Publishing

As I write this, it’s Saturday… the Sabbath in Jewish culture, the day of rest, the day of no work, no flipping light switches, no cooking. And as you’re reading this, it’s probably Sunday, the 7th day in Christian culture, the day we attend church and “rest” as God did. He created Everything in six…

*And you could win a prize. Hey faithful readers, first I want to let you know how much I appreciate you visiting here, and I love the great conversations we have in the comments! I’m still trying to make the transition from the old blog to the new one complete. So here are a couple of ways…

Blog reader Stefne Miller wrote me: Part of the bonus of having an agent is the ability to sit down with someone and track a course for the writer’s career. The writer gets a professional opinion about what’s in their best interest and plans for the future can be made. For someone like myself who…

Drat, I simply couldn’t come up with a post for today. But I have a cool fireworks picture right? And ten really good excuses reasons for no post. 10. Way too busy Twittering and Facebooking. 9. Negotiating deals for a few of my clients this week… it’s taxing, you know! 8. Sunshine beckons. Must. Get. Outside.…

Today I debut my video blogging. Please go easy on me – I’ve never done this before! I decided that in my video blogs I’ll answer questions readers have sent me via email, Twitter, my Facebook page, or the blog. So if you have a question you want me to answer in a video, send…

This has to be the most common question I get these days, from all kinds of writers including my clients. To use the words of one of my authors: Am I hurting my traditional career by self-pubbing? My pressing goal is to become a best-selling, traditionally published author. First of all, if you’re agented, the…

Writers often get freaked out by all our blogs and twitter posts about “bad” queries and big mistakes people make that can make them look…less than professional. But here’s the thing. If you’re reading blogs and books and getting yourself educated about how to get published, then I’m sure you’re going to be fine. You…

Every time time I mention a publisher's "editorial process" on this blog, invariably multiple commenters will mention the "fact" that publishers no longer edit. Others will talk about the terrible mistakes they find in published books, and decry the publishing industry's lack of standards. A typical example is David A. Todd's note on May 2: "...publishers no longer do careful line editing of the book, nor careful proof-reading." From my perspective, having been in the trenches for 16 years now, I believe this is an erroneous generalization.

Yesterday we talked about how slow everything seems to go in traditional publishing, and how it can be tempting to think of "quick" e-book publishing as better simply because it's faster. I have a couple of things to add today about how this industry is changing.

One of the most common complaints about traditional publishing is how long everything seems to take. We’ve heard these grumblings for as long as I’ve been in this business, but it’s certainly increased in this digital age where immediate gratification rules.

If you're reading this blog in a reader, please take a moment to unsubscribe from the old URL, and add the new one: http://rachellegardner.com.

Author Media , owned by Thomas Umstattd, Jr., is the company that built my new site - and all authors should know about them! They do so much more than build websites, and you can benefit from their incredible knowledge for FREE by following the blog, Author Tech Tips, and following them on Twitter (@AuthorTech). You'll get a constant influx of up-to-the-minute tips, all aimed specifically at authors.

It’s been a lot of work but we're finally putting the finishing touches on the new website. There are a few things that need smoothing out, and I'm still working on some of the pages, so please bear with me as we get this finished. Feel free to let me know if you see anything that should be fixed. There are a number of reasons I’m excited about the site, the first being that I finally have my own domain name, rachellegardner.com. Easy to remember! And the other most exciting thing is that we will finally—FINALLY!—have threaded comments, meaning you'll be able to respond directly to someone else’s comment, and they can respond directly to yours. I’ve wanted this for so long—I think it’s going to make the blog so much more fun!

(And Other Annoying Devices) When I’m editing manuscripts, I somehow turn into the cruel and heartless eliminator of… exclamation points!!! Seriously, I’ve developed a hatred for them! People tend to WAY overuse them! Not to mention italics and bold, and that oh-so-effective use of ALL CAPS!!!!!!! Here’s a hint to avoid coming across as amateur: Use the…