Struggling as an author? Stop writing only what you want to write

Earning a living as a writer is as likely as winning the lottery. Instead of writing books and persuading others to buy them, find out what people want to write, then do it for themPhilip Pullman: professional writers set to become ‘an endangered species’ due to low wagesI left school with a burning urge to lead the life of a writer: travelling like Byron, feted like Wilde before his fall, creating laughter like Wodehouse and crafting sentences like Nabokov. I had no professional contacts, so I wrote my masterpieces speculatively, and every path I went down ended with a rejection slip or total silence. The perceived wisdom then, as now, was that earning a living as a writer was about as likely as winning a lottery.Then I discovered the secret of marketing: instead of writing things and trying to persuade people to buy them, I would find out what writing services people needed and offer to provide them. So, at the same time as begging publishers and editors for commissions, I made myself available to anyone who might want to write an article or a book but did not feel able to do it for themselves. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2016-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon-Dissenting Authors Form 'Authors United'

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors Guild Issues Call to MacAdam Cage Authors

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ether for Authors: Are Publishers on a Tightrope with Author Solutions?

In Ether for Authors, Porter Anderson looks at the ties many publishing companies have with Author Solutions, at Amazon debates, and at drinking on the job. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Zodiac Academy Authors Launch Publishing Venture

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Daniel C. Dennett, Philosopher and Bestselling Author, Dies at 82

Dennett was the codirector of Tufts University's Center for Cognitive Studies and the author of more than 20 books, known for their provocative arguments about religion, morality, consciousness, and evolutionary biology, among other topics. He died on April 19. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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An Oasis in the Desert: Why Libraries Are the Best Places to Write

It’s 2015. My partner and I are in Moab, Utah, for the summer, far from our home of Philadelphia. He is doing research for his dissertation. I am struggling to rewrite a novel that my editor says—and I agree—isn’t working. The desert landscape in southwest Utah is magnificent and to us wholly... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-19 08:53:24 UTC ]
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Sophie Kinsella, ‘Shopaholic’ Author,’ Says She Has Brain Cancer

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[ The New York Times | 2024-04-17 17:24:05 UTC ]
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Shopaholic author Sophie Kinsella reveals aggressive brain cancer diagnosis

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[ CBC | 2024-04-17 17:16:17 UTC ]
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Five Publishers Join Lawsuit to Stop Iowa Book Banning Bill

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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‘The crime writer crime writers read’: Garry Disher, author of 60 books and finding fame in his 70s

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[ The Guardian | 2024-04-05 23:00:18 UTC ]
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Lynne Reid Banks, Author of ‘The Indian in the Cupboard,’ Dies at 94

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[ The New York Times | 2024-04-05 22:36:08 UTC ]
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Lynne Reid Banks, author of The Indian in the Cupboard, dies aged 94

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[ The Guardian | 2024-04-05 14:04:44 UTC ]
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New Climate Fiction Author Sarah Ruiz-Grossman’s Favorite Cli-Fi Books

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[ HuffPost | 2024-04-05 09:45:24 UTC ]
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Author T L Swan Launches Publishing Venture, Keeperton

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-04 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Crystal Hana Kim on Writing as a Mother, the Korean Diaspora, and How to Structure a Page-Turner

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[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-02 08:54:17 UTC ]
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[ The Guardian | 2024-03-30 11:00:08 UTC ]
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[ The New York Times | 2024-03-27 20:06:57 UTC ]
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Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize–Winning Psychologist and Author, Dies at 90

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
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