Susan Spann In the publishing world, an "elevator pitch" is a one-sentence (under one minute) pitch an author gives an agent, editor, or reader in order to prompt interest in a manuscript or book. I've heard a lot of these over the years, and I help authors write (or revise) them in conference settings. In fact, […]

I love fortune cookies. From cracking them open, to pulling out the slip of paper, to reading the fortune, to eating the sweet crunchy thing—I love everything about them. I always smile when I find saved fortunes (a recent "found" cache led to this post) whenever I go through an old purse or drawers in my […]

From our earliest moments, most writers are avid readers. We devour books – for story, for Craft, for new worlds and new ideas. We have To Be Read piles (TBR for short) that are taller than small children. Our favorite authors and characters become our friends. I don’t know if we become students of the […]

Ella Joy Olsen (The Psychology Behind Books Sold Cheap) I started thinking about the pricing of books about four months before my debut novel was due to be published. It started with a conversation at a party when my friend’s father cornered me, so he could speak without others overhearing. Him (in a conspiratorial whisper): […]

James Preston Once upon a time my wife and I were sitting up late at night, reading. She had a romance novel, I probably had something by Heinlein or Asimov or Andre Norton. Suddenly, she yelled, “Arrrrrgh!” Or maybe it was “Gaaaah!” And she threw the paperback across the room, bouncing it off the wall, scaring the cat, […]