Traditional publishing or self-publishing? That is the question.
The literary agent Rachelle Gardner had an informative post on her site recently: Can I make more money via traditional or self-publishing?. Her post looks at the issue from the agent side, specifically what the monetary threshold (e.g. amount of the advance) of her clients is before they would choose to self-publish. I am a…
Read MoreReason #5360 to love Rome: SS Giovanni e Paolo and the Ancient Roman houses
Even after years of living here, I’m still in love with Rome. I love walking around and seeing all the layers of its long history. Although most visitors concentrate on Rome’s Ancient, Renaissance and Baroque splendors, medieval Rome is also fascinating to explore. One of my favorite corners of Rome starts at the tiny, cobblestoned street of Via…
Read MoreJoining writing groups to stick to deadlines
Deadlines are a writer’s best friend. Unfortunately, they’re often a moving target. Maybe writers with six or seven figure advances whose contracts detail very precise deadlines have fewer problems, but for the rest of the mere mortals writers out there, deadlines are often self-imposed. That’s why writers can be quite creative in figuring out ways…
Read MoreGo west, young woman!
Okay – so a bit of artistic license in the title. Although, you will be sure to note, I have not altered the word ‘young’. Sometimes one just has to be a purist (particularly when it’s more flattering…). I’m often back with my family in New York and, while in the US, my husband and…
Read MoreIt’s National Short Story Week!
For all you short story writers out there – and for all those who’ve “always meant to write one” – here’s your chance: 12-18 November marks National Short Story Week! I’ve always loved reading short stories, but I’ve only recently started writing them myself. To be honest, I was always a bit intimidated by the…
Read MoreColonial influences in Melaka, Malaysia
I recently wrote a post about how much I enjoyed my time in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. While I was there, I decided to take a day trip to explore the city of Melaka (also known as Malacca), a two hour drive south of the Malaysian capital and a UNESCO Heritage site. Melaka…
Read MoreBest of luck to all you NaNoWriMo participants out there!
Most of you probably know or have heard of NaNoWriMo, but for those of you who don’t, it stands for National Novel Writing Month. The NaNoWriMo challenge takes place 1-30 November each year and writers sign up to write a 50,000 word novel from scratch in one month. This year, 300,000 writers from around the…
Read MoreReason #5359 to love Rome: Sports Day
Okay, Sports Day (Giornata dello sport, in Italian) is held every year in Rome and it’s just so much fun. If you’re passing through Italy’s capital in October – and especially if you have kids in tow – you must stop by to enjoy this event. It’s usually held the third Sunday of October in…
Read MoreAuthor interview: Catherine McNamara
If you read my blog posts, you know how much I’ve enjoyed attending the Matera Women’s Fiction Festival, held each September in southern Italy. But it’s not just for the great information and advice you receive about the publishing industry today, or even the one-on-one meetings with agents. The real plus to this conference is…
Read MoreForeign Encounters: A New Anthology from Writers Abroad
The Online writing group Writers Abroad are proud to announce the publication on Wednesday 24th October of their new anthology, entitled Foreign Encounters. An encounter can be a chance meeting, a planned get-together or even a confrontation. This collection of stories, non-fiction articles and poems features a variety of foreign encounters: with family, friends, lovers,…
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