How My Dream Came True, But Then I Lost My Mind: The Psychodynamics of Being a New Author



For struggling writers (struggling to write, struggling to get published, struggling to sell books), this article, published last year after Joanna Charnas's second book came out is a gem. sanfranciscobookreview.com/how-my-dream-c…

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Guest Post from Dr. Dennis Ortman: Words Matter

Image
  WORDS MATTER “If I speak with human tongues and angelic as well, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong, a clanging symbol.” --I Corinthians 13: 1   My three brothers recently visited from afar. We spent a week together crammed into my small apartment. We exhausted ourselves talking about our lives and our favorite subjects--religion, psychology, and politics. I daily used up my quota of words. Many family and friends avoid talking about these subjects to avoid conflict. But we relish the give-and-take of debate. Coincidentally, the Republican National Convention was televised each night. We watched it diligently and exchanged views. Our convictions ranged across the political spectrum. So our conversations were animated, our disagreements passionate. However, at the end of the week, we learned something from each other and parted friends. Words matter. They have power. Our traditions attest to this fact. For example, God created the world with His word. He be...
Read more

Tuesday's Tip for Language Learning: Language Islands, A Shortcut to Language Fluency

Image
  If you've ever found yourself struggling mid-conversation in another language, desperately searching for words, translating in your head, and praying for a merciful topic change… you’re not alone. We've all been there. But today’s tip might just change the way you approach language learning — and save your dignity at the next international gathering. Let’s talk about language islands . What Are Language Islands? Back in the mid-1980s, Boris Shekhtman, a brilliant and wildly successful instructor at the Foreign Service Institute (and later the Specialized Language Training Center), coined the term “language islands.” His students — diplomats, international journalists, and world travelers — swore by his methods. And no wonder. A language island is a memorized chunk of speech — a little monologue, a practiced story, a polished opinion — that you know so well, you can say it without thinking. No mental translation. No stuttering. No panicked flailing for vocabulary. Just smooth...
Read more

A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: De-confusing Royalty Structure

Image
  Authors frequently confuse LIST and NET and, in this way, end up with contracts that pay lower royalties when they believe that they are getting a good deal. Often, they cannot negotiate in ways that benefit themselves because they do not understand this difference and its significance. Let's break this down. List refers to the retail price of the book. Payment on list means a percentage of the retail price of the book. If royalties are 8% of list (5-8% is typical), then on a $10 book, royalties would be 80 cents; if they are 10%, royalties are $1, on every book sold. Easy to calculate, easy to predict income, and always standardized, no surprises or overestimations. Net refers to what is leftover after expenses. Gross revenue gets adjusted by a number of expenses: printing costs, printer set-up fees, shipping costs, handling fees, distributor percentage of sales (typically, 40%-55% per book), distributors' initial and continuing catalogue listing costs (without which online ...
Read more