When I first started publishing, I longed for a book award. I remember seeing all those pretty stickers and seeing authors boast about how many awards that they had received. I would look at author websites and drool over the little seals at the bottom of the screen. I mean, who wouldn’t want a pretty gold sticker on their book, right? Isn’t that like a book publishing gold medal? What I didn’t know then was that most of these awards are scams.
Read MoreI’ve been in the business of writing and illustrating books now for a few years and one of the areas which I find most frustrating is that of the editorial review. You would think that a good book just naturally gets good reviews, but that is not how the industry works. Traditional publishers send off their books to review boards months before they are ever published and usually pay nothing to have them reviewed. Self-publishers don’t have this possibility. They have to pay to have their books reviewed and this is not cheap.
Read MoreMany self-publishers begin with the dream of getting a traditional publishing contract. They write to dozens of agents and submit to publishers accepting unsolicited manuscripts. Then after receiving countless rejections and waiting months for copy-paste replies, they begin to wonder if getting a traditional publishing deal is really worth all the hype.
Read MoreAs an author/illustrator of children’s books, I like to be aware of what is going on in the publishing world from as many angles as possible. This is why I am on over 100 forums including those for teachers, librarians, principals, editors, illustrators, authors, and children’s book self-publishers. In the last few years in the world of children’s book self-publishing, there has been an increasing trend of people taking credit for illustration work which they have not created. AI did not create this trend, but it has added rocket fuel to the fire. AI has now become the number one topic on many of the forums that I am on and for good reason. Let me explain."
Read MoreHave you ever dreamt of publishing your own children's book? Would you love to see your book on a shelf when you walk into Barnes and Noble? Have you ever wondered how difficult it is to sell a book on Amazon? Well... there are a few things that you should know first…
Read MoreThis has been a crazy year. Nevertheless, I have been amazed by how differently everyone has been experiencing it. I know a lot of people who have complained this year that nothing has happened. No vacations. No conferences. No nothing (I apologize, but sometimes a double negative just sounds appropriate). However, I feel like just the opposite is true.
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