Category: Publishing

Posted on

What Are We Doing and Where Have We Been?

The authors at Vintage City Publishing get lots of questions like, “Where do you get your ideas?” and “How do you come up with such interesting characters?” and “When are you guys going to pay your bar tab?”

But the most common question is, “What are you working on now?”

We thought we would put the question to our current stable of writers and see what they’ve accomplished in 2021, and maybe a sneak peek at what they have planned for 2022 and beyond. So without further ado…

Continue reading “What Are We Doing and Where Have We Been?”
Posted on

HOW TO GET REVIEWS OF YOUR BOOKS!

But not, like, a bazillion. Because let’s be honest, if I knew that, I’d be too busy filling a private pool with dollar bills and diving in. And if you happen to already be one of those lucky authors who has thousands of reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, A – this post is not for you and B – please tell me your secrets, including which dark lord you made a sacrifice to and what said sacrifice was. I’d love to know. For research purposes.

Continue reading “HOW TO GET REVIEWS OF YOUR BOOKS!”

Posted on

Judging A Book By Its Cover

“You can’t judge a book by its cover.”

Sure you can. Most people do. And the thing is, it doesn’t matter if their assessment is right, because they’ll never know.

If someone looks at a book cover and judges it to be of poor quality, or not interesting, and they believe the contents of the book are the same, what are the chances they will read the book to see if they’re right? Zilch. Nada. Because there are too many other books out there, books with far more interesting covers that will draw their attention, and ultimately their reading time. Continue reading “Judging A Book By Its Cover”

Posted on

The State of Publishing (a.k.a “Same as it ever was.”)

NOTE: I wrote this a few years ago after attending the Writer’s Digest Writer’s Conference. I was working as a temp for a retired literary agent who was there promoting a software program to help writers construct book proposals. Or something. Whatever. Doesn’t matter.

The important thing is… Since I wrote this, the publishing world hasn’t improved.

Attending the Writer’s Digest Writer’s Conference the weekend of January 21st through the 23rd, I was struck by more than one “sad but true” revelation:

1) Writers are desperate, needy, and borderline delusional;

2) Literary agents are egotistical and condescending.

Wait, wait, wait. Yes, I am making generalizations about a large group of people, some of whom I did not have opportunity to speak with on a one-on-one basis. And yes, there are exceptions to every generalization made, especially ones made by an opinionated bastard such as myself. But for the most part, my descriptions are apt.

Continue reading “The State of Publishing (a.k.a “Same as it ever was.”)”