Shortly after Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, the publishing house was born: Publishers owned the presses, bought the rights to what they published, and established a network for marketing and distribution. Five hundred years later, digital technologies now allow authors to publish their own books, retaining the rights and sometimes earning money from the […]
What I Learned at Publishing School
Digital technology is revolutionizing how books are produced and delivered, and antiquated business models for acquiring and marketing books are leeching profits from booksellers. Together, the technological innovation and financial stagnation are changing the publishing industry at a breathless pace. Digital printing (also known as POD for “Print on Demand”) and the old school model […]
Getting Started With Groups
I had three children in four years, so even though well-wishers assured me I’d be able to write while the kids slept, I confess to being a slacker: when my kids napped, so did I. But not writing made me even more desperate than not sleeping, so I signed up for a one-day writing workshop […]
Gotta Get Dressed
Wendy recently posted advice about how a writer needs to stay fit to survive [Survival of the Fittest]. Well, I recently learned that a writer also needs to get dressed. I quit my day job in 2003, and have been writing blissfully at home ever since. It would be inaccurate to say I work in […]
Unless It Moves The Human Heart
If you are like me and chose not to pursue an MFA because you think no one can really teach you to write, and that writing is something you have to learn for yourself, then Roger Rosenblatt’s Unless It Moves the Human Heart: the Craft and Art of Writing is for you. And if you […]