author's books get read, and read and read over again. It's common knowledge that as a writer we get so involved with our babies, so much care taken to make every word choice perfect, that we don't see the blaring black holes in our plot, or the grossly overused metaphor that needs to go. We need those extra set of eyes to point out the flaws. So what is the difference between ...

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Publishing by Terri Bruce Part 5  Here's the final installment of the 5 part series.  I hope you enjoyed our look into indie publishing and Eternal Press.  If you haven't already, make sure to stop by Dean C Rich's page The Write Time for the first half of the interview.  If you just started here, looking for the Blog Ring of Power  interviews  check back to the beginning of the week for more .  To find each link and read the entire two pronged 5 part series start with Dean C. Rich's blog The Write Time Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Then head over to my blog and start with  Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 and lastly stop by here.  Thanks so much for reading this information packed series on Publishing. We will start on a recap of what Terri had to say on Part 1.  I am thrilled to be here today to talk about navigating the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of publishing. Many, man...

We've been talking about Eternal Press and the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Publishing with Terri Bruce. Eternal Press had a questionable P&E rating, and Terri had answered as to why she still went with them. To read that first click here . Join us on Dean C. Rich's blog The Write Time for more on Terri's thoughts.   Okay, but what about predatory practices such as charging "kill fees," not paying advances, and paying royalties on "net sales"? Publishing is a funny business. A small press that doesn’t pay an advance is labeled as predatory while an entity like Random House, which is currently involved in litigation centered on its claims that older publishing contracts, written before the advent of e-books, include the right to publish e-books of those works (without additional compensation to the authors), is not. Some things that have been labeled as “predatory” practices simply are things that vary from the large press way of doing t...

This is part 3 of the 5 part series with Terri Bruce: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly of Publishing Be sure to check out Dean C. Rich's blog The Write Time for more on this by Terri Bruce Why did you choose to work with Eternal Press despite their P&E rating? Several things stood out to me when I researched Eternal Press—the first was that anything negative said about them on various sites was said more than two years ago (they have since changed ownership), there was an equal number of people defending them, and all of their authors that I spoke to (and I spoke to quite a few) had only good things to say about EP—the publication process (including the dreaded cover art process) had been smooth/trouble free, they were happy with the quality of their final product, they got their royalty checks on time, and were thrilled with the amount of ongoing marketing and distribution support they got. When I received the offer, I had the opportunity to speak with the CEO an...

Contest! Today, in honor of my friendship with T.W. Fendly I'm doing a contest. The prize... Zero Time e-book by, yup you guessed it, T.W. Fendly.  Awesomeness! Ok let's get down to the nitty-gritty. Because this is a celebration of the friendships gained online the contest will be all about making connections. The more points you earn, the more likely you'll be able to win, and gain more friends yourself. Here's how you earn points. +1 leave a comment with comment let me know that you have... +1 followed this blog , if you have your own, leave the link so I can do the same for you. +1 followed me on Twitter , leave your twitter name so I can follow you back +2 put my link on your page so that we can share friends. Don't forget to leave a link from your page so I can do the same. +2 Tweet this contest and include #ZeroTime2012 #makingFriends Let's share the love. + 3 Followed T.W. Fendly on her blog. Make sure to check out her bl...