Monthly Archive for June, 2011

How a Critique Partner can impact your writing.

Published on June 28, 2011 in Writing/Publishing. Closed Tags: , , .

Over ten years ago I started out on my journey to becoming published. I didn’t belong to any writing groups, didn’t realize more than local ones existed, and family and friends read my work.

I learned about RWA(Romance Writers of America) and began attending meetings and conferences and entering contests. The second contest I entered, two judges rewrote my story and didn’t tell me why. The third judge explained what I was doing wrong and complemented me adding her e-mail on the score sheet. I e-mailed and thanked her for explaining what I was doing wrong. We began e-mailing back and forth and she became my first critique partner. Under her tutelage, my writing blossomed and my knowledge of western life and horses as well as overall picture helped make her writing better as well.

I’ve had several CP’s over the years and currently have two who can keep up with my fast output and who I can help with their writing. One is a line edit critiquer and the other is a big picture critiquer. Between the two of them my story is at its best when it hits an editor’s desk.

And that’s what you want in a CP, someone who can help your writing whether it’s big picture, line edits, or brainstorming.

I’ve set up a blog where you can learn how to be a good CP and can fill out a form to be matched with two other writers of your genre and who can help you with the areas you need help with.

If you’re looking for a CP head on over to http://cpmatchmaker.blogspot.com and fill out the form and send it in.

The best thing you can do for your writing to take it to the next level is have other writers critique and make your writing the best it can be.

Paty Jager

http://www.patyjager.net

http://www.patyjager.blogspot.com

Self Published Writer Becomes Million Dollar Seller

Published on June 23, 2011 in Marketing for Writers. Closed Tags: , , , , , .

Yes, it’s true. A self published writer really has sold more than one million copies.

Amazon have said they have had million dollar sellers before, but never with a writer who has self published, always traditionally published.

The writer in question, John Locke, has self-published nine fiction titles (all in ebook format), and has now published the story of how he did it.

How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months! is the story of how this amazing writer sold sold 1.1 million copies of his ebooks in a nine-month period.

I’ve heard loads of reports about writers who have gone the self-publishing route, especially with Smashwords or Amazon Kindle, and outsold many traditionally published authors. Self-publishing also gives the author full control over their book, and allows updating when necessary instead of when a publisher deems it necessary.

For the full story, go to: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/8589963/Self-publishing-writer-becomes-million-seller.html” target=”blank”

Remarkably, Locke writes for fun. This is not his day job.

As someone who is seriously considering self-publishing fiction, I was particularly interested in the above information. I’ve self-published a lot of non-fiction, but have never self-published fiction before. Over the past several months I’ve been checking out places to do this, and Smashwords stood out for me. Mainly because they send your ebook off to several sites for selling. To me this is a very viable option if:

1) you are traditionally published and hate the lack of control;
2) fed up with low sales via small press publishers;
3) want to get the full benefits (read as royalties) for your hard work.

Having gone down both the traditional publisher route, and also the self-publishing route myself, there are definite positives to self-publishing.

Now it’s over to you. Let me know your thoughts on this, and if you’ve purchased John Locke’s book, How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months!, I’d really love to hear your opinion of it.

Cheryl