04.14.09 at 7:26 am by Kara_S
With the changing economy and lay-offs, quite a few people are expressing interest in writing. Some hope to write the next Great American Novel while others want to make a living freelancing.
Eleven years ago, I graduated from college with a degree in publishing. I loved every minute of the coursework and am confident I chose the right major. So many people go to college and then end up working in a different area. Thankfully, I’ve used my degree every year for the last eleven years!
A year ago, I wrote a three-part series on the choices for publishing your manuscript. I know there are others out there, like Michael Hyatt and Rachelle Gardner, who are far more qualified to speak on these topics, but I hope this series will give you the basics.
Part One: Traditional vs. Self-publishing
Part Two: The Difficulties of Self-publishing
Part Three: The Alternatives to Self-publishing
01.30.09 at 7:16 pm by Kara_S
Have you seen Christian Writers’ Market Guide 2009by Sally Stuart? What an amazing resource with a wealth of information! In previous years, I’ve used the regular Writer’s Market (I actually just got rid of my 2003 edition), and I have to say that the Christian Writers’ Market Guide 2009 is easier to use by far.
The guide breaks the writing market into three broad categories – book publishers, periodicals, and specialty markets (greeting cards, gifts, software, games, CD/DVD/Video).
The book publishers section starts with a listing of topics and the names of publishers interested in that topic. Over 150 topics are included ranging from autobiography to fiction for teens to marriage to self-help to worship resources. What a great way to find publishers to target!
Following the topical listing is a detailed listing of each book publisher. The alphabetized listings detail contact information, basic guidelines, special needs, and lots more for each publisher. A separate section is devoted
Continue reading A Must for Every Christian Writer & Freelancer
04.11.08 at 11:46 pm by Kara_S
I recently mentioned that I was heavily involved with my current WIP. I still am. I got to the point where I had to take a break. My mind is simply tired. The mental activity involved in editing exhausts me to point that it feels like I run a marathon at times. My deadline was self-imposed so I won’t feel too awful if I miss it by a little bit.
If you are a writer, do you ever wonder what it would be like to be an editor or what it is like on the other side of the desk? While I would love to be a writer, I know I am an editor at heart. Editing is my God-given talent. I don’t say that to sound pompous, but it comes naturally to me just how playing a piano comes naturally to some. Writing takes effort for me, probably because I can’t simply write
Continue reading Plodding: An Editing Journey
04.10.08 at 9:17 pm by Kara_S
I was working with a student tonight, and he asked a simple grammatical question that gave me reason to stop and think. In a sentence, he had the phrase “the land.” He asked if he changed it to “Russia” would he leave “the”? At first I thought it an odd question with an obvious answer. Then I realized that for some countries we do use “the” and for others we don’t.
For example, we say “the United States of America” or “the British Isles” or “the Philippines.” On the other hand, we don’t say “the Russia” or “the Britain” or “the Portugal” or “the Kenya”…you get my point.
Why is that? Is there a pattern with the ’s’ ending (states, isles, philippines)? If so, how does something like “the Caribbean” fit in?
04.03.08 at 11:51 am by Kara_S
Don’t you love the pressure of a deadline? There’s something about D-Day that gets my blood pumping. How about you?
I haven’t been blogging much; well, other than those few random things that didn’t take much thought. I am feverishly working on the final edit of an author’s manuscript. Tomorrow I plan to dump the manuscript into its book layout, and this project is out of here!
I’m hoping that the gremlins that invaded the manuscript don’t invade the layout. Seriously, I found some very naughty gremlins in this project!!! Things (aka mistakes) that I know weren’t there before are there now. Hmmm…definitely gremlins. Every manuscript I work with goes through 3 to 4 stages: Stage 1 = first read, return to author with queries; Stage 2 = second read, review author’s changes, return to author for approval; Stage 3 = another read, not always necessary depending on the original condition of the manuscript, return to author;
Continue reading Under the gun with my WIP
Recent Comments