Publishing options, Part II

This is the second part of a three-part series on things to consider when deciding how to publish one’s novel. All parts come with a warning: I have next to no personal experience with any form of publishing besides the traditional sort. So read the comments; there

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Publishing options, Part 1

A while back, E. Beck asked for a blog post on various publishing options, pros and cons, and how to decide among them. As always, I have Opinions, but I have to start by pointing out that I have next to no personal experience with any form

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Trying something different

One of the things I keep repeating over and over is that if what you are doing does not work, you should try doing something different. The problem is that this seems to go against the deepest instincts people have, because the first thing one has to

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Crowds vs. Councils

It’s here! The Dark Lord’s Daughter is officially out. I’m excited and anxious and hopeful and lots of other things, which will probably last a couple of weeks until I have some idea how it’s doing. Meantime, I have a blog post to give you. This week

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Finding Beta Readers

Every so often, I get asked about finding beta readers. This is my take: Step 1: Decide what you want from a beta reader. Some writers want (and need) encouragement—the proverbial “five pages of closely reasoned praise.” Other writers want something specific; they want to know if

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Viewpoint types

There’s a recurring writing argument that revolves around which type(s) of viewpoint are “too easy” or “too hard” or problematic in some other way, such that writers (especially beginners, but when you look a little closer, it sounds a lot like “all writers”) should be discouraged from

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Editors

It’s one month to the official launch of The Dark Lord’s Daughter, and I’m twitchier than usual. The official launch party is at the Red Balloon Bookstore in St. Paul on Tuesday September 5. If you’re going to be in the Twin Cities, check their events page—they

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