Becca Puglisi As authors, we all know the importance of engaging our audience within a book’s first few pages. It’s called grabbing the reader: captivating them in a way that makes them want to stick with the story to its end. Michael Hauge prefers the term seducing: “Everybody likes to be seduced; it’s a gradual, […]

Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy When I sat down to write this post I intended to write about writing. It's what I love doing, and why folks tend to invite me to guest post on their blogs (which I appreciate). But this came at a time when I'm feeling reflective and optimistically hopeful about the new year […]

We're at the beginning of another year. On Monday, we posted our annual "Word of the Year" blog. My main word is focus, but that's not my only word. I have seven more that are going to help me make major gains in my writing skill and my writing career. I hope they can help you to get where […]

The start of a new year has most of us reflecting on the previous year and making grand plans for the coming year. I don’t make resolutions. To me, they’re empty wishes. I set goals. And each year, I think of one word that will guide me through the year and keep me on track […]

Sherry Ficklin First, let me begin by saying that if you don’t have at least a basic marketing budget set aside, you are going to have a very hard time promoting your book, whether it’s your first book or your 100th. A successful marketing budget is going to be a key part of your overall […]