Elle Carter Neal interviewed by Angela Sedran of Heads Over Heels, talking about how business coaches, public speakers, or small business owners can learn to write and publish a book on their topics of expertise - even if they don't consider themselves "writers". Elle shares tips for pulling together content quickly and (relatively) painlessly, and discusses the three main considerations to take into account when deciding between traditional- and self-publishing. Learn more at Fully Booked Author , and subscribe to the FBA Vault for access to a new free guidebook, checklist, or video tip each week.

  Although we now focus quite heavily on indie and self-publishing here at The Blood-Red Pencil , many of our early posts were geared towards helping authors navigate the traditional publishing gauntlet, from completed manuscript, to agent queries and pitches, to landing that much-coveted book deal with one of the large publishing houses.   Countdown to a Book One of the most comprehensive series of posts we ran here was Kathryn Craft 's seventeen-post epic account of her journey through the traditional publication process, starting with her realisation that she needed help long before she could even think about querying an agent. Friday, October 5, 2012 Countdown to a Book 1: Joining Hands It was 2001 and I’d been a dance critic for eighteen years, paid for my writing all the while. I had this writing thing in the bag. I just needed an agent to get my recently drafted novel ...

The week before last, I had the pleasure of attending the RT Booklover’s Convention in Dallas, Texas. And while this is primarily a reader event for Romance lovers, there were quite a few workshops and networking opportunities for writers. I’d never been to this conference before, so I didn’t know what to expect. I had a fantastic time, though, and more importantly, I learned a lot about what’s going on in the industry for indie writers right now, today. Me gearing up for the book signing at RT Dallas The short answer to “What’s the state of indie publishing today?” is that things are constantly in flux. But then again, the same goes for the traditional publishing industry. One of the workshops I attended was presented by a panel of agents and editors from the big five publishers, all of whom agreed that trends are flipping and shifting faster than they ever have before. Where once any given sub-genre would stick around for a couple of years at the top of the popularity pile, no...

There has been a lot of talk on one of my writers’ loops about the disrespect given to self-published and small-press authors. Are they good enough to be included in one of the big writers’ organizations? That organization just sent out a questionnaire to its members to ask for their opinions. I gave up my membership in that group a while back because, as a self-published author, they didn’t support me, so why should I support them with my hard-earned money? If self-published authors are to be included in these organizations as “active” members, then by what criteria? Should we be accepted on the basis of how much money we’ve earned? And if that doesn’t guarantee acceptance, what does? How about the quality or quantity of our work? Who is to judge which writers are acceptable and which are not? What about rankings or reviews on sales outlets? Should that be a method of evaluation? By what calculus should we be judged? I have two friends, one self-published and one published by a ...

It's Saturday, and I know all your brains are resting, so I'm going to use fewer words and more pictures. I got a book deal!!! Yes, this is my actual reaction. I have a picture of it because the call came in while I was hosting a writing retreat for women at my summer home in northern New York State. There we were, some writing on our own, others conferring. When an e-mail rang through from my agent, Katie Shea at the Donald Maass Literary Agency. Subject: News Body text: "Call me!" Those words sparked an emotional charge that had to work its way through my system. Once I calmed down, I called Katie. The offer was from Sourcebooks, a large independent publisher. Here Katie is telling me the initial offer, and her negotiation strategy. I am sitting in front of my computer screen, which has fallen asleep. I see the retreater who took this picture reflected in it—she's around the corner, where I can't see her directly—but I see her signi...