Rebecca A. Emrich's Blog, page 26

Guest Blogger Judy Croome: Writers, What Are You Really Saying?

What
are you really
saying?




When
a writer trawls through her pages, carefully removing a word here, or
changing another word there, how does she know which word to delete
and which new word to use? What makes one word more suited to this
sentence, but not to that
sentence?




Some
writers, looking authorial and serious, may say that it takes years
of practice and some innate magical

The Kindness of Strangers

Why it is so hard to self-publish and earn money on a book? I've heard so many numbers, I'm not sure what to think.



This is one of the reader questions submitted for this month. It seems like a simple question, because it seems to some it is hard making money self-publishing a book. It's not as easy to earn money if you aren't willing to put in the time to make it worth a readers initial

15 Reader Questions Answered

This month, we opened our doors for reader questions about publishing, self-publishing, numbers, writing and just generally what it is like to be a writer. Most of these questions have to do with "numbers" and by this our readers want the cold hard numbers.




You asked, we listened. Here are, in no particular order a round up of 15 questions our readers asked.

1) Why it is so hard to

A Look in the Mirror

Reflecting on your own perspectives on writing and your life as a writer





I feel like we can't have a month where we talk about perspectives on writing without challenging ourselves about our own perspectives on our writing and our life as writers. I find it harder and harder to consolidate for myself what it means to live this crazy life of writing. I am so busy actually writing I

Don't Doubt Others When It Comes to Publishing a Cover

I was working with two of my co-authors and now that the books have been sent to the editors, there was more work which needed to be done. It's not hard to write a book but it's a lot harder to decide on book covers. In a way we needed others to have a good look at it, and take some time to think about it.

For the book Fan Ignition, we found this particular cover to be "the one" it works for

One Book = More Risk?

We've all heard a comment to the effect of "wow, you've published a book? When will the next one be out?" Sounds like they have a lot of confidence in your work, but it is natural that there needs to be another book coming out sooner or later.

We've all also heard the comment to the effect of "Oh, you've published a book? Is it going to be your only one or are you writing a series?" This

Risky Self-Publishing?

While I was busy pounding away at my keyboard in the hopes my work will be done on time, a friend of mine called me. After the normal "how do you do?" he asked me why I would be so risky?

I don't consider myself to be a risky person, but I humoured him for a bit, until I finally asked him to explain why I was risky? He is a bit definition fan, and told me according to the Merriam-Webster

Living a "Precarious" Life of Writing

I was having a nerdy debate with a friend of mine a few weeks ago. It was one of those arguments that starts because your eyebrow raises when a friend uses a word inappropriately or in an improper context. He was saying that he lives a "precarious lifestyle." Now I have only ever heard the word precarious used to describe the positioning of things or something more tangible being

Book Signing Advice

I recently had a book signing for one of my books. This was when taken into context, a success. Over the course of about 3 hours, I was able to connect and re-connect with at least 100 readers. To me, this was part of the success. I also sold 11 books in the same time frame, which is according to the bookstore manager an excellent day.



If you want success, be there early.

Before my

The Writer's Playlist

Take the "5 Songs That Inspire You" Challenge





Whenever I need that little extra motivation I like to listen to certain songs that make me feel good. This is by no means a glowing gem of insight, but merely a slap back to reality for those people who push themselves to write for extended periods of time and exhaust their creative brain. We have been talking all month about how and