Susan Spann As a publishing lawyer, I often get asked about copyright in scenes and settings, and how the law of infringement applies when stories are set in similar locations. Like many other copyright questions, the answer depends on a number of factors. However, unlike many legal questions, the guidelines are straightforward and fairly easy […]

Holly Robinson I'm in a semi-comatose state after crashing through the first draft of a novel in six months to meet my editor's deadline. Not that I'm complaining. I've been struggling to get to this point in my career for over twenty-five years. After earning a degree in biology, I started writing fiction and went […]

Margie Lawson If you wish review the rule that started it all... Margie-Rule #1: Never Take Any Word for Granted. Or read the whole series! Are you an NCIS fan? A Jethro Gibbs fan? A Mark Harmon fan? If you said YES, you know Jethro Gibbs has rules. Smart rules. I wanted smart rules too. Margie’s Rule […]

Penny Sansevieri So you got a book event...Great! Now you want to maximize it, right? You've heard your writing buddies (or perhaps read online) about the lack of attendance at signings so figuring out how to maximize the event, regardless of the numbers, might be tricky. 1. Marketing First and foremost is the marketing of […]

David Teague and Marisa de los Santos Note from Orly: Last September, I was at a local SCBWI conference. The keynote speaker was David Teague. David was discussing his new middle-grade release Saving Lucas Biggs, co-written with Marisa de los Santos. Marisa was at another writing event that day but had taped some remarks to […]