A perfect, real-world example of the power of author brand comes from looking at the sales of a book called The Cuckoo’s Calling by John Galbraith. According to Peter Hildick-Smith, founder of the Codex-Group, when first released in April 2013, the book sold 449 copies. A few months later, after it was revealed that Galbraith was a pen name […]
by Jane Ryder
When I was a kid, my mom — an impressively self-educated poor Tennessean with a high-school education and a fondness for annoying axioms — would say, in a sing-song voice, “Patience is a virtue, and it will never hurt you.” Keeping my mouth shut in the face of such an obvious untruth wasn’t easy, but […]
Sub-genres of any kind can be difficult to nail down, but in the genres of fantasy and science fiction it’s not easy to even get them to hold still. The principle reason for this is that these two genres are often collectively called “speculative fiction” because they deal with the question “What if . . . ?” […]
There is probably nothing more frustrating for a writer than encountering the dreaded problem of writer’s block. And the problem shows no prejudice. It is a creative paralysis that hinders the best of us at one time or another. Adages and acknowledgments about the problem run the gambit from practical to practically obvious. Consider some of the […]
There are countless cliches that speak to the idea that beauty is found within, and that the value of what is on the surface is, well, superficial. A facade. “Beauty is only skin deep.” Another old adage points a crooked, arthritic finger from well beyond the grave at those who might say otherwise: “Never judge […]
Neil deGrasse Tyson once said: “Science literacy is the artery through which the solutions of tomorrow’s problems flow.” If you’re a nonfiction author who’s serious about educating readers and improving public literacy with anything related to science, the environment, climate, or the natural world and its inhabitants, then we’re glad you’re here. The Editorial […]
