Reading, wRiting, and Roaming with Author Valerie Biel

When Valerie asked me to write a blog post and the topic of “balancing writing time and promotion” was on the list, I jumped on this topic. I was living the blog post with the launch of my eighth book. I could speak to the realities of the book launch whirlwind while refreshing my computer to check reviews and recommendations. You laugh, but it’s true.

Launching a book successfully is important. I’ve learned over the years that if you put the time and energy into your book launch, it will save you time later. No author wants to hear from their agent or publisher to round up more reviews months after their book has launched. This conversation does happen. I will say honestly that during the two-week span before my launch and the one-week span after my launch, I wasn’t gaining... Continue Reading

Today I welcome nonfiction author Larry Scheckel. Larry is an award-winning science teacher who turned his love for science into six books that teach us how things work. He also has a love for history as we know from his other books, Seneca Seasons: A Farm Boy Remembers, Murder in Wisconsin: The Clara Olson Case, and Country School Days: True Tales of a Wisconsin One-Room School. I previously interviewed Larry in this space back in 2018. You can access that interview here—it covers a bit about Larry being part of the Teacher in Space program in the 1980s among other career highlights.

Q. Larry, thank you so much for visiting today. I’ve enjoyed your books so much, both your science books... Continue Reading

Last week I traveled to Guatemala as part of The World Orphan Fund team. It had been exactly two years since my last international trip, which was to Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda in February of 2020. As we returned home then on the eve of the pandemic, the many masks being worn in the airports were a harbinger of what was to come, but we could never have imagined how the pandemic was about to disrupt our world.

The 2020 Africa trip was for the World Orphan Fund, so it is fitting that the first trip outside the USA since then was also as part of a team visiting children’s homes in Guatemala—some where we have ongoing projects and others where we were assessing potential areas of need. If you don’t know the... Continue Reading

World Reading Habits 2021

The Year of More Author Reach

2022 Publishing Trends and Predictions

Why Now is the Best Time to Be an Author

FEATURED ARTICLES

As one would expect January brings a flurry (pun intended) of year-in-review and year-to-come articles for every industry. Here are some that help make sense of the crazy world of publishing.

World Reading Habits in 2021 – from Sandra Beckwith

Check out the infographic in this article for “interesting facts and stats” for reading habits in 2021 that tell us graphic novels were the fastest-growing book genre in 2021, the favorite type of book overall is still romance, and shows reading... Continue Reading