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Scary Scam
Invite to Judge a Contest… Today, in separate emails, both Kris and I got an invite to judge a contest. The point of the contest is to get writer’s work in front of agents and traditional publishers. Yes, Kris and I got that invite to judge a contest to help new writers get their work in front of agents. I will let you stop laughing now. This woman thought it would be a great honor for me to do that, since she had no idea at all who I was. So while laughing and trying to decide what to say in return, I made the mistake of looking up the…
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The New World of Publishing: The Scams
As we ramp into 2011, I figured that besides all the goal-setting talk, it might be a good time to give a few warnings as well. And maybe set a clear work goal as well. Electronic publishing is the hot topic and traditional publishing is struggling to change to the new world. Indie publishing is becoming the term, and indie writers are vocal and all over the web. Us old-timers who are paying attention to the changes are rushing to get up our lost backlist and reverted novels at the same time as traditional publishers are moving quickly to get all their inventory into electronic form. And everywhere I look…
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Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing: You Must Give Your Money to an Agent First
The myth is simple: All your money must first go to an agent before you can have it. Oh, wow, is this myth buried deep in this business, so deep that no writer thinks of questioning it, often even after having an agent take money from them. I’m going to do what I often do in these chapters, and that’s build the history first of why this myth came about and why it is so strong, then build a solution. So hang on for the ride and try to hold the anger down until you have read all the way to the end. SOME IMPORTANT HISTORY In the beginning, meaning…