Do you know the hardest thing for independently published authors to accomplish?GETTING THEIR BOOKS ON SHELVES IN ACTUAL BRICK AND MORTAR BOOK STORES!I still have folks call or email me asking why they can't find my books on the shelves at their loca...

Paranormal and Fantasy Romance and even non-romantic Paranormal and Fantasy fiction have been my mainstays for most my life - both reading and writing.Aside from venturing from time to time into Historical Fiction (if it's got a Tudor, a Yorkist, or...

Congrats, Authors, if you are at this final stage of getting your book baby to publication (or to the querying agents stage).Your manuscript has reached the final relay station before completion. Give yourselves (and your beta readers, your arc reade...

Fairy tale retellings are trending in the book publishing industry, but trust me when I say these fairy tales are not for the kiddos. No, these are far from the Disney stereotypes. Most retellings are now beyond PG-13 rated to R rated and (I dare say...

The last couple of weeks, we've discussed the beginning stages of book editing: Manuscript Evaluation and Developmental EditingOnce you've completed developmental edits, you are 75% of the way to the finish line! Congrats!But now, your book baby need...

Authors at some point in their author journeys discover a basic truth... They need an editor, preferably a good editor. What they sometimes do not realize is what level of editing their manuscript truly needs.Last week, we discussed manuscript evalua...

I strongly advise authors to seek the assistance of professional editors for their book babies. But I also understand when authors go it alone due to budgetary constraints. That is why I like to utilize my platform, my newsletter, to help other autho...

Let me shout this one from the rooftops: Authors need good editors. More importantly, authors who ARE also editors need good editors.I am an author. I am an editor and an awesome one, if I do say so myself. But...Editing my own manuscript is a big NO...

Last time I imparted some advice I'd gleaned from literary agents and publishing editors from several writers' conferences I've attended over the last couple of years. Today we're going to go over some common writing mistakes that you will want to fi...

Thanks to several writers conferences where I had the fortune and pleasure to meet literary agents and publishing house editors, I gleaned some helpful advice for how authors can determine if they are truly ready to move forward with their book baby:...